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

[Damo70]

Sorry to try and be an optimist here, but-

-I don't think we are skint (in fact I think we have made a profit on transfers recently and more importantly have greatly reduced a wage bill that anyone in business will tell you was suicidal)

-I don't think RL has lost interest otherwise he would have let the GH situation play out instead of sorting it

-Seeing as clubs haven't been lining up to buy the likes of Warnock and Ireland I think AM has decided to give them a chance instead of giving them away

-I think he is also going to give the likes of Clark, Delph, Bannon, Delfouneso etc a chance too

-I think we will buy more than one more player this summer, I think we will go into the season with a competitive side and I also think that if it goes tits up we will sort it in January

Sleep well everyone, you have nothing to fear but fear itself

Funny that you're telling everyone to sleep well when it's you that needs to wake up.

I might wake up in a cold sweat on the 1st September having wet the bed with fear the night before, but I'm not going to slash my wrists in anguish on 19th July, bob me old royster doyster

[bob]

Sorry to try and be an optimist here, but-

-I don't think we are skint (in fact I think we have made a profit on transfers recently and more importantly have greatly reduced a wage bill that anyone in business will tell you was suicidal)

-I don't think RL has lost interest otherwise he would have let the GH situation play out instead of sorting it

-Seeing as clubs haven't been lining up to buy the likes of Warnock and Ireland I think AM has decided to give them a chance instead of giving them away

-I think he is also going to give the likes of Clark, Delph, Bannon, Delfouneso etc a chance too

-I think we will buy more than one more player this summer, I think we will go into the season with a competitive side and I also think that if it goes tits up we will sort it in January

Sleep well everyone, you have nothing to fear but fear itself

Funny that you're telling everyone to sleep well when it's you that needs to wake up.

I might wake up in a cold sweat on the 1st September having wet the bed with fear the night before, but I'm not going to slash my wrists in anguish on 19th July, bob me old royster doyster

Good attitude

[Steve R]

I've been trying to make sense of McLeish's statement, looking for something positive. The only way it makes long term sense is if there is acceptance tha the comet's tail of O'Neil's legacy (too many useless gits sucking up too much turnover) will last for a while yet, and throwing money into the squad right now will achieve little except compromise our chances of getting out of a financial hole.

Maybe we need to sit tight and let a few more fat contracts run down before we can get serious about being successive again. The alternative would be to bleed  more money by paying a few characters big sums to play for someone else.

I don't see it myself, but that is the best I have come up with so far. If that is the way it is, it is a big fucking risk to take.

I've never bought into this 'McLeish needs to assess the squad, and then look at the market' stuff. Has he been living on mars? I know it's Small Heath, but at a distance of a few miles away did he really not have strong views as to where the squad's weaknesses/strengths lay? Did he really have no idea who he would/would not like as a player and who was likely to be available?

If not, what was the fucking point in limiting our choices so narrowly to managers 'with Premier League experience'?

It all looks like a dog's dinner to me.

[DB]

Anyone else finding it really difficult to trust the board?

I trust them.

I just think they've decided to claw back as much of the money invested so far as they can. That's their prerogative, really, hugely disappointing though it is.

They've been pretty open about it, though, so it's not about not trusting them. They've spent months telling us how we need to cut back and appointed a manager who looks like the type who would be up for it, and, indeed, in the announcement of his appointment, the main thing trumpeted was his willingness to run the club sustainably.

Maybe AM is playing poker by saying this, but to be honest, if this hadn't come amongst a raft of "we're skint" stories, it might be more credible. As it is, it just sounds extremely believable.

Let's face it AM was brought in as he can operate on a tight budget, Randy wants to cut the bills so he got him in. I don't think the money we have gained on recent sales will be totally spent, not even half maybe. Probably one of the reasons why Downing went on his way, saw who we got as manager and asked what we would be doing in this summers transfer window - i.e. not much. But let's see....

[paul_e]

Paulie I said I think we're 2 short at the back and 2 short out wide, that's the only glaring holes though.  I think they've been fairly consistent in saying wages are the issue so we aren't in the position to write off beye, heskey, etc at the moment unless we can find a buyer.  If we can't get rid then we're going to have to treat them as part of the squad until they're out of contract.

[boboonthecorner]

They won't bid another million for N'Zogbia because they know he has no interest in joining us. If they don't meet the price they can't be turned down.....

[avfcpg]

well sky are quoting him as saying slightly different than BBC WM

"We're trying to sign another one, and trying to replace the players who have left with players who are at the club," he said.
"For the time being, it will just be one and we'll be doing further assessment of the squad over the next few weeks.

[Jarpie]

If Warnock can up is game back again, we'd "only" need ball-winning midfielder, central defender and two wingers.

[Dante Lavelli]

Mcleish has said in interview on talksport he will only be buying one more player in the transfer window, but there will be money in an emergency if needed in January- his brief is to develop the young players and utilise squad players not used last season .

I have not heard this interview but if it is the case then the club are better off being honest than saying X, Y and Z could be signing when the reality is that they will not. At least if the club is honest then everyone will know that we will (occasionally) struggle and therefore adjust our expections accordingly.

Personally I do not mind this as I think there is untapped potential in the squad that if not used will be wasted. I also do not think that it would be the end of our spending, just a temporary pause to revitalise the squad.

[Percy McCarthy]

Mcleish has said in interview on talksport he will only be buying one more player in the transfer window, but there will be money in an emergency if needed in January- his brief is to develop the young players and utilise squad players not used last season .

I have not heard this interview but if it is the case then the club are better off being honest than saying X, Y and Z could be signing when the reality is that they will not. At least if the club is honest then everyone will know that we will (occasionally) struggle and therefore adjust our expections accordingly.

Personally I do not mind this as I think there is untapped potential in the squad that if not used will be wasted. I also do not think that it would be the end of our spending, just a temporary pause to revitalise the squad.

Yeah, I'm down with that.

[Dante Lavelli]

GK - Given, Guzan, Marshall - Happy with this and Siegrist looks good as well

LB - Warnock - That's it.  Baker is a young centre back that can cover if needed but we shouldn't rely on him +1
RB - Young, Beye, Lichaj - Happy enough with this, Beye is an oxygen thief but I think Lichaj will be a really good player
CB - Dunne, Collins, Clark - If Cueller goes we need to replace him, baker can cover as 5th here +1

8 players to cover the back four is nothing like enough (especially when you factor in that one of them is a sulky miseryarse who is desperate to get out, one is an oxygen thief who just wants another year of 40k a week, and two let us down massively last season).

You might be right Paulie with regards to the quality of the players but unless someone buys a misery arse or an oxygen thief then there are no wages available to pay for any additional players.

[paul_e]

Disagree dante, showing our hand this early is foolish if this is true.  The new kit is out, season tickets are still selling and there are 6 weeks left in the window with a number of players still looking to move and clubs looking to buy.

Better to say nothing and then say he'd like to give the squad a chance at the end of august.  Todays statement is pointless and was always going to lead to an angry reaction from the fans.  We would be insane to get to september without at least one defender and two more wide players, even giving youngsters a chance to shine you're looking at 16-17 year olds filling spots on the bench in those positions.  That is far to big a risk.

[midian]

Maybe the N'Zogbia situation is on hold as I'm sure on his twitter earlier he was in USA with a friend and a picture of him with Holyfield???

[Jarpie]

Someone had tweeted earlier today that Villa and Wigan would've agreed on deal, and N'Zogbia would be having his medical and negotiations about the contract in weekend...I always take anything tweeted with pinch of salt but there -might- be ring of truth there if N'Zogbia is in NYC.

[Dante Lavelli]

Disagree dante, showing our hand this early is foolish if this is true.  The new kit is out, season tickets are still selling and there are 6 weeks left in the window with a number of players still looking to move and clubs looking to buy.

Better to say nothing and then say he'd like to give the squad a chance at the end of august.  Todays statement is pointless and was always going to lead to an angry reaction from the fans.  We would be insane to get to september without at least one defender and two more wide players, even giving youngsters a chance to shine you're looking at 16-17 year olds filling spots on the bench in those positions.  That is far to big a risk.

Yes, but no but... I hear what you're saying and certainly see the logic but to be silent or worse, lie to the fans in order to sell more season tickets, does not seem morally right to me (financially yes) and could lead to the fans justifiably being despondent with the season resulting in disatisfaction (booing etc) and a downward spiral within the club.

If the club are honest and adjust our expectation for the season (maybe with the promise of future investment) then the fans will be more patient with the likes of Bannan, Clark, Delph etc and equally more accepting or Ireland and Warnock. The expression I'm after, is to create a bit of a siege mentality within the club (including the fans). Another cliche is to get us all singing from the same hymn sheet as potentially at the moment some folk still demand Top 4 when we do not presently have the bunce to fund such ambitions.

I think most people accept that there are some good Footballers within our squad so we might be pleasantly surprised.