The January Transfer Window

[Albumen]

I expect one pacey workaholic forward to cover Baldock, and that's all. Unless March can grow into that role.
It's the most I've ever been relaxed in a window (there's a joke to be had there somewhere).

Doubt it will be a player in this mould, we already have Sam. Likely to be a creative player in my opinion.

He can cover himself? Jesus, he's good.

 

[KingKev]

As much as I'm a fan of Solly, I can't quite see it. He seems to be more of a winger/wide forward, and I do like the look of him as a more orthodox winger on the left, especially when dovetailed with Knockaert on the right.

I think that Murphy, AK and Solly could all play the role - but only if the other two are fit and on the wings. We tried AK there once as an experiment and it was doomed to fail as we didn't have enough creativity to get him on a the ball or width to create room in the middle. March being fit is a potential game-changer in terms of cover options for Sam B if we don't sign a no. 10.
Personally I think March may very well move inside at some point in his career....

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I think that Murphy, AK and Solly could all play the role - but only if the other two are fit and on the wings. We tried AK there once as an experiment and it was doomed to fail as we didn't have enough creativity to get him on a the ball or width to create room in the middle. March being fit is a potential game-changer in terms of cover options for Sam B if we don't sign a no. 10.
Personally I think March may very well move inside at some point in his career....

It's where Oscar played him, anyway.

 

[pasty]

Evening Standard - Brighton interested in Loftus-Cheek

 

[dwayne]

Evening Standard - Brighton interested in Loftus-Cheek

Needs to be gauranteed game time and is notoriously lazy. Doesn't sound quite right.

 

[spence]

We don't need a midfielder

 

[the right footed denilson]

Needs to be gauranteed game time and is notoriously lazy. Doesn't sound quite right.

Notoriously lazy? Mourinho had a rant at him once.
He is a supremely gifted player.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

That would be two players then.
We have to find cover for Baldock. If he gets an injury we only have Hemed or, at a push, Murphy and that's a very different dynamic.
A truly creative central midfielder would be a real bonus although they are rare. I really do think we make a mistake sometimes by "playing our way" and not matching sides up in midfield. The last two games away from home have been classic cases in point. We may have found a way to win but we have made it hard by starting with 2v3 in the centre and being swamped.

I think that will be interesting next season if we go up. Do we go with the system that has got us up or do we play three in midfield. Certainly for games against the big teams I can't see us playing our current system. Surely we will be more defensive. For this season, I understand why Hughton is sticking to 4-4-2 as we didn't do that well with 4-3-3 last year e.g. Cardiff away.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Notoriously lazy? Mourinho had a rant at him once.
He is a supremely gifted player.

If he was able to play a bit further forward e.g. the No. 10 role in some games where Baldock is unavailable or Hughton chooses a slightly different formation, he'd be an amazing signing. As one of a central midfield two, as good as he is, I'm not sure we need him unless we are selling Stephens. However, if he can play as the no. 10, he'd be perfect as he is a talented player and we can then reevaluate in the summer when we know what division we'll be in.

Can't see him signing though. There must be plenty of Premier League clubs interested who would give him regular games.

 

[the right footed denilson]

If he was able to play a bit further forward e.g. the No. 10 role in some games where Baldock is unavailable or Hughton chooses a slightly different formation, he'd be an amazing signing. As one of a central midfield two, as good as he is, I'm not sure we need him unless we are selling Stephens. However, if he can play as the no. 10, he'd be perfect as he is a talented player and we can then reevaluate in the summer when we know what division we'll be in.

Can't see him signing though. There must be plenty of Premier League clubs interested who would give him regular games.

Agreed. Same report mentions West Ham. Gotta think Palace would be game too.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Agreed. Same report mentions West Ham. Gotta think Palace would be game too.

I think we'll probably end up with an overseas signing that nobody has mentioned, as often happens. A slight gamble but cheaper than taking a gamble on someone from the lower leagues here. Very similar to signing Skalak last January.

 

[pasty]

I'm actually a little nervous about this transfer window. I'm a great advocate of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and right now, it certainly ain't broke. Yes, bring in some cover for Baldock at least, but please, no billy-big-bollox who only wants to come here for first team football. Let's not upset the apple cart.

 

[Machiavelli]

If he was able to play a bit further forward e.g. the No. 10 role in some games where Baldock is unavailable or Hughton chooses a slightly different formation, he'd be an amazing signing. As one of a central midfield two, as good as he is, I'm not sure we need him unless we are selling Stephens. However, if he can play as the no. 10, he'd be perfect as he is a talented player and we can then reevaluate in the summer when we know what division we'll be in.

Can't see him signing though. There must be plenty of Premier League clubs interested who would give him regular games.

I think this might be a more viable option than you credit, and would be a great loan signing.
The primary reason why he's being touted is because he hasn't had game time this season at Chelsea, so the key consideration is where he will get game time, and this would be more likely with us than either West Ham or Palace. He's really not the sort of player Big Sam will be after either, and it's not attacking midfielders that West Ham are short of.

 

[clarkey]

I'm actually a little nervous about this transfer window. I'm a great advocate of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and right now, it certainly ain't broke. Yes, bring in some cover for Baldock at least, but please, no billy-big-bollox who only wants to come here for first team football. Let's not upset the apple cart.

That approach doesn't sound very Hughton to me, I wouldn't worry about that.

 

[Nixonator]

He can cover himself? Jesus, he's good.

We need cover for his position, not necessarily his attributes.

Would be nice if his cover could offer us something slightly different rather than like-for-like.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I think this might be a more viable option than you credit, and would be a great loan signing.
The primary reason why he's being touted is because he hasn't had game time this season at Chelsea, so the key consideration is where he will get game time, and this would be more likely with us than either West Ham or Palace. He's really not the sort of player Big Sam will be after either, and it's not attacking midfielders that West Ham are short of.

Fair point. There surely must be another Premier League club who'd be interested though, unless they want him to stay in the South East and that then gives us a better chance.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

The whole Lampard story just seems utterly preposterous and isn't worth worrying too much about unless Bozza starts dropping hints.

 

[dwayne]

Notoriously lazy? Mourinho had a rant at him once.
He is a supremely gifted player.

Ask Chelsea fans. He often looks lost in games but is clearly very very talented so I wouldn't complain too much if he came here.

I would be concerned that there would be pressure on us to play him if he did arrive on loan and I don't think we want to be in that position.

Thats why lampard makes far more sense. He wouldn't be expected to play every game and could probably play the baldock role or in central midfield, he is also a consumate pro and not a billy big balls as others have suggested .

 

[James Bond's body double]

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[the right footed denilson]

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Come off it