Summer 2015 - Transfer Rumours, Speculation & Suggestions

[Matt Collins]

I just don't think Huddlestone is any improvement on Westwood, other than having a but more height. 

That's the crux of it for me.  I don't think he justifies the financial out-lay for such a marginal improvement.

Totally agree. I thought he was cack last year. Would much rather replace  cleverley than get a minor upgrade on westwood.

[pauliewalnuts]

I spent most of last season getting told, by someone who watched them every week, that Huddlestone was amongst the worst, non-delivering players in an awful side.

I hope we're not signing him. I certainly can't imagine us paying actual real money, a fee, for him.

[Russ aka Big Nose]

Big Toms languid style of play doesn't get me to excited but maybe Delph and Westwood or another will do the donkey work allowing him to unlock opposition defences, experienced,  adds a bit of height to the midfield, all in all a half decent signing if it was to happen

With the energy and tempo that Sherwood favours, I would suggest that what we need to unlock defences is quality crossing from wide areas and a quality 'No. 10' to use the current description for an advanced attacker that makes 'killer' passes.

Huddlestone in a deeper position with his languid style and Gerrard-esque quarterback passing will not deliver that (in my opinion). At his best, a better player than Westwood but far less likely to perform at an acceptable level on a regular basis - so the expected limited investment is better used elsewhere. UTV.

[Steve R]

Sherwood said he wanted winners. It would be a substantial u-turn if he then went and bought Huddlestone, the first minister of the comfort zone.

[Dave]

Whilst I won't be popping open the champagne and doing cartwheels if Huddlestone signs, I do think he's an upgrade on Sanchez or westwood and if sherwood can get him playing to his max he's an asset. He has an array of passing and is good with a dead ball.

I'm not sure about Huddlestone, I don't think that he's an upgrade on Westwood either.

Not being funny but westwood has had 2 full seasons to show he's PL level. He isn't.
Unless we want to keep flirting with relegation we need to upgrade these areas.

And signing a player who was pretty shit in a side that didn't just flirt with relegation but went on several dates and ended up having lots of sex with it is an upgrade is it?

[Clampy]

If Huddlestone was a decent player, he'd have gone somewhere better than Hull when he left Spurs.

[silhillvilla]

Whilst I won't be popping open the champagne and doing cartwheels if Huddlestone signs, I do think he's an upgrade on Sanchez or westwood and if sherwood can get him playing to his max he's an asset. He has an array of passing and is good with a dead ball.

I'm not sure about Huddlestone, I don't think that he's an upgrade on Westwood either.

Not being funny but westwood has had 2 full seasons to show he's PL level. He isn't.
Unless we want to keep flirting with relegation we need to upgrade these areas.

And signing a player who was pretty shit in a side that didn't just flirt with relegation but went on several dates and ended up having lots of sex with it is an upgrade is it?

Player for player yes.
Overall though I've already said I'd rather we didn't sign him.
What we must do though is sort centre mid out so that westwood and Sanchez no longer start games

[Dave]

Whilst I won't be popping open the champagne and doing cartwheels if Huddlestone signs, I do think he's an upgrade on Sanchez or westwood and if sherwood can get him playing to his max he's an asset. He has an array of passing and is good with a dead ball.

I'm not sure about Huddlestone, I don't think that he's an upgrade on Westwood either.

Not being funny but westwood has had 2 full seasons to show he's PL level. He isn't.
Unless we want to keep flirting with relegation we need to upgrade these areas.

And signing a player who was pretty shit in a side that didn't just flirt with relegation but went on several dates and ended up having lots of sex with it is an upgrade is it?

Player for player yes.
Overall though I've already said I'd rather we didn't sign him.
What we must do though is sort centre mid out so that westwood and Sanchez no longer start games

Probably. And signing inferior players like Huddlestone isn't really the right way to go about it.

[RussellC]

I have to say, I can kind of see the logic in looking at Huddlestone, but certainly not at £5.5m, given that he's only got 1 year left on his contract.

For me, the biggest weakness in our midfield is their inability to keep the ball. Sure, we did it well against a few sides with their feet off the pedal at the end of the season, but then reverted to type against Southampton and Arsenal, at great cost. We had energy in abundance, but there's very little benefit to having 3 midfield players who close-down play quickly if none of them look after the ball once they've won it. In rugby, they often talk about 'in-game' management and it strikes me that we've had no one do this effectively since Petrov.

In the system that Sherwood seems to want to play- with a narrow midfield and 2 number 10s- I actually think Huddlestone COULD be very effective, in a similar role to what Barry's done at Everton for the past couple of seasons. I know he was largely poor last year, but Sherwood would back himself to get the best out of him, and would probably also look at the sporadic form of Carlos Sanchez and shy away from trying to unearth a hidden gem from abroad to fill a position that really needs experience and footballing intelligence. Look at how effective N'Zonzi is for Stoke, and he's equally as ineffective off the ball.

There. I've said it.

[silhillvilla]

Good. We've agreed he's better than westwood .
But yes , let's hope sherwood has set his targets higher and the budget allows

[Dave]

Good. We've agreed he's better than westwood .

No we haven't. The clue is where I said "inferior players like Huddlestone".  If we're going to get better then Westwood probably shouldn't be a first-choice player. But Huddlestone gives us nothing other than more midfielders who aren't quite good enough.

[silhillvilla]

Good. We've agreed he's better than westwood .

No we haven't. The clue is where I said "inferior players like Huddlestone".  If we're going to get better then Westwood probably shouldn't be a first-choice player. But Huddlestone gives us nothing other than more midfielders who aren't quite good enough.

He gives more than westwood though.

[OCD]

At his best Westwood is a candidate to play the holding role in an admittedly weak England side who can only find Wilshire and Carrick to play that role. His problem is that he doesn't play to that level often enough but that might be expected of his age. Hopefully he can start playing to that level more regularly.

We already have Westwood, Sanchez and Gardner though - we need to be adding someone more on par with Delph's level than theirs though and Huddlestone isn't that.

[old man villa fan]

At his best Westwood is a candidate to play the holding role in an admittedly weak England side who can only find Wilshire and Carrick to play that role. His problem is that he doesn't play to that level often enough but that might be expected of his age. Hopefully he can start playing to that level more regularly.

We already have Westwood, Sanchez and Gardner though - we need to be adding someone more on par with Delph's level than theirs though and Huddlestone isn't that.

Westwood is neat and tidy with the ball but is too one dimensional.

[SheffieldVillain]

Good. We've agreed he's better than westwood .

No we haven't. The clue is where I said "inferior players like Huddlestone".  If we're going to get better then Westwood probably shouldn't be a first-choice player. But Huddlestone gives us nothing other than more midfielders who aren't quite good enough.

He gives more than westwood though.

He didn't for Hull last season, did he?