Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Albion rule out permanent recruits
Tuesday 1st December 2009, 12:00PM GMT.
Albion have effectively ruled out permanent recruits in the January transfer window.
The Baggies will stick to loan signings, as head coach Roberto Di Matteo looks to strengthen his squad for the second half of the Championship promotion challenge. The club issued a statement designed to dampen increasing speculation in the national media over possible big-money January buys.
Albion are set to stay true to their long-standing policy of conducting only minimal business in January.
The club said: “All available resources have already been invested in the squad, both in transfer fees and to cover player wages for the next three years.
“This will enable the club to remain competitive even if they stay in the Championship beyond their two years of Premier League parachute payments.
“In January, the club will again consider loans with options to buy, a policy which has worked well in the past. Albion are also hopeful that James Morrison and Ishmael Miller, two of the club’s top performers over the past couple of seasons, will be fit to return to action early in the New Year.”
Albion continue to be linked with several players at home and abroad, with fresh stories in Romania revealing Baggies target Gabriel Tamas has now been transfer-listed by French club Auxerre.
Tamas’s chequered reputation means the Baggies are unlikely to invest heavily in the Romania international centre-back without taking him on loan initially.
Sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth said: “We will be as prepared as we possibly can for January.
“Robbie has already identified one or two areas he may like to strengthen, so we are working on identifying and pursuing targets.
“But it is very much a work in progress because the landscape could change between now and January due to loss of form or fresh injuries.
“The team is handily placed after 18 games and we want to give ourselves the best possible chance of an immediate return to the Premier League – whilst living within our means.”
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Oh well, if ain’t broke, why try and fix it?
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I will only be happy if summer investment comes BIG to stay in the Prem and also that players here if they leave, are replaced with better ones. When is this club going to speculate a little to secure a permanent top flight place and when is it truly going to be prepared for succession planning in the event of key players being picked off?
On the plus side though we are doing well with this crop and some good young players are now finding their feet, lets hope it continues till the end of May and beyond :)
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Agree with number 1 – unless we get injuries there doesn’t seem to be an urgent need to get more faces in. RDM will know which positions require a bit of cover, and as the article says, the club will try to bring in any long term players on loan if possible.
I’m wondering if JP will look to attract investment again in the summer, should we go up.
We know that we are ultimately limited by his personal financial position, and I have no problem with this as he has made it very clear. He will always do what is right by the club given the money we have, but we also know that an injection of around £20/30 million on top of the sky money gives you alot more chance of staying up.
I would back JP whichever way he goes with this – just as long as any potential investor has the club at heart.
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Thanks for helping us JP!
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I read a story recently that John Terry is now available for hire to your function or event.
Rumours that a Mr McCarthy is trying to hire him for an hour and a half on saturday afternoon are yet to be confirmed.
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JP and RDM are spot on, we are second, going very well and looking very good for promotion, why spend money on players in january when we could be in the premier in may and attract better players to invest in.
This squad is more than capable of getting us promoted, we still have two decent players injured to come back in to the squad.
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I agree with Happy. We have a good settled squad at the moment and Morrison and Miller coming back are worth a couple of 2m plus signings at least so in that sense we have two good signings coming in. I also agree with TJS that should we complete the task ahead of us this year we need to invest in some experienced premier league players for next term to add a bit of know how and premier quality for the task ahead. This will take some serious cash. Let’s not waste it now when every indication is we wouldn’t necessarily be making any improvement to a more than adequate squad.
JP has done a great job in his managerial appointments over the years and has managed our beloved club with careful hands. He should looking for investment for next season now not in May. Really all his work relating to this season should close on February 1st. Obviously he does have other work in his portfolio but as far as West Brom is concerned he and Dan Ashworth should start in Feb preparing for next season as best they can given they need a safety net should we have another season down here to contend with (which looks unlikely). I hope the first thing they do is secure RDM on a good contract because he looks a manager of some pedigree.
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no need for panic stations, we’re soaring high.
i have no concerns. happy to save the cash.
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i am rather surprised that laughingwolf hasn’t spewed his usual gutter talk today, ALBION BANKRUPT? CASH CRISIS AT WBA? Inside information etc. Maybe the wolf is licking his wounds??
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So funny, when we are doing well every one says JP is a financial genius and his prudence is an example to other clubs… Yet when we come straight back down everyone says he is a muppet for not taking a gamble and investing in new players!
So which view is right???
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Summed up perfectly by number 1.
Whilst not wishing to count any unhatched eggs we should be in the top 2 come May – so no real need to strengthen now for this season.
But I do like our recent trend of bringing in players on loan with a view to a permanent move as we get to see them and assess them now.
Which again leads me to ask – what happened to Mesenguez?
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AMS – I’m sure that if JP is looking for investment he will already be in discussion with people.
The problem is that he won’t know what division we will be in and so any discussions will be based on “what if”.
A premier league team will be a more attractive proposition for an investor – although if i was JP I would be thinking that a club in its 2nd year of prem football is far more valuable than a newly promoted one – and would look at keeping us up on his own first.
Who knows – but I back JP to do it right for the club.
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10.
Your question brings us full circle to Jarrods blog last week – do we want to be a Premier League also ran or the best team in the Football League?
We can be the best in the FL by doing exactly what we’re doing – yo-yo.
We have either got to have a few slices of luck or a significant change in the way the club is run to achieve the other.
Personally, I can’t see the way the club is run changing any time soon, so instead of berating the owner we have to see the silver lining which is HE has secured the future of OUR club.
We may be fortunate in 2010/11 and have a few of the 50:50 decisions that change matches run in our favour – and in that case we could still be a Premier League side in 11/12 – but we can’t bank on that.
I’m perfectly happy with the structure of the club and the morals of those custodians currently in place in the board room.
Afterall, how bad would it be to be a Bolton fan??!!!
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Six points clear at the top,hitting good form with a young squad of players but meagre on numbers.Its disgraceful that Di Matteo is not backed by Jeremy.The hard slog starts now and we need some expereince to go with our young talent and lets hope Jeremy does not live to regret adding to the squad whist in a position of strength.
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Jones – there will always be people who critise the investment – this happens at every club. However the prudent policy of not putting the club into huge debt has allowed us to fight for promotion time and time again
Many clubs gambled financially to stay in the prem and failed – and with no big investor they used their parachute payments to pay wages and ultimately tumbled down the divisions. Under JP that will not happen to us.
Supermaths – Mesenguez was purely a loan with an option to buy – no contract to buy was in place (just in case he didn’t deliver I guess) but he decided not to drop down to the CCC.
Even JP can’t win them all !!!
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Jeremy Peace wouldnt need to buy anymore players even if we won promotion to the prem,I feel that
all the hard work has already been done in seasons
gone by,If Albion did decide to go into the transfer market then maybe I`d go for a defender
just to keep things ticking over.
If you look at our attacking options its just
absolutly awsome,BRUNT,JARA,DORRANS,THOMAS,
TEIXEIRA,MULUMBU,KOREN,MORRISON,COX,MOORE,
BEDNAR,MILLER.
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I agree with most of the sentiments. The squad is good enough at the moment and loans can be a cheapish way to bolster problems caused by injuries or suspensions and a chance to look to the future, as outlined by Supermaths. However I would welcome comments on the following: People keep talking about our 3 “new” players, Ish, Clem and Morrison. Does anyone really know how close they are? Seems a long time for a blister. Will Meite be in the African cup? What are the conditions of Barnett`s loan? How long is Koren out?
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You have to trust JP. He does whats best for us.
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I think we may well see Gabriel Tamas join in january so we get an early look at him. he will also be the cover for Meite when he goes to the African nations…. other than that I can’t see anything else we need till we know which league we will be in.
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Lots of interesting views here.
Streetly has his usual knock at JP. ‘Bring in some experience.’ Would this help us to win 6-0 or 7-0, or would it risk upsetting the balance and the team spirit in the squad? Who are these experienced players that would be willing to drop a division yet still be good enough if we go up a division?
On the new investor question. The financial world is a very confused place at the moment. Liverpool fans were hoping for massive investment from a Dubai family recently, the Dubai bubble has burst quickly followed by Liverpool’s hopes of someone to build a new ground and buy a new team for them. Selling a football club isn’t as easy as floating an idea on Dragon’s Den. Sometimes beware of what you ask for. Anyone remember Laughing Wolf taunting us with their latest rich Sugar Daddy? He invested less than JP did when we went up, into a team that was vastly inferior to the one we went up with. Look at the Wolves page, Morgan is now public enemy number one.
10 Jones.
There’s only one way to find out.
FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Fantastic. You guys slate Wolves but you have spent all of your money for the next 3 years, I’d love to see you go up with this squad and try to compete! Mattock, Moore, Calamity Carson, Meite, Reid, great stuff.
Even with the financial constraints of this seasons championship and clubs not even being able to field 15 players unless they get players from their youth team, I wouldnt absolutely guarantee promotion as yet because when you had injuries you got beat a few times. The best of luck to you but this is not good news forthe albion.
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hello you sparrowheads, congratulations on your imminent promotion to the greed league, whats the betting on your lot beating ac milan in the champios league final 2011/12 season . oh and good news latex is your new sponsor, little support and no cups, utw bong bong oops
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West Bromwich Albion belongs to my Granddad, Father, two brothers, a brother-in-law, all now deceased and ME, very much alive and kicking. The club is run brilliantly, we have a Head Coach who will soon prove to be the best signing JP has made so keep him as long as possible. Anyone telling a millionaire how to run a business is either a sandwich short of a picnic or just plain cocky. Some bloke once said on here, “The way to make a small fortune is to start with a large one and then buy a football club”. That has to be the quote of the century. If you blokes who slag off JP can show me YOUR fortunes, I might listen, but otherwise, BACK THE BLOKE, he’s doing fine.
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The January window has always been suspect; I think the current policy makes sense. Long term, I maintain my position – we are not quite the finished article. Not convinced by either the ‘sugar Daddy’ or ‘long haul’ approach; but seeing I’m totally skint there’s nothing I can do but sit and watch…
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Would agree with most on here and take the “if it ain’t broke..” view also, but wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one permanent addition. Albion have adopted a good policy of buying young promising players who go on to (eventually) make the 1st team and prosper and/or in some cases (Davis, Koumas, Beattie, Maresca etc…)sell on for a big or moderate profit. We may see a new young “one for the future” in January, which of course doesn’t apply to the 1st team, which looks perfectly fine for now anyway.
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23. Cyril, as usual, spot on. JP is a first class business man, has been brilliant for the Albion and has put a model in place that pretty much all other clubs outside the top 8 in the Premiership want to emulate. Again, look at Newcastle, Leeds, Southampton, Charlton, Derby etc etc. Do you fools really want this.
21. and 22. Take your bad little vibes and digs back to your own pages. These pages are for the supporters of a team scoring for fun and playing absolutely class at the moment. Megson’s going to turn your circus over too on Saturday. Enjoy.
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loved bullys comment about wolves championship winning team being ‘inferior’ to albions yet wolves won the league by 7 more points! Well as albion have spent all of their money for the next three years are you not concerned about promotion? i personally hope you go up i cant see you getting more than 5 points in 38 games!
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Agree with “if it aint broke” sentiments. Norwich, Charlton, Southampton…. do I need to go on?
However – WE WILL NEED FUNDS if we do go up. I actually think the dingle 21 has a point. It is still a huge gulf between these divisions.
But, we are still playing great football ( sorry wolves but you never have!!!!! McCarthys blue print for survival? – Stoke. Says it all.) and are on course to come back up. I am happy enough. And, I have to say – I would rather beat Wolves and Brum in the Premiership.
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21. Our goalkeeper has been marvellous this season as any honest person will confirm. He certainly would not have given Chelski a two goal help!
22. I hope you are wrong that we have Latex as a sponsor. It does let one down badly or you wouldn’t be here.
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27 Shadrag.
Glad you loved my comment. Your reply as usual picks out a random comparison in your own favour. As the old adage goes, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. Perhaps if you’d like a more recent comparison, try our points total at this stage in the Prem last year to yours this year. Then key in the fact that you’ve also got a lot of hard games to come after your ‘easy’ start to the season.
On another note, it’s good to see you coming back on here as yourself. Although you still couldn’t resist a couple under aliases, this is definitely a step in the right direction in bringing your schizophrenia under control. Well done.
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28 MancBaggie.
I think we all know this and definitely don’t need a Wulfie giving us advice. Some of our fans pointed this out to them in the close season and were told where to go, if my memory serves correctly ‘why should we listen to Boggies about the PL?’ Answer, because we’ve spent a lot more time in it than they have. Like their constant taunts that we are a yoyo club. I’d be more impressed if they’d reached the level of being called a yoyo club, unless once every six years qualifies. A very slow yoyo.
I agree with Happy. A centre half to cover for AM in the Africa Cup but only if he’s the right one. Remember, what we don’t spend now gives us more to spend if we go up, while spending now doesn’t guarantee going up.
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Can you dingle boys read? The statement read that if we don’t get promotion then we can cover the existing players wages for the next three years i.e NO Firesale if we don’t get promoted..
so back to dingletown with you
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WolvesFC
If Albion gained promotion then I`d be more than
happy going into a Premieship season with the
squad we have at the moment,Carson,Mattock,Meite,
and Moore are not the greatest players in the
world but they could all quite easily step up to the next level with Roberto Di Matteo in
charge.
WOLVES FANS CAN TAKE A LOOK AT ALBIONS SQUAD
AND DREAM ON!zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Carson,Zuiverloon,Meite,Olsson,Cech,
Brunt,Jara,Dorrans,Morrison,Moore,Miller.
Kiley,Martis,Mulumbu,Valero,Thomas,Cox,Bednar.
Mattock,Teixiera,Koren.
Lots of fans reckon Wolves style of play is a
lot like ours,Ive watched alot of youre games and the Dingle boys football is a million
light years behind The Baggies,when Albion were
in the Prem we used to keep the ball really well and create bags of chances,
Wolves remind me of the Gary Megson team in
our 1st Prem season,poor and totally devoid of
any ideas.
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LW
If, as you keep trying to convince everyone Wolves DO stay up, we will usurp the 5 point total you suggest against your lot alone.
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Dingles come on here trying to deflect attention from the dire straits they are in. Moxey was right in the summer when he said they would not “do an Albion”. They have bought players who are far inferior to ours and as we know to our cost, most of ours weren`t quite good enough for the Prem.
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Whilst, ‘Things aren’t broke’ at the moment, that doesn’t necessarily mean all will still be well come the end of the transfer season. There will undoubtedly be teams after our better players and we are sure to loose one or two of them, if not in January, then in the Summer.
I don’t believe we’ll see Morrisson play for the Albion again. It seems fishy that he could have all this time off with a blister. Everyone seems to have stopped mentioning Clements as-well, if he’s never going to be fit, then we need to get him off the payroll and someone to replace him.
Surely the board must be pretty confident of promotion again this year. They must also be aware of what positions need strengthening prior to our hopefully forth-coming premier campaign. Surely it would make sense to have a small gamble in bolstering our squad in January. Give the incoming players chance to gel with the team so we can hit the floor running in the prem. It would also give us much needed cover for any injuries we may sustain before the end of the season.
It looks to me like this team could well compete in the prem, but it worries me that we lack strength in depth in specific areas. I fear that without investment, if we were unlucky with injuries, we could be as gloomy as the dingles this time next year.
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36 Dave.
Not sure if your post is serious or a Shadrag wind-up but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.
Are you suggesting Morrison doesn’t want to play because he wants a transfer? Very strange way of going about it. Do you really think he only has a blister? Or are you suggesting the blister will finish his career?
I think you’ll find that people have stopped mentioning Neil Clement because we all hope that he will get back but obviously we also worry that he won’t. It’s about respect for an honest lad who has given this club good and loyal service. Reading your post again I can see why you wouldn’t understand this concept.
If you bring in new signings in January that are PL quality, they will want PL wages. If we don’t go up then we will be trying to pay PL wages in the CCC. Look at Leeds and numerous other clubs with deep financial problems. This is how they got them. The loan with an option to buy plicy is ideal for January, which is why the club are looking in that direction.
Hope this is clear enough for you.
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To the Wolves fans commenting on these pages, I’d take the Albion over the Wolves every day of the week and twice on a Sunday. Yes, we might not have a sponsor and yes you’ve got a bigger capacity, yet it’s not getting you very far at the moment is it? Just remind us when our last defeat was boys??
I back the transfer policy at the Albion 100%. A few loan additions in January will add to the quality we already have, we don’t need any major additions like I say it’s ours to chuck away now.
The major additions can wait till the close season when we know what division we will be in.
UP THE BAGGIES!!!
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27 Laffinwulf. How come you didn’t mention that the probable reason for there being no permanent signings is because we don’t have a sponsor!.
I would also be more worried about how many points the wulfies are going to get rather than how many we will next season if I were you (thank God I’m not!). After all the promises made by the Wulfs board you must be pig sick (even though you are too pig headed to admit it). Get the “You’ve Let Us Down Again” poster dusted off, it’s going to be needed quite soon.
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Just had a read of the wo;ves posts from today – oh dear….
we may have been relegated last season, we may have finished bottom – BUT….. I could never imagine a time when the Albion fans would feel so bitter and hateful to their club and fellow supporters.
The levels of anger are so out of proportion that its beyond amusing – even for a baggie fan !!
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Hmmmm…… Wolves are about to face Bolton with Paul Robinson – suddenly Kiteley is injured – coincidence ????
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Cyrille (23) Love this post. My Granddad used to live where they have built the Hawthorns Station and the club belongs to us as fans and our descendants if we can discourage them from Glory hunting Since for myself I have no level business success (a good job perhaps but no more) I am more than prepared to back JP in his role. We have got relegated from the Prem 3 times now and each time we have not been under any pressure to sell since JP has implimented the model that is realistic and allows us a fair crack at the Championship when we have come down. If there is a way to get us to break the glass ceiling then it will be a mixture of luck (look at Blues with Johnson and Dann – a gamble that has paid off) good man management by the first team boss and wise and clever business management – a combination of securing the right investment and also spending money on the right players. Arguably Valero was a mistake that not only cost 5m but also prevented us bringing in someone else who may have done better – but then look at him now – he is a star in La Liga this season and certainly I can see now why we bought him – maybe we just got unlucky. Looking at Liverpool bringing in Lucas and Babel and losing Keane and Alonso – just shows other clubs (even the big 4) get key decisions wrong sometimes. So lets roar us onwards and upwards and stay patient and faithful to the cause. I’m sure fans of many other clubs from mid prem (West Ham and Pompey for example) to Leeds and Norwich and Southampton would more than settle for our model of football management.
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