fredbob

I dont hink its coincidence that our improvemn as a teamhas occured when Martins was in the team agaisnt Birmingham, i think he's very important because he provdis a decent outlet and applies pressure on the opposition defence like no one else. Owend Viduka can easily be marked out the game wen th pressure is on us, but with Martins in the side not only does he come deep, makng it dfficul to mark, but he can apply the pressure on the defence stright away, unlike any other of our players. This is vital to the team.

Was reading the mackems "realistic summer transfer" thread the other day and was thinking what a crazy bunch of delusional idiots they were, saying that Keane should go for the likes of Bentley or Martins. Then I come here and see us seriously talking about Henry, Deco and Ronaldinho. Keegan has already intimated that some of the targets he has in his head are big names. "Maybe im dreaming" well what kind of sigining would mak him give himself that assessment. I genuinely think that there are some big signings in there, Spurs beat Man U to Bale, albeit with a 5th place finish under there belt the previus season, Man City signed some CL players who would of been coveted by some big Euroean sides, despite finishing poorly the previous seaosn, well we are a team with fresh impetus, and a solid foundation to build something huge on. What is to stop us signing players like Deco, Henry and Ronnie who a few years ago were on the radar of some of the biggest clubs in the world and now are part of a pack of players who dont have the star quality they once had. There are countless sides in the past who have upped there own levels of ambitions by outlaying a lot of cash and getting the big players, with obviously varying degrees of succes, why cant we be any different. Lazio, Roma, Man City, Villa, Newcastle, Chelsea, Betis, Athletico Madrid, Leeds. Now im not comparing Newcastle to these clubs in the direct sense, but im saying that they all have demonstrated that dspite there varying history and circumstance they have all showed the ability to sign big big player by outlaying cash. Why cant we be any different? Its all there.

I think Deco would be far more valuable to side, regarding other transfers. To sign a player ike Deco woud be a big coup, arguably more of a coup than signing Bentley, for me Deco is absoltue class and always has been, therefore making it unfair to compare him to the likes of Kluivert and Luque, he has that drive to suceed at all levels and i see no reason why it would any different here. However, I absolutely see the merits of signing Bently, he is proving himself to be an excellent player, but for the short term we need to put a stamp on the direction we want to be going and for me Deco offers that stamp. More so than Bentley ever will. (in my opinion). I think it coes down to who holds the most long term value to the club, an for me that wuld be Deco.

Good poll, i dont think this poll is an simple as people are making out, its always diffcult to back the signing of an ageing player possibly on the way down, especially against a player on the way up, but for me i think Deco would probably be the most value to the club. Deco is a world class and world reknowned player, he would be a tell tale sign of the direction that this club wants to be. His value would be felt both on the pitch and also financially, as he wouldin essence pay for himself. For me it comes down to the value Deco has to the club, and i cant think of too many players who wouldnt want to play with player like Deco. Deco for me.

Excellent criteria.

Not going to happen. Why not?

Adriano would be an absoltely immense signing as well, would be immense in the PL as well, i know he has a huge amount of baggage but i beleive if he's able to enjoy his football and have a team built around him he could thrive here. I genuinelyf eel that there are some surprisingly big targets going by some of Keegans quotes.

Henry the player would probably not want him here, psossibly too much baggage, but Henry an an asset would be massiviely useful for the club. Business wise it would probably make sense to sign him, but i feel we'vebeen down this "business before football" route before and would like to see more impetus on signing players looking to reach there peak rather than ones who have already had it.

What about Ronaldihno? Has he actually been mentioned in the thread? I think that he could be a target.

Dont like Crouch here either, doesnt strike me as the typeof striker that Keegan would want either. His healthy knack of popping up ad scroign the odd important goal has disguised the fact that actually he's a very avergae layer who desnt really excel in any particular aspect of his game.

£15m seems a lot of money for him, but as has been mentioned earlier, he'd be a player that pays for himself and would also improve the team massively. Think we're desperate for a DM though, would absolutley love Veloso head in the tclouds type signing.

Yeah, I was about to say something similar. Who cares about the money? He's a class act. If Keegan wants the player and Ashley is willing to stump up and this doesn't have a negative impact on our ability to buy/keep other players, then why not? I'd love to see Deco in a black and white shirt. I tink its important to be business smart, not in the penny pinching sense but the overpaying for players that arent 100% worth overpaying, to me, Deco is an excellent player no doubt but i dont think he warrants that sort of silly money. This businnes needs to be run on a sustainable level, we have no debt now and that is excellent but the club has been geared toward having a sustainable long term future and pissing money up the wall on players with definite shelf life isnt what id call sustainable. I can see the merit in signing someone who is unquestionably worth the money. One thing to remember if we're talking business is it's not just about the outlay, you have to take what the player would bring in in terms of income. If Deco shifts a s***-load of shirts and more importantly gets us playing regular European football then £15m will be quickly recouped. That's why a team like LA Galaxy can take the "risk" on shelling out an obscene amount of money of someone like Beckham, he's guaranteed to actually earn them money, a lot of money, in fact he's probably paid for himself already, they may have even turned a profit on him by now. Deco's not in the same league as Beckham in terms of income generation, but you can't dismiss the fact that he'd be likely to bring in a decent wedge for the club. Good point!

Yeah, I was about to say something similar. Who cares about the money? He's a class act. If Keegan wants the player and Ashley is willing to stump up and this doesn't have a negative impact on our ability to buy/keep other players, then why not? I'd love to see Deco in a black and white shirt. I tink its important to be business smart, not in the penny pinching sense but the overpaying for players that arent 100% worth overpaying, to me, Deco is an excellent player no doubt but i dont think he warrants that sort of silly money. This businnes needs to be run on a sustainable level, we have no debt now and that is excellent but the club has been geared toward having a sustainable long term future and pissing money up the wall on players with definite shelf life isnt what id call sustainable. I can see the merit in signing someone who is unquestionably worth the money.

Seems especially dear seeing as though they got Henry for £16m.

Yeah, but is that realistic or would we just be wasting our time by setting our sights too high? Id of thought that Diego may of been a more realisitc target than Deco, Deco is playing in a far superior team with a far superior league to Diego he is also a world reknwned player, whereas Diego is a player who hasnt quite made it onto the world stage which is manly down to the team and league he plays for.

If you're Mike Ashley it's probably what you tip the paper boy. source?

Not a roaring success though which is what I want from every player. Maybe Martins will be that eventually, I would hope for that. Can't see it though. Yeh but how can you demand that from players in teams that have absolutley no cohesion. I think its a bit unfair to wave tht stick at Martins.

Diego is a class plaer but seems a bit lightwieght to me, need players that can ride a tackle or just plain avoid them with skill if they're gonna stand any chance of being a success in the prem.

I dont see how anyone can say otherwise. He's played under 3 managers now and 2 of the managers have played styles and systems which dont suit him yet he's still come out with a decent goalscoring record as well as being key in a fair few goals scored by other players in his time. By know means is he setting the world alight but he's done a very good job so far. Owen is obviously getting the likmelight in the media recently and deservedly so, but for me Martins has been instrumental in the revival. Especially at Birmingham.

What makes you say that?

But one is proven in the premiership is younger and financically cheaper, hungrier and ambitiuos and the the other is unproven in this league, more expenisve longer term and maybe not as hungry to prove himself. Although as you say ability wise not entirely comparable but i can se the merit in wating Bentley.

True, good job we didnt go for Barnes and Rush as well.

Im always wary of signing players who are 30 years or older. In fact, 28 years is abit too old for me, i dont know why, its completely irrational but i like the idea of having a younger side who mature together. Deco should be a signing that gets me very very excited but it just doesnt, especially at £15m, just seems too much.

For me, Butts performances have highlighted the importance of geting a new DM, thought for a while now that whever Butt has a good game so do we, unfortunately he's not getting any younger and isnt as effective as he once was. Still think his distribution is tosh at times though!!

Not sure i agree with all of that, my point was that Everton are handicapped as a club by having Livepool in the same city. i think its a bit of an unrealisitc view to suggest that the tradition of the clubs has much standing in todays game, unfortunately it is an aspect of the game which seems to be phased out in order to make more room for the souless business side of the game. I like Everton as a club, i think Moyes has done a fantastic job and maybe doesnt get half the credit he deserves (credit which seems to be reseverd for the english Sam Allrdyce) but i genuinely believe that having a good history, having a good standing at present and having a good tradition count for very little in toays more moey driven game. And especially so when you have a massive world reknonwed club on your doorstep. Its David versus Goliath without the rock. So what do you think about Atletico Madrid? They attract big name players every year and have pretty much an identical honours list to Everton and the biggest club in the world on their doorstep. The difference being money. You just said yourself that today's game is money driven, Atletico have lots of it and we don't. It's also worth considering that back in the 70's when Liverpool were far, far stronger than they are now and were winning everything in sight it was no handicap to us in the long run, we came through it stronger and won major trophies ourselves in the 80's. Back then we had the finances to compete at the very top end of the market and go after all the top players but now we're operating a step below that. If/when things change in the boardroom then that will be reflected on the pitch. We'll be able to genuinely compete at that point but until then, we're hoping one of the rich clubs will slip up and our manager will be able to capitalise on it. Same as Villa/City/Spurs/Newcastle. What about Athletico Madrid? There are alot of incomparable differences there that you cant really apply to Liverpool/Everton, such as the city, the weather etc. Does that not have an effect of the percieved glamour of the club? Also are Athetico competing with Real for these big players? I dont think so, and i dont think that there have been many cases of Real losing out on a player to Athletico. I think you've inadvertently explained yourself why Liverpool are comletely relevant to the success of your club, if Everton were the only club in that city, then do you think you wold of benefitted from that extra support? To say that having Liverpool in your city is irrelavent nonsense just sounds like yu may be in denial. I just cant see how you dont hink that them being in your city doesnt have adirect effect on how you do as a club.