Transfer Strategy: £7m on Brady, or...

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,820]

...promote the Murphy twins and Toffolo as genuine first team players?

This approach has worked well for Southampton recently, and bearing in mind that the two Murphys and Toffolo were part of the country''s top U18 side two years ago, they surely have to be amongst the best youngsters around. The Murphy boys play in Brady''s natural position on the wing, and Toffolo plays in the position where Brady will possibly be a backup to.

So this could potentially save us £7m here and we could end up with a player or two worth that amount in the future- as well having three players instead of one. Some may point out there is a lack of Premier League experience, but we do have plenty anyway considering we are a newly promoted club.

This would then mean that we have an extra £7m to go big on a striker and a centre back, which are arguably two more important areas.

Thoughts?

[A Load of Squit 5,162]

We could pay for Brady and promote the other players and buy some more.

[king canary 7,606]

If Brady is capable of keeping three players out of the first team squad then he must be amazing.

[Lessingham Canary 99]

i like the way Toffolo has shaped up this pre season, certainly showing he has what it takes, and that season playing 1st team football at Swindon has benefited him, Can he do it in the perm ? thats going to be interesting, the twins i feel are a bit behind.

[CanaryOne 0]

You would have expected the Murphy twins to step up last season in the Championship, they didnt and are quite a way off Premier league level .

[Billabong 0]

I''m with the OP on this one - Brady is half decent but probably no better than [a fit] Ollson

I would be happier to pool the money towards a CB, Striker and back up GK

Then go back for Brady and get him for free, as a back up at a later date...After all, no other clubs are falling over themselves to buy him right now

[......and Smith must score. 1,343]

If we''ve got any serious intentions of staying up we should be looking to spend £20m+ on players. Why can''t we buy a striker, CB and Brady?Brady may not be worth £7m but that''s the going rate. Big risk trying to get him later on a '' free '' . Would be ironic if we try to be clever and then find ourselves back in the Championship for want of another winger.I wonder if he''d been so keen to come here then ?

[king canary 7,606]

Also what someone else said about the Murphy''s- Josh didn''t look ready for a regular role in the Championship so I can''t see him stepping straight up this season. I think Toffolo will be in the squad this season and the Murphys might have some involvement but they are not ready to be much more than bench options so far.

[nutty nigel 7,534]

Josh seemed to drop out of the picture a bit in the second half of last season. Jacob looked as good as I''ve seen him when he came back from his loans. In fact I thought he was the best player on the pitch against Chelsea at the end of last season. Ive still got belief in both and can remember people writing Redmond off just 6 months ago.

[king canary 7,606]

@Nigel

I''m not sure anybody is writing them off- just pointing out they maybe are not ready for first team football at this level yet and certainly not good enough to stop us from signing other players.

[nutty nigel 7,534]

All three players mentioned have huge potential. I don''t think Tofollo has done anymore to earn a place than the twins. But he has less in front of him.

[Branston Pickle 3,657]

I''m inclined to trust the judgement of AN on these things - if he thinks the youngsters are ready then fine, but otherwise we obviously need to get guys in. I guess one thing to decide is whether players can do it regularly, at PL level. It would be great if either/both Murphy''s and young Toffolo were up to it, but it is a big ask.

[Redders Right Foot 22]

I like the Idea of the OP, but as others have said, if those three were ready for this season then we would sign brady and do that. I''m not a fan of paying the same for brady as what we got for snoddy, as I see snoddy as the better player (despite his injury in the first game of the season) and would of preferred to sign him back for what we got for him.

[star_manic 0]

Re-sign Snoddy? No way, never. Slow, one footed, greedy, give you committed. Who would you like him to replace?

[Redders Right Foot 22]

Snoddy was used as a scape goat, unfairly so IMO, by many on here that season (not saying you were one, I can''t remember who was and who was not) but I am glad to see you''ve at least given him committed. and while not a fully two footed player, I wouldn''t exactly call him one footed. he could still put in a mean cross with his right, although he would often choose to cut in and use his left (many believe that is/was CH''s influence.) and I will give you Greedy - but in a season where only one of our strikers could even hope to score a goal, greed from our wingers is what we needed. fair comment on who would he replace, but for any winger coming in, one of our midfield has to go, seeing as we were using players who most would consider central players out wide last season. (wes, BJ) and truth be told we have a plethora of centre mids fighting for at most 3 central spots, so someone is going to be dropped from last season if/when we do sign an actual wide player.

[Guest]

7 million is a bit over the odds for Brady, 3-5 million i could live with but we seem to have thrown all the eggs in one basket on this one.

[hogesar 9,671]

7 million in the current market is pretty much spot on for me. People need to wake up and realise that a:

- 23 year old

- With prem experience

- Who''s a full international

- Who can cover two positions (LB (or wingback) and LM)

Is probably going to cost a bit of money. Clubs know how much money we''re going to receive for being in the Premier League, they''re not going to let us walk all over them and take their best players for whatever price we decide just because we''re a league above them...

[Indy_Bones 441]

[quote user="Javiers Deaf Translator"]I will give you Greedy - but in a season where only one of our strikers could even hope to score a goal, greed from our wingers is what we needed.[/quote]No,It was the greed from our wingers which caused our strikers to be unable to score frequently.No matter how good a striker you are, you can''t score if they won''t give you the ball (or at least a semi-decent ball) and far too much of our play that season was all funneled down the right through Snoddy, who regularly and consistently failed to even try giving RvW or Hooper the balls they both needed and wanted, instead he''d cut inside (slowly), try to dribble past 3 defenders (slowly) and then finally give them a $hit ball they could do f**k all with...You couldn''t fault his work rate or commitment, but his teamplay far too often left much to be desired, how much of that is Hughton''s fault we''ll probably never know, but at many times I''d rather we''d have had a fit Benno available, just because he seemed far more team oriented with his play - even if he''s not as good as Snoddy as an overall player.

[yorkie 0]

[quote user="hogesar"]7 million in the current market is pretty much spot on for me. People need to wake up and realise that a:

- 23 year old

- With prem experience

- Who''s a full international

- Who can cover two positions (LB (or wingback) and LM)

Is probably going to cost a bit of money. Clubs know how much money we''re going to receive for being in the Premier League, they''re not going to let us walk all over them and take their best players for whatever price we decide just because we''re a league above them...

[/quote]

[Tetteys Jig 830]

There''s too much money at stake these days to put all your faith in the youth players sadly. If we can be well clear of relegation then maybe we can give them some game time but Brady is a proven premiership operator, those three are not. That''s not to say they never will be though.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

[quote user="Inch High aka Inchy.."]7 million is a bit over the odds for Brady, 3-5 million i could live with but we seem to have thrown all the eggs in one basket on this one.[/quote]

I doubt it, we are still looking to buy 2or 3 more players.

[westcoastcanary 173]

AN and FM have come to us from a club (Accies) dedicated to developing young talent. See

http://inbedwithmaradona.com/journal/2012/11/12/hamilton-academical-the-future-of-scottish-football-is-here.html

Our youngsters are in good hands so let''s just see what AN and FM think is best for them this season.

My guess is that the twins will go out on loan; AN is on record as saying young players need to be playing competitive football, not warming the bench or just development games.