Football Transfers Thread

[m_vaughan]

Since I had worked on the IPIC complex in Abu Dhabi (owned by the same family that runs ADUH and Man City), I met some representatives of the group. They have already invested in the academy, and are opening youth centers around the world. You won't see the results overnight though.

 

[War]

BBC Sport - Blackburn in talks to sell Chris Samba to Anzhi Makhachkala

Would be a certain waste to see him play in Russia at this stage of his career. A top 4 side like Chelsea or Arsenal can surely utilize a defender like him currently.

 

[puddleduck]

Thing is there's a reason none of them have bought him. He's fine in a backs to the wall type, get something on it and get it clear team. He is not however someone who will comfortably have the ball passed through him consistently.

He'll do a job against teams like Stoke, but most European strikeforces will have him floundering. Anzhi would be a good move for him and gives him a nice big payday and possibly a chance to win some trophies and play in Europe.

If he was that good, they wouldn't have been so crap when he played, and conceded so many goals despite Robbo often having a blinder. That said, Arsenal could probably use him

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I agree with puddleduck. Arsenal were linked with Samba, Dann and Cahill over the summer. What have all of those players got in common? Fighting in a relegation battle. How good can you really be if your team is struggling at the bottom of the table and leaking goals left, right and centre?

 

[lancashire666]

I agree with puddleduck. Arsenal were linked with Samba, Dann and Cahill over the summer. What have all of those players got in common? Fighting in a relegation battle. How good can you really be if your team is struggling at the bottom of the table and leaking goals left, right and centre?[/QUOTE]



Yeah, because poor teams never have good players.

Remember a certain Matt le Tissier, or the Boro team with Juniniho and Ravanelli

Roy Keane went down with Forest, and I may hate the guy but he was a brillient player

Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe wih West Ham

And from a city fan point of view, a certain Kinkladze was half decent, and one of out coaches Attilio Lombardo was a wonderful player when he went down with Palace!

Peter Beardsley was a bit older but still quality when Bolton went down

 

[War]

Ye plus as a defender of goal-keeper in a poor team you really can't cant them based on goals scored against them. That is bound to happen against superior teams, since that one good player isn't superman.

You have to be intuitive and look at other area's of the individuals game and spot the talent.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Clarification is needed: I want a foreigner's rule not because of any xenophobia, but because the English national team is going down the toilet. Granted, players like Cantona, Bergkamp, Zola etc were a great addition to the Premiership, but what about the countless foreign players that are little more than mediocre - the ones that are being bought simply because they're cheaper than English players?

Seems a lot of people here don't give a damn about the England team, but I'm not one of them.

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BBC Sport - Blackburn in talks to sell Chris Samba to Anzhi Makhachkala

Would be a certain waste to see him play in Russia at this stage of his career. A top 4 side like Chelsea or Arsenal can surely utilize a defender like him currently.

Well, that's all about money isn't it? Why else would he want to swap England for Russia? He can say it's a 'new challenge' as much as he likes, anyone with half a brain knows it's about money.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

I agree with puddleduck. Arsenal were linked with Samba, Dann and Cahill over the summer. What have all of those players got in common? Fighting in a relegation battle. How good can you really be if your team is struggling at the bottom of the table and leaking goals left, right and centre?[/QUOTE]



Yeah, because poor teams never have good players.

Remember a certain Matt le Tissier, or the Boro team with Juniniho and Ravanelli

Roy Keane went down with Forest, and I may hate the guy but he was a brillient player

Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe wih West Ham

And from a city fan point of view, a certain Kinkladze was half decent, and one of out coaches Attilio Lombardo was a wonderful player when he went down with Palace!

Peter Beardsley was a bit older but still quality when Bolton went down

Dann and Samba have been at centreback this season, both were linked with big clubs. If they're both so good, how have Blackburn been so abject defensively? Neither have even shone out as being decent in such a poor side. You look at Newcastle for example and their defence is shambolic yet they've kept so many clean sheets this season. The reason for that is because Krul and Coloccini have been incredible individually.

Hmm I don't think I'm getting my point across very well and just rambling at the moment.

 

[War]

Mahamadou Diarra to join Fulham | Mail Online

I forgot about Diarra, quality player at his peak.

 

[puddleduck]

I like how you reeled off a list of strikers. All players who scored 20 odd goals in pants teams... the sort of cack teams that had people like Dann, Samba, Roger Johnson etc... at centre back haha

Obviously, a midfield is important, massively in terms of shielding the defence both by keeping the ball and working hard without it. However, by being in the bottom 3, getting relegated, it's just highlighting that these guys aren't actually that good. Take Phil Jones at Blackburn, he excelled at 19, and stood out. He read the game, used the ball well, and earnt a move to a big club. Just because MoTD show Samba scoring a header, or making a last ditch tackle, doesn't mean he isn't caught out of position more than he should be, or that he's not poor in possession of a football.

Oh, and to suggest that going to a Russian club that might well win domestic trophies, give him a chance to play in European football, as well as play with European Cup winners in Etoo and Roberto Carlos, is a move motivated solely by money? That's just absurb. To tell me that living on 30,000 a week in Blackburn would be better than being super rich in an emergent Russia, I know where I'd go.... especially if I wasn't even English and was actually able to recognise that as cultures go, our footballing one is pretty lowbrow.

I think Russia's probably a fairly exciting place to be if you happen to be on the right side of the poverty line. As mentioned, those big English clubs were clearly not after him, I think it's an excellent move for him. I do think he'll get exposed quite often by the amount of tricky South Americans currently playing in Russia. Not to mention the fairly high technical level they have anyway. Should score a few headers though

 

[Themer]

Puddle do you know the situation with Anzhi? I think I'd rather go and play in Afghanistan.

 

[puddleduck]

Really? Care to shed some light?

Oh, and would you not apply that to Blackburn recently as well

 

[Themer]

There's a massive problem with Islamic insurgents in Dagestan so much so that the players are under massive security all the time and all actually live in Moscow only flying in for the matches before flying straight back out as its too dangerous. That's without mentioning the massive racism problem that is existent within Russian football mob circles. I'd say it was pretty muuch all about the money to be honest.

 

[thedon5]

Podolski to Arsenal being rumoured. Even if the move is not finalised now, he will probably end up finalising by the transfer window.

Really exciting player and signing, and gives more reason for Gotze to choose Arsenal with experienced Germans Podolski and Mertesacker to play with. We have a chance of Gotze I believe if he is sold in one of the next two windows.

However, the last time Podolski went to a big club he wasn't too great, back at Bayern, and until his current spell at Koln he wasn't really an out and out goal scorer... So hopefully he won't be a failure. Arsenal's last two bigger money signings didn't really set the world on fire, Reyes and Arshavin.

As for Samba... Maybe he really wanted to leave and Russia was his only real choice with their transfer window the only one still open? Plus money?

 

[puddleduck]

So basically, they're living in massive compounds, somewhat like rich kings of a small country? Oh, in a really cool city in Moscow, and well, it's a good thing England is so racism free now. Especially in footballing terms Had he gone to a mid-table Italian club to do nothing but collect a pay packet, would that be a better or worse move than continuing to play for crap mid-table English sides? Or, is their potential for a year or two of something that could be very interesting (and yes, better paid than playing for a crap Blackburn team in a crap city). I'd rather spend the next 2 years in Moscow than Blackburn personally - especially if I was minted for it.

Sometimes people need to look at the world through the eyes of someone not English. It's a good country, but there's loads of interesting places to visit and spend some years. Moscow is certainly one. I wish more players would look to spend a year or two playing in other countries, as pretty much the entirety of the footballing world does... except England.