Martin Taylor - Birmingham Transfer News...

[Road to Nowhere 0]

Interesting developments at Birmingham in the Guardian today. Seems like McLeish is keen to keep Djourou at centre back and is looking to strengthen in January.. doesn''t mention Taylor but hopefully he''s out of sight, out of mind.

 

 

"Johan Djourou will cost Birmingham City £2m if Arsenal agree to extend the central defender''s loan period at St Andrew''s until the end of the season. Birmingham have already paid £1m to take the Swiss international on loan until the end of the year but Arsenal will demand another seven-figure payment before Alex McLeish is granted the opportunity to retain the player for a further five months.

That sum is unlikely to deter the Birmingham board or McLeish, who has made clear his desire to retain Djourou, but Arsène Wenger could well see more value in holding on to a player whose availability might prove crucial when Kolo Touré joins up with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

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Wenger is expected to make a decision on Djourou in the next couple of weeks, with McLeish keen to persuade the Arsenal manager to extend his loan.

"Will I try and keep Djourou for the season? I would think that would be a target we would try and achieve," said Birmingham''s manager. "I know Arsène is mindful of the fact Touré is needed for the African Nations Cup. It is an obstacle we will have to try and overcome. But if we can''t do that, we will have to try and look for someone else because we are a little bit light in that department of the team."

McLeish, who is managing in England for the first time, has hinted that he will initially look north of the border in his attempts to strengthen the Birmingham squad. "I would like to bring in trusted players," he added. "There is no doubt about that. It just depends if the target is available or if we can afford the target."

"Having money to spend will certainly be new to me," he added, alluding to Rangers'' frugal approach during his time at Ibrox. "I''m not sure there will be huge funds in January but, if we can make a fist of it in the Premier League, then next summer will be interesting. But, whatever I get in January, I will make the most of it. Agents have already been getting in touch and I have a couple of players in mind."

[Syteanric 1]

think he''ll join up with Bruce at Wigan... they leak goals like a rusty boat and need someone at the back.

jas :)

[USAcanary 0]

I agree, I think at least one of the bottom prem clubs will come in for him.

[Ivana_rubyatitz 6]

I agree with Jas and USA on this one.  Taylor is simply too good for this level and someone at the lower levels of the Premiership seems bound to snap him up.  Mind you, we thought the same about Huckerby to be fair and Santa gave us a nice surprise that year so maybe we can hope for something similar again.

[InLambertWeTrust! 0]

[quote user="Pboro_Canary"]I agree with Jas and USA on this one.  Taylor is simply too good for this level and someone at the lower levels of the Premiership seems bound to snap him up.  Mind you, we thought the same about Huckerby to be fair and Santa gave us a nice surprise that year so maybe we can hope for something similar again.[/quote]

There was me thinking the fans contributed to the Huckerby signing[:|]

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

If Taylor wasn''t played often in The Premership by Bruce while he was at Birmingham, why would anybody think that Bruce  would now rate Taylor as being good enough to play in The Premiership for Wigan?

 

 

[Mud Man 0]

The outlook for retaining Taylor look more optimistic according to the Pinkun article today. He has been a major contributor to the turnaround in our fortunes. Let''s hope Birmingham will let him go. However, if MacLeish wants "trusted players" he really ought to have a look at Taylor before judging whether he can be trusted or not. We certainly think he can be trusted. Bruce obviously didn''t rate him that highly if he allowed him to go on loan.

[gazzathegreat 0]

Interesting, I have some feedback from a Brum supporting friend who thinks it''s very likely we could get him as he''s sure he won''t figure in the new manager''s thinking.

Trouble is the player himself. Does he want to stay? We can only hope GR can persuade him he has a future with us.

[ca 1]

Think as Gazza said it all depends on whether he wants to stay although he may now be tempted if he thinks he wont get a regular first team place at Birmingham. Hope he stays and if anyone can persuade him its Roeder and us fans on Saturday.