2015/16 Transfer Speculation

I would put a fiver on someone like Michael Chopra - was a star for Ipswich in 2013 - transfers to Blackpool, gets out of there to Kerala in India and ends up this year at Alloa in Scotland - 400,000 euro, proven zippy goal scorer, 31 years old, off the rails and ernie brings him back into the fold from the wilderness at a price we can affordish...

Pity about the gambling and general KFC addiction.

OR we can Berbatov for a cool million E

Guyon Fernandez is also still a free agent

I thought we were after a proven goal scorer? Sarpong only scored 4 times in 58 games for Breda. Burns had a much better scoring record than that even before last season (just  getting in there before someone suggests Ernie can turn him into a goal scorer like he did with Burns)

That is where I'd put my money if I had to bet on it. 

if one should feel generous with wasting their time, transfermarkt has a good list of off-contract strikers under the 'transfer/rumour' tab

I love how a report on a Friday from a third party with the comments ... "in advanced negotiations" ... "understood to be European-based"  ... "hope to have a deal completed next week" all have us glued to our devices hitting refresh every 5 minutes on a Monday morning.

The life of a fan.

Transfer Market seems to over value players on the wane massively though.

...and invites to a press conference...

Seems like a decent shout; don't know anything about him except for his wiki page though. Seems more of a target-man type? Ernie said we were going for someone quick/good dribbler etc which is why I thought Sarpong.

My reading is that Sarpong hasn't played (much) for the past two years.

Ooooh. Missed that.

The life of a part-time fan. 

http://www.football-oranje.com/no-deal-for-guyon-f...

Doesn't look like Fernandez has either? 

Also, this;

"The main reason for that decision was a lack of pace to the former Feyenoord and Zwolle man’s game."

To me it looks like he has a bit of Stein about him.

Doesn't sound like the type of player Ernie was looking for. Of course, he could've changed tact after struggling to find anyone else. Who knows.

After a quick look at the Blackburn forums, Sarpong has impressed on trial.

(This is how desperate we've become)

Ah, fair enough that it might not be Guyon then either. 

this is like playing where is wally in 1950's Paris.

I remember Ernie saying that we are probably going to get a winger/second striker to replace Burns because out-and-out strikers are in demand and cost more $.

would be keen

I can't wait for the announcement, just to see how the forum deals with actual information! Hope the servers will hold up, they may think it is a DDoS attack ;-)

calton cole come on down....

this is being kept impressively quiet

I fear there's a reason for that.

So the usual reaction like "Underwhelmed, he didn't score any goals at _______, he's not the type of player we need, what about the no cocks policy" all before we've seen him play :)

The build up has been very well hidden

I'm thinking we are either going to be very very shocked in a good way

Or

Very very shocked in a bad way

Quote from Ernie from the FFA Cup match preview article from yesterday.

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/ffa-cup-preview...

Old quote? Player fall through? Ernie just downplaying things?

That quote is a few weeks old if I recall.

It's in the match preview so it could be him repeating the same thing now that he has been saying all along.

The CCM gaffers quote is to do with the game:

will they be wearing the new CCM legalise cannabis strip?

Old quote. Too lazy to get a new one obviously

p.s. when is this press conference? Or has it fallen through?

strong lead on this guy -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqLjBJPi1Jw

Take with a massive grain of salt but James McFadden's name came up on the 442 forums rumour mill.

Oh dear.

might as well get a rory to complement our roly if we are thinking about McFadden.........

I'd be happy with McFadden

Wasnt he in that awful Good Charlotte band?

I thought he played RB in the NFL

Hmm. McFadden is an interesting one. 

If you take out his 1st 3 years in SPL, he is roughly 40 odd goals across 300 odd games. That's hardly prolific at 1 goal every 7.5 games. 

I know Ernie has form on converting players whom were not strikers but this guy is a striker and has high level pedigree but his record.... It just does not scream 'we need this guy on his previous form'

Why would we not be happy with McFadden. We've asked for players that have Premier League experience before. He's played 150 odd Prem games, another 150 odd in the Championship or Scottish Premier League. His record is 1 in every 5 games give or take

Ifill spent most of his career in the Championship with a record of 1 in 6 give or take

Which is probably (if it is actually him we're after) why he's happy to come here at a price we can wear. As Ernie said a few weeks back, anyone who screams "you need me" is either taken or asking too much.

Not sure the right thread as it affects the whole league, but recent changes made to Hyundai A-League Salary Cap and Player Roster

http://www.a-league.com.au/article/ffa-makes-chang...

I think best summed up below from Twitter...

The salary cap changes are a real, ahem, "Victory" for the #aleague teams.

— Neil Sherwin (@neilsherwin) August 11, 2015

he's also 32 though