I know there have been many posts already regarding who we should be looking at for next season, and also who we should try and ship out of the club. Personally, i think we need at least 7-8 players at least next season in order to have a real push for play off's, i think automatic will be slightly out of reach but definitely top 6 is achievable! So, my targets would be these: GK - Manonne (on loan) & Guzan/Eihoff (permanent) FB - Dudgeon deal almost done by the sounds of things / Billy jones (free agent, good cover for rosie) DC - Ayala (loan/permanent) / Gerrard (depends on Cardiff after the play off's) /Hobbs (3rd choice target in my opinion) / Caulker (spurs lad on loan) CM - Danns (already agreed?) / cork (on loan) / Evans / Greening LW - Danny Rose / Andros Townsend / Liam Lawerence / Michael Kightly ST - Marlon king (free agent, i know he has history but on his day he is quality) / Ricky Lambert / Billy Sharp / Premier League loanee I know we can't sign all of these but with a couple from each section and keeping: Rosenior, Koren, Evans, Chester, Stewart, Gerrard and Fryatt all from the starting 11 and we'll be right up there witha shout! Looking forward to next season already, UTT
hmmmmmmmmmmmm bag of ****e thread.Marlon king................oh dear.lets leave the transfers to the manager,eh?twat
If he puts the ball in the back of the net (which he used to for us), I'll take him. I couldn't give a flying **** if he rapes women or drinks and drives off the pitch. It's only when it starts affecting him on the pitch that it becomes an issue. And on the pitch you can't deny, he is a natural goalscorer. Unfortunatley, we have a slightly better one in Matty Fryatt so I can't see him coming, even if he is free. Stefan Maierhofer from Wolves on loan would be the ideal target man. He's 6ft 7 and has had a decent season in Germany, after a bit of a blip at Bristol City.
We're gonna need a right turnover of players to compete next year. GK - Mannone + Guzan/Duke CB - Gerrard (Cardiff are staying down, I'm almost certain of it now), Hobbs, Ayala. Yes all 3 as we only have Chester aside from them. LB - Dudgeon CM - Danns, Bullard LM - God knows ST - A target man Not sure Evans really brings anything to the side worth signing him on a permanent, he's really no better than average. I know I'm the only person excluding TWF on here who believes this, but we have a gaping Bullard-shaped hole in our midfield. He's an amazing player, way better than most in this league and we won't see anyone of his ability again for years if he goes. I think it's worth keeping Duke as a 2nd choice as we need so many players we probably can't afford to pay for 2 goalies. I'd also extend Fagan's contract, we have a winger shortage and he's nowhere near as bad as is made out on boards like these.
Part of being a fan is saying who you think your club should play/sign etc. If we never said our opinions then there would be no point. And isnt this a forum for fans to say what they want. Everyone does it where we draw up our own shortlist and think the club should sign them Its called being a fan
I think most of us agree with that. Where we disagree is that most of us don't think we can get Jimmy Bullard playing in that Jimmy Bullard shaped hole regularly and that given that, the contract he is on means we need to offload him as soon as possible.
He seems to have being playing (and scoring) regularly enough for Ipswich. His wages are obviously big but it's hardly crippling. You could set the money aside for a years wages and it'd be like spending a couple of million on a player. I'd much rather pay ã2m for JB for the next year, then ã1.3m for McLean to run around a bit.
Bullard's on just over ã2m a year, sell Koren for ã1m, with that and his wages off the books we're nearly there. Sometimes you've gotta take chances, otherwise you'll never ever be a good doctor. I just watched Scrubs, but the point stands. Look at all the clubs who don't take chances and try to do what we're doing now... they're in League 1 or near to it.
I don't see us getting relegated in the near future at all. We're an average mid-table champo side, a long way from a relegation side but also a long way from promotion. My point was simply that with JB (and others) we'd stand a much better chance of promotion.
If you're not moving forwards you're moving backwards though, look at Derby, similar sized club to us, went up to the Premiership, unfairly sacked their manager, got relegated and have slipped closer and closer to League 1 each season since. There was something else similar as well, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Anyway, the point is, it's nearly impossible to "consolidate" (such a stupid term), and as such we need to throw everything at getting back into the PL, otherwise we'll drop into League 1 eventually.
Also forgot to mention, Greg halford. On loan at Pompey from wolves, he is a very consistent player at this level and also extremely versatile, he can anywhere across the back 4, or anywhere in midfield and I think I remember him playing up top against us for sheff u the season we got promotion. Be a very decent player to have in the starting 11 and as back up to every position. Hopefully wouldn't be on too much of a wage and a low transfer fee.
So you don't think it's possible to improve a bit, be solid, win more home games and be much more creative next year but still finish say 7th? That's what teams like Wolves and QPR have done. Steady progress.