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Are we missing out on primary targets?

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We are told the club likes to do its business early these days. Yet nobody significant has signed and just one loan and reports of players not choosing to come here. I am wondering if our desire to sign people on wages that match the current team, and not spend very much, is making it all but impossible to sign players at the top level which is, by its very nature, an expensive level. 

We saw on recent visits to the Prem how difficult it is to attract players. We lost out on our primary targets and ended up shopping in the basement bucket which sunk us. Now whilst I totally approve of not just throwing money at the bargain bucket again- no more Naismiths please- we are better sticking with what we have than going down that road....I do think we need to show some ambition and sign two or three players to firm up the defence and make us competitive.

Are we struggling to land our targets with our frugal gameplan or am I being a panicky Pete? 

 

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It’s June. Most deals aren’t done until July. 

Think the only player announced this time last season was Buendia - and that deal had been completed in January so was ready and waiting. 

Seems like Norwich aren’t planning on doing lots of deals, so was also unlikely much would happen in June. 

Might see some stuff on 30 June, as that is when contracts end. Still a couple of weeks until training beginnings - so signing players now means paying their wages for the last couple of weeks of holiday. 

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As you probably have noticed , while reading my contributions on here 😉...I can understand what you're feeling , but I agree with Bethnal on the fact that it's June...not July ... so we need a bit more patience...

Yet I agree with the fact that we need one or two players , that are actually up to it , up to the PL standard! And this will cost some money , you just can't get out of that... the moment a PL club comes calling , the price goes up astronomically... (eg. this Brazilian forward Villa bought from Belgian club Bruges)

In my opinion , we need to sign a few though if we are to stay in the PL . Many disagree with me , and say we've got the players and do not have to disrupt the team spirit we have etc... But they are naive imo...If we do not add a few (at least DM and striker after the roberts signing)...the ride will be tougher. That is my honest opinion

Edited by ROBFLECK

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Based on last season, I’ll leave it to Webber!

Roberts was clearly a primary target and is  already here. I would think we may only see another 2 maybe 3 signings so there isn’t going to be a revolving door scenario like in other seasons.

If we got to the start of the season having signed no-one else, I’m not sure I would be too bothered as I would like to see the current players given a go. Possibly naive but then who’d have thought they’d have torn up the championship last season.

 

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Agree with all the above. I guess my concern boils down to a simple question- can we really improve on what we have without disrupting the frugal wage structure and budget the club wishes to impose? 

To be fair to Webber - he amazed us all last season with some very canny signings. But the prem is not the champs - and he is untested at this level. Hence the creeping doubts...

I too think we need 3 or 4 players who are genuine improvements on what we have. And I just don’t see how we can get that on the cheap. 

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I think it’s arguably more important that we keep hold of our better players, than sign additional ones. Losing Max for example, would be a huge blow. 

We do need back up in certain areas and when I posted I wouldn’t be too worried with no additional signings, I forgot Rhodes isn’t actually our player anymore! 

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That's sensible Clint and I don't dissagree , but I'm holding my breath regarding the DM position...protection of our back four is very important and I don't think we've got a player there that is PL standard...Godfrey was great as a CB , so I wouldn't play him at DM for example... Tettey is not the player he was in 2015...which is understandable...

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1 minute ago, Fuzzar said:

Dean and Flecky lay down early pant-wetting marker!

that's harsh Fuzz...my pants are still dry m8

Edited by ROBFLECK

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1 minute ago, ROBFLECK said:

that's harsh Fuzz...my pants are still dry m8

Sanitary technology has moved on, I suppose.

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8 minutes ago, Clint said:

 

We do need back up in certain areas and when I posted I wouldn’t be too worried with no additional signings, I forgot Rhodes isn’t actually our player anymore! 

I think the powers that be want to sign Rhodes permanently, just so we can still do the Farke on a horse song...

As an aside, someone suggested that we replace his name with 'Klose'. I had to politely explain that his name is pronounced with two syllables and therefore would completely **** up the song.

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No I don't think so. Webber clearly doesn't put his eggs all in one basket, therefore I doubt we classified primary targets, more primary roles to fill - of which many targets have been identified. 

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I think if, after what Webber and Farke have achieved so far, you start to have 'doubts' on the 21st June, dare I suggest, DCB, you might not have what it takes to get through a prem season..

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there are probably some we are waiting for to fall into place. Prices may go down, replacements need to be signed, bigger clubs sign their targets and no longer look at their b list (our a list). Think we will get the balance right but wouldn't surprise me if we are still going on deadline day.

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I don't think Webber will be fazed by the lack of additions so far. He's gone on record saying if we go down, so be it, we will not risk the future of the Club and if we can't get the right players in, we should go with what we've got and I, for one agree with him. 

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Yes we need  some more talent but we can't be held to ransom just because we have a bit of money now. A club like ours has to look beyond next season financially.

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I suspect that there's a gem in the pipeline ..... it could be one of the few mentioned earlier in this thread, as they seem to come to prominence in the blink of an eyelid and then disappear from the headlines just as rapidly. Mbaye Diagne from Turkey seemed a good fit, for example,  but not at £17m.

Webber seems determined to stick to his principles and if he does eventually give way in some shape or form I suspect it won't be by much.

I played through his latest interview yesterday and agreed with everything he said. It was like treacle coming from his mouth and going straight on to my toast. 

I'm inclined to think that, should we fail next season, my support will remain much more rigid than it has at times in the past when our excursions into the elite have disappointed due to the lack of real clarity of direction ... from the belated acquisition of Dean Ashton, through the absurd timing of the removal of Hughton and onto the apparent panic buys of Alex Neil.

McNally called relegation a "fate worse than death." These words will likely never come from Stuart Webber's mouth as he clearly has a strict , sensible and realistic plan of action which seems equipped for any eventuality.

Edited by BroadstairsR
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I agree with that argument Keelansgrandad. Financially the club can't make the same mistakes it did in the past...  but as a supporter, you want your club to do well in the PL and stay up, don't you? 

I think that is where the difficulty lies for Webber , he's walking a tight rope ... between the financial side and the football side ... I am confident he will make the right choices and his arguments are reasonable.

Yet I think the arguments that there should be a few quality signings added to the squad are reasonable too

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Yet I think the arguments that there should be a few quality signings added to the squad are reasonable too

They are indeed. Quality is more important than marquee. Yes we would love to think that we could attract a "name". I think the sticking point is the unreasonable demands from those who would desert us if we go down.

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4 minutes ago, ROBFLECK said:

Financially the club can't make the same mistakes it did in the past...  but as a supporter, you want your club to do well in the PL and stay up, don't you? 

 

This is the key, sure we want to stay up but I would rather go down playing attractive, entertaining football than try to survive by parking the bus every week. 

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41 minutes ago, Il Pirata said:

No I don't think so. Webber clearly doesn't put his eggs all in one basket, therefore I doubt we classified primary targets, more primary roles to fill - of which many targets have been identified. 

I’m sure they have players they would rather sign than others.

You have to start somewhere and you’d start with the players you want the most, although still doing work on the B, C and D choices. 

I think Norwich made a rod for their own back a bit with all the talk about how they already knew who they wanted and Webber even saying it was 95% done or something like that. 

Signing players in June is hard and usually more expensive than signing later. Clubs are often prepared to eat the cost difference in order to get stuff done - Real Madrid are a good example of this at the moment.  

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Just now, splendidrush said:

This is the key, sure we want to stay up but I would rather go down playing attractive, entertaining football than try to survive by parking the bus every week. 

Totally agree and I am confident in Farke getting his team to play attractive football.

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One good  and very valid point made by Webber concerned the nature of the market.

Whilst acknowledging the talents of the super, superstars who cost dozens of millions (and those clearly out of City's reach) he then  referred to the many more average players with ridiculous price tags whose difference in market value did not equate to a difference in performance, especially when comparing them to what we have.

In an age where a dozen or so appearances in the Premier League earns a player a Wolfswinkle level of valuation there is a need to be careful.

When £8m seemed an extraordinary amount for City to spend on one player, it has now become a minimum outlay for even the ordinary.

 

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Someone who used to be in player recruitment one gave a talk at a college I was attending and he described the process as trying to find a prince. The biggest problem was that sometimes you had to kiss a lot of frogs brfore you found the prince you were looking for.:classic_laugh:

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22 minutes ago, BroadstairsR said:

When £8m seemed an extraordinary amount for City to spend on one player, it has now become a minimum outlay for even the ordinary.

And this is where the challenge lies for Webber and his team... I really liked the Roberts loan signing, because he genuinely improves the squad but doesn't cost millions... I fear they will have to splash out a bit if they are going to sign (permanently) a PL level player , even if the guy doesn't play in a top league and is rather unknown of (picked up by good scouting)... PL tax etc...

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I’m not sure anyone can suggest we are missing out on ‘primary’ targets this early in the game.  I’m not even sure Turnbull was one as had always seemed destined for Celtic until the last few days - but our apparent interest to me suggests we can be fleet-footed if we need to which is a good thing.

One other thing is that it was only a matter of time before these threads started appearing - but it is only mid-June, the transfer Window is barely open. It’s far too early to be pant-wetting.

 

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It was only a matter of time that the term "pant-wetting" would be introduced and served up to each person that was asking questions about possible signings...and giving even a slight impression that he or she wants a good signing to be made sooner rather than later...

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I have a clear date when my cautious expectation becomes pant-wetting. Friday 28th.June.

 

If we haven't invested millions by then I will fit on my Tena pad the minute I get out from my bed.

(Assuming Amazon have delivered my order by then of course.)

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Not in the slightest, keeping Godfrey, Aarons, Lewis and Beundia is key to a good premiership campaign.

 

We’ve already signed a very good youngster on loan who can play attacking midfield, on the wing and a very strong back up for Pukki.

 

We’ve also signed a very good youngster who can play as a holding midfielder, yes he might be young, but if hes good enough he’ll get his chance.

 

As far as I’m concerned I’d rather buy or loan players who can improve our starting 11 not just squad players, we have enough squad players as we are.

 

I for one wouldn’t mind if Rhodes didn’t come back here, as much as he’d love the move I don’t think he’d be any improvement on what we already have for the money he’d demand. 

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Remember when we used to leave all our business until the very end of the window, and then we'd get gazumped by Wigan for David Cotterill and everyone would say the sky was falling?

We're doing alright at the moment, I reckon.

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