are we wasting this window?

[Soulboy]

Didn't we sign Craig Bellamy, Shay Given and Nigel De Jong in the last January window ? There top players aren't they.

Bellamy was a questionable gamble at the time...
We overpaid for De Jong. Yes he may be worth the money now but that's not always going to be the case.
Shay Given was a great player at a poor club so was easily obtainable. Plus he was an improvement on what we had. How many players playing for clubs in the bottom half of the table now would be an improvement for us ?

But they are all top players aren't they? Which flies in the face of your view that top players aren't available in a January transfer window!

Oh, and the Rags bought Vidic and Evra in a January window.

When you're in a hole stop digging!

Who would we want from a lower placed team? Erm... Parker, Cole, Behrami, Kaboul, Cahill, and that's just off the top of my head.

 

[BurnCK]

Bellamy was a questionable gamble at the time...
We overpaid for De Jong. Yes he may be worth the money now but that's not always going to be the case.
Shay Given was a great player at a poor club so was easily obtainable. Plus he was an improvement on what we had. How many players playing for clubs in the bottom half of the table now would be an improvement for us ?

But they are all top players aren't they? Which flies in the face of your view that top players aren't available in a January transfer window!

Oh, and the Rags bought Vidic and Evra in a January window.

When you're in a hole stop digging!

Who would we want from a lower placed team? Erm... Parker, Cole, Behrami, Kaboul, Cahill, and that's just off the top of my head.

Erm, well that's a matter of opinion. I'd take only one of them....Cahill, and even he wouldn't improve on what we've got. Last season yeah...

Yeah, Bellamy turned out to be a top player but was still a big gamble. At the time, no-one would have said he was a top player. It's all well and good talking the talk with hindsight.
I'm talking about players who WILL improve us now...not MAYBE. The Sheik, whether loaded or not, isn't going to gamble his money every January transfer window..especially when we don't even need the players. Just 'cos we have a few injuries doesn't mean we need to spend another £100 mil !

OK, maybe I should re-phrase...good players aren't ALWAYS available in January. I remember the Jan before last we ended up rushing through a deal for Benjani on the last day simply because there was fuck all available.

 

[Soulboy]

But they are all top players aren't they? Which flies in the face of your view that top players aren't available in a January transfer window!

Oh, and the Rags bought Vidic and Evra in a January window.

When you're in a hole stop digging!

Who would we want from a lower placed team? Erm... Parker, Cole, Behrami, Kaboul, Cahill, and that's just off the top of my head.

Erm, well that's a matter of opinion. I'd take only one of them....Cahill, and even he wouldn't improve on what we've got. Last season yeah...

Yeah, Bellamy turned out to be a top player but was still a big gamble. At the time, no-one would have said he was a top player. It's all well and good talking the talk with hindsight.
I'm talking about players who WILL improve us now...not MAYBE. The Sheik, whether loaded or not, isn't going to gamble his money every January transfer window..especially when we don't even need the players. Just 'cos we have a few injuries doesn't mean we need to spend another £100 mil !

OK, maybe I should re-phrase...good players aren't ALWAYS available in January. I remember the Jan before last we ended up rushing through a deal for Benjani on the last day simply because there was fuck all available.

You're right on one thing... it is all matter of opinion.

Bellamy a big gamble? How do you work that out? Had played at Liverpool, was chased by us and Spurs last January, was generally regarded as a "top" player. Well, at least I thought he was!

And while you might only take one of them listed (Cahill) I think Cahill is better than both Onuoha and Boyata. So an improvement on what we've got now. Yes?

You don't think Carlton Cole is better than Benjani? Setriously? Or that he is a better bet than RSC? Seriously? And bearing in mind that Adebayor might not be back for some time, I think a decent centre forward could be vital for our ambitions this season.... or are you happy to stick with Benjani? Seriously?

Funny how you define how bad the January transfer window is by quoting the signing of Benjani last year... who is now our only centre forward available to us!

And can you just show me the quote about me suggesting we spend £100m on replacements? I think you just made that up... didn't you! Go on admit it...

 

[BurnCK]

You're right on one thing... it is all matter of opinion.

Bellamy a big gamble? How do you work that out? Had played at Liverpool, was chased by us and Spurs last January, was generally regarded as a "top" player. Well, at least I thought he was!

And while you might only take one of them listed (Cahill) I think Cahill is better than both Onuoha and Boyata. So an improvement on what we've got now. Yes?

You don't think Carlton Cole is better than Benjani? Setriously? Or that he is a better bet than RSC? Seriously? And bearing in mind that Adebayor might not be back for some time, I think a decent centre forward could be vital for our ambitions this season.... or are you happy to stick with Benjani? Seriously?

Funny how you define how bad the January transfer window is by quoting the signing of Benjani last year... who is now our only centre forward available to us!

And can you just show me the quote about me suggesting we spend £100m on replacements? I think you just made that up... didn't you! Go on admit it...

I wasn't quoting you personally on the £100mil thing, but some people seem to expect that though. Also...I thought you were talking about Tim Cahill, lol.

I wasn't intending to have an argument...my main point was that we don't need to spend for the sake of it. I'd rather we wait until summer as I'm sure we can both agree that we'll get much better players then. If we buy now then IMO it reduces the chances of us buying in summer. Why would we spend millions on players now and then go and buy the exact same type of player in summer ? Surely it's better to loan for a few months and then buy ?

I haven't seen enough of Carlton Cole to comment...not even seen enough of RSC to comment either, lol...but is Carlton Cole going to be a long term replacement ? If not then why bother buying him ? But yeah he's better than Benjani...although not Ade, when he can be arsed.

Is Benjani better than Big Phil ?? Not IMO, but we still let him go....so maybe the management don't have such the concern about strikers as we do.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

Soulboy: Just to help you out a bit... didn't Arsenal sign Arshavin in January?

 

[Soulboy]

Soulboy: Just to help you out a bit... didn't Arsenal sign Arshavin in January?

Yeah... but he's not a top player.

hahahahahahahahahahahah!!!

 

[BurnCK]

Soulboy: Just to help you out a bit... didn't Arsenal sign Arshavin in January?

OK, OK, I've already said I was wrong and that I should have said that good players aren't ALWAYS available in January. Don't forget that the players names you are throwing about have joined established top 4 sides, of which we aren't yet.

Not everybody will be swayed by money !

 

[Soulboy]

Soulboy: Just to help you out a bit... didn't Arsenal sign Arshavin in January?

OK, OK, I've already said I was wrong and that I should have said that good players aren't ALWAYS available in January. Don't forget that the players names you are throwing about have joined established top 4 sides, of which we aren't yet.

Not everybody will be swayed by money !

Final point, mate. The thread was asking the question "are we wasting the transfer window"... you clearly don't think so, and are happy to go with what we've got now.

Fair enough. It's a brave viewpoint.

It's just I'm more of a coward. I can see us getting top 4 this season, a Carling Cup, maybe even the FA Cup... it's all there laid out in front of us. But not with the strength of the current squad.

I feel that 3 or 4 better players would give us the depth to achieve ALL our ambitions THIS SEASON rather than waiting till the summer then going for it next season.

You believe we will achieve it next saeson... and I want to achieve it THIS season.

I think just about sums up both our positions. Cheers

 

[BurnCK]

Not really...I just don't think we need to press the panic button over a few injuries. We already have a HUGE squad. OK, so the striker department is a little lacking, but since when did we have a problem scoring goals ?

I just don't think that throwing more and more players into the mix is going to help, but I never ruled it out...I think it would be more prudent to loan instead of buy.

Of course I want to achieve it THIS season, we just obviously have different opinions on how it should be done...yet from our lack of activity in the transfer market it would seem that my view is in line with the manager and owners. Nuff said.

 

[Bill]

just thought i'd bump this for new thoughts now the window is shut.
i think we have missed a trick here.