Summer's almost over (Transfer News Thread)

I still like Ledders at DM.

 

I just don't think his knees could handle it.

 

Probably not, and it would probably be a waste of the incredible Woodgate/King pairing.

 

Summer Report Card

This was an odd window. For the most part the business done was good and we diid a lot of it. But, we clearly left a good deal of business undone, which is our real downfall IMHO. Here's a sort of report card for how we did.

Winter Window:
Woodgate A+: Fantastic buy
Hutton A: Very good buy but a bit of a steep price
Gunter B: Good prospect, but hard to judge just yet, not ready
Gilberto C: Skillful player but hasn't really proven to be a good buy yet
Defoe B+: Sorry to see him go, but good value

Summer Window:
Modric A+: Tremendous coup and an even better price
Dos Santos A+: Excellent buy, fantastic coup, wonderful price
Gomes B+: Good buy but not world class and not cheap
Corluka A-: Excellent buy but pricey
Bentley B+: Top player but very pricey and relegates Lennon to the bench
Pavlyuchenko C: I'm just not that impressed. I still hope we are in for Huntelaar in January.
Lee C: He needed to move on but not a particularly impressive price
Robinson B: Good price for an average keeper who has lost all of his confidence
Gardner A+: How the hell did we both find someone to pay that fee AND get him to pass the medical!?!?!?
Malbranque B+: Liked the guy, but that was a good deal for all
Tainio B+: Ditto, good deal for both clubs
Chimbonda B: Good piece of business for an unsettled and replaced player
Kaboul B-: Decent deal but we might have done better for him IMHO
Keane A: I'm very very sad to see him go, but that's great money for an older player who wants to leave and plays an easily replacable position
Berbatov A: Again, gutted to see him go, but it was inevitable and we lucked out with the Man Citeh situation forcing United into paying our hugely inflated price. Despite the bad press that was very well played Levy!

On paper, this was a good window, but it's what goes unsaid with which we rightfully take issue.

Unsold but should have been sold:
Boateng D: Should have had his fair share of serious suitors but wasn't sold
Staltieri C-: Old and seldom used, it was time for him to move on
Ekotto C: Health record probably precludes selling him now though
Zokora D-: Just. Not. Good. Enough.
Ghaly C: He really really really should have been gone last season, but messed up his only good chance to leave. Jol really got the best out of him.

And of course, the old Spurs recurring theme, Unaddressed Holes in the team:
Dmid D-: Achilles Heel. Only the acquisition of Corluka saves this from a flaming F. Unfathomable that this position wasn't addressed and inexcusable for Ramos to play matador defense in a fast-paced and offensively punishing league like the Premiership without an Axeman or even a stopper. Naming Jenas vice-captain isn't filling this void!
Central Defense C-: I like Dawson but he has regressed. Corluka may be the answer here, but with Woody and Ledders we're not exactly a team of ironmen back there. We needed one more, and Dunne would have been ideal IMHO. Corluka may fill the bill, so the jury is still out here, but I'm not too confident about this one.
Target Forward D: Bent may be an OK fit, but he doens't really excel at the position in Ramos' scheme. We knew Berbs was going and I'm not convinced Pavlyuchenko was the answer. At least we tried to fill this void though.
Withdrawn Forward C+: This would have been a good grade had we landed Arshavin ... but we did not. This places a lot of pressure on Johnny Two Saints and Lennon to be more strikers than they really are. I hope it works.
Fullbacks B-: Corluka shores up the RB position, but so does Gunter, and the youngster Adam Smith, so our LB position is rather shakey with the excellent but oft-injured Bale, inconsistent and oft-injured Ekotto, and the mediocre Gilberto.

All in all, it kinda validates Jol's assessment of our teams while he was here, highlights the Comolli/Jol rift as the reason we failed to attain CL heights, and shows we haven't fully learned from our lessons.

Ultimately, last season we were strong offensively and weak defensively. We exited this window making a lot of individually good moves, but we appear to be significantly weaker offensively and only slightly stronger defensively. In this case 2+2=3, which makes all of us quite unhappy.

-Digital

 

Re: Summer Report Card

DT- I don't think we got good value at all for Defoe. We should have gotten 12 million for him considering that he's English and we sold him within the EPL. Basically we sold him for a fair price, which means we didn't sell him at a good price if it's not inflated.

 

Re: Summer Report Card

Defoe would still be with us if it wasn't for Keane. argh

 

Re: Summer Report Card

thats what REALLY pisses me off about robbie, he really ********ed us over, i dont care what kind of excuse you wanna use, it really was below the belt bullshit from him

 

If he was healthy enough to do it. I would love it!

 

Re: Summer Report Card

Ya we showed him loyalty and he kinda of left knowing that. He knew probably that Berbs was gone and he knew from being at the club that we would be struggling to get a striker to come in. I wish Defoe and Bent could pair up and gel. That would've been nice but we have a good sqaud and I'm happy with management and Ramos on what they have done. Also the money that they used was amazing. 5 million after transfers in and out. Amazing.

 

I've heard that ManC are going to bid £6billion for Johnnie Jackson in January. Amazing.

 

Re: Summer Report Card

That would be an absolute rubbish pairing. They are the exact same player. All finishing and pace with absolutely no creativity or arial game. It would have never worked.

 

Re: Summer Report Card

They are not the same. Defoe could drop deep, get the ball and run at the defence or take a long shot. Bent cannot do that.

 

Re: Summer Report Card

Regardless, they would be a rubbish pairing.

 

I wonder why We as a team is not looking @ this player for a Dm ( Since we still think we need one ) http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_4090526,00.html

 

Defoe and Bent actually looked ok when then played together, teams with a slow defence will struggle against two quick strikers, although the trick is having enough quality in midfield to compensate for not having a link forward.

Appiah's knee is ********ed.

 

Re: Summer Report Card

Good round up Dig. Couple of notes where I thought you were wrong.

 

lol.

 

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11662_4091370,00.html

(free agents to consider)

 

Ronaldo would be good. Give him a pay as you play contract.

 

Fowler and JFH are both washed up, but if everyone is so worried about strikers why not take one of those dudes as #4? I would certainly miss Jimmy's commentary in the studio but I would postpone that joy for a little insurance.

 

WE WANT CARR BACK... because we don't already have a too-old right back...

 

I'd be willing to take a chance on many of those guys. Why not? Adds a little experience and depth to the squad