12 hours ago, JM7 said:

I don’t understand..surely there must be 1 striker in the WHOLE WORLD who could improve us? Surely the scouts must have some up and coming players to get? How can we only be linked with Cavani and Dembele?

I guess it depends on the striker the board/Frank are looking for. From the players we have been linked with, it seems they are looking for someone already established versus someone that has potential and will possibly grow into a top player. AKA a quick fix until the end of the season or until we actually find someone worth spending big on. Dembele and Cavani look like the only established strikers that you can get for a reasonable price this window unless you are willing to go out and spend money in the 100million range. 

Not that I support this strategy, but that looks like the direction they are going. The rumours about Cavani's costs also have me concerned.

Edited January 24, 20206 yr by Frankie8Lampard

Mariano Diaz from Real is an interesting one. Fantastic physical specimen, powerful, tall, eye for goal but just not someone Zidane cares to use. Would come easy on a loan or an inexpensive transfer

17 hours ago, Spiller86 said:

Agreed. I think we need to get the right fit. For too long we've been happy with dross because our number one target wasn't available or said no. Remember when we wanted Oxlade-Chamberlain and ended up with Zappacosta? 

Our squad is fine to get us into the top four, particularly when you consider Pedro and Giroud have barely played. They are well and truly good enough to help in the run in.

We always said this was a transition season. As it stands we're still 6 points clear in fourth that's not the end of the world in my view.

But all we ever get linked to are either over the hill or questionable players, and that's if there is any foundation in the links. If there is nor foundation, it maybe that regardless of the war-chest that we apparently have, we're not actually linked with anyone.

I think a lot of the players we are apparently linked to actually come from people wish list on forums like this that social media outlets re-hash as actual rumours. From what I can gather the only likely accurate rumours are that we have expressed an interest in Cavani and Dembele.

And generally speaking, players are better when they are young and on the upward curve than old and downward curve. 
 

There must be younger players who the club have identified. 

We are being linked with a move for a Left Back from Grasshoppers called Arigoni now. Supposedly very quick but Grasshoppers are in Swiss second division currently so limited info on him.

Completely and utterly convinced now our new striker will be loan  if/when he signs

 

8 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

But all we ever get linked to are either over the hill or questionable players, and that's if there is any foundation in the links. If there is nor foundation, it maybe that regardless of the war-chest that we apparently have, we're not actually linked with anyone.

I think a lot of the players we are apparently linked to actually come from people wish list on forums like this that social media outlets re-hash as actual rumours. From what I can gather the only likely accurate rumours are that we have expressed an interest in Cavani and Dembele.

That's a fair point and I don't want to defend our transfer approach which I have said for at least 3 years has been diabolical. We rely far too much on agents and on the right price rather than the right fit and end up wasting a lot of money and getting neither a good deal nor a good fit. 

I reckon there is a lot of interaction between links social media and other carry on mainly pushed by agents. People then pick them up on here and form a view based on some stats when they would never have even seen them play. It's all a bit silly. 

Could we put a cheeky loan offer for Costa?

20 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Could we put a cheeky loan offer for Costa?

Is he still actually playing? I feel like whenever I see media about him it's for crashing a go kart into a pool or some other shenanigans.

Is he still actually playing? I feel like whenever I see media about him it's for crashing a go kart into a pool or some other shenanigans.

All the more reason to bring him back. The fella is comedy gold.

3 minutes ago, loz said:

15 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

Is he still actually playing? I feel like whenever I see media about him it's for crashing a go kart into a pool or some other shenanigans.

All the more reason to bring him back. The fella is comedy gold.

We have been missing leadership... feel like driving go karts into a pool is just the sort of Churchillian stuff we need.

1 minute ago, Spiller86 said:

We have been missing leadership... feel like driving go karts into a pool is just the sort of Churchillian stuff we need.

Reminds me more of Malcolm in the middle.

11 hours ago, BordeauxBlue said:

Reminds me more of Malcolm in the middle.

Reminds me more of Vivian from the young ones... 

13 hours ago, Gol15 said:

 

I would say Jovic, has the most to prove.

Costa's head is probably not right and no amount of snickers will fix that!

Frank will probably want Cavani yet guess he will go to Athletico.

Jovic with option to buy would be great business. Feels like wishful thinking though

What about Dyabla? He was close to leaving and hasn’t signed a new deal. 

On 24/01/2020 at 05:17, RickUK said:

Have a nagging feeling todays presser is the one where Frank confirms no new arrivals.  a week left and just no solid news of any movement.... 

 

I think Lampard is begging the Board to bring in new players. He looks increasingly frustrated and it’s very worrying that the Board are dragging their feet. We’ve seen the Board leave managers hang out to dry before over new signings. 
 

It’s not as if players aren’t available this window. Given the transfer ban last summer the case for new players is pretty urgent given the falling off in our form as games have piled up.
 

If the Board don’t back Lampard then things are going to be pretty bleak I’d say both for the team’s chances of securing a top four spot and for the Board’s relationship with Lampard himself.

19 minutes ago, Socrates said:

I think Lampard is begging the Board to bring in new players. He looks increasingly frustrated and it’s very worrying that the Board are dragging their feet. We’ve seen the Board leave managers hang out to dry before over new signings. 

It’s not as if players aren’t available this window. Given the transfer ban last summer the case for new players is pretty urgent given the falling off in our form as games have piled up.

If the Board don’t back Lampard then things are going to be pretty bleak I’d say both for the team’s chances of securing a top four spot and for the Board’s relationship with Lampard himself.

I thought the interview was tetchy to say the least. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes but he sounded like he had a clear picture of what he wanted and that hasn't happened. I await the return of Pato on loan to sort everything out...

Considering the fact that Frank wasn't sure if Tammy will be ready for Leicester City and that we basically don't have a backup for Mount I think that it's evident that we do need reinforcements and the board should be able to see it.

Maybe somehow the club just doesn't have the funds.

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

Considering the fact that Frank wasn't sure if Tammy will be ready for Leicester City and that we basically don't have a backup for Mount I think that it's evident that we do need reinforcements and the board should be able to see it.

Maybe somehow the club just doesn't have the funds.

I think the funds are there. It’s likely just indecision, uncertainty and possibly incompetence. Waiting till the last day to sign one likely stop-gap player is just a terrible way to do things. It’s blindingly obvious that you need to get players in earlier to give them time to train and adjust and even maybe play a cup game. Bringing in someone at the end of the window then asking them to hit the ground running, especially if they come from abroad, is really dubious.

At this stage in the window we’re better off signing someone already playing in the Premier League. But, to be honest, I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. By the look of it, neither does Lampard.

On 23/01/2020 at 15:33, dkw said:

So what do you want to happen, just go out and get anyone, no matter who? I would much rather we had the right targets and if they arent gettable now then wait until the summer, rather than just sign any old sh*te like we have done in the past.

To be fair, we've signed plenty of sh*te in recent summer transfer windows, too. It's the same crap over and over again, we keep hearing how diffcult it is to get quality players in January, then comes summer, we do f**k all for weeks and weeks and then sign some dross at the deadine.

When was the last time we actually signed players who really upgraded the side and made a difference? Fabregas and Costa in 2014 and Kante in 2016, that's about it. Most of the rest were either expensive flops (Morata, possibly Kepa) or absolute rubbish, like Bakayoko or Zappacosta. Fans have every right to be unhappy, whoever identifies our transfer tagets has been stealing a living for quite some time now.

Edited January 26, 20206 yr by abramovich

Think it will be a let down for Lampard if the club fail to get a striker. It's quite extraordinary after finally over turned the ban, we have done f* all and it's almost the end of the month. My guess is Lampard is frustrated like anyone else about our failures to take chances, and he's not having much faith about Batman start scoring all of a sudden.

i dont think we are realising how tough this market is .. there are 3 teams desperately trying to get in reinforcements in us , Utd and Spurs all with urgency especially in the CF position.. but unfortunately there arent a lot of quality CFs available that actually improve us.. Dembele doesnt want to move.. Cavani want to play in Spain..  whom are we going to target?

I've said this before a few seasons ago, I think our scouting staff is very poor which leaves us going after the 'obvious' targets which are also being targeted by others so the price increases....meanwhile Barca making a 67m bid for Ben Yedder from Monaco to replace Suarez, never read any other clubs after him...if he's good enough for Barca is he not good enough for us? Is the club telling us that there isn't one player in South America or Europe that is not good enough for our misfiring team, or is the Board looking at our games saying 'Well hell the team plays well going forward they just don't know what to do with it when they get to 20 yards from goal, and that's the coaches job to sort that out, not just buying another player'..... and up to a point I agree with them if that's the reason for not bringing anyone in.