January transfer window : The hangover

[wanderers_on_tour]

Thought id start a new thread rather than adding to the 90+ (80 of which is LIES!) of the original Transfer thread. I Merely wondered what peoples opinions were on Owen Coyle's success or lack of it in the transfer window. Personally I think he's done a fine job in bringing in 2 young, fresh faces in 2 of the area's we needed cover most. That on top of the fact he seems to have guaranteed Johan Elmander and Gary Cahill being wanderers yet again for the remaining year and you'll have no complaints from me! A midfielder to either a) replace Muamba when he isn't having the best of day (instead of replacing him altogether) and b) act as a stand by when/if Holden is injured again and to strike up more of a successful partnership with Mark Davies and the window would have been perfect. However it's well known that unless your Liverpool or Chelsea the bigger teams are unlikely to sell in January which may have been the main reason behind a lack of a CM joining the whites. Anyway, opinions on the window/rest of the season??

COYW

p.s if Sturridge is a hit i'd love to see us grab him AND Moreno on a permanent basis in the summer if the money was ever there

[Lofthouse Lower]

Agree mostly, but would have liked another quality midfielder in to give some competition to the present two. Someone like O'Hara or Sidwell would have done for me.

Got a bit excited towards the end that we might actually get some cash money for Elmander but looking back in the cold light of day this would have left us very short indeed. Sturridge will provide some much-needed thrust up front as we can be a bit ponderous whilst we wait for something to drop for us. I hope he is thrown in straight away and given his chance otherwise there wasn't much point in bringing him in.

I'd say that for the end of the season we're likely to lose Elmander and probably Klasnic, and maybe even Davies so this little bit of tinkering will only be the precursor to major surgery on our forward line come the Summer.

[Lord Kangana]

If we'd managed to bring in an O'Hara (or somesuch, and lets be honest he's gone to Wolves so the "he wouldn't come to Bolton" argument is proved to be well and truly redundant again) I wouldn't have been unhappy to see Elmo go. Of course, this isn't because I hate him, but because we're short a bit in midfield, and having brought a forward in, we're not short on numbers up front. And he can leave for free in the summer. And despite the confidence, I'm not convinced he'll stay, because I can't see Eddie n Phil Okaying his wage demands.

So, in summary, 8/10, two good youngsters brought in, could have done with a midfielder, no one has left. Downside, Elmander can go for nowt in summer, Cahill can probably go for less, as there is less panic buying in the close season. Unless you sign Danny Shittu.

[Worthy4England]

A bit disappointed to be honest. Not in the two people we did sign, but in the one that we didn't. We're crying out for another decent CM - for me, more than an additional striker, although happy to acknowledge that our current pairing has gone off the boil (or returned to normal service if you prefer).

I think the fact that we signed Sturridge suggests that Coyle doesn't think Klasnic is likely to do much any time soon and maybe Moreno too. Then there's Blake who is also listed as a "striker".

[ohjimmyjimmy]

I think with Sturridge, OC cottoned onto the fact that he was available and took his chance, simply because he's a quality player...and on this occasion everything worked out. But as we saw from Vela, and to an extent SWP, it doesnt always work out.

Therefore it doesnt mean OC didn't try for a decent CM, just that when it became clear he couldnt get a decent quality one , rather than just getting someone for the sake of it he instead tried to add a couple of quality players that he knew he could adapt a system to (SWP and Sturridge). Far easier to ask good quality players to adapt than to just stick wank players into the team and ask them to suddenly meet the level required.

So i'm reasonably happy with what we got and also satisfied that we were trying. Plus Lee's coming back, and we've missed him.

[Dartisan]

Reasonably happy I suppose, but a midfielder was what I was hoping for the most. Gutted that Newcastle got Ireland and we didn't (Newcastle who are whinging like girls about Carroll leaving incidentally, despite the fact it's a ridiculously large amount of money. 'He was pushed out, he was pushed out, evil Mike Ashley made him go!'. Pah, do me a favour.

[aussie_wanderer]

if they got 35million for carrol , then cahils gota be worth atleast 20???? thats a ridiculous price for carrol.
i would of liked 1 more player coming in. but hopefully with sturridge and chungy in the team we can kickstart our season again

[Puskas]

Is Sturridge any good?

I have no idea - not seen enough of him. My Chelsea supporting friend doesn't rate him, though. And thinks he has "an ego the size of Manchester".

Oh well. It's all over until the summer. Back to the mundane misery of being thrashed by Spurs and so on.

[ohjimmyjimmy]

He's a talented kid, i think he got a reputation after demanding a move from City to Chelsea a couple of years ago...a young kid basically believing his own hype, who can blame him at that age given so much so young. Just needs to get himself back on track, and the fact that he willingly got up & left home at 5.30am on TDD to drive up to Bolton just for the possibility of the deal happening so he could get back into more regular first team football is a good sign, shows a desire that your average bench-warming money grabber wouldn't normally show. Especially with him being a Chelsea squad player, it would have been easy for him to be snobby about it but he's willing to sort of do his time again and prove he deserves to be at a top club.

[TANGODANCER]

Bolton's a good place for ego reducing. Wishire improved here and seems to really think well of the town. A bit of Paul Robinson "get yer finger out lad" advice and he'll be sound. I imagine Wheater will improve our teeth at the back too. No more Mr Nice Guy. Let's get back to no-nonesense Bolton, with added pace and skill.

[$huttgun]

I can imagine Robbo would give him a few clumps in training if he thinks he is getting above his station.

[TKIZ!]

All in all a decent stab at a transfer window with no real money to spend

[ohjimmyjimmy]

I can imagine Robbo would give him a few clumps in training if he thinks he is getting above his station.

Long as he doesn't injure the fecker !

[cecil.bob]

It'll be nice to see Sturridge play well. Maybe having four possibilities up front will give SKD to liven up a bit. Pleased to see another strong back come in. And to top it all off, we shipped off AOB to Leeds.

[BWFC_Insane]

Happy with the 2 we've brought in, very happy. Wheater has bags of potential and looked good on debut to me, on first impressions he looks a lot better than Knight so could be good, time will tell but in all likelihood a decent buy for me.

Sturridge on a loan is a low risk and certainly gives us another good option up front and more than that he's possibly going to be a top player so again can't complain.

We did need a midfield player, desperately and not one like O'Hara. Ideally one who could play instead of Muamba and dominate whilst not falling over his own feet and missing 5 yard passes all the time.

But hey I don't think we'll ever have a window where we address every need within the squad and we're probably going to have to accept that!

[thebish]

Happy with the 2 we've brought in, very happy. Wheater has bags of potential and looked good on debut to me, on first impressions he looks a lot better than Knight so could be good, time will tell but in all likelihood a decent buy for me.

Sturridge on a loan is a low risk and certainly gives us another good option up front and more than that he's possibly going to be a top player so again can't complain.

We did need a midfield player, desperately and not one like O'Hara. Ideally one who could play instead of Muamba and dominate whilst not falling over his own feet and missing 5 yard passes all the time.

But hey I don't think we'll ever have a window where we address every need within the squad and we're probably going to have to accept that!

this midfielder - it's Sean Davis... unfortunately!

still - never mind - Rickkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkys back soon! (and badger McCann!)

[Prufrock]

Happy with the 2 we've brought in, very happy. Wheater has bags of potential and looked good on debut to me, on first impressions he looks a lot better than Knight so could be good, time will tell but in all likelihood a decent buy for me.

Sturridge on a loan is a low risk and certainly gives us another good option up front and more than that he's possibly going to be a top player so again can't complain.

We did need a midfield player, desperately and not one like O'Hara. Ideally one who could play instead of Muamba and dominate whilst not falling over his own feet and missing 5 yard passes all the time.

But hey I don't think we'll ever have a window where we address every need within the squad and we're probably going to have to accept that!

Why not O'Hara then? Good engine and puts himself about. He would have been perfect IMO. Sidwell would have been good too. Ireland, whilst a good player in the right team, would have been a disaster. On similar players, I thought Ben Watson was excellent for Wigan on Sat. Have a do for him if they go down.

[Tombwfc]

Neither Ben Watson nor Steve Sidwell are as good as Muamba IMO. They're both fairly shit.

I'd happily have taken O'Hara though.

[TANGODANCER]

Referring back to th original question: Yes, I think OC's done well. The prime concern right now is money and the BBC tonight commented on how clubs outside the real money ones (few) try to keep up by spending what they can't really afford to in an effort to compete on what's a very uneven playing field, a money see-saw heavily weighed against any hope of ever redressing the balance, and one that eventually will break them. As such, and given our financial poition, I think OC's had to do exactly what he's done; try to bring in a couple of player without giving in to greedy, scheming and self-serving agents of the Vela variety. Oh, sure, a classy midfielder would have been nice, but wouldn't we all like a Jag or Bentley when common sense and our financial position dictates a lower and less pricey model? The Torres and Carrol transfer fees highlight just how inflated and ridiculous the quest fo power's become. I think OC did very well given the circumstances.

[Prufrock]

Neither Ben Watson nor Steve Sidwell are as good as Muamba IMO. They're both fairly shit.

I'd happily have taken O'Hara though.

I hear what you are saying, I think O'Hara would be an upgrade on Muamba, whereas, if we're doing this 4-4-2 jobby, Sidwell or Watson would be an upgrade on Mavies as a different option.