Summer 2010 Transfer Talk / Unfounded Speculation

[sir_gary_cahill]

At Celtic he had Bobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren, Henrik Larsson, Lubomir Moravcik, Didier Agathe to name but a few, this shows that your statement that he's not confident managing foreign players is cobblers. He took them to the Uefa Cup final with that team. I think that was the blueprint all along; to sign young english talent and then add to it gradually with bigger european names which I'm confident we will do.

Surely if the story originated in the country that the player in question plays in, then the story has more credibility than if it was in The Mirror?

Thats fine you believe he will, i think you'll be disappointed.

Nothing he has done at Villa has shown he is willing to do that.

Lets be honest its not really a gamble with Celtic he had Guppy and Lennon looking like world beaters in that league, i doubt he was particularly worried who he brought in.

I never said I thought we would but I think the intention is to buy them but whether we are seen as an attractive enough proposition is another matter entirely, in fact I doubt we are.

Yet with those players you listed, he still managed to mould a very average side on paper into Uefa Cup finalists, I think he does know what he's doing but it's taking longer than expected due to exterior influences (i.e Man City).

[TrentVilla]

Personally I'd be amazed if we sign anyone this summer who hasn't already played in the Premier League. I think we will only sign a couple of players this summer and they will be known faces not 'risk' overseas purchases.

I wouldn't disagree with your belief that they will all be known faces but I do think he will have to sign more than just a couple of players if the reports of clearing out the fringe players are true. We will have no recognised RB and only a first choice LB. We will also have lost Sidwell and Gardner from our CM squad with the possibility that NRC and Milner are off as well which could leave us very short in this area. Add to this the fact that we all know our forward line needs surgery, I think we should be expecting to see at least 5 or 6 new signings?

I don't disagree with what you are saying we need, in fact I think you are spot on. I still though think we will only sign 2 or 3 players.

even with the amount of players that are ment to heading out the door??.

Yep.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

We NEED to sign 4 players in my opinion if we don't sell Milner.

Right back, Midfielder (who can preferably play anywhere in midfield), two strikers.

I reckon we will sign 3 though, central midfielder, striker and right back.

[ml1dch]

Right back, Midfielder (who can preferably play anywhere in midfield), two strikers.

I reckon we will sign 3 though, central midfielder, striker and right back.

Fine by me. We have three perfectly decent strikers already, two of them very young. We need one more to supplement them. I'd say another winger is more of a priority than an additional striker in case Downing decides he wants to carry on being missing in action.

[LoughboroughLion]

Why are so many always so angry that MoN leaves it late. Who cares when he does business.

The only concern i have with the late business is the fact that if you leave it to the very last minute the players don't get enough time to blend in pre-season. This can lead to a poor start to the season, which may be the difference between a top 4 finish. Plus the longer he leaves it, the higher the price, as the selling club, in most cases, do not have sufficient time to get a replacement. However, if a good deal is done, i would be as happy as anyone, regardless of when it is.

[LoughboroughLion]

Eljero Elia looks pretty handy, only 23, with the right coaching he could be handy.

[carew_villa]

Hamburg have no reason to sell Elia so he'd cost a lot and I'm sure bigger clubs would be in for him as well.

Anyway, why would we want Elia when we've got Ashley Young who is probably better than him?

[Brumerican]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

[Ponky]

I suspect what we are starting to learn about MON is not so much that he deliberately leaves things until the last minute but more that he identifies his targets and pursues them doggedly until he either gets them or it appears that there is no chance of getting them, even if it means following them until the last week of the window. Fair enough - we saw with Warnock and Dunne last off-season he got his men in the end, albeit quite late in the processes. The problem is when that player proves impossible to get there is little time left to go on to plan B or plan C.

On the other hand, he identified and we signed Downing quite early - and i think that had a lot to do with the fact that there weren't a lot of other suitors for him at the time.

[TrentVilla]

I think there is an element of truth in that Ponky, I also though think that its because he is by nature a very cautious man I mean you wouldn't describe him as a risk taker or a gambling man would you. I get the distinct feeling that he identifies or knows what or even who he wants but then spends forever mulling things over, checking and re-checking on the player, their backgrounds and peoples opinions of them.

People have this idea that O'Neill doesn't listen to other people but I think when it comes to transfers he perhaps listens to much or at least seeks too much input. I think he dithers on targets, waits too long and sometimes misses out on them because of it and at other times is forced to jump into action by the actions of other clubs ie Harewood almost signing for Wigan.

Even with Ashley Young who we watched for months and months it was only when West Ham confirmed their interest that we made our approach. I used to defend O'Neill on here for his percieved lack of speed in the market, I used to defend him and say its harder than people think, that he isn't all that slow and I still think one of these things is true, the other I've been forced to accept just isn't accurate, he is rather slow when it comes to signing players.

[Tomaszk]

For someone who is so considered he has wasted an annoyign amount of money on players I don't think he even rated himself; he just couldn't find anyone better.

[Pilchard]

I don't think there will be much chance of that happening this time around, Tomaszk.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

I don't want us to sign anyone with "Pants" in their name, yes, even if he was Brazilian and his name was Pantsinshio!

[sir_gary_cahill]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

Pantsil is crap, is he a serious suggestion??

Do you honestly think its a good idea to release all those players when we've spent nearly £10m on them?

[fran_villa]

there is no way MON would just release all those players,there is money to be made back on the Shorey Sidwell and even donkey Heskey..

[TheTransferWindow]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

Pantsil is crap, is he a serious suggestion??

Do you honestly think its a good idea to release all those players when we've spent nearly £10m on them?

Pantsil is far from crap, however I don't expect MON to buy another RB.

[sir_gary_cahill]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

Pantsil is crap, is he a serious suggestion??

Do you honestly think its a good idea to release all those players when we've spent nearly £10m on them?

Pantsil is far from crap, however I don't expect MON to buy another RB.

I think you'll find he is, positionally he is awful

[TheTransferWindow]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

Pantsil is crap, is he a serious suggestion??

Do you honestly think its a good idea to release all those players when we've spent nearly £10m on them?

Pantsil is far from crap, however I don't expect MON to buy another RB.

I think you'll find he is, positionally he is awful

No, I've seen him a lot...he's pretty solid.

[sir_gary_cahill]

I would be happy with something like Pantsil, Clyne, Ireland , Keane (If the price is right) and Doyle. Release Shorey, Sidwell, Heskey, Salifou and give more minutes to Albrighton, Fonz, Clark, Guzan and possibly Bannan

Pantsil is crap, is he a serious suggestion??

Do you honestly think its a good idea to release all those players when we've spent nearly £10m on them?

Pantsil is far from crap, however I don't expect MON to buy another RB.

I think you'll find he is, positionally he is awful

No, I've seen him a lot...he's pretty solid.

there aren't many worse in the league that's for sure, he's definitely not good enough for us

[Richard]

Personally I'd be amazed if we sign anyone this summer who hasn't already played in the Premier League. I think we will only sign a couple of players this summer and they will be known faces not 'risk' overseas purchases.

I wouldn't disagree with your belief that they will all be known faces but I do think he will have to sign more than just a couple of players if the reports of clearing out the fringe players are true. We will have no recognised RB and only a first choice LB. We will also have lost Sidwell and Gardner from our CM squad with the possibility that NRC and Milner are off as well which could leave us very short in this area. Add to this the fact that we all know our forward line needs surgery, I think we should be expecting to see at least 5 or 6 new signings?

I don't disagree with what you are saying we need, in fact I think you are spot on. I still though think we will only sign 2 or 3 players.

even with the amount of players that are ment to heading out the door??.

Yep.

and I agree. I think the amount leaving will be needed to add to whatever transfer budget he has if any