Who knows. But I can tell you that both GK’s, Cathcart, WTE, Sierralta (this season), Kabasele, Masina, Rose, Ngakia and Kiko have been crap at PL level so far. Add to that any of our current midfielders masquerading as a defensive or attacking option too. You’re making a strawman argument and it’s becoming increasingly clear as the window goes on. If you think Samir and Kamara alone are sufficient to do the job, good luck to you in that opinion. (There’s also a fair chance Samir will be crap when judged against the standard we actually need and continuously overlook)
However good Kamara is or potentially ends up being, it just makes it all the more frustrating he wasn’t signed 6 months ago, and instead we went for the freebie overweight option looking to wind his career down…. or Adam Masina.
In their defence of this one, Kamara was coming off the back of being in Ligue 1’s team of the season and likely also had no idea his new manager at Nice would soon freeze him out. I think had that not happened, he’d still be there now. I doubt the opportunity was there to sign him in the summer. Doig instead of Rose however…. Ferguson/Yokuslu instead of Kucka however… Not signing Kim Min-Jae when Wilmot left however…
Yeah, I don’t necessarily mean him specifically just the fact we skimped on that area (and many others) and to rectify it has ended up costing us double compared to if we just did it right the first time. Despite the narrative TUT likes to continually pedal, it seems increasingly less down to money and just plain incompetence/blind hope.
Disagree on the Doig one - he's still only 19 and doesn't seem to have been that great for Hibs so far this season; no guarantee he'd have done a decent job in the PL either and we'll have probably had to have signed another first-teamer like Kamara anyway. He might have been less of a waste of money than Rose, but might have still been a waste of money.
I think Sierralta and Kiko (to a lesser extent given previous form) probably deserved a chance at PL level on the basis of last seasons performances. Doesnt mean that we shouldn't have also strengthened in that position, but I can understand the desire to reinforce in midfield / attack as a priority given we basically only had JP, Cucho, Cleverley, Gosling and Dele Bashiru in those positions.
The 4 signings this window look excellent additions at the prices quoted. Will just be a real shame if we lose some/all in the summer if we are relegated.
Kayembe and Kalu look very likely to stay unless they really look outstanding over the next few months. Kamara the likeliest to move on but who knows with Samir. Reckon he’d be good enough to get a move to someone else if he looks even remotely decent given that the left-footed CB profile is very in demand. But none are destined to move on should we go down I don’t think.
Yes early days but based on what we have seen before they joined, plus one game in the shirt for 3 of them, plus the quoted prices. Cheer up Burnsy, stop looking for a reason to be sad . Don't you think they look decent based on what we've seen/know so far ? We won't be signing any world-beaters.
I mean, come on TUT, this is the thing, isn't it - no one has ever suggested we will be signing any world-beaters. None of the players suggested by various posters, including Burnsy, are world-beaters. Your previous response to those non-world-beater names being mentioned has been to refute them on the basis that there's 'no guarantee' they would be better than what we have. So which way round is it? There's no need to add that kind of disingenuity to the debate, is there, frankly. It's been chuntered out and refuted a million times on here already - I can't believe you're doing it entirely in good faith at this point.
Ok fair enough, "world-beaters" was a bit tongue in cheek Perhaps "established prem players" would be more appropriate. I think we will only be buying in the £0-10m bracket from now on unless we stay in this league for a couple of years so I think all signings will to an extent be cheap unproven "punts". I dont think we will be spending £15m on Phillips for example. I do like the look of the signings we've made so far but I do accept the "Kucka first game" perception risk !
I'm not too bothered about established prem players, personally - just intelligent purchases (and, in this exact moment, purchases at all, in time to bed in and actually play and help us pull off a miracle of survival).
Not sure about that one. He has not played for almost a year because of a knee injury. And he already had a serious knee injury in 2020 as well.
Definitely injury prone and it’s a concern. But when fit has shown himself to be the best DM in the Championship. Home grown too. Without his injuries and without Derby’s admin situation he’d be a £15m+ player. I reckon he’d be available for £2m or less. If there’s a 50% chance he can stay fit that’s good business.
I get that, but I'm not sure it's worth it. He's only 24 and he already lost almost 2 years due to his knee injuries. We need a DM who's available to play straight away.
I don’t really see how the Benkovic suggestion was shot down by yourself but Bielik is someone you’d go for?
Bielik has had injury problems, yes. But Benkovic hasn’t just had injury problems. He’s played a bit at numerous clubs and been crap at them all. There was a month or so last season where it would be reasonable to say that Bielik was the best player in the division. When could you say that for Benkovic? For what it’s worth I am pleased Udinese signed Benkovic as he could come good but we don’t have to watch him get up to speed for 10 matches or whatever first. I wouldn’t sign Bielik with the view that appearances this season are going to make a material difference to our points tally. So if you think we are in desperate need of a DM right now (which I now you do) he wouldn’t be a good idea. But of all opportunistic long-term transfers from Derby we or any other club could do over the next few weeks, he is the best option, in my opinion.
Nadiem Amiri, the Leverkusen attacking midfielder, is supposedly available for loan with option to buy set at £8m or so. Would love us to go for that. He’s a classy player. Looks set to be heading for Genoa though.
No idea personally. I actually am led to believe he’s a decent prospect - valued at £8m-£10m - and we are bidding at a very small fraction of that due to ‘Derby’. Leeds and Burnley also keen.
Hes always impressed me when I have watched them. Not sure I would pay £8-10m for him, but if we can get him for a fraction of that it would be good business. Louza, Knight and Kaymbe would certainly do a decent job of dragging the average age of our midfield down given that Kucka, Clevs and Moussa are only a few years off walking football.
