Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[eastie]

Id say mcgregor is far more of a dodgy choice than given personally.

[Dave]

I'd say that neither of them were particularly inspiring choices.

[peter w]

This is where I'm expecting HOullier to come up trumps with FRench keepers, or any other that I'd hope his wide array of contacts can point him towards.

[Dante Lavelli]

Has there beenany sort of confirmation about this Westwood rumour?
If it was stated on Coventry radio was it reported by a commentator, who would have to be somewhat accountable for what he says, or by some fan during a phone in?

I'd be happy for Westwood and Big Brad to slug it out next season (with brad increasingly taking on a coaching role). I'd send Little Brad on loan for a whole season as he has the raw ingredients of being a very good keeper and would act as decent insurance if Westwood fails to step up.

Doesn't sound hugely ambitious but we need to reduce our spending and I'd prefer the money to be spent elsewhere, especially when the likes of Given are on huge wages.

[Quiet Lion]

Are people serious about Cudicini ?

I wonder if there are any other ageing reserves we can sign that people seem to think will improve the team.

[eastie]

Was a caller claiming to be in the know Dante, there seem to be a lot of rumours around here that westwood will be going to villa , we will have to wait for confirmation though. The BBC host had heard the same but the club refused to comment.

[enigma]

Are people seriously saying they want Cudicini?

Jesus wept.

[Shrek]

Regarding a Goalkeeper, I rate McGregor aswell but think the fact Westwood is free and plays in a more competitive league sways me towards him.

Regarding Man Utd the rumour is they are going to spend about 100million on a few players in the summer.
I wouldn't be surprised to see say, Ash, Rodwell and Modric role up at Old Trafford.

[eastie]

Everton seem to be similar to us in many ways, recent history, club size etc and expectations- it seems like us they are prone to the top 4 coming for their star players too- Rooney, Lescott and now rodwell, Sadly the gap will continue to grow as the rich clubs take the better players from the rest.

[TheSandman]

I'm all for Westwood but we will need another keeper to fight him for his place. I'm not absolutely convinced he can go from straight from Coventry to the top six of the premiership (which is I hope what we are aiming for next season). Let him fight for a place with us.

The lads we should be looking at for me are Mignolet, Al Habsi, Foster and Begovic. My two favored choices are Begovic and Mignolet both of whom are in their early twenties and have looked generally very good this season in particular Mignolet. Foster is only a goer if Blues go down. You can perhaps add any number of other goalkeepers from abroad to my list. We need more than one goalkeeper.

As for Ashley Young I think he will leave in the summer and that we should be hoping for £12-15million and be happy to accept that. I'm hopeful however that Spurs, Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern will start a bidding war and he will go for more than that though I guess it may be a forlorn hope. I'd be quite happy for him to go to Spurs if we could prise Walker and a few million out of them.

The locus of our activity should be on changing our defence. A couple of fullbacks and maybe a centre half to go on top of our goalkeeper. We should also try to sign another attacking player who can actually play Young's role of deep-lying forward though I don't really think this is essential as if we switch to a midfield three we will improve cover for our defence and selecting a Bannan or Delph will allow us some degree of attack through there. We should look to make something of a clearout too. On top of Young I would like Warnock, Dunne, Heskey, Petrov, Beye, Carew and Ireland to go with Friedel, Guzan and Luke Young leaving if we can get the needed replacements. Some are out of contract and others are unlikely to yield much of a fee but it should add some cash to the pot. I'm not the biggest NRC fan but would give him a new contract if his terms are reasonable and he's willing to play a smaller role. This might have greater importance if we don't think Bradley is worth hanging on to. We can replace some with new signings and others by promoting younger players like Fonz, Weimann, Lichaj and so on.

[JJ-AV]

Friedel for another year and Westwood?

Suppose it depends on if Brad gets a better offer elsewhere or not, but when he signed a future coaching role was talked about so maybe he could start doing that and be second choice?

[VillaZogmariner]

I'm hoping that Houllier is very good friends with Hugo Lloris at Lyon.

[eastie]

I think friedal will only worsen as time catches up with him, not keen on him being prone to staying on his line on crosses in the 6 yard box- agree with bentman we need 2 decent keepers and let them slug it out for the role- I think if we had another decent keeper now friedal would have lost his place .

Good post bentman, I agree with what you say about the defence too.

[barrysleftfoot]

   No to Cudicini, No to Shay......both too old.

   If the money situation does'nt improve then stick with Guzan, and maybe if it does improve go for Foster, or Frey.


   Lee from Bolton worth a look?

[eastie]

Given is 5 yrs younger than our current keeper- Lee looks decent today.