TRon

Jonas is still a valuable member of the squad IMO. Yes his end product is not so great but he doesn't hide like a lot of wingers do.

I think Kadar is good enough 4th choice tbh. It's not ideal but I'd rather we spent money elsewhere.

I've not seen enough of him tbh, could be Bellamy, could be Nugent. But you can say that about anyone signed from anywhere really. He's already better than Nugent, obviously the caveat is "in the Championship". Like I say, not guaranteed to become as good as Bellamy but there's a strong possibility he would. His progress in the last couple of years has been dramatic. I haven't seen him play a full game but he has good qualities tbf. If you think he's a good finisher that's encouraging, because the rest of his game is pretty good.

What in God's name is a Liverbird? A slag from Toxteth?

Like I said earlier, I think we'll get one in. It would be a bit underwhelming if we went from bidding for Gameiro to signing Shane Long though.

Interesting that he doesn't know whether the striker coming will be worthy of the number 9 yet. Guessing that the probably not would be Long, and also guessing he's far from first choice. Hope whoever the mystery striker worthy of the number 9 comes off. I don't think we'll sign one. I'm sure some will see this as ultra-cynical but I really don't think Ashley/Llambias like the idea of favourites, club legends, tradition and so on. I don't think it's that complicated tbh. Quality strikers are the one commodity you have to pay through the nose for, and I just have real doubts as to whether we will do that. It's not just the fees, it's the wages those players command as well. Well that's half my point. BottledDog mentioned a player being 'worthy' of the shirt. The club would be under pressure to provide top quality for that shirt (especially after the Carroll sale), and whether you think it's right or wrong we just don't want to spend the money. I have a feeling we'll bring in one big(ish) signing. If we spend the money on a quality striker are we still going to spend £9m on Zog? I just can't it although I hope I'm wrong. As plenty have already said here, we are so close to having a really good side it's frustrating to think we might not go for it.

Ba doesn't have a particularly bad injury record mind. It's a long season though.

Interesting that he doesn't know whether the striker coming will be worthy of the number 9 yet. Guessing that the probably not would be Long, and also guessing he's far from first choice. Hope whoever the mystery striker worthy of the number 9 comes off. I don't think we'll sign one. I'm sure some will see this as ultra-cynical but I really don't think Ashley/Llambias like the idea of favourites, club legends, tradition and so on. I don't think it's that complicated tbh. Quality strikers are the one commodity you have to pay through the nose for, and I just have real doubts as to whether we will do that. It's not just the fees, it's the wages those players command as well.

I don't have any problem with Ba being our top striker as I rate him, but I don't want to be relying on him to be fit for every game this season. We need another quality forward.

Would Erdinc be good enough in your opinion? Pardew sees Ba as our top striker, his comments couldn't be clearer to me. I know he's unproven in this league but I'd be happy to see Erdinc here from what I've seen on YT. He's quick and quite powerful and his goals record is pretty decent. Whether we are serious in our interest in him I'm not so sure.

Treacy.

Ba is a good signing but we need at least one more quality striker in. The paper talk is that it is one of Pardew's priorities so I expect we'll get one in. The concern would be the "quality" part of the equation. Shane Long isn't really what I had in mind when there was all the talk of us bringing in another top striker.

What happened to all the talk about Arsenal's interest? They could probably pick him up for next to nothing as long as they agreed to match his wages. For the sake of a couple of million here or there I'm surprised they aren't getting crucial signings like Joey in early to prepare for pre-season.

No he can't but his agent will probably negotiate a decent enough contract with a wannabe team when he walks away for free next season. Like Smith he's going to hang in there and pick up the fat wedge while he can get it.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20051027000422/uncyclopedia/images/8/85/Scouser.jpg not funny

Doesn't sound as if he's too keen on being there tbh if he's insisting on release clauses so he can move to a real club.

He's the right type of player in that he's mobile and looks to have some ability but if we'd spent that much on him instead of a striker with a bit more comprehensive goals record I wouldn't be comfortable with it.

Interesting to read that Pardew signed Whickham as a rookie for Reading originally. Granted he's probably developed since then but he must know something about him.

I would like to add though, that if he fails to score goals his value will plummet which would be a lose/lose situation.

So what are you basing the opinion that they'll make more than £8m on? Read the conversation. I read it but I don't really understand the correlation with Jenas other than he's a young English talent. Strikers are judged on goals so if he doesn't score enough of them there's no way his value will stay at £8m. That comment was in direct response to Nut saying if he hits the ground running he'll be off. In which case why would his value go down? Okay, I didn't really register the "if" qualification there. I agree then. If he's a success he'll be well worth more than £8m.

So what are you basing the opinion that they'll make more than £8m on? Read the conversation. I read it but I don't really understand the correlation with Jenas other than he's a young English talent. Strikers are judged on goals so if he doesn't score enough of them there's no way his value will stay at £8m.

So what are you basing the opinion that they'll make more than £8m on?

We were one of the top clubs in the league at the time, he had the likes of Speed who he could learn from, and there wasn't any real danger that a much bigger club would come in for him. We were also able to ease him in a bit with having the likes of Dyer as well in that position. Wickham is going to a club where they have one main striker, he'll be expected to hit the ground running, and if he does well, he'll be off. And they'll make more than £8m. Win/win in terms of the fee they've paid. How do you know he'll be a success in the premier?

Had a look at the YT clip. Whickham looks like he's got ability, definitely good with the ball at his feet. but there's nothing in it to show that he's a finisher. In fact he missed a couple he should have scored in the highlights video. He might well turn out to be a very good player for Sunderland but it's a hell of an expensive risk on someone who hasn't scored regularly.

What's his main strength? Heading? Larsson & Wickham could potentially be Barton & Carroll Lite. Alternatively it could also be Whitehead & Stead. He's better on the ground than people give him credit for, quite an all round player. Would do better for Liverpool than carroll, shocked they didn't gor for him. Carroll's scored goals in the premier. I haven't seen tWickham play but is there a reason he's not scored more? Can he finish?