1 minute ago, LinoJo3 said:

People said the same about Delap when we were linked tbf and now he’s flying. Only thing about Parrott is those weird gang associations

Know nothing about that. 

Just now, LinoJo3 said:

We can’t be expected to spend every penny perfectly, surely it’s hard to deny that our transfer business has improved massively compared to just 5 years ago when we had Warnock ringing his mates up to do us a favour.

The flops are out numbering the hits and the hits have proven to be pretty big ones. We may not be performing better than we were 2 years ago but the best players from that team Wernt ours and we had to rebuild purely with the money we got from Akpom. 
 

 

You're absolutely right that we can't be expected to spend every penny perfectly but it seems reasonable to expect us to spend most of it well, and we haven't really if you look at it.  Comparing us to Warnock isn't really comparing like with like.  Obviously Covid was an issue when he was here, and we weren't spending much either way as we didn't under Woodgate.  Ironically we did buy the aforementioned Akpom and the useful Crooks who I suppose would be regarded as pretty big hits.  The biggest money we spent back then was on Payero, a player that Warnock clearly didn't want, and ended up as a complete dud for us.  If you are saying that a systematic approach to signing players is better than how things might have been done previously then yeah I do agree with you there.  However, whatever way you do it, it's only successful if you end up with a better team isn't it?  I mean that's the ultimate test of it all.  We still have an unbalanced squad so it's not like we've been successful at sorting that out, and whilst we have our moments this season and last, we don't look as good as we were two years ago.  It's also worth pointing out that the best player from the current squad isn't ours so that doesn't suggest progress being made on that score.  Scott has been here a few years now, we've made a few cracking signings, but we've also made plenty that aren't, and the squad still has the same issues it did last season and beyond.  To me it's almost like two different questions or points to be made.  If the question is, do I think that if we sell X,Y or Z that we'll make some canny signings then yes I do, and Scott gets a tick on that from me.  But if the question is, do I think that we'll end up better then I'm less sure about that tbh.  I don't think the evidence so far is as conclusive as others seem to feel it is.  Do you see what I mean?

I don’t think we’d spend 10 million of the lath money on Parrott

2 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink Army said:

I don’t think we’d spend 10 million of the lath money on Parrott

It would be crackers!

46 minutes ago, Robin Johnson said:

One player I would look closely at is Troy Parrott. Before any sniggering look at the number of goals he has scored in the last 2 seasons.

I know the Dutch League can be a really strange parameter in judging strikers. He could well be up for a return to Blighty! 

 

Mind it would take £8-10  million to get him out of AZ!

I don’t like putting names up on message boards , too many prying eyes who can pinch an idea , but now you have put Parrott up Robin , I will suggest he would be top of the list if we were spending £8m , in front of Cannon . Damage done now ☺️

Edited January 12, 20251 yr by Simply Red

3 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink Army said:

I don’t think we’d spend 10 million of the lath money on Parrott

Yeah I think I'd give that one a miss.  He's scored 10 goals in the Eredivisie, 4 of them came in 1 game earlier in the season.  He has scored a couple of his goals against the better sides though in fairness.  However, he's only scored once in 6 Europa League starts, which isn't great.  

I want us to sign someone like parrot/cannon who’s ready to hit the ground running but get the feeling it’ll be 4/6m striker from a lesser league with the development coming here. 

3 minutes ago, RichAcklam2404 said:

It would be crackers!

Bow to your greater knowledge. Presumably you recall him being awarded the player of the month for the league in December?

Of course you did...............

5 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

You're absolutely right that we can't be expected to spend every penny perfectly but it seems reasonable to expect us to spend most of it well, and we haven't really if you look at it.  Comparing us to Warnock isn't really comparing like with like.  Obviously Covid was an issue when he was here, and we weren't spending much either way as we didn't under Woodgate.  Ironically we did buy the aforementioned Akpom and the useful Crooks who I suppose would be regarded as pretty big hits.  The biggest money we spent back then was on Payero, a player that Warnock clearly didn't want, and ended up as a complete dud for us.  If you are saying that a systematic approach to signing players is better than how things might have been done previously then yeah I do agree with you there.  However, whatever way you do it, it's only successful if you end up with a better team isn't it?  I mean that's the ultimate test of it all.  We still have an unbalanced squad so it's not like we've been successful at sorting that out, and whilst we have our moments this season and last, we don't look as good as we were two years ago.  It's also worth pointing out that the best player from the current squad isn't ours so that doesn't suggest progress being made on that score.  Scott has been here a few years now, we've made a few cracking signings, but we've also made plenty that aren't, and the squad still has the same issues it did last season and beyond.  To me it's almost like two different questions or points to be made.  If the question is, do I think that if we sell X,Y or Z that we'll make some canny signings then yes I do, and Scott gets a tick on that from me.  But if the question is, do I think that we'll end up better then I'm less sure about that tbh.  I don't think the evidence so far is as conclusive as others seem to feel it is.  Do you see what I mean?

I do see what you mean. I think our transfer strategy has a pretty big flaw in that we use the same criteria no matter the situation. By that I mean we make risky signings for areas of the team where we are desperate for quality and I feel that’s why the team isn’t really balanced right now.

If Lath does leave in January I fully expect him to be replaced by an unproven player, just like I feel Jones replacement will end up being. 
 

Obviously that has its pros and cons but maybe sometimes a more obvious singing is the better option than trying to constantly unearth gems.

5 minutes ago, Donnyboro said:

I want us to sign someone like parrot/cannon who’s ready to hit the ground running but get the feeling it’ll be 4/6m striker from a lesser league with the development coming here. 

I feel like it will be European striker, but I feel like we won’t let Lath go till he’s close to joining 

8 minutes ago, Robin Johnson said:

Bow to your greater knowledge. Presumably you recall him being awarded the player of the month for the league in December?

Of course you did...............

Think you missed the parrot/Polly wants a cracker jest there.

Just now, macapes said:

Think you missed the parrot/Polly wants a cracker jest there.

I did! Was making a serious point. How stupid of me not  to realise I wouldn't get engagement of a serious nature back !!!

2 hours ago, CrazyL said:

It was the opposite way around. We accepted slightly less of a total fee to get more of it up front (possibly all of it but don’t quote me)

the release clause had to be paid in one payment to be activated, Wolves thought about paying more to spread the cost, but the alleged £25m was too rich so they paid £18 as per clause. 

5 minutes ago, Tarmo Kink Army said:

I feel like it will be European striker, but I feel like we won’t let Lath go till he’s close to joining 

I think that's the only way it can happen, be carnage if we let him go and don't replace sharpish, place is already on a downer.

2 hours ago, AnglianRed said:

But we only get that £200m WHEN we get promoted.

Which isn't going to be this season...and may not be next, unless we can significantly strengthen the squad (I point once again to the gap between Boro and the top 4).

 

Selling our less important players for £3-5m and bringing in new players of similar value is basically just treading water.

Also bearing in mind our limited squad places and that we need to sell in order to buy, it might just be that we have to sell one of our more valuable assets, in order to bring in a couple of substantially better players.

Just my take, of course...I'd much rather ELL stayed too. 🤷‍♂️

I pretty much agree that we're treading water - although we're an unhappy bunch for a team sat in the play offs.

Think I am right in recalling that we have our full denomination of squad places allocated - selling Jones and ELL only frees up 2 so if we are targeting replacements for them + upgrades at LB, CM, GK at least then we need 3 more out either by sales,loans or deregistering. Selling ELL weakens us so if we can't get better than him up top then we at least need to bring in better in other positions so make it an effective manouvere.