Summer 2010 Transfer Thread: B*llsh*t, Rumours & Wishes

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Chris will be back riding high on a horse called chipper as soon as this whole clusterfuck resolves itself.
And it will.

Aye, he'll be one of us and being labelled a Bilic-ette by Nasher in no time.

[Toronto Villa]

why does Billic remind me of a modern day John Gregory?

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He looks a little bit waaah, little bit wooooah!

[pauliewalnuts]

why does Billic remind me of a modern day John Gregory?

Plays guitar.

[hilts_coolerking]

Plus, with not much time in the transfer window, we are in no position to enter tricky negotiations for Milner-level players. Signing players, as you know, is a very tricky, long-winded business, and it'd be hard to just suddenly go for someone in the last couple of weeks of the window when you don't have money to burn.

That's perilously close to arguing that we should sign players for the sake of it.  We shouldn't sign Ireland because it's late in the window, or because transfers are tricky, and certainly not because money is tight.  The only reason we should sign Ireland is if the manager judges that he will fit into our style of play and improve our first team.

Since we have no manager, and therefore no style of play, and no idea of what his first choice starting eleven will be, then there is no-one who can make that judgement.

Ireland is valued at c. £10M, which is going to put him among our biggest ever signings.  Considering there is no manager currently at the club I think it's a very risky situation.  Just who is taking the responsibility for this transfer?  Who is making the footballing decision that Ireland is what we need?

If the deal has been signed and we can't pull out of it, then so be it.  But if not, I would argue we should leave it.  Let's face it, now that Martin has gone there is literally a whole world of players who we can now consider.

[pauliewalnuts]

Ireland is valued at c. £10M, which is going to put him among our biggest ever signings.  Considering there is no manager currently at the club I think it's a very risky situation.  Just who is taking the responsibility for this transfer?  Who is making the footballing decision that Ireland is what we need?

If the deal has been signed and we can't pull out of it, then so be it.  But if not, I would argue we should leave it.  Let's face it, now that Martin has gone there is literally a whole world of players who we can now consider.

Well, that's another point.

In ducking out this close to the start of the season, and not far from the end of the window, MON has also left us with a player who is clearly never going to play for us again, and a club who want him, but are in a far stronger bargaining position now.

[Monty]

The rights and wrongs of Ireland don't come into it, really. I could argue that we should get him purely because he's a good player being offered to us in a ridiculously good-looking deal. But I won't as that's not the argument.

The fact remains that this is the deal on the table. To alter the terms now might harm the chances of it going through, which might harm our chances of strengthening the side. Besides, at most clubs it's not just the manager who gets a say - that was one of the biggest problems with MON. I'm not arguing for it happening when we do get a manager, I just believe that this is a special case because of the deal on the table.

[Mazrim]

You do have to admire the balls in bringing in an expensive player without a manager.

The feeling would be that any manager we're likely to attract would approve of having Ireland in their squad and I would agree with that. The rest of the money is then handed to the new manager when he arrives. Plus whatever else can be raised or scraped up.

Anyway, Stevie wonder could tell you we lack a creative player in the middle and Ireland is certainly that.

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The new man isn’t really going to be able to chop and change a great deal till next summer anyway, given the short space of time and January being notoriously poor for deals.

But then he’s going to have a pretty good squad to work with anyway.

[hilts_coolerking]

Anyway, Stevie wonder could tell you we lack a creative player in the middle and Ireland is certainly that.

I agree with that but Steven Ireland isn't the only creative midfielder in the world.  Given Martin's approach to transfers, he may have thought he was, but he isn't.  There are others, and there are better.

[Mazrim]

There probably are better but not ones we've already negotiated a deal with.
Anyway, I'd say Ireland was potentially a top player. I rate him quite highly anyway. Anything like his form of 08/09 and he's comfortably one of the better midfielders in the league.

[pauliewalnuts]

We obviously were close to a deal with Man City before Martin went.

I guess the chairman is now faced with a player who doesn't want to play for us, a club who want to buy him, and a decision to make, without a manager to make it. He's in a tricky position.

If anything, I'd have thought the fact he seems to be going for cash plus Ireland rather than just straight cash might placate those who seem to have decided he's the antichrist over the last 24 hours.

[hilts_coolerking]

Anything like his form of 08/09 and he's comfortably one of the better midfielders in the league.

Agreed again.  But anything like his form of 05/06, 06/07, 07/08 or 09/10 and we've got a £10M stiff.

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His medical is pencilled in for tomorrow according to other news reports.

[KevinGage]

Excellent news in an otherwise arse of a week.

Any half decent manager should be able to utilise an asset like Ireland. And if we're 'going continental' with a Jol or a Klinsmann, they're well used to getting the best out of existing talent, rather than actively wheeling and dealing in the market themselves.