blueblood

I work with a Blackburn season ticket holder who says that everyone at Ewood would welcome him being sold. By all accounts, 1 good game in 7 is an exagerration. Scores good goals and looks decent on MOTD but lazy... which is not the type of player we're after (hopefully)

Get his passport checked... 23?????? He must have had the worst paper round in the world Nice to see that we are bringing players in, but if they're never going to get a game then waht's the point? This guy, CB- ahead of Yobo, Lescott or Jags? Me thinks not... unless DM is moving Jags into midfield. Which, if he is fills me with dread. As good a defender Jags is, he is without doubt the worst passer of the ball i've ever seen... since Phil Neville Last year, Jags would play 2 or 3 50 yard balls to Yakubu each game but they'd go down the wrong flank!!!! He is woeful, keep him at the backto tackle and do nothing else

Looks to be a big, athletic prescence in the middle of the park which we're clearly lacking. Give him a run out in the Carling Cup and see how he goes. This could turn out to be a wonder signing... or he could be George Weah's cousin Either way, he's a freebie so let's crack on with another 5 players on loan/ free that no-one's heard of and we'll be laughing come 2.9.08 <_<

To steal a phrase from that pube headed prick Keegan... " I would live it, absolutely love it"... if we signed Milner. I too would prefer him to SWP, plays on the left which is a rarity, must be knocking on full England cap after about 30 games for the U21's. When I saw the transfer request I thought he's be a great signing, young (22) but experienced in the Prem, English, good going forward, can score goals... Think he's definitely on his way to Villa though... which makes the urgency for us to sign better players and improve even more so. O'Neill is assembling a handy squad there, not just a team but a full squad- maybe DM should take a leaf out of his book.

Rennes are playing games, plain and simple. They've already signed a DM to cover for when they sell M'Bia, they'll just think as the clock ticks ever closer to deadline, Moyes will spew his guts and up the offer. You'd hope that DM was sure about the quality of anyone before spending £10m of our miniscule budget so Prem experience or not, they've got to be amazing!! That's two in the bag now though... I'd be interested to see if the 2 we've landed where on the original list of 20 that DM gave to BK at the end of last season... somehow me thinks not!!!!

The club wants to maximise the profit on its asset The player wants to maximise his earning potential The agent wants to maximise his slice of the pie If you spend all summer messing clubs about and not meeting their asking price then of course stories come out into the media, agents look to other clubs who may be willing to pay the asking price/ more wages/ more agents fees. That's how football works nowadays, big business, not signing for your boyhood heroes. Had we gone in with a barn storming £8-9m bid from the off, they'd have accepted, the player would have digned for £23k per week pre-season and now would be a first team regular. Instead, Newcastle will offer him £40k per week and it's so long, enjoy the fog on the Tyne to him and welcome Smudger to us

From Setanta: Young Boys boss Vladimir Petkovic is unaware of Everton's bid to sign Kamil Zayatte. The Guinea defender is reportedly close to signing for David Moyes's Toffees but Petkovic claims to have no knowledge of any impending deal. "Kamil will quite normally travel to Debrecen," said the coach to Blick ahead of the Uefa Cup second leg tie in Hungary on Thursday. The Berne outfit lead 4-1 from the first leg. Young Boys are likely to find a sizeable transfer fee tempting for the 23-year-old, who can play in the middle or at right back. Moyes has gone on record as saying he wants to make up to seven new signings before the deadline next week after a frustrating summer of inactivity on Merseyside Can't be over here on trial if he's playing in Europe on Thursday can he? Not sure why we're falling over ourselves to sign RB/ CB when we've got plenty of cover in these positions

The (slight) difference between us and Man Utd is that they're the richest club in the world, get 70k fans watching them every week, qualify for the latter stages of the Champions League every year, top 2 in the league, pay the highest wages... Most players would swim through a river of sh!t to play for them, we do not have the same luxury. Newcastle and Spurs have Directors of football, as have Pompey in the past... are they so much further on than us? Anyway, it's just an opinion, one that is supported by some but not by others. As for all giving up cos we're not breaking intot he top 4, shall we just have 4 teams in the league then if that's the case? The aim of the game is to progress. It's just that I do not see us over hauling the top 4 teams when they're all buying 1 (or more) £20m+ player each window and we're scraping by on freebies. But again, it's an opinion. Maybe our freebie right back will help us overhaul the R, Arse, Chelski and Man U this season

Another 16 year old???????

footy247 seems to think it's Kuffour. He's been released by Roma and Ajax as his last 2 clubs, not played very much and suffered a recurring knee injury. I remember him from Bayern Munich, was quality then but that was years ago. Only 31 but started his career in 1991 according to footy247... which would have made him 14 or 15!!! Defender, can play full back or central, positions that we seem to have cover in- even moreso with the signing of the Dane earlier today. So, what I'm saying is that I hope it's Appiah

Surely setting your sights too high is the fault of the club?? We have spent the summer tracking Moutinho without making even a semi reasonable bid for the player, I'd definitely say that is the fault of the club, no? 2 months tracking one player, asking price £19m, highest bid £13m to a club that does not need to sell... maybe if we offer them 2/3's of the asking price they'll accept??? Yeah, course they will. We'd do the same if someone did that with Arteta wouldn't we! The transfer failings are not a new phenomonon either, it is an annual event! It's only this year that we have less than 11 senior players which exaserbates the situation moreso than previously. If DM or anyone else at the club sets their sights too high on players that we cannot afford/ attract then it is their job to move onto other players asap, not waste a summer tracking the few without meeting the going rate. We have got where we are by not needing to sign superstars, we need to continue along a similar vein with the signings we've recruited previously adding the odd potential super signing along the way. We are not going to break into the top 4 within the next few years, I know that, the majority of fans know that, so why can't DM and the board? Of course it's his job to get us into the top 4, but stabilising us as a top 5, ensuring we have a squad capable of competing even with a few injuries, improving that annually and qualifying and progressing in Europe every year should be the aim for the next few years. This is how we'll attract investment and this is what will help us make the next step

BBC website yesterday said that Newcastle were closing in on signing him on a free. Now, this guy seems to tick a lot of the boxes - Defensive midfielder - Powerful and bigger than what we have - Good player - leader on the pitch - FREE We've been linked with this guy for the past 2 years so why when he eventually becomes available, in a position we're crying out for cover in does nothing happen??? I know about the knee but if KK is looking at him it can't be too serious. Would prefer M'Bia but if he'll cost £7-10m and is only intrerested in the money we might only get a season or two out of both of them. Appiah might also be able to use as a means of bringing other players to the club, i.e. Antony Annan who we've been linked with previously

I agree there's a real need to buy a player who can provide competition to the Yak in the 1 up front in a 4-5-1. I don't think Anichebe is the answer and Vaughan needs to learn how not to injure himself performing stupid challenges so I think there is a need to sign a striker. Can Zigic provide this? Possibly Can Meteb? I don't know much about him but I think not. We need a big impact player to some off the bench when we're chasing a game. Although, our transfer activity has been fruitless so far this year so bringing a better player in may not be possible

I think something needs to be done about transfers. It's the same year in year out with both windows. We never sign anyone until the season has started at least which is a continuous source of frustration for fans. This year Moyes reportedly gave a list of 20 players to BK to go and get... which he hasn't. Get someone who knows how to sign players on board and leave Moyes to push the blame to others and concentrate on pre-season training and get what players we haver fit

I know beggars can't be choosers, and I have voiced consistent disapproval at the lack of signings and need to get bodies in so we can put XI on the pitch on a Saturday, but... do we really shop at the same stores as Bristol City???? Surely there's a happy medium?! We can't afford Harrods, but thought we were better than the pound store Saying that, always happy to be proven wrong

Should we save the pessismism until Monday when we hear that Neville's ankle is goosed and we're down to 9 fit pro's?! DM should wrap all of the players in cotton wool in training this week, any crazy challengers from Vaughan and we'll be in bother. Please sign a defensive midfielder this week so we can get Jags out of there, how he ever played in midfield is a mystery. Great defender but can't pass the ball at all

Considering the plight we are currently in, we are not getting any help whatsoever from the establshed pro's on the field. Lescott has been regularly quoted in the media as saying we need to sign additional players beofre the start of the season. We've failed to do so and he's started the season like an absolute donkey. Coincidence???? He continually states he wants to play his preferred position of centre half... well he wants to show some kind of ability in the position cos from what I've seen Jags is far better next to Yobo than he is. Yobo, next to Lescott has looked dreadful. He's been bullied off the ball twice in 2 weeks by average players in Roberts and Miller. Arteta, aside from the flash of brilliance- which I know we don't get from anyone else- has been nothing short of a luxury in the first 2 games. His delivery from corners is still awful with the first man getting hit 9 times out of 10. Saying that, he's set up 2 goals in 2 games, I just want more from him than a flash of brilliance and 89 minutes of going missing. I just think we need more from the senior pro's, it looks as though the current situation is affecting everyone at the club. As mentioned on another thread, the players signing long terms contracts last year did so based on a club with ambition, moving forward domestically and in Europe, and that is not the current position of the club

Well said Carl. There does seem to have been a change in tactic this summer from the successful method of signing players that will improve the squad without affecting the team dynamic to going for 'box office' style players. As hard as it is to admit, we are not a top 4 club, we do not have the resources to challenge the top 4 yet nor the resources to bring in the big name players unless we want to throw £100k a week at them- which we can't afford... catch 22. We were linked with the likes of Ledley (Cardiff), Kightly (Wolves), E-Banks Blake (Wolves) etc in the summer, then they disappeared in favour for spending 3 months allegedly chasing Moutinho without offering anything like a fee that would be accepted. We may as well have bid £1 for Messi for the in-roads we've made with Moutinho/ Sporting. Moyes' reluctance to sign players who he sees as a step down look to be nothing more than ego related. He thinks we're a top 4 club, we're not. And having the smallest squad in the Prem, and needing to have 4 kids on the bench for the full season will only see us fall further behind not only the top 4 but the likes of Villa, Spurs and other top 6 challenging sides

We will not be signing Arshavin under any circumstances, Moutinho looks increasingly unlikely so it's just Riera from Group 1, which for £15m is ridiculous. Everyone mentioned in Group 2 would cost £3m more than the £6m quoted. I'd take Bullard form Group 3 over Bradley every day of the week. Tiago doesn't fancy coming back to England Zigic would be a shout. So, it looks like 1 losan signings plus perhaps paying 2-3 times too much for Riera who's already played (badly) in the Prem... if we can manage to agree terms in the next 2 wseeks. Which, considwering we've been trying to agree terms with Moutinho for 3 months I'm not exactly hopeful. Great result today, think it covered up for a very poor performance in parts, but it's 2 points more than I expected so happy days

"Yesterday, at the end of training, the Portuguese midfielder was approached by transfer chief Alessio Secco and, once made aware of the offer, apparently requested 24 hours to decide." We need a transfer chief who is in charge of just this. Maybe then we'd actually get someone before the season starts one year?!?!?!

It's all about supply and demand, plain and simple. If someone came in for Arteta how much would we want for him? Cana/ Arshavin/ Moutinho are all the stars of their respective clubs. Unless a club desperately needs the money they can quote whatever they like to scare away predators. The club has no money, it doesn't matter what BK or anyone else says, they cannot afford to make any significant signings. I blame whoever is in charge of any transfer negotiations as they end laughably without fail. Also, having BK at the helm who has a personal fortune which is less than most top Premiership players, and the fact that he's failed to attract any significant investment is a real problem

The fact that we the board have allowed us to start the season 4 players lighter than we finished the last, already having one of the smallest squads in the Premiership is an absolute disgrace. Today's bench just shows what a p!ss poor position we are in. Jags proven last year that he is no midfielder, played great at CB and is rewarded by being pushed back into midfield again. Lescott and Yobo looked particularly shaky/ asleep at some points and made Jason Roberts look like a world beater. Rodwell is a mile off playing regularly in the Prem, but needs must. And to top it all off we got beaten by a load of crap... but it was hardly a surprise. Moyes needs to bring players in and fast, and, as he has intimated, that may mean players of lesser quyality than we've been tracking all summer- which is a appalling.

Still think he'd be a good signing but why are we waiting until all players are cup tied for Europe?????

After today I'd take someone like this is a heart beat. As referred to earlier in the thread, had you offered him 4 weeks ago I'd have said maybe take him as back up but he'd not get near the starting XI when all the players were fit- this was when we were linked with M'Bia, Annan, Cana, Moutinho, but after today getting him could be integral to the entire season if we can't get anyone else!!!

Missed more than Carlsey. Albeit Baxter looked lively when he came on, you can't expect 16 year olds kids who never played in the Prem before to come on when you're looknig to win a game. Centre back pairing looked very rocky today also...missing Jags from there maybe? Whichever way you look at it, I'd say that the 6 players Moyes says he needs could be an understatement. We need 6 players to make the squad competitive. Not good enough, although not a surprise really which is what makes it all the worse