[Archived] Sam's January Targets

[Miker]

Would City's Vladimir Weiss be available on loan? I've seen him a couple of times and he looks excellent, would be a great player to have in our midfield for creativity.

[dj54nna]

Would City's Vladimir Weiss be available on loan? I've seen him a couple of times and he looks excellent, would be a great player to have in our midfield for creativity.

No. Not if Di Santo is staying.

[rebelmswar]

james beattie over jason roberts any day of the week for me

perhaps beattie might hit the taqrget once a season - once more than roberts does.

It would just cost money that we can ill afford to loose. I can not believe for an instant that a Roberts fee would cause this deal to be costless for us.

I think that we will have about as much cash as we always have come January.

Sell before we can buy and all that good stuff; sad that tickets and merchandise don't count as a sale.

Have the distinct feeling that Sam will have to work like CMOT Dibbler in January.

"I'll let you have Roberts for six million, and that's cutting me own throat"

[rebelmswar]

No. Not if Di Santo is staying.

That's why we should pillage the MLS, the league may be dross but there are some handy players.

[Iceman]

Icers, what do you make of EVH being touted to Sheffield United? And even worse, apparently not impressing?

Im very surprised at that Jisty. He is a good player, so not exactly sure why he did not impress. I think its best that he comes home to one of our local teams, otherwise his World Cup dream could be shattered

[Eddie]

Not to that it's a big deal as he was a free and is probably not on huge wages, but shouldn't this sort of thing been seen in Allardyce's famous pre-signing tests?

[Crank]

Not to that it's a big deal as he was a free and is probably not on huge wages, but shouldn't this sort of thing been seen in Allardyce's famous pre-signing tests?

could really have been a panic buy by Sam to be quite honest…

[bob fleming]

Not to rain on your paragr Nick as I would like Beattie over Roberts too but doesn't Jason have more goals than our other strikers this season?

With the exception of Dunny, Jason is streets ahead of the others with an earth shattering 3 Premier League goals to his name this season. Next up is the prolific Ryan Nelsen with 2. Following closely behind and pushing Jason all the way for the coveted number 2 spot are Givet, nZonZi, Frank, Pascal, Diouf and Big Chris who have all scored the once.

I'd do the swap. Beattie would give us more of a presence in the air surely. Which is what we need when Robbo is playing one of his laser like accurate, defence splitting, Tugayesque balls from 70 yards away.

[Bobby G]

I agree. Other than Samba, we dont really have dominant players in the air. Di Santo does reasonably well to bring down the first ball from Robinsons kicks, but none of the other forward players have anything close to the right ability in that respect.

Beattie could flick things on, and finally we would have another threat from throw-ins and corners to match Samba.

Do the deal.

[bubblerrovers]

Is there anything in this Beattie deal or is it just Messageboard chatter??

[Bobby G]

I think its something in the realms of possibility.

[gumboots]

I agree. Other than Samba, we dont really have dominant players in the air. Di Santo does reasonably well to bring down the first ball from Robinsons kicks, but none of the other forward players have anything close to the right ability in that respect.

Beattie could flick things on, and finally we would have another threat from throw-ins and corners to match Samba.

Do the deal.

Flick on who to? Surely our biggest problem is lack of bodies in the box? When we get the ball forward, even if we win it there's often just nobody within 10 yards of the player who wins it. Otherwise we'd be collecting more balls from the opposition headers too.

[Gav]

Beattie is certainly no world beater, but in terms of scoring goals you can’t get much worse than Roberts. Jason can’t be criticized for lack of effort, but his abilities in front of goal are limited to say the least.

This couple with the fact Beattie is a Rovers fan may just see him give that extra 10%, which may see a decent return goal wise.

Also makes the trip to the morgue a little more interesting don’t you think, the more local lads in the team the better for beatin that shower of ****.

All ifs and buts though at the moment.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

James Beattie is not a target man. He has been employed as such twice to my knowledge and neither time worked. Firstly with Southampton alongside Phillips. Ala Quinn and Phillips from the Sunderland days. Didn't work. Secondly with Johnson at Everton. Didn't work.

But thats not to say he is of no use to us. Far from it.

Roberts isn't a conventional target man. He is there to act as a presence. A distruptive influence. The trouble is, when this works he can rarely produce the finishing touches required. Beattie can do that.

Be under no illusions. The man is a complete arse. Living in Southampton i have had experience of seeing the man in his true colours. I have witnessed him in a gents club ordering a bottle of "the most expensive champagne" and proceeding to pour it over his head because he "can afford it".

A friend of mine happened to be on the same correctional driving course (drink driving as i recall). He has nothing but contempt for the man. A cocky, over inflated ego @#/?.

But this self assured persona. This big fish in a little pond environment is where he thrives. He did it at stoke, he did it at saints and he did it at sheff utd. Its where he feels top boy. Given some confidence and made to feel important he will score goals.

I dislike the man. He is a typical modern day player. But i know, in the right frame of mind, he could score the goals to take us from lower mid table to top half security. If he's available on he cheap then the deal should be done.

I accept what you're saying about Beattie but if we signed players up on the basis of their off field persona who would we sign ? One of the things that is turning me off modern football is the behavior of the players. Having said that I'd have Beattie over Roberts any day.

[Hughesy]

3 prem clubs willing to pay the £3m asking price for Benni - Fulham & Pompey are two of them

£3m for Benni + removal of his big wages - what do people think of that deal?

[John]

3 prem clubs willing to pay the £3m asking price for Benni - Fulham & Pompey are two of them

£3m for Benni + removal of his big wages - what do people think of that deal?

All depends who we can bring in as a replacement. Benni still has class and a track record of scoring goals (obviously having trouble so far this season but needs to play more games consistently to build up sharpness).

Sadly bargain strikers are difficult to come by, even with some cash we struggled like hell over the summer, which is a longer transfer window too.

[T4E]

Says it all about the lad and were hes at if Sheff United dont want him .

It does, and it tells us all we need to know too. Remember, Sheff Utd have Treacy playing the same position as EVH - we know Treacy isn't good enough for us, and if EVH is worse, then it's time to get shot.

[67splitscreen]

If the 3m is all up front, that is a good deal, I would say yes as long as we get to replace him, Saldado on the never never or similar would be nice.

[Hughesy]

We have a number of young players who are out on loan that we should just get rid of permanently - Treacy, & Judge are 2.

We then have Zurab, Roberts, Andrews & Reid who we wouldnt miss if they left too.

We then have a group of players who we need to decided on: Benni, MGP, Brown, Bunn, Jacobsen & Diouf

[Bobby G]

Very clearly Benni's agent has made clear that Benni is happy to stay if he is playing, which is the case as of now.

I think Benni is simply a case of Allardyce not wanting him, moreso than anything else.

I can think of 5 other players who Id rather give away first, but that tells you something where there is a handful of clubs interested in Benni and none supposedly for some of the deadwood.

[47er]

We have a number of young players who are out on loan that we should just get rid of permanently - Treacy, & Judge are 2.

We then have Zurab, Roberts, Andrews & Reid who we wouldnt miss if they left too.

We then have a group of players who we need to decided on: Benni, MGP, Brown, Bunn, Jacobsen & Diouf

Why Jacobsen? What about Salgado?

[Guest Kamy100]

We have a number of young players who are out on loan that we should just get rid of permanently - Treacy, & Judge are 2.

We then have Zurab, Roberts, Andrews & Reid who we wouldnt miss if they left too.

We then have a group of players who we need to decided on: Benni, MGP, Brown, Bunn, Jacobsen & Diouf

It is not that easy to get rid of these players because we may need them next year to comply with the squad rules for 2010/2011 season.

[philipl]

It is taken fans a long time to understand the wages side of the equation. They will probably be equally slow in grasping the implications of the new squad rules. I think they apply to English trained players as opposed to English nationality- of course if UEFA get their way preventing youngsters from moving, it will become one and the same thing.

[ffan]

Nicola Anelka has apparently picked up a calf injury and will be out for a while, dunno if this will affect the Di Santo deal?

[bob fleming]

We have a number of young players who are out on loan that we should just get rid of permanently - Treacy, & Judge are 2.

We then have Zurab, Roberts, Andrews & Reid who we wouldnt miss if they left too.

We then have a group of players who we need to decided on: Benni, MGP, Brown, Bunn, Jacobsen & Diouf

Goes to show the size of the task Sam has and the length of time it'll take I'd imagine. I'd get shot of every single one of that lot (barring Jacobsen / haven't seen enough of Bunn). Starting with Roberts out and Beattie in.