The big money is yet to be spent! Yep!

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

Yep. Yep. Yep.

The big money is yet to be spent!

If the NCFC board are to be believed.(Shhh! Hush)

Do the maths.

Who are going to be the star signings? Those good enough to command an automatic place? Those good enough to take the club emphatically forward over the next 3 years or so ? Those who we are going to sell at a massive profit in 2 or so years time?

Who will be our Watson/Bruce/Stringer in central defence?

Who will be our Mike Phelan/Andy Townsend in central midfield?

Who will be our Robert Fleck/David Cross in attack?

You know - the South, Watling, Chase strategy.(Shhh!Hush)  

Who will they be? Assuming the NCFC board can be believed.(Shh!Hush)

You guess - or maybe Nutty''s got the inside track?

[^o)]

OTBC

 

 

 

[Hog 0]

realistically Billy Sharp or Eastwood would have been big signings for the striker position, but they are both gone now, I can definately see another central defender coming in, and possibly some cover for Drury, I think Dave Striker will be our only attacking purchase,  so at the end of it all, we will have got a fair few extra players in, the money will vanish and we will hear about signing on fees and agents fees etc when we eventually say  "show me the money" in January.   I hope I''m wrong!

[Smudger 0]

[quote user="Salahuddin"]realistically Billy Sharp or Eastwood would have been big signings for the striker position, but they are both gone now, I can definately see another central defender coming in, and possibly some cover for Drury, I think Dave Striker will be our only attacking purchase,  so at the end of it all, we will have got a fair few extra players in, the money will vanish and we will hear about signing on fees and agents fees etc when we eventually say  "show me the money" in January.   I hope I''m wrong![/quote]

You are not wrong mate!!!  [Y]

[Wings 0]

[quote user="Salahuddin"]realistically Billy Sharp or Eastwood would have been big signings for the striker position, but they are both gone now, I can definately see another central defender coming in, and possibly some cover for Drury, I think Dave Striker will be our only attacking purchase,  so at the end of it all, we will have got a fair few extra players in, the money will vanish and we will hear about signing on fees and agents fees etc when we eventually say  "show me the money" in January.   I hope I''m wrong![/quote]

So you''d be happy to sign Sharp - a player who''s never played in the Championship - and Eastwood - who didn''t exactly set the world alight after Christmas - spending £2-3million on these? We''ve signed Cureton, who was last season''s Championship top scorer, and appear to be about to sign Strihavka.

I personally think Sharp would''ve been a good signing, but let''s face it, he was never going to sign for anyone else when Sheffield Utd got involved. I''m not convinced by Eastwood.

I''m glad we''ve gone for Cureton and Strihavka; Cureton will score goals, and Strihavka could be an excellent acquisition, and both are signed at less than the price for one of Sharp/Eastwood. I admire the club''s transfer activities so far, and think it will lead to a stronger, better team all around.

[mbncfc 1]

Personally, I think Dave the Striker will be the final acquisition from the Earnshaw money.

That, however, should mean we still have £2m to spend - as Grant said the money was there without the sale of Earnie.

Let''s hope we bring in a couple more. CB calling...

[kevin brighton 0]

Oh Boy here we go again glass half empty! Freddy Eastwood or Billy Sharp would have been good but they choose to go elsewhere or we chose not to pursue them. It is almost normal now for some people to have a go at almost every aspect of the club. A couple of weeks ago some were predicting that transfer dealings would be just like last summer with only one signing and that right at the death just prior to kick off. We already have five new players with another on the way. Grant has said maybe one or two more so in my view thats all positive.

To suggest that the money for transfers will be hidden, lost or disposed of elsewhere is just another non factual statement. I agree with those who suggest we need another centre back and depending on who may leve possibly other replacements will be required. But Grant will not want to fail, he is a new manager and his future will depend on his success or failure to produce a winning team. What was exceptional about our promotion year was that the team, the club and the fans were all pulling in the same direction. We helped to purchase Huckerby and we helped the team produce the results. That will only ever be achieved again if all the pieces fall into place and that includes us the fans. 

[Carlos Valderrama 0]

Shackell will mature into the Bruce/Watson mould, especially now he has the security of Brellier breaking things up in front of him.

Brellier will be our Phelan/Townsend, good attacking football can only be built on strong foundations, Brellier will provide this.

Cureton will be our Fleck/SUtton, the boy could turn out to be a real talisman, has unfinished business and is desperate to do well for Norwich.

Someone else has already summed up (elsewhere in the forum) that you don''t need to spend big money to get quality, you just need to spend wisely.  That said, how much do you think Brellier would be worth if someone had to pay a fee?

A couple of good quality loan signings and maybe Dean Marney and I reckon the squad is complete.  Lets not forget that we can bulk up and add additional quality in January if things are going well.

[First Wizard 0]

Whats this obsession with big money transfers?, maybe if we went up and needed really ''next level'' signings I could see it. But I think keeping the cash back now, and hopefully when we need a final ''push'' for promotion, spend it then.

To spend big now smells of panic to me................and you don''t do that in July for Gods sake!.

[Stevo 0]

Except that any signings in the January transfer window come at a premium because clubs are reacting to their present postion - be it pushing for promotion or fighting relegation.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

I asked yesterday.....

Would it be prudent or ambitious to save some money for the January window, especially if we are in a position to push on for promotion. I''m not saying that''s what''s going to happen though. Neither am I saying it''s what I believe is going to happen. I was just asking [:^)]

Bly my friend... your memory plays tricks on you at times..

Stringer came through the ranks in a similar way to Shackell.... Watson was a Liverpool reserve when we signed him similar to Doherty at Spurs... Bruce was with Gillingham in the lower leagues similar to Ostemboor or Drury.... Phelan came from the dizzy heights of Burnley similar to Etuhu from Preston... Townsend was aplayer who came good after playing 100+ non league games he was given his chance at Southampton by Lowry McMenemy but he was unhappy there for some reason and we got him for 300,000. I can''t liken this signing to anyone really ''cept maybe Earnie... Robert Fleck was a big signing from a big club, so was Huckerby... David Cross was someone you never heard of from Rochdale probably not a lot different at the time to Brown or this Czech guy if we get him.

I''m not saying the comparisons I make are as good as your list of players Bly.. what I am saying is the strategy is the same.

 

[Carlos Valderrama 0]

[quote user="Stevo"]Except that any signings in the January transfer window come at a premium because clubs are reacting to their present postion - be it pushing for promotion or fighting relegation.[/quote]

Not always, players who cost a premium amount come from clubs who do not need to sell to survive.

Lets not forget that there will be some clubs who need to sell to survive like Leeds, Ipswich, QPR maybe Southampton.  The foreign market can also be tapped into at this time.  Sure there always moves that cost over the odds, but then again there always a couple of suprise bargains (Huckerby!!).

[7rew 0]

[quote user="Salahuddin"] so at the end of it all, we will have got a fair few extra players in, the money will vanish and we will hear about signing on fees and agents fees etc when we eventually say  "show me the money" in January.   I hope I''m wrong![/quote]Your not wrong - we will hear of signing on fees and agent fees if we ask where the little bits of the transfer budget have gone.That is because we have to pay these fees and the money will have gone on them.Thats not an excuse or the money not ever being there - its the reality of modern football. These fees have to be payed even for free transfers.  These fees are often around the same size as the transfer fees.  (One of the few known cases is Yakubu to ''boro for 8m in transfer fees and 11m in agent fees.)I reckon we''ve spent between .75m and 1.5m on these fees so far this off season.

[Hotdog 0]

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Whats this obsession with big money transfers?, maybe if we went up and needed really ''next level'' signings I could see it. But I think keeping the cash back now, and hopefully when we need a final ''push'' for promotion, spend it then.

To spend big now smells of panic to me................and you don''t do that in July for Gods sake!.

[/quote]

I see what your saying Wiz but i feel we should spend most of the money we have now and save a small amount for january. Your point about the final push for promotion is interesting because i feel that we actually have to get in that position and therefore need to spend most of the money now because thr january transfer window comes with only 2 to 3 months of the season left and at this point we could be to far behind to make any real push for promotion. If we sttrenghen our squad now and then just spend a small amount for covers of injury we will stand a far greater chance of winning promotion

[Stevo 0]

I personally doubt that many / any clubs will need to sell halfway through the season to ''survive''. I''m that clubs will finance themselves against a business plan for the season. The deadlines associated with the transfer window - particularly the January one - have favoured the selling clubs.

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

 We should go for Riordan if they do look for another striker.

Still trying to make my mind up about midfielders/defenders. Baptiste would''ve been nice but decided to sign a new contract with Mansfield.

[Tumbleweed 106]

The main reason I think a goodly sum should be saved until Jan is that recently we have ben very hard done by with injuries and we just cannot predict where those will be. We just need two long term absentees in any one third of the pitch and we would have a serious problem (remember the Prem season when we had to play helveg and Stuart in midfield?). So Jan offers an opportunity to strengthen where we need it and if we''ve spent all our money we could be in a tight spot.

[Yellowfuture 71]

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Whats this obsession with big money transfers?, maybe if we went up and needed really ''next level'' signings I could see it. But I think keeping the cash back now, and hopefully when we need a final ''push'' for promotion, spend it then.

To spend big now smells of panic to me................and you don''t do that in July for Gods sake!.

[/quote]

We should spend the money now, and get the bet possible squad together to begin the season, as has been said prices at Christmas are even higher than they are now. If we need to spend more in January for a final promotion push then it would be good business sence to dig a bit deeper into the pockets of the board as the reward would be so great if we were promoted. 

[Stevo 0]

If we identify a player that would improve us, who we can afford and who would sign now, then why wait? Wonder what difference it would have made if Ashton had signed in the Summer rather than January?

No point spending for the sake of it or if the ''right'' players aren''t available but lets give ourselves the best chance of success this year. Surely that means having the strongest squad for the full season?

[ricardo 7,348]

Never mund about waiting until January. We still need a good central defender. If we don''t have at least £1.5 million left in the kitty then somebody has been kidding us along.

I make it we haven''t even spent the Earnshaw money yet, let alone the original transfer budget. If Strihavka is the last purchase then it will be yet again another case of more money recieved than paid out.

[First Wizard 0]

[quote user="Stevo"]

If we identify a player that would improve us, who we can afford and who would sign now, then why wait? Wonder what difference it would have made if Ashton had signed in the Summer rather than January?

 

[/quote]

Damn! that a good point Stevo, I hadn''t even considered that one.

[Bigmarkcanary 0]

[quote user="ricardo"]

Never mund about waiting until January. We still need a good central defender. If we don''t have at least £1.5 million left in the kitty then somebody has been kidding us along.

I make it we haven''t even spent the Earnshaw money yet, let alone the original transfer budget. If Strihavka is the last purchase then it will be yet again another case of more money recieved than paid out.

[/quote]

I''m in agreement with that Ricardo, especially with regards to needing a good centre half before January!

With regards to the Earnshaw money though, I wouldn''t be a bit surprised if we are recieving it in instalments instead of in one lump and that''s inspite of Derby''s cash windfall. Still, I may well be wrong on that - I hope I am.

[Stevie Wonder 0]

[quote user="1st Wizard"]

Whats this obsession with big money transfers?, maybe if we went up and needed really ''next level'' signings I could see it. But I think keeping the cash back now, and hopefully when we need a final ''push'' for promotion, spend it then.

To spend big now smells of panic to me................and you don''t do that in July for Gods sake!.

[/quote]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn''t you recently start a thread complaining about the free transfers "Billy No Marks" was the title?

Personally, I think the signings so far have freshened up the squad and not necessarily the first 11 - only one of the 2 keepers will play and of them one is unproven at this level. Is Otsemebor any better than Colin (maybe going forward) is Brellier better than Safri? Is Cureton better than Earnshaw?

I''m sorry and I hope I am wrong but whilst these are decent signings we clearly need at least 2/3 more. Another striker which would appear to be the Czech lad and definitely a centre back.

I still think we will see one or two more departures (Safri, Hughes & Gallacher have all been linked elsewhere). The likes of Halliday, Lewis, Cave-Brown and the Jarvis boys are likely to be loaned out.

The squad looks better but we are still short on that star quality which is only given to us by Hux and we can''t keep relying on him - sooner or later he is going to miss a chunk of games and we will be in trouble. Without him last year we would have been relegated!

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

i think we need to sign another goalkeeper!

 

[BBFF 0]

I have always said not getting a striker to replace Robo till January was the biggest show of lack of ambition the board could have made when we got to the Prem. Remember we only had to win one more game to stay up.

 

FOOTBALL MUST COME FIRST

[BBFF 0]

Every one said our squad was too small last season, remember Martin played in mid field because we had on one else? So far we have shipped 5 out and got 5 in. We must get at least 3 more players if we don''t want to be in the same position this season. Fingers crossed Dave the striker will come then a quality centre back and a mid fielder as cover.

You don''t have to blow all the money on one name better to build a squad that wants play for US and not a player who only want to play for him selves and his next move.

We will just have to wait and see if the money has been spent well.

 

FOOTBALL MUST COME FIRST

[Smudger 0]

Yawn, yawn, yawn... we are all still waiting as we will be on August 31st and as we will be by the end of the season!!!  [:S]

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

"it will be yet again another case of more money recieved than paid out."

Surely its better than the other way around. That would = more debt.

And how the hell do I quote properly on this board?

[Show Me What You Gooot! 0]

I''ll rephrase that last question. How do you make MULTIPLE quotes in one post . Or can you not do that?

[ricardo 7,348]

[quote user="paint_me_yellow"]

"it will be yet again another case of more money recieved than paid out."

Surely its better than the other way around. That would = more debt.

And how the hell do I quote properly on this board?

[/quote]

That would be true if you were simply running a business to make money.

I thought we were trying to get to the Premiership. I don''t think you can do both things at the same time.