Summer Transfer Thread and Gustavo Cisneros Type Rumours.

[sickbeggar]

Watched a bit of the Arsenal - Chelsea game yesterday - when you looked at the 9 Chelsea subs there wage bill alone must be worth between £1.5 - £2 million quid a week - unbelievable quality and depth in there squad

We need far better players if we are to push for a European place in the league, the current squad are not getting us in the Top 6

Realistically we can't do that because we haven't got the revenue. I would hope we'd be looking at exclusively improving the 1st team with youth players and maybe a few hopeful punts for the reserves to cover us. If you can get a 1st XI upto that 5th/6th/7th standard then barring major injuries (3 months +) you have a chance. At the moment we could probably cope with a major injury to a striker so that area's covered now, Defence, its a bit sparse if any of the 1st team get crocked. And of course the midfield which could do with a new face or 2. But at this stage its going to be the 1st team that will/won't get us a European place, not the squad and that will depend on the injury list to a large extent.

[mr underhill]

I'd rather a quality loan for DM or ACM than nothing.

[The Edge]

Watched a bit of the Arsenal - Chelsea game yesterday - when you looked at the 9 Chelsea subs there wage bill alone must be worth between £1.5 - £2 million quid a week - unbelievable quality and depth in there squad

We need far better players if we are to push for a European place in the league, the current squad are not getting us in the Top 6

It's all a bit doom and gloom on here this morning. We won 2_0 on Saturday without being really tested. Losing Snake2 was obviously a huge blow to our season but we've signed some quality too. We've got plenty to get excited by let's not forget that, the lads winning the FA youth Cup is massive imo, and there's still 8 days to go in this window. We are still heading in the right direction and top 10 is definitely achievable. Who knows with a bit of luck and a prevailing wind European football is getting ever closer. And I'm backing us to land a trophy this season. Keep the faith.

[cdbearsfan]

I think we need to add players, but wouldn't be getting too upset over us not being as good as Chelsea. They look top three minimum, maybe even top one. On the other hand, Arsenal look nothing special. I saw reasons to be optimistic not depressed watching that game.

[TheMalandro]

I think we need to add players, but wouldn't be getting too upset over us not being as good as Chelsea. They look top three minimum, maybe even top one. On the other hand, Arsenal look nothing special. I saw reasons to be optimistic not depressed watching that game.

Agree.

When you look at our squad, compared to the one that got promoted, it's a massive improvement.

I anticipate a similar season to the last, hopefully with us higher up the table. Top seven should be the aim.

[ChicagoLion]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

[sickbeggar]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

[ChicagoLion]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

unless you bring in enough quality, Arsenal had Henry but they also had Viera Toure, Bergkamp etc.
Having the big star isn't the problem getting the others is. Without the big star it makes it even more difficult.

[Risso]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

I sort of get what you mean, but achieving it with a local lad who came up through the ranks is surely a lot less artificial than the Man City or Chelsea way.

[Demitri_C]

I think we are going to lose alot of games if we dont get a solid dm in the middle. The Brighton game for will be a perfect example of that as i can see bissouma running through ours

[sickbeggar]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

I sort of get what you mean, but achieving it with a local lad who came up through the ranks is surely a lot less artificial than the Man City or Chelsea way.

of course but its still built on nothing if its built around one player. Don't get me wrong, we have some very talented individual players but as far as how the team "ticked" it was all based on ratboy which is great if you can count on 35 games a season and his undying loyalty but we couldn't count on either. A team that is better balanced talent-wise overall has to be a better option long term even if it does drop a few notches down to start off with.

[sickbeggar]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

unless you bring in enough quality, Arsenal had Henry but they also had Viera Toure, Bergkamp etc.
Having the big star isn't the problem getting the others is. Without the big star it makes it even more difficult.

aye, and that was Wenger era Arsenal with the pull to get them and the best young players, not Arteta's Arsenal. Roy Keane made the point yesterday about no top players being willing to go to Arsenal so they're going down the youngster or 2nd Tier player route which is dependant on your scouting system and how "potential" works out for you. In an ideal world you can do a Leicester, but no-one is going to give Arteta the same amount of leeway, because they're supposed to be this big club challenging. Unfortunately they are in the SKY 6 in name only now and should really be relegated from that group

We obviously have the ability to attract the likes of the best players from smaller/middling premiership sides and very good players from overseas like Bailey, which in reality is around about where we've always been in the last 40 years during our better periods before and after the Sky 4/5/6? appeared.  We need to exploit the foreign market better but the same sort of investment should get us to that "best of the rest" area even if it isn't as quick as some people would like

[ChicagoLion]

I think we are going to lose alot of games if we dont get a solid dm in the middle. The Brighton game for will be a perfect example of that as i can see bissouma running through ours

yep you can get away with it against Newcastle but plenty of teams will out play us in the central midfield area.

[DrGonzo]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

unless you bring in enough quality, Arsenal had Henry but they also had Viera Toure, Bergkamp etc.
Having the big star isn't the problem getting the others is. Without the big star it makes it even more difficult.

So, not a one man team, then?  I think that was the point..? 

[ChicagoLion]

If we had the new signings and somehow kept the Idiot, then Challenging top 6 was a real possibility.
Now we are on a slow but hopefull rise up the table.

That's how I see it really. The reality is finishing top6 with ratboy would have been artificial in a way because everything was set-up with him in mind from the style of play to formation and would disappear in the blink of an eye as soon as he got injured or left. No getting away from it, but we were a bit of a 1 man team and those sort of teams tend not to threaten the top of the table

unless you bring in enough quality, Arsenal had Henry but they also had Viera Toure, Bergkamp etc.
Having the big star isn't the problem getting the others is. Without the big star it makes it even more difficult.

So, not a one man team, then?  I think that was the point..? 

I am not sure what point you are trying to make.