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Ins and Outs: a Transfer story roundup
With all the background stuff going on at Blues, I’ve not talked about the playing side much, so I thought today I’d take a look at the transfer rumours out there and discuss them further.
Neil Moxley reports in the Daily Mail that Blues are to make Ben Foster available for loan, in a bid to get his wages off the books. The loan spell, which would cost prospective teams in the region of £1mil could be converted into a £4mil move should Blues not be promoted at the end of the season.
I’ve got to be honest, I can’t see this happening. It’s not as if Foster has agitated in the press for a move; from talking to people who would know it seems Foster is happily settled in the midlands and I don’t believe he would look to move away again. The fact he retired from international duty last season points to a guy who isn’t ambitious; I think Foster is the kind of guy who values his own personal happiness higher than maybe earning massive wages somewhere he wouldn’t like.
In saying that, I can think of a couple of reasons why it might be true. Despite not missing a game last year, Foster does have problems with niggly injuries, and it might be that clubs aren’t wanting to stump up a fee for Ben in case one of those niggly injuries becomes something more serious. Also, I know that Maik Taylor is now back training with Blues – couple that with the fact we’ve been trialling young keepers and you’d think that maybe we might be losing Foster. In saying that, I’m sceptical of any move until I see the player holding the shirt at a press conference.
Brian Dick reports in the Birmingham Mail that Blues are in contention to sign Billy Sharp for £2.5mil from Doncaster Rovers. The 25 year old Yorkshireman has scored 15 league goals in each of his two seasons at the Keepmoat, and as Blues are likely to lose Cameron Jerome and Nikola Zigic, it’s probable that they will be looking to increase their striking options.
Bearing in mind that the Daily Mail has reported we can’t afford to pay Ben Foster’s wages, it doesn’t make sense that we’re also supposed to be in for a striker that would actually cost us money. This could mean one of two things: Either Blues don’t have any money and the Sharp story is agent talk trying to drum up business, or the financial crisis at Blues is nowhere near as bad as some people are making out and the board are targeting players of a Championship standard at least to improve the squad.
I have no idea which is true – what I would say though is that if Blues did sign a player for a fee, it would in my mind at least make me think “hey, we actually have some cash.” I know that some fans would remain sceptical of how financially well off Blues are should we buy someone, but actions in paying for a fee for a player are much more convincing than bringing out a statement to say we have the cash.
With the new season just over a fortnight away, I’m hoping Blues can have the bulk of the transfer business they want to do done, so the team have ample time to gel together and the club can stabilise a bit after a summer of rumour and speculation. Only time will tell which deals come to fruition – all we can do is hope for the best.
Tags: Ben Foster, Billy Sharp, Cameron Jerome, Maik Taylor, Nikola Zigic, Transfers
26 Responses to “Ins and Outs: a Transfer story roundup”
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Another well-thought out article by almajir. Mr Pannu’s “No fire sale” comment now seems to have been pie in the sky & after this latest revelation about Ben Foster, I think we do now deserve a statement from the Board either saying that we are in a much worse situation than they had feared, or that we will be able to BUY some players, albeit at modest sums. It looks as if Mr Pannu doesn’t understand that the true fans will support the club through thick & thin (should this be thin & thinner),BUT don’t feed us the stuff that mushrooms thrive on.
I STILL haven’t seen evidence of this so-called fire sale people have referred to.
So far Blues have sold two players, for fees that I consider reasonable at least. There has been a lot of paper talk otherwise, but have players moved? No. Sure, if we sell a load of players in the next couple of weeks, I’ll believe it – but until we do, I won’t.
I agree, unfortunately there are the Martini Fans, that like to slate the club anytime any place anywhere, that will always find things to moan about. My only concern is everything appears to be taking ages to conclude. The Calderwood situation seems to be taking forever!
I agree,no one has left who didn’t want to,Zigic has indicated he wants to leave,so
probably will,I have not heard of Jerome asking to leave so maybe his depature
might signal ths start of panic selling
Is it me, or do we have a lot less pre season fixtures than usual?
One thing I’ve learnt is never to trust Peter Pannu – no fire sale my backside!
selling two players for 13mill does not constitute a fire sale!
Blue in Murcia I am with you! there has been NO firesale. But I also agree with the other posts in the fact that this board needs to tell us the truth re finances. Social media and the papers would have us believe all kinds of speculation. As someone who as yet again paid for my season ticket all I want is facts. good or bad I will still be there as I was back in the grim old days.
Doesn’t the Daily Mail also report the Sharp story? From one minute having no money to spend to next spending £3m+ on a striker?
Correct
I for one am tired of listening to all the doom and gloom at St Andrews, when are we going to have some positive news and when are we going to start spending some money??
Another well-considered article. I’ve held off from hitting the panic button for the time being.
You have all got your heads stuck in the sand! We are having a ‘fire sale’ and liquidating the clubs assets – wake up! No sponsors, virtually no pre season fixtures (we can’t afford the expense), don’t believe a word Pannu says – 11,200 ST sales and you believe him? Ferguson’s gone, Foster will follow for a £1m loan fee to Baggies – never to return – we paid £6m for him so yes it is a fire sale – we just can’t find takers for the rest! So keep your heads in the sand, eyes closed and fingers crossed, when you wake up there will be nothing left!
I am amazed at the low standard of maths displayed here.We have off loaded ten players since the end of the season,some have gone for fees,some haven’t.Either way the wage bill has been reduced.We are told that we are going to loan Foster to a Premiership club for £1 million and no doubt we will not be paying his wages.Now I see some fans are getting excited that we might spent up to £3 million pound on a player.Wow that must mean that there is no financial crisis.If everything is ok at St Andrews could someone tell me why with the season only weeks away we have not been able to attract a shirt sponsor?Could it be that no company wants to be associated with a club heading for administration?
The fact that some Blues fans are getting terribly exited at the prospect of the club actually spending money on a player says how far we have fallen.
peter pannu you are a joke.
Personally I’m a big fan of looking at the facts. As I write they are
Fact 1 – we released 11 players, 4 of whom were loanees, since the end of last season. Of these, only larson made a significant contribution over the course of the season.
Fact 2 – we have sold 2 players and got prices which were more than fair.
Fact 3- we’ve signed 5 players to bolster the squad including a proven goalscorer at championship level who cost nothing
Fact 4- we have a good manager with a proven record at this level
So I’m optimistic. Ok we aren’t gonna walk the division but as things stand we’ve got a very strong first 11, we’ve made good progress in cutting our cloth given the financial impact of delegation and were in Europe as reigning cupholders.
If people wanna speculate and moan that’s thier prerogative – but there no real justification for it.
My reference to “Fire Sale” was perhaps brought about by the report that Foster was on offer to be loaned out for a million. This to me smacks of trouble, & I would disagree that Gardner’s sale,for a midfielder who scored 10 goals was anything else but a fire sale. However,we all have our own particular view of what’s going on and 99% of the time you,almajir & I agree.
Until it happens, I’m sceptical of newspaper reports.
No one wanted Gardner to go but the player stated he wished to leave,same as Johnson
and you can not keep a player would does not want to be there .
Fire sale is when you let players who want to stay leave for cut prices
Every day goes by it seems like more bad news with very little to be happy about. The owners wanted to create a club that cared for community spirit and from that develop success on and off the field. Instead we have a board that has isolated itself from the community it was meant to foster support from . My main concern is how much worse it will get before it gets better.
I ask myself the question what happens if we loose the away game to Derby and then follow up with a defeat at home to Coventry with 15,000 watching.
Dont forget we only needed 3pts from the last 6 games last season and ended up with 1pt instead.
I would not be surprised if Hughton decided that this is not the best club to rebuild his career with and also leave
Feeling very depressed and want some good news KRO
Have you also asked yourself what happens if we take 4 or 6 points from our first 2 games, qualify for Europa league group stages and buy a couple more players for a few million quid ? If not you should do because this scenario is equally if not more likely than the worst case scenario which you outline and appear to believe to be virtually inevitable when in reality it is nothing of the sort.
But let’s not fall out about it, eh? !
When we has a manager who could only see not getting beat,and remember we only needed 2 extra goals ( Spurs would not have scored the late breakaway goal if we had not had 8 men in their half)
Our team as it stands are equal to every team in the division,just back up a bit thin.
We have a tough start but every other team will not relish playing the Blues
Lets all bear in mind that there will be “parachute” payments from the league it just depends what we spend it on. It may be kept for safe keeping in case we do not improve financially and at least cover the wages for the season ahead giving us time to way up the situation regarding our position in the league. If things didnt go too well league wise then we would probably look at off loading more high earners. We will wait and see with hope and pride.
Concerning the firesale I don’t think we can judge until the window has closed, however I don’ t think the signs look good. There are still 6 weeks to go in the window and we have sold Johnson, Ferguson and Gardener. I thought Foster may well stay until today but there seems to be something in these stories with West Brom seemingly confirming that they were in talks. I think it quite possible that Jerome, Zigic, Michel and Dann will be sold too. If all those go that would be 8 in total and that pretty much seems a firesale to me. We need some Premier League quality to do well in this division and replacing these with mid quality Championship players like Sharp is a recipe for finishing mid table at best in my view.
only Jerome of those players, as not said they would like to leave,
Michel only said he might go before end of last season, as he was not getting any games.
No clubs keep players who want to go
No Firesale just normal business
Johnson 5.5m, Gardner 4.5m and Foster out on loan with 4m transfer likely. I think that constitutes a fire sale.