rosenthal Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Think you should stretch far to sign Wilfried Zaha, Ashley Young all over again. Get there before the rest, convince player that team will be built around his qualities and point to the success of Young. Sale of Darren Bent should cover a good part of the deal. If you can't land him then I'd consider doing something you won't like, turn to Spurs and loan their most talented youngster 19 year old Alex Pritchard. He struggle to get game time being behind one Gareth Bale and with lots of other senior internationals filling the bench. Over the two first Nextgen series season the only player that has been better than Pritchard is arguably Ajax' Viktor Fischer. Also I recommend making a double bid to Molde for Vegard Forren (if Everton hasn't landed him yet) and Magnus Wolff Eikrem - they are now key players for a Norwegian national team on the up. Forren is certainly no worse than Fulham's Hangeland, good size, dangerous in the opposition's box, good with the ball at his feet likes to play out of defence (prefer to play to the left of the middle, fit Vlaar well). Wolff Eikrem came through the Manchester United academy where he was a key player and leader for both youth and reserves, known for his great reading of the game, vision and passing range. Went home to become a senior player, not easy to break through at United. A cheap option to replace Bent as back up striker could be Nikola Djurdjic, who'd probably cost £1.5m. who has a 1 in 1 ratio in the swedish league and did well in UEFA competition this fall. Skillful striker who makes others around him perform better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quizme Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 A cheap option to replace Bent as back up striker could be Nikola Djurdjic, who'd probably cost £1.5m. who has a 1 in 1 ratio in the swedish league and did well in UEFA competition this fall. Skillful striker who makes others around him perform better. Yes, Djurdjic has done really well in Sweden. Not sure if he´ll make it in the PL though. Works hard and has an eye for goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 rosenthal...YES!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The Norwegian league is totally awful though, so I don't really think either Forren or Eikrem would do well in the Premier League. Eikrem is slow and gets caught out against better teams, Forren has a bit of a naive playing style which works against crap semi-amateurs, but not Van Persie and Suarez. Whole different ball game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwpzxjor1 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The Norwegian league is totally awful though, so I don't really think either Forren or Eikrem would do well in the Premier League. Eikrem is slow and gets caught out against better teams, Forren has a bit of a naive playing style which works against crap semi-amateurs, but not Van Persie and Suarez. Whole different ball game Football coaches and scouts look at potential rather than ability though, yes the Norweigen league is considerably lower, but things like naieve playing style are always easily changed with some coaching which is considerably more advanced than anything they've had in the past. I don't think you can write a player off for playing in lesser leagues, not unless you have the training and skills of a Premiership scout. For what it's worth, I've never seen either of those players play, but I know we were linked with Eikrem when the whole OGS thing was going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-Reacho Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I don't agree Trent. When I see us I see gabby and weimman out wide when the oppossiton have the ball to create a 5 man midfield. I think both players have a tendency to come inside when we attack which I think is down to how they naturally play. I think we look so poor going forward because we don't have good options out wide. Now I'm not suggesting these as signings but the likes of young, downing, Moses, hoillet playing either side of Benteke is what we need. I think we'd look a lot better if we had options out wide that can create and beat defenders. Those are the type of players I think we need (again I don't mean those actual names, but that type of player). Weimann, and to an extent Gabby are goal scorers but we need players whose first instinct is to create, either by running at defences and unsettling them - getting them all out of shape so other players can capitalise. I suppose it's no longer being a winger really, because you want someone like Ronaldo who will just cause havoc right across the pitch in the final third. We're pretty easy to defend against at the moment - even with the 4231. Benteke in the air is the big fear for opposition defences at the moment. Gabby doesn't really use his pace as effectively as he used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandrell Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Read today that Newcastle are looking to bid £5m for Adam Lallana from Southampton. He would be a quality signing and fits the criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Read today that Newcastle are looking to bid £5m for Adam Lallana from Southampton. He would be a quality signing and fits the criteria. Southampton would dismiss that out of hand due to not being enough and not selling your best players while in a relegation dogfight. I still hope we will have the same policy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-Reacho Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Read today that Newcastle are looking to bid £5m for Adam Lallana from Southampton. He would be a quality signing and fits the criteria. Would definitely be keen on him. I don't see why Southampton would sell him for that price - they're fairly wealthy I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Southampton would dismiss that out of hand due to not being enough and not selling your best players while in a relegation dogfight. I still hope we will have the same policy? You will be heartbroken come January then if you still insist holding onto that hope by then. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nath182 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 You will be heartbroken come January then if you still insist holding onto that hope by then. Not being funny but who do we have that anyone would want to take away from us? Apart from Bent (who most people on here wouldn't mind getting rid of and depending on your opinion Lambert is likely to want to sell him). It's not like we have any stand out performers in the team this season that I'm afraid will be poached. I'm fairly relaxed about the January transfer window, I'd prefer Bent be sold than left on the bench or in the reserves and IMO no one else that is going to benefit the squad is going to be sold. If Lambert has his eye on another few Benteke-style signings we can't lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I hope we do sell Bent in January, only because he is currently a waste of 70k/week. Would be nice if Lambert went in for someone like Pilkington at Norwich but he's been excellent of late (and had a really good season last year) so doubt that would be a goer at all. Lallana for £5m is a joke, especially when players like Joe Allen are going for £15m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 You will be heartbroken come January then if you still insist holding onto that hope by then. . Unfortunately i think your right AF82. I must be one of the very few on here that doesn't want Bent sold for all of the reasons i have stated before. I just can't see any sense at all selling a 1 in 2 goalscorer when you are facing a possible relegation dog fight. Yes i agree with all the posters who have previously stated that he has been poor when played recently but other factors have contributed to that which again i have stated before. If we do sell him and we very well might i wonder will Lambert use the money to replace Bent or will it go on other areas of the team? My feeling is that he will spend the money on central midfield and at centreback which of course is needed particularly if Dunne has been retired by Lambert. So what do we do when Benteke needs resting, or worse, picks up an injury? Do we have a plan B? In Gabby, maybe, as the loan front man in which he has done well before but Gabby is not a prolific goalscorer and neither are the rest of what is left. Yes you can argue that Benteke will carry on until the end of the season without injury but he will need resting at some stage. Are we going to lose that much by keeping Bent until season's end? He is the insurance policy that we still need to keep us up if something happens to Benteke and with the increase in TV revenue at the end of the season surely selling Bent before our status in the Premiership is secured, is not a risk we should be taking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 He has 3 goals in 11 appearances this season, it's not as though his 1 in 2 ratio is guaranteed. He has been poor in pretty much every appearance he has made this season besides the Baggies cameo. He doesn't look like fitting into Lambert's system, so what would be the point in keeping a player that will be highly ineffective? No one is untouchable and if Bent isn't going to perform in Lambert's system then there's no point in keeping him around. It's bad economics. Unless Lambert is going to make radical changes to the way he sets us up it's clear Bent isn't going to fit, that's the bottom line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 He has 3 goals in 11 appearances this season, it's not as though his 1 in 2 ratio is guaranteed. He has been poor in pretty much every appearance he has made this season besides the Baggies cameo. He doesn't look like fitting into Lambert's system, so what would be the point in keeping a player that will be highly ineffective? No one is untouchable and if Bent isn't going to perform in Lambert's system then there's no point in keeping him around. It's bad economics. Unless Lambert is going to make radical changes to the way he sets us up it's clear Bent isn't going to fit, that's the bottom line. All fair points but why has Bent been 'highly ineffective?' If you play the same system all the time eventually your opponents will sus that system out and does Lambert actually play the same system all the time anyway? I mean he has tinkered and will continue to do so on a match to match basis depending on who we are playing. Thats the apparent nature of the man. I also don't believe that to play to Bent's strength's you actually have to change our system much anyway. Gabby and Weimann could be pushed out a little wider and then tuck in again when the opposition have the ball. Just one player needing replaced then and thats Bent for Benteke when the latter needs resting, picks up an injury, or loses form. Take Bent out of our squad now without an able replacement and what do we have going forward? It wouldn't instill me with a lot of confidence especially if our next set of fixtures go the way we all expect and in January we find ourselves back into the bottom three again. Lambert has already gambled once with his transfer philosophy and we are just about keeping our head's above water. Do it again with the sale of Bent without an able replacement and we will drown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Selling Bent is a huge decision and one that would put a lot of the blame if we were relegated on Lambert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Personally I hope we go the other way and buy some better creative players which will allow us to play both Benteke and Bent together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The Norwegian league is totally awful though, so I don't really think either Forren or Eikrem would do well in the Premier League. Eikrem is slow and gets caught out against better teams, Forren has a bit of a naive playing style which works against crap semi-amateurs, but not Van Persie and Suarez. Whole different ball game The best teams and players in the Norwegian league are imo miles ahead of the teams and players in League 1 and 2. Molde may have flopped in the EL but i bet they did a lot better than Crewe would have done. I think if the money is similar the gamble is smaller with a regular in the Norwegian national side than another lower league player from england or Scotland. Forren and Eikrem are 24/22, the same age as most of our "youngsters" and im sure they'd have as big a chance to make the transition to the PL as any given Championship player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 All fair points but why has Bent been 'highly ineffective?' If you play the same system all the time eventually your opponents will sus that system out and does Lambert actually play the same system all the time anyway? I mean he has tinkered and will continue to do so on a match to match basis depending on who we are playing. Thats the apparent nature of the man. I also don't believe that to play to Bent's strength's you actually have to change our system much anyway. Gabby and Weimann could be pushed out a little wider and then tuck in again when the opposition have the ball. Just one player needing replaced then and thats Bent for Benteke when the latter needs resting, picks up an injury, or loses form. Take Bent out of our squad now without an able replacement and what do we have going forward? It wouldn't instill me with a lot of confidence especially if our next set of fixtures go the way we all expect and in January we find ourselves back into the bottom three again. Lambert has already gambled once with his transfer philosophy and we are just about keeping our head's above water. Do it again with the sale of Bent without an able replacement and we will drown. An able replacement is someone that can do what Lambert wants. Benteke is the focal point of our play, most of what we do goes through him, swapping him for Bent wouldn't work, I think if we were to replace Bent it would be for someone more in the Benteke mould, or at least someone who is good with the ball outside of the box and can contribute to the teams overall play, rather than someone who is only good in the penalty box. I was of the view that we should be building the team around Bent. It's quite obvious that in order to get the best out of him you need wingers and creative players behind him to give him chances, he doesn't offer a fat lot else without service. Gabby and Weimann aren't exactly great chance creators, pushing them wider isn't going to achieve much when both are more effective coming in central when attacking. I think you either have to build around Bent or get shot, he's too one dimensional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Bent has been ineffective as he is a one dimensional luxury player we cannot afford at this time. HIs performace against Norwich was a disgrace as he didnt know how to keep the ball up which led to lots of pressure on our defence and the inevitable goal conceded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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