ALL Rumours for January Transfer window (Merged)

[samo II]

Do think it would have topped off a few weeks of pretty solid recruitment to bring in a forward yesterday, and we do still need another body up top, capable of tucking away a few more chances than we currently do (and am gutted we didn't take the undoubtably nominal punt on Tom Nichols, as think that lad will end up at this level in a year or two for decent money, and would have at least added another dimension up top, even if inexperienced at this level).

But it isn't the end of the world.  Tomlin, Gladwin, Pearce, O'Donnell, Golbourne - that is decent work for a team with no manager, and who have spent the majority of this past month in the relegation zone.  

We still have the space to add more, thanks to O'Donnell signing on full time (a smart deal in my eyes; will give Frankie a run for his money, I feel), and had we done this business, plus Kodjia and Baker back in the summer, I would have been pleased.

We're not adrift, and have certainly been putting in improved performances since the unfortunate exit of SC, so I think we stand a chance, which after the season we've had is all I ask for.

Roll on Saturday, when a good result at Charlton would give our season a serious shot in the arm; a six pointer if I ever saw one.

COYR

[Norn Iron]

But what if the following event actually happened yesterday morning?

Pembo and his staff were watching the young, recently signed young bloke from France. Someone suggests that they should see if Monsieur Garita could play alongside his fellow countryman with Lee Tomlin supporting. Pembo tries it if nothing else just for experience re Monsieur Garita.

Well, the plan went far beyond any optimist's expectations. All ended up scoring as if for fun. Lee tells Pembo afterwards that it reminded him of the day Sky televised the debut of a 17 year old scoring and the commentator said, "Remember his name, Wayne Rooney."

Pembo thinks that if David Moyes can play a raw talent up front, so can he. Pembo goes up to Garita and in his best French declares, " Arnold, umm, tu es gert fantastique. Tres bonbons. Bravo. Umm, tu es upfront avec Jonathan et Lee cette Saturday."

This would explain why we didn't buy anyone yesterday. Makes sense, n'est pas

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, Major Isewater said:

It feels like Father Christmas has n't been .

Nothing under the tree even though we've been good .

Never mind we might get something at Easter or next Christmas .

Easter Eggs are out in Co-op Bemmie

[CliftonCliff]

Disappointed, but I'd be a lot more so if we'd fared worse than our immediate rivals, which doesn't appear to be the case. In fact, we've made some decent signings. 

Moreover, it's not as though we lost out to other clubs over our prime targets, most of whom, as far as I'm aware, have stayed put and will be there to be bid for in the summer if still wanted - Matt Smith, gone nowhere; Bradley Dack; gone nowhere; Alex Gilbey, gone nowhere; Bradshaw, nowhere; and so on, and so on.

The window seems more notable for what's not happened than what has. Haven't had time to check them all out this morning, but as of last evening, Rhodes, McCormack, Gayle and quite a few other high-profile names had apparently failed to secure moves, quite possibly due in some cases to sheer greed on the part of  their agents. So, the moaners really cannot claim we have failed in comparison to other clubs. Everyone, it appears, has faced a struggle to get deals over the line. And we still have a loan vacancy we can try to fill in a week's time, thanks to the permanent signing of the GK.

Not a disaster then, as some would have you believe, with the one rather important qualification that, in my opinion, if we still can't recruit a striker in the loan market, we'll get relegated. Mmmh.

[Super]

I would avoid this forum from 5pm Saturday if we lose!

[Show Me The Money!]

7 hours ago, Just Red said:

This is what happens when you have a committee running things. Should have concentrated on getting a manager in who is able to attract players to this club. 

Problem is we need to attract the manager first. One we'd want anyway

[CyderInACan]

42 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Easter Eggs are out in Co-op Bemmie Southville 

better 

[exAtyeoMax]

5 minutes ago, cynic said:

Interesting take on it from a Rotherham forum;

http://www.itsmillerstime.co.uk/2016/02/january-transfer-window-how-rotherhams.html?

 

Just pasted it incase people can't see the link

 

Bristol City

Ins: Scott Golbourne (Wolves, undisclosed), Lee Tomlin (Bournemouth, loan), Ben Gladwin (QPR, loan), Alex Pearce (Derby, loan), Richard O'Donnell (Wigan, undisclosed).

 

Outs: N/A

 

On paper it looks a stunning month for the Robins, who despite being managerless recruited top quality players right through the spine of the team. Richard O’Donnell was the best goalkeeper in League One last season, Derby’s Alex Pearce is a rock solid Championship defender, Ben Gladwin is a talented central midfielder and Lee Tomlin was a key player in Middlesbrough’s promotion bid last season which ended one game short at Wembley. Scott Golbourne is a talent at left-back and they also fended off interest in ex-Miller Kieran Agard. If all those signings gel, City should pull away.

 

Rating: 8/10

[exAtyeoMax]

2 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

better 

I thought the H&C was the boundary? Is Tesco in Bemmie?

[chipdawg]

Bloody hell, there's some right whinging bastards on here. Yes, it feels like we're probably still a couple of players light, but that Rotherham article does point out what a good month it's been. Plus, we still have opportunity to bring in one more player next week. If one of our relegation rivals had brought in Lee Tomlin, Alex Pearce and Scott Golbourne, I would look at that and think "they've strengthened, that's a decent transfer window". We're not adrift by any stretch and there are a lot of games to go. Massive game on Saturday, but let's see it as a springboard rather than an inevitable, season-crushing disappointment

[Anglia Red]

I am not getting the doom and gloom merchants on here either -We have significantly boosted the squad this window. Yes it would have been good to get another striker in and it still may happen but to come on slagging off Ashton and the board is a bit rich. I think they have tried desperately hard to get players in and sometimes it just doesn't happen. Actually despite his miss on Saturday I have always rated Agard when he has been given a run in the side. Between Him Kodjia and Tomlin (superb signing) we have enough goals to get us out of this and even Wilbs can come on and affect a game in the last 20 minutes. The key thing for me was always to tighten up at the back which I think we have a much better hope now of doing.   

[chipdawg]

6 minutes ago, cynic said:

The transfer window is only open for one day - didn't you know that ?

The players we signed before yesterday don't count.

We have strengthened considerably and, whilst we didn't get another striker (which wouldn't guarantee goals anyway), we are in a much better position moving forward. The new regime and new formation(s) will also give us a better chance of staying up.

If we're going to have a whinge, at least lets make it one based on something other than "we didn't get a striker" or we didn't get some third division midfielder for 2m+ with no gurantee of being able to step up to the championship.

It was a very good transfer window for us with maybe more to come next week.

Part of the thing I found so irritating yesterday was the clamour to sign anyone at any cost. Is Dack really worth £3million plus given he's never played above the third tier? Is Bradshaw worth a tonne of money when we have a striker on the bench who has out scored him in L1 in recent years? Does Bent still have the desire for a relegation scrap? 

Don't me wrong; I'm disappointed that we didn't sign a couple more players and the board/Cotterill deserve some flack for not doing better in the summer and for leaving it so late in this window, but January is a shit time to sign players (clubs don't want to have to replace their assets and players are less inclined to move) and the players we have signed are all good IMO 

Please don't let this negativity spill over into match day. Let's support the players we have rather than complain about the ones we don't 

[UREDS_91]

I think the transfer window has been a good one for us, strengthened the spine of the team. Don't forget Gladwin can score from the midfield. All we really missed out on was an out and out goalscorer. Which hopefully the loan window will provide us. Shrewd bit of business freeing up the loan space by signing ROD. As soon as we did that, it was obvious the loan window would be utilised. 

[Jack Dawe]

2 hours ago, NOTBLUE said:

Wouldn't want to be in the trenches with some of the posters on here,where have I heard that before,either you throw in the towel or you come out swinging,I'll opt for swinging.

Wouldn't want to be in the trenches (end of). 

[Jack Dawe]

1 hour ago, exAtyeoMax said:

Just pasted it incase people can't see the link

 

Bristol City

Ins: Scott Golbourne (Wolves, undisclosed), Lee Tomlin (Bournemouth, loan), Ben Gladwin (QPR, loan), Alex Pearce (Derby, loan), Richard O'Donnell (Wigan, undisclosed).

 

Outs: N/A

 

On paper it looks a stunning month for the Robins, who despite being managerless recruited top quality players right through the spine of the team. Richard O’Donnell was the best goalkeeper in League One last season, Derby’s Alex Pearce is a rock solid Championship defender, Ben Gladwin is a talented central midfielder and Lee Tomlin was a key player in Middlesbrough’s promotion bid last season which ended one game short at Wembley. Scott Golbourne is a talent at left-back and they also fended off interest in ex-Miller Kieran Agard. If all those signings gel, City should pull away.

 

Rating: 8/10

Frank Fielding was voted the best keeper in L1 last season.

 

[View from the Dolman]

4 minutes ago, Jack Dawe said:

Frank Fielding was voted the best keeper in L1 last season.

 

You do realise that it's all just opinions, right?

[RedRock]

56 minutes ago, cynic said:

The transfer window is only open for one day - didn't you know that ?

The players we signed before yesterday don't count.

We have strengthened considerably and, whilst we didn't get another striker (which wouldn't guarantee goals anyway), we are in a much better position moving forward. The new regime and new formation(s) will also give us a better chance of staying up.

If we're going to have a whinge, at least lets make it one based on something other than "we didn't get a striker" or we didn't get some third division midfielder for 2m+ with no gurantee of being able to step up to the championship.

It was a very good transfer window for us with maybe more to come next week.

Yep and the way we've acted on the most crucial position, the one that to a massive degree will dictate the outcome of this season, it appears that Burt would agree with you that the transfer window is only open for one day. 

You seem to miss the point that we've had since last April to address the finisher issue. 

We've a lamentable 'championship' strike force at present. 

Don't disagree that the rest of the signings will strengthen our squad but as we were struggling to get enough bodies to fill a bench that wasn't overly difficult. 

I think the frustration of most of us is that it's the 'same old'. Didn't invest in a capable striker when we could have cruised to auto promotion position in the play-off season, doing the same now but facing the relegation trap door. 

[Jack Dawe]

4 minutes ago, View from the Dolman said:

You do realise that it's all just opinions, right?

Just putting the opinion of last year's L1 professionals on here 

[Tipps69]

One of the big positives for me (apart from the decent signings we did make) is the fact that we didn't lose anyone, especially our better performers.

If we had lost Flint, Smith or Kodjia (and everyone was raving about Kodjia 2 months or so ago & talking about how much we might lose him for) then I might fear for us but seeing as we've managed to keep everyone & we've significantly strengthened the squad over this month, we are in a much better place than we were over Christmas.

It's highly unlikely that we are going to go on a 3,4,5 plus game winning streak (that was never likely) but now we are more likely to go on a 3,4,5 game unbeaten streak & that may just be the difference in dragging us away from relegation & that being said, I can't see any of the teams down with us going on any significant win streak & they'll be unlikely to go on any form of unbeaten streak either!!

For everyone screaming about missing out on a striker, the only one that seems to of fit the bill that we required was Jordan Rhodes & we had more chance of signing Gayle or Gray in the summer than we did of signing him during the January window!!

People were moaning that Macheda & Bradshaw aren't good enough for us but they seemed to be the only real viable options open to us so what would you have preferred?

Macheda, Bradshaw or no one?

Because either way the club would of been in the wrong!!

We weren't the only club to miss out on signing a much needed striker in England, Leicester, Newcastle & Stoke were courted as trying to get one in & even the club at the top of the premiership couldn't convince any club to part with a goal scoring striker!!

Let alone the fact that none of our competitors seemed to of found themselves a 20+ Goalscorer during this window either!!

People need to realise that we're Bristol City, not Barcelona!!

 

[ooRya]

4 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

One of the big positives for me (apart from the decent signings we did make) is the fact that we didn't lose anyone, especially our better performers.

If we had lost Flint, Smith or Kodjia (and everyone was raving about Kodjia 2 months or so ago & talking about how much we might lose him for) then I might fear for us but seeing as we've managed to keep everyone & we've significantly strengthened the squad over this month, we are in a much better place than we were over Christmas.

It's highly unlikely that we are going to go on a 3,4,5 plus game winning streak (that was never likely) but now we are more likely to go on a 3,4,5 game unbeaten streak & that may just be the difference in dragging us away from relegation & that being said, I can't see any of the teams down with us going on any significant win streak & they'll be unlikely to go on any form of unbeaten streak either!!

For everyone screaming about missing out on a striker, the only one that seems to of fit the bill that we required was Jordan Rhodes & we had more chance of signing Gayle or Gray in the summer than we did of signing him during the January window!!

People were moaning that Macheda & Bradshaw aren't good enough for us but they seemed to be the only real viable options open to us so what would you have preferred?

Macheda, Bradshaw or no one?

Because either way the club would of been in the wrong!!

We weren't the only club to miss out on signing a much needed striker in England, Leicester, Newcastle & Stoke were courted as trying to get one in & even the club at the top of the premiership couldn't convince any club to part with a goal scoring striker!!

Let alone the fact that none of our competitors seemed to of found themselves a 20+ Goalscorer during this window either!!

People need to realise that we're Bristol City, not Barcelona!!

 

 

Good post, and of course you're right.

However, what makes it all so hard to accept is that it wasn't just yesterday, or even the January transfer window. It's the fact that we were all on a massive high at the end of last season and had a great opportunity to push this club forward, but....well, we all know the rest of the story.

 

 

[cheshire_red]

8 minutes ago, ooRya said:

 

Good post, and of course you're right.

However, what makes it all so hard to accept is that it wasn't just yesterday, or even the January transfer window. It's the fact that we were all on a massive high at the end of last season and had a great opportunity to push this club forward, but....well, we all know the rest of the story.

 

 

We don't actually know what exactly or even remotely stopped us from building on last season, do we?

[Port Said Red]

Many people awaited the signing of a striker (any striker) so that they could pick through his goalscoring record and write him off before he played. If we had persuaded Bent to come they would have been moaning about a "journeyman" who has no motivation etc etc. The people behind the scenes who probably have spent all month lining stuff up and 20 hours yesterday trying to get things over the line, must be wondering why they bothered.

As I look around I don't see many other clubs doing great business, Fulham did well hanging on to some players, but you must wonder how disgruntled those players will be. JET could be good for MK, if their Manager can work out how to utilise him. Charlton have made signings and may save themselves because of them, but I would say they have only equalled what we did. But there are 8 teams that are still easily in this struggle and there are always those who will hit a bad run, so just because Charlton might improve doesn't mean we are down.

I saw someone comparing the Charlton result against Rotherham with ours, could we do a comparison on how they performed against Birmingham and Middlesborough for balance? We say it all the time, anyone can beat anyone in this league and I think if you take the window as a whole, we are in a better position to get results now.

 

[RedRock]

5 minutes ago, cynic said:

Last April is history, mistakes were made and we are paying for it.

This window, the current regime and club have done well.

I've not missed any point.

There is no future in history, we NOW have a strong squad which I think can compete in the championship (was Brum not an illustration of that). The new formation(s) has shored us up, we are not leaking goals, and now the concentration has to be on getting the ball in the net from midfield as well as up top. To place all the eggs in one basket and hope that a new striker will magic up the goals isn't a realistic option. We may well get another striker next week, but don't expect him to be the saviour - we need the rest of the team to be chipping in as well. The recent changes may enable us to do that.

No future in history. So so wrong.

If you don't learn from failure you will never develop.

We are not learning from failure. 

The pattern ... no cutting edge, midfield then goes missing as fed up creating non-converted chances, defence then starts getting under pressure and makes silly mistakes, goalkeeper then loses confidence.

History tells us this happens. Its happened again because we don't learn.

We've now refreshed the keeper, back line, midfield... but unless we address the key issue we'll be back to square one in no time at all. 

Hopefully a top class striker comes in but watching Peterborough, yes that Peterborough who convert low league strikers in to absolute gems and virtually no cost, steal from under our noses a striker that could have been one part of the jigsaw is just negligence.

[Dave]

One of our signings has already been described as a punt.

I wonder if we are considering a deal to the end of the season for Shola Ameobi?

[CyderInACan]

2 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

I thought the H&C was the boundary? Is Tesco in Bemmie?

North Street is the boundary I'd say - anything to the right (coming from Dean Lane end) is Southville, (or past Aldi, Ashton Gate) and anything to the left is Bedmi (or past the H&C Roundabout, Ashton)

 

[Jack Dawe]

44 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

 

People need to realise that we're Bristol City, not Barcelona!!

 

I'm one of these "people." How do you go about realising this?

[RedRock]

Why single out City? We're talking Exeter City just down the road. The apologists always use the locational excuse for not being able to attract talent here. Tom, would you prefer to be in Bristol or some place 'up country' in the middle of nowhere? 

Said he could have been part of the solution - not our saviour. He could have been the second/third striker. Someone in form who knows where the net is. Not someone for the 'development squad' who will be of use in the first team sometime never but someone who could hit the ground running now and increase our goal threat 20%.

Do we think Burns as a second/third striker will nab 5-6 goals in the remaining matches? Really, really hope so, I truly do. But if I were a betting man I'm pretty sure Nichol's would and Burns won't. 

It's going to be about small percentages in the end, particular chance conversion rate. We've already missed 10 points in this transfer window due to wastefulness in front of goal and that will be telling come the end of season. According to some though that's history so it doesn't matter. 

[Jack Dawe]

37 minutes ago, cynic said:

Last April is history, mistakes were made and we are paying for it.

 

There is no future in history, we NOW have a strong squad which I think can compete in the championship (was Brum not an illustration of that). 

The Brum game is history now......  

 

I'd say one game taken in isolation is of limited use in gauging our future potential success. Is the Brum game any more illustrative than the West Brom games for our chances in the PL?

[Port Said Red]

7 minutes ago, Moor2Sea said:

Why single out City? We're talking Exeter City just down the road. The apologists always use the locational excuse for not being able to attract talent here. Tom, would you prefer to be in Bristol or some place 'up country' in the middle of nowhere? 

Said he could have been part of the solution - not our saviour. He could have been the second/third striker. Someone in form who knows where the net is. Not someone for the 'development squad' who will be of use in the first team sometime never but someone who could hit the ground running now and increase our goal threat 20%.

Do we think Burns as a second/third striker will nab 5-6 goals in the remaining matches? Really, really hope so, I truly do. But if I were a betting man I'm pretty sure Nichol's would and Burns won't. 

It's going to be about small percentages in the end, particular chance conversion rate. We've already missed 10 points in this transfer window due to wastefulness in front of goal and that will be telling come the end of season. According to some though that's history so it doesn't matter. 

I haven't seen much of Nicholls (the Liverpool cup game), so if you have seen more of him then I will bow to your superior knowledge. I have seen Burns and he has blown hot and cold (very cold on Saturday), but he hasn't really been played as a striker like he is at U21 international level. He also has scored a goal in the championship and at League One level something which Nicholls has yet to do. I know he scored in a cup game against Liverpool, but lots of lower league players and non-league players do extraordinary things in the cup competitions, yet a very, very small percentage of them go on to bigger things.

It's your money of course, but the bookies would have given you good odds on the outcome you suggest.

[pongo88]

25 minutes ago, Dave said:

One of our signings has already been described as a punt.

I wonder if we are considering a deal to the end of the season for Shola Ameobi?

Ameobi offered to play for Bolton for free when his loan expired, but they could sign him again due to their embargo. This may change following their next court case 

http://www.themag.co.uk/2016/01/shola-ameobi-offers-play-rest-season-free-help-cash-strapped-club/