January Transfer Speculation (or lack of) Thread

[Mazrim]

Mark Hughes has agreed a deal to bring defender Taye Taiwo to QPR from AC Milan........according to BBC Sport

Did we not want him at some point?


What happened to our Nigerian trialist right back? Anyone is better than Hutton and Snivels

I thought he was a left back?

Anyway, I heard he wasn't invited for trial after blabbing on his twitter or something.

[Steve R]

Of all the positions in the team, full back is the least likely to win you points. A poor fb can certainly cost you, but I cannot see the marginal difference between say a competent one and a very good one being worth premium money.

We spent 12 or 13 mill trying to replace Freddy Bouma; even if they had turned out to be ok it was a pretty stupid thing to do.

I have no idea what Onuoha was on at City, but he will not have accepted a wage drop. I would guess that City are subsidising the deal with a lower fee and 'loyalty' bonus' etc.

It still makes little sense, full back is hardly Hughes' problem.

Maybe the unwarranted high wages in our game also owe something to some manager's real priority - their CV. The fact that such deals ultimately come back to haunt the club seems to be of little concern, they can always jump ship when their decisions start to rebound

[ozzjim]

I disagree with the start. Great full backs at the top end are the difference between good and brilliant teams at times. Full backs who defend, but equally attack well become secondary wingers, and create a hell of a lot of openings. Walker showed that for us last season, he was a key man.

[themossman]

I do too. Every really good team has full backs who play a big role in attack.

[Concrete John]

Personally I don't want us to ever deal with the likes of City, Spurs, Chelsea, Utd. Any players they'll sell will be shit, unwanted and come with ludicrous wage demands.

I think this was said when MON was here, but Brian Clough had a policy of buying players who saw Forest as a step up, rather than those who were moving to get a game from a 'bigger club'.  That way they were hungrier and gave more for the team, always trying to prove themselves.  MON seemed to follow that with us, with the possible exception of Dunne, yet we still ended up paying big wages.

[Matt C]

(Relatively speaking) I've no problem with the proven star players, the lynchpins of the the side (Given, Gabby, Bent et al) picking up the big money. It's when the squad players, those on the fringes pick up 40k+ you have a problem and that's what I guess when we talk of the 'wage situation' is what we're trying to change.

[Concrete John]

(Relatively speaking) I've no problem with the proven star players, the lynchpins of the the side (Given, Gabby, Bent et al) picking up the big money. It's when the squad players, those on the fringes pick up 40k+ you have a problem and that's what I guess when we talk of the 'wage situation' is what we're trying to change.

The problem is that those two are inter-linked.

Say you've got the Gabby's of the team on £60k a week and the Hutton's on £30k.  When renewing his contract, Gabby will want a rise, which we give to him as otherwise he'll go and get it elsewhere.  So when Hutton is in next he wants a rise too, probably the same percentage wise as Gabby got, making him a £40k a week player.  It's OK to say 'let Hutton go', but the replacement we will then need will also know, through his agent, what we're paying to other players and be looking for the same as he was, plus we then also pay a transfer fee.

The kids are an option, but before long they'll be knocking on the door asking for parity with first team players if they become regulars themselves.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but the wagebill is basically a scale thing, so whatever you pay at the top end is reflected at the middle and bottom.

[Rick_avfc]

I tell you whats making me laugh at the moment is all these reports of what Given has said about Keane's arrival saying it will give players a kick up the backside.  Keane is here from another 5 games so I cant see why the likes of Bent and Gabby would be too worried as they all know he will be gone by the end of next month so he will no longer be a "threat" to their position.

[KevinGage]

Of all the positions in the team, full back is the least likely to win you points. A poor fb can certainly cost you, but I cannot see the marginal difference between say a competent one and a very good one being worth premium money.

Would have to say I disagree with that.

There was a time when that was right, when you could get any jobbing, solid pro and stick him in there.

But in the current game, the best ones are worth their weight in gold. 

The way some teams are set up, the only width they get is from their fullbacks (or wingbacks).    Whilst in other sides, the fullback overlaps with the winger/ wide midfielder  and can cause mayhem down the flanks.  If the player is good enough, this often means the opposition have to focus more on containing the threat rather than attacking themselves.  So you're neutralising their attacking threat into the bargain.

[garyshawsknee]

I think they're really important nowadays and it's a shame ours are so poor. If you have decent attacking full backs you could play a narrow midfield and not be so reliant on wingers.

What makes it worse is that I remember us being linked with Walker before he went to Spurs.

[Concrete John]

My issue with our fullbacks isn't that they don't get forward enough, but thet they're too unreliable defensively, especially Warnock at the moment.  Hence we should be trying the likes of Cuellar and Clark there, as even though they wouldn't give us too much going forward, they would tighten us up at the back. 

The issue of getting good modern and attacking fullbacks, who can also defend, can then wait until the summer.

[KevinGage]

The Walker loan is often highlighted as a reason not to go that route.

But -and I admit this sounds a bit weird-  we were perhaps unlucky that he hit the ground running and was in top form pretty much from the off.


As weird as it seems now, Hutton was getting in ahead of him last season and he was third choice for Tottingham overall.  When he arrived, he was making noises about looking to stay. But on making the England squad in Feb ,we pretty much knew they wouldn't be letting him go.  A shame, as we could do with that sort of invention and pace in the side now, particularly with the loss of Young and Downing.

[VillaAlways]

Fabian Delph has been signed by Leeds on loan until Feb 25 th

[TheTimVilla]

Mark Hughes has agreed a deal to bring defender Taye Taiwo to QPR from AC Milan........according to BBC Sport

Did we not want him at some point?


What happened to our Nigerian trialist right back? Anyone is better than Hutton and Snivels

I thought he was a left back?

Anyway, I heard he wasn't invited for trial after blabbing on his twitter or something.

A Taye Taiwo twitter sounds like a dyslexic owl.

[Rick_avfc]

Fabian Delph has been signed by Leeds on loan

Apparently its only a 1 month loan ?  I could be wrong