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

[Holy Trinity]

i might be wrong but disnt bannan start as a winger in the youth team? if not i can see a swith coming along.
potentially wee baz is to small for a physically strong league, he is fast, agile and can pass with both imagination and accuracy.

i say buy n'zogbia and have bannan albrighton and n'zogbia as the 3 main wingers, also delph can play lb and lm as cover, nathan can play wide in a front 3, gabby can play both wings ireland played left mid early in his man city days so even IF liverpool pony up the cash for downing and we only buy charles we would still have 2 very good wingers with bannan and andres both capable of deputising now and then along with 4 first team squad members capable of playing the wings.

the most famous example's of position switch success i can think of are,
henry poor left winger for juve, wenger made him a top striker
barry average at best cb lb and lm, turned him into a good cm
cristiano ronaldo, good winger but 50 goal a season striker
honourable mention to mortan gamst pederson's dad for making his right footed son into a left footed player just because there were to many right footed wingers. lol

anybody else think bannan is worth a pre season run on the left wing?

[charlie]

Downing was good, if not very good, as long as he wasnt kicked hard early, but at risk of offending folk , he is/was somewhat lightweight and diffident tracking back, and rarely got stuck in. Marc sometimes gets too enthusiastic, but shows willingness and no small ability all over the pitch, and is a genuine right winger.  If we get N'Zogbia, and a young winger with Delph and maybe Hitz our crosses should be adequate. A reserve striker if Bent injured , a pair of decent goalies, at least one full back and a creative midfield ''door opener'' seems pressing.

[barrysleftfoot]

  I liked , AYoung, i liked his workrate, his attitude, his ability, but i'm not sure he was as good as some people on here seem to think.He was no where near as good as Yorkie, or Merse, and i'm not sure he has a final ball on him tbh.Yes he gets a lot of assists from free kicks et al, but in open play i think both him and Downing are sometimes found wanting.

 Albrighton on the othe hand has as good a cross as anyone, Beckham included.At the start of the season he created 2 or 3 good chances every game.He did fade at the end of the season, and sometimes looked like a boy playing against men, but if he toughens up physically and mentally then he will be a very good player, better than Downing and Young.

  N'Zogbia to me is more of an insidefoward kind of player, and is probably the kind of player we need to play off Bent.Might not be seen to be as good a player as AYoung, but for us , in my eyes , will be more effective.

[Eigentor]

I really cannot believe some of the hysterical nonsense being spouted on this thread. Nothing has happened yet and we are already running of to the lifeboats with July still young. Things are not really that bad and they won't be that bad.

True. But people were underwhelmed by the managerial appointment, and seems to expect to be underwhelmed by our dealings in this transfer window. too.

We'll see.

[Concrete John]

I really cannot believe some of the hysterical nonsense being spouted on this thread. Nothing has happened yet and we are already running of to the lifeboats with July still young. Things are not really that bad and they won't be that bad.

True. But people were underwhelmed by the managerial appointment, and seems to expect to be underwhelmed by our dealings in this transfer window. too.

We'll see.

I think one follows the other as more of a 'crowd favourite' manager was appointed the lack of activity thus far would be understood.

[oldtimernow]

I would be more upset to see MA go than SD, get 20+ million for him and Lpool will be welcome to the HodgeMark2..... they sit well together

[Karl Bridges]

We'll see.
But at the moment there seem to be a lot of 'if's' and 'mights'

Isn't that what pre-season is all about. The hopes and maybe's?

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

  I liked , AYoung, i liked his workrate, his attitude, his ability, but i'm not sure he was as good as some people on here seem to think.He was no where near as good as Yorkie, or Merse, and i'm not sure he has a final ball on him tbh.Yes he gets a lot of assists from free kicks et al, but in open play i think both him and Downing are sometimes found wanting.

 Albrighton on the othe hand has as good a cross as anyone, Beckham included.At the start of the season he created 2 or 3 good chances every game.He did fade at the end of the season, and sometimes looked like a boy playing against men, but if he toughens up physically and mentally then he will be a very good player, better than Downing and Young.

  N'Zogbia to me is more of an insidefoward kind of player, and is probably the kind of player we need to play off Bent.Might not be seen to be as good a player as AYoung, but for us , in my eyes , will be more effective.

You said it perfectly for me baz! I know Downing could turn it on now and again, (best game I saw him play was for England!) but far too lightweight for me. Not consistent or threatening enough to the opposition. I'd pick Delph over him every time even though not the same exact position. I reckon N'zobia would be ideal to play off Bent but could add a bit of width too...much less predicatable than both Ash and Downing. Use the kids to ring the changes from time to time, esp Bannan, Fonz, Albrighton.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

No way is Albrighton in the Downing bracket, still a lot to prove.

Agreed. Downing can't cross for starters.

Downing needs to come in on Friday and either commit himself to the club or piss off and put in a transfer request.

[Rick_avfc]

If he puts a transfer request in does that mean we have to sell him for less that the "quoted" £19m we want for him or can we still dig our heels in and demand more?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I don't believe we've even quoted a price. The only advantage for us by getting Downing to put in a transfer request, is so that we don't have to pay him anything when he leaves. I'd still not reduce the asking price should he put in a transfer request. Stuff him and Liverpool. If they want him and he wants to go, pay for him or piss off. Easy.

[Mellin]

Dig our heels in. He has a contract here, fuck him. Think it just means he waives his 'loyalty bonus'.

[Villafirst]

I really cannot believe some of the hysterical nonsense being spouted on this thread. Nothing has happened yet and we are already running of to the lifeboats with July still young. Things are not really that bad and they won't be that bad.

Are we signing two players of equal ability to Downing and Young then?

No chance, the quality level of the squad is diminishing.

[mrfuse]

  I liked , AYoung, i liked his workrate, his attitude, his ability, but i'm not sure he was as good as some people on here seem to think.He was no where near as good as Yorkie, or Merse, and i'm not sure he has a final ball on him tbh.Yes he gets a lot of assists from free kicks et al, but in open play i think both him and Downing are sometimes found wanting.

 Albrighton on the othe hand has as good a cross as anyone, Beckham included.At the start of the season he created 2 or 3 good chances every game.He did fade at the end of the season, and sometimes looked like a boy playing against men, but if he toughens up physically and mentally then he will be a very good player, better than Downing and Young.

  N'Zogbia to me is more of an insidefoward kind of player, and is probably the kind of player we need to play off Bent.Might not be seen to be as good a player as AYoung, but for us , in my eyes , will be more effective.

You said it perfectly for me baz! I know Downing could turn it on now and again, (best game I saw him play was for England!) but far too lightweight for me. Not consistent or threatening enough to the opposition. I'd pick Delph over him every time even though not the same exact position. I reckon N'zobia would be ideal to play off Bent but could add a bit of width too...much less predicatable than both Ash and Downing. Use the kids to ring the changes from time to time, esp Bannan, Fonz, Albrighton.

I totally agree with that post, exactly how I see it also. I think Ash was probably overrated by many he used to frustrate me with corners and free kicks sometimes and Downing is probably underrated by many and he was often a player the crowd berated for not tackling were as it didnt bother me too much.
I would be excited about Nzogbia and thought him and rodallega linked up well at times which would suit Bent as well.

[eastie]

Reports in Italy linking us with a move for chievo defender boszjan  cezar for a fee around £1.5m.