January Transfer Speculation (or lack of) Thread

[philsheard]

more to the point, if its true, who at Villa is approving these buys???

[pauliewalnuts]

Keith Andrews is utter shite. I can't believe any top flight club would be interested in him.

Gardner, I would have thought, has burned his bridges. Davis I didnt think that much of when we sold him in the first place.

[KRS]

Who is Keith Andrews? *fires up Google*

edit:
http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/football-hotline/2011/12/18/keith-andrews-wanted-by-everton-aston-villa-bolton-and-swansea-102039-23642638/

...so we're competing with the likes of Everton, Bolton and Swansea. Sounds too familiar for my liking already.

[PaulWinch again]

Keith Andrews is utter shite. I can't believe any top flight club would be interested in him.

Gardner, I would have thought, has burned his bridges. Davis I didnt think that much of when we sold him in the first place.

Sums up my order on things, the fact Andrews can't get in the Blackburn squad should be a clue. I don't see why we don't just use Gary Gardner rather than waste money(if we do it) on players that aren't good enough.

[Chris Smith]

It's fucking bollocks, absolutely no way will we be signing 3 central midfield players. Never trust anyone from Coventry.

[Shoody]

I dont think everybody is quite grasping that Davis wont be a squad player. A few people now have said '£2m for a squad player is good business'.

No. He will be our full time, first team choice player. We will have very little to spend at it will be going on players for the first 11. Why waste £2m on a player we produced and we know to not be any better than Bannan or Gardner? He's more experienced, but in the SPL. He is not good enough.

[TaxDodger]

I'm pretty sure won't be signing these players.

[caster troy]

I wouldn't give McLeish £1 to spend in January, he's a dead man walking in this job and we'll just end up with more Makouns who the new manager doesn't want in July.

If he hadn't signed Hutton and N'Zogbia I might have given him the benefit of the doubt but they have been atrocious so far.

[Shoody]

I'm pretty sure won't be signing these players.

I'd be confident of Davis or Gardner (probably Davis) coming back.  As good as its going to get will be Davis, Gardner, Clyne, Diame, Hoillet all arriving. I'd be almost happy (unfortunately) with that.

Nzogbia   Gabby    Hoillet
      Bannan   Gardner
               Diame
Stevens Clark Dunne Clyne
                Given

Bench: Guzan, Albrighton, Fonz, Davis, Gardner, Baker, Lichaj

If we could get in a replacement like Samba or Dann for Dunne/Collins and somebody like Olsson at Leftback. It would be a top half team, well the 1st 11 would be good enough for Top Half. Probably 8th-13th once injuries set into the first team. And it's a shame this is being very very optimistic.

Nzogbia   Gabby    Albrighton
      Bannan   Gardner
               Diame
Olsson Clark Dann Clyne
                Given

would have to be considered a very good amount of business imo... which is unfortunate. Replace Diame with Etienne Capoue and Olsson with somebody better than Olsson and we'd be getting somewhere.

[Mazrim]

No Bent?

[luke25]

I wouldn't give McLeish £1 to spend in January, he's a dead man walking in this job and we'll just end up with more Makouns who the new manager doesn't want in July.

If he hadn't signed Hutton and N'Zogbia I might have given him the benefit of the doubt but they have been atrocious so far.

The thing is the majority of us wanted N'zogbia and were extremely happy when we signed him, including me, I'm not writing him off yet as theres a bloody good player in there, Hutton on the other hand....

[KevinGage]

If Keith Andrews is the answer then the question can only be 'how do we make an already pedestrian midfield look even shitter?'

Never been impressed with him, either for t'Rovers or Ireland.  Even with Irelands limited resources in midfield, he regularly comes in for stick when he plays.

I'm already on record as saying I wouldn't mind Davis back.  I never particularly wanted him to leave.  Sometimes our best/ most popular players haven't always been the greatest ability wise.  Think Paul Birch and Ian Taylor.  But what they lack in ability they make up in effort and workrate.

Davis is a busy little player, but he does actually have a degree of quality in the final third too.  Unlike someone like NRC who was all effort, but pretty limited as a footballer. Stevo can pick a pass and get a shot off.  Again, perhaps not one to build a side around. And not the sole answer to our issues in midfield.  But in the short term -and for the price mooted-  good business.  And in the medium/ long term a very useful squaddie if we can get better. 

[ozzjim]

Last night there was this bloke in midfield for Bolton who battled, tackled and ran his guts out to the last kick of the game. We miss him.

[KevinGage]

Agreed ozzjim.

Every side needs a player like NRC.

It's just that the better ones can afford to get a guy who has the qualities he possesses and  a bit of technical ability too.

[brontebilly]

fucking hell this is one depressing thread.

Ive seen a lot of Andrews and Gibson playing for Ireland. They pretty much compete for the right to partner Glenn Whelan in the midfield. Yikes, there was a time when Keane, Townsend and Sheridan were the three man midfield.

Anyway, Gibson does have a good shot and is a good passer of the ball. He can play it long and short and with regular football will develop this side of his game more. However without the ball he is a joke. Despite giving the appearance of an athletic physical player he is anything but. One paced in the extreme and very little presence to speak of. Probably a bit similar to Makoun actually. Reckon some team might take a punt and he will do ok for them but surely we should be aiming a bit higher. Considering our predicament I dont think he is a worthwhile punt as we need players who can come into the team straight away. He has been scratching his arse for months and will definitely need time to come up to speed.

Andrews is a late developer. He really struggled at Blackburn but is flying now at Ipswich. He has done well for Ireland in games where we have to defend. He is a good athlete and competes well. He also breaks into the box well. However with the ball he is incredibly limited. At his age surely a no go there.

Davis is a bit lightweight. Dont watch SPL but apparently he is the best midfielder there by a distance. Watched the last old scum derby and he was by a long way the best player on the park. Young, lively, good on the ball. Id worry about him in a 2 man midfield though. I liked him at Villa and considering shit like Sidwell were bought later, it was madness to sell him imo.

Craig Gardner was muck at Villa imo. I know he wasnt played in his right position a lot of the time but he is incredibly limited on the ball. Good bit of presence about him and a goal threat for sure but for the money they will need to sell him its not good value. MON rates him anyway so Id say he will stay put.

To be honest I think Herd and Petrov for what we need now are better than any of those. We definitely need a central midfielder but we need one with presence imo.

No matter how he is playing this season for Bolton, Reo Coker is a big loss for us.