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High quality midfielder required in Jan


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1 minute ago, Red Right Hand said:

And the chance to drive a top of the range Audi for the weekend? Done deal then!

Im sure LJ would do a deal on one of his properties and SL could give him a free pension review.

Suddenlyl £120,000 a week doesn't look all that!

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Several threads recently about City needing a quality midfielder who sprays telling passes around and scores goals.......and I can't disagree with that.

Unfortunately the availability of the Championship equivalent to Gerrard or Lampard is very very limited and if such a quality midfielder did become available then pretty much every club would be in for him.

As posted earlier,  whenever possible City have a "grow yer own" policy but the type of player many of us feel we need are most often experienced at Championship or higher level and it's very unlikely any academy graduate will be able to make the step up.

So......keep looking for that hidden gem LJ.......

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Imo...we need quality and more experience in CM.

We were expecting it from GoN....that hasn't worked out for various reasons.

It's great to have the player philosophy we have, but imo, we do need that experience and old head that will up the quality and help during the whole of a season.

Someone still with a passion to play like Wilbs and Wade Elliott had. Not a has been going through the motions.

Personality and desire have to be right....the 'DNA' they keep talking about. Tomlin wasn't that.

If we could find that, then it would definitely enhance our chances this season.

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22 hours ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

Terrible is an over exaggeration, his attempts at piercing the defence through the middle weren't overly successful, however he was quick on the ball at moving it around, compared to smith who took too long on the ball when he had it and allowed Burton to keep their shape with the pace he played at. Pack and Brownhill brought more energy on the ball but Korey and JB had more off the ball. 

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20 minutes ago, hodge said:

Terrible is an over exaggeration, his attempts at piercing the defence through the middle weren't overly successful, however he was quick on the ball at moving it around, compared to smith who took too long on the ball when he had it and allowed Burton to keep their shape with the pace he played at. Pack and Brownhill brought more energy on the ball but Korey and JB had more off the ball. 

Funny how we see things differently - I thought he slowed things down every time he got the ball and didn`t keep it moving at all. I`m a big fan of Marlon but it looked like we were seeing out a 1-0 whenever he got possession.

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Smith can be hesitant on the ball when there is a pass on, or movement in front of him. He can sometimes be guilty of slowing play up and allowing the opposition to re group.

Often when an opportunity arises to counter, and take advantage of the opposition being out of position, he will check himself slightly, as if to make sure....and the advantage is lost. It's those fractions that make a difference at this level.

Marlon is more decisive... plus he doesn't lose the ball as much.

In defence of both, neither were at fault on Friday.

Our lack of movement in front of them was the problem. We sat in a bank high, and Burton crowded out the area in front of the 'D'.

We needed to play wider and pull them out. Our wide players were below par.

Our front players didn't 'come for the ball'....thus creating space to play in to.

I thought our defence and CM were fine against Burton....it was our lack of movement in the right areas that let us down in the final third.

However...in saying that, most teams would have struggled against that set up, constant feigning injury, time wasting and awful ref.

1-0 should have been the correct result.

No moans from me though...just look at the league table. Absolutely brilliant.

 

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3 minutes ago, spudski said:

Smith can be hesitant on the ball when there is a pass on, or movement in front of him. He can sometimes be guilty of slowing play up and allowing the opposition to re group.

Often when an opportunity arises to counter, and take advantage of the opposition being out of position, he will check himself slightly, as if to make sure....and the advantage is lost. It's those fractions that make a difference at this level.

Marlon is more decisive... plus he doesn't lose the ball as much.

In defence of both, neither were at fault on Friday.

Our lack of movement in front of them was the problem. We sat in a bank high, and Burton crowded out the area in front of the 'D'.

We needed to play wider and pull them out. Our wide players were below par.

Our front players didn't 'come for the ball'....thus creating space to play in to.

I thought our defence and CM were fine against Burton....it was our lack of movement in the right areas that let us down in the final third.

However...in saying that, most teams would have struggled against that set up, constant feigning injury, time wasting and awful ref.

1-0 should have been the correct result.

No moans from me though...just look at the league table. Absolutely brilliant.

 

With our current personnel, what's the solution to teams like Burton and Millwall who came here for a draw?

We seem far better against sides that try and take the game to us. 

We didn't really look like scoring on Friday - Bobby's disallowed goal aside. I thought Burton did what they had to do pretty well, nullified us quite nicely.

 

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23 hours ago, SODS_LAW said:

Pack was shocking 2nd half his passing was terrible.

We’re about to find out how much Korey brings to our midfield.

His passing was shocking due to the lack of movement in front of him. Woodrow was a statue for most of it and gave no option for Pack to pass forward to. 

Pack is by far our best passing CM but if the options aren’t there, how is he supposed to make passes? 

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10 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

With our current personnel, what's the solution to teams like Burton and Millwall who came here for a draw?

We seem far better against sides that try and take the game to us. 

We didn't really look like scoring on Friday - Bobby's disallowed goal aside. I thought Burton did what they had to do pretty well, nullified us quite nicely.

 

We needed our wide men and full backs to be at their best and better movement up front.

With our present personnel....JB needed to be on his game. We missed Pisanno with his link up play and forward threat. Đurić and Taylor/Reid would have also been good for that game.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing....but we needed better quality link up play from JB, Patterson, Elliason, Leko, Wright....and on this occasion Woodrow, Diediou and Reid lacked the correct movement in coming for the ball on occasion. We didn't make or create the space. We played into Burtons hands.

I think we have the quality...just on this occasion lots had an off game, and Burton had a good game plan for a draw.

Personally...if everyone was fit, I'd have played this team against Burton. Hoping everyone was up to par and on form.

-----------------------------------------------------Fielding-----------------------------------------------------------

Pisano-----------------------Flint-------------------------------Baker----------------------------------Bryan

----------------------------------------------------Hegeler------------------------------------------------------------

Odowda--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paterson

--------------------------------Reid---------------------------------------Taylor-------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------Đurić/Diediuo---------------------------------------------------

Remembering Burton are no offensive threat whatsoever.....hence Flint, Baker and an out let and creativity/defensive ability of Hegeler being plenty enough.

Width in Pisano and Odowda and JB and Paterson on flanks.

Lots of energy and movement in front of defence in Reid and Taylor.

Đurić/ Diediou creating a menace up front...holding, threat in the air etc.

With the option of Pack, Smith, Wright, Leko, Elliason, Magners on the bench to mix it up when needed

 

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1 hour ago, spudski said:

We needed our wide men and full backs to be at their best and better movement up front.

With our present personnel....JB needed to be on his game. We missed Pisanno with his link up play and forward threat. Đurić and Taylor/Reid would have also been good for that game.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing....but we needed better quality link up play from JB, Patterson, Elliason, Leko, Wright....and on this occasion Woodrow, Diediou and Reid lacked the correct movement in coming for the ball on occasion. We didn't make or create the space. We played into Burtons hands.

I think we have the quality...just on this occasion lots had an off game, and Burton had a good game plan for a draw.

Personally...if everyone was fit, I'd have played this team against Burton. Hoping everyone was up to par and on form.

-----------------------------------------------------Fielding-----------------------------------------------------------

Pisano-----------------------Flint-------------------------------Baker----------------------------------Bryan

----------------------------------------------------Hegeler------------------------------------------------------------

Odowda--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paterson

--------------------------------Reid---------------------------------------Taylor-------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------Đurić/Diediuo---------------------------------------------------

Remembering Burton are no offensive threat whatsoever.....hence Flint, Baker and an out let and creativity/defensive ability of Hegeler being plenty enough.

Width in Pisano and Odowda and JB and Paterson on flanks.

Lots of energy and movement in front of defence in Reid and Taylor.

Đurić/ Diediou creating a menace up front...holding, threat in the air etc.

With the option of Pack, Smith, Wright, Leko, Elliason, Magners on the bench to mix it up when needed

 

Agree - felt it was crying out for Taylor on Friday. 

Injury was a bit unfortunate as Pack didn't get time to properly warm up and it took him a while to get going as a result. He looked particularly slow on Friday and I think that was why.

Burton seemed to largely be made up of big strong and/or athletic players (Akins, Akpan, Buxton, McFadzean, Turner) to get in the opposition's faces and a few experienced old heads (Varney, Warnock, Dyer) to manage the game and organise.

Dyer looked their most threatening player when he came on and that was the only time I felt our defence had to be a bit careful.

I felt they clearly came for the draw and executed their plan pretty well. 

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Striker wise, no chance. Not only are they the most expensive purchase, theres every chance that by then we'll have Engvall, Taylor, Đurić, Reid and Diedhiou fighting for it. Is Hinds back then too?? 

 

Think we're all agreed on the midfield front though. Now Bobby's moved we're missing him from the mid. (Cloning anyone?) But I'm very excited by the fact that one signing now seems the gap between us and success, it's seemed about ten or fifteen off not so long ago! Keep going LJ!

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Even though he's at the wrong en of his career now, I would like to see Leon Britton arrive in January, even on loan. Experienced, gifted and has the eye for the 'unlock' pass we don't seem to be able to provide at the mo against a team set up like Burton did on Friday.

Nobody else that's realistic comes to mind TBH.

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12 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Even though he's at the wrong en of his career now, I would like to see Leon Britton arrive in January, even on loan. Experienced, gifted and has the eye for the 'unlock' pass we don't seem to be able to provide at the mo against a team set up like Burton did on Friday.

Nobody else that's realistic comes to mind TBH.

That's a good suggestion - trouble is he's played every time he's been fit and has been captain for Swansea this season.

I can't imagine he's a particularly high earner so maybe he's someone they want to keep around the squad for the same reasons we'd want him; even if he's not playing.

 

 

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It’s okay saying that we should sign this type of player & that we should of got Bannan & the likes in over the summer but the truth of the matter is / was that we weren’t seen as that an attractive club to join, we had just endured our 2nd season of struggle in The Championship, so how many Championship proven players would likely want to come to us? And with the majority of the division paying more than us in wages......

This is why we’ve been signing youngsters from the lower divisions, where we can offer them a step-up in standard & more in terms of wages without breaking our pay structure. And similarly, why we have been signing players from abroad, who want to try their luck in England, in the hope of making a name for themselves & earning a big money move like Kodjia. We can offer them that opportunity while probably still paying more than the majority of the less fashionable foreign clubs that we have been signing players from.

If we can finish mid - top half this season, it will likely raise our profile within the division & may enable us to attract even better players & while attendances & financial income also grows, it may enable us to attract that better quality of player but on saying that, look how well it turned out for us with Tomlin & O’Neil, nothing is guaranteed, especially in football.

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5 hours ago, chinapig said:

Despite my facetious earlier post, wasn't Tomlin supposed to be the answer? Remember too how we completely overwhelmed Tom Huddlestone, the epitome of the old style.

My point being that in the modern high tempo game the old style languid midfield general people seem to crave has been replaced by much more energetic creators.

The likes of De Bruyne, imo the best in the PL, are always on the move. He will be in front of the defence one minute, on the right wing the next, then turning up in the box. 

Finding a creative player with the all round qualities needed these days is a tall order.

We, perhaps, need to look abroad , there must be a midfielder out there looking for a stepping stone to the Prem .

A Kinkladze type buy .

 

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11 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

We, perhaps, need to look abroad , there must be a midfielder out there looking for a stepping stone to the Prem .

A Kinkladze type buy .

 

Isn't pretty much every other Championship club doing the same? 

We know that City's scouting network encompass most of Europe.

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23 hours ago, RedM said:

Thank you. I always liked Ben Pringle, had some great games against us for various teams.  Not sure how he compares? Think he went to Preston a year or so ago. Possible, or not the right player for us?

He's not the right player for you.

He's simply nowhere near Championship level. Too lob-sided/one-footed, very, very slow, un-athletic, doesn't really track back and weak in physical duals. He's a good League One player but out of his depth at this level.

His last appearance for us was from the bench in December 2016, and since the January window following that, he's only made the matchday squad twice. Plus, since Neil became manager, he hasn't made the squad once, even away at Accy in the cup when a fringe side was played.

He was earmarked to be offloaded over the summer but wages proved prohibitive. Desperately needs a move back to League One in January to re-ignite his career or he faces becoming a bit of a forgotten man.

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40 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

That's a good suggestion - trouble is he's played every time he's been fit and has been captain for Swansea this season.

I can't imagine he's a particularly high earner so maybe he's someone they want to keep around the squad for the same reasons we'd want him; even if he's not playing.

 

 

Thanks Phileas, I thought Clement wasn't picking him TBH. I bow to your superior knowledge. 

There's nobody else that springs to mind in all honesty. 

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Got a feeling LJ may just get his man in Barry Bannan. Barry was not happy about Wednesday turning down a bid from Hull in the summer but has remained Wednesday's best player so you can't fault his on the pitch attitude. But with Wednesday lingering in mid table, Bannan who is out of contract at the end of next season has turned down 2 contract extensions and he wants another crack at the Premier League. If you look at the table, a return to Villa would not be out of the question, but obviously it won't be Wolves or Sheffield United. Hull wanted him but they like Wednesday are lingering mid table. 

Come January if we are in the top 4/5 in the league we might just have that attraction to force a player like Bannan to force a move away from Hillsborough. Club on the up, in a prime promotion contender position, who need a quality player in that position. He would not be cheap and suspect he would be 8-10m to prize him away but I don't think LJ would shirk at matching his 30K a week wage at Hillsborough if he needed to (He's 27, and may take less for an attractive 3/4 year contract with a decent promotion bonus and wage increase in the top level). LJ has publicly in a fans Q&A named him as (in his opinion) the best player in the league outside the club, and the player if he could sign anyone in the league he would like to sign. I would be very surprised if this hasn't come to the attention of Bannan and his agent and if we are up there come January and Wednesday remain mid table his agent might just be pushing for this move. I mean if a manager publicly names you the best player in the league and the player he would most like to have in his side, that's gotta give you a lot of confidence as a player and would certainly make the prospect of any move ideal.

Got a feeling we might just smash our record transfer this January with Bannan, and I've got a feeling he's the type of player who can lead us to the promised land. 

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5 minutes ago, palmerred said:

Got a feeling LJ may just get his man in Barry Bannan. Barry was not happy about Wednesday turning down a bid from Hull in the summer but has remained Wednesday's best player so you can't fault his on the pitch attitude. But with Wednesday lingering in mid table, Bannan who is out of contract at the end of next season has turned down 2 contract extensions and he wants another crack at the Premier League. If you look at the table, a return to Villa would not be out of the question, but obviously it won't be Wolves or Sheffield United. Hull wanted him but they like Wednesday are lingering mid table. 

Come January if we are in the top 4/5 in the league we might just have that attraction to force a player like Bannan to force a move away from Hillsborough. Club on the up, in a prime promotion contender position, who need a quality player in that position. He would not be cheap and suspect he would be 8-10m to prize him away but I don't think LJ would shirk at matching his 30K a week wage at Hillsborough if he needed to (He's 27, and may take less for an attractive 3/4 year contract with a decent promotion bonus and wage increase in the top level). LJ has publicly in a fans Q&A named him as (in his opinion) the best player in the league outside the club, and the player if he could sign anyone in the league he would like to sign. I would be very surprised if this hasn't come to the attention of Bannan and his agent and if we are up there come January and Wednesday remain mid table his agent might just be pushing for this move. I mean if a manager publicly names you the best player in the league and the player he would most like to have in his side, that's gotta give you a lot of confidence as a player and would certainly make the prospect of any move ideal.

Got a feeling we might just smash our record transfer this January with Bannan, and I've got a feeling he's the type of player who can lead us to the promised land. 

Yep, according to Wiki, he's OOC in June 2019 so we would have to dig very deep to get him! I think he would be out of our reach TBH. If Britton isn't playing for the Swans, we might stand a chance with him.

Sheffield Wednesday[edit]

On 31 August 2015, Bannan signed a one-year deal with Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee.[25] He made his debut for the Owls on 12 September, starting in a 3–1 defeat at Burnley.[26] He scored his first goal for Wednesday on 12 December 2015, the equaliser as they earned a 2–2 draw away to Cardiff City.[27]

The following 9 January, he opened a 2–1 win over Fulham in the third round of the FA Cup, scoring a 25-yard half volley.[28] Five days later, he was given a new three-and-a-half-year contract.[29

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Just now, Ska Junkie said:

Yep, according to Wiki, he's OOC in June 2019 so we would have to dig very deep to get him! I think he would be out of our reach TBH. If Britton isn't playing for the Swans, we might stand a chance.

Sheffield Wednesday[edit]

On 31 August 2015, Bannan signed a one-year deal with Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee.[25] He made his debut for the Owls on 12 September, starting in a 3–1 defeat at Burnley.[26] He scored his first goal for Wednesday on 12 December 2015, the equaliser as they earned a 2–2 draw away to Cardiff City.[27]

The following 9 January, he opened a 2–1 win over Fulham in the third round of the FA Cup, scoring a 25-yard half volley.[28] Five days later, he was given a new three-and-a-half-year contract.[29

Wednesday have offered him 2 contract extensions, he isn't interested. A transfer request in January, would force their hand to sell now. Wait until the summer and they will have an unhappy player not looking to stay, and they will end up getting nothing at the end of that season for one of their most valuable players.

He wasn't happy about being on the bench lately and publicly spoke of his disappointment of Wednesday turning down an offer from Hull when he said he wants to be playing top flight football.

Both him and Lee didn't travel with their own team coach yesterday and went in their cars. Bannan was one of a few players to clap the fans at full time yesterday at Bolton, and watch their highlights, loads of times he got forward and was looking for runners and no one helped him, or found spaces and you could see his frustration. 

With him unhappy and our position in the league, I got a feeling Johnson was being very clever publicly announcing his interest (esp when he shot down Redknapp over Flint), I have a feeling he was trying to turn Bannan's head prior to January and will use his admiration, and our league position (if we can maintain it) and our ambition as factors which may see Bannan force Wednesday's hand to sell now.

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51 minutes ago, palmerred said:

Got a feeling LJ may just get his man in Barry Bannan. Barry was not happy about Wednesday turning down a bid from Hull in the summer but has remained Wednesday's best player so you can't fault his on the pitch attitude. But with Wednesday lingering in mid table, Bannan who is out of contract at the end of next season has turned down 2 contract extensions and he wants another crack at the Premier League. If you look at the table, a return to Villa would not be out of the question, but obviously it won't be Wolves or Sheffield United. Hull wanted him but they like Wednesday are lingering mid table. 

Come January if we are in the top 4/5 in the league we might just have that attraction to force a player like Bannan to force a move away from Hillsborough. Club on the up, in a prime promotion contender position, who need a quality player in that position. He would not be cheap and suspect he would be 8-10m to prize him away but I don't think LJ would shirk at matching his 30K a week wage at Hillsborough if he needed to (He's 27, and may take less for an attractive 3/4 year contract with a decent promotion bonus and wage increase in the top level). LJ has publicly in a fans Q&A named him as (in his opinion) the best player in the league outside the club, and the player if he could sign anyone in the league he would like to sign. I would be very surprised if this hasn't come to the attention of Bannan and his agent and if we are up there come January and Wednesday remain mid table his agent might just be pushing for this move. I mean if a manager publicly names you the best player in the league and the player he would most like to have in his side, that's gotta give you a lot of confidence as a player and would certainly make the prospect of any move ideal.

Got a feeling we might just smash our record transfer this January with Bannan, and I've got a feeling he's the type of player who can lead us to the promised land. 

Along those same lines then, should we be worried about Flint leaving? He seemingly wanted to leave in the summer but has got his head down similarly to Bannan & despite league positions, money does talk & I’ve no doubt that Birmingham (Flint), Wednesday, Hull & Villa can all offer considerably more than we can.

And if Bannan’s contract doesn’t run out until 2019, they have plenty of time to get the best out of Bannan & the rest of their squad to improve & improve their league position. Plus they’ll have no need to worry about selling on the cheap just yet, so would we really be looking at spending £5m+ & the extra wages he would undoubtedly be asking for?

Could we attract a player of Bannan’s stature? I’d say it was doubtful as he’d likely have more attractive options open to him.

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