ohmelads

I think the guy's got a point. If it weren't for all the feel-good factor of a new manager, new owner and the promise of tonnes of cash, people would not be shouting from the rooftops about the signings of Viduka, Barton and Rozehnal. Viduka would be considered a lazy old parasite, Barton would be here to mess up the dressing room, Rozehnal would be some random cheapo signing from the French league to 'paper over the cracks', and Geremi would be 'another Chelsea reject here for the money'. Some people are taking the best out of everything and not taking a step back to look at things objectively. These are the same people who, when things are going badly, label Dyer a talentless waste of space and will be doing the same with Barton or Viduka when we inevitably lose a couple of games on the trot. Sam is a better manager than Roeder but not all of his signings will be a success, maybe not even the majority, and I think if he's going in for Edmilson despite a serious knee injury at this stage in his career then he's taking a gamble, one I think we don't need to take considering our financial situation. For me Edmilson has all the hallmarks of a Shepherd signing.

How desperate does that paragraph sound? Seriously, read it again. We don't need Edmilson, there are loads of other capable players around and yet it seems we're jumping through hoops for an ageing player who may take 6 months to recover and may not be that good in England anyway. If we sign him up on big wages in the hope he'll come back fresh in the new year then we're more desperate than I thought. You make it sound like we've just been promoted and this is our only hope of signing a good player.

Excellent post. I think Sam is enjoying a lot of the good feeling that has come from the takeover and the promise of money. None of our signings have set my pulse racing and we could lose Owen and Martins yet.

Who says he's coming back in November though? There's every chance it'll be December or later before he can play, going off reports. And even if he does come back only missing the first three months, this guy is injury prone. He will break down again and again. There's a reason he barely makes 20 games a season. For once we could do without a player coming in and out of the side like that, espescially in central defence. That's the last area of the pitch where you want that, which is probably why he was shoved into defensive midfield (as well as the fact that Puyol, Marquez and Thuram are better than him).

Roeder is still scouting Kuyt.

From .com: Edmilson's Nou Camp career: 2004/05 4 league appearances Oct 2004 Operation on right knee 2005/06 24 league appearances June 2006 Operation on right knee 2006/07 22 league appearances June 2007 Operation on right knee Barcelona club doctor Ramon Cugat speaking earlier this week: "This is a complicated injury with a slow recuperation." We're buying a crock.

Massive wages and signing on fees for Viduka, Geremi and Edmilson mind. Players on bosmans can always demand that because they know the paying club are getting a bargain. I remember Moore was said to be on big wages. Edmilson simply isn't that good a defensive midfielder in my view. He's a better central defender who can 'do a job' in midfield. My point is we don't have to buy Edmilson, there are loads of good, younger players out there who are ready to play straight away. Why Edmilson? This is why I think it's a gamble and a bit desperate to go for someone when you don't exactly know what you're getting.

Many people are saying we should pad out the squad then target bigger players. But I see it the other way around. I think we should sort out our first team and see which positions we can fill (not all signings go through etc) and then go for younger 'prospects' in those positions where they will actually have a chance of getting a game. In the past we've signed players like Viana then found we weren't sure where to play them. I agree with the current policy. Our squad lacks experience, we haven't been streetwise enough in recent times. Souness tried to get older players and failed but I put that more down to his terrible man management and tactics as well as a string of bad injuries.

Every reason to be concerned at signing a 31-year old crock who's out until next year. If we sign him, we can drag up this thread in a year's time and see how he's done. Indeed, and like you I hope I'm totally wrong. This signing wouldn't bother me too much if we bring in another experienced leader of good calibre before the transfer window. On the face of it I don't like the look of this transfer and I think I'm well justified in that.

That was written before his knee operation and looks like paper talk.

He's not good enough for Milan any more and clubs like them aren't desperate enough to sign players who may or may not come back fully fit in 6 months. Real Madrid only signed Woodgate under those circumstances because they were desperate, all their other targets fell through. Desperate signings like that usually don't work out.

Every reason to be concerned at signing a 31-year old crock who's out until next year.

This is why I'm worried Fat Fred is still about. I'm sure his responsibility has diminished but SSN were claiming that he and Allardyce flew to Barcelona. I don't want to wake up tomorrow to find we've agreed a 3 year deal or something crazy!

We'll have to sign him crocked, he can't play for six months because of his third knee injury in as many years, by which time we'll have paid him a fortune in wages in the hope that he comes back mended and ready to adjust to a totally new league.

I don't remember Ashley saying that but he might have. It would explain why we're almost exclusively targetting cheap players or free transfers. I agree with you in part but it's easy to point at our most expensive flops to justify any signings. I could point at the signings of Bellamy and Robert which transformed us into a Champions League team therefore instantly repaying their pricetags. Edmilson comes across as a bit of a desperate signing to me. He might come back in January and walk into the first team with a series of commanding performances, on the back of a major knee injury and in a new league, but it seems a bit unlikely doesn't it.

All the signs are that the budget has been seriously exaggerated and I think a lot of people are getting their hopes up. I think Ashley will make quite a bit available and money isn't a problem, but Edmilson's the 4th free transfer (nominal fee apparently) we've targetted, 5th if you include Sidwell. People seem to be expecting a massive squad with established backup everywhere, yet the signs look very different. It's all well and good telling ourselves we're getting cheap squad players, but look at them. Viduka, Barton, Edmilson, Geremi - these are not squad players!

Sport, one of the main two Barcelona-based sports journals in Spain, have it on their site now. Says what we already know, that we've flown out to Barcelona to assess his condition and sound out the player. No mention of terms being agreed but it confirms he's out for 5 to 6 months.

Luque was once a quick player, hence why he was interchangeable between the wing and up front. But it seems that he lost any pace he had when he joined us, probably as a result of that serious hamstring injury he picked up in his second game. I think the pace issue is a worthwhile concern. Owen, Martins, Dyer and N'Zogbia do not have certain futures here, although it's entirely plausible that all four will be here in September. Duff is out until November. But Rozehnal is said to be quick and I'd imagine whichever left back we bring in will have some pace too. I think on the whole we'll be alright.

Big gamble. I guess this is being seen as a January signing. I just hope Sam knows what he's doing because this is apparently his third knee operation in as many years! On Edmilson, he's a good player, he was once very good, but I think he's a bit overrated now and his best days are gone (that doesn't mean "past it" before anyone misquotes me). I see him as one of those players who's still rated so highly because he's in and out of a world class team. There's no doubt he's better than what we've got and if it wasn't for this injury I'd say sign him up immediately. Sam has shown he's no mug when buying these types of players and Edmilson is a lot younger than the likes of Hierro and Campo when he bought them. The reservations I have about Edmilson are that he's slowly on the decline in my view, he's often the first Barca player to be subbed off for a rest and this knee injury could take a lot out of him. It's quite a big ask to expect a player of 31 to recover from a major knee operation, switch teams and lead a defence in a league he's never played in before. I'm also not all that sure he will adapt to the English game. But these are areas where Sam knows what he's doing, fitness and adapting foreigners to the Premier League, so maybe he fancies the challenge once again. If he can pull it off we're onto a winner because although I don't see Edmilson as world class he's a good defender with bags of experience at the top level with Barcelona and Brazil, and someone Taylor could learn a great deal from.

Thing is the money is no longer the most important thing for us. With Ashley on board we won't be a selling club, so it's about keeping the quality players ahead of bagging the cash. I said not long ago that £9m isn't that bad for a player with two years left on his deal and on the back of almost 18 months without football. If it was the amazing bargain it's made out to be, someone would have paid it by now. Other clubs will be looking at him saying he's barely kicked a ball since December 2005 and wanting assurances before they pay £9m and sign him up on a 5 year deal worth god knows how much. They know fine well that our problem could become their problem. But Owen's not all that replaceable because we can't attract anybody of his calibre once we lose him. The best we can do is get someone with that kind of potential, or someone more suited to our team's style of play (whatever that will be). Owen can be the difference for us in tight games, he can separate us from the Evertons and Tottenhams, and if we get to a cup final you know you want someone like him in your team. For those reasons I do hope he stays.

The individual signings haven't set my pulse racing yet. Barton, Viduka, Rozehnal. But they don't need to. We've already got talented players who have not performed for a number of reasons which I believe will be put right with a bigger squad and a better manager. With a more competitive squad we will see more motivated players and we won't see players like Ameobi playing through pain week after week or players like Milner or Solano playing through fatigue due to a lack of other options. The extra bodies alone will add a lot to the competitiveness of the squad and give the manager the option to drop players out of form, rest fatigued or injured players, and have options on the bench to change a game rather than a few reserves. It makes a world of difference. With (probably) a bigger squad and a lack of europe, dare I say we may even be half prepared for what next season has to throw at us. But for me the biggest positives are what's happening behind the scenes. To see Shepherd finally gone is a massive step forward for the club. These clauses are a reminder of where we were headed with him.

I agree that these clubs are fawned over way too much as if they're untouchable. We were up there with them once, just 4 years ago. And perhaps regarding Arsenal's current situation and our takeover, there's a chance to gain major ground on them in the foreseeable future. But try convincing any foreign player of that and you'd have trouble. Arsenal are far more famous internationally, compete in the Champions League and even have a bigger stadium than us now, on top of just finishing ten league places above us. They can talk to him about medals, cup finals, Champions League games in the Nou Camp, all we can sell him is a vision.

That's a good point. If Owen gets arsy we could at least compromise, leave the clause there but increase it to, say, £14M. That way if he ends up leaving he won't look half as bad for doing so.

I can't see Owen agreeing to remove the clause unless we make one or two ambitious signings. Oba - who knows? He's making the right noises but Arsenal are a much bigger name than us internationally and he'll see them as a much bigger club regardless of current situations. Let's not forget they're also in the Champions League, based in London, we can't even use the stadium argument any more.

Thing is I think we are vulnerable to a late bid as I think several clubs (Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool plus foreign clubs) have earmarked both players as backup in case they miss their targets. A lot of the speculation at the moment could well be an attempt to sell papers, as journalists put two and two together. Arsenal lose Henry and they're instantly linked with Tevez and Martins. My gut feeling is we'll lose one and keep the other.