Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[ozzjim]

In a nutshell : The current squad lacks quality and quantity - if we fail to strengthen we will struggle, irrespective of who the manager is.
The club promoted season tickets on the back of a positive managerial appointment.
If we fail to add to the existing squad, I, along with countless others who renewed, will feel let down.
Like others I am beginning to think we have overestimated the development or quality of the younger players.
I would be happy to see the likes of Ireland, Nzogbia and even Bent sold to bring in "solid" players from European leagues.
Consolidation this season was the mantra, however without additions to the squad I fear a repeat of last season. 

I am coming round on the Bent argument. For where we are as a club, I would actually take a Bent/ Carroll swap at the moment as long as we signed another pacey forward at the same time. I think tactically we are going to struggle to supply Bent for a while, by which time he will be approaching 30. Carroll might be a much more effective option for us, and indeed for Liverpool if they had Bent.

Of course I would prefer Lerner just to give Lambert the money and sign Carroll!

[tarzansbrother]

In a nutshell : The current squad lacks quality and quantity - if we fail to strengthen we will struggle, irrespective of who the manager is.
The club promoted season tickets on the back of a positive managerial appointment.
If we fail to add to the existing squad, I, along with countless others who renewed, will feel let down.
Like others I am beginning to think we have overestimated the development or quality of the younger players.
I would be happy to see the likes of Ireland, Nzogbia and even Bent sold to bring in "solid" players from European leagues.
Consolidation this season was the mantra, however without additions to the squad I fear a repeat of last season. 

Spot on. £42m those 3 cost us, worth now can't be more than £20m. We really have signed some shit. Lerner really needs to push the boat out and give Lambert some cash.

[Chris Smith]

The team we started with yesterday was more or less the best available, which is a worry. The football / possession was promising but;

We have too much reliance on young players who have not been proven at this level and may never be good enough.

We need to get the players / system that gets the best out of Darren Bent. There are no goals anywhere else in the team & no width.

We need a left back, winger & target man as a minimum.

With those players we will comfortably finish mid-table.

Gabby, Albrighton and Dunne were all unavailable so even without buying anyone that team can be improved significantly. It's going to take a few weeks at least before we know how good the new signings are going to be. I think we might see one or two more come in but those expecting instant results are probably going to be disappointed.

[Toronto Villa]

In a nutshell : The current squad lacks quality and quantity - if we fail to strengthen we will struggle, irrespective of who the manager is.
The club promoted season tickets on the back of a positive managerial appointment.
If we fail to add to the existing squad, I, along with countless others who renewed, will feel let down.
Like others I am beginning to think we have overestimated the development or quality of the younger players.
I would be happy to see the likes of Ireland, Nzogbia and even Bent sold to bring in "solid" players from European leagues.
Consolidation this season was the mantra, however without additions to the squad I fear a repeat of last season. 

I am coming round on the Bent argument. For where we are as a club, I would actually take a Bent/ Carroll swap at the moment as long as we signed another pacey forward at the same time. I think tactically we are going to struggle to supply Bent for a while, by which time he will be approaching 30. Carroll might be a much more effective option for us, and indeed for Liverpool if they had Bent.

Of course I would prefer Lerner just to give Lambert the money and sign Carroll!

Not totally against it, but we all saw when Downing and Ash were here how lethal he is with the right supply. Does selling Bent really improve the supply that the new striker would receive?

[Monty]

I don't think we're the problem tactically: Bent is. Bent needs to adapt, not the other way around. It's no good just not getting involved in play and hoping for supply: he has to get involved to make the whole thing less predictable. Yesterday there was clearly a problem: our creative players in midfield would play the ball around relatively nicely, then we might get a little space on the wing, say with a full-back, and they'd have absolutely no options. Bent's still playing as if every attack is a counter-attack, like when we had Ash and Downing, but when the opposition set up to block you, everyone needs to make themselves available for the pass.

Bent has, in the past, actually proven himself capable of doing this on occasion, but I think he needs to make a much more conscious and concerted effort to do it consistently. If not, I'd rather start Weimann up front (at least he moves), or Gabby when fit, and put another attacking midfielder or winger in the team to help the build up play. Maybe our top scorer wouldn't have as many, but overall as a team we'd score more because we'd have more goals from more areas.

Either way, I agree with Chris: we will have to be patient.

[Chris Smith]

In a nutshell : The current squad lacks quality and quantity - if we fail to strengthen we will struggle, irrespective of who the manager is.
The club promoted season tickets on the back of a positive managerial appointment.
If we fail to add to the existing squad, I, along with countless others who renewed, will feel let down.
Like others I am beginning to think we have overestimated the development or quality of the younger players.
I would be happy to see the likes of Ireland, Nzogbia and even Bent sold to bring in "solid" players from European leagues.
Consolidation this season was the mantra, however without additions to the squad I fear a repeat of last season. 

I am coming round on the Bent argument. For where we are as a club, I would actually take a Bent/ Carroll swap at the moment as long as we signed another pacey forward at the same time. I think tactically we are going to struggle to supply Bent for a while, by which time he will be approaching 30. Carroll might be a much more effective option for us, and indeed for Liverpool if they had Bent.

Of course I would prefer Lerner just to give Lambert the money and sign Carroll!

There's a reason why he's surplus to requirements now that Rodgers is in charge at Anfield. You are almost forced to play in a certain way if you have him in your side, without wingers to constantly sling the ball at his head there's little point to having him in the side.

[Monty]

In a nutshell : The current squad lacks quality and quantity - if we fail to strengthen we will struggle, irrespective of who the manager is.
The club promoted season tickets on the back of a positive managerial appointment.
If we fail to add to the existing squad, I, along with countless others who renewed, will feel let down.
Like others I am beginning to think we have overestimated the development or quality of the younger players.
I would be happy to see the likes of Ireland, Nzogbia and even Bent sold to bring in "solid" players from European leagues.
Consolidation this season was the mantra, however without additions to the squad I fear a repeat of last season. 

I am coming round on the Bent argument. For where we are as a club, I would actually take a Bent/ Carroll swap at the moment as long as we signed another pacey forward at the same time. I think tactically we are going to struggle to supply Bent for a while, by which time he will be approaching 30. Carroll might be a much more effective option for us, and indeed for Liverpool if they had Bent.

Of course I would prefer Lerner just to give Lambert the money and sign Carroll!

There's a reason why he's surplus to requirements now that Rodgers is in charge at Anfield. You are almost forced to play in a certain way if you have him in your side, without wingers to constantly sling the ball at his head there's little point to having him in the side.

Agree entirely: we'd just be replacing one form of one-dimension predictability with another, probably worse, version.

[ozzjim]

The team we started with yesterday was more or less the best available, which is a worry. The football / possession was promising but;

We have too much reliance on young players who have not been proven at this level and may never be good enough.

We need to get the players / system that gets the best out of Darren Bent. There are no goals anywhere else in the team & no width.

We need a left back, winger & target man as a minimum.

With those players we will comfortably finish mid-table.

Gabby, Albrighton and Dunne were all unavailable so even without buying anyone that team can be improved significantly. It's going to take a few weeks at least before we know how good the new signings are going to be. I think we might see one or two more come in but those expecting instant results are probably going to be disappointed.

I agree re instant results, but Dunne and Albrighton are not necessarily going to start, so the team would still not be strengthened significantly.

[avfcpg]

I'm really not with this sell Bent idea? One of the most natural goalscorers around, proven in the prem and we want rid after one game? He's been out injured for several months as well. The problem isn't Bent, the problem is getting the service to him...Top drawer finishers are few and far between and we have a good one...we would struggle to get a better one...

[Monty]

I'm really not with this sell Bent idea? One of the most natural goalscorers around, proven in the prem and we want rid after one game? He's been out injured for several months as well. The problem isn't Bent, the problem is getting the service to him...Top drawer finishers are few and far between and we have a good one...we would struggle to get a better one...

It's not easy to supply a forward if that's your sole gameplan, particularly if that forward shows next to no interest in helping the build-up play to make it less predictable. Now, I agree we shouldn't judge him and flog him on one game, but he'll need to change to adapt to Lambert's style.

The statistics show that when Bent scores more goals in a season, the team will have an overall lower goals total. This suggests (as does the evidence of our own eyes) that he plays better in sides set up to supply him, but that those sides don't overall score more because this limits their scoring options. He has shown himself capable of playing a more all-round game, but he needs to do it consistently, and improve markedly on yesterday.

Also, he's not really a natural finisher: his finishing is fine, but it's his movement the penalty area which gets him easy tap-ins and goals, not some genius for shooting. A Charlton fan I know warned me when we signed him: he might score twenty, but you'll be wondering why it wasn't forty with all the chances he's missed.

[eastie]

Bent is not the problem, he is the saviour- its the lack of supply to him that is the problem, creative quality midfielders are needed and ireland and nzogbia have failed to merit their signings so far- it is time to deliver- bent is a finisher and needs to stay.

[Dante Lavelli]

In the last three season’s published accounts (listed on Swiss Ramble) we have lost 54m, 37m and 46m which Randy has effectively paid from his own pocket (via loans to the club I think).  That’s 137m in three seasons, yet we demand more money from him.

[avfcpg]

Goalscoring is all about movement in the box...Lineker was a master at it but did sod all outside it. If he scores 20, there's a good chance he will miss 20 as well, buit I'd take that.

[Toronto Villa]

Bent needs a strike partner who offers a tactical change when needed but also can set him up. Someone like Jones may not be a long term desire but it meets what we need now in my opinion. And is someone Bent knows and can play well with.

[Dante Lavelli]

The statistics show that when Bent scores more goals in a season, the team will have an overall lower goals total.

Is that true?  It’s believable but have you/anyone crunched the numbers to test the theory?