KaKa

Oops ... my bad 

Got a ticket for Saturday's games.

Going to have a word with Cambiasso about moving up North ...

I think Sam is really trying to get the players used to the 4-3-3 so we will most likely see that formation I imagine.

Saw the footage on SSN earlier... typical typical it was. Totally s***.

 

Hopefully he will produce a few more at SJP this season!

 

Just gotta hope that he doesn't have one if his good games when Wigan come here.

I doubt it. The crowd are going to get on his back from the outset and every bad thing he does will be cheered. He will definitely have a howler or he will get sent off for committing a bad foul because he is trying too hard.

ITitus shall torture us no more. I know for certain now that he will never change. There is something mentally wrong somewhere I think.

 

 

 

The absence of a brain?

Jokes aside, I actually wouldn't be surprised if this was the case.

I said it at the start of the window and I will say it again ... Harry kewell is their destiny.

They were claiming Atletico were asking for £8 million and thatw as the problem yet he has only cost Man city £4.7 million. Tottenham still can't get a left winger!

Sven is going to be a force for Man City, a lot of clubs are going to regret turning their noses up at him. He's doing a fine job so far. Very impressed with the players he is bringing in. Not at all going overboard but bringing in very good players nonetheless.

I literally couldn't believe it when I saw the clip this morning ... it was the same old stupid thing. No one around him, but he suddenly turns round and plays a back pass to the goalie which was too short, it was nicked by an attacker on the other team and it led directly to a goal.

At that point I remembered that despite the recent uncertainty around us at the moment there was in fact plenty to be grateful for. I looked up to the Heavens, smiled and thanked the good Lord for his small mercies. Titus shall torture us no more. I know for certain now that he will never change. There is something mentally wrong somewhere I think.

Although he says quality is running out other than Ben Haim im struggling to think of other quality defenders or players that have moves.

 

Exactly, that last article I posted also contained numbers of players we've tried to get, it mentions 10 to 15, I think I've only seen about 30 players moving with Premiership experience and most of them have been players we shouldn't be looking at, you wouldn't mention them and quality in the same breath.

thats the players who have moved,what about those we could be interested in but haven't moved.

Well if they haven't moved maybe we are still in with a chance of resurrecting the deal so not as worrying. Sam did state that a number of them had moved though and so it is hard to imagine who he could have meant.

Although he says quality is running out other than Ben Haim im struggling to think of other quality defenders or players that have moves.

 

Exactly, that last article I posted also contained numbers of players we've tried to get, it mentions 10 to 15, I think I've only seen about 30 players moving with Premiership experience and most of them have been players we shouldn't be looking at, you wouldn't mention them and quality in the same breath.

I'd have to agree. I can't imagine who he means.

Ben Haim

Distin

Jagielka

Luke Young

Bouhlarouz

As far as defenders go those are the only ones I can think of and only Ben Haim and Distin should really be considered great losses. The others are certainly not as good you wouldn't think.

Sam was saying yesterday that after he has done the initial sounding out regarding a potential recruit, he hands over to Mort who then takes it forward from there.

 

I think the board are being cautious, and maybe overly so, due to the bung enquiry which as a club we featured heavily in and which our current manager did also.

 

I remember the Rozehnal deal taking ages and I expect it is the same thing that is happening with all the others which are in the works. Every other move we've made this summer has been for people who were on a free and so they were more straightforward. Barton was pretty straight forward too because he had a clause that just had to be met.

 

I think we will get in the players we need, but I don't necessarily think the board are going to go out of their way to get it done as soon as possible just for Sam's sake. Their priority is probably to ensure the deals are being done right and we are not overpaying for players as has been our trademark. They've even chosen not to let Sam know what the budget is so that is a huge indication that they want to be in total control of the process.

 

Taking all this into account I would imagine it would make Sam pretty nervous because other than identifying the players he doesn't seem to be as involved as he is perhaps accustomed to being. Hopefully, his fears are unfounded and the board are going about things the right way and are in fact focused on bringing players in, with the only downside being it might take a bit longer than we would prefer.

 

Said everything that basically needs to be said right there. I wonder whether Sam's panorama episode might have made the new board a bit more cautious about fast-tracking deals which is probably what Allardyce is more used to?

 

 

When you take into account the fact that both the club and the manager were such a big part of the bung investigations, and you add to this the fact that Mort is having a first go at his new role, you would have to imagine that things would be taken very, very slowly. The emphasis is going to be on ensuring there are no similar scenarios in the future. I'm sure the recent police raid at the club would have only further slowed things down and re-emphasized the need for things to be done properly. All very frustrating, but the former regime has to take the blame.

Problem is, can anyone suggest a player who can offer what Dyer can (on his day at least) that is versatile in any AM positions, who is at their 'peak age', experienced in the PL and International level, who would come to us for even anything under £10m? Only one I can think of is SWP who could cost as much as £12m, and is even more limited postion wise, albeit more specialised on the RW position than Dyer. But Milner is fine there, with Geremi, Solano and Dyer able to cover that posistion...

 

And even though SWP is a lot younger, has less injury problems and is also very pacey, I think I'd still prefer Dyer over him even if we could get SWP for the same price we could get for Dyer...

 

Unless anyone else can think of a realistic and worthy replacement???

If you are tinking of prem players ...

Benayoun would have been great but has obviously gone for the exact same fee. Someone like Malbranque could be had for about the same fee. The Asian player from Reading might not be a bad option (sorry I forget his name!). We could also go with a youngster like Routledge for less than what we get for Dyer. Bouazza at Watford is another youngster who has shown promise. These are just a few of the top pf my head, yes most of them don't have the supposed 'pedigree' of Dyer, but I bet for the most part they would be just as productive for us. I'm sure there are a few more options if you had a good think about it.

Given Dyer's age, injury problems and reportly astronomical wages, added to the fact he's never actually delivered much if any of the promise he's supposedly always had and the fact nobody knows his best position, i'd be gobsmacked if we could raise more than £6m for him.

 

Age: 28 is hardly over the hill

Injuries: fair point, but he does seem to be over the worst now following a change to his fitness regime. Hamstrings are hardly the same as having major surgery.

Astronomical wages: par for the course for England players these days

as to what he delivers, everyone has a different opion, from fans to managers don't they? Yours is probably different to mine, but I would be looking for at least £5m and the figure mentioned by Allardyce was £6m.

 

 

He seems to be over them but his history of relapses is likely to be at the forefront of people's minds.

Also, wasn't there something about there being some likely difficulty in getting insurance for him, due to his injury history, should he move clubs? I would imagine this would be a reason for wanting to pay less for him.

So you'b be happy with lets say a straight swap for Jason Koumas at the price you are talking about? Don't get me wrong the time is probably right for Dyer to move, but come on how many of our current midfield would be picked ahead of Dyer, bearing in mind our injury curse is appearing again, plus he finally seems to be finding some consistant fitness without getting injured every few games after his previous injury comeback. It appears we will soon be getting as desperate for numbers in midfield due to injury as our defence is desperate for new signings due to lack of numbers/quality.... So just because some fans (ok most fans) think he's a tit or has been a tit in the past we should flog him for anything we'll get, bit like Bellamy was flogged by Souness/Shepherd... and so many of our other players!

 

Who said that?

Exactly what I was thinking!

It's got nothing to do with what the fans think, but everything to do with the reality of the situation which Dave spelt out in his previous post.

Given Dyer's age, injury problems and reportly astronomical wages, added to the fact he's never actually delivered much if any of the promise he's supposedly always had and the fact nobody knows his best position, i'd be gobsmacked if we could raise more than £6m for him.

Correctumundo.

To be honest, I think we should be ecstatic if we manage to get £6 million. I think that when you take all the things you mentioned into account, including the fact he wants to leave then we would be lucky to get more than £4 million.

Sam was saying yesterday that after he has done the initial sounding out regarding a potential recruit, he hands over to Mort who then takes it forward from there.

I think the board are being cautious, and maybe overly so, due to the bung enquiry which as a club we featured heavily in and which our current manager did also.

I remember the Rozehnal deal taking ages and I expect it is the same thing that is happening with all the others which are in the works. Every other move we've made this summer has been for people who were on a free and so they were more straightforward. Barton was pretty straight forward too because he had a clause that just had to be met.

I think we will get in the players we need, but I don't necessarily think the board are going to go out of their way to get it done as soon as possible just for Sam's sake. Their priority is probably to ensure the deals are being done right and we are not overpaying for players as has been our trademark. They've even chosen not to let Sam know what the budget is so that is a huge indication that they want to be in total control of the process.

Taking all this into account I would imagine it would make Sam pretty nervous because other than identifying the players he doesn't seem to be as involved as he is perhaps accustomed to being. Hopefully, his fears are unfounded and the board are going about things the right way and are in fact focused on bringing players in, with the only downside being it might take a bit longer than we would prefer.

post on skunkers says deal agreed with man city just been on 5 live so they say

Wait ... I thouht he wanted to be nearer to Ipswich though?

Well good luck to him. Let's move on and get someone better in.

Been to watch the baggies a few times seeing as i married a midland lass and her brothers are all baggies fans....

 

I DON'T think Davies is a patch on Taylor, OR Edgar for that matter!

Would rather see us signing a Hyppia, Heinze, Campbell or Riise!

Would also rather see us sign 4 Scandanavian big buggers for £2M a piece than Davies for 6-8M...

 

 

Davies had a lot of Bramblisms that weren't punished in Championship...would get slaughtered in Premier.....

Lescott was the best young un in the Championship and we chose NOT to sign him when we had the chance...he's been top notch for Z Cars...

 

All credibility lost ... what a statement.

Not a patch on Edgar?

Brede Hangeland got pwned.

Why the hell come out and claim interest when it blatantly isn't true same goes with the Chinese fella.

Stupidness.

About fuking time.

 

We cant attract top players plike Heinze, were fuking struggling to pull in average foreign talent like Beye, so we need to go for the likes of Baines, Davies & Shorey, even if it means paying a little extra.

 

So what if we paid £8m for him? We paid £5m for Bramble how many years ago? The market is more inflated than ever and Davies is a massive class above Bramble, you could even say the same for Boumsong, and unlike them two fuks, Davies will hold that price tag, and it will eventually grow. Same goes for Baines, at £6m he's a great signing for the club.

 

 

 

I'm sure we thought Bramble would hold his price and eventually grow when we bought him.

 

He's not the experienced defender I was hoping for.

 

Did we?

 

We thought he could possibly be a star but suffered humiliation a fair few times in his Ipswich career to suggest there were problems there. Also SBR was about the only man in the Country rating him at £5m. Wenger is a keen admirer of Davies, and he isn't even French, says it all.

 

Well if we pay £8 million for him then it's fair to say Allardyce is the only one rating him at that price, he's not a bad player but he's not worth anywhere near the price being mentioned and he'll have to do something spectacular for that value to rise, I watched him play next to Taylor in an England u21 game last season and he was all over the place, Taylor had to bail him out more than once.

 

As for Wenger rating him, he rated Jenas as well but wouldn't go near him for the fee mentioned.

 

What's £2m in the current climate though? £6m he's worth it, £8m he's not?

 

Will that matter in a couple of seasons? It cost us twice that amount to sack our last two managers, 3 times to get rid of Souness, GR, FS & SBR.

 

£9.5m on Luque, £17m on Owen, £8m on Boumsong and were bothered about £2m more than what Davies is probably worth.

 

I can't see the logic in it myself, there is a talent there, one U21 game where he was all over the place doesn't make a player, or is that it for Davies now, utter s**** and he should retire before embarrassing himself any further?

 

 

 

 

 

Where did I say he's utter s*** and should retire?

 

I've said he isn't worth £8 million as he isn't that good, even the West Brom fans are split on how good he is as he done f*** all for them last season, I couldn't care less how much his fee is in relation to Chopra's as the majority of the country laughed when they paid that, he isn't even close to Taylor in terms of ability and he isn't the experienced defender we should be looking for to bring the best out of him.

 

People seem happy just to be getting a defender in rather than how good he is.

 

Isn't close to Taylor?

 

When Davies was a first team defender for West Brom two years ago in the premiership, not to mention their captain where was Taylor?

 

Davies struggled with injuries last year and that is why he was so up and down. To claim he is no where near Taylor is rather shocking.

 

You say he isn't the experienced defender we need but what's to say we will not still be adding an experienced defender to the mix in addittion to Davies, which I think will be ideal. Or are you happy for Ramage to be one of our top four centre-backs next season?

 

Being captain of Newcastle United is slightly different to being a captain of a Championship club.

 

From what I've seen of Davies he isn't a patch on Taylor, he's physically weak for the size of the lad but is good with the ball at his feet, the West Brom fans rate Paul Mcshane a better player than him and I'd take their word for it as they watch them every week.

 

As for your ridiculous comment about Ramage, of course I don't want him in the squad but the chances of us signing Davies and an experienced defender that's any good are rather slim, unless you're suggesting Davies will come here as back up which makes his £8 million fee even more ridiculous.

 

In order to feel better about Davies being a backup at that price we could pretend we paid £2.5 million for him and £8 million for Rozehnal who won't be back up.

 

My point is that it all balances out. Considering we got such a good deal on Rozehnal I think it would make sense. It's not like Davies is 28 or something, he will still have a chance to contribute and he would eventually end up in the first team someday.

 

If we then brought in someone like Hyypia to, who again wouldn't cost to much, to bring the other three along and also to play against the tougher opponents like the Chelseas that would work I think.

 

I've never seen this Rozenhal in a competitive match so I won't comment if it's a good deal or not, I don't think the idea of pretending we paid different fee's for them is something I'll be doing in the near future either since I'm 27 and not 15.

 

 

I was obviously joking about pretending, although at a guess I would have thought you were about a lot younger than 15.

We need another good, young defender as I am not impressed by Ramage and Huntington and Edgar are for further down the road.

If Arsenal could pay £10 million for Walcott who wasn't even really in the squad last year then I don't see  why we can't pay £8 million for a young defender who will be in the squad and who we could brin along till he is ready to partner Taylor for years to come.

About fuking time.

 

We cant attract top players plike Heinze, were fuking struggling to pull in average foreign talent like Beye, so we need to go for the likes of Baines, Davies & Shorey, even if it means paying a little extra.

 

So what if we paid £8m for him? We paid £5m for Bramble how many years ago? The market is more inflated than ever and Davies is a massive class above Bramble, you could even say the same for Boumsong, and unlike them two fuks, Davies will hold that price tag, and it will eventually grow. Same goes for Baines, at £6m he's a great signing for the club.

 

 

 

I'm sure we thought Bramble would hold his price and eventually grow when we bought him.

 

He's not the experienced defender I was hoping for.

 

Did we?

 

We thought he could possibly be a star but suffered humiliation a fair few times in his Ipswich career to suggest there were problems there. Also SBR was about the only man in the Country rating him at £5m. Wenger is a keen admirer of Davies, and he isn't even French, says it all.

 

Well if we pay £8 million for him then it's fair to say Allardyce is the only one rating him at that price, he's not a bad player but he's not worth anywhere near the price being mentioned and he'll have to do something spectacular for that value to rise, I watched him play next to Taylor in an England u21 game last season and he was all over the place, Taylor had to bail him out more than once.

 

As for Wenger rating him, he rated Jenas as well but wouldn't go near him for the fee mentioned.

 

What's £2m in the current climate though? £6m he's worth it, £8m he's not?

 

Will that matter in a couple of seasons? It cost us twice that amount to sack our last two managers, 3 times to get rid of Souness, GR, FS & SBR.

 

£9.5m on Luque, £17m on Owen, £8m on Boumsong and were bothered about £2m more than what Davies is probably worth.

 

I can't see the logic in it myself, there is a talent there, one U21 game where he was all over the place doesn't make a player, or is that it for Davies now, utter s**** and he should retire before embarrassing himself any further?

 

 

 

 

 

Where did I say he's utter s*** and should retire?

 

I've said he isn't worth £8 million as he isn't that good, even the West Brom fans are split on how good he is as he done f*** all for them last season, I couldn't care less how much his fee is in relation to Chopra's as the majority of the country laughed when they paid that, he isn't even close to Taylor in terms of ability and he isn't the experienced defender we should be looking for to bring the best out of him.

 

People seem happy just to be getting a defender in rather than how good he is.

 

Isn't close to Taylor?

 

When Davies was a first team defender for West Brom two years ago in the premiership, not to mention their captain where was Taylor?

 

Davies struggled with injuries last year and that is why he was so up and down. To claim he is no where near Taylor is rather shocking.

 

You say he isn't the experienced defender we need but what's to say we will not still be adding an experienced defender to the mix in addittion to Davies, which I think will be ideal. Or are you happy for Ramage to be one of our top four centre-backs next season?

 

Being captain of Newcastle United is slightly different to being a captain of a Championship club.

 

From what I've seen of Davies he isn't a patch on Taylor, he's physically weak for the size of the lad but is good with the ball at his feet, the West Brom fans rate Paul Mcshane a better player than him and I'd take their word for it as they watch them every week.

 

As for your ridiculous comment about Ramage, of course I don't want him in the squad but the chances of us signing Davies and an experienced defender that's any good are rather slim, unless you're suggesting Davies will come here as back up which makes his £8 million fee even more ridiculous.

In order to feel better about Davies being a backup at that price we could pretend we paid £2.5 million for him and £8 million for Rozehnal who won't be back up.

My point is that it all balances out. Considering we got such a good deal on Rozehnal I think it would make sense. It's not like Davies is 28 or something, he will still have a chance to contribute and he would eventually end up in the first team someday.

If we then brought in someone like Hyypia to, who again wouldn't cost to much, to bring the other three along and also to play against the tougher opponents like the Chelseas that would work I think.

Sounds good. Clearly states that there are funds available but that we won't be throwing money around, which is good. I am a fan of this stance. However, it probably means it will take us a while to land our targets, but it will be good for us in the long term. Seems he's a tough negotiator, at least we won't be a soft touch in the transfer market anymore.

I have to say one good thing about the delay in our signings is the fact that the initial "Allardyce has £50 million to spend ... " talk all died down so other clubs won't be looking to take advantage because now I think everyone is clueless about how much we actually have to spend.

About fuking time.

 

We cant attract top players plike Heinze, were fuking struggling to pull in average foreign talent like Beye, so we need to go for the likes of Baines, Davies & Shorey, even if it means paying a little extra.

 

So what if we paid £8m for him? We paid £5m for Bramble how many years ago? The market is more inflated than ever and Davies is a massive class above Bramble, you could even say the same for Boumsong, and unlike them two fuks, Davies will hold that price tag, and it will eventually grow. Same goes for Baines, at £6m he's a great signing for the club.

 

 

 

I'm sure we thought Bramble would hold his price and eventually grow when we bought him.

 

He's not the experienced defender I was hoping for.

 

Did we?

 

We thought he could possibly be a star but suffered humiliation a fair few times in his Ipswich career to suggest there were problems there. Also SBR was about the only man in the Country rating him at £5m. Wenger is a keen admirer of Davies, and he isn't even French, says it all.

 

Well if we pay £8 million for him then it's fair to say Allardyce is the only one rating him at that price, he's not a bad player but he's not worth anywhere near the price being mentioned and he'll have to do something spectacular for that value to rise, I watched him play next to Taylor in an England u21 game last season and he was all over the place, Taylor had to bail him out more than once.

 

As for Wenger rating him, he rated Jenas as well but wouldn't go near him for the fee mentioned.

 

What's £2m in the current climate though? £6m he's worth it, £8m he's not?

 

Will that matter in a couple of seasons? It cost us twice that amount to sack our last two managers, 3 times to get rid of Souness, GR, FS & SBR.

 

£9.5m on Luque, £17m on Owen, £8m on Boumsong and were bothered about £2m more than what Davies is probably worth.

 

I can't see the logic in it myself, there is a talent there, one U21 game where he was all over the place doesn't make a player, or is that it for Davies now, utter s**** and he should retire before embarrassing himself any further?

 

 

 

 

 

Where did I say he's utter s*** and should retire?

 

I've said he isn't worth £8 million as he isn't that good, even the West Brom fans are split on how good he is as he done f*** all for them last season, I couldn't care less how much his fee is in relation to Chopra's as the majority of the country laughed when they paid that, he isn't even close to Taylor in terms of ability and he isn't the experienced defender we should be looking for to bring the best out of him.

 

People seem happy just to be getting a defender in rather than how good he is.

Isn't close to Taylor?

When Davies was a first team defender for West Brom two years ago in the premiership, not to mention their captain where was Taylor?

Davies struggled with injuries last year and that is why he was so up and down. To claim he is no where near Taylor is rather shocking.

You say he isn't the experienced defender we need but what's to say we will not still be adding an experienced defender to the mix in addittion to Davies, which I think will be ideal. Or are you happy for Ramage to be one of our top four centre-backs next season?

About fuking time.

 

We cant attract top players plike Heinze, were fuking struggling to pull in average foreign talent like Beye, so we need to go for the likes of Baines, Davies & Shorey, even if it means paying a little extra.

 

So what if we paid £8m for him? We paid £5m for Bramble how many years ago? The market is more inflated than ever and Davies is a massive class above Bramble, you could even say the same for Boumsong, and unlike them two fuks, Davies will hold that price tag, and it will eventually grow. Same goes for Baines, at £6m he's a great signing for the club.

 

 

 

I'm sure we thought Bramble would hold his price and eventually grow when we bought him.

 

He's not the experienced defender I was hoping for.

 

Did we?

 

We thought he could possibly be a star but suffered humiliation a fair few times in his Ipswich career to suggest there were problems there. Also SBR was about the only man in the Country rating him at £5m. Wenger is a keen admirer of Davies, and he isn't even French, says it all.

 

Well if we pay £8 million for him then it's fair to say Allardyce is the only one rating him at that price, he's not a bad player but he's not worth anywhere near the price being mentioned and he'll have to do something spectacular for that value to rise, I watched him play next to Taylor in an England u21 game last season and he was all over the place, Taylor had to bail him out more than once.

 

As for Wenger rating him, he rated Jenas as well but wouldn't go near him for the fee mentioned.

 

What's £2m in the current climate though? £6m he's worth it, £8m he's not?

 

Will that matter in a couple of seasons? It cost us twice that amount to sack our last two managers, 3 times to get rid of Souness, GR, FS & SBR.

 

£9.5m on Luque, £17m on Owen, £8m on Boumsong and were bothered about £2m more than what Davies is probably worth.

 

I can't see the logic in it myself, there is a talent there, one U21 game where he was all over the place doesn't make a player, or is that it for Davies now, utter s**** and he should retire before embarrassing himself any further?

 

 

 

 

I agree with you. You also have to take into account that he did well in the premiership first time around and by alla ccounts is a top character who was captain of West Brom in the premiership at 21! This was under Bryan Robson too who is pretty high on good character guys.

If we are going to pay over the odds on a player it might as well be him. Potential is never guaranteed but you have to look at each individual. In Davies case you have a good character, work ethic and leadership qualities so it is more likely than not going to work out in our favour should we sign him. Bramble had potential but character wise I think he lacked self belief, he wasn't a hard worker and he certainly wasn't a leader.

Really is looking like 3-5-2 isn't it.

If we keep Martins I think it will be a 4-3-3 because I think Sam will want both Martins and Owen on the pitch playing off Viduka.

Davies would be a decent signing too but 5-6mil max.... 8mil is ridiculous!!

British player tax ... for other examples see Darren Bent, Andy Johnson, David Nugent, Michael Chopra etc etc etc

I actually think we will be getting off lightly paying £8 million as West Brom turned down a £10 million offer from Portsmouth just after they were relegated I believe.