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January 2018 Transfer Thread AKA The Morning After *Thread Closes at 9pm*


 

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I think that LW spot is the main position that needs improvement, I'd be going for Premier League players who are struggling to get a game at their current club but have previously proven themselves in the Championship. The only realistic transfers of good players during January are ones out of favour.

 

James McClean (Irish connection) from West Brom, Bakary Sako from Crystal Palace, Mark Pugh and Junior Stanislas from Bournemouth, Aaron Lennon (worth an enquiry).

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For me all we need is :

 

- Left Footed Left Back as Fabio for me is a route of our problems (we are so unbalanced on the left hand side its unbelievable!) Puts a shift in but is definitely not the answer at Left back as he gets caught in behind every match by not being square on facing the attacker.

 

- A top quality centre half to replace Ayala - On his day Ayala is outstanding but for me he is too unreliable and i don't believe he is committed under Monk . If we can sign an Aiden Flint or someone who would be a guaranteed starter alongside for Gibson then i think we have to invest and loan fry out. I also would love us to go for Pontas Jansson from Leeds.

 

- 1 more attacking wide player - Johnson and Fletcher not good enough for me and Adama isn't reliable and consistent enough. Would like to see some pace and creativity similar to what we had with Adomah, don't have any ideas of who that player could be but its an area where we are lacking IMO.

 

Wouldn't disagree with that.

 

1 - Not sure who's available maybe a league one player could step up? Amarii Bell or Luke Leahy possibly (friend of mine is an oxford fan and reckons they are decent)? 

Heard good things about Kristian Pedersen (BD - I assume you know all danish players - know anything of him?) 

2 - Flint - for me we should have been after him over shotton in the summer

3 - Oliver Burke/ Bakary Sako - both ambitious but not playing much at the moment.

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For me all we need is :

 

- Left Footed Left Back as Fabio for me is a route of our problems (we are so unbalanced on the left hand side its unbelievable!) Puts a shift in but is definitely not the answer at Left back as he gets caught in behind every match by not being square on facing the attacker.

 

- A top quality centre half to replace Ayala - On his day Ayala is outstanding but for me he is too unreliable and i don't believe he is committed under Monk . If we can sign an Aiden Flint or someone who would be a guaranteed starter alongside for Gibson then i think we have to invest and loan fry out. I also would love us to go for Pontas Jansson from Leeds.

 

- 1 more attacking wide player - Johnson and Fletcher not good enough for me and Adama isn't reliable and consistent enough. Would like to see some pace and creativity similar to what we had with Adomah, don't have any ideas of who that player could be but its an area where we are lacking IMO.

 

Wouldn't disagree with that.

 

1 - Not sure who's available maybe a league one player could step up? Amarii Bell or Luke Leahy possibly (friend of mine is an oxford fan and reckons they are decent)? 

Heard good things about Kristian Pedersen (BD - I assume you know all danish players - know anything of him?) 

2 - Flint - for me we should have been after him over shotton in the summer

3 - Oliver Burke/ Bakary Sako - both ambitious but not playing much at the moment.

 

I have never heard about Kristian Pedersen :) the only realistic Danish player that I can think of who will improve us is Brentfords Andreas Bjelland. We’ve missed a huge trick by not going for 22 year old Emiliano Marcondes who is moving to brentford on a free. Hugely talented Danish attacking midfielder. 17 goals and 9 assists in 19 games this season. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he does in the Championship.

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Where's this hate of Fabio come from? Don't get it at all. The problem, as Red Rocket has pointed out previously, is that Monk wants his width provided by the full backs. What's not happening is the centre midfielders dropping in behind to cover them.

 

For me a creative attacking midfielder/"Number 10"/ (Lewis Baker) is probably needed and proper wide men left and right (Albert Adomah).

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For me it's not hate of Fabio but lack of cover, friend has been poor for some time now and it's a possible area of weakness - not my top priority but needs some attention. The wide attacker is more pressing

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Fabio also isn't a great outlet out wide. He's better when he comes infield. Totally doesn't fit the bill as a wide full-back. Said it before but for a right-footed player with his experience, the lack of a left-foot is disappointing. See Downing for example. Used to be all left-foot but he sorted out his right foot whilst he was still playing left-wing for us years ago.

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Fabio only has 6 months left on his contract and was apparently wanting to move back to Brazil last Summer so it doesn't look like he will be past here beyond this season - not that he has been particularly great this season. Friend looks a shadow of his former self and I'm starting to doubt whether he will ever recapture the sort of form that made him one of the best LB's in the Championship for a good few seasons. Considering them two players it's clear that we should be looking around for at least one LB this January if we sell one of them. I'd like to think that we would still get offered a decent fee for Friend as he has done enough in the past for a team to be willing to spend a good amount of money on him.

 

If Clayton doesn't break back into the side soon then I wouldn't be all that surprised to see him attract serious interest from lower end Premier League and top end Championship clubs. It's staggering that Monk doesn't play him as he's easily our best central midfielder so I really hope we don't sell him.

 

LB is in a mess - as mentioned above. Baker will surely go back to Chelsea. Roberts isn't looking likely to ever challenge Christie so may go back. Gueudiora will be allowed to leave if we find a club willing to at least pay a fraction of his wages for a loan. Traore is the one luxury player who we could sell to raise big funds to afford a high quality number 10. I think either one of Gestede or Fletcher could leave - most likely the latter on loan. I think we'll have a really busy January as we've still got fundamental weaknesses that should have been addressed in the Summer.

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I wouldn't be gutted if we improved the right back position

 

Christie has been one of our best signings, the best right back we've had in years.

 

How many of these have you had!

 

duvel_packshot_1.png

 

Hiccup!

 

Christie is great going forward but he's all over the shop defensively. It's not the first position I'd strengthen but if we found someone who could do both I wouldn't be gutted.

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I wouldn't be gutted if we improved the right back position

 

Christie has been one of our best signings, the best right back we've had in years.

 

How many of these have you had!

 

duvel_packshot_1.png

 

Hiccup!

 

Christie is great going forward but he's all over the shop defensively. It's not the first position I'd strengthen but if we found someone who could do both I wouldn't be gutted.

 

As Humpty and RedRocket have said, I think it's more the central midfielders not covering when Cyrus the Virus does get forward. Under Karanka, Clayton or Leadbitter would always slot in to protect which would help Christie massively.

 

For me, the Christie/Downing combination has been one of the few highlights of the season.

 

There's always a 'better player' but for me we're not going to do better than Christie for less than £5M. Priorities for me would be a centre back and a left back. Fabio's good cover for both positions, but doesn't give us that natural left sided option going forward.

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I wouldn't be gutted if we improved the right back position

 

Christie has been one of our best signings, the best right back we've had in years.

 

How many of these have you had!

 

duvel_packshot_1.png

 

Hiccup!

 

Christie is great going forward but he's all over the shop defensively. It's not the first position I'd strengthen but if we found someone who could do both I wouldn't be gutted.

 

As Humpty and RedRocket have said, I think it's more the central midfielders not covering when Cyrus the Virus does get forward. Under Karanka, Clayton or Leadbitter would always slot in to protect which would help Christie massively.

 

For me, the Christie/Downing combination has been one of the few highlights of the season.

 

There's always a 'better player' but for me we're not going to do better than Christie for less than £5M. Priorities for me would be a centre back and a left back. Fabio's good cover for both positions, but doesn't give us that natural left sided option going forward.

 

It isn't just him getting caught of position because he's in the opposition half though, his positioning isn't great when he's in a more orthodox area of the pitch.

 

I'm not having a dig at Christie because I think he's done pretty well this season and I like his energy. The right back position wouldn't be at the top of my list but if there was someone available in that position I wouldn't rule it out.

 

I've said a couple of times I 'wouldn't be gutted' if we upgraded the right back. That doesn't mean I want him hung drawn and quartered I just think both full backs lack defensively. I agree with most people that the left back position is more of a priority.

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Dear Santa,

 

I'd like to talk to you about the Boro and what I'd like for Christmas (or at least in the January sales).

 

I think we'll be alright like, if we go with this team everytime:

 

------------------ Randolph ------------------

-- Christie --- Fry --- Gibson -- NEW --

--------- Leadbitter ------ Howson --------- 

--- Downing --- Bamford -- Braithwaite ---

-------------- Assombalonga -------------- 

 

But with no great natural wide left player we're absolutely desperate for a quality left back.

(Santa, please tell other Boro fans sitting on your knee in the Cleveland Santa to stop hoping Gorgeous George will come good again. He's 30 now and he's lost his athleticism which, I'm sure you know, is what his game was based on).

 

Fabio's alright, but he likes to cut inside too much. Which everyone wants to do on that left side.

 

I'd throw all our Christmas wishes into that one quality new left back. It could really make the difference to balancing out the side.

(Please no more new average stocking filler players anywhere, we have decent cover already).

 

And Santa, I'd rather develop Fry than have another average centre back.

(Please tell Boro fans to stop suggesting Aden Flint, why would he ever leave promotion chasing Bristol for mid-table Middlesbrough? It's like Harry Maguire - we missed our chance let's move on).

 

Cheers Santa, wear those Boro colours with pride.

 

UTB

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