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Ins and Outs – a transfer deadline day summary
September is finally here, and with it the end of the transfer window. It’s been a massive monkey on the Blues’ collective backs, and to see only Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome go on transfer deadline day I think is quite pleasing. Not only that, but Blues made two acquisitions in Pablo Ibanez and Wade Elliott that actually cost money. The shock!
Firstly, to look at the new signings. I’ve already seen the grumblings of discontent because Blues have been forced to set their sights lower in the standard of player that they’ve been looking at, but I think we’ve done quite well in our signings. Whilst both are on the wrong side of their thirtieth birthday, they’ll both give us options to a squad that is quite green and inexperienced.
Look at Wade Elliott. He’s versatile – he can play anywhere across the middle four – which is a big plus. This season is going to be all about how we utilise our squad, and to have a player who can slot into a few positions and play a few roles allows Chris Hughton more options in the way he sets his team up. He’s missed very few games in the last few years, which says he’s pretty lucky with injuries and suspensions (saying that, he’ll probably break his leg now). He knows this division inside out and he’s played this season, so he’s going to hit the ground running.
I have to admit, I don’t know much about Pablo, but what I do know points to a signing who is going to be excellent cover at least. He’s a former Spanish international defender, who has plied his trade in the top flight of England and Spain with the Baggies and Atletico Madrid. His pedigree looks excellent and I think it speaks volumes that the Baggies fans can’t understand why he’s been sold to Blues.
On the minus side, we’ve lost two decent players in Scott Dann and Cameron Jerome. I have to admit, I felt Dann could do better than Blackburn and the way he looked when interviewed suggested to me that he thought so too. However, if Sky are right and we got £7.7mil for him then I’m a happy bunny – that’s not a bad fee at all and should mean that Blues are now out of financial trouble – unless there is worse problems than we ever thought at the club.
I’m sorry to see Jerome go, but unsurprised. I felt a while back he’d reached the end of the road with us and I think he’ll do well with Stoke – that team is set up in the right way for him and with Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch playing alongside him he’s bound to get goals. He didn’t seem too bothered to leave Blues – but bearing in mind the stick he took from some sections of Blues fans recently, can you blame him?
Interestingly, Nikola Zigic hasn’t gone anywhere. With his wages it’s going to cost us £1mil at least I would have thought to keep him until January – however, once he’s fit I’m sure Blues will play him (to show that he is fit) – and if that happens, I fully expect Zigic to tear defences in this division a new one.
The football league doesn’t have a 25 man squad, so Blues are still free to sign out of contract players now outside the window, and from September 8 are free to pursue loans as well. It’s not all doom and gloom; yes, the squad isn’t as full of top names as it once was but it’s not been stripped as bare as many feared it would be.
Tags: Cameron Jerome, Pablo Ibanez, Scott Dann, Wade Elliott
27 Responses to “Ins and Outs – a transfer deadline day summary”
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Good assessment. Let’s look forward now. Come on you Blues!
Why did we not get ranger also on free agent Jason koumas should be on the list
Lets get right behind the boys its true we were missing that thru ball from midfield up to the strikers and if we have king and ziggy up front we could go all the way great cover at the back by the way ibanez is a true pro KRO
Best I could have hoped for, moast happy to see Jean stay, and hope that your assessment of Zigic is correct and he does not sulk, you may not think so but I like his type, I’ll upset a few, when I say I remember Tony Hateley and I think Villa fans did not give him the credit he deserved, so if Zigic comess on please give him support.
When Liam canclled his wedding I thought the writing was on the wall,but regardlless of why he uis still here I am glad and I think he is professional enough to do his best in the side.
We’ve kept Jean and Stephen, enough to mould a young team around. Ridge either in the back four, or playing the makalele role would be useful, but imho he’ll finally go in the January window. Ditto Zigic, but by then I would imagine our cup runs will have ended and we’ll be looking to make promotion. Let’s face it, our latest departures haven’t played this season and we’ve also made two new signings -Our available squad is now stronger than it was last week!
don’t kid yourself they were available, jerome played last week and dann was only left out as we had to pay another payment to cov if he had played another game
You have evidence of that? Or is it just more bullshine?
I thought that was supposed to be Zigic.
I think he was left out so he remained fit for a move. Nothing more.
Love your attitude Wingman!
I was dismayed when I heard the rumours that Beusejour might be heading out of the door, and relieved to see him still here. I well remember the difference he made when he came on at Wembley, and I think he will grow in importance to the side. As for Ridge, I agree that he will probably go in January. Maybe by then we might have some modest funds available.
Re Ranger, maybe his latest disciplinary fracas made him too much of a risk. He doesn’t seem to have learned yet.
2 more players in has to be a positive even though at best they are only decent squad players.Finally glad to see jerome has gone,his goals to games record in both divisions is appalling.Danns was always going to go but if he had any ambition then he should have told blackburn to shove it.I was hoping we’d get another keeper because myhill is useless,he’s cost us too many points already and can’t see his form improving as he was just as bad at the albion.
While the above is not full of great news, I think its well put and presented – and has actually made me think… what if… can we…. will we at least reach the play off’s… Im still not sure, however I am a fan of Chris H – and will support him no matter what…. as I know the job he has to keep us in the league with the potential fixture mess looming –
I quote “He didn’t seem too bothered to leave Blues – but bearing in mind the stick he took from some sections of Blues fans recently, can you blame him? (Jerome)”
‘Some sections?’ The majority more like.
Remember when the dressing room turned against him because he had a niggling injury but physio said he was ok to play, just when we needed a striker most at end of season run in.
He wasn’t liked in the dressing room and he wasn’t liked by the fans. For that very reason.
I was pretty depressed last night, less so this morning. Not that bothered about the departures as neither have played this season and we seem to have played ok so far. Was does bother me is the lack of incoming, we are paper thin any more injuries and we won’t have a bench . If we paid a fee (not sure we have) for Elliot and Inbanez, they why didn’t we go for Ben Turner, who seemed desperate to come but went to Cardiff in the end for just £750k?
Ben Turner is a Bluenose and made no secret of the fact he wanted to come to us and he is highly rated by the Coverntry fans. I am hoping that the decision not to buy him was tactical and not because we couldnt afford the 750k asking price!
i reckon we’ve paid about 750k to 1 mill for these two why not pay a tad more and get Turner who would have played his heart out for his club
now we need some loanees in and asap so they can settle in quick and be ready for the two games a week period
i believe we can load 6 players and any 5 can be in the match day squad of 16, is that correct?
Zigic could be loaned out to another league club e.g. west ham, leicester etc at least that would offload about 50% – 80% of his wages.
Two reasons – cashflow and time. I don’t believe we had the cash available at the right time and Cardiff were quicker than us
Not as bad as a I had feared but not as great as I had hoped. Atleast we managed to keep hold of a few players(Ridge and Jean). As earlier mentioned Jerome and Dann have been dead weight this year,so getting rid of them is for the best…..Ill be interested to see if they play after next week??.
What do people think are Zigic’s chances of actually pulling on the Royal Blue Jesey again??..I still think he do a grand job in the championship (although his wages are obviously a huuugggge burden).
Lets get some quality loanees,really strenghten the team…Im positive,I think if we lower our expectations slightly we may be pleasantly suprised this year (Carsen Yeung ripping us off aside)
I have heard a lot of Blues complain about the age of are latest signings. I actually think it is a good thing that we have 2 or 3 oldies in the team. We need the experience to grab hold of the game, settle it at times and guide the exciting youngsters we do have. If you look at all 3 away games this season we have gone 1 up and then lost our heads completely! 1 Goal goes against us and you see the heads drop.
Im also not so pessimistic about our chances this season looking at the team we do have left. The GK position I would definitely look at though I think Myhill will be one of them that is going to drop the occasional clanger and we cant afford to do this every 2 matches or so. I honestly believe we can achieve the playoffs this season maybe more if we get taken over by someone by January who wants to put money into the club.
I believe we came out of this transfer window okay CH knows the players he wants whether they are loans or free agents. We will see more players coming to blues and wanting to join because we are the only championship team that can offer European football and possible playoff. CH will have already earmarked the players ….watch this space. He has already shown in the few games played that he is trying to get players he wants to play the ball on the floor. Surely every bluenose wants to see the passing game back at ST Andrews… AND winning.. you have to be a believer KRO
Let’s look at the picture so far shall we?
OUT
Roger Johnson – Wolves – CENTRAL DEFENCE – £6m
Craig Gardner – Sunderland – CENTRAL MIDFIELD – £6m
Sebastian Larsson – Sunderland – RIGHT WINGER – £FREE
Kevin Phillips – Blackpool – STRIKER – £FREE
Barry Ferguson – Blackpool – CENTRAL MIDFIELD – £750k
Lee Bowyer – Ipswich – CENTRAL MIDFIELD – £FREE
James McFadden – Released – LEFT WINGER – £0
Ben Foster – West Brom (LOAN) – GOALKEEPER – £0
Michel – Getafe – CENTRAL MIDFIELD – £UNKNOWN
Scott Dann – Blackburn – CENTRAL DEFENDER – £8m
Cameron Jerome – Stoke – STRIKER – £4m
IN
Adam Rooney – Inverness – STRIKER – £FREE
Chris Burke – Cardiff – RIGHT WINGER – £FREE
Stephen Caldwell – Wigan – CENTRAL DEFENDER – £FREE
Morgaro Gomis – Dundee – CENTRAL MIDFIELDER – £FREE
Guirane N’Daw – St Etienne (LOAN) – CENTRAL MIDFIELDER – £0
Boaz Myhill – West Brom (LOAN) – GOALKEEPER – £0
Marlon King – Coventry – STRIKER – £FREE
Jonathan Spector – West Ham – CENTRAL MIDFIELDER/DEFENDER – £FREE
Chris Wood – West Brom (LOAN) – STRIKER (ADDITIONAL COVER) – £0
Wade Elliott – Burnley – LEFT WINGER – £UNKNOWN
Pablo Ibanez – West Brom – CENTRAL DEFENDER (ADDITIONAL COVER) – £UNKNOWN
I make that 11 OUT and 11 IN, with about £25m banked. The squad is no smaller than last season with hopefully less injury prone, money-grabbing, goal shy McLeish-ites around. I for one am thoroughly glad of the clear out.
Regarding all the negativity on Myhill, doesn’t anyone remember he was between the sticks when Hull City finished SIXTH in the Premiership? Short memories, methinks.
Not fussed about Turner. If it was right, we would have gotten him.
Still think we’ll get Ranger on loan. If anyone can tame the fool it is CH.
Ziggy will have games with us to make him marketable for resale in January or summer 2012. My guess is he will be used in Europa League mostly.
Don’t worry, we will do more than fine in this league and hopefully have a nice run in some cups too to help the revenue and – possibly – put us in the shop window for new investor(s).
Good post. I would have liked to see Ziggy off the wage bill, but when fit he’ll terrorise championship defences!
surprise, surprise……despite the best efforts of is agent, ridgewell didnt get a move anywhere.proof if any were needed that liam is basically rubbish. hopefully mr hughton will show some backbone now and relegate him to the reserves and if is is necessary, play one of the youngsters ahead of him in the first team. most fans are still hopeful we can offload him when the loan window opens. the guy is a joke and isnt fit to wear the shirt but then he has never been fit to do so. if you really want to go liam, buy your contract out….you can afford it after all this time picking up ridiculously high wages and bleeding the club dry.
“bluenoseneil”,mate im really sorry,couldnt help but point out the glaring error. Hull City NEVER actually finished 6th,think they were 17th.Myhill was letting in goals all over the shop towards the end of the season and their team went on a ridiculous losing streak after xmas,but stayed up with some major luck .Myhill is average at best, Id say give him a few more games and then lets give Doyle a chance.
However great post, I agree and think we will be fine in the league .Chris Hughton knows his stuff. I think he’s saw the weaknesses in our side and filled the gaps. I’m reasonably positive. I think we could suprise a few people once the team is fully bedded in.
Also in regard to Zigic,he’s a great record of scoring at every stage he’s played on,I know it seems unlikely but if we play to his strengths(which I believe CH does) he could become prolific at this level.
KRO
Well spotted!! I meant they had a great FIRST HALF to the season. Haha!! Myhill will be ok for us I am sure. It’s the other ten on the pitch teams have to get around first before challenging him, so if we’re strong in those areas too we will do fine.
Dann quoted by Sky:
“But I was looking forward to coming into training today. I got injured in January, missed the Carling Cup final and couldn’t play for the rest of the season.
“I’ve been fit all through the summer and I’ve had a full pre-season but missing so many games is frustrating.
So much for that niggling injury!
Anyone know the situation with Wood?. Thought his short term loan expired after the Watford game – or has it been extended. Or o we have to wait to Sept 8th?
I believe it expired today; no news yet from BCFC whether it’s been extended or ended. Watch this space I guess.