[Albion] Tony Bloom lumps yet another £8m on his Albion Premier League dream

[Marshy]

Bloody good window in my opinion

Don't forget Mr Bloom had spent let's say another 7 million or so on Duffy and Norwood.

 

[Wardy's twin]

totally agree ... we still have last seasons top scorer with us . Yes i would like to have seen another striker but we still have plenty of goals in this team and a stronger set of players....

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Sorry but my gut feeling is that without another (better that Baldock and Hemed) striker we are definitely not top two and only borderline play offs this season. If that's the case then at the end of the season Tony will be down the Kayal and Stephens money. They will need replacing, just to stand still, and still no strikers (Murray gone). Add to this that next year the prices (we already can't compete with0 will have gone up even more and I can't really see us getting out of this league. Tony had a five year plan and I think that that having failed we are now pretty much priced out of it.

 

[cunningplan]

I think that the business done today has been excellent, giving us a fighting chance for promotion.....
Let's hope that Stephens gets the message and climbs back on board....

 

[Mancgull]

What happens if we don't get promotion this season? We'll lose Stephens and Kayal for nothing. Dunk and Knockaert will almost certainly want away. I'm sure that's why Duffy was bought in. Not as a definite first teamer for this year but as a longer term replacement for Dunk if things don't go to plan. We do seem to be lumping on large for this season without much focus on next year if we don't succeed in our goal.
in the crazy world of football we seem to be small fry compared to the relegated clubs and the likes of Derby (what must their wage bill be like?!)
Yes, we should be really grateful that we have a chairman who is prepared to rebuff the likes of Burnley for Dale, but it's not easy to take a longer term view when we seem to be so focused on a shit or bust exercise this year.
People could challenge this view with our failure not to get a striker in but if we had we would have got them in on a long term contract and so with potential value eg AK. Next year we'll be back to Hemed and Baldock as GM is a loanee.
I'm playing Devils advocate here and I'm pleased we've kept Dale if he can commit 100% for the whole season. However, I do wonder if the strategy for keeping him was more about keeping the other first teamers convinced that we wanted promotion rather than taking a pragmatic stance of off loading a want away player for money that could have been reinvested.

 

[Doc Lynam]

We've got a solid defence and outstanding midfield. Murray is capable up front, Hemed bagged 17 last year in a weaker team. We'll be OK, and if reinforcements are required we've kept our powder dry for January.

A decent (if slightly boring) transfer deadline day.

At the beginning of this window i would have taken that sentiment. This window wasn't just buying but protecting as well.

 

[studio150]

It's not just that Baldock doesn't score, the guy got red carded vs Newcastle and killed our chances of a result there. .

The1st red card in his career and one which most observers said was harsh in the extreme.

He is not like Greer or Barnes where there was always a chance of the red mist descending.

Time for Manu to become an Albion hero

 

[DJ NOBO]

I love Tony bloom but I've got a feeling history will show we got this wrong. We need a top class striker - we haven't got one.
As it happens I think we should have taken the money on Stephens

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

I love Tony bloom but I've got a feeling history will show we got this wrong. We need a top class striker - we haven't got one.
As it happens I think we should have taken the money on Stephens

The worst that happens is we have a mass clear out next summer and have to start again..

 

[Seagulltonian]

Time for Manu to become an Albion hero

The coaching staff definitely need to teach him the offside rule though

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Time for Manu to become an Albion hero

Or time for Richie Towell to become that #10 we want. Or Solly March.

We have so many options now.

And we obviously have some cash left over for January.

 

[blue'n'white]

Obviously didnt try hard enough as we failed for whatever reason. We had about 3 months to sort it out. We have made the defence tighter so perhaps we should be grateful for that and hope that Murray doesnt get injured or suspended.

You have no knowledge of who we tried to get. Neither have I nor (probably) anyone else who posts on here. Would you rather we had a (fairly) harmonious dressing room with a team ethic as we had last season or would you rather a couple of "big time Charlie's" on squillions of £s per year which could upset that harmonious ethic. I'd rather have a dressing room that's all pulling together and I'm pleased we have a chairman who won't pay some of the stupid money that has been pouring into other club's coffers in this last 24 hours.


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[Pavilionaire]

You have no knowledge of who we tried to get. Neither have I nor (probably) anyone else who posts on here. Would you rather we had a (fairly) harmonious dressing room with a team ethic as we had last season or would you rather a couple of "big time Charlie's" on squillions of £s per year which could upset that harmonious ethic. I'd rather have a dressing room that's all pulling together and I'm pleased we have a chairman who won't pay some of the stupid money that has been pouring into other club's coffers in this last 24 hours.


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Except that Stephens handed in a transfer request then left training early, and Kaz on Twitter says he's disappointed with the window. Hughton has a job to do now.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

That's essentially what he's done with Dale Stephens isn't it?

After stumping up for the Amex, the training complex and picking up financial loss season after season, it might have been easy to take Burnley's money and lock in a return on Dale Stephens, but he didn't.

It's hard to imagine Stephens is a particularly happy chappy this evening, but he has 10 days to get over his sulks, get his head together and once again put in the kind of performances that we know he is capable of, and that will have Premier League suitors coveting his signature in the future. And, if the Albion do make it this season, he may be happy to stay put and experience the Premier League from familiar surroundings.

And that's putting aside Anthony Knockaert and Lewis Dunk. If bids had been accepted in addition to that for Stephens, £30m could be sitting in the Albion's bank account tonight.

Fully agree re Bloom. He could have got the best part of 25-30 million back in this window.

Having said that, I personally wouldn't have got Duffy in, instead put the money towards a striker.

I fear that Murray, Hemed and Baldock won't score enough goals for a top two finish.

 

[Mackenzie]

Stephens is TB's special brew......[yt]gAfqguL88tA[/yt]

 

[Stat Brother]

The ground and training ground are mortgaged and are ASSETS which will appreciate over time.
Players are ASSETS which depreciate over time.
Where is TB investing his COMPANY'S money?
I've had enough of this. Hands up who on here owns a football club? What's that, no one, funny that, because it costs a fortune, traditionally you have to be the richest person in a city to own that club. Therefore stop cryarsing that you sink loads into the club, that's the point. Otherwise everyone would have one.

I've been trying to think of a reply but couldn't really work out the language needed.

The best I could come up with is:-

'Nobody congratulates me for paying off my credit card'.


The 'Tony is carrying all the debt, we should be grateful' line is a little tough.
After all it is his debt, he decided his debt, nobody asked or more importantly forced him to under take such a level of debt.

Now I know this is churlish, I genuinely love the AMEX, but I don't like the way the debt Mr Bloom has allowed himself to undertake then gets used as the excuse for anything and everything that is deemed to be an error from the club.

In this case it's something huge like deflecting away from not spending x millions on a sub-par striker, something for which it's hard to not say 'fair enough'.
But it's the exact same point right the way down to something piddling like tea and coffee.

 

[Seagulltonian]

Except that Stephens handed in a transfer request then left training early, and Kaz on Twitter says he's disappointed with the window. Hughton has a job to do now.

This will definitely test his man-management skills, and we know he's done it in a couple of dressing rooms that have certainly had "ego's" in them!

 

[Milano]

Hughton cannot be happy with the striker position. He plays 4-4-2 FFS. If we played with 1 up top it wouldn't be such a big deal.
Every Albion fan I've spoken thinks that 3 strikers is not enough.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Hughton cannot be happy with the striker position. He plays 4-4-2 FFS. If we played with 1 up top it wouldn't be such a big deal.
Every Albion fan I've spoken thinks that 3 strikers is not enough.

3 strikers isn't enough, so we look to Solly March or Richie Towell to play #10, or hope Elvis sorts his head and responds positively to the opportunity this brings.

 

[Seagulltonian]

But it's the exact same point right the way down to something piddling like tea and coffee.

Have we "penny-pinched" on splashing out on a striker?
Ironically spending 7 or 8 million on a striker, might bring the riches to the club that it needs to support it's ongoing growth, and cover the free tea and coffee in the lounges!
Ok, we haven't sold any of our playing assets this time around, but if we don't get promotion soon, we will become a selling club again?