The January Transfer Window 2020

[S-H]

[southendmadhammer]

Darren Randolph and Joe Allen!

Two questions:

What the f*** have our scouts been doing for the last two years?
Have any of our coaching staff watched our midfield play?

Seconded.
Joe Allen is the absolute polar ****ing opposite of what we need in midfield.
How can anyone, let alone the people that apparently run the club, think this is a good signing?

[fjthegrey]

Ironing Boards 4th or 5th ever post on this forum was stating the our team is crying out for Joe Allen.

Needless to say his first was to defend or promote Moyes.

I'm surprised more people haven't called him out for being a Moyes or board mouth piece.

[steveyrockstar]

Am sure it's been mentioned before, but if trying to sign Allen, then why not give Cullen a shot, or is that final proof that the powers aren't convinced Cullen is good enough?

I presume Coventry isn't ready yet.

[rudekid]

I think Randolph and Allen is a sensible move for a January window. We need cover in both those places and can save the proper investment and rebuild til the summer when we will get a lot more value for money and have time to integrate new players into the team.

Allen can go straight into the team with Premiership experience - not saying he is a guaranteed starter but adds competition to the midfield. Too much of this season our starting midfield is a given and those players haven't put a shift in so our performances have been half hearted. Having Noble / Snodgrass / Allen who will all put a shift in might get a bit more effort out of Yarm / Anderson / Fornals / Lanzini so Allen will indirectly improve our starting 11 by providing the competition for places. Moyes expects a high work rate and Allen is another stick to beat our lazy players with.... Cheap and another leader / model pro which we are lacking IMHO....

[JustJoe85]

Am sure it's been mentioned before, but if trying to sign Allen, then why not give Cullen a shot, or is that final proof that the powers aren't convinced Cullen is good enough?

I presume Coventry isn't ready yet.

As previously stated Cullen outranks Joe Allen in almost every stat both offensively and defensively.

[Burnley Hammer]

Bit late to this but I have to disagree IB. Basing your opinion on his form 4 years ago is not indicative of what he is like now.

Any worse than basing an opinion on a couple of YouTube clips and looking up some stats on WhoScored?

There's a lot of people wanting Sander Berge or Fernandes. I'm struggling to believe that they've all spent time watching Genk or Benfica matches.

What makes people so sure that a couple of players that have only played in either the portuguese league or belgian league are going to do the job in the Premier League? Is it wise bringing in players that are going to need at least half a season to settle in when you're actually fighting a relegation battle in the here and now?

Fans tend to think they know a lot... but most of the time they're a little over exitable. Football managers aren't.

I remember a few people on here suggesting Moise Kean during the summer... he's not turned out to well has he? And there was huge disappointment when we didn't go for Dendonker... yet in the end, only Wolves really showed interest and the player looked slow and a bit rubbish for most of his first 12 months in England. That's just two quick examples off the top of my head but it tends to always be the same story whenever we're linked to a continental player. And yet when we're linked to an experienced Premier League player, we all collectively sigh and feel underwhelmed. Check out how many underwhelmed posts there were on the first few pages of the Fabianski thread. I remember suggesting Ings on more than one occassion, and being dismissed as he wasn't good enough. I remember a few being happy at the prospect of signing Zaza. Sometimes we're no better at judging players than Sullivan.

How many established Premier League midfield workhorses would have underwhelmed us had we been linked with them? And yet most of these players have at some point over the last 12 months played in a midfield that dominated ours. We all know deep down that we need players like this - but we can't bring ourselves to actually suggest their unfashionable names so we go looking for fancier names on the continent instead to do exactly the same job. Players that have a much reduced chance of settling in and having a big impact.

Nordtveit was quite highly thought of by Borussia Mönchengladbach fans. They were sad to see him leave. Not a single one of us thought he was going to be as bad as he was. At least with a Joe Allen, you know exactly what you're going to get.

[Billy Hunt]

Also, two completely different types of midfielder..

I assume we are using the same approach undertaken when looking for strikers..

...and first team managers

[S-H]

I'd rather we had kept Obiang, and he is an unremarkable footballer.

[JustJoe85]

I remember a few people on here suggesting Moise Kean during the summer... he's not turned out to well has he? And there was huge disappointment when we didn't go for Dendonker... yet in the end, only Wolves really showed interest and the player looked slow and a bit rubbish for most of his first 12 months in England. That's just two quick examples off the top of my head but it tends to always be the same story whenever we're linked to a continental player. And yet when we're linked to an experienced Premier League player, we all collectively sigh and feel underwhelmed. Check out how many underwhelmed posts there were on the first few pages of the Fabianski thread. I remember suggesting Ings on more than one occassion, and being dismissed as he wasn't good enough. I remember a few being happy at the prospect of signing Zaza. Sometimes we're no better at judging players than Sullivan.

Also not entirely convinced that Dendonker having a slow start is the best example, He had a slow start but is a class above what we have in there so it would seem Moyes might not have been right on that one. Or Maddison for example.

For what it's worth I agree on WhoScored and YouTube. I don't profess to know much about Berge or Fernandes beyond the little I've seen and didn't mention either name. But WhoScored did provide a direct statistical comparison between Cullen and Allen playing at the same level. Cullen won, hands down by the way. And in the likes of Berge and Fernandes there are other teams interested at the right kind of level (often a decent indicator) and the age profile of both offer sell on value and more importantly the kind of forward thinking transfer that a club with vision would be building towards and also that we were promised by the board as opposed to a nearly 30 year old who we will buy for nothing and release at the end of a contract at 34 in a few miserable years time

[IronZ-79]

My memory of Joe Allen is a very tidy footballer who was good on the ball and a busy player that gets about the pitch. Probably more mobile than Mark Noble.
Would provide a bit more cover in the midfield and could perhaps even be an upgrade on Noble in terms of his mobility.

But we still need that athletic box to box midfielder. If Allen was to come in on a permanent deal it shouldn't stop us going for Berge or Gedson on loan.

[pezza20]

Am sure it's been mentioned before, but if trying to sign Allen, then why not give Cullen a shot, or is that final proof that the powers aren't convinced Cullen is good enough?

I presume Coventry isn't ready yet.

Probably because he's injured .. unless you believe he is better than what we have playing on one leg .. oh hold on .....

[Sawbo]

I really dislike our owners and the signing of Roberto was an unmitigated disaster, BUT:
All those questioning Randolph's ability need a reality check. He's a back up keeper ffs. And a very decent one. What other PL clubs have got better back up keepers? Not many at all.
We are not Real Madrid.
People need to stop playing FM and get in the real world.

[keithwright1977]

Our current position will dictate our signings, we all get excited about certain players being linked to the club but in reality we do need to bring in players who can hit the ground running. I feel Gedson Fernandes would be a risk as he would definitely struggle to compete with the likes of Anderson, Lanzini and Fornals. I think we should concentrate on bringing in a more defensive minded midfielder, a right back and back up striker. There is an air of disappointment when we are linked to players such as Allen but if he can rekindle his best form it could be a good move in the short term. Sometimes you have to settle for what is right for the club instead of what we think would be right for the club

[Wilko1304]

Any worse than basing an opinion on a couple of YouTube clips and looking up some stats on WhoScored?

There's a lot of people wanting Sander Berge or Fernandes. I'm struggling to believe that they've all spent time watching Genk or Benfica matches.

Fans tend to think they know a lot... but most of the time they're a little over exitable. Football managers aren't.

I remember a few people on here suggesting Moise Kean during the summer... he's not turned out to well has he? And there was huge disappointment when we didn't go for Dendonker... yet in the end, only Wolves really showed interest and the player looked slow and a bit rubbish for most of his first 12 months in England.

However, Moise Kean was an exciting talent who performed well as a teenager in Serie A only last year. A teenager in Serie A performing well is usually of note. To have written him off is foolish - he will likely come good and he’s definitely high on the “moneyball” type.

Dendoncker has been good for Wolves in a tight squad, forced his way into that side, which is all the more impressive considering how rarely Nuno likes to make changes. Would be starting.

To say it’s often that story, I can’t agree. And even if we accept we could get overexcited by the glamorous, Joe Allen is in a struggling Championship team. I don’t see a similar signing in any successful team (of our sphere) and it’s even more an indictment on how we scout. We can do better even in that league - would we be signing Joe Allen if he hadn’t played Premier League football years ago? If anything, name is more important to manager and chairman if the signings of Randolph and Allen are to be judged.

[fjthegrey]

Fans tend to think they know a lot... but most of the time they're a little over exitable. Football managers aren't.

What about the myriad examples of foreign players who hit the ground running the moment they step into a Premier League game?

You've given us lots of examples of failures, but you deliberately chose not to balance out your point with any positive offerings.

Raul Jimenez was great right from the very start of his time in the league. Tielemens was blinding right away.

Brooks, Lerma, Torreira, Digne, Gomes, Anderson, Moutinho.

They were all contributing from the off. There are certainly plenty more.

I think the general point is, we have plenty of reliable, steady hands already. Our midfield right now is short staffed, but it's a great base from which to build. Allen isn't another layer in that foundation, you and everyone else all know it. He is all we're getting. No ambition to build on the base. Just another steady hand to slot in cheaply and maintain the mediocrity.

What he represents is much worse than what he actually is.

[HammerMan2004]

All those questioning Randolph's ability need a reality check. He's a back up keeper ffs. And a very decent one. What other PL clubs have got better back up keepers? Not many at all.
People need to stop playing FM and get in the real world.

Didn't Randolph leave because he wanted first-team football? Where's his ambition?

[S-H]

To be fair, not many are questioning Randolph's ability as a back up keeper, he is more than adequate for that role.

The questions are aimed at the board, yet again, for a transfer 'strategy' which closely resembles a Benny Hill sketch.

[sendô]

I imagine he'll be thinking a lot more about long term plans in the summer.

As relegation was such a worry when Moyes came in, and as it's a big part of his job in the short term, it doesn't suprise me that he's bringing in 1 or 2 short term solutions. As it stands, we're only an injury or two away from Sanchez being a first team player. Allen would be a far more reliable squad player. He's professional, a good passer, a good tackler, and a good worker. I have no issue with him coming in.

It's less about Moyes and his short term targets, and more about our owners and the long term plans they had last summer and the summer before.

Pretty much all of us highlighted how short of squad depth and back up we were in central midfield in the summer when we let Obiang go, not long after selling Kouyate to Palace, and yet those in the club in charge of recruitment now seem surprised that centre mid is light and the best we can find is a player who is nearly 30 and has been knocking about the bottom of the championship for the last year and a half.

I can't help but look at the likes of Leicester and their recruitment, and wonder at our own.

[jhammers]

Joe Allen would be a good signing... If it was 2012.

We need a young, energetic player to replace Noble not a direct replacement! They're pretty much the same player. Would be an awful signing and a complete waste of money.

As for signing Randolph for 4m, pointless