Summer transfer madness thread

[paul_e]

I think, respectfully, Paul that you are strengthening my point.  Lerner's naivete allowed the appointment of inferior quality employees. What he allowed to happen in his custodianship of the Cleveland Browns is not coincidence.

It is a tough one for me. Because of my stuff with the Trust I have got to know some former senior figures in a personal capacity.

You couldn't meet a nicer bloke than Paul Faulkner but he was woefully out of his depth running a football club. He got the gig as Lerner likes him and he was instrumental in bringing Sir Flouncealot to account (and that was because Lerner didn't have the bollocks to just sack him).

As a businessman, Fox was a much shrewder operator. He quickly tried to right the ship from a commercial perspective (we were actually losing money on merchandise given the half headed nature of some of the deals Faulkner agreed). He knew they needed a proper management structure. He just didn't have the football knowledge to get the right people in place.

Hollis was the brightest of the lot and would have been a sound Chairman had he stopped around longer. I get the impression he never really fancied it long term though.

Faulkner and McLeish were the 2 really bad appointments (and I say that as someone who didn't dislike PF as much as many on here) both were totally out of their depth but they always came across as good guys.  Fox as a commercial manager with a sporting manager on the other side would've been fine I think but getting him to do everything was just stupid.

[PeterWithesShin]

In the last 3 years Manchester City have spent something like £340m. On goalkeepers and defenders.

[cheltenhamlion]

In the last 3 years Manchester City have spent something like £340m. On goalkeepers and defenders.

Fucking amateurs. The four eyed bottler did that every summer!

[chrisw1]

Snodgrass is an excellent player.  But he plays on the right and we've just signed Elmo to play there.  (he has mentioned that one reason he wasn't happy at West Ham is he was asked to play on the left).  I really like him but £8m for a 30 year old in a position where we have Elmo & Adomah doesn't sound like the right deal for us at the moment.

[dave.woodhall]

In addition to the comments above, is it worth repeating that the biggest mistake Lerner made was letting Steve Stride go and the second-biggest was not dragging him back off whatever golf course he happened to be playing the minute O'Neil walked out?

[paul_e]

In addition to the comments above, is it worth repeating that the biggest mistake Lerner made was letting Steve Stride go and the second-biggest was not dragging him back off whatever golf course he happened to be playing the minute O'Neil walked out?

Stride is exactly the sort of person he needed and yes he should never have been thrown out so quickly. That's the biggest difference now for me Wyness is the first attempt to replace Stride with someone remotely like-for-like.

[cheltenhamlion]

In addition to the comments above, is it worth repeating that the biggest mistake Lerner made was letting Steve Stride go and the second-biggest was not dragging him back off whatever golf course he happened to be playing the minute O'Neil walked out?

The trouble always was that they thought they knew it all. "Don't worry your pretty little heads about the finances, Randy will cover that". "McLeish a shit appointment? Nah, think what he can do with Randy's money". "Football experience on the board? We need business experience not football".

It was annoyingly arrogant then and only changed towards the death throws of the Fox regime when they were that shell shocked they did anything we shouted for pretty much.

[tomd2103]

is there any good target man out there we could try to sign. We want someone like Benteke/Les Ferdinard/Alan Shearer/Gerry Hitchens/Pongo Waring . Don't want Peter Crouch.  I know C Ronaldo could be ideal but that is about likely as Walsall winning the Champions League.

Sam Gallagher is that type of player if not in the calibre of players you mentioned!

[Gareth]

In addition to the comments above, is it worth repeating that the biggest mistake Lerner made was letting Steve Stride go and the second-biggest was not dragging him back off whatever golf course he happened to be playing the minute O'Neil walked out?

Totally correct, Steve Stride was the biggest loss to Villa since SGT in 1990.

[sirlordbaltimore]

If we play 3 at the back we need more cover (unless he thinks Bree or de Laet can do it)

We've not played 3 at the back all summer so we're not likely to now (IMHO)

As for Snodgrass, isn't he a RIGHT winger ?

[eamonn]

No, he's a wrong'un.

[garyshawsknee]

In the last 3 years Manchester City have spent something like £340m. On goalkeepers and defenders.

They still can't bloody defend.

[chrisw1]

If we play 3 at the back we need more cover (unless he thinks Bree or de Laet can do it)

We've not played 3 at the back all summer so we're not likely to now (IMHO)

As for Snodgrass, isn't he a RIGHT winger ?

yes he it.

[Matt Collins]

I thought he was a left winger. I agree we probably don't need a righty

[SoccerHQ]

Twitter is linking us to Robert Snodgrass today. Would be a top player in the Championship, but the fee being talked about is £7m plus, which is an awful lot for a player who'll be 30 in September.  Bruce has previously admitted to wanting him though, so there's every chance it's a genuine link. Veretout's fee + McCormack's wages (and possible fee) would probably about cover the outlay too.

As an aside, I still think we need another centre-back. We've no idea about the durability of Samba, or how many games we'll get out of Terry. Sadly, we know all too well about Baker's durability (or lack of). Granted the 3 of them (and Jedinak) should all be able to cover each others' absences, but my big fear is what happens if/when Chester gets injured. A back 2 containing any combination of that 4 would be so slow it'd force our defence to set-up so deep  it would hinder the whole team.

None of the younger CBs that we have look to have the physicality to play in the Championship yet (Suliman in particular looks to be very lightweight). Did somebody previously say that De Laet can play as a CB in emergencies...?

Could actually see this happening. Think Snodgrass would be a great fit for us even if it is another short term move.

Actually a wide player who can score and takes good free kicks. He was great for Hull last season but it just hasn't worked out for him at West Ham so they'll probably look to move him on with all the money they're spending.