I've been trying to follow some of the articles about targets in/players out but it seems most of them have descended into a childish spat between some of our fans and various other clubs (notably Owls and Bhoys) and frankly trying to sort out the sensible comments from the playground name calling is both tiresome and giving me a headache. So I've decided to write an article myself. Then if you have a serious point to make whether I agree or not I'll leave it up and do my best to answer it. If you want a WUM fest or a playground spat do it elsewhere because I'll delete the comments. This whole 'our clubs bigger than yours' is frankly childish.
Right on to business. Who do we want? Who do we think we can actually get?
Darren Pratley from Swansea seemed to be a name that has been very heavily linked with us. Khayal has suddenly popped up as a possibility. This Thiago lad from Barca is being mentioned (although to be honest I bet if we get him it'll be a loan for maybe a season) and of course I think many of us wouldn't mind seeing Daniel Sturridge return for a season long loan.
However I'm more bothered by the defence at the moment. Robinson just isn't good enough to be a starter at this level. Zat Knight needs a specific type of partner in the middle (as heretical as this may sound I think he's decent and actually looked quite good alongside Wheater) while Cahill is almost certainly on his way out to one of the top five or six clubs.
Jussi is frankly past his best and I think it's time Ali got the starting spot while Adam Bogdan should go out on loan maybe to the championship and get some time on the field under his belt. Jussi would still be a decent if not great backup keeper here for one or two years. Goalkeepers are about the only position we have enough of right now.
Unfortunately I'm nowhere near as sanguine about the other ten playing positions. We lack strength in depth all over the park but we don't have a Sheik Mansour or a Roman Abramovich so we can't go out and spend thirty mil plus on one player.
So guys who can we realistically bring to the Reebok that will add to our quality as well as our numbers. Do you think Owen can continue to move us forward as he did for so much of last season?
We have some players due to return from injury (most notably Stuart Holden) and we also have some in the reserve set up that might be ready to take their first steps in the first team (Carling Cup squad perhaps) but I think we can all agree that we don't right now have a squad capable of a top eight finish yet.
Who would you bring in to fix that if you could?
Who do we really think we can get?
posted on 16/6/11
Yesterday Thiago was linked with Arsenal as part of any deal for Cesc Fabregas and tody it says Chelsea are also interested in him, so don't think we will have much chance of signing him.
posted on 16/6/11
G'day Peter, hows tricks? Good article.
On the Thiago thing I think we have a decent chance of signing him. I see what you are saying Lofty, however I think what has happened is that it has got out that Barca are willing to let him go and so now his name is getting linked all over the place- kind of like with Cahill.
If Fabregas goes then Arsenal will want a straight up cash deal and I don't see Chelsea going after a youngster like Thiago when they can just slap in a big offer for a ready made player like Sneider.
Pratley I still think is on his way in, and I would love another season of Sturridge. That will only be a loan though after the price tag that has reportedly been slapped on his head- £20million according to reports.
Positions we desperately need signings in are:
Left-back
Left midfield
Striker x2
And I would say we also need competition/cover down the rightside for Lee.
posted on 16/6/11
Agree with WF. Although I think our priority is a striker
Just looking at the article above, there are a few places that WF lists which can be filled by freebies, namely Woodgate, McFadden and Seb Larsson
posted on 16/6/11
Larsson I would take.
Woodgate would have to be a pay-as-you-play deal otherwise no. He's a great defender but the fitness issues are there for all to see.
I'd also be tempted to offer Eidur a similar deal. He showed towards the end of last season that he still has the ability at this level when he ran the show for Fulham when they made us look very silly at the Cottage. And from a purely cynical point of view the re-signing of a fans favourite like that would be sure to create a real atmosphere among the fans that Gartside could use to drum up some more season ticket sales!
And someone like Giles Barnes or Zoltan Gera could give us some cover and competition down the rightside of midfield.
posted on 16/6/11
I agree that Jussi should be a sub from now on and Al Habsi should be number one we would be crazy to sell him to Wigan and help them out for the sake of 3m, Bogdan should go out on loan next season like you said to boost his game time.
In defence we need a new left back as Robbo is past it and Alonso could be doing jail time, Warnock would be a good addition but i think clubs like Rovers might come in for him and sway the move as he used to play there.
We need midfield cover as Holden is not due back till December rumour as it, Pratley would be decent cover as we are very low in the middle of the park and he costs us nothing.
Up front we need 2 strikers big time i think Danny Ward and Tom Eaves should step up to the first team this time as i think they are ready for it i doubt Sturridge will return to us as i think he will either go on loan to another bigger team or get matches at Chelsea this time.
I think Nugent will join us on a free this summer and we will spend big on one striker 6-7m probably on Jerome who i dont rate he is not a proven goal scorer so i would rather us push Everton and Newcastle for Demba Ba who showed that he can bang them in last season.
posted on 16/6/11
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 16/6/11
I saw earlier that Matthew Upson is available on a free, think a cb trio of him, Knight and Wheater would see us through the season.
posted on 16/6/11
Upson will end up at Arsenal or Liverpool i think he would even go to Newcastle before us
posted on 16/6/11
I thought Nugent had signed for leicester
posted on 16/6/11
We will not be signing Upson, Jerome or Nugent.
Upson is too old for Coyles mentality.
Jerome is not on Bolton's radar, as confirmed by Gartside who stated that the papers fathomed it out of nothing.
Nugent again wnt be on our radar, lazy journalism because Coyle has signed him before and his contract is coming up..
I think its safe to say we need a CB to replace the outgoing Cahill, a LB depending on Alonso' situation. LM because Taylor lacks the technical skill and pace to match Coyles philosophy and Petrov has been more miss than hit despite his 3 goals and 5 assists. We need more energy in midfield..Pratley looks set to be that man we need. A back up RM to give Lee a rest when needed and be able to perform admirably. And finally a striker to replace the outgoing Elmo and Studge. Two players with pace preferably. Coyle will be confident of re-signing Studge on loan and then another who will go on to take Davies place next season..
We all know, and Coyle knows where we need to improve. Luckily as we have shifted alot of deadwood this season, we can improve the team as alot of players who werent even involved with the team have moved on.. Up the Whites?!