Albion close to a signing (From The Argus)

So yet another nothing story. Still no new signings. What's the point of saying your close. You can't be a little bit pregnant. Out with rubbish and sign some real talent now!

Hmm...perhaps best not to hold our breaths on this! "Close" is a relative term! Still plenty of time yet, however, it would be nice to see something "definate".

I see HOVEPARKBENCHTENANT is back with his normal mundane comments, I hope he realises a pregnancy takes around 9 months so why's he moaning that it takes more than 9 days to sign a player

mark5 wrote:
Hmm...perhaps best not to hold our breaths on this! "Close" is a relative term! Still plenty of time yet, however, it would be nice to see something "definate".

Hopefully we will hear of a signing in the next few days.
The first couple of signings should be instructive as they will give us an indication of the class and calibre of player Poyet is wanting to bring in.
His comments that he was pursuing Mattock are interesting since they confirm he is looking for a left back. It also endorses the view of a number of fans who have posted here that they thought he was worth pursuing.
I trust that Poyet has a good second option to go after.
I am expecting Poyet to sign 6 recruits. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a central midfielder and at least one if not two strikers depending on what happens with Hoskins. Such signings would effectively replace all the loanees we had towards the end of last season (if you include Gonzales in that category) ie Reyes, Mattock, Razac, Assulin, Vokes and Gonzales.
However should Vicente not remain then I would also expect a creative midfielder to be signed to take his place
Personally I would in addition like another forward/attacking midfielder (similar to Assulin) and another defender.
Finally I expect to hear of 2 or 3 younsters joining the Developement squad as Rodgers did a year ago.

mark5 wrote:
Hmm...perhaps best not to hold our breaths on this! "Close" is a relative term! Still plenty of time yet, however, it would be nice to see something "definate".

Something definite would also be welcome, Mark5 ;)

Just noticed the inverted commas.

Btw, my spelling isn't up for discussion!

It's all a waiting game. I've been critical of the Argus in the past but to be fair to them, we'd be moaning if there was nothing written on the Albion at all. We'd all be saying they need to keep us informed - and now they have. OK, nothing of great substance but at least an update from the top. Let's give everyone a break and roll with the punches….

There will be some good signings guaranteed.

Kuzszak by the end of the week...

It would be nice to see two decent full backs and i liked the young lad that played so well against us at Wrexham ..Maybe not be Championship standard now but full of potential! We desperatly need a creative midfielder and ball winner and top quality forward ! It would be good to see Vicente stay but gut instinct tells me he is homeward bound :( So, JFC , over to you :) GG

Yawn!

ballantrrae wrote:

mark5 wrote:
Hmm...perhaps best not to hold our breaths on this! "Close" is a relative term! Still plenty of time yet, however, it would be nice to see something "definate".

Hopefully we will hear of a signing in the next few days.
The first couple of signings should be instructive as they will give us an indication of the class and calibre of player Poyet is wanting to bring in.
His comments that he was pursuing Mattock are interesting since they confirm he is looking for a left back. It also endorses the view of a number of fans who have posted here that they thought he was worth pursuing.
I trust that Poyet has a good second option to go after.
I am expecting Poyet to sign 6 recruits. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a central midfielder and at least one if not two strikers depending on what happens with Hoskins. Such signings would effectively replace all the loanees we had towards the end of last season (if you include Gonzales in that category) ie Reyes, Mattock, Razac, Assulin, Vokes and Gonzales.
However should Vicente not remain then I would also expect a creative midfielder to be signed to take his place
Personally I would in addition like another forward/attacking midfielder (similar to Assulin) and another defender.
Finally I expect to hear of 2 or 3 younsters joining the Developement squad as Rodgers did a year ago.

A very positive and direct "wish list", which if it came off, I would be delighted with! My feeling (and worry)is that the final secured list will fall short of this. Although, the club have ambitions to push for the Premiership, I think that a combination of financial restraints, compared to other ambitious clubs and the resultant dilution of the "affordable" talent may well leave the team "wanting" a little for the start of the season. Also, with the risk of having my head stuck on a stake outside Traitors Gate, I am still haunted by Gus's "questionable" signings from last term and hope that he has learnt much from the process!

I think the comment about finacial restraints is a warning that GP's might not be able to shop at Harrords (premiership players) but more like from Waitrose's (championship players)......Let's hope he's not shopping at Tesco's!!

Mark Dixon wrote:
I think the comment about finacial restraints is a warning that GP's might not be able to shop at Harrords (premiership players) but more like from Waitrose's (championship players)......Let's hope he's not shopping at Tesco's!!

Maybe Morrison's? From Norwich City? LOL

Mark Dixon wrote:
I think the comment about finacial restraints is a warning that GP's might not be able to shop at Harrords (premiership players) but more like from Waitrose's (championship players)......Let's hope he's not shopping at Tesco's!!

Maybe we could get a "buy one get one free" offer.

Just think what we could do with all those Clubcard points. :-)

At least the days of shopping at Poundstrechers seems to gone for good

Or even Poundstretchers

Well, both Aldi and Lidl often have some good bargains. Some of the goods might have strange-sounding foreign names but you can turn up a gem here and there on the cheap...

mark5 wrote:

ballantrrae wrote:

mark5 wrote: Hmm...perhaps best not to hold our breaths on this! "Close" is a relative term! Still plenty of time yet, however, it would be nice to see something "definate".

Hopefully we will hear of a signing in the next few days. The first couple of signings should be instructive as they will give us an indication of the class and calibre of player Poyet is wanting to bring in. His comments that he was pursuing Mattock are interesting since they confirm he is looking for a left back. It also endorses the view of a number of fans who have posted here that they thought he was worth pursuing. I trust that Poyet has a good second option to go after. I am expecting Poyet to sign 6 recruits. A goalkeeper, two full backs, a central midfielder and at least one if not two strikers depending on what happens with Hoskins. Such signings would effectively replace all the loanees we had towards the end of last season (if you include Gonzales in that category) ie Reyes, Mattock, Razac, Assulin, Vokes and Gonzales. However should Vicente not remain then I would also expect a creative midfielder to be signed to take his place Personally I would in addition like another forward/attacking midfielder (similar to Assulin) and another defender. Finally I expect to hear of 2 or 3 younsters joining the Developement squad as Rodgers did a year ago.

A very positive and direct "wish list", which if it came off, I would be delighted with! My feeling (and worry)is that the final secured list will fall short of this. Although, the club have ambitions to push for the Premiership, I think that a combination of financial restraints, compared to other ambitious clubs and the resultant dilution of the "affordable" talent may well leave the team "wanting" a little for the start of the season. Also, with the risk of having my head stuck on a stake outside Traitors Gate, I am still haunted by Gus's "questionable" signings from last term and hope that he has learnt much from the process!

Mark5, I think your comment is spot on, we all hope and prey that our wishes will be granted and that an abundance of talent is heading our way but until it happens then we have to feed off the scraps we are given and to be fair what we hear are very mixed messages.

Hi Mark

Certainly no accusations of being a traitor from me, but would be interested to hear which of the signings you felt to be "questionable". In my mind most if not all of the signings (Lua lua, Buckley, CMS, Hoskins, Vincelot) all came off the back of good seasons for previous clubs the year before. Quite how they fared once at Albion is altogether a different matter, but that doesn't make the initial signing a bad decision.

I would however support your point when it comes to loanees -few of those brought in on loan enhanced the team and now we've lost out on Mattock, I'm really not too keen to see any of the others return.

Dr Baldhead wrote:
Hi Mark

Certainly no accusations of being a traitor from me, but would be interested to hear which of the signings you felt to be "questionable". In my mind most if not all of the signings (Lua lua, Buckley, CMS, Hoskins, Vincelot) all came off the back of good seasons for previous clubs the year before. Quite how they fared once at Albion is altogether a different matter, but that doesn't make the initial signing a bad decision.

I would however support your point when it comes to loanees -few of those brought in on loan enhanced the team and now we've lost out on Mattock, I'm really not too keen to see any of the others return.

I was looking for my pitchfork and flaming torch :D But happen to agree with you although Gus has made some fantastic signings some have been so-so to say the least. I guess it all comes down to budget but with the 10th largest nuber of season tickets sold that should ease this year. I would sooner we shopped at Harrods but if it means the club stays on a sound finacial footing dumpster diving will do.

Dr Baldhead wrote:
Hi Mark

Certainly no accusations of being a traitor from me, but would be interested to hear which of the signings you felt to be "questionable". In my mind most if not all of the signings (Lua lua, Buckley, CMS, Hoskins, Vincelot) all came off the back of good seasons for previous clubs the year before. Quite how they fared once at Albion is altogether a different matter, but that doesn't make the initial signing a bad decision.

I would however support your point when it comes to loanees -few of those brought in on loan enhanced the team and now we've lost out on Mattock, I'm really not too keen to see any of the others return.

Not sure I agree. Harley was a complete disaster, and good as I think Vincelot ans Hoskins are, it was pretty clear from early on that Gus did not really rate them as better than what he already had (I realise Hoskins picked up a few injuries). Even CMS you could argue is a signing that does not really work with Gus's system. We should not have paid that amount of money for someone that is not a dead cert in the starting line up. Some of the loan signings have been very odd - Razak in particular, again there were supposedly reasons why Gus didn't want to play him, but ended up just being a waste of time and presumably money. Assulin arguably the same, and Paynter a complete joke. Gus is a great coach, but in my view is still a bit hit or miss in the transfer market.

I too feel this could be a frustrating summer. All the Championship sides are looking for the same thing and savvy agents knowing this means even average players will be out of our reach. Jay Rodriguez scored 17 Championship goals for Burnley in 2010/11 and 21 in 2011/12 (4 of which were in one game against Burton Albion), so even he isn't quite the fabled 20 goals a season striker everyone wants - yet he's just been sold for £7 million and is therefore miles out of our league. Our best hope is Gus is putting his time in Uruguay to good use uncovering on the cheap brilliance with a European passport!

For all of the mistakes that people think Gus made in Signings, we didn't do bad in finishing where we did and above quite a few clubs with Higher expectations.

There is not and never has been a manager who got every signing right and Gus' record is actually pretty good. Okay so we will make a loss on Hoskins but injuries played a big part if, finally, the reason he will go is because he chose to jump ship to go on loan to Sheffield. And the jury is out on Harley because of an apparent attitude issue but I recall that a certain Glenn murray was always criticised for being lazy but didn't do too bad.....give Harley a chance and a run of games! CMS has largely suffered from a lack of any sort of service. Let's see what happens this year. Otherwise pretty good IMO.

Hi Dr Baldhead, In answer to your question, Seagull 31 has it spot on, in my view. Some good signings were certainly made, Buckley, Lua Lua to name a few. However, many did not make the grade for whatever reason. The jury is still out on CMS, our record signing. I believe that he has the quality and attitude to be great for us, but the formation does not suit his style at all! I know that this was due to the service he received, but players were brought in, presumably with that end in mind, who were not up to providing CMS the service he needs. These players now need to brought in with that ability (remember that Gus wanted to build the team around him). If our budget is not as strong as other "aspiring" clubs and we are repeatedly told it is not, then this might well leave us short again unless Gus has found his feet in the transfer market now. Don't get me wrong, we will and are a good Championship side and that is great, given where we have come from, and I personally will be happy with that continuing and watching some great football/teams! However, the mutterings from within the club are about Premieship aspirations, which will raise expectations among us fans and I do not think we are in that area of expertise at present, because the stronger budgets are with the others (or so we are told!)

rolivan wrote:
For all of the mistakes that people think Gus made in Signings, we didn't do bad in finishing where we did and above quite a few clubs with Higher expectations.

No, that kind of goes without saying, but you are right we should not lose sight of how impressive the season was. If anything it is testament to Gus's ability as a coach that he achieved that finish with a core team from last season given that a lot of the signings did not work out (obviously excluding Buckley, lost track of how many points he won us)

Starting a new debate.
What are everyones thoughts on the centre backs berths for next year? I think Greer is the must due to his Leadership and Organisational skills but who to play alongside him. Im opting for young Lewis because although i think that Adam has more bite, i believe that Lewis has much better positional sense and is certainly a better footballer. Eager to hear others thoughts...

If we can score more goals we'll have a great season. CMS hasn't quite clicked but cream always rises to the top. Torres and Carrol didnt have a great season either but started show improvement at the end.

If CMS has a great season we'll go up, simple as

SMF20 wrote:
Starting a new debate.
What are everyones thoughts on the centre backs berths for next year? I think Greer is the must due to his Leadership and Organisational skills but who to play alongside him. Im opting for young Lewis because although i think that Adam has more bite, i believe that Lewis has much better positional sense and is certainly a better footballer. Eager to hear others thoughts...

Tough call. AE-B drags the team along with him at times and gives Albion that bit of bite that we need (Chaplow at Saints etc). I think he has a better understanding with GG as well.

That said, Dunk has the potential to be a CB of the highest quality. All the same I'd have him just behind Adam (for now).

Dr Baldhead wrote:

SMF20 wrote:
Starting a new debate.
What are everyones thoughts on the centre backs berths for next year? I think Greer is the must due to his Leadership and Organisational skills but who to play alongside him. Im opting for young Lewis because although i think that Adam has more bite, i believe that Lewis has much better positional sense and is certainly a better footballer. Eager to hear others thoughts...

Tough call. AE-B drags the team along with him at times and gives Albion that bit of bite that we need (Chaplow at Saints etc). I think he has a better understanding with GG as well.

That said, Dunk has the potential to be a CB of the highest quality. All the same I'd have him just behind Adam (for now).

Perhaps the solution might be to play all three ie GG, El Arb and Dunk but that would mean changing our playing formation.
If we went for three CBs as above then we would have two wing backs which might be good for Calde since his defensive duties would be slightly less onerous. That would mean a midfield trio and perhaps importantly for CMS two strikers - ie CMS gets the support up front he needs.
As Pte says what we need is to score more goals.
Reverting to Mark5's 'questionable signings' comments I too share reservations over some of the signings Poyet made last season but I feel (and trust) that he has a better understanding of what is required for the Championship now than he did a year ago. His first two or three new signings will, I think, reveal where we are going as I said in my earlier posting on this thread.

Talking of defence...of course, there's still the serious matter of an appearance before the beaks on 6 July for one of those defenders mentioned. The outcome of which could possibly affect Gus's options...