TKIZ's impossibly brilliant all new Transfer Rumours thread

[mighty_whites]

I'd much rather spend 5 mill on matt mills from reading potential a similar mould of cahill and a potential profit from selling him on, why waste that money on a bake bean?????????

[Lofthouse Lower]

Well said.

[Beefheart]

I'm sure he's been crap since the 90's.

[Lofthouse Lower]

Since forever, morelike.

Do. Not. Want.

Don't know enough about that Mills, only that I saw him being torn to shreds by Stephen fookin Dobbie in the Playoff Final, which is not a good sign.

So long as we sell Knight and bring in Williams from Middlesbrough then I wouldn't be unhappy at all, then it's just the problem positions of each fullback to remedy.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

With Premier League finances behind them, they'd be up with the top sides within 3 years.

So why aren't Newcastle (52,000 capacity - bigger than Rangers', not far behind Celtic's) and Sunderland (48,000 capacity) certs for the Europa at worst? Precisely because, as you say...

if they were on an equal footing in terms of the league they're playing in and the money they're recieving.

Exactly: they wouldn't be on an equal footing with the top four, would they? Because the top four get the Champions League beans, which helps keep them above the rest (just as it does in Scotland, although the situation is even more polarised there).

The only way to break into the top four is if a member of the oligopoly collapses (like Liverpool two years ago) and leaves a space to nip into - and even then the only new boys have been Spurs and City, who have spent eye-watering amounts, far more than the Glasgow clubs could even countenance. Remember, we're talking about Celtic precisely because they're refusing to up the wages of one of their best players from £8,000 a week - Blackpool wages, those.

Basically you're either saying they'd do well with Premier League-level income, as if the other Premier League clubs don't have that income, not to mention a base level of squad ability far in advance of the Glasgow duo.

[TKIZ!]

It's only hypothetical anyway, I was just concerned by the derogatory manner in which they had a pop at us fir the Champs League games. Even though we've had World Cup winners and all sorts in our side before now

[jimbo_bwfc]

I imagine they're just disillusioned with the downfall of their league and the fact mid-table Premier League teams can now handpick out their top talent if they put enough effort behind it.

DSB, I'm saying with Premier League income, a basic 40(whatever)M package they could sort enough of a squad out to stay up. Within a 3-5 year plan they could quite realistically charge Arsenal like season-ticket prices (£1,000 plus) and still sell out every week, they'd be a more attractive proposition to potential sponsors, high-end players and eventually oil-rich investors because they clearly have both history and potential to be one of the biggest clubs in the country.

Newcastle have a big stadium, they're not a big club like Celtic or Rangers are.

[Raven]

Wes Brown, dear god no!

[mullayo]

Wes Brown's wages would be too much for what he's worth. We need someone with developmental potential to sit behind Wheater and Zat when Cahill goes. Mills would be better business because Brown has no resale value and would expect to start and a suntan bed.

[Lofthouse Lower]

No no no no, we need someone to replace Knight.

He's a f ucking diabolically bad footballer and we need to get shut.

[mullayo]

Celtic and Rangers would soon establish themselves as top 4/5 clubs. Disagree with the second, both clubs have the odd decent player who usually soon gets plucked out and into the Premier League but the rest are relegation fodder/upper mid-table Championship at best.

You think Celtic's current squad worse than Birmingham, Blackpool, West Ham? I think they are better than at least one of them... I think better than all three... But that you can ask the question seriously shows the disaster of Scottish football...

I think Celtic and Rangers would finish in around 12 to 15 in their first seasons. Yes, they have some Championship players but they have some players we want every year to improve us plus most promoted teams are almost all Champ players. Also as an away venue Glasgow would be the worst for the London (soft) sides. Hard to beat at home.

Hypothetically transferred to the English top flight, Celtic and Rangers would face a harder fixture list than they've had in decades, if ever. Instead of coasting through seasons all but unchallenged and able to concentrate on Europe and derbies, they'd be scrapping from week to week in desperately unfamiliar circumstances. Once home defeats became more regular, those venues might becoming somewhat more forbidding for their OWN players. And once European qualification wasn't a given, they'd lose a lot of their allure. After all, if playing in front of big crowds was the be-all, why would Bent and Nolan leave Sunderland and Newcastle?

Anyway, back to the transfers...

Won't have Derbies or Europe. Salaries would quickly align with TV money. Ticket prices would have to be cheaper though.
They're a scrappy bunch bit like Birmingham or Wolves. They'd steal all the Irish fans away from Premier clubs like Liverpool the Scum etc.

[mullayo]

No no no no, we need someone to replace Knight.

He's a f ucking diabolically bad footballer and we need to get shut.

I like Knight and he's a better left wing than Petrov!

[Lofthouse Lower]

You like Knight? Can I ask why??

I really don't see it. He's 6'7 and shit at heading, he's slow, has all the positional sense of a dead duck (or Steinsson), and to top it all off he does that stupid thing when he slide tackles with the wrong leg.

[mullayo]

He's 6ft7in so he only looks slow. Okay he's a tad slow but we play a high line. He was crap when he came but given a leadership role he flourished. He's much improved. I like him. His size is invaluable. It means he can mark Crouch and someone always has to mark him on attack - even though he's crap at heading. He's way better than Steinsson.

[BWFC_Insane]

You like Knight? Can I ask why??

I really don't see it. He's 6'7 and shit at heading, he's slow, has all the positional sense of a dead duck (or Steinsson), and to top it all off he does that stupid thing when he slide tackles with the wrong leg.

He is classy in possession however.......

[Lofthouse Lower]

You like Knight? Can I ask why??

I really don't see it. He's 6'7 and shit at heading, he's slow, has all the positional sense of a dead duck (or Steinsson), and to top it all off he does that stupid thing when he slide tackles with the wrong leg.

He is classy in possession however.......

[Lofthouse Lower]

He's 6ft7in so he only looks slow. Okay he's a tad slow but we play a high line. He was crap when he came but given a leadership role he flourished. He's much improved. I like him. His size is invaluable. It means he can mark Crouch and someone always has to mark him on attack - even though he's crap at heading. He's way better than Steinsson.

That's damning with faint praise.

He's shit.

[thebish]

£4million seems fair enough to me.... worth rejecting the original £2.5mill offer...

maybe we should add bonus incentive payments of £250,000 for every clean sheet he keeps against us

EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart | Northern Correspondent

Wigan Athletic are set to make a third and final offer of £4 million to sign goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi on a permanent deal from Bolton Wanderers.

Al Habsi spent a hugely impressive loan spell at the DW Stadium last season and Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has a £3m bid on the table for the Oman international.

Wigan's initial bid of £2.5m was rejected and Bolton are asking for £5m for the 29-year-old, who is eager to complete the switch and play regular first-team football next season.

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is continuing to look for replacement second-choice goalkeepers and Wigan are confident of sealing a deal in the coming days.

Martinez has admitted he is considering alternative options should Bolton stick to their asking price, but he expects a resolution “very soon.”

“I suspect one way or another we'll find out very, very soon which way it'll go,” Martinez told the Evening Post.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is continuing to look for replacement second-choice goalkeepers

Got one, ginger lad...

[Lofthouse Lower]

Is Greg Stobart ginger? Hard luck, if so