The Adam Clayton saga - now officially signed for Middlesbrough

[bhanutz]

All we hear is how much work it takes to get one deal over tue line...well guess what...other teams manage to do it, why are we pissing about when the season has started? Please look at how other clubs do their business and learn from it.

 

[TonyW]

Who says we are. Who says we even wanted this guy.
The club haven't.

 

[Justice]

If we didn't need to sell Ulloa then we weren't desperate for the money it would seem. So why are we mincing around? three quality players could be signed from the Ulloa transfer fee.

 

[Justice]

Who says we are. Who says we even wanted this guy.
The club haven't.

Been after him since January.

 

[sparkie]

Que sera, sera.

Don't expect anything before transfer deadline day now.

How disappointing.

 

[Withdean11]

I think you're right but it looks as if the club are going to take the risk with what we've got, at least until the January transfer window. Let's hope it's not too late by then. If it is, the club will only have itself to blame.

I really, really hope this is not the case. Our current squad would be floating around the relegation zone.

 

[supaseagull]

Don't forget that Paul Barber said not to judge until 1st September.

I'm sure the apologists will be out in force telling us that we've never had it so good

 

[Lifelong Supporter]

I really, really hope this is not the case. Our current squad would be floating around the relegation zone.

Yes very much in it.

 

[Clive Walker]

Ambition equals:
Bridcutt, Ulloa, Vicente (when fit), Bridge, David Lopez (first season), PIG, Barnes, Upson etc.....

Selling SOME of the names above and not replacing them equals no ambition.

Who is the star in our team now? Lua Lua, CMS, Buckley all have question marks over their head.

I would have more empathy if we were investing while doing good business, but as the weeks pass we seem to be just a selling club that will pick up some desperation signings when the time comes.

If we really do have ambition on the pitch it is time to invest the money we made from the sales, it was clear that we were making adjustments to be FFP compliant well before the clubs unwanted sale of Ulloa for £8m. If we make money on Buckley then we have more money in the pot.

We need to buy players and buy them now.

If this doesn’t change then either Sami will be off (managerless again is not good) and we will be facing mid table mediocrity or worse.

 

[Zebedee]

Ambition equals:
Bridcutt, Ulloa, Vicente (when fit), Bridge, David Lopez (first season), PIG, Barnes, Upson etc.....

Selling SOME of the names above and not replacing them equals no ambition.

Who is the star in our team now? Lua Lua, CMS, Buckley all have question marks over their head.

I would have more empathy if we were investing while doing good business, but as the weeks pass we seem to be just a selling club that will pick up some desperation signings when the time comes.

If we really do have ambition on the pitch it is time to invest the money we made from the sales, it was clear that we were making adjustments to be FFP compliant well before the clubs unwanted sale of Ulloa for £8m. If we make money on Buckley then we have more money in the pot.

We need to buy players and buy them now.

If this doesn’t change then either Sami will be off (managerless again is not good) and we will be facing mid table mediocrity or worse.

Lua Lua is the only player in out team in my view that is capable of frightening the opposition.

 

[stugbhafc1]

Don't forget that Paul Barber said not to judge until 1st September.

I'm sure the apologists will be out in force telling us that we've never had it so good

Yeah thanks Barber its not like we have had all summer to sort out any business just leaving it very late to address the holes in the squad we knew needed filling

 

[Zebedee]

Yeah thanks Barber its not like we have had all summer to sort out any business just leaving it very late to address the holes in the squad we knew needed filling

We seem to like pushing things to the wire. I guess we've just got to accept that it's the way the club like to do business.

 

[Billy the Fish]

Very much this. When we signed players in the Poyet days, time and time again we heard "i spoke to Gus, i really wanted to play for him" or "Gus told me his idea" etc.

What can Burke say to these players? "We want you, but don't want to pay you much.."

The manager now doesn't even meet the player until they turn up to training. Not a good approach.

I'm sure that's not true, but agree that it's a crap approach to take.

Gus was much more hands on with transfers than Oscar was and it seems that for Sami it's a completely new experience so might take some getting used to.
I don't see how anyone can blame Burke for that though, surely it's down to the manager, chairman and CEO to get their hands dirty and muck in to make sure we get our targets. If they're not doing anything then the structure and process is failing, and that is down to Bloom.

I'm still waiting until 1st September to pass comment, but the longer we hold out the browner my trousers will be, put it that way. If we've done nothing of any note when the window closes I'll happily wet the bed!

 

[Driver8]

The Adam Clayton saga

According to the Argus he is signing for Middlesbrough today so that's that then.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/11402773._/

 

[Bob!]

According to the Argus he is signing for Middlesbrough today so that's that then.

http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/11402773._/

Yeah it must be true, cos The Argus have been in the lead on this story from the start haven't they.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

According to the Argus he is signing for Middlesbrough today so that's that then.

In that article it says that he's going there for a medical for the third time of asking, not having appeared for the previous two. I'm not sure that he's a reliable sort of player, that would be good for our team. He has footballing skills but he's not exactly a loyal type.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

To be honest, I'm surprised that Boro still want the player at this stage, as he's made fairly clear that he doesn't really want to be there.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Lua Lua is the only player in out team in my view that is capable of frightening the opposition.

Other than when March is on his game, I have to agree. We have a very slow, uncreative team at the moment. Obviously it could all change but as the days tick by it seems less likely. An ancient defence and an immobile midfield with no creativity will really only take you in one direction on the pitch. This squad has the foundations to build a good team, but we really need to add to it if we are to make any impression on this division.

 

[ofco8]

I think you're right but it looks as if the club are going to take the risk with what we've got, at least until the January transfer window. Let's hope it's not too late by then. If it is, the club will only have itself to blame.

But it has been said that the club don't like the January transfer window, prefer the summer.

This seems like a carousel we can't jump on to.

 

[willalbion]

Other than when March is on his game, I have to agree. We have a very slow, uncreative team at the moment. Obviously it could all change but as the days tick by it seems less likely. An ancient defence and an immobile midfield with no creativity will really only take you in one direction on the pitch. This squad has the foundations to build a good team, but we really need to add to it if we are to make any impression on this division.

Yes, this pretty much sums it up at the moment, our player recruitment would appear to be weak at best. It's confusing to me as we seem to be an attractive destination for a whole host of reasons. Either we're only willing to pay wages/transfers way below the market rate or we are now associated with a lack of ambition. I'm guessing that a professional footballer has two criteria when approached by a club. Money and potential for success. If we can only offer small amounts of both we're not going to attract quality, whilst I'm happy that our club exists in it's present form I'm getting a little tired of the ambitious talk from the board coupled with the apparent lack of ambition on the playing front. I'm hopeful (not sure why) that there will be a positive statement of intent with a few exciting additions to the squad but the longer it drags on the more it seems we're settling for what we have and a season of lower to mid-table in the championship. Again, I'm happy enough with that but I'd rather those in charge of the club admitted as such or just shut up about "premier league ready" and "one club, one ambition". I detest the corporate nature of football these days, and the constant PR spin that accompanies it.