If the club put this out there it is yet more smoke and mirrors to bluff the fans into believing they are about to make a quality signing. More than likely its his agent trying to get a transfer for him now that Fernabache are out of the Champions League. Topal is a first-team regular at Fernabache and he is their star midfielder, why would he want play for a struggling team in England.
Everything we are doing smacks of desperation and our inept DOF is now in a panic to sign an over the hill player who last played over 12 months ago. If there was any planning or organisation at this club the likes of Hemed, Wells and Bassong would have been signed up weeks ago. Leaving it until the last few days is just crazy and shows how poorly this club is now managed.
You may be right stoatey or you may be completely wrong. It takes 2 parties to sign a contract - both have to agree. The players you mention could be pushing for more money than we want to spend or they may be playing us off against other clubs. We may not even be in for them. You can’t just assume that it’s Les’s fault.
You may be right stoatey or you may be completely wrong. It takes 2 parties to sign a contract - both have to agree. The players you mention could be pushing for more money than we want to spend or they may be playing us off against other clubs. We may not even be in for them. You can’t just assume that it’s Les’s fault.
I disagree about Les, Sir Les is the DOF and knows exactly what we can or can't afford in wages, transfer fees etc., Whether we sign the players mentioned or not is immaterial because the club has known for the last 2 years that we need central defenders and goal scorers. If Les was worth his salt he would have been talking to other clubs from the end of last season to sound out who was likely to be available on loan and on what terms. If you then want the player on loan you discuss it with his club, agree the fee and how much of his wages you are going to pay. Providing the player wants to join its then a done deal. If they dont want to join you move onto your next choice.
If a player is a free agent, (especially one that hasnt been attached to a club for 12 months like Bassong) you make him an offer and he decides whether he accepts or not. If they turn you down and you havent got anymore money to offer you move on and go elsewhere. That's what happened with Onuhoa. I have negotiated many a deal (admittedly not for footballers) and providing you are dealing with open and straight people it doesn't take long to get an agreement. Most deals dont take longer than a week to sort but if you believe that a deal is going to be long and protracted you allow for that in your planning, you don't leave it to the last minute and get into panic mode.
I might be right and I might be wrong but because of the clubs perilous situation and the fact that other clubs can see how desperate we have become any chance of negotiating deals has passed us by and we now seem to have a gun to our head and as a result we can now be held to ransom.
If my assumption is wrong and its not the DOF's fault then what is Sir Les doing and do we really need him. Is he just a figurehead?
We have DOF and HEAD OF RECRUITMENT. Both are failing and we're going to wrap up moves before season started. They should both be aware of the wage structure. So if they are talking to player's outside of that why a they wasting the club's time.
We have DOF and HEAD OF RECRUITMENT. Both are failing and we're going to wrap up moves before season started. They should both be aware of the wage structure. So if they are talking to player's outside of that why a they wasting the club's time.