The Summer 2020 Transfer Rumour Thread | Page 245 | Vital Football

The Summer 2020 Transfer Rumour Thread

I'd take Sturridge on a pay as you play kind of season long contract, see how he gets on. Like some said above, if he cares about playing and it's not about the money, he should have no qualms signing a bonus focused year long contract. Wouldn't offer a signing bonus or a flat weekly wage or a long contract though. Last thing we need is another Stephen Ireland, Micah Richards thing going on.
 
ldgavfc said:
I'd take Sturridge on a pay as you play kind of season long contract, see how he gets on. Like some said above, if he cares about playing and it's not about the money, he should have no qualms signing a bonus focused year long contract. Wouldn't offer a signing bonus or a flat weekly wage or a long contract though. Last thing we need is another Stephen Ireland, Micah Richards thing going on.
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He's gone, mate just like the other two you mention , his head is away with the fairies
 
I am very concerned by the quality of player we are linked with and our inability to sign even these flawed targets.

After a season where we achieved 35 points the most important thing was to add 6 players quickly to this squad - particularly in goal, CH, midfield and a front 3.

We have failed to achieve this and now have less than a week to go before the start of the season. What is the issue with Smith, Lange, Purslow and the owners? Wolves, Everton Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs, Chelski, Utd, Arsenal have all made significant signings now. Even Albion have outspent us. We fiddle whilst Villa Park burns.

Suso got the blame for last years buys but at least he got deals over the line and brought in some OK quality like Mings, Luiz, Marv and Guilbert. Smith was briefing the press against him claiming he didnt want some of the players. However Jota, Konsa, Engels were clearly Smith buys and only one showed any real promise but none were qualified successes.

I have come to the conclusion that the the real issue is Dean Smith. He is obviously viewed within the football world as a Championship manager. Players dont see him as a long term prospect and are therefore avoiding us.

After the failings of last year there is a genuine argument that he should have been binned off and a new man installed for this season.

We are having a car crash transfer window, obsessed by Brentford players which has enabled them to hold us to ransom. The football world stretches further than West London and players who had a good game against Tyrone Mings.

It is time for Lange, Purslow and the owners to have a rethink about the sense in pursuing Dean Smiths over priced list of players with potential and actually sign some genuine quality.

Personally I regret their decison to put faith in a manager who surrendered a Cup Final, celebrated its loss and achieved the sum total of 35 points in a season.
 
jake findlay said:
I am very concerned by the quality of player we are linked with and our inability to sign even these flawed targets.

After a season where we achieved 35 points the most important thing was to add 6 players quickly to this squad - particularly in goal, CH, midfield and a front 3.

We have failed to achieve this and now have less than a week to go before the start of the season. What is the issue with Smith, Lange, Purslow and the owners? Wolves, Everton Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs, Chelski, Utd, Arsenal have all made significant signings now. Even Albion have outspent us. We fiddle whilst Villa Park burns.

Suso got the blame for last years buys but at least he got deals over the line and brought in some OK quality like Mings, Luiz, Marv and Guilbert. Smith was briefing the press against him claiming he didnt want some of the players. However Jota, Konsa, Engels were clearly Smith buys and only one showed any real promise but none were qualified successes.

I have come to the conclusion that the the real issue is Dean Smith. He is obviously viewed within the football world as a Championship manager. Players dont see him as a long term prospect and are therefore avoiding us.

After the failings of last year there is a genuine argument that he should have been binned off and a new man installed for this season.

We are having a car crash transfer window, obsessed by Brentford players which has enabled them to hold us to ransom. The football world stretches further than West London and players who had a good game against Tyrone Mings.

It is time for Lange, Purslow and the owners to have a rethink about the sense in pursuing Dean Smiths over priced list of players with potential and actually sign some genuine quality.

Personally I regret their decison to put faith in a manager who surrendered a Cup Final, celebrated its loss and achieved the sum total of 35 points in a season.
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Brilliant post Jake.

To add, I think Engels was brilliant at the start of the season, showing more promise than Mings in some games. This until he got injured and then Smith started to experiment with 5 at the back. Then the games started slipping by, dropping points and sinking rapidly. Kinda looking pretty clueless at this point.

To go out and buy a RB(when we clearly don't need one) for 16m???? Is poor business imo. I really hope Cash takes off and I have nothing against him. But lets just watch us bin Guilbert for something stupid like 6m.

Engels and Guilbert binned off unnecessarily - could be personal opinion by Dean, it certainly isn't based on commitment, desire, progress and hard work. As both players shown promise.

We also seem to be obsessed with Championship players for some reason. Kinda reminds me of our first season in the Championship when we bought all the Scott Hogan's and Henri Lansbury's etc because they looked good.

Also way too much time spent looking for GK's every season. Why did buy Kalinic and Nyland if we are not going to give them a proper chance?
 
Dumble said:
Trouble is none of our strikers are currently able to do what Firminho does and our wingers are nowhere near Mane and Salah!

We need a striker who fits the system and at least one winger upgrade imo
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If you want goals then you need to be a threat all around the box, not just in the middle of it so I'm of a like mind in that Trez (to a lesser extent) and Ghazi (to a 100% extent) needs replacing or adding to if we're going to be competitive.

All that said, we still scored a decent amount of goals last season, our main woes were at the back so I'm perfectly ok with having 2-3 players "up front" who can keep the ball for more than five seconds for starters.
 
jake findlay said:
I am very concerned by the quality of player we are linked with and our inability to sign even these flawed targets.

After a season where we achieved 35 points the most important thing was to add 6 players quickly to this squad - particularly in goal, CH, midfield and a front 3.

We have failed to achieve this and now have less than a week to go before the start of the season. What is the issue with Smith, Lange, Purslow and the owners? Wolves, Everton Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs, Chelski, Utd, Arsenal have all made significant signings now. Even Albion have outspent us. We fiddle whilst Villa Park burns.

Suso got the blame for last years buys but at least he got deals over the line and brought in some OK quality like Mings, Luiz, Marv and Guilbert. Smith was briefing the press against him claiming he didnt want some of the players. However Jota, Konsa, Engels were clearly Smith buys and only one showed any real promise but none were qualified successes.

I have come to the conclusion that the the real issue is Dean Smith. He is obviously viewed within the football world as a Championship manager. Players dont see him as a long term prospect and are therefore avoiding us.

After the failings of last year there is a genuine argument that he should have been binned off and a new man installed for this season.

We are having a car crash transfer window, obsessed by Brentford players which has enabled them to hold us to ransom. The football world stretches further than West London and players who had a good game against Tyrone Mings.

It is time for Lange, Purslow and the owners to have a rethink about the sense in pursuing Dean Smiths over priced list of players with potential and actually sign some genuine quality.

Personally I regret their decison to put faith in a manager who surrendered a Cup Final, celebrated its loss and achieved the sum total of 35 points in a season.
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Respectfully, I think you're being more than a touch hysterical.

You've taken press rumours as golden, applied the absolute least charitable take to them and then gone bananas. "Fiddling while Villa Park burns"? Whilst I admire your flair for the dramatic, another way of putting it, our club are working through our list of targets, making strong bids and exhausting options until we sign the players we need.

Saying that we're not being responsible but then suggesting we should completely change direction and also sack the coach a week before the season starts is completely doolally. Respectfully.
 
I'm not sure what the solution is for Engels, he started well here but quickly descended into a poor player, shocking displays at Fulham and at home to Spurs still stand out in my mind.

The issue with players like this is that they can regress to the mean as the sample size of appearances increase. This could absolutely be the case with Engels. Smith interestingly spoke about how he wanted him at Brentford and that to me drops some clues about the player's actual level. Mings, Konsa and Hause all look superior and that doesn't leave him in good stead going forward.
 
I wasn't suggesting sacking him now, that would be ridiculous. I regret that we did not dispense of his services at the end of the season.

I think it is pretty safe to say we are after Watkins and Wilson. Surprisingly some reports in the press are accurate, I seem to recall Matt Cash being linked to us in advance of his transfer?
 
jake findlay said:
I am very concerned by the quality of player we are linked with and our inability to sign even these flawed targets.

After a season where we achieved 35 points the most important thing was to add 6 players quickly to this squad - particularly in goal, CH, midfield and a front 3.

We have failed to achieve this and now have less than a week to go before the start of the season. What is the issue with Smith, Lange, Purslow and the owners? Wolves, Everton Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs, Chelski, Utd, Arsenal have all made significant signings now. Even Albion have outspent us. We fiddle whilst Villa Park burns.

Suso got the blame for last years buys but at least he got deals over the line and brought in some OK quality like Mings, Luiz, Marv and Guilbert. Smith was briefing the press against him claiming he didnt want some of the players. However Jota, Konsa, Engels were clearly Smith buys and only one showed any real promise but none were qualified successes.

I have come to the conclusion that the the real issue is Dean Smith. He is obviously viewed within the football world as a Championship manager. Players dont see him as a long term prospect and are therefore avoiding us.

After the failings of last year there is a genuine argument that he should have been binned off and a new man installed for this season.

We are having a car crash transfer window, obsessed by Brentford players which has enabled them to hold us to ransom. The football world stretches further than West London and players who had a good game against Tyrone Mings.

It is time for Lange, Purslow and the owners to have a rethink about the sense in pursuing Dean Smiths over priced list of players with potential and actually sign some genuine quality.

Personally I regret their decison to put faith in a manager who surrendered a Cup Final, celebrated its loss and achieved the sum total of 35 points in a season.
Click to expand...
The fact that we have Lange and a recruitment team in place suggests we're not just fumbling through Dean Smith's list of players. I think it's unfair to point fingers at Smith for our lack of signings, it's really not his responsibility.

I think we're trying hard, but it's not quite working out. Either targets are costing too much or they don't want to join us or we're being forced to wait by other clubs and thus should see more signings as the window approaches closure.
 
ldgavfc said:
I'd take Sturridge on a pay as you play kind of season long contract, see how he gets on. Like some said above, if he cares about playing and it's not about the money, he should have no qualms signing a bonus focused year long contract. Wouldn't offer a signing bonus or a flat weekly wage or a long contract though. Last thing we need is another Stephen Ireland, Micah Richards thing going on.
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Stephen Ireland is the most level-headed and reliable bloke you've ever met when stood next to Sturridge.

It would be beyond farcical if we took him on, even at no wages, absolute poison ...
 
Pangloss said:
The fact that we have Lange and a recruitment team in place suggests we're not just fumbling through Dean Smith's list of players. I think it's unfair to point fingers at Smith for our lack of signings, it's really not his responsibility.

I think we're trying hard, but it's not quite working out. Either targets are costing too much or they don't want to join us or we're being forced to wait by other clubs and thus should see more signings as the window approaches closure.
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Yeah. I'm sure there's nothing stopping Dean putting a player he likes to Lange and McKenzie and them running rule over them, but as I understand it it has to be collectively agreed and we're not going to be paying McKenzie's mortgage just to play minesweeper whilst he waits for a name from Dean.
 
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