Jean II Makoun loaned to Olympiakos

[Phil from the upper holte]

I think he's a good player, however if mcleish isnt interested then get rid but only if someone else comes in

[brice jovial]

Move on Ireland too

[Villanation]

Strangely enough, why don't we offer him in a part swap and money for Parker, I think Makoun would fit West Ham set up well.

Worth a shot and West Ham have made it clear that 8 to 9ML will do it.

[Concrete John]

Strangely enough, why don't we offer him in a part swap and money for Parker, I think Makoun would fit West Ham set up well.

Makoun's strength is short passing in midfield and West Ham are managed by Sam Allerdyce.  By what measure would he suit their set up??

[Villanation]

Strangely enough, why don't we offer him in a part swap and money for Parker, I think Makoun would fit West Ham set up well.

Makoun's strength is short passing in midfield and West Ham are managed by Sam Allerdyce.  By what measure would he suit their set up??

He's distinctly average.

[SoccerHQ]

I'd keep him.

Even with Makoun in our squad, we're still a central midfielder light imo.

And Delph and Petrov already been booked twice so if we keep on having more godforksen refs like Attwell both will be suspended very quickly this season.

[UsualSuspect]

If makoun leaves I would imagine it would be back to Lyon.

Which then begs the question how much money would we get? I would imagine that we haven't paid the full 6 million yet so we may be looking at zero money back for him.

I still cannot believe that we will sign parker for 8 million

[PONGO49]

I think the bit in that article that is more surprising is that the wage bill is still around £80m, when you look at who has left..

[Mazrim]

I doubt its anything like that now.

[SoccerHQ]

Yep, we must have shaved about 10m off it since last season.

[Concrete John]

I think the bit in that article that is more surprising is that the wage bill is still around £80m, when you look at who has left..

They've probably been lazy and jusy taken it from the last set of accounts before we sold some players.

[Chris Smith]

From Sporting life:

Asked about Makoun possibly leaving Villa, McLeish admitted: "It's possible but we wouldn't let anybody go unless somebody came in."

[jibba81]

Surprised by these "hasn;t really impressed"comments.  Okay he's a bit rash in the challenge but so is Delph. 

Totally agree, Delph is like Frank Spencer on roller skates in the tackle. I think people are little disappointed that Makoun isn't the sort of Essien style midfield enforcer that he was billed as, but you don't have to be overly physical to anchor a midfield. His game is to do things simply, get it, move it then offer for it and attempt to get the ball off the opposition by interceptions and positioning. I think that when he came over here he may have overcompensated and threw himself into the tackle a bit too often, but I'd give him a chance to find a way to play his natural game in this league. His performance at Old Trafford should be enough to perusade anyone that we should give him a chance to do just that.

There's a lot more to being a central midfielder than playing neat little five yard passes.  It's a lazy comparison, but he really is very similar to Berson, who also had a good game at Old Trafford I seem to recall.  Delph showed that he has the potential to be the complete midfielder on Saturday.  Full of running, passing and tackiling, he really was excellent.  Makoun is 28, and it's clear that his style is probably a lot more suited to the French league, and I just don't seem him being able to adapt.  He's not suddenly going to learn to tackle at the age of 28.

I don't disagree that Makoun is more suited to the French League, but I do see a future for him here and think that his age is exactly why we should hold onto him. Other than Stan, he is the only player over 25 we have who can play a deep midfield role and his experience will be needed at some stage during the season. Also, I agree that he can't really slide tackle, but would suggest that he could teach our other midfielders a thing or too about winning the ball without going to ground, which is a much more important ability for a midfielder to have in the modern game than diving in every 5 minutes a la Cattermole.

Not saying that we should persevere forever with him, just give the guy a chance to adapt.

[eastie]

Id be sad to see him leave so soon but if it meant getting parker in to replace him then i think it would benefit the team.

[TheSandman]

He was never going to be the defensive midfielder we desperately need and were told he was. There is a good player in there no doubt but if we can get in a player we need more urgently then it will be a good move for the team.