Ashley to "stun the football world" with big signings

[NE5]

Hmmm interesting ...

 

Not sure how true this is, but if I was going to put money on it I would say Deco.

 

The article claims it is close to happening and we have been holed up in Barcelone for days now. Barcelona have since allegedly put in a bid for fat Frank.

 

Deco is still a big name and is at the age where he might consider a challenge like ours as he has achieved a lot at Barca and has just turned 30.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens. I won't be losing sleep if we don't make any "world class" sigings though. i love what we have been doing so far this summer.

 

 

Personally, if people are going to talk about "trophy signings" or signings of intent, whatever you call it, then this is a perfect example of one.

 

The player to buy for big money is the player with his career ahead of him, which is by and large what we did under the Halls and Shepherd.

 

Here's to Tevez, and players of that age. Not people for big fees who are past their best.

 

 

[Guest alex]

Change the record man.

[Guest alex]

Buffon 35 million.

 

Why do we need Buffon if we have Shay ?

Probably the daftest place to spunk away that sort of money with the keeper we already have. I know Given has his faults like. Not sure if the original post was tongue-in-cheek or not though.

[NG32]

Why do we need Buffon if we have Shay ?

 

I was joking, I also mentioned Robocop, we already have Taylor right?

[Guest alex]

Why do we need Buffon if we have Shay ?

 

I was joking, I also mentioned Robocop, we already have Taylor right?

Ray Mallon?

[The Bonk]

Do we really need a trophy signing?  No.  That's nothing new or stunning, frankly.  I'll be stunned if we're in a good position(6-9th) come christmas and all/most of our players are healthy. 

[NG32]

Ray Mallon doesn't he play for Boro?

[KaKa]

Hmmm interesting ...

 

Not sure how true this is, but if I was going to put money on it I would say Deco.

 

The article claims it is close to happening and we have been holed up in Barcelone for days now. Barcelona have since allegedly put in a bid for fat Frank.

 

Deco is still a big name and is at the age where he might consider a challenge like ours as he has achieved a lot at Barca and has just turned 30.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens. I won't be losing sleep if we don't make any "world class" sigings though. i love what we have been doing so far this summer.

 

 

Personally, if people are going to talk about "trophy signings" or signings of intent, whatever you call it, then this is a perfect example of one.

 

The player to buy for big money is the player with his career ahead of him, which is by and large what we did under the Halls and Shepherd.

 

Here's to Tevez, and players of that age. Not people for big fees who are past their best.

 

 

 

Deco past his best? If we played him as an attacking midfielder in a midfield 3 he would still be awesome I think. £0 years old past his best?

 

As for Tevez, where would we play him? We already have Owen and Martins who appear to be staying by all accounts!

[Guest alex]

Do we really need a trophy signing?  No.  That's nothing new or stunning, frankly.  I'll be stunned if we're in a good position(6-9th) come christmas and all/most of our players are healthy. 

I'm with Leazes on the 'trophy signing' thing. It's a load of bollocks imo. What constitutes a trophy player anyway? 11 cloggers won't get you far.

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Jan Koller, Peter Crouch, Zat Knight and Patrick Viera all coming. Massive signings

[Guest Verlaine]

Fucking stupid thread full of fucking stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, shit though it also is.

[Guest alex]

Fucking stupid thread full of fucking stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, shit though it also is.

And a belated happy birthday to you.

[Beezeri]

Well...we don't actually need another striker if Owen & Martins are staying so that rules out a world-class striker signing IMO. On the other hand a right winger(I prefer Milner in that role but he need a backup player), a left fullback(name one left sided fullback who culd be described as a world-class signing!...I can't) and another central defender comes in my mind. An experienced left footed(preferably) centreback...hmmm Marco Materazzi but I can't see him coming up here. Gonzalo Rodriguez, Gaby Milito, Christian Chivu, Jorge Andrade and Carles Puyol

 

In case if it's not a defender...an offensive central midfilder with some playmaking skills would be a perfect buy and there are plenty of those guys who would rock the footballing world and can be regarded as world-class signing. One already mentioned is Stevie G but he won't leave Liverpool for Newcastle no matter what's the weekly wage. Juan-Roman Riquelme(too light-weighted for English play IMO), Carlito Tevez(now as he seems to be fully adapted to English style) would be an ideal signing...Kaka, Ronaldinho etc are just way out of our reach

[Guest Verlaine]

Hmmm interesting ...

 

Not sure how true this is, but if I was going to put money on it I would say Deco.

 

The article claims it is close to happening and we have been holed up in Barcelone for days now. Barcelona have since allegedly put in a bid for fat Frank.

 

Deco is still a big name and is at the age where he might consider a challenge like ours as he has achieved a lot at Barca and has just turned 30.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens. I won't be losing sleep if we don't make any "world class" sigings though. i love what we have been doing so far this summer.

 

 

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite is one of the finest players in the world. This is quite ironic considering that you are one of the worst posters.

[Guest Verlaine]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

And a belated happy birthday to you.

 

I want a copy of that book. A recommendation isn't a present!

[NE5]

Hmmm interesting ...

 

Not sure how true this is, but if I was going to put money on it I would say Deco.

 

The article claims it is close to happening and we have been holed up in Barcelone for days now. Barcelona have since allegedly put in a bid for fat Frank.

 

Deco is still a big name and is at the age where he might consider a challenge like ours as he has achieved a lot at Barca and has just turned 30.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens. I won't be losing sleep if we don't make any "world class" sigings though. i love what we have been doing so far this summer.

 

 

Personally, if people are going to talk about "trophy signings" or signings of intent, whatever you call it, then this is a perfect example of one.

 

The player to buy for big money is the player with his career ahead of him, which is by and large what we did under the Halls and Shepherd.

 

Here's to Tevez, and players of that age. Not people for big fees who are past their best.

 

 

 

Deco past his best? If we played him as an attacking midfielder in a midfield 3 he would still be awesome I think. £0 years old past his best?

 

As for Tevez, where would we play him? We already have Owen and Martins who appear to be staying by all accounts!

 

Shearer was a stunning signing, the world record. Owen was a stunning signing, Woodgate was a top notch signing. Other high profile signings were ferdinand, Arsprilla [love him or hate him], Martins, Luque [because of the fee].

 

The other end of the scale is signings such as Beardsley, great player for a complete joke of a fee with the joke being on Everton. The difference is that once a player gets past the age of about 28 their price goes down. Deco has been a good player, as good as Beardsley perhaps ?

 

Lets not pretend buying such players is new, it isn't, the old board did it a fair few times too.

 

No player could command more impact than Shearer did at the time.

 

Top quality players with their careers ahead of them are precisely that, labelling them as trophy players is laughable. As I said, a few years of mediocre players and people would realise as such.

 

I wouldn't pay big money for a 30 year old player, and if we do this, it qualfies far more in a "trophy player" criteria than any signing the old board made.

 

 

[David Icke - Son of God]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

 

The Chronicle started it

[NE5]

Well...we don't actually need another striker if Owen & Martins are staying so that rules out a world-class striker signing IMO. On the other hand a right winger(I prefer Milner in that role but he need a backup player), a left fullback(name one left sided fullback who culd be described as a world-class signing!...I can't) and another central defender comes in my mind. An experienced left footed(preferably) centreback...hmmm Marco Materazzi but I can't see him coming up here. Gonzalo Rodriguez, Gaby Milito, Christian Chivu, Jorge Andrade and Carles Puyol

 

In case if it's not a defender...an offensive central midfilder with some playmaking skills would be a perfect buy and there are plenty of those guys who would rock the footballing world and can be regarded as world-class signing. One already mentioned is Stevie G but he won't leave Liverpool for Newcastle no matter what's the weekly wage. Juan-Roman Riquelme(too light-weighted for English play IMO), Carlito Tevez(now as he seems to be fully adapted to English style) would be an ideal signing...Kaka, Ronaldinho etc are just way out of our reach

 

We need another striker badly.

 

Owen and /or Martins may go, there heart may not be in the club, Ameobi is shit.

 

So who and how many are left ?

 

 

[Guest Verlaine]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

 

The Chronicle started it

 

The initial post was fair enough. The subsequent speculation is just cringeworthy.

[Syrette]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

 

The Chronicle started it

 

The initial post was fair enough. The subsequent speculation is just cringeworthy.

 

I reckon the majority of the 'subsequent speculation' was tongue in cheek tbh.

[Guest alex]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

And a belated happy birthday to you.

 

I want a copy of that book. A recommendation isn't a present!

Glad you got the pm anyway. Wasn't sure if you would have with TT being down.

[Guest Verlaine]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

 

The Chronicle started it

 

The initial post was fair enough. The subsequent speculation is just cringeworthy.

 

I reckon the majority of the 'subsequent speculation' was tongue in cheek tbh.

 

I think you're giving the majority of posters here far, far too much credit.

[Guest Verlaine]

f****** stupid thread full of f****** stupid posts, tbh. This one actually raises the bar, s*** though it also is.

And a belated happy birthday to you.

 

I want a copy of that book. A recommendation isn't a present!

Glad you got the pm anyway. Wasn't sure if you would have with TT being down.

 

I only wish I could read, then I'd be sorted.

[Beezeri]

 

We need another striker badly.

 

Owen and /or Martins may go, there heart may not be in the club, Ameobi is s***.

 

So who and how many are left ?

 

 

Everyone knows Ameobi's s***! BUT I meant if Owen and Martins are staying as it seems now. Of course we need a replacement if other or even both leaves...A rotation of Owen-Oba-Viduka looks decent enough for the first team. Carroll(and Ameobi unfortunately) could be given a share of first team experience via the cup games.

[Shak]

The article has pretty much nowt in the way of any real information, but it may be accurate speculation as I've suspected for a while that the plan may be to assemble a nice, solid, deep squad with one real difference maker of a player brought in as well.

 

So far we've basically spent nowt, as the fees for Rozenhal and Barton are more or less offset by the sale of Parker, while Viduka and Geremi moved for free.

 

As it stands our squad of players that we should be comfortable with playing a part next season looks as follows

 

Keepers: Given, Harper

 

Sorted

 

Defenders: Taylor, Rozenhal, Ramage, Babayaro, Solano, Geremi, Carr

 

Assuming that Geremi and Solano are going to compete mostly for the RB spot with Carr. A new LB is essential, Babayaro is adequate back-up for now. We need to buy another CB to challenge Taylor and Rozenhal, Ramage will suffice as 4th choice.

 

We may look to add a RB depending on how we want to use Geremi and Solano.

 

Midfielders: Milner, N'Zogbia, Butt, Emre, Barton, Duff, Dyer, Luque

 

Question marks over Luque, obviously. I reckon we'll look to add an imposing DM but other than that our midfield looks good, especially with Geremi and Solano well able to play there.

 

Strikers: Owen, Martins, Viduka, Ameobi.

 

Sorted, by and large. I would assume the big name player we would be targetting will be very attack minded so he will only add to this depth.

 

So I reckon we need a good CB, a good LB and a good DM. All of which can be acquired  for less than 20m quid very easily.

 

There's a chance we will lose Owen or Martins, obviously. In such an instance, spending big on a striker is a must. Should they stay, though, I reckon that we'll have a pretty tidy squad next season if we get the players outlined above. I would assume Sam will at least have 15m to spend so I doubt it'll be a problem getting them.

 

So with a relatively small budget (compared to what's been rumoured) we have a very tidy squad that should be able to at least challenge for a Top 6 spot next season.

 

Add a stack of cash enough to buy a really, truly world class player to the mix and we could have an outside chance of cracking the Top 4 if one the big teams has a dodgy season.

 

Re: Trophy signings. Tevez (I'm convinced that's the player in question, if only through my own blind fantasy) would be nothing of the sort. It's only a trophy signing in my book if you're splurging all your cash on a big name player while ignoring vital needs in other areas of your team. Owen was such to an extent, as the rest of our squad was very shallow in a number of areas, which came back to haunt us inevtably when we lost Owen.

 

If we buold a deep, solid squad as outlined above then we would be in a position to add someone of realy world-class to an already very solid team, someone that would give us a real spark, without being a player we're completely dependant on.

 

There are few players in the world who can really dictate a game, and to get them you generally have to spend a lot of money. If there's truly big money to spend this season I would not be at all adverse to us spending a hefty portion of it on just one player, as I believe that we're already only a few signings away from having a very solid squad.