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

[PaulWinch again]

Wouldn't want Benteke with Carroll, as Chris says it just wouldn't work at all.

[Mazrim]

Or it could be devastating.
But you would need one hell of a midfield.

[LeeB]

Or it could be devastating.
But you would need one hell of a midfield.

It's an Allardyce wet dream.

[ashkar]

4-2-3-1 is the way forward.

Sell Bent and buy a Centre Forward as a Backup for Benteke.
Centre Back to replace Dunne.
These two positions needs to be sorted in January.

In Summer we can make the rest of the changes
Central Midfield (Dale Stephens etc)-
Playmaker (Hoolahan)- Out(Ireland)
Utility Defender (Naughton) - Out (Lichaj)

And if NZog does not work out, a genuine winger.

[JPartington]

As others have said, I think the most important position for us to strengthen is a cultured attacker to play in the Gabby/Weimann role. Both are ever industrious but lacking technically, which severely impacts on our creativity.

Job description = inside forward, composed, creative, pacy, scores goals, works hard to fill in flanks so team can revert to 5 across midfield without the ball.

Another focal point for attacks will open up the whole pitch.

Should be easy to pick ones of those fellas up I imagine?

[Toronto Villa]

Gabby offers a lot of pace which we need and Benteke the muscle and intimidation. What we need is a busy little annoying forward that will get on the end of Benteke and run around like an idiot for the cause and be a better finisher than Weimann. A non odious prick version of Craig Bellamy comes to mind. Someone that can drop deep and isn't afraid to run at defenders or do dirty work as required. Weimann is a work in progress but we need a proper poacher up there that can profit from the work done by Gabby and Benteke.

[tomd2103]

As others have said, I think the most important position for us to strengthen is a cultured attacker to play in the Gabby/Weimann role. Both are ever industrious but lacking technically, which severely impacts on our creativity.

Job description = inside forward, composed, creative, pacy, scores goals, works hard to fill in flanks so team can revert to 5 across midfield without the ball.

Another focal point for attacks will open up the whole pitch.
Should be easy to pick ones of those fellas up I imagine?

To be fair, there is one of them currently playing in a mid-table Blackpool team. 

[midnite]

Priorities for me are:

- Powerhouse central midfielder who can boss a game.
Don't want much, just somebody with no weaknesses at all and possibly the son of some sort of deity.

- Skillful attacking midfielder who can cover wide and support Benteke.
Don't want much, just somebody who has about 30 names abbreviated to one unfashionable old english name, classical composer or maybe a comic book hero. Like Bert, Amadeus or Thor. He should be able to to do things with a ball that make men want to be him and women want to be with him.

- Indomitable centre half to partner Roncrete or one of the young fellas.
Don't want much, just somebody able to leap like a Salmon, smash through 4 inches of depleted uranium armour with his little finger and able to kill a man if that man is stupid enough to say his name. He should also be able to control and pass a ball.
This will enable Richard Dunne to be fired from a cannon into a pie shop window.

Depending how well we do with these positions we could fly up the table.
We could also look at getting a cheap back up keeper and letting Given go, another versatile full back and perhaps another out and out striker to compete with or compliment Benteke. But those three positions I reckon are priorities.

Love it!!

[ozzjim]

Are there any players in the Championship who would fit the roles we are after? Phillips and Ince at Blackpool would provide good replacements/ alternatives for the Gabby and Weiman roles...

Others?

[eastie]

Are there any players in the Championship who would fit the roles we are after? Phillips and Ince at Blackpool would provide good replacements/ alternatives for the Gabby and Weiman roles...

Others?

Ince is being reportedly chased by several of the top clubs, can't see us getting him to be honest if the likes of spurs and utd are after him, Phillips maybe would be an option.

I'm hoping nzogbia will get fit and come good but I doubt it will happen .

[ozzjim]

Redmond?

[Virgil Caine]

I am and have been an admirer of Gabby since he made his debut but I think we need to explode the myth that he has pace. I have noticed this season that he no longer leaves defenders behind and in fact very often his lack of a first touch means he loses possession. I admit that he is a stronger player and can hold defenders off the ball but in ' bulking up' he has had to compromise with losing his speed in the first ten yards. I will applaud his work rate and that is why he is in the team ahead of Bent- in the last 10 minutes of last nights game he looked dead on his feet but was still willing to help out the defence.

[tomd2103]

Are there any players in the Championship who would fit the roles we are after? Phillips and Ince at Blackpool would provide good replacements/ alternatives for the Gabby and Weiman roles...

Others?

There is a Belgian international called Dries Mertens at PSV who would be ideal in that role.  Scored 28 goals in less than 50 games for PSV, but I'm sure he would cost a fortune and that the top clubs in Europe are sniffing around him. 

[OCD]

Are there any players in the Championship who would fit the roles we are after? Phillips and Ince at Blackpool would provide good replacements/ alternatives for the Gabby and Weiman roles...

Others?

Ince is being reportedly chased by several of the top clubs, can't see us getting him to be honest if the likes of spurs and utd are after him, Phillips maybe would be an option.

I'm hoping nzogbia will get fit and come good but I doubt it will happen .

Arsenal were looking at Benteke. Just because a club is linked to a player doesn't mean they will buy them. There is enough talent that they can't all be taken up by teams in the Champions League. We just have to be prepared to put the effort in knowing the risk is that we get gazumped and move on to the next target.

As for names for those wide positions, Nathan Dyer is worth a shout too.

[Shrek]

I don't think it's as cut and dried as that Shrek, there should be times when we change things a bit and I would like to see bent given a run alongside benteke , I think lambert has probably decided not to persevere with bent and I find that quite sad considering he is a natural finisher whereas gabby has scored once in 30 league games.

Benteke and Bent can't play together, they both don't track back tackle or apply pressure, there is no way you can have 2 out of the 11 doing that.

Bent and Jones scored 35 goals between them for Sunderland as a pair. Who was tackling and applying pressure there?

That was 3 seasons ago and Jones's one and only good season, football has moved on, who now plays a flat 442 successfully? Maybe that's why Sunderland are struggling, with Martin unwilling to change his style.

Also, Sunderland finished 13th on 44 points, so was Bent's 25 goals good for the team? Surely a team with a player scoring that many would be more successful? Or was the team suffering due to being built around one limited player?

Dave you seem unwilling to listen to anything other than Bent should play no matter what.