The Promotion Commotion Transfer Thread 2017

[Prufrock]

Last Jan was shocking. Lost Clough and Ameobi and with it our entire mojo and didn't win for a month. Picked up Phil after the window ended and scraped through.

[Prufrock]

Anelka is probably our best sale in recent years, although I seem to remember a few on here thinking we were letting him go cheaply at the time. In hindsight it turned out about right for both parties.

Madine would almost certainly be offered a significant pay rise by the Mackems which could turn his head. £4m + Vaughan?

No thanks.

We need someone who can do the work, not someone who will be injured every other week. Cannot see Madine going a) because we'll want lots of money and b) he's a Newcastle fan and not the most level-headed bloke around, can't see him in Sunderland going down too well.

Dependant on the views of a medical team I trusted, I'd rip their hands off!

Vaughan played 37 times last year and has played 19 this. I know you're a washing machine defender, and tbf, while I very much am not, he's been decent this year, but Vaughan is a much better player. If it was a straight swap, I'd pause for thought given his injury record, but any sort of substantial cash and I'd bite their hand off.

I know Harry has plucked £4m for the sake of argument but that would allow us to keep Vela, cover costs to the end of the year and spend a bit to get another forward, cm, cb etc.

Turning down a theoretical £4m and Vaughan for Nadine is far more ludicrous that not wanting Tony Pulis in charge!

[Bijou Bob]

£4m for Madine?????? Tongue in cheek, Shirley! The opening offer will be around 250k I suspect. The starting bid for Vela will be around 500k I reckon. Not long to find out but I wouldn't be averse to selling either, providing we can find decent alternatives. I don't see either as being irreplaceable.

[Prufrock]

I think they were listening!

[BWFC_Insane]

Anelka is probably our best sale in recent years, although I seem to remember a few on here thinking we were letting him go cheaply at the time. In hindsight it turned out about right for both parties.

Madine would almost certainly be offered a significant pay rise by the Mackems which could turn his head. £4m + Vaughan?

No thanks.

We need someone who can do the work, not someone who will be injured every other week. Cannot see Madine going a) because we'll want lots of money and b) he's a Newcastle fan and not the most level-headed bloke around, can't see him in Sunderland going down too well.

Dependant on the views of a medical team I trusted, I'd rip their hands off!

Vaughan played 37 times last year and has played 19 this. I know you're a washing machine defender, and tbf, while I very much am not, he's been decent this year, but Vaughan is a much better player. If it was a straight swap, I'd pause for thought given his injury record, but any sort of substantial cash and I'd bite their hand off.

I know Harry has plucked £4m for the sake of argument but that would allow us to keep Vela, cover costs to the end of the year and spend a bit to get another forward, cm, cb etc.

Turning down a theoretical £4m and Vaughan for Nadine is far more ludicrous that not wanting Tony Pulis in charge!

If Vaughan is an upgrade on Madine then a level headed manager like Coleman won't entertain the idea.

[TonyDomingos]

Derik, Dervite & Taylor (C) being given the opportunity to leave.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wa ... m_players/

[officer_dibble]

Why would you sell your centre half cover to bring in more centre half cover?

[Prufrock]

Central midfielder was already no1, even more so after yesterday. Striker as cover would be good, but we don't need to be spaffing top dollar on that.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Why would you sell your centre half cover to bring in more centre half cover?

Derik is one of the last three players still on a pre-Ken/Parky contract (Pratley and Amos the others); on a £-per-minute basis he's probably our most expensive player bar Amos. Dervite, who re-signed last summer, may have also been offered a more sizeable contract than his on-pitch minutes have deserved, considering his previous contract was offered in summer 2014. Those two are probably the most expendable players after the ostracised Chris Taylor – and with Burke already on board Ken's probably right that we don't need both. (I know Derik can play defensive midfield, but he barely has.)

Other things are intriguing, though. And by "intriguing" I mean socially awkward for the manager. When Ken says “We need a box-to-box attacking midfielder" he's rather overlooking Josh Vela. When he says “I think we need a striker who can run at opponents and score goals, which is something we don’t have at the moment" and “When we’re talking strikers I need to be convinced that the player who is coming in is ready to go” he may as well walk up to Armstrong and tell him out loud to f**k off; I can't imagine Parky's pleased with that level of management.

And when he says "I think football has changed and nowadays you need big powerful midfielders. Managers like Arsene Wenger led the way about 10-12 years ago. Nowadays the likes of Manchester City are packing their midfield with big 6ft-plus players who get up and down the pitch," well, he could hardly have picked a wronger team as an illustration. Of the 13 players listed on https://www.mancity.com/teams/first-team as midfielders, only Yaya Toure (this season: zero league starts, four sub appearances) and Leroy Sane (arguably more of a winger/forward) are six-footers; Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Fabian Delph, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz, Aleix Garcia and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all sub-six. Furthermore, when claiming you need Big Lads In Midfield you could hardly find a less suitable manager than Pep Guardiola, who gave the world Xavi and Iniesta. But again, this doesn't feel like a thought-through research ("I spent this morning looking through the stats") so much as an eyebrow-wagging get-to-f**k at an existing loanee, namely the diminutive Josh Cullen, whom Parky presumably pushed hard for over summer whether or not he was among the players favoured by Anderson & Son.

[Bruce Rioja]

Why would you sell your centre half cover to bring in more centre half cover?

Beats me. mate. I'd have thought that both Devite and Derik offer exactly the sort of cover that we'll now be on the lookout for.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Central midfielder was already no1, even more so after yesterday. Striker as cover would be good, but we don't need to be spaffing top dollar on that.

Strikers are always more expensive. I wonder how miffed Ken would/will be if he if Parky spends his money on someone who warms the bench while Madine continues his bid to replace Kane at Spurs.

[officer_dibble]

Why would you sell your centre half cover to bring in more centre half cover?

Beats me. mate. I'd have thought that both Devite and Derik offer exactly the sort of cover that we'll now be on the lookout for.

For a team in our situation there is nowt wrong with Dervite, who got a new contract 6 months ago. Derik fine - let him go. Also I am ever more intrigued as to what has gone off with Karacan who is not injured to my knowledge.

I think Ken has a point on a big box to box midfielder but yeah that is two up to Cullen and a bizarre comparison with Pep/Citeh.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Darren Pratley's six foot and will run all day if you ask him to. But Parky has realised that he's better employed in a more specific capacity.

We've wanted this Big Lad In Midfield for so long (since Faye?) it's almost mythical. Considering this beast is usually cited when we lack defensive solidity, it's confusing to see it lumped in with the lesser-spotted Box-To-Boxer, a midfield type that largely went out of fashion after the Keane and Vieira pomp passed. The essential trouble with the very English notion of a box-to-boxer is that the ball travels faster (whether you prefer the long lump or the rapid-fire midfield transition) – so unless they're either exceptionally good at reading the game or almost inhumanly fast at recovery, they will get caught out of position. If they're big, they often lumber (Trotter). If they're fast, they're not generally big. If they're big and fast, they often can't kick straight or decide precisely when to dash where. If they're big and fast and can kick straight and can decide precisely when to dash where, they might not dash to us.

[TANGODANCER]

I'd reckon Ken is playing accounts football rather than reality. I just hope he discusses things over with Parky and doesn't see himself as the new Alf Ramsey of football. I'm listening to match-goer comments on Dervite and Derik and not seeing the sense in letting them go. They're hardly on Barcelona wages surely, and replacing them both could be far more costly; something we can ill afford. Both Wheats and Beevers are prone to a card collection and it's only a matter of time before one gets suspended. An injury on top of that and we'd soon lose our defence hub. Saturday (Pratley and Henry) proved conclusively how soon the tide can turn on us. Ken's playing numbers and figures rather than sense surely, with this thinking.

[boltonboris]

Derik is a jack of all trades, master of none. He'll only be used sparingly when we're f*cked wih nobody else to turn to. He's not particularly good and he has no future here. Best for all concerned if he goes. I like Dervite as back-up, too and I believe he's one of the bigger characters and very popular with the other players.

If he's onside with being second fiddle then I don't see the point in replacing him

[Riviman]

I assume Robinson, Armstrong, Burke and Cullen have all now gone back to their parent clubs?
As for Devite, Taylor and Derik being shipped out, it's one thing saying they can go but as we've found in the past, it's another actually getting rid of them.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Sounds like Burke is in big demand, and that he is likely to have played his last game here. I can't understand why we would get rid of Dervite if Burke doesn't return.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... e-11785643

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I assume Robinson, Armstrong, Burke and Cullen have all now gone back to their parent clubs?

technically their loans are now up, but Iles wrote last week that he understands Everton will allow us to extend Robinson's loan. Judging by Ken's comments Arma will surely be sent back to Newcastle.

The West Ham pair are more interestingly undecided. Burke has started the last two, gives us cover and flexibility and is a very different type of centre-back to our others (ie comfortable in possession and reasonably fast), so I reckon Parky will keep him. Whether West Ham will want Cullen to stay and fight for a place or pick up more first-team minutes elsewhere – perhaps back in the third tier? - could arguably make or break his career: another six months on the tier-two sidelines, or being far too good for League One, won't help him develop into the player they think he should be. Personally I'd like to see him get a chance in our team now it's playing much better - another who is comfortable on the ball, he thrives on making intelligent 10- or 15-yard forward diagonal passes, which were impossible in our previous formation but should be more in evidence in a winning team playing 4-2-3-1.

[boltonboris]

I think it's important to try and keep Cullen in light of injuries to Pratley and Henry

Pratley apparently had a protective boot on, which is rarely a good sign.

Burke has looked good the last 2 games and I think if we are to be flexible with systems, he's an important player to have

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I think it's important to try and keep Cullen in light of injuries to Pratley and Henry

Pratley apparently had a protective boot on, which is rarely a good sign.

Burke has looked good the last 2 games and I think if we are to be flexible with systems, he's an important player to have

FWIW I agree and would like to keep both but then that might be the giddiness of two clean-sheet wins in three days making me overconfident... nah, I do believe those two are good. Also worth noting that kost-kutting Ken likes to do his business late in the window, so if those two aren't renewed – by us or the Hammers – it could leave us frighteningly light for the three league games in January (Brentford away, Ipswich home, Cardiff away - all on Saturdays so at least we've got midweeks for both recovery and recruitment).