'a England International' you are making it sound like a worthy award.
Delph imo is a shocking signing, makes no sense whats so ever. His ambition is being questioned by myself as I can't understand why he would join us. Pointless and stupid, On this occasion if we wanted a home grown player, we have plenty chomping in our EDS side.
Just askin pall
I think he will be a lot better with the players around him that we have rather than holding Villa together :-)
Football is (or at least should be) meritocratic. There is a cycle, a food chain, and we are now at the top of it.
If an Italian player has 2 standout seasons in Serie A, Juventus will probably buy them. If a German does in the Bundesliga, more often than not Bayern will historically sign them. The Rags applied that formula to their benefit under Ferguson. It's the best policy to adopt where possible, because there is little chance that the pace/standard of the game in the respective country will effect them.
Without this opportunity, you'll never know how good a player is; Barry and Lescott were understated but crucial elements of our first wave of success. Neither had played for a top club before they joined us, but grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and to a lesser extent, so did Milner. By some of the derogatory logic on here applied to Delph, they'd never have been signed.
How many PL titles would Roy Keane have won if he'd stayed at Forest? Or Carrick at Spurs? Cahill at Bolton? How many Man Of The Match performances against top European opposition would Hart have had if he'd stayed at Birmingham after that sensational loan spell he had there in 09/10? None.
It's impossible to judge whether a player has top-class credentials until they've been given a fair chance to establish themselves at the highest level. Some take it, some don't, but someone like Delph is more worth of a place in the Manchester City squad based on his excellent performances in the Premier League over a sustained period than expensive failed imports like Anderson and Garcia.
This league is a tricky one, especially for a midfielder; the amusing failures of both Di Maria and Veron at Trafford's biggest club are testament to that. Both possessed world-class ability, and had years of elite-level football behind them but just simply couldn't get a grip of the game in the Premier League. There is a real possibility that Pogba would get found out in the same way, as both came with far better pedigree (the Serie A Veron played in was the best league in Europe at the time and infinitely better than the current one in which Pogba has shone, while Di Maria was MOTM in the CL final last year and a star of the World Cup) and if all of our midfield eggs are in that basket we are goosed.
This strange clause in the contract suggests that we have been in some form of contact with Delph since January; if so it's a very shrewd bit of business on the part of the club. Common sense, low risk/cost signing that could prove to be the shrewdest of any in the PL this summer.
good signing
adds mobility and drive to the midfield both attacking wise and defensively.........and for 8m its a bargain. He is the type of player that will get better for playing with the like of Yaya, silva etc just like milner did.
Not saying he's a bad signing, the fee alone makes it decent, but I think he'll only be a good signing in context if we sign a top class CM. We've signed too many squad level players these last 3 years
A 4 of Yaya, Pogba (or someone like Vidal/Koke/Verratti), Dinho and Delph would be brilliant.
He's not
No-one wanted Delph prior to the window and even if he's a decent squad player no-one wanted us to sign more squad players.
But since it's likely to happen we, like any set of fans, are trying our best to make it a very good signing. Economically it might be but on the pitch is it?. Comparisons to Lescott and Barry, unfancied 'unsung' players, may be valid but they were also one of the main reasons we couldn't get out of the group stages of the CL. I like Lescott and Barry and am grateful for their efforts in winning domestic silverware, but as is the case with most English players, they found their level in the group stages.
Football is (or at least should be) meritocratic. There is a cycle, a food chain, and we are now at the top of it.
If an Italian player has 2 standout seasons in Serie A, Juventus will probably buy them. If a German does in the Bundesliga, more often than not Bayern will historically sign them. The Rags applied that formula to their benefit under Ferguson. It's the best policy to adopt where possible, because there is little chance that the pace/standard of the game in the respective country will effect them.
Without this opportunity, you'll never know how good a player is; Barry and Lescott were understated but crucial elements of our first wave of success. Neither had played for a top club before they joined us, but grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and to a lesser extent, so did Milner. By some of the derogatory logic on here applied to Delph, they'd never have been signed.
How many PL titles would Roy Keane have won if he'd stayed at Forest? Or Carrick at Spurs? Cahill at Bolton? How many Man Of The Match performances against top European opposition would Hart have had if he'd stayed at Birmingham after that sensational loan spell he had there in 09/10? None.
It's impossible to judge whether a player has top-class credentials until they've been given a fair chance to establish themselves at the highest level. Some take it, some don't, but someone like Delph is more worth of a place in the Manchester City squad based on his excellent performances in the Premier League over a sustained period than expensive failed imports like Anderson and Garcia.
This league is a tricky one, especially for a midfielder; the amusing failures of both Di Maria and Veron at Trafford's biggest club are testament to that. Both possessed world-class ability, and had years of elite-level football behind them but just simply couldn't get a grip of the game in the Premier League. There is a real possibility that Pogba would get found out in the same way, as both came with far better pedigree (the Serie A Veron played in was the best league in Europe at the time and infinitely better than the current one in which Pogba has shone, while Di Maria was MOTM in the CL final last year and a star of the World Cup) and if all of our midfield eggs are in that basket we are goosed.
This strange clause in the contract suggests that we have been in some form of contact with Delph since January; if so it's a very shrewd bit of business on the part of the club. Common sense, low risk/cost signing that could prove to be the shrewdest of any in the PL this summer.
No-one wanted Delph prior to the window and even if he's a decent squad player no-one wanted us to sign more squad players.
But since it's likely to happen we, like any set of fans, are trying our best to make it a very good signing. Economically it might be but on the pitch is it?. Comparisons to Lescott and Barry, unfancied 'unsung' players, may be valid but they were also one of the main reasons we couldn't get out of the group stages of the CL. I like Lescott and Barry and am grateful for their efforts in winning domestic silverware, but as is the case with most English players, they found their level in the group stages.
But just say Delph was brought in as a squad player so that the A listers could have a rest the weekend before a champions league game he could help us in Europe without playing that much.
Not sure you have grasped this football lark but it is now a necessity to have a decent squad of players to play in 4 competitions and we DO need the likes of Delph in there to help with all these games we will be playing.
Not sure you have grasped this football lark but it is now a necessity to have a decent squad of players to play in 4 competitions and we DO need the likes of Delph in there to help with all these games we will be playing.
nahh they expect us to have a squad of 18 world class players