" IF THEY ARE SERIOUS "

" IF THEY ARE SERIOUS "

The following is just my opinion and belief.

If our current board are serious about getting promotion this season and TG has said it on numerous occasions, then I honestly believe we should spend between £2 mill -3 mill in January 2012. We will also in January have bagged about £700,000 from the Carling Cup, plus money from half season tickets,plus merchandise sold in Club shop should top about £800,000 for the last couple of months. We have loaned out about 5 players saving about £200,000 approx.

We have the manager, who gets the best out of any player, we have an excellent first 11, but who needs strengthening when we need to change things if the game is not going our way,injuries,suspensions etc.

I honestly believe we need another striker, a winger, a midfield player at least.


Teams that usually get promoted have a strong squad and strengthen in January.

Any comments/suggestions/agree/disagree with me ?

I think things are going well but we would need a player to be a sub in case the first team lose form/energy or have injuries.

In my opinion the team needs a quick wide player. Conway and Cowie are both hard working who offer lots to the team. They both though lack a real turn of pace. We also need a target man to offer us a 4 4 2 formation. Defensively we are sound but we need another central midfielder to offer competition for places.

i agree with you about bringing in a few players but whether we need to spend 2 to 3 million on signings remains to be seen.
i believe they will back malky but also glad that they are running what seems to be a tight ship
i dont think they can win some fans want money spent and some fans are happy to plod along without spending much..

i agree with you about bringing in a few players but whether we need to spend 2 to 3 million on signings remains to be seen.
i believe they will back malky but also glad that they are running what seems to be a tight ship
i dont think they can win some fans want money spent and some fans are happy to plod along without spending much..

I am not keen on loan players and I dont think Malky is either, with new wages/signing on fees and the money to buy, we might need to spend that type of money, but Malky prob might do it for half that.

Another striker who is comfortable in the 4 5 1 formation and who could play alongside Miller, Earnie or Mason in a 4 4 2 formation. Gestede is good but appears injury prone.

A winger or two who could ensure we could play 4 4 2 with real wingers if need be or to get the best out of the 4 5 1 formation and be able to turn it into a 4 3 3 when attacking.

We need good players who can add definite quality not the likes of Etuhu or JET or Lloyd Samuel. Someone along the lines of McAnuff or Routledge if they are available.

Don't require any defenders or centre midfielders in my opinion.

Please Mr Tan do that and Malky will take us up.

The main problem is attracting players who may not get an immediate chance to start. This is why I think we need 2 or 3 signings rather than loans.

" IF THEY ARE SERIOUS "

The following is just my opinion and belief.

If our current board are serious about getting promotion this season and TG has said it on numerous occasions, then I honestly believe we should spend between £2 mill -3 mill in January 2012. We will also in January have bagged about £700,000 from the Carling Cup, plus money from half season tickets,plus merchandise sold in Club shop should top about £800,000 for the last couple of months. We have loaned out about 5 players saving about £200,000 approx.

We have the manager, who gets the best out of any player, we have an excellent first 11, but who needs strengthening when we need to change things if the game is not going our way,injuries,suspensions etc.

I honestly believe we need another striker, a winger, a midfield player at least.


Teams that usually get promoted have a strong squad and strengthen in January.

Any comments/suggestions/agree/disagree with me ?

Any team that wants to make a genuine push needs strength in depth, i think we need a striker to push kenny as i cannot see earnie making a strong enough challenge at the moment aslo if we get injuries or suspensions with our squad we may have to rely on youngsters malky brings through, who may be good but may lack the cutting edge that we need for a strong push for promotion/playoffs carling cup and a possible f.a cup run......malky will have his targets lets all just hope that the board get behind him in january and possibly bring us our biggest ever push at the end of the season..

Id love to see the likes of Gypes, Keinan, Parkin leave permanently and two good players brought in on perm deals. A winger and a striker. Long term it won't add to the wage bill which is a worry but investment for funds would be needed.

More than happy for us to stick to the budget tho, whoever we get In jan we will be paying over the odds for, that's certain.

We only spent £1.5million-ish in the summer the main recruitment window, so I think spending £3m in January is rather hopeful thinking.

I would agree a direct winger (or 2) with pace is the priority but I don't think we need any strikers (unless someone leaves), defenders or central midfielders.

We only spent £1.5million-ish in the summer the main recruitment window, so I think spending £3m in January is rather hopeful thinking.

I would agree a direct winger (or 2) with pace is the priority but I don't think we need any strikers (unless someone leaves), defenders or central midfielders.

Very hopeful Tony.

I dont want much for Xmas do I.

We only spent £1.5million-ish in the summer the main recruitment window, so I think spending £3m in January is rather hopeful thinking.

I would agree a direct winger (or 2) with pace is the priority but I don't think we need any strikers (unless someone leaves), defenders or central midfielders.

I think the low Transfer window spending was more as a result of Malky spending most of his time feeling out free transfers and then once the free transfers dried up he wanted to make sure he could get exactly what he wanted.

As he's been at the club for a few months and knows the set-up better he's able to plan for what we need more, plus the fact he's probably had scouts eyeing up potential targets for weeks.

Marvin Sordell, Chris Iwelumo and Michael Kightly would do for me

Marvin Sordell, Chris Iwelumo and Michael Kightly would do for me

Marvin Sordell would be an excellent addition, someone who Malky knows very well and he enters the final year of his contract next year.

I think the summer spending might have been a bit more than some of the figures above.

Turner £750k
Miller £800k
Mason £250k
Gunnersson £200k

Add on agents fees, signing on etc.. (bet Earnie, Taylor, Conway and Cowie didnt come cheap) we are probably looking more like £2.5m

In the Jan window we are likely to be spending a bit on Kiss and the only real extra income we've got coming is from the Carling Cup. Hopefully we can shift some of the out of favour squad players, but I'd be happy if we got 4 players, 2 wide men, a stiker and a central midfielder. 2 of these experienced/proven players and the other 2 up and coming/youngsters.

Malky has shown he can 'add value' - virtually all of the above have either contributed with big performances or shown they are capable of developing into very good players, and their value has rocketed, so hopefully this will give the Malaysians some faith to put their hands in their pockets again and back him.

If this meant we had to sell Blake or Gerrard for say £500k - would you do that - as it may well be that we have to sell 1 or 2 who 'ideally we would like to keep' selling players who are on the fringes to bring the others in.

The malaysians have stated on numerous ocassions that they will back malky in january-there really is no excuse for this not to happen now, i honestly cant see 3 million being available but hopefully a decent amount will be set aside for wages.
marv sordell would be an outstanding acquisition and im sure malky can pluck a few gems from scotland or the lower leagues

I think the summer spending might have been a bit more than some of the figures above.

Turner £750k
Miller £800k
Mason £250k
Gunnersson £200k

Add on agents fees, signing on etc.. (bet Earnie, Taylor, Conway and Cowie didnt come cheap) we are probably looking more like £2.5m

In the Jan window we are likely to be spending a bit on Kiss and the only real extra income we've got coming is from the Carling Cup. Hopefully we can shift some of the out of favour squad players, but I'd be happy if we got 4 players, 2 wide men, a stiker and a central midfielder. 2 of these experienced/proven players and the other 2 up and coming/youngsters.

Malky has shown he can 'add value' - virtually all of the above have either contributed with big performances or shown they are capable of developing into very good players, and their value has rocketed, so hopefully this will give the Malaysians some faith to put their hands in their pockets again and back him.

If this meant we had to sell Blake or Gerrard for say £500k - would you do that - as it may well be that we have to sell 1 or 2 who 'ideally we would like to keep' selling players who are on the fringes to bring the others in.

If you take off the incoming money for Chopra then it would be around a £1.5m net spend.

We only spent £1.5million-ish in the summer the main recruitment window, so I think spending £3m in January is rather hopeful thinking.

I would agree a direct winger (or 2) with pace is the priority but I don't think we need any strikers (unless someone leaves), defenders or central midfielders.

Very hopeful Tony.

I dont want much for Xmas do I.

Something tells me you know something

I think the summer spending might have been a bit more than some of the figures above.

Turner £750k
Miller £800k
Mason £250k
Gunnersson £200k

Add on agents fees, signing on etc.. (bet Earnie, Taylor, Conway and Cowie didnt come cheap) we are probably looking more like £2.5m

In the Jan window we are likely to be spending a bit on Kiss and the only real extra income we've got coming is from the Carling Cup. Hopefully we can shift some of the out of favour squad players, but I'd be happy if we got 4 players, 2 wide men, a stiker and a central midfielder. 2 of these experienced/proven players and the other 2 up and coming/youngsters.

Malky has shown he can 'add value' - virtually all of the above have either contributed with big performances or shown they are capable of developing into very good players, and their value has rocketed, so hopefully this will give the Malaysians some faith to put their hands in their pockets again and back him.

If this meant we had to sell Blake or Gerrard for say £500k - would you do that - as it may well be that we have to sell 1 or 2 who 'ideally we would like to keep' selling players who are on the fringes to bring the others in.

If you take off the incoming money for Chopra then it would be around a £1.5m net spend.

Indeed it would.

Unfortunately that probably just about covered what we owed Sunderland for him.

I hope we sell Gyepes, Parkin and Taiwo for £500,000-£750,000. This will also free up some of our wage budget. We've already saved quite a bit from loaning out a few players. This with the Carling Cup, half-season tickets, merchandise etc.. will surely mean we have about £2m to spend. If so, then i'd like to think we'll get;
Rhodes/Sordell - Both realistic, and good players. We'll only get Rhodes if we sell the players mentioned above IMO
Kebe - Pacy winger, good at this level, which we have seen.
We surely dont need a CM as we already have Whitts, Cowie, Gunnar, Kiss, Macca, Ralls, Taylor, Blake if we need to, and even Conway can play in the centre.
Surely with these players and others that MM finds we'll surely be able to push for an automatic promotion place.

I hope we sell Gyepes, Parkin and Taiwo for £500,000-£750,000. This will also free up some of our wage budget. We've already saved quite a bit from loaning out a few players. This with the Carling Cup, half-season tickets, merchandise etc.. will surely mean we have about £2m to spend. If so, then i'd like to think we'll get;
Rhodes/Sordell - Both realistic, and good players. We'll only get Rhodes if we sell the players mentioned above IMO
Kebe - Pacy winger, good at this level, which we have seen.
We surely dont need a CM as we already have Whitts, Cowie, Gunnar, Kiss, Macca, Ralls, Taylor, Blake if we need to, and even Conway can play in the centre.
Surely with these players and others that MM finds we'll surely be able to push for an automatic promotion place.

We won't get a penny for those 3 sorry.

All on wages above their value, we'll be lucky to ship them on without having to pay part of their wages for the rest of thier contracts.

If we are looking to get funds in then we'll need to be selling Blake or Gerrard (who also has only got 6 months left on his contract, so won't have a lot of value infortunately), or asking VT to put his hand in his pocket again.

as for CM Taylor isnt one, Blake IMHO is not up to it, McPhail is struggling with illness and Ralls is just a kid - take those away and we are thin on the ground there. Especially when we play 3 in central mid.

Cowie is needed out wide, although if we bring a couple of wide men in he might be able to move inside.

The half-season ticket and merchandise income will have been budgeted for to cover wages, so I wouldn't count that in any transfer budget.

We definitely need a good striker + winger, atleast.

" IF THEY ARE SERIOUS "

The following is just my opinion and belief.

If our current board are serious about getting promotion this season and TG has said it on numerous occasions, then I honestly believe we should spend between £2 mill -3 mill in January 2012. We will also in January have bagged about £700,000 from the Carling Cup, plus money from half season tickets,plus merchandise sold in Club shop should top about £800,000 for the last couple of months. We have loaned out about 5 players saving about £200,000 approx.

We have the manager, who gets the best out of any player, we have an excellent first 11, but who needs strengthening when we need to change things if the game is not going our way,injuries,suspensions etc.

I honestly believe we need another striker, a winger, a midfield player at least.


Teams that usually get promoted have a strong squad and strengthen in January.

Any comments/suggestions/agree/disagree with me ?

On this occasion Junior, I am going to have to agree with you 120 per cent,in fact I will go as far and make it a 1000 per cent.

I think he'll get something

" IF THEY ARE SERIOUS "

The following is just my opinion and belief.

If our current board are serious about getting promotion this season and TG has said it on numerous occasions, then I honestly believe we should spend between £2 mill -3 mill in January 2012. We will also in January have bagged about £700,000 from the Carling Cup, plus money from half season tickets,plus merchandise sold in Club shop should top about £800,000 for the last couple of months. We have loaned out about 5 players saving about £200,000 approx.

We have the manager, who gets the best out of any player, we have an excellent first 11, but who needs strengthening when we need to change things if the game is not going our way,injuries,suspensions etc.

I honestly believe we need another striker, a winger, a midfield player at least.


Teams that usually get promoted have a strong squad and strengthen in January.

Any comments/suggestions/agree/disagree with me ?

On this occasion Junior, I am going to have to agree with you 120 per cent,in fact I will go as far and make it a 1000 per cent.

I think he'll get something

Cheers Lully, thanks for the very rare occasion that you have agreed with me.

I think the summer spending might have been a bit more than some of the figures above.

Turner £750k
Miller £800k
Mason £250k
Gunnersson £200k

Add on agents fees, signing on etc.. (bet Earnie, Taylor, Conway and Cowie didnt come cheap) we are probably looking more like £2.5m

In the Jan window we are likely to be spending a bit on Kiss and the only real extra income we've got coming is from the Carling Cup. Hopefully we can shift some of the out of favour squad players, but I'd be happy if we got 4 players, 2 wide men, a stiker and a central midfielder. 2 of these experienced/proven players and the other 2 up and coming/youngsters.

Malky has shown he can 'add value' - virtually all of the above have either contributed with big performances or shown they are capable of developing into very good players, and their value has rocketed, so hopefully this will give the Malaysians some faith to put their hands in their pockets again and back him.

If this meant we had to sell Blake or Gerrard for say £500k - would you do that - as it may well be that we have to sell 1 or 2 who 'ideally we would like to keep' selling players who are on the fringes to bring the others in.

If you take off the incoming money for Chopra then it would be around a £1.5m net spend.

Indeed it would.

Unfortunately that probably just about covered what we owed Sunderland for him.

TBH Tim if you are going down that road then we didn't pay anywhere near £2.5m in transfer fees during the summer window as they would have all been on the never, never.

That said even if we give you the leeway and call it a £2.5m spend, my point still stood that we were unlikely to spend more i.e. £3m in the January window.

However, Annis posts seem to be hinting at something else...

we wont get a single player

I would be surprised but still back them 100%

I agree, but its all down to economics, budgets, & financial long term security.
I don't know.

2million is the highest for me!
PLUS i agree with this post if the money is there and they are willing to do it then do it!

I agree 100% and Malky must be backed by 3 more signings to bolster the squad seeing as we are still in 3 competitions in January , last season on paper I thought Malky's Watford HAD the best 11 when they ALL started but injuries and suspensions put paid to what could have been a decent shot at promotion for them . Remember last Dec they mullered both QPR and Cardiff only to fade badly by April .

Transfer fees are not the issue here - its what we are willing to pay in wages that counts.