January Transfer Window

[WestYorksRoyal]

Bowen fairly emphatic today that nobody will leave unless we want them to. Sounds like if we have to choose between Blackett leaving for free in the summer and a small fee now, we'll go for free in the summer.

Right call in my view.

[Danny Nedelko]

Any rumours on Ovie moving? His price on Football Index has jumped today but cant see any reason why.

[Sutekh]

Any rumours on Ovie moving? His price on Football Index has jumped today but cant see any reason why.

Yes, I heard he’s joining Reading in July.

[From Despair To Where?]

I dunno if that article has changed, but now it says the club say the continued embargo and report from Brazip is bollocks and the embargo was lifted before we signed Joao and Puscas.

I could believe Puscas not being on a big wage, young etc although £12k is really pushing credibility seeing as he clearly came in as amongst the first choice.

But Joao on that seems utterly incredible. As in without credibility.

Someone left a comment on that original Brazilian article 3 days ago saying it's bollocks.

I really don't think Puscas is on that much.

Let's ignore that he's an international (they're 37th in the FIFA rankings, 1 place behind Northern Ireland. He made his debut playing in Serie B. They're really not that good any more).

He made 4 appearances for Inter in 5 years, totalling less than 90 minutes and he's spent the bulk of the rest of his career on loan in Serie B.

Its entirely credible that he was on £2000-3000/wk at Inter (and that's a fortune compared to football salaries in Romania) and we could triple his basic wage and still be under £10,000/wk. I also reckon his salary is highly weighted towards bonuses. I'd be happy to see him getting £25,000 a goal, particularly if he's on something like £7,000/wk, even throw in a £375,000 bonus if he gets 25 in a season.


But yeah, Joao being on £12k/wk or less a week seems much less credible.

I've seen some uncorroborated reports on the internet suggest our average wage is £11,000/wk but I don't know who's included in that figure. It seems reasonable though, I doubt we've many players left near or over £20,000/wk and of those who are, most are ooc in the summer.

[Snowball]

If it matters, Puscas always pays exactly a £10 tip when he eats in the hotel

[MM]

Hopefully (and I would expect from Bowen comments) we can keep hold of Blackett as he is a good option for a couple of positions and has been in great form these last few weeks.

I'd like the club to try and recruit Shandon Baptiste from Oxford and would be delighted if that could be done, As a former Academy player he would know the club well, he is the right age to compliment what we have without necessarily being an automatic pick ahead of Rinomhota & Judilson Gomes, and if we don't get him now then Brentford (who he nearly signed for some months ago before he got injured) or a bigger club will grab him. He would also have time to be integrated well enough to take Adam's place in the squad when he makes his exit at the end of the season.

I'd prefer it if we could recall Barrow instead of Boye but I imagine neither element of that is possible in this window. You would like a better bench GK than Walker but it seems unlikely Mannone will want to be that man so it's probably one to re-visit in the summer unless Rafael got injured before the window closes. And of course, any available option to get Aluko off the books should be taken. Other than that there isn't much that needs doing IMHO.

Edit: News that Joao is out for 6-8 weeks (hamstring) so in that case a new striker is now a necessity. Bowen says process to find somebody is already underway - Murray might be a decent option after all.

[paultheroyal]

Kelly has signed for Oxford then. Along with a very underwhelming video of him doing a few keepy ups in a muddy field looking like every kid playing Saturday morning grassroots

Found his level

File under Aaron Kuhl but slightly higher.

[From Despair To Where?]

Charlton have had an offer for Marcus Maddison accepted. I know we were linked about 18 months ago and he has a £2.5m buyout clause. He is out of contract in the summer though.

[Hound]

Their chairman has said 2 other champ teams are trying to sign as well

I doubt it’s us but wouldn’t be totally surprised if it was

[URZZZZ]

Hopefully (and I would expect from Bowen comments) we can keep hold of Blackett as he is a good option for a couple of positions and has been in great form these last few weeks.

I'd like the club to try and recruit Shandon Baptiste from Oxford and would be delighted if that could be done, As a former Academy player he would know the club well, he is the right age to compliment what we have without necessarily being an automatic pick ahead of Rinomhota & Judilson Gomes, and if we don't get him now then Brentford (who he nearly signed for some months ago before he got injured) or a bigger club will grab him. He would also have time to be integrated well enough to take Adam's place in the squad when he makes his exit at the end of the season.

I'd prefer it if we could recall Barrow instead of Boye but I imagine neither element of that is possible in this window. You would like a better bench GK than Walker but it seems unlikely Mannone will want to be that man so it's probably one to re-visit in the summer unless Rafael got injured before the window closes. And of course, any available option to get Aluko off the books should be taken. Other than that there isn't much that needs doing IMHO.

Edit: News that Joao is out for 6-8 weeks (hamstring) so in that case a new striker is now a necessity. Bowen says process to find somebody is already underway - Murray might be a decent option after all.

Actually agree about Baptiste, looks a very good player on the highlights for Oxford, didn’t know he was a former Academy player either

Would add that perhaps loaning a couple of our fullbacks out would be a good idea. We now have Yiadom, Gunter, Watson, Howe, Blackett, Obita, Richards. Realistically, six of those seven are at a stage in their career where they’d like to be playing regular football, think we’ll cut our losses with Watson soon

Other than that, agree with most of way you say although preferably I don’t want to see Barrow in a Reading shirt again

[From Despair To Where?]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

[Hendo]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

I would be fine with this.

[Hound]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

yes, would be reasonable. Obita's had a hand in quite a few goals from that sort of left wing/midfield position - Preston, Millwall and now Forest.

[Old Man Andrews]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

yes, would be reasonable. Obita's had a hand in quite a few goals from that sort of left wing/midfield position - Preston, Millwall and now Forest.

Worry about Obita's long term fitness. I think he is a great squad player to have but I wouldn't be happy relying on him to stay fit. Where he'd be further up the pitch he would be getting tackled a lot more too which again might not be good for his knee.

[Hendo]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

yes, would be reasonable. Obita's had a hand in quite a few goals from that sort of left wing/midfield position - Preston, Millwall and now Forest.

Worry about Obita's long term fitness. I think he is a great squad player to have but I wouldn't be happy relying on him to stay fit. Where he'd be further up the pitch he would be getting tackled a lot more too which again might not be good for his knee.

But then on the flip side, if he played at left back, he'd be doing a lot more tackling.

[URZZZZ]

Just a thought, Obita started out as a wide midfielder and has a decent cross and shot on him, so how about a situation where both he and Blackett sign new contracts, Obita gets shifted back into midfield and Blackett as first choice LB with Richards as back up?

Boye then goes back to Torino and we look to sell Barrow in the summer.

Problem is, I think you need some sort of pace or dribbling to be a winger

He was never particularly quick before his injury and he seems to have understandably become slower since. And when he broke onto the scene, one of his redeeming features was that he looked quite handy at beating a man. He seems to have lost that ability

Personally, it’s not an option I’d prefer, unless it was for the last 10 minutes of a game closing it out

[NewCorkSeth]

It's an ok question to ask but actually I think Blackett has looked a lot more creative than Obita has thus far. If we were to play a similar style with Blackett, Ejaria and Swift all inter changing on the left flank with Obita perhaps sitting back a bit covering a counter and giving an outlet then fine. I'm down. If his fitness stays.

[From Despair To Where?]

I was thinking purely in terms of wanting both Blackett and Obita to stay and how to accommodate them both.

Obita has a goal and 2 assists in 7 appearances, Blackett 3 assists in 10 appearances so, as fullbacks they are both more than capable going forward and obviously both reasonably strong defensively.

I think Obita is the better footballer but there are obvious concerns about his fitness but I'm intrigued by the idea of them maybe playing in tandem down the left.

[Stranded]

Anyone else finding it strangely comforting that apart from the guy on trial we are not really hearing anything concrete about ins or outs - rumour about Blackett to Turkey aside.

[Millsy]

I was thinking purely in terms of wanting both Blackett and Obita to stay and how to accommodate them both.

Obita has a goal and 2 assists in 7 appearances, Blackett 3 assists in 10 appearances so, as fullbacks they are both more than capable going forward and obviously both reasonably strong defensively.

I think Obita is the better footballer but there are obvious concerns about his fitness but I'm intrigued by the idea of them maybe playing in tandem down the left.

IIRC Obita was originally a left winger who we converted to LB due to need, which explains why his crossing is better than his defending.