Summer 2016: Transfer rumours and suggestions

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

Ross Mccormack close to Norwich move apparently.

Why are we once again sitting about doing nothing?  Pay what Fulham want and go and get him Villa.

hhhmmm signing a 30 year old on big wages for 10 million with no resale value

no thanks and hopefully we are learning from past mistakes

for this season only, the resale value isn't so important. With the money to be earned from getting promotion, having a goalscorer as a short term option isn't a crazy move if it means the difference between being promoted and not

[RussellC]

This would be a monumentally retrograde move - RM is just this year's D Bent. Avoid.

Disagree - look a the type of goals that McCormack scores. He's equally as capable of dropping deep and playing as a Number 10 (as I like to call them) as he is a goal-poacher. That said, for his age and price-tag I can see why the club are seemingly not pursuing this one.

[MonsXI]

Ayew Gestede Kozak Hepburn Murphy and Kodija should be enough fire power as two of them have scored 20+ in the championship and Ayew is definitely premier league class.

My concern is players to provide them with chances.

No for me with Mccormack too pricey.

Have we actually signed Kodija?

No but im sure I read we have bid although could be a rumour.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

i would rather have cissokho as left back stopping at the halfway line than bennett

amavi wide left
traore wide right
tshibola and a n other in the middle
grealish in a free role behind ayew

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

This would be a monumentally retrograde move - RM is just this year's D Bent. Avoid.

Disagree - look a the type of goals that McCormack scores. He's equally as capable of dropping deep and playing as a Number 10 (as I like to call them) as he is a goal-poacher. That said, for his age and price-tag I can see why the club are seemingly not pursuing this one.

if he gets us promoted and swells our coffers by 100M then his price tag will be worth it, proven goalscorer at this level, I wouldn't write him off so quickly unless we have a better option

[FranzBiberkopf]

amavi wide left
traore wide right
tshibola and a n other in the middle
grealish in a free role behind ayew

I'm not so sure. That is one of those lineups that could crash and burn badly. We still need some real steel/experience in there. A horrible, grizzled centre forward (in the mould of a Andy Carrol), a niggly centre midfielder (in the mould of a Joey Barton), plus two no nonsense fullbacks who can just defend. Other big gaping whole is set pieces - we have no-one who can take a freekick; no one who can take a corner (assuming Gardener doesn't take up a midfield place).

[peter w]

This is what a Fulham fan wrote about McCormack on a different forum:

Our very first season in the Championship, when parachute payments were highest, we promoted 5 or 6 17-18 year olds to the first team. We signed free transfers such as Mark Fotheringham, Dino Fazlic, Adil Chihi, Tim Hoogland and some other no names. We signed Ross McCormack for £6 million plus add ons. The club genuinely thought we had a promotion winning team. The term all fur coat no knickers spring to mind - we had the shiny marquee signing in McCormack but that was it. We nearly got relegated.
 
More or less the same happened last year. We signed  a load of freebies, albeit higher quality freebies than the year before, and still struggled. So we are not a well run club. We are lucky to have Jokanovic although there were rumours he was going to walk at the end of the season. (power struggle with Rigg). Then our owner is half in and half out. It is frustrating to have a billionaire owner who runs the club as if here were just keeping his neck above water. He'll probably sell within two seasons. He makes us compete within the parameters of financial sustainability...meaning we can't compete because we are sinking stone without him to underwrite the investment. Getting 12 k a week at the Cottage will not sign you anyone decent!
 
McCormack's agent is Willie McKay. He hawked McCormack to the 3 relegated clubs and there was interest but no biters. Ross has been here 2 years and has already signed 2 contract extensions and wage rises. I would not be sorry to see McCormack go. He is unprofessional in the off season, piles on the pounds. It takes 5 or 6 games to get going. He scoores and he assists but he is also detrimental to the team. He doesn't close down and I think his tactial awareness is poor. Get £10 million and sell on the caveat that it will be reinvested.

[Gareth]

McCormack's agent is Willie McKay. He hawked McCormack to the 3 relegated clubs and there was interest but no biters. Ross has been here 2 years and has already signed 2 contract extensions and wage rises. I would not be sorry to see McCormack go. He is unprofessional in the off season, piles on the pounds. It takes 5 or 6 games to get going. He scoores and he assists but he is also detrimental to the team. He doesn't close down and I think his tactial awareness is poor. Get £10 million and sell on the caveat that it will be reinvested.

There's something odd with McCormack & Rhodes, despite having good goal scoring records in the Championship neither seem to be fixtures in the Scotland team & let's face it the pool isn't deep!  Wasn't McKay the agent who pushed Boateng out of VP?

Think would prefer Kodija, Wells or Assombalonga

[Hookeysmith]

Although I do not profess to understand a lot about tactics it has been suggested that RDM fancies 4231 formation

so I assume we need a very fit and mobile striker - and don't think we have one at present that could genuinely play that role

[Steve67]

Kodjia and Assombalonga, a mouthful to say, but would be great to watch. The right money would get both, I'm sure.

[Eckybloke]

I wouldn't take a Scottish striker.  I can't think of any of them in recent years (and I mean the last 10/15 years) who have (a) been any good or (b) developed much after a move from Scotland to England to big money.

There doesn't appear to be an appreciation of athleticism in Scottish football in general or general football craft.  Where you see foreigners and indeed English players get craftier as they get older to make up for a decline in speed or skills, even the better Scottish players have an arc of:

Are shite because they're young, in Scottish football and have no football experience
Get better
Get good and maybe get a move to England
Get richer and lazy
Get shite because they're older
Get really shite and move back to Scottish Football or retire

No wonder the Scottish game is utter gubbins.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

amavi wide left
traore wide right
tshibola and a n other in the middle
grealish in a free role behind ayew

I'm not so sure. That is one of those lineups that could crash and burn badly. We still need some real steel/experience in there. A horrible, grizzled centre forward (in the mould of a Andy Carrol), a niggly centre midfielder (in the mould of a Joey Barton), plus two no nonsense fullbacks who can just defend. Other big gaping whole is set pieces - we have no-one who can take a freekick; no one who can take a corner (assjuming Gardener doesn't take up a midfield place).

we have two full backs in hutton and cissoko who are what they say on the tin, not wing backs but defenders who stop at the half way line

agree about central midfield hence the a n other, although gana if he stays would be fine

[darren woolley]

I would also like us to get Kodjia and Asombalonga would be great if we can sign the pair of them.

[Steve67]

Cissokho is awful. I'd rather Amavi stay to provide that attacking link down the left. Richards, attitude and fitness depending, might do a similar thing down the right. Agree with others, if we are going down the 4231 route, then either Gueye stays and plays next to Tish, with Gardner as back up, or we need to bring in another physical player.

[tomd2103]

amavi wide left
traore wide right
tshibola and a n other in the middle
grealish in a free role behind ayew

I'm not so sure. That is one of those lineups that could crash and burn badly. We still need some real steel/experience in there. A horrible, grizzled centre forward (in the mould of a Andy Carrol), a niggly centre midfielder (in the mould of a Joey Barton), plus two no nonsense fullbacks who can just defend. Other big gaping whole is set pieces - we have no-one who can take a freekick; no one who can take a corner (assjuming Gardener doesn't take up a midfield place).

we have two full backs in hutton and cissoko who are what they say on the tin, not wing backs but defenders who stop at the half way line
agree about central midfield hence the a n other, although gana if he stays would be fine

Sorry, but must have been watching a different Hutton for the past five seasons.  Hutton does get forward, but his crosses never beat the first defender and he is then caught out of position and can't get back.