The financial fair-play has absolutely no impact on anybody's transfer policy right now. There aren't even disciplinary sanctions for another 3 years.

It has more to do with the fact that Cahill is vastly overated considering you could get Dann, Johnson, Shawcross, Phil Jones etc for similar prices, who are better players.

I'll eat my hat if we get 17 million for him.

The reason we won't get 17m is because he has a year left on his contract, not his ability

The 12 month contract also has a massive part to play, agreed. Why spend 17 million on a player you can chance for free. But I disagree that his ability doesn't play some part.

As good as he is, there's similar ilk knocking around for the same sorts of prices Cahill would cost - Some of them younger and cheaper.

Apparently Brown Wes is going to Sunderland thank God.

WHY IS EVERYONE SO WORRIED? just read the bolton news,--blake is hoping to play more games this season.

"ROBBIE Blake believes he can be more than a bit-part player for Wanderers this season.

The veteran front man, pictured, started just three cup games last season and made a further nine appearances from the bench."


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The only picture I saw was a Jet2 advertisement for flights to Croatia for £337, which is about the same price that Blake is worth.

The good news on Sky this morning is that Coyle believes his freindship with Villa-Boas will land us Sturridge on another long term loan deal.
And the further good news coming from the Bridge is that Falcao the Porto hitman is ready to move to an unnamed Prem club if Chelsea sign him then that means Sturridge will be right down the pecking order and will surly fancy another loan move to us.
With the news that Stoke are ready to open talks with Danns and Jerome as well could also spell good news for us if Danns signs for them then Arsenal and Chelsea could turn their attention to Cahill and Stoke will stop trying for Sturridge with Jerome on board.
Also i have heard the Brown rumours and they seem to be very true as Sunderland are moving closer to signing O'Shea and have moved away from Brown and Everton are out of the hunt as they are close to Onouha on a 4m deal.

So teams aren't trying to streamline now because they know the actions are coming into place? United are the only team who have spend ridiculous money so far but they had alot left from Ronaldo, Arsenal wnt sign before Fab moves, City wnt sign unless they can ditch players to reduce overheads.

It's all well and good saying the disciplinary isn't for three years, doesn't stop the fact that all clubs are putting measures in place now to avoid them. Its a massive cycle, someone must sign someone from a top team for them to have not only more space in the 25 man squad but also more money available in the budget.

Hulk has also revealed his desire to follow Villas Boas to Chelsea. Coyle is a smooth talker, he will get Sturridge back with the argument 'he needs first team football to continue his development, give him me and next season you will have a world class striker with a full season under his belt. Right now with Kalou, torres, Anelka, Drogba, possibly Falcao or Hulk, Sturridge will have limited chances. However the season after, Sturridge, Torres. Kalou and Falcao... Much better chances and he will be primed. Villas Boas is an intelligent man and he will accept.

I doubt Hulk will get his move his buyout clause is 89.5m and even Chelsea wont spend that kind of cash

Anyone thinking Sturridge will go back to play at Bolton is deluded. This loan was more like a shop window for him for a big club to come in for him or even get games for Chelsea.

So we can always rely on Robbie Blake We will all be saying why didn`t we give Elmander a 5 year contract by the end of next season. I can`t see where the goals are coming from.

Agentha

Anything positive to say??

I have to agree, I mean why would any ambitious footballer ever want to play premiership football week in week out when they can play in the reserves in the hope that maybe, just maybe, they can make the bench.

Looks like the Brown rumors to Sunderland are true he is having a medical prior to being unveiled tomorrow

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_7023694,00.html

Why didn't we give Elmander a 5 year deal? Hmm 29, no pace, no strength, no shooting skill, no positional sense, no movement with partnering striker. Hmm well he was cheap, oh wait wasn't that either. Well he did cost us £16m overall... But he di score 18 goals in three whole seasons, that nearly £1,000,000 a goal. Maybe we shoulda kept him.

You could NEVER slate Elmanders work rate ever he gave everything for the club and played wherever asked of him.
For 18 months the guy had zero confidence thanks to smeggers and the 11m price tag round his neck.
Coyle got the best from him in his final 18 months but did continue to play him out of position at the end of the season (due to injurys).
I think Elmander will flurish in Turkey no big price tag, no pressure to deliver the goods and if played in his prefered position playing of the front striker he will have a very good season.
Yes he was a very expensive mistake on our part but the guy struggled for confidence for a long time and not being played in position effected him.

It's all well and good having a good work rate, but when your always chasing balls down and never in position to help the team forward, it becomes a problem, after November he reverted back to his old self. Stopped scoring goals and Sturridge was bought in in January after Johan had scored 1 goal in TWO MONTHS. Had we had a full strength team he would not have even been a starter.

Did you ever actually watch Elmander play?
He brought a very high work rate to the team he tracks back, tackles and provided cover for a varity of positions.
Everyone raves about Davies and high knock downs and lay offs but what about Elmanders?
The guy is a good player and didnt deserve the stick and abuse most fans gave him i believe his was overpriced for what he was but still a very good player who will shine in Turkey, Without snide fans booing him and no hefty price tag to live up to Elmander will be a star next season.

Everyone raves about Davies and high knock downs and lay offs but what about Elmanders?

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We simply can't have two strikers both earning £30k+ who can both do knockdowns, we need goals.

Elmander is gone i was not saying we should have broke the bank to keep him i was simply stating that when he was here he could have done so much better if played in position and given self confidence and belief by the manager.
The question still needs to be asked to why smeggers saw fit to spend 11m on a striker who was more of a Davies type of player when we had the best in the game at that time in Davies?
Elmander would have done very well playing behind a strike force of Davies and Sturridge in a free role picking up loose balls a simular position he played for Tolouse when he netted double figures there and was player of the season.

Elmander is gone i was not saying we should have broke the bank to keep him i was simply stating that when he was here he could have done so much better if played in position and given self confidence and belief by the manager.

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well you don't say that in your last message, you state that we have two strikers who can create chances but we can't play both of them together.

I'd rather have Davies upfront than in midfield and Elmander imo played well there.

You could NEVER slate Elmanders work rate ever he gave everything for the club and played wherever asked of him.
For 18 months the guy had zero confidence thanks to smeggers and the 11m price tag round his neck.
Coyle got the best from him in his final 18 months but did continue to play him out of position at the end of the season (due to injurys).
I think Elmander will flurish in Turkey no big price tag, no pressure to deliver the goods and if played in his prefered position playing of the front striker he will have a very good season.
Yes he was a very expensive mistake on our part but the guy struggled for confidence for a long time and not being played in position effected him.
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Moses this was my original message to a poster that was not you if you have come in and read half of what i said then it is your fault you have missed the point.
I have been simply defending Elmander for his work rate, his effort and the fact he did his best for us in the time he was here with a hefty price tag round his neck and 22,500 Bolton fans on his back every home game!
Also i never said Davies should have been played in midfield but i remember a time under Big Sam that Davies did very well as a wide player whipping crosses in for Anelka, Davies holds play up that is what he doe's Elmander could have done that but my question was why did smeggers spend 11m on him when we had a striker who could do that?
It was the same as if Chelsea had bought Gerrard and stuck him in the team with Lampard they can't play together and Davies and Elmander never worked well as they were the same type of player for either of them to work you need a poacher next to them.
So lets hope we get Sturridge back to play alongside Davies.

I agree that Elmander was unfairly treated by the fans. No objective fan can tell me that Davies had a better season last year than Elmander. His best position is off the main striker, and he NEVER was given that position to play. If I could I would swap Davies for him in a heartbeat, without a single hint of doubt. I swear he must have gone through half the peoples mrs on this board with the way he is spoke of. Thats all I am going to say about him now as he is off to pastures new, and who could blame him.

Elmo should've been played as one of the 3 in a 4-3-3. He's more like an attacking midfielder and not a striker. However, if you look at the stats SKD created more chances than Elmo did last year, so Aristo I will take objection with you that Davies definitely had a better season than Elmo. Elmo went completely missing for months on end.

I think OC's mistake was playing Elmo when his form dipped. And as for:
"I agree that Elmander was unfairly treated by the fans".

Well, that's a complete load of bollox. Elmo was signed for £8.2mill (not £11mill bwfc forever, you've been reading too many 'red tops' and knew he was going to be one of our most expensive players, but FFS if he can't play at clubs where he's the most expensive player then what hope has he got of being a pro footballer anywhere. These players play in front of 20k-60k people week in and week out and to say that the level of expectation was too great for him is one of the most deluded comments I've read on here since JA606 started!

The simple thing is he just wasn't very good. His first touch for a striker was so bad that I would've put him midfield from the off (except for that goal where thankfully he didn't fall over his own feet!), but to say that he was better than SKD is carp! SKD is a team player, Elmo was always in it for himself and the way he left was testament to that.

Davies may have created more chances because he can head the ball but who scored more. Who had the better movement, who commited defenders. I will bet you Davies gave the ball away under no pressure twice as much too. Not to mention Elmander played alot less time and alot more out of position, and never in his favoured position. The fee we paid has absolutely nothing to do with him either. WE decided to pay that fee. WE decided to pay him that wage. Get over your hatred, its ridiculous. Having your own "fans" boo and chant Klasnic's name whenever he missed a chance or gave the ball away too is unacceptable in my eyes, and mostly it is unfair. That is why he left, open your eyes.