Coutinho from Barca and Ings from Southampton in the summer please. Both very much available and within budget would give us the options we need. At times this season (last night included) we’ve lacked creativity and an alternative to Ollie.
I don't think we'd be after somebody like Ings as good as he can be. He's 29 in the summer, and for what Southampton would want for him there has to be better value elsewhere.
That’s the gamble though, Ings may well make the difference for two seasons and see us progressing into top four positions. Would that be worth the money long term?? He may not but then a “better value” player from Brentford etc may not be either
Fair points, but paying top dollar for players who are nearly 30 doesn't seem to be the way the club are going about things, so I'd be amazed to see Ings or anybody of a similar age joining.
Too old. Too injury prone and too expensive. That goes for Ings as well as me !!!!
I'd quite like us to follow the Dortmund approach and snap up the best young players we can find, and then just not bother doing the whole "sell them on at a profit before they reach their peak" bit
Would there be any hope of us getting the ex Blues kid Bellingham back from them? You can't fault the Dortmund model, they obviously give these talented kids an assurance that they will get a lot of game time.
Would there be any hope of us getting the ex Blues kid Bellingham back from them? You can't fault the Dortmund model, they obviously give these talented kids an assurance that they will get a lot of game time.
It would be expensive but worth it, not for footballing reasons but simply to snap up a player they'd retired a shirt in honour of before he's out of his teens.
I'd also make him clean Grealish's boots for a year to cleanse his soul.
I haven't seen him play for Dortmund but when I saw him play for Small Heath I genuinely didn't see what the big fuss was about Bellingham.
Isn't he a defensive midfielder?
According to reports he is one of the main players who they have running the show on the field in the Bundesliga (sp?) and Champs League. Would think they would want big money for him to return to England.
I swe the highlights of one of his games last week, and he was superb, absolutely ran the show.
He will be in the England squad this week.
According to reports he is one of the main players who they have running the show on the field in the Bundesliga (sp?) and Champs League. Would think they would want big money for him to return to England.
He's been playing well but has been used sparingly, they have a few good players for the holding role. He's getting better with every game and I think he's only just turned 18.
Isn't he a defensive midfielder?
He soon would be if he joined us.
Pretty mediocre stuff.
We started brightly, but that soon faded. Targett and Konsa were the stand-out defenders; Mingsy was having one of his 'walkabout' games.
Midfield was intermittent. Ramsey took the safe option too many times; Sanson looked neat when he came on.
What a prize balls-up that was when we had a three-on-one near the end. WHY did McGinn pass to the (inexcusably) offside Ollie?!
Even later, why was AEG's shot as weak as a back-pass? Why did AEG give the ball away so easily when even an Allardyce-style big boot probably meant three points?
So many questions, so few answers?