All New Summer 2008 Transfer Merry Go Round/Rumour Mill

What happened to newcastle getting Tiago on loan?

[DOD]Asprilla;12340191 said:
All I've heard was ther Everton were in pole position for that one, but now I hear he's turned them down.


Aye.


Juve didnt agree with the terms that the barcodes offered, but they agreed with Everton, but Tiago doesn't want to go on loan.
 
Eddie Johnson gone on loan to Cardiff.

Trouble tomorrow.. only two strikers fit, one of them a goal scorer.

Looks like Zamora/Nevland or Seol in there somewhere.. Great.
 
Can someone please explain the logic behind spunking £19M on Keane? :confused: :mad:

He is not worth that to be frank. For that money we could have signed a far better player or even, god forbid a winger.

Robbie Keane is overrated, worse than Babel, Benayoun, Kuyt and Kewell. (not Voronin though)

Why could Rafa not tell Voronin to Foxtrot Oscar? And why oh why sell Xabi?

Keane was a useless signing; at least Barry would have been somewhat less useless in the grand scheme of things given the depth of quality we have in his position.

£19M would have got us a good winger. But we get Robbie Keane.
 
Off course you can reduce your squad by 4 players when your current first team squad has 35 numbered players, 23 being recognised 1st team players and the other 12 of which being reserve and youth players occasionally stepping into games. We also have a further 24 non numbered 1st team players including promising lads like Putterill, Pacheco and Brouwer. Having gone to a few reserve matches last season and seen our squad of kids completely dominate the league, they need to be given a chance. This was especially fun when they took the mick out of a fat Gary Neville :)

Really still don't see why you feel we need Hypia and Aurelio. I have explained my views on Hypia and you disagree, Aurelio is even harder to justify. We have Dossena, Carra and Arbeloa who can play in Aurelio's usual position, along with Insua coming through the ranks. We then have Gerrard, Babel and Benyoun that can play on left mid. I would also imagine that one of the two big name players we would sign would preferably be a lefty. Add the fact that he has been constantly injured and he is just a defensive Harry Kewell.

You've said yourself we have 23 first team players, if 4 were to leave we're down to 19 which is barely enough to name a match day squad even before injuries or suspensions. You're right, we've got some good youngsters coming through but only Plessis, Nemeth and Insua are close to be ready to be chucked in the deep end. Also im not sure you know much about our reserves if you think Putterill (who's not even good enough for the reserves) or Brouwer (who's been told he can leave) have a chance of getting into our side.

The next problem with what you've said is that you're going to get rid of Aurelio, Finnan and Hyypia with Arbeloa covering all 3 positions (regardless of the fact that he's not really good enough at rb let alone lb or cb)? You can't list 1 player who can play in 3 positions and say that enough cover as it's not. Arbeloa is going to be our regular rb so how is he going to play cb and lb as well should we need him to?

In the big matches i'd expect Carra may be pushed out to rb which he wouldn't be able to do if Hyypia was sold and either Agger or Skrtel were injured. And i'd feel much happier having Aurelio (not to mention cover as a lm) as cover if Dossena got injured or suspended than 2 players who can't play lb and a fairly untested kid. IMO you need 2 players (who you'll feel comfortable with) for every position and if we sold Aurelio and Hyypia we wouldn't have that.

Of course he does, why do you think Hypia and Carra started against Sunderland with Agger and Skrtel fit on the bench. I think it is pretty clear that Agger is above him in the pecking order and I have a sneaking suspicion Skrtel is too. The pairing of Carra and Agger was the one fairly consitant position till Agger's injury and the bringing in of Skrtel. Since then it has been chopped and changed almost every game as he is not sure which combo is best and needs to give them all games (they are all too good to constantly warm a bench)

Who said Agger and Skrtel were fit? Skrtel had only just returned to training and Agger had just played his first match in nearly a year (and didn't play well either). The end of last season was the only time our cb pairings were changed and that only when Rafa moved Carra out to rb because he doesn't trust Arbelao in big games.

When Agger and Skrtel are fully fit then we'll see who the cb pairing for the season will be as they'll play regularly (i suspect it will be Carra and Agger).
 
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Can someone please explain the logic behind spunking £19M on Keane? :confused: :mad:

He is not worth that to be frank. For that money we could have signed a far better player or even, god forbid a winger.

Robbie Keane is overrated, worse than Babel, Benayoun, Kuyt and Kewell. (not Voronin though)

Why could Rafa not tell Voronin to Foxtrot Oscar? And why oh why sell Xabi?

Keane was a useless signing; at least Barry would have been somewhat less useless in the grand scheme of things given the depth of quality we have in his position.

£19M would have got us a good winger. But we get Robbie Keane.

:rolleyes:
 
Does that mean an end to the third most boring transfer saga of the summer:

3rd - Berbatov to ManU :(
2nd - Ronaldo to Real ;)
1st - Barry to Lpool :rolleyes:

Doubtful really, I'd hate to think Manucho was the one signing that Fergie was trying to sign and all the malarkey was over his work permit.

He looked good at the ACON but... well unproven gets thrown around a lot but hardly anyone in the UK has a clue who he is.
 
Official announcement in the Real Madrid web,

1. El Real Madrid ha tenido conocimiento de las declaraciones de su jugador Robinho, cuyo contenido lamenta profundamente dada la alta consideración que le merece y la estima personal y profesional que siempre le ha tenido.

2. El Real Madrid nunca mantendrá en su equipo a un jugador contra su voluntad, por lo que no tendrá más remedio que aceptar la resolución unilateral del contrato si esa fuera la voluntad del futbolista.


Which means

1. Real Madrid are aware of Robinho's words whose content saddens them due to the high consideration and personal and professional esteem the club has for the player.

2. Real Madrid will never retain a player contrary to his will, which means there is not other option than accepting the unilateral contract release if that was Robinho's case too.

Sorry for the awful translation.

shamelessly stolen
 
Is Real's second point a direct jibe at the way we "handled" the Ronaldo situation?

"will never retain a player contrary to his will" :-/

Seems like they're trying to stir something, or am I reading too much into it?
 
Is Real's second point a direct jibe at the way we "handled" the Ronaldo situation?

"will never retain a player contrary to his will" :-/

Seems like they're trying to stir something, or am I reading too much into it?

Well I think they are answering people saying well Rob is not happy so why wont you let him go?

This way it stops them looking like hypocrites and possibly also a jibe.
 
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Saw Benni McCarthy in Altrincham a couple of hours ago (having his card rejected by the cash machine lol) City still looking for new striker? ;)

Alternatively he could have just been picking up the blonde piece in the passenger seat of his Bentley. :p
 
You've said yourself we have 23 first team players, if 4 were to leave we're down to 19 which is barely enough to name a match day squad even before injuries or suspensions. You're right, we've got some good youngsters coming through but only Plessis, Nemeth and Insua are close to be ready to be chucked in the deep end. Also im not sure you know much about our reserves if you think Putterill (who's not even good enough for the reserves) or Brouwer (who's been told he can leave) have a chance of getting into our side.

What is wrong with having to name some youngsters for the bench if we have injuries? Say we have 4 injuries (that would be fairly unlucky). That gives 15 first team players leaving 3 places for the likes of Plessis, Insua, Nemeth, Spearing, Darby, San Jose and Pacheco. You are still a long way from starting them with 4 injurys, you even have a full set of three subs without involving them. Even the likes of Man U work of the versatility of good players to fill the injuries, Wes Brown, Hargreaves, O'Shea, Carrick and Rooney all regularly play varied positions to fill the gaps. They don't have 23 recognised 1st team players, by my reckoning they have more like 20 and that includes Saha. Arsenal had more like 17 last season (excluding the kids who we are now starting to class as 1st team due to games played like Song) and 3 of them were long term injuries. Fair enough, they were a bit short, but that is 2 less players than I am suggesting. To be fair if we had RvP and Rositsky I would probably want 20 rather than 19 too.

I would also point out that I didn't say Pacheo, Putterill or Brouwer were about to be put out against top opposition. I was pointing out that there are (IMHO) good players outside the numbered members of the squad. Despite limited starts, Putterill has been excellent at changing matches when he has come on as an impact player from the bench. Brouwer was a formidable partnership with Nemeth in the reserves and bagged a fair few himself. I haven't heard about him being told he can leave and would be surprised.

The next problem with what you've said is that you're going to get rid of Aurelio, Finnan and Hyypia with Arbeloa covering all 3 positions (regardless of the fact that he's not really good enough at rb let alone lb or cb)? You can't list 1 player who can play in 3 positions and say that enough cover as it's not. Arbeloa is going to be our regular rb so how is he going to play cb and lb as well should we need him to?

In the big matches i'd expect Carra may be pushed out to rb which he wouldn't be able to do if Hyypia was sold and either Agger or Skrtel were injured. And i'd feel much happier having Aurelio (not to mention cover as a lm) as cover if Dossena got injured or suspended than 2 players who can't play lb and a fairly untested kid. IMO you need 2 players (who you'll feel comfortable with) for every position and if we sold Aurelio and Hyypia we wouldn't have that.

My view on the back 4 was that we have Carra, Agger, Skrtel, Dossena, Deggen and Arbeloa. Carra and Arbeloa in particular are versatile so can cover any injuries or bans. Again you would be unlucky to have more than 2 out at any one time (we have one down at the moment). You also have Insua, Darby, etc who you could look to if we were having a bad time. To be fair, if you got really stuck, Gerrard can even put in a good game there ;)

Who said Agger and Skrtel were fit? Skrtel had only just returned to training and Agger had just played his first match in nearly a year (and didn't play well either). The end of last season was the only time our cb pairings were changed and that only when Rafa moved Carra out to rb because he doesn't trust Arbelao in big games.

When Agger and Skrtel are fully fit then we'll see who the cb pairing for the season will be as they'll play regularly (i suspect it will be Carra and Agger).

:eek: It moved a lot more than just moving Carra out to the right and bringing in Hyypia for big games. Have a look at the home team sheets if you don't agree. He changed the players nearly every other game from January, normally keeping Skrtel in the middle and having Carra either with him or on the right. He also left him and/or carra out though. How this is going to work with Agger fit is beyond me, but I assure you the pundits will be blaming rotation for some howlers this season. Also I would say that Agger was definitely fit enough to start on Saturday and could do with a run out judging from his previous performance.
 
Doubtful really, I'd hate to think Manucho was the one signing that Fergie was trying to sign and all the malarkey was over his work permit.

He looked good at the ACON but... well unproven gets thrown around a lot but hardly anyone in the UK has a clue who he is.

It might be enough to get Totenham to drop their price though :)
 
What is wrong with having to name some youngsters for the bench if we have injuries? Say we have 4 injuries (that would be fairly unlucky). That gives 15 first team players leaving 3 places for the likes of Plessis, Insua, Nemeth, Spearing, Darby, San Jose and Pacheco. You are still a long way from starting them with 4 injurys, you even have a full set of three subs without involving them. Even the likes of Man U work of the versatility of good players to fill the injuries, Wes Brown, Hargreaves, O'Shea, Carrick and Rooney all regularly play varied positions to fill the gaps. They don't have 23 recognised 1st team players, by my reckoning they have more like 20 and that includes Saha. Arsenal had more like 17 last season (excluding the kids who we are now starting to class as 1st team due to games played like Song) and 3 of them were long term injuries. Fair enough, they were a bit short, but that is 2 less players than I am suggesting. To be fair if we had RvP and Rositsky I would probably want 20 rather than 19 too.

I would also point out that I didn't say Pacheo, Putterill or Brouwer were about to be put out against top opposition. I was pointing out that there are (IMHO) good players outside the numbered members of the squad. Despite limited starts, Putterill has been excellent at changing matches when he has come on as an impact player from the bench. Brouwer was a formidable partnership with Nemeth in the reserves and bagged a fair few himself. I haven't heard about him being told he can leave and would be surprised.

There's no problem having versatile players but you can't say that 1 player is covering several positions especially when he's already meant to be first choice in another position.

As for having youngsters on the bench; we saw with Utd last week that it's ok them being there untill they're actually needed to come on and affect the game.

IMO we can drop our squad by 2 players without replacements being needed (Voronin and Finnan) and any other player leaving would leave us short of established players in that position. BTW i had a quick count on the BBC's squad lists and i had Utd and Arsenal with 22 first team players.

Regarding Pacheco, Putterill and Brouwer; Pacheco's going to be an excellent player but he's still a year away from being ready to play first team football for us (in the league anyway). I disagree with you about Putterill, he's just not good enough and as for Brouwer, he's been told he can find a new club and he was actually sent out on loan to some Dutch club with the option of signing him permenantly but they sent him back saying he wasn't right for them.
My view on the back 4 was that we have Carra, Agger, Skrtel, Dossena, Deggen and Arbeloa. Carra and Arbeloa in particular are versatile so can cover any injuries or bans. Again you would be unlucky to have more than 2 out at any one time (we have one down at the moment). You also have Insua, Darby, etc who you could look to if we were having a bad time. To be fair, if you got really stuck, Gerrard can even put in a good game there ;)

6 first team defenders is not enough. If Dossena (in particular) were to get a long-term we'd be in big trouble, we'd have no established lb in our squad and would be having to either play our first choice rb or Carra there and neither should be playing there. Even if you were happy with them playing there that still leaves rb or cb exposed too.

:eek: It moved a lot more than just moving Carra out to the right and bringing in Hyypia for big games. Have a look at the home team sheets if you don't agree. He changed the players nearly every other game from January, normally keeping Skrtel in the middle and having Carra either with him or on the right. He also left him and/or carra out though. How this is going to work with Agger fit is beyond me, but I assure you the pundits will be blaming rotation for some howlers this season. Also I would say that Agger was definitely fit enough to start on Saturday and could do with a run out judging from his previous performance.

Rubbish. From the end of January our side was extremely consistant with a 4-2-3-1 formation and the only changes were Hyypia coming in for Arbelao and occasionally Benayoun for Babel (+ injuries). There were a couple of games around the Arsenal CL ties where 4th was tied up and we rested several players though.

Im not sure how you can say for certain that Agger was fit. The guy hadn't played for near enough a year and is expected to then play 2 games in 3 days?

Rafa has never juggled our cb's around to keep them happy or fit. In 04-05 it was Hyypia and Carra and the same again in 05-06 (Agger played the odd game late on in the season), 06-07 was Agger and Carra and that would have been the same last year had Agger not been injured. Im sure he knows who the pairing will be for this season and we'll find that out when he has them all the choose from.
 
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