Lloydie

Looking at our finances of late I can't imagine we've got 9 million, and I'm pretty sure we can't add the wages for another 9 million pound player in either. So barring the Belgravia group stumping up for the club in the next few weeks I don't see this going anywhere. Personally I'd say the priority remains the left back slot. If Bridge is still an option from Chelsea that'd be great, but mostly we just need a decent leftback. After that, probably a centreback and then maybe look at a forward signing. If we bring Bent in that means we'd go into next season with Owen, Ameobi, Martins, Bent, Dyer and Sibierski (if he stays on) all wanting to play up front. Doesn't look like good planning to me.

Cheers for all the 'nice first post' comments btw lads :-)

I think this is one of those moments where a manager earns his money. Roeder's got improvements out of some of our squad (Butt) and Bramble was starting to improve before he got crocked. On the other hand he's probably on a healthy wage and he was by no means the finished article... If Roeder keeps him he's got to get him playing better than he has been, if he can't then we'll have to sell the player and it's a mark against the manager. If Roeder can turn him round - probably by teaching him to concentrate for an entire game - then credit to Glenn and well done. 500k is fair money for someone at this stage of their contract, and I'd guess our finances are so tight that getting Bramble (or someone) off the wage bill might be a necessary prerequisite to making signings in January. Getting shot of Luque should free up the money for a squad player or two mind

Definately wanted to see the good Bernard playing again. The one who worked hard, ran through brick walls (and opposing wingers) for the team etc. Perhaps a pay as/if you play contract might keep him on for a bit post-op? But as a signing it's not worked out. Deadline day panic, the medical missed the injury problem and it left us out in the cold. Half a season later we still need a left back. The quality way Roeders brought the kids through is a whole different thread though. N'Zogbia, Taylor, Ramage and Huntington have all come on miles since he took over. Most premiership teams do well to get one squad player a season through their youth teams. A few more years of this and the finances will be looking great, and we might even be a bit closer to that 11 geordies on the pitch the Chairman wants so much. Shame Chops didn't cut it...

That's harsh. Besides you can't rely on N'Zogbia to keep turning in top performances for a whole season - he's just a lad - and now he's injured. If we're serious about Europe, etc. you need two quality players for every position. Sounds like Emre did OK yesterday, but we need him in the middle. I reckon Duff will pay off. Look at the change in Martins since he's been injury free.

(First post, therefore far too long and ambitious, be nice...) Since Roeder came in we've seen Viana, Shearer, Bowyer and Chopra depart, for less than 2 million (but a lot off the wage bill). In their place have come the following players. Half a season later and coming up to the January transfer window how are we doing? More importantly, would you trust Glenn with more of the clubs money? Damien Duff The first Roeder signing was certainly an encouraging one and the price looked right. 12 league starts, 1000 minutes and one league goal later we still haven't seen anything like the player we thought we were getting. Injuries have definately played a part in that, but what looked like a great piece of business at the time needs to start paying itself back in the second half of the season. We paid 5 million Now worth 4 million? Signing Rating - 6/10 Comments - Get fit, deliver the goods and this could still be a great signing Obafemi Martins He's young, he's quick, he's got spring heeled boots and a shot that could demolish small buildings. He took a few months to bed in, something that wasn't helped by an injury and a constantly shifting team behind him. Fast forward to now and 14 league starts and 7 league goals suggests he's the real deal. We paid - 10.5 million Now worth - 10 - 12 milion? Signing Rating - 8/10 Comments - 15-20 goals in a first premiership season looks realistic. We needed a striker and Martins delivered Olivier Bernard Looked like a good idea at the time (well I thought so), but promptly fell victim to the 2006 injury curse after a few unconvincing runouts for the reserves. Lets hope he's not getting paid much. We paid - peanuts Now worth - peanuts Signing Rating - 2/10 Comments - could have only been worse if he was expensive Antoine Sibierski Signed to widespread scepticism, especially following comments from the club about us being in for 'another big name striker' or whatever it was. Has since demonstrated that he's an adequate target man. Two goals in the league and some nice bullying performances in the UEFA cup make him a great use of whatever spare change we handed over to Man City for him. We paid - peanuts Now worth - 0.5 - 1.5 million Signing Rating - 8/10 Comments - fantastic value for money and a very smart short term signing. Giuseppe Rossi Maybe we needed someone to make up the numbers in training, maybe Roeder thought he was getting something other than he did. Looks like we'll never know. We paid - loan Now worth - ? Signing Rating - 3/10 Comments - waste of time Pavel Srnicek Panic signing as our keepers fell like nine pins. Hearing he played for five minutes yesterday put a smile on my face that made it worth every penny. We paid - peanuts Now worth - peanuts (sorry Pav) Signing Rating - 10/10 Comments - 150 appearances from a true Geordie. Lets hope he stays on as coach as rumoured. Looking at that list you'd have to say that the seasons injuries haven't helped. At least the failures (Bernard, Rossi) were cheap, and importantly the big money buys look to be working out. Seeing the transformation Roeder's got out of Butt and to a lesser extent Emre gives me confidence that the Duff deal will pay off, and I'm sure he wouldn't buy another Luque. But what do you reckon?