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Gio van Bronckhorst


Optimistic Nut

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Just said in commentary that he's probably on his way to Feyenoord in the summer from Barcelona. F*cking hell. We should definitely be having a look at that situation. Can't be going for that much money if he's going back to the Dutch League, and is a huge improvement at left-back than what we've got. Would probably be interested as well if we made an approach.

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I think Feyenoord is his boyhood club. He probably wants to retire soon.

 

It'll be the same situation as Larsson where he simply wants to go home  and will turn down better offers to do so

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Release Babayaro and bring Bridge and Van Bronckhorst here

 

Howay man, let's try and keep things even partially realistic if we're going to give our opinions on signings. I could quite happily say: "release Bramble, Moore and Onyewu and bring in Rio Ferdinand, Terry and Woodgate" but it's fairly pointless as it's extremely unlikely.

 

As others have said, it makes sense that GVB would want to head home at this stage of his career and like others I'm not convinced he'd do well over here anyway - plus he doesn't exactly fit Roeder's "blueprint" of the type of player we should be bringing in (not that I'm expecting us to buy no players 25+).

 

To me it seems like we'll be sniffing around Bale and Baines, along with bundles of other clubs, despite the fact the chances of getting the former can't be great. It will be interesting to see how much Wigan would ask for Baines, like. Although I can see us ending up with Bridge as a sort of "last on our list" sort of thing. He fits the mould of our recent policy perfectly: Chelsea castoff, injury prone, will only come here for his mates and the money, then Glenn can claim he has "everything to prove" after leaving Chelsea to come North. Just like Damien Duff has done. Once upon a time I was extremely enthusiastic about bringing Bridge in, but now I can't see it as being anything other than another dodgy signing.

 

He's undoubtedly a better option than anything we have, but him staying fit, performing to our expectations and settling here is nowhere near nailed-on.

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To me it seems like we'll be sniffing around Bale and Baines,

 

Not impressed with Baines.

 

Regardless of that, we'll surely be interested in him because he's exactly the "type" of player we'll be looking to bring in. I certainly think he's a bit overrated as well from what I've seen of him and his size is something that would count against him in my book, as well. With a team likes ours which is already crying out for some more height and power in there somewhere, having a pair of fullbacks like Solano and Baines is going to do nothing but put more pressure on the goalkeeper and centre-halves from set-piece situations - especially when the rest of the team will also be under six-feet tall.

 

I know there are some people who reckon stuff like this won't matter because we'll somehow be playing delightful passing football the rest of the time and scoring for fun, but in the Premiership if you cannot compete physically then you're going to struggle in certain aspects of the game.

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Release Babayaro and bring Bridge and Van Bronckhorst here

 

Howay man, let's try and keep things even partially realistic if we're going to give our opinions on signings. I could quite happily say: "release Bramble, Moore and Onyewu and bring in Rio Ferdinand, Terry and Woodgate" but it's fairly pointless as it's extremely unlikely.

 

As others have said, it makes sense that GVB would want to head home at this stage of his career and like others I'm not convinced he'd do well over here anyway - plus he doesn't exactly fit Roeder's "blueprint" of the type of player we should be bringing in (not that I'm expecting us to buy no players 25+).

 

To me it seems like we'll be sniffing around Bale and Baines, along with bundles of other clubs, despite the fact the chances of getting the former can't be great. It will be interesting to see how much Wigan would ask for Baines, like. Although I can see us ending up with Bridge as a sort of "last on our list" sort of thing. He fits the mould of our recent policy perfectly: Chelsea castoff, injury prone, will only come here for his mates and the money, then Glenn can claim he has "everything to prove" after leaving Chelsea to come North. Just like Damien Duff has done. Once upon a time I was extremely enthusiastic about bringing Bridge in, but now I can't see it as being anything other than another dodgy signing.

 

He's undoubtedly a better option than anything we have, but him staying fit, performing to our expectations and settling here is nowhere near nailed-on.

 

Only unrealistic thing i said is signing  Van Bronckhorst

Yes i agree with you that he is getting old and maybe it will be better for him to retire in Holland

Releasing Babayaro will be logical considering that he is our most injuryed player in our squad

We have been linked with Bridge for a long time and it wouldnt be great surprice if we sign him

I have great doubts about to whether we sign Bridge or Baines.

Maybe you are right saying that Bridge will be another Duff but we will never know until he plays for us

I havent watched Baines in many games so i cant have any strong opinion on him.

Bridge on the other hand has big experience and is pretty solid solution to our LB problems

The other thing that matters is the price

Wigan would want at least 6-7m for Baines and i think Chelsea would be willing to let Beidge for less

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Is Bridge injury prone? I know he broke his ankle at Chelsea but before that he had some record for the most consecutive games played in the premiership for Southampton, not somehting you would get from an injury prone player. To be honest I can't claim to know his injury record to any great extent at Chelsea but I was under the impression he had one (maybe 2) bad injuries at Chelsea but has missed more games due to Jose's preference of Del Horno or Cole?

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Is Bridge injury prone? I know he broke his ankle at Chelsea but before that he had some record for the most consecutive games played in the premiership for Southampton, not somehting you would get from an injury prone player. To be honest I can't claim to know his injury record to any great extent at Chelsea but I was under the impression he had one (maybe 2) bad injuries at Chelsea but has missed more games due to Jose's preference of Del Horno or Cole?

 

Didnt he broke his ankle against us when Shearer tackled him at St James Park during FA Cup game?

If im right it was very unfortunate for him and you cant call that injury prone player

Injury prone is someone like Babayaro who after 2-3 games gets hamstring  and groin problems.And that repeats the whole season long

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When discussing Bridge, aren't we ignoring the fact that since Cashley got injured Bridge has excelled? A fringe player at Chelsea for a while, I thought he was flourishing?

 

Another element is that Mourinho may be leaving in the summer, plus Abramovich's statement that paying silly fees is a thing of the past - which means a new man would have to reassess the squad and make do without ridiculous transfers.

 

For me it all adds up to Bridge staying at Chelsea... As far as I'm concerned, the boat has well and truely sailed on that one...

 

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Is Bridge injury prone? I know he broke his ankle at Chelsea but before that he had some record for the most consecutive games played in the premiership for Southampton, not somehting you would get from an injury prone player. To be honest I can't claim to know his injury record to any great extent at Chelsea but I was under the impression he had one (maybe 2) bad injuries at Chelsea but has missed more games due to Jose's preference of Del Horno or Cole?

 

He missed the last two rounds of England games with separate injuries that kept him out for 2-4 weeks at a time, did he not? In both February and March? Prior to that he got a slight injury at Fulham towards the back end of last season (also coinciding with playing for England). He did manage something like 35 games per season for Southampton, mind, as you've said! But wasn't without his injuries there, either, again coinciding with England fixtures from what I can find from Google. Obviously it's not giving us the whole story as it only tends to get good media coverage if he's missing for England (found another from 2004 where he was injured when we played Ukraine and last year when he went off injured against Uruguay), but the impression I've had of Bridge since he joined Chelsea is that he's picked up continuos knocks and niggles causing him to miss opportunities - and he's had that big injury that's been mentioned already.

 

Certainly not as bad as some of the wasters we have here, but not close to being impeccable either.

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Is Bridge injury prone? I know he broke his ankle at Chelsea but before that he had some record for the most consecutive games played in the premiership for Southampton, not somehting you would get from an injury prone player. To be honest I can't claim to know his injury record to any great extent at Chelsea but I was under the impression he had one (maybe 2) bad injuries at Chelsea but has missed more games due to Jose's preference of Del Horno or Cole?

 

He missed the last two rounds of England games with separate injuries that kept him out for 2-4 weeks at a time, did he not? In both February and March? Prior to that he got a slight injury at Fulham towards the back end of last season (also coinciding with playing for England). He did manage something like 35 games per season for Southampton, mind, as you've said! But wasn't without his injuries there, either, again coinciding with England fixtures from what I can find from Google. Obviously it's not giving us the whole story as it only tends to get good media coverage if he's missing for England (found another from 2004 where he was injured when we played Ukraine and last year when he went off injured against Uruguay), but the impression I've had of Bridge since he joined Chelsea is that he's picked up continuos knocks and niggles causing him to miss opportunities - and he's had that big injury that's been mentioned already.

 

Certainly not as bad as some of the wasters we have here, but not close to being impeccable either.

 

Not many are, doubt you will find many players who havent had a knock or two over the last few years. If you asked how many injuries Shay has had other the last few years you could be mistaken for thinking he was injury prone just from the injuries he has picked up this year! :D

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Van Bronkchorst is what, 32 now? I doubt him being able to take the pace of the premiership on a consistent basis, especailly given he struggled at Arsenal when he was in his mid 20's.

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Jon: He's missed quite a lot of time on the whole though and it's tended to happen every season since 2004 from what I gather. He certainly doesn't seem a 30-odd game a season kind of guy like Jonathan Woodgate is these days, is all I'm saying. :lol:

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I would like to see something showing how many games he has actually missed through injury in the last few years.

 

He showed enough to Soton imo that he is not really injury prone. Maybe had a few unlucky injuries like a broken ankle (unless you are made of steel these things can happen).

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I would like to see something showing how many games he has actually missed through injury in the last few years.

 

He showed enough to Soton imo that he is not really injury prone. Maybe had a few unlucky injuries like a broken ankle (unless you are made of steel these things can happen).

 

Unfortunately I'm not sure such a thing exists... and if you want it that badly you can feckin' find it yourself!

 

Bit like Matthew Upson, really, played a lot of games for a few years during his earlier days but has since been an injury prone mess of a human being.

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Did Upson play all that many games? Would like to see the stats...

 

 

 

 

...Sorry I am just trying to drag out work :D

 

Heh! I know man, I'm trying to keep you entertained by stringing out this "debate" with utterly shite posts like comparing Upson to Bridge and the Woodgate comment. :lol:

 

Bridge has actually played 29 games (8 as sub) already this season against Woody's 32 starts and like you say, it's probably only that low because of Ashley Cole.

 

As for Upson, he played 111 games in 3 seasons between 2002-2005 and 29 the following year, has struggled since. Bridge played more than that during the same spell. Although the difference overall isn't as large as I'd expected.

 

You can check here: Upson - Bridge

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