Championship Signings

[Hoganstolemywife]

As is my wont, I've been browsing the message boards of a few other clubs and was somewhat surprised that both Nottingham Forest & Cardiff fans were declaring their respective transfer windows in superlative terms.

Obviously they've strengthened their squads - perhaps even making themselves viable promotion candidates - but, Forest especially, they have in the most part signed 'proven' Championship players.

The problem with 'proven' Championship players, in my not so humble opinion, is that they are Championship players for a reason. I remember when Leicester spunked £20 million last year on a collection of championship starters and Premier League subs; their fans reacted identically....and they finished miles off the pace.

Obviously we've gone down an entirely different route and it's too early to compare our signings against either Forest or Cardiff, but I don't think one needs to take as extreme an example at us. Look at Blackpool: M Phillips and Tom Ince had never played in the championship before; 2008/09 Wolves - only Dave Jones was a 'proven' championship performer; Reading last year, they even went so far as to sell their 'proven' championship performers(!)

Neil Warnock is the one major anomaly to this trend as he always seems to get these sort of sides promotion.

Am I alone in my disdain (if not disdain, then just general lack of favour) for 'proven' performers. Would anyone have rather we spend the £10-12 million we have spent on players who helped West Ham, Southampton, Norwich & QPR get up, but are now surplus to requirements?

 

[Andy Grays perm]

As is my wont, I've been browsing the message boards of a few other clubs and was somewhat surprised that both Nottingham Forest & Cardiff fans were declaring their respective transfer windows in superlative terms.

Obviously they've strengthened their squads - perhaps even making themselves viable promotion candidates - but, Forest especially, they have in the most part signed 'proven' Championship players.

The problem with 'proven' Championship players, in my not so humble opinion, is that they are Championship players for a reason. I remember when Leicester spunked £20 million last year on a collection of championship starters and Premier League subs; their fans reacted identically....and they finished miles off the pace.

Obviously we've gone down an entirely different route and it's too early to compare our signings against either Forest or Cardiff, but I don't think one needs to take as extreme an example at us. Look at Blackpool: M Phillips and Tom Ince had never played in the championship before; 2008/09 Wolves - only Dave Jones was a 'proven' championship performer; Reading last year, they even went so far as to sell their 'proven' championship performers(!)

Neil Warnock is the one major anomaly to this trend as he always seems to get these sort of sides promotion.

Am I alone in my disdain (if not disdain, then just general lack of favour) for 'proven' performers. Would anyone have rather we spend the £10-12 million we have spent on players who helped West Ham, Southampton, Norwich & QPR get up, but are now surplus to requirements?

Excellent and spot on. I think we have made the best group of signings by far in the Championship. Nouble still has a little bit to prove i guess but the other 6 are quality signings in the mode of Fletcher and Doyle when we signed them. I do not think anyone can be dissapointed with those signings. Not one other Champ club has come near that quality and when you look at what we paid and what say Leicester paid last year then we should count ourselves very lucky.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Excellent and spot on. I think we have made the best group of signings by far in the Championship. Nouble still has a little bit to prove i guess but the other 6 are quality signings in the mode of Fletcher and Doyle when we signed them. I do not think anyone can be dissapointed with those signings. Not one other Champ club has come near that quality and when you look at what we paid and what say Leicester paid last year then we should count ourselves very lucky.

Maybe a wee bit premature than that but clubs like us and Swansea have an excellent chance of having gotten more bang for our buck, so to speak. I think Blackpool have done very well too

 

[andyc225]

You're not alone in that. I would be gutted if we were even interested in signing rubbish like Tommy Smith, Billy Sharp or Craig Noone. Colin can put fire into the bellies of bang average players like that, which is why he's had so much success with them. Get him into the Prem and he loses almost every game. It's a totally different ball game there.

On the other hand, Wolves have (in my view) improved greatly on what we had before. I'd be quite happy to go into a new Prem season with what we've signed, such is the quality I've seen so far. The Championship won't be easy by any stretch of the imagination but we've put ourselves into a good position. I'd like to see another new face or perhaps two come in during the loan window.

 

[Andy Grays perm]

Im just impressed by the consistency of the signings. Making 7 new signings you expect some to work some not to but these all look very good. We only have to look at our recently history to see the success rate and in all fairness thats football but Solbakken appears to have a real eye for a player. Also whilst we may be feeling a bit down that we did not pick up one more yesterday how many times have we seen clubs make last minute tosh signings to appease the fans?

 

[rincewind]

I would agree with the early part of the OP and feel that Forest fans in particular will be dissapointed. Cardiff do have a solid basis to add to.
It's too early to assess how our new players will do I feel. The newest recruits did well against Northampton and we know the earlier signings seem good. But they will need to get used to the grind of an English league season, adjust to SS playing style and new team mates plus settle in a foreign country. Let's see how they are doing in the new year I say.
However, potentially, for the same money as 1 Jordan Rhodes we have built the basis of a side to gain promotion and survive in the premier league. Potentially though.
And there is the loan window we can use this year.

 

[Andy Grays perm]

I would agree with the early part of the OP and feel that Forest fans in particular will be dissapointed. Cardiff do have a solid basis to add to.
It's too early to assess how our new players will do I feel. The newest recruits did well against Northampton and we know the earlier signings seem good. But they will need to get used to the grind of an English league season, adjust to SS playing style and new team mates plus settle in a foreign country. Let's see how they are doing in the new year I say.
However, potentially, for the same money as 1 Jordan Rhodes we have built the basis of a side to gain promotion and survive in the premier league. Potentially though.
And there is the loan window we can use this year.

yea fair point but i guess footballl and signings are always about the factors you have listed -potential settle in. The most telling point you make though is what we have got for the price of Rhodes which i guess sums up what Hoag is saying.

 

[spud3948]

First impressions are very good, 7 senior signings & 2 development squad. Doumbia & Peszko seem to have settled quickly. Sako looks Class and Boukari showed glimpses of brilliance. I am looking forward to the new season with optimisum, our first proper test of this transfer policy will come very soon against Cardiff

 

[Matt]

To be fair most opposing fans will be looking at our signings and thinking the same.

 

[Mugwump]

I actually think the championship has some very good players. When they get sold to clubs like Everton for example they can get blended in with an established premier league squad and they do very well ( Cahill, Lescott, Jagielka are obvious examples ). What happened with us was we had a squad full of good championship players but no premier league know how to guide them along. I have no doubt the likes of Foley for example would have thrived at somewhere like Everton or Fulham.

 

[cobweb]

Even though the better players signed so far cost a few million each, it's a bit early to claim they're of the same quality as Doyle and Fletcher.

Hopefully they will prove to be inspired signings, but i'll wait and see how they perform away at Ipswich/Burnley/Brighton etc on a freezing night in the middle of winter before declaring they're superior to any other player signed in the championship this season.

 

[SimplyTheWolves]

Even though the better players signed so far cost a few million each, it's a bit early to claim they're of the same quality as Doyle and Fletcher.

Hopefully they will prove to be inspired signings, but i'll wait and see how they perform away at Ipswich/Burnley/Brighton etc on a freezing night in the middle of winter before declaring they're superior to any other player signed in the championship this season.

I see your point ice cream head, but the players we've signed are or should all be used to those conditions, France is of a similar climate to ours and so is Germany, so I really don't think that's a major factor to judge their possible abilities or potential lack of.

 

[cannockwolves]

It way too early to say if they are promotion prospects, but I like what I have seen. The big questions is how they can cope with a hard winter in the championship and can Doyle & SEB score the goals we need. But I guess we could always play Sako upfront

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[Sedgley Gold N Black]

The one thing that stands out for me about our signings is that they have all played a high level, and if we get promoted you'd hope they'd be able to make the step up. This means instead of having a complete overhaul, like most clubs who have a squad consisting of championship players that were brought in to get them up have to, you can make fewer signings of a better quality.

Look at how many signings most clubs who go up make, they end up bringing in near enough 10 players.

Is there much difference between The PL and say Ligue 1 after you take away the very best teams? Same with the Bundesliga?

If anything the teams in the bottom half of those leagues are stronger than their PL counterparts.

Just look at the Europa league, If the PL teams thought they had a chance of winning it they'd play stronger teams but they know that once they come up against teams from the other strong leagues they don't really stand much of a chance, so they don't bother.

 

[goldeneyed]

Happy with our signings but we lost arguably our three best players beforehand. We still need another quality central midfielder in the mix and quickly. Looking for some positive action in the loan market and pronto.

It is too early to really assess the success of our own or other teams' signings. But Cardiff and Forest have certainly improved their squads. Blackburn have brought in 12 players I believe including Rhodes. Glad to see they lost N'Zonzi late in the day to Stoke but seem to have held on to Olsson and some of their other better players. Bolton havn't lost anyone of note with Spearing looking like a useful addition. Blackpool have signed Delfounesco from Villa who is vey talented and the young Liverpool forward whose name escapes me and have held on to Ince and Phillips. They seem to be on fire at the moment and Holloway is very shrewd.

All in all it is going to be a very competitive season and it will be interesting to see how we fare against Cardiff tomorrow. Above all I want to see some solid defensive performances away from home with Margreitter and Johnson forming a solid partnership and the full backs for once doing a proper professional job as defenders. We have the flare up front now but if the defenders keep ****ing up we will get nowhere this season.

 

[loopy lupine]

Just look at the Europa league, If the PL teams thought they had a chance of winning it they'd play stronger teams but they know that once they come up against teams from the other strong leagues they don't really stand much of a chance, so they don't bother.

The only reason our clubs don't take it seriously is because you get more money for finishing 10th than for winning the Europa Cup.

The teams that are in it are teams with a top 4 ambition, therefore they concentrate on the league. To say they don't take it seriously because they know they can't win it is wrong.

 

[JOSWolf]

Central midfield could be a big problem for us. If Doumbia gets injured what have we got?

 

[North West Wanderer]

Central midfield could be a big problem for us. If Doumbia gets injured what have we got?

I'd be amazed if we don't bring one in on loan - Stale has admitted he was trying to.

Doumbia
Henry
New player
O'Hara
Edwards
Davis

more than enough

 

[Henry Palfrey]

Out of interest, how long is Henry. likely to be out for?

 

[JOSWolf]

Apart from Whelan and Frimpong are there any other central midfielders from prem clubs we could get on loan?

 

[goldeneyed]

Apart from Whelan and Frimpong are there any other central midfielders from prem clubs we could get on loan?

Huddlestone and Jenas have been mentioned but wages will be a problem. If we want quality we will have to pay for it.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Henry is out so who plays alongside Doumbia? We are still way short of having a auto promtion chasing squad and I'm disapointed to be honest. If we can pick up a Reo-Coker or someone like that on a free/loan like that then all the better.

Some signings look good on paper but it's far to early to tell. Would Sako & Boukari have made that much difference to the Derby game? Sigurdarson I don't think he will make the step up, the 3 wingers will be lively and Margeiretter looked good but why no full backs?

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

I'm glad to see you've dismissed one of the world's leading forward prospects as not good enough after 1 start and 2 substitute appearances!

STS:

[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“It’s important to do deals whereby of the right player comes along with great experience who can make a difference, they can go straight into the team,” he says.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“But I don’t think you should do three or four deals like that because if those deals don’t work out, you’re stuck with players on high wages without the possibility of selling them on later on.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“Doing it this way, we’ve done our job to protect the future of the club.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“You have to think about short-term success but you also have to think about what the long-term future will bring.[/FONT]

 

[Mr Wolf]

I'm glad to see you've dismissed one of the world's leading forward prospects as not good enough after 1 start and 2 substitute appearances!

Worlds leading forward prospects and people wonder why I have ago at the the over the top happy clapper $$$$ on here

He looks like a poor mans Doyle, I think Nouble will offer more.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Worlds leading forward prospects and people wonder why I have ago at the the over the top happy clapper $$$$ on here

He looks like a poor mans Doyle, I think Nouble will offer more.

Lol

 

[A wanderer from Bristol]

Out of interest, how long is Henry. likely to be out for?

Stale said the next two games earlier this week, meaning Northampton and Cardiff. International break next week so he has two weeks after Sunday till next game and will hopefully be fit then.

 

[Andy Grays perm]

I'm glad to see you've dismissed one of the world's leading forward prospects as not good enough after 1 start and 2 substitute appearances!

STS:



[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“It’s important to do deals whereby of the right player comes along with great experience who can make a difference, they can go straight into the team,†he says.[/FONT]


[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“But I don’t think you should do three or four deals like that because if those deals don’t work out, you’re stuck with players on high wages without the possibility of selling them on later on.[/FONT]


[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“Doing it this way, we’ve done our job to protect the future of the club.[/FONT]


[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]“You have to think about short-term success but you also have to think about what the long-term future will bring.[/FONT]

Berra?
Hunt?
Johnsson?
Hamill?
Elokobi?

Not meant as a wind up but examples of players that may be ok and one level but when you go up or move on they are not. The problem then is they have 2 or 3 years left on a well paid contract and will not move on. The spin off with this is that then limits the wage money available for the higher standard of footballer you want to bring in and of course you end up struggling.

Oh and Mr Wolf...... only time will tell us how good these players will be. By the way who would you have signed this summer?

 

[Monkey Man]

THe issue with our signings is we have no idea how they will perform after a few months, sure they look ok now but almost every player at a new club looks good to start with.

I'll be giving my thoughts after 6 months, not 6 games.

 

[Andy Grays perm]

Even though the better players signed so far cost a few million each, it's a bit early to claim they're of the same quality as Doyle and Fletcher.

Hopefully they will prove to be inspired signings, but i'll wait and see how they perform away at Ipswich/Burnley/Brighton etc on a freezing night in the middle of winter before declaring they're superior to any other player signed in the championship this season.

So its not cold in Poland (Pesko), or freezin in Iceland (Siguardarson), of course in tropical Rennes or St Etienne (Doumbia, Sako and Boukari) it never rains and there are no dodgy towns in France to play football in on a cold winters night and not forgetting the equatorial Alps in Austria (Mairgretter). oh of course the one that will really struggle is that Nouble coming from London!

 

[Mr Wolf]

THe issue with our signings is we have no idea how they will perform after a few months, sure they look ok now but almost every player at a new club looks good to start with.

I'll be giving my thoughts after 6 months, not 6 games.

Don't be so stupid, all these players are amazing because their cheap and foreign and we all know this is the way to go. Best midfield in the world remember

 

[Odinn]

Henry is out so who plays alongside Doumbia? We are still way short of having a auto promtion chasing squad and I'm disapointed to be honest. If we can pick up a Reo-Coker or someone like that on a free/loan like that then all the better.

Some signings look good on paper but it's far to early to tell. Would Sako & Boukari have made that much difference to the Derby game? Sigurdarson I don't think he will make the step up, the 3 wingers will be lively and Margeiretter looked good but why no full backs?

So you think Sigurdarson will not make the step up after only four games. Maybe a little premature I think. I am not saying he will but its too early to tell imo.

 

[cobweb]

So its not cold in Poland (Pesko), or freezin in Iceland (Siguardarson), of course in tropical Rennes or St Etienne (Doumbia, Sako and Boukari) it never rains and there are no dodgy towns in France to play football in on a cold winters night and not forgetting the equatorial Alps in Austria (Mairgretter). oh of course the one that will really struggle is that Nouble coming from London!

If you're stupid enough to think that after a decent couple of games against the might of Barnsley and Northampton, all the new signings will storm the championship, then more fool you. As I said yesterday, I think i'll wait until the tough away games in the middle of winter before proclaiming them as good as the players we sold.

 

[Ponty]

If you're stupid enough to think that after a decent couple of games against the might of Barnsley and Northampton, all the new signings will storm the championship, then more fool you. As I said yesterday, I think i'll wait until the tough away games in the middle of winter before proclaiming them as good as the players we sold.

Don't recall seeing Kightly in the middle of winter for a long time!

 

[Perton Wolf]

Don't recall seeing Kightly in the middle of winter for a long time!

Who's this Kightly you speak of?