January Transfer Speculation (or lack of) Thread

[eastie]

Splash the cash or leave and preferably the latter option.

We are light years away from the top 6 now so why would Lerner spend £30m on players in the hope of finishing 8 th to get an extra million in prize money- to compete at the top end would need £100m in new players .

We are a club in decline and for that randy must accept total responsibility!

[godzvilla]

yep. Lerner's totally lost any interest. Death by slow boredom

What is boring about relegation battle after relegation battle? I find it quite exhilarating to be honest.

yep. Lerner's totally lost any interest. Death by slow boredom

yep. Lerner's totally lost any interest. Death by slow boredom

This is the same Lerner who paid out for 60 + Coaches to take fans down to the Emirates ? , thats some kind of disinterest .............same old morose post-match , navel gazing bollox on here , I see , Plus ça change plus ça reste la même chose , unfortunatley .  ......................Godzvilla!

[Dave]

Splash the cash or leave and preferably the latter option.

Who are you expecting him to sell to?

[eastie]

Splash the cash or leave and preferably the latter option.

Who are you expecting him to sell to?

Hope and pray QIA rumours will come true otherwise I expect years of stagnation and fighting to stay up.

[Rick_avfc]

Hope and pray QIA rumours will come true otherwise I expect years of stagnation and fighting to stay up.

Seriously, people need to forget about this QIA takeover talks.  its NOT gong to happen. RL is here for the long run and we will have to accpet mid table mediocracy for the time being

[themossman]

Keane has shown me how badly we need to overhaul things. Even being well past his prime he has slotted straight in and highlighted how lacking in footballing brains and leadership we are. The thing that really worries me is that with no changes to the "senior" players (which seems likely) none of our promising youngsters will get anywhere near their potential.

[Somniloquism]

Keane has shown me how badly we need to overhaul things. Even being well past his prime he has slotted straight in and highlighted how lacking in footballing brains and leadership we are.

TBH that has been a problem for several years anyway. Merson was probably our last one for a footballing brain. Ireland, also has it but he is hit and miss and Bannan doesn't have the experience.

[Rick_avfc]

The way I feel at the mo, I would go all out to get Keane on a permanent deal and make him captain.  Everyone else hasn't got a scooby doo!

[themossman]

Same here. The more I see of him the more I understand the logic of this loan. It's great to see someone marshalling the players on the pitch, wanting the ball, showing a bit of gumption. If he has that kind of impact behind the scenes too then he could be very valuable. We need a few more like him to offset the bad eggs.

[Somniloquism]

The way I feel at the mo, I would go all out to get Keane on a permanent deal and make him captain.  Everyone else hasn't got a scooby doo!

I would hope we could do a Beckham and keep Keane until the Euros as he is currently hungry to have a competitive buildup for that. But I don't know what his state of mind would be after being as he took the easy option of MLS.

[N'ZMAV]

We are in a lot of trouble. So many average players on massive wages that aren't even good that we'd never be able to shift.

[Rick_avfc]

I feel sorry for the likes of Bannan, Clark and Albrighton at the moment.  They are surrounded by a number of shit players who are putting the team under pressure.  People keep saying "lets play the youngsters" but I dont think thats a good idea at the moment as it can only harm their confidence and development more.  Until we have some stability only then can we start introducing the youth more and more. Thats just my opinion.  I felt sorry for Bannan yesterday when he came on as there was some right moron's behind me just cursing him at every opportunity.  The kid had like 10mins to make an impact.

I admit, when the news of us signing keane broke, I wasn't too keen on the idea but it made more and more sense as the days went by.  I wish we could keep him until the end of the season.

[N'ZMAV]

Well Keane's going to look like a hero the way he's going.

[brontebilly]

I feel sorry for the likes of Bannan, Clark and Albrighton at the moment.  They are surrounded by a number of shit players who are putting the team under pressure.  People keep saying "lets play the youngsters" but I dont think thats a good idea at the moment as it can only harm their confidence and development more.  Until we have some stability only then can we start introducing the youth more and more. Thats just my opinion.  I felt sorry for Bannan yesterday when he came on as there was some right moron's behind me just cursing him at every opportunity.  The kid had like 10mins to make an impact.

I admit, when the news of us signing keane broke, I wasn't too keen on the idea but it made more and more sense as the days went by.  I wish we could keep him until the end of the season.

I think we need to realise too that our kids arent really kids at all. If they are looking to make it as decent EPL players they have an ideal opportunity to do so now at our cash strapped club. I have high hopes for Clark. Bannan and Albrighton could go either way for me. Havent seen enough of Gardner to comment but he isnt able to play in a 2 man midfield yet anyway. Herd will be useful to have as a squad player I feel. Weimann, Fonz, Lichaj, Baker - the jury is well and truly out if they could even fill in as squad players for us.

The unfortunate reality is that we need to invest in quality. Cuellar and Petrov will go in the summer. Beye and Heskey will be off the wagebill. Warnock also needs to go that is clear. But we need to replace these with quality not the Alan Hutton's of this world. Decisions will need to be made soon on the younger players and if they are going to make it or not. Delph had a big chance this season at Villa to make a position for himself for the next 5 years but he failed miserably. Stevens is only a gamble really. Nzogbia has been a big disappointment but is a talented player for sure. Bent, Keane, Gabby, Ireland, Given, Dunne, Clark - there is a nucleus of a very good side but we need to supplement these with proven quality.

[ROBBO]

When they are 18-19 they can still be classed as kids, if they are not getting a regular spot in a team as weak as ours when they are in their early twenties it probably means they are not going to make it.