Faye signs three year deal

[Guest shaun11177]

Complete dreams-i think the 10m rumour is actually spot on.

[toontownman]

Appiah..above those two at all costs.

[Guest jamesmartinsmith]

I'd rather have Diop out of the two, but really, Appiah would be better.

[Baggio]

Both linked again this morning.

 

Diop in the Mirror and Faye in the Mail.

[Guest DavB93]

If we signed Faye, Diop and Appiah it would be jizz fest time.

[gazza ladra]

Barca are supposedly looking to sign Makelele.

Making Motta available?

[Munkey]

Barca are supposedly looking to sign Makelele.

Making Motta available?

 

remember reading something online yesterday about Barca looking to offload Motta..was either on Sky Sports or Footy365. memory's getting worse...can't remember which

[Baggio]

 

WANDERERS have sent a stern "hands off" warning to Sam Allardyce by offering Abdoulaye Faye a new three-year contract.

 

The former Whites boss is believed to have lodged an audacious £500,000 bid to take the Senegal international to Newcastle United.

 

Wigan Athletic were also said to be keen on the versatile African who can play at centre-back or centre-midfield, who is in the final year of his Reebok contract.

 

But Reebok chiefs, who were prepared to let him go when a £2million move to Turkish club Besiktas was mooted earlier in the summer, have now told Faye they are determined to keep him.

 

They have made him an improved offer and hope a positive response will put an end to speculation over his future.

 

 

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/wanderers/wanderersnews/display.var.1589641.0.new_deal_for_faye.php

 

[Parky]

Barca are supposedly looking to sign Makelele.

Making Motta available?

 

Motta is available cause of Yaya Toure has taken his place in the first 11.

 

 

**Also I can' really see where they're going to play Deco.

[Yorkie]

Can't believe we were putting in such a low bid for Faye. He was an absolutely key player for Allardyce; he's versatile aswell, covering two of our problem area. £2m would be a good deal!

[TRon]

Would be like punching Phil Gartside in the face if it came off. I'm loving it.

 

 

[eliassenfredrik]

Here`s the monster in action:

 

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/75924940.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19328A71BF6FE301F7DA3F6FA8F0B8CE21F

 

Hope we sign him!

[Rich]

I want Diop here, if possible. Has fallen away a bit at Fulham but is a powerhouse and has a lot of pedigree, hopefully he's just gone stale at a fairly gash little club. If he could get motivated again and if he'd thrive in our new "regime" then he'd be a massive boost to the squad and exactly the sort of player I've been harping on about us signing for a good while now.

 

I'd be thrilled if we got him, actually. The days of looking a soft touch of a side *should* be hopefully coming to a close and the squad is starting to get a more "varied" look about it since Sam's arrival.

 

I'd be pleased with Faye as well, although I can imagine it would be extremely difficult to get Bolton to sell to us after all that's happened. However, I've been certain for a while that we'd go there and pinch a player before August 31st and the big lad certainly fits the bill if there's no need to go after Nolan/Anelka.

[Willow]

I want Diop here, if possible. Has fallen away a bit at Fulham but is a powerhouse and has a lot of pedigree, hopefully he's just gone stale at a fairly gash little club. If he could get motivated again and if he'd thrive in our new "regime" then he'd be a massive boost to the squad and exactly the sort of player I've been harping on about us signing for a good while now.

 

I'd be thrilled if we got him, actually. The days of looking a soft touch of a side *should* be hopefully coming to a close and the squad is starting to get a more "varied" look about it since Sam's arrival.

 

I'd be pleased with Faye as well, although I can imagine it would be extremely difficult to get Bolton to sell to us after all that's happened. However, I've been certain for a while that we'd go there and pinch a player before August 31st and the big lad certainly fits the bill if there's no need to go after Nolan/Anelka.

 

I agree but is Diop a replacement for Butt? we have so many midfielders at the moment we'd need one hell of a squad rotate....

[Rich]

A good point, but I don't rate Butt as highly as most and I'd be happy if Diop was going to be the "first choice" in that role, personally. Competition for places can't be bad though and at the moment Butt has no competition at all for the defensive midfield role. Emre, Barton and Smith can all "play" there, but none of them are natural in that role and Butt-inclusive none of them are much cop on set plays/powerful in the air (something we've sorely missed in the middle since we sold Speedo.)

 

Two players for every position is ambitious - and difficult to manage - but I've more faith in Allardyce to be able to do it than I've had in the previous two managers here (which isn't saying much.)

 

I'm not quite sure where Smith fits into things (and this Diop stuff could be/probably is bollocks), but if you take it as Diop/Butt battling for the defensive midfield role and Emre/Barton gunning for the other central position (if we're playing 4-4-2 of course) then it looks very, very healthy indeed - especially when you take injuries/potential injuries into account.

 

The squad is fairly "hefty" in the front six places when everyone is fit, though, but that's a very rare occurrence up here!

 

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be fucking brilliant on the next Football Manager.

[Carlito]

I'd love to see Diop here like. Can remember being in stitches when he muscled Carr off the pitch last season, it was like he was just dangling from his arm

[Guest BooBoo]

A good point, but I don't rate Butt as highly as most and I'd be happy if Diop was going to be the "first choice" in that role, personally. Competition for places can't be bad though and at the moment Butt has no competition at all for the defensive midfield role. Emre, Barton and Smith can all "play" there, but none of them are natural in that role and Butt-inclusive none of them are much cop on set plays/powerful in the air (something we've sorely missed in the middle since we sold Speedo.)

 

Two players for every position is ambitious - and difficult to manage - but I've more faith in Allardyce to be able to do it than I've had in the previous two managers here (which isn't saying much.)

 

I'm not quite sure where Smith fits into things (and this Diop stuff could be/probably is bollocks), but if you take it as Diop/Butt battling for the defensive midfield role and Emre/Barton gunning for the other central position (if we're playing 4-4-2 of course) then it looks very, very healthy indeed - especially when you take injuries/potential injuries into account.

 

The squad is fairly "hefty" in the front six places when everyone is fit, though, but that's a very rare occurrence up here!

 

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

[Ikon]

A good point, but I don't rate Butt as highly as most and I'd be happy if Diop was going to be the "first choice" in that role, personally. Competition for places can't be bad though and at the moment Butt has no competition at all for the defensive midfield role. Emre, Barton and Smith can all "play" there, but none of them are natural in that role and Butt-inclusive none of them are much cop on set plays/powerful in the air (something we've sorely missed in the middle since we sold Speedo.)

 

Two players for every position is ambitious - and difficult to manage - but I've more faith in Allardyce to be able to do it than I've had in the previous two managers here (which isn't saying much.)

 

I'm not quite sure where Smith fits into things (and this Diop stuff could be/probably is bollocks), but if you take it as Diop/Butt battling for the defensive midfield role and Emre/Barton gunning for the other central position (if we're playing 4-4-2 of course) then it looks very, very healthy indeed - especially when you take injuries/potential injuries into account.

 

The squad is fairly "hefty" in the front six places when everyone is fit, though, but that's a very rare occurrence up here!

 

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

 

I agree about the DM position and that it would be good to have another one who can play that role. But i would rather have Thiago Motta. He's available for a small fee and could turn out to be a bargain. Starting at a new club with a fresh start. Very talented imo.

[Guest leon b]

ha! ha! that was classic, swotted carr like a fly.

[tmonkey]

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

Definately. Smith, Barton, Emre, Milner instantly onto the transfer list, raising 20mill or so to spend on wonderkids.

[Baggio]

A good point, but I don't rate Butt as highly as most and I'd be happy if Diop was going to be the "first choice" in that role, personally. Competition for places can't be bad though and at the moment Butt has no competition at all for the defensive midfield role. Emre, Barton and Smith can all "play" there, but none of them are natural in that role and Butt-inclusive none of them are much cop on set plays/powerful in the air (something we've sorely missed in the middle since we sold Speedo.)

 

Two players for every position is ambitious - and difficult to manage - but I've more faith in Allardyce to be able to do it than I've had in the previous two managers here (which isn't saying much.)

 

I'm not quite sure where Smith fits into things (and this Diop stuff could be/probably is bollocks), but if you take it as Diop/Butt battling for the defensive midfield role and Emre/Barton gunning for the other central position (if we're playing 4-4-2 of course) then it looks very, very healthy indeed - especially when you take injuries/potential injuries into account.

 

The squad is fairly "hefty" in the front six places when everyone is fit, though, but that's a very rare occurrence up here!

 

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

I think we'd struggle to keep two defensive midfielders happy so perhaps Faye would be the better signing of the two, simply because he can cover at the back if we need him to, if you look at how Allardyce lined them up at Bolton a fair few games he didn't even use a DM, he was happy to play Speed, Campo and Nolan.

 

We could do the same against the weaker teams, especially at SJP where we would hope to dominate, a midfield trio of Emre, Barton and Geremi would still give us a good balance with a bit more attacking power, I do agree though that there are times when we're going to need someone like Diop or Faye in there.

[Dave]

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

Definately. Smith, Barton, Emre, Milner instantly onto the transfer list, raising 20mill or so to spend on wonderkids.

 

I've never played FM, is that right? You can just sell everyone, and as long as you buy the right nobodies you'll turn into a great team? Sounds completely rubbish.

[Rich]

A good point, but I don't rate Butt as highly as most and I'd be happy if Diop was going to be the "first choice" in that role, personally. Competition for places can't be bad though and at the moment Butt has no competition at all for the defensive midfield role. Emre, Barton and Smith can all "play" there, but none of them are natural in that role and Butt-inclusive none of them are much cop on set plays/powerful in the air (something we've sorely missed in the middle since we sold Speedo.)

 

Two players for every position is ambitious - and difficult to manage - but I've more faith in Allardyce to be able to do it than I've had in the previous two managers here (which isn't saying much.)

 

I'm not quite sure where Smith fits into things (and this Diop stuff could be/probably is bollocks), but if you take it as Diop/Butt battling for the defensive midfield role and Emre/Barton gunning for the other central position (if we're playing 4-4-2 of course) then it looks very, very healthy indeed - especially when you take injuries/potential injuries into account.

 

The squad is fairly "hefty" in the front six places when everyone is fit, though, but that's a very rare occurrence up here!

 

When you look at the midfield pool, the only thing missing in my eyes is someone of Diop's abilities/stature, as we seem to have everything else pretty well covered. It's a good variation we've got in there for different circumstances... and we'll be f****** brilliant on the next Football Manager.

 

I think we'd struggle to keep two defensive midfielders happy so perhaps Faye would be the better signing of the two, simply because he can cover at the back if we need him to, if you look at how Allardyce lined them up at Bolton a fair few games he didn't even use a DM, he was happy to play Speed, Campo and Nolan.

 

We could do the same against the weaker teams, especially at SJP where we would hope to dominate, a midfield trio of Emre, Barton and Geremi would still give us a good balance with a bit more attacking power, I do agree though that there are times when we're going to need someone like Diop or Faye in there.

 

Spot on about the difficulty in keeping two players happy. However, Butt is getting on a bit and in my eyes shouldn't be an automatic first choice for us anyway. Would be a difficult balancing act, but you have to take injuries into account and we've got two "senior" players in every other position in the front six already, with some to spare. Speed, Campo and Nolan have a fair bit more defensive instinct/power/nouse about them than our current central midfielders, as well.

 

You're also right about the home games against perceived "weaker" opposition. Diop is fairly capable on the ball and can offer a lot going forward, and it's definitely not always necessary to play with a "shield" in front of the defence. Faye probably won't offer the same as Bouba going forward though, who isn't simply a "DM" and who has proven himself capable of playing a bit. Allardyce knows this, as you've pointed out, but if he isn't sticking with what he knows/has used at Bolton it could work if you leave the DM to shield the centre-halves and provide cover for two extremely attacking full-backs. Playing a DM doesn't necessarily mean you need to play more defensive on the whole, as you'll know.

 

I'd be happy with either of the two, obviously delighted with both, but I'd still like to see Diop here for £3M to see if Big Sam and the new surroundings could make a "player" out of him again. When he was on form he looked like somebody who should be at a far bigger club than Fulham but as we all know he seems to have fallen from grace since then. Would definitely excite me, though.

 

We'll see, though.

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

"He is also renowned for saying the phrases "I'm Back!" and "Diop Smash!" when attempting one of his spectacular long range efforts."

 

[Dave]

"He is also renowned for saying the phrases "I'm Back!" and "Diop Smash!" when attempting one of his spectacular long range efforts."