Transfer Window + Squad

[H. Pedersen]

Does this list have to remain rigid until january? Or as injuries happen non contract players or youth academy players can be added and dropped throughout the season.

You can play U21 players whenever. They aren't on any list and don't need to be.

But the rest of the list is fixed until January and they are the ONLY over 21s you can play until end of December.

Cheers. Kind of kills off the chance of a late pick up of an out of contract player (over 21).

Well it seems certain clubs could pick up an out of contract player if they don't have 25 eligible players. However, Shittu, Samuel, and Riga are assholes, so this doesn't apply to us.

Clubs do not have to name a full squad of 25 if they do not have that many contracted players and in this instance they may add free agents outside the transfer window. However if they have 25 eligible contracted players, they must be named.

http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headl ... 41,00.html

[H. Pedersen]

I retract what I said about Shittu as it seems he has agreed to cancel his contract.

http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1 ... 05,00.html

[SonsOfThunder]

I retract what I said about Shittu as it seems he has agreed to cancel his contract.

http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1 ... 05,00.html

So Samuel and Riga are still assholes, then?

[thebish]

Well it seems certain clubs could pick up an out of contract player if they don't have 25 eligible players. However, Shittu, Samuel, and Riga are assholes, so this doesn't apply to us.

bit harsh i'd say...

If you were on a lucrative work contract and they suddenly decided they didn't really want you anymore (having head-hunted you) - would you just say "fair enough, tear up my contract, I won't hold you to it"?

[Gaz Tomorrow]

Ok so after the 150 odd pages of speculation the endless torment, multitude of hopes, dissapointments and excitements we have signed the following....

Alonso cost somewhere in the region of £1.5M
Blake Free
Eaves cost around £300,000
Klasnic Free
Petrov Free
Rodrigo Loan

How do we assess the last transfer window for the club and the current squad, given that today Owen must name his 25 man squad?

In my view its a bit mixed.

The positives are we've managed to bring in 6 players during what has been a very tight window all round, and we've done that without spending massive amounts on fees (in fact net spend on fees we're probably not far off zero). I imagine we've spent a fair amount on wages and signing on fees for Petrov and Klasnic and a loan fee for Rodrigo. We've also finally got to the point where we have four strikers, ok Rodrigo is an unknown, but by all accounts has pace which was the one thing we lacked up front. So he'll be an option even if just late on in games. We have also added some potential real class in Petrov and experienced versatility in Blake. Alonso if he's a third as good as Coyle seems to think will make us a profit eventually. We have also kept our best players in Cahill and Muamba and although the money from a Cahill sale was tempting early in the window, the way the window has spun out selling him would have ended badly I feel.

So from the point of view of limited money to shell out we've probably done as well as we could have possibly hoped for.

However, as I'm sure Caps will be amongst the first to point out, whilst we've bought the front players to support the brave new world of 4-4-2, I'm not entirely convinced we've sorted out whats behind that. In fact I'm fairly confident we haven't.

Whilst Holden and Muamba are both mobile and both keen and willing runners, there doesn't seem to be much discipline in the centre of midfield. We don't have much genuine experience in there and we're struggling at times to keep the ball and sometimes to stop the opposition playing. Many teams will play one or two holding midfielders this season and we have none in our first 11 at the current time. We lack that genuinely calm premiership midfield player who will boss the game. I think Davis would do a job there, but obviously not anytime soon (if ever).

We have also not managed to improve on the back four, either at centre half or full back, not in a defensive sense anyways. Ok Alonso may come in and be better all round than Robbo, but defensively I suspect he'll leave more holes. Centre half to be fair we'll probably get away with and without silly money we would struggle to better as individuals the two we have there.

So in summary I think we have the best range of attacking options we've had since the Rioch era. We've probably got the best wingers we've had since then too. We have a strong keeper (when he's not being silly) and centre backs who whilst they don't always gel, individually we can have few complaints with them. Our issues really come at full back and central midfield. Its not as if any of those players are terribly poor but perhaps they might not be strong enough to cope all the time with the system we've played so far. Overally we probably can't grumble, we've got the makings of a decent squad, and shift some more deadwood in January or next summer and we should be able to get that defensive midfield player we need. Things are looking positive but there is still some worries and room for improvement.

Other views?

Is there a decent one in the squad?

[t_o_molloy]

I retract what I said about Shittu as it seems he has agreed to cancel his contract.

http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1 ... 05,00.html

So Samuel and Riga are still assholes, then?

Riga isn't in the 25 man squad, so maybe he's off aswell, we live in hope.

[irie Cee Bee]

http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/General/0,,1 ... 85,00.html

No Riga and includes Al Habsi which means he can be recalled at any time beforre the January window. Surprised to see JLS who is now 3rd choice. Thought he would be sent out on loan to a championship club.

[H. Pedersen]

Well it seems certain clubs could pick up an out of contract player if they don't have 25 eligible players. However, Shittu, Samuel, and Riga are assholes, so this doesn't apply to us.

bit harsh i'd say...

If you were on a lucrative work contract and they suddenly decided they didn't really want you anymore (having head-hunted you) - would you just say "fair enough, tear up my contract, I won't hold you to it"?

If I they decided they didn't want me because I wasn't very good at my job, I don't think I'd have much room to complain.

[thebish]

Well it seems certain clubs could pick up an out of contract player if they don't have 25 eligible players. However, Shittu, Samuel, and Riga are assholes, so this doesn't apply to us.

bit harsh i'd say...

If you were on a lucrative work contract and they suddenly decided they didn't really want you anymore (having head-hunted you) - would you just say "fair enough, tear up my contract, I won't hold you to it"?

If I they decided they didn't want me because I wasn't very good at my job, I don't think I'd have much room to complain.

he's no worse at his job than when they headhunted him for that very job. they knew what they were getting when they gave him the contract.

[TKIZ!]

I do feel a bit sorry for 'The Bullet' never really given a chance or played in a position he was happy with. Gave a good account of himself against Spurs in the Carling Cup last season. He'll stay here I think as he struggled to get paid at Levante previously and Meggo signed him to a lucrative (by his standards) contract

[Mar]

We've submitted a 24 man squad? I thought it was 25?????


If this is the case then why not add the extra player onto our squad rota? Unless of course that player was Shittu who had his contract cancelled after the submission... Either way leaving one out seems a little silly.

[BWFC_Insane]

Thing is we will have paid Shittu to go.

I imagine Riga will also be released shortly.

[TKIZ!]

Ahh well, it'll make it easier when recruiting next time round. More funds I suppose

[BWFC_Insane]

Ahh well, it'll make it easier when recruiting next time round. More funds I suppose

Won't though as anyone we release will have been paid off. Whether in full or partly won't make much difference!

[H. Pedersen]

he's no worse at his job than when they headhunted him for that very job. they knew what they were getting when they gave him the contract.

Sort of, but not exactly since Riga and Shittu came from other leagues. And Samuel, we're on our third manager since the one who signed him (he was an Allardyce deal IIRC). Things change, though I do feel a bit more sympathy for him since Megson dropped him for no real reason.

[Mar]

he's no worse at his job than when they headhunted him for that very job. they knew what they were getting when they gave him the contract.

Sort of, but not exactly since Riga and Shittu came from other leagues. And Samuel, we're on our third manager since the one who signed him (he was an Allardyce deal IIRC). Things change, though I do feel a bit more sympathy for him since Megson dropped him for no real reason.

He's not exactly endeared himself to Owen Coyle now has he?

Granted he's been shipped down the pecking order since Coyle came in but if you get given a chance (like he did against Man Utd) putting the ball into the back of your own net isn't going to win over anyone.


I still feel he's got a future at the club but i'd imagine he'd have to up his workrate to match Robinson to get in for a shout at the left back spot again.

[Lord Kangana]

Considering how tied Coyle's hands were, I think this transfer window has been a soaraway success. Petrov for free has been lauded as the steal of the summer, even in quarters that would normally write at the more poisonous end of the spectrum about us. And at £30k a week? thats £3k more than Danny Shittu, but a good £2.5m less in fee. I know which type of business I prefer.

Robbie Blake practically repaid what we're paying him on saturday alone. Very astute signing for free (again).

We've kept hold of everyone we want, some on improved contracts, we've rid some of the deadwood (not quite enough, but they were so obviously sh*t no-one else wants them, so of course they're hanging around...).

My understanding of the Alonso fee was closer to £2.5m, and Eaves a total of £500k....even so, its a fair outlay on young potential, and in context is butons. We're probably just a Wilshere short of what we wanted to achieve for the summer.

So all in all, a manager with very little funds and not a lot of room for manoeuvre has delivered a squad stronger than 12 months ago, is willing to work with players he was left, has added where he can but with much less money. Success by every yardstick you can muster.

[Mar]

Considering how tied Coyle's hands were, I think this transfer window has been a soaraway success.

Look at the squads around us. I think you could be hard pressed to find a team who has had a better transfer window than us.

You could say Man City have strengthened but for the amount of money that was spent theres been a shed load of money fluttered away.

[hisroyalgingerness]

I think Stoke have made some decent improvements. Whether Pulis can come up with the goods we'll see. Brum have added quite well, especially Hleb but I fear their attitude under McLeish isn't going to produce an exciting team

[Lord Kangana]

ven'tStoke spent shitloads more than us though?