Morpheus Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season! The wage issue has only been 'dealt' with because we havn't replaced the likes of Beye, Heskey, Cuellar, NRC et al with the likes of Adam, Berbatov, Johnson et al. Whilst they probably do reflect a significant short-term improvement on what we have, that level of spending was deemed unsustainable to a club with an income as limited as ours. We simply cannot afford to pay our entire starting 11 in excess of £40k a week, and if the UEFA regs are accepted by the league, meetings happening over next 2 days I believe, that will be stated by the league and not just our owner. Where i have said that our whole starting eleven should be on in excess of £40k per week? The problem was that we had players earning in excess of £40k benched when MON was at the club. The players i have mentioned would be automatic picks for the first team! However, I agree totally that there should be a balance within our squad and i believe Cuellar was on less than £40k. Berbatov was exactly the type of striker we needed. Someone to play off Bent and give him the service so desperately lacking at the moment. At 5m it was a no brainer for me especially when we paid 7m for Benteke. Johnson is head and shoulders above anything we have at the moment in wide positions and would do the things that N'Zogbia quite obviously can't and Adam could have been the playmaker which we haven't had in many a year. All three would have been immediate first team picks who would have brought the required quality to our team which is so severely lacking at the moment and thats my main point. As i have already explained the exodus has not finished yet with Dunne, Hutton and Warnock on their way so there will be more room to accommodate quality! Lambert is playing 'Russian Roulette' with our Premiership status at completely the wrong time even when our chairman had made the funding available to purchase the aforementioned type of player. It is a massive gamble and one i hope the club don't regret? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TezzRexx Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Let's face it, if we do get relegated, it's not because Lambert brought in some youth players. It's been coming, since 2010. It's been too drastic of a change to cut the wage bill so dramatically in 2 years, and appoint 2 wrong managers at both the wrong times and sell our best players year on year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 All excellent points 'TezzRexx' and i agree it has been a cumulative affect which has left us in a difficult position. But there's no point in gambling with lower league players when quality players are available who would have created enough stability within the team to then allow the manager to introduce younger less experienced players at the right time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanthemanisgod Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season! The wage issue has only been 'dealt' with because we havn't replaced the likes of Beye, Heskey, Cuellar, NRC et al with the likes of Adam, Berbatov, Johnson et al. Whilst they probably do reflect a significant short-term improvement on what we have, that level of spending was deemed unsustainable to a club with an income as limited as ours. We simply cannot afford to pay our entire starting 11 in excess of £40k a week, and if the UEFA regs are accepted by the league, meetings happening over next 2 days I believe, that will be stated by the league and not just our owner. Where i have said that our whole starting eleven should be on in excess of £40k per week? The problem was that we had players earning in excess of £40k benched when MON was at the club. The players i have mentioned would be automatic picks for the first team! However, I agree totally that there should be a balance within our squad and i believe Cuellar was on less than £40k. Berbatov was exactly the type of striker we needed. Someone to play off Bent and give him the service so desperately lacking at the moment. At 5m it was a no brainer for me especially when we paid 7m for Benteke. Johnson is head and shoulders above anything we have at the moment in wide positions and would do the things that N'Zogbia quite obviously can't and Adam could have been the playmaker which we haven't had in many a year. All three would have been immediate first team picks who would have brought the required quality to our team which is so severely lacking at the moment and thats my main point. As i have already explained the exodus has not finished yet with Dunne, Hutton and Warnock on their way so there will be more room to accommodate quality! Lambert is playing 'Russian Roulette' with our Premiership status at completely the wrong time even when our chairman had made the funding available to purchase the aforementioned type of player. It is a massive gamble and one i hope the club don't regret? Hang on a minute... Without Lamberts signings we would have something like: Given - £40k+ Dunne - £40k + Collins - £40k ish Cuellar- £30-40k Hutton £30-40k Warnock-£40k + Ireland - £60-80k depending on who you believe Petrov - £40k + Gabby- Around £60k Bent - £60-80k depending who you believe You're then suggesting we pay Berbatov whatever Fulham are paying him which I would say is at least what we're paying Ireland and Bent, then Johnson and Adam on wages that are probably around the £50k mark. The initial problem with MoN was that high earners weren't playing, but if and that's a big if for a number of reasons we want to be compliant with the UEFA regs we can't afford a wage bill at that level whether the players are nailed on first teamers or not. You only menion the transfer fees when comparing Berbatov and Benteke, but I'd be suprised if Benteke was on more than £20k on his initial contract. We would be paying 4x that for Berbatov! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smetrov Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I actually think the smaller london clubs represent a problem for Aston Villa. Even though on attendances we dwarf QPR, Fulham and West Ham - these smaller london clubs have financial backing greater than villa's at the moment. We couldn't afford to pay berbatov his reported £100k per week - or sign some of the players QPR have signed. Historically we have blown these clubs out of the water - thats not looking the case any more - the lure of london has put pay to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season! The wage issue has only been 'dealt' with because we havn't replaced the likes of Beye, Heskey, Cuellar, NRC et al with the likes of Adam, Berbatov, Johnson et al. Whilst they probably do reflect a significant short-term improvement on what we have, that level of spending was deemed unsustainable to a club with an income as limited as ours. We simply cannot afford to pay our entire starting 11 in excess of £40k a week, and if the UEFA regs are accepted by the league, meetings happening over next 2 days I believe, that will be stated by the league and not just our owner. Where i have said that our whole starting eleven should be on in excess of £40k per week? The problem was that we had players earning in excess of £40k benched when MON was at the club. The players i have mentioned would be automatic picks for the first team! However, I agree totally that there should be a balance within our squad and i believe Cuellar was on less than £40k. Berbatov was exactly the type of striker we needed. Someone to play off Bent and give him the service so desperately lacking at the moment. At 5m it was a no brainer for me especially when we paid 7m for Benteke. Johnson is head and shoulders above anything we have at the moment in wide positions and would do the things that N'Zogbia quite obviously can't and Adam could have been the playmaker which we haven't had in many a year. All three would have been immediate first team picks who would have brought the required quality to our team which is so severely lacking at the moment and thats my main point. As i have already explained the exodus has not finished yet with Dunne, Hutton and Warnock on their way so there will be more room to accommodate quality! Lambert is playing 'Russian Roulette' with our Premiership status at completely the wrong time even when our chairman had made the funding available to purchase the aforementioned type of player. It is a massive gamble and one i hope the club don't regret? Hang on a minute... Without Lamberts signings we would have something like: Given - £40k+ Dunne - £40k + Collins - £40k ish Cuellar- £30-40k Hutton £30-40k Warnock-£40k + Ireland - £60-80k depending on who you believe Petrov - £40k + Gabby- Around £60k Bent - £60-80k depending who you believe You're then suggesting we pay Berbatov whatever Fulham are paying him which I would say is at least what we're paying Ireland and Bent, then Johnson and Adam on wages that are probably around the £50k mark. The initial problem with MoN was that high earners weren't playing, but if and that's a big if for a number of reasons we want to be compliant with the UEFA regs we can't afford a wage bill at that level whether the players are nailed on first teamers or not. You only menion the transfer fees when comparing Berbatov and Benteke, but I'd be suprised if Benteke was on more than £20k on his initial contract. We would be paying 4x that for Berbatov! Can't be certain but it was rumoured that Cuellar was on no more than 30 grand. Petrov won't play for us again and i would assume insurance would be paying his wages at the moment? Collins is gone along with his wages and replaced with someone who may be on less? As i have previously stated the probability is that Hutton and Warnock will be gone in either January or at the end of the season and will not play for us again. Dunne will also go at the end of the season if not before. You are quoting players here who are going to be transfered or already gone so your points aren't valid! Why pay 7m for Benteke who doesn't exactly fit into Lambert's style of play (narrow midfield with one upfront) when you could have purchased Berbatov for 5m and used 2m for his wages? Berbatov is a much better player than Benteke and more suited to the way in which Lambert wants us to play. Finally if there's not room for the type of quality i have mentioned due to wages, why did we bid for Clint Dempsey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valhalla Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 we will not get relegated. This team has only been together a few games and most of the signs have been good. Everything we asked for under mcleish and didn`t get we have seen form lamberts side. Passing, effort, passion etc etc. Once the new lads bed in we will get that consistency. We will have a fine season and an even better one next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanthemanisgod Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season! The wage issue has only been 'dealt' with because we havn't replaced the likes of Beye, Heskey, Cuellar, NRC et al with the likes of Adam, Berbatov, Johnson et al. Whilst they probably do reflect a significant short-term improvement on what we have, that level of spending was deemed unsustainable to a club with an income as limited as ours. We simply cannot afford to pay our entire starting 11 in excess of £40k a week, and if the UEFA regs are accepted by the league, meetings happening over next 2 days I believe, that will be stated by the league and not just our owner. Where i have said that our whole starting eleven should be on in excess of £40k per week? The problem was that we had players earning in excess of £40k benched when MON was at the club. The players i have mentioned would be automatic picks for the first team! However, I agree totally that there should be a balance within our squad and i believe Cuellar was on less than £40k. Berbatov was exactly the type of striker we needed. Someone to play off Bent and give him the service so desperately lacking at the moment. At 5m it was a no brainer for me especially when we paid 7m for Benteke. Johnson is head and shoulders above anything we have at the moment in wide positions and would do the things that N'Zogbia quite obviously can't and Adam could have been the playmaker which we haven't had in many a year. All three would have been immediate first team picks who would have brought the required quality to our team which is so severely lacking at the moment and thats my main point. As i have already explained the exodus has not finished yet with Dunne, Hutton and Warnock on their way so there will be more room to accommodate quality! Lambert is playing 'Russian Roulette' with our Premiership status at completely the wrong time even when our chairman had made the funding available to purchase the aforementioned type of player. It is a massive gamble and one i hope the club don't regret? Hang on a minute... Without Lamberts signings we would have something like: Given - £40k+ Dunne - £40k + Collins - £40k ish Cuellar- £30-40k Hutton £30-40k Warnock-£40k + Ireland - £60-80k depending on who you believe Petrov - £40k + Gabby- Around £60k Bent - £60-80k depending who you believe You're then suggesting we pay Berbatov whatever Fulham are paying him which I would say is at least what we're paying Ireland and Bent, then Johnson and Adam on wages that are probably around the £50k mark. The initial problem with MoN was that high earners weren't playing, but if and that's a big if for a number of reasons we want to be compliant with the UEFA regs we can't afford a wage bill at that level whether the players are nailed on first teamers or not. You only menion the transfer fees when comparing Berbatov and Benteke, but I'd be suprised if Benteke was on more than £20k on his initial contract. We would be paying 4x that for Berbatov! Can't be certain but it was rumoured that Cuellar was on no more than 30 grand. Petrov won't play for us again and i would assume insurance would be paying his wages at the moment? Collins is gone along with his wages and replaced with someone who may be on less? As i have previously stated the probability is that Hutton and Warnock will be gone in either January or at the end of the season and will not play for us again. Dunne will also go at the end of the season if not before. You are quoting players here who are going to be transfered or already gone so your points aren't valid! Why pay 7m for Benteke who doesn't exactly fit into Lambert's style of play (narrow midfield with one upfront) when you could have purchased Berbatov for 5m and used 2m for his wages? Berbatov is a much better player than Benteke and more suited to the way in which Lambert wants us to play. You were criticisng Lambert's transfer policy in general not singling out individual players so based my arguement as if Lambert had not done any of his business and signed the players you are asking for. Also how long do you think the £2m 'saved' by signing Berbatov would last when £2m only pays his wages for 5 months. He must be on at least a 3 yr deal at Fulham. Assuming Vlaar is on much less than Collins is dangerous too. And finally why would Lambert sign Benteke if he doesn't 'exactly fit his style' it doesn't sound like it was a board signing forced upon the manager from all of the interviews I've seen. You're also now assuming that Berbatov and the others wanted to play for Villa, you only have to look at the actions of Dempsey to realise we're hardly flavour of the month at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I am not knocking either Bent or Berbatov here but those two up front together would have meant having two lazy players in the starting line up instead of the one we have now. I like them both but not in the same team! Having said that, I do agree that Lambert's way of doing things is a gamble. We are a team lacking a lot of experience at the moment and one that seems reliant on tenacity and our manager's ability to get the best out of his player's. I just hope it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I am not knocking either Bent or Berbatov here but those two up front together would have meant having two lazy players in the starting line up instead of the one we have now. I like them both but not in the same team! Having Berbatov behind Bent would mean he'd get the service he needs in order to be the goalscorer he's proven to be. Not that there was any chance Berbatov would come to Villa or for Villa to afford his wages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Bent and Berbatov would have been great.. Berbatov plays the robbie keane role, but is less hard working and more talented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season!You can never definitively "secure" your status in this league. Yes it would have improved our chances of staying up (although I don't think our chances of going down are that high anyway) but it's a very short-term approach. Lambert may be taking more of an immediate gamble by signing the players he did than the experienced Premier League players everyone raves about on here but he's hardly "playing Russian Roulette". That's just an exaggeration. Lambert's job is to rebuild us and he's brought in players he thinks can help with that. Of course not everyone is going to like Lambert's approach (although that could change if its successful) but his signings should at least be given time before people start accusing him of gambling our Premier League status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Actually think the signings of Adam, Berbatov and Johnson and keeping Cuellar would have secured our status in the Premiership without first worrying whether the lower league players Lambert has brought in instead can cut it in the Premiership. This is no time to gamble with our Premiership status with the increase in TV revenue approaching and as previously stated the wages issue has been already dealt with, coupled with the probable departures of Dunne, Warnock and Hutton either in January, or at the end of the season! The wage issue has only been 'dealt' with because we havn't replaced the likes of Beye, Heskey, Cuellar, NRC et al with the likes of Adam, Berbatov, Johnson et al. Whilst they probably do reflect a significant short-term improvement on what we have, that level of spending was deemed unsustainable to a club with an income as limited as ours. We simply cannot afford to pay our entire starting 11 in excess of £40k a week, and if the UEFA regs are accepted by the league, meetings happening over next 2 days I believe, that will be stated by the league and not just our owner. Where i have said that our whole starting eleven should be on in excess of £40k per week? The problem was that we had players earning in excess of £40k benched when MON was at the club. The players i have mentioned would be automatic picks for the first team! However, I agree totally that there should be a balance within our squad and i believe Cuellar was on less than £40k. Berbatov was exactly the type of striker we needed. Someone to play off Bent and give him the service so desperately lacking at the moment. At 5m it was a no brainer for me especially when we paid 7m for Benteke. Johnson is head and shoulders above anything we have at the moment in wide positions and would do the things that N'Zogbia quite obviously can't and Adam could have been the playmaker which we haven't had in many a year. All three would have been immediate first team picks who would have brought the required quality to our team which is so severely lacking at the moment and thats my main point. As i have already explained the exodus has not finished yet with Dunne, Hutton and Warnock on their way so there will be more room to accommodate quality! Lambert is playing 'Russian Roulette' with our Premiership status at completely the wrong time even when our chairman had made the funding available to purchase the aforementioned type of player. It is a massive gamble and one i hope the club don't regret? Hang on a minute... Without Lamberts signings we would have something like: Given - £40k+ Dunne - £40k + Collins - £40k ish Cuellar- £30-40k Hutton £30-40k Warnock-£40k + Ireland - £60-80k depending on who you believe Petrov - £40k + Gabby- Around £60k Bent - £60-80k depending who you believe You're then suggesting we pay Berbatov whatever Fulham are paying him which I would say is at least what we're paying Ireland and Bent, then Johnson and Adam on wages that are probably around the £50k mark. The initial problem with MoN was that high earners weren't playing, but if and that's a big if for a number of reasons we want to be compliant with the UEFA regs we can't afford a wage bill at that level whether the players are nailed on first teamers or not. You only menion the transfer fees when comparing Berbatov and Benteke, but I'd be suprised if Benteke was on more than £20k on his initial contract. We would be paying 4x that for Berbatov! Can't be certain but it was rumoured that Cuellar was on no more than 30 grand. Petrov won't play for us again and i would assume insurance would be paying his wages at the moment? Collins is gone along with his wages and replaced with someone who may be on less? As i have previously stated the probability is that Hutton and Warnock will be gone in either January or at the end of the season and will not play for us again. Dunne will also go at the end of the season if not before. You are quoting players here who are going to be transfered or already gone so your points aren't valid! Why pay 7m for Benteke who doesn't exactly fit into Lambert's style of play (narrow midfield with one upfront) when you could have purchased Berbatov for 5m and used 2m for his wages? Berbatov is a much better player than Benteke and more suited to the way in which Lambert wants us to play. You were criticisng Lambert's transfer policy in general not singling out individual players so based my arguement as if Lambert had not done any of his business and signed the players you are asking for. Also how long do you think the £2m 'saved' by signing Berbatov would last when £2m only pays his wages for 5 months. He must be on at least a 3 yr deal at Fulham. Assuming Vlaar is on much less than Collins is dangerous too. And finally why would Lambert sign Benteke if he doesn't 'exactly fit his style' it doesn't sound like it was a board signing forced upon the manager from all of the interviews I've seen. You're also now assuming that Berbatov and the others wanted to play for Villa, you only have to look at the actions of Dempsey to realise we're hardly flavour of the month at the moment. You need to read my post again. I did single out players. Four in fact who would have had an instant impact on our team. Lambert has already previously stated that the chairman had made the funds available to sign more established players but Lambert refused to do so and in doing that, my point is that he is needlessly gambling with our Premiership safety at a time when we need stability first! Neither you or i know what kind of wages Berbatov is on at Fulham so it is pure speculation, but i'm unsure if Fulham could afford the type of wages paid at Man U and my point still stands which you haven't answered directly. If we no longer can afford the wages of quality which was your point, why did we then bid for Dempsey? Finally i didn't state that Vlaar was on 'much' less than Collins, i stated his wages were less and if he's not, then that would fly in the face of Lambert's apparent prudence in the transfer market would it not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post stanthemanisgod Posted September 26, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted September 26, 2012 Not at all. And I did read your post and whislt you did identify your proposed targets you did not specifically identify the actual signings he is 'playing russian roulette' with. So I assumed you were criticising all of his signings hence my argument was based on the players that were here when he joined and the 4 you wanted. Yes we do not know what Berbatov is on, just as we don't know what Ireland is on here but it's fair to speculate they're both on a fair whack. we laso do not know what Dempsey would have wanted, all we did was agree a fee with Fulham for a player that would have improved us. Nothing wrong with the odd proven player on a decent wage but we already have a few of those on our books, but I can't see how we could ever afford to have a squad full of players on that type of wages. As for Lambert's prudence in the transfer market, it's a balancing act. I don't know the exact budget he's working too but I think it's safe to assume we would not have seen the same number of players coming in if they were all £40k a week plus players. It's up to him as manager how to balance the books whehter thats 12 player on lower wages, 4 players on high wages or something in between. Also as far as I can tell he has signed 4 players who have been an instant impact on our team, Vlaar now promoted to Captain after 4 games, Lowton who scored in a league victory, Benteke who scored on debut and seemed to have been an integral part of a side that beat City last night, and KEA who looks a composed midfielder who also has a goal to his name. I'm not disputing that Adam, Johnson and Berbatov may have had more of an impact on the quality of our side but our squad was lacking both numbers and quality and in place of those 3 players we manged to get Guzan back, Lowton, Bennet, Vlaar, KEA, Homan(Not lambo I know), Westwood, Benteke and Bowery. I mean I could argue that spunking all the available wage budget on 3 players is playing Russian Roulette becuase if they got injured we'd have nothing but youth players in reserve, but it's all academic untill we know how the season pans out. Just have a bit of faith in a manager who seems to know what he's doing. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Folski Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Bit of a pointless debate if you ask me, mainly because Lambert did not buy these players. However, what's furthermore, is Berbatov rejected some very big Italian clubs because he had a chance to work with Jol again. Fulham also cleared out Dembele & Dempsey to get him in. We didn't have anywhere near saleable assets like them. Johnson again looks like a move to get him closer to home, but that's just my opinion, and I do feel we could not have competed with the wages Sunderland were willing to offer but give them 3 years of Martin O'Neill and we will see what happens. Adam we could have probably nicked from Stoke, but it would appear Lambert has a lot of faith in wee Barry. I'm not so sure on Adam, surely he's a one season wonder at this level, his corners and long range passing will suit Stoke more than they would have us, plus he's probably on big money after his Liverpool contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Not at all. And I did read your post and whislt you did identify your proposed targets you did not specifically identify the actual signings he is 'playing russian roulette' with. So I assumed you were criticising all of his signings hence my argument was based on the players that were here when he joined and the 4 you wanted. Yes we do not know what Berbatov is on, just as we don't know what Ireland is on here but it's fair to speculate they're both on a fair whack. we laso do not know what Dempsey would have wanted, all we did was agree a fee with Fulham for a player that would have improved us. Nothing wrong with the odd proven player on a decent wage but we already have a few of those on our books, but I can't see how we could ever afford to have a squad full of players on that type of wages. As for Lambert's prudence in the transfer market, it's a balancing act. I don't know the exact budget he's working too but I think it's safe to assume we would not have seen the same number of players coming in if they were all £40k a week plus players. It's up to him as manager how to balance the books whehter thats 12 player on lower wages, 4 players on high wages or something in between. Also as far as I can tell he has signed 4 players who have been an instant impact on our team, Vlaar now promoted to Captain after 4 games, Lowton who scored in a league victory, Benteke who scored on debut and seemed to have been an integral part of a side that beat City last night, and KEA who looks a composed midfielder who also has a goal to his name. I'm not disputing that Adam, Johnson and Berbatov may have had more of an impact on the quality of our side but our squad was lacking both numbers and quality and in place of those 3 players we manged to get Guzan back, Lowton, Bennet, Vlaar, KEA, Homan(Not lambo I know), Westwood, Benteke and Bowery. I mean I could argue that spunking all the available wage budget on 3 players is playing Russian Roulette becuase if they got injured we'd have nothing but youth players in reserve, but it's all academic untill we know how the season pans out. Just have a bit of faith in a manager who seems to know what he's doing. Your general point as i understand it, was that we can no longer afford quality signings due to their wages. I made two points on that. One was that the chairman made funding available for Lambert to buy more established players which Lambert refused and secondly, we placed a bid for Clint Dempsey. Both those points would fly in the face of your assumption that we can no longer pay the type of wages quality players would expect, but you can carry on as you wish to try and fudge the issue. Secondly i have never stated that we should have a squad full of quality players on 40 grand per week as it is simply not sustainable for our club at the moment but Lambert inherited a poor squad, with a dearth of quality and with the signings i have mentioned, it would have undoubtedly improved us, still allowing Lambert to purchase lower league players but building in and around the players i have mentioned which would have given us more stability rather than gambling on those younger players hitting the ground running. Finally i wasn't suggesting that Lambert should have spent all of his budget on three players. There was probably more funding available to him with the bid for Dempsey as an example to fill both FB positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Bit of a pointless debate if you ask me, mainly because Lambert did not buy these players. However, what's furthermore, is Berbatov rejected some very big Italian clubs because he had a chance to work with Jol again. Fulham also cleared out Dembele & Dempsey to get him in. We didn't have anywhere near saleable assets like them. Johnson again looks like a move to get him closer to home, but that's just my opinion, and I do feel we could not have competed with the wages Sunderland were willing to offer but give them 3 years of Martin O'Neill and we will see what happens. Adam we could have probably nicked from Stoke, but it would appear Lambert has a lot of faith in wee Barry. I'm not so sure on Adam, surely he's a one season wonder at this level, his corners and long range passing will suit Stoke more than they would have us, plus he's probably on big money after his Liverpool contract. Both Dempsey and Dembele already wanted to leave so Fulham didn't sell those players to bring Berbatov in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Bit of a pointless debate if you ask me, mainly because Lambert did not buy these players. However, what's furthermore, is Berbatov rejected some very big Italian clubs because he had a chance to work with Jol again. Fulham also cleared out Dembele & Dempsey to get him in. We didn't have anywhere near saleable assets like them. Johnson again looks like a move to get him closer to home, but that's just my opinion, and I do feel we could not have competed with the wages Sunderland were willing to offer but give them 3 years of Martin O'Neill and we will see what happens. Adam we could have probably nicked from Stoke, but it would appear Lambert has a lot of faith in wee Barry. I'm not so sure on Adam, surely he's a one season wonder at this level, his corners and long range passing will suit Stoke more than they would have us, plus he's probably on big money after his Liverpool contract. Both Dempsey and Dembele already wanted to leave so Fulham didn't sell those players to bring Berbatov in.Maybe they didn't plan to, but do you honestly think they would've be able to keep Dembele and Dempsey and bring in Berbatov? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 This thread is a sight for sore eyes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanthemanisgod Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Both Dempsey and Dembele already wanted to leave so Fulham didn't sell those players to bring Berbatov in. That's quite incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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