Thames Sports Investment

[TBM]

So basically we will say all these top quality players names but not sign any of them but it's ok as the sign of intent is there

We're gonna end up with a load of freebies aren't we

Then get relegated.

so essentially you are moaning at the club for not signing the players they've never said they were trying to sign?

Yeah, in a way.........whats the point in focusing on these players when time/effort could be used elsewhere bringing in someone decent that nobody else has spotted yet, similar to what Newcastle have done.

[Ian Royal]

What stops us doing both?

[Cobi]

at bidding £7m for Gylfi or anyone.

Everton usually struggle to find that sort of money, so if we are prepared to bid that sort of fee when the right type of player comes along then we can compete with a lot of the prem.

apparently we've spoken to Blackburn about Yakubu as well but West Ham's forum thinks they'll get him over us.

[TBM]

What stops us doing both?

The number of scouts

[sandman]

West Ham fans think they won the World Cup so I wouldn't take much notice of them.

[RoyalBlue]

:shock: at bidding £7m for Gylfi or anyone.

Everton usually struggle to find that sort of money, so if we are prepared to bid that sort of fee when the right type of player comes along then we can compete with a lot of the prem.

apparently we've spoken to Blackburn about Yakubu as well but West Ham's forum thinks they'll get him over us.

Reckon we'll both miss out as he's reportedly chasing the Chinese money. However, if he does decide to stay in the UK, us having Roberts might have a part to play in his decision.

[Ian Royal]

What stops us doing both?

The number of scouts

They've been looking for ten weeks. And I imagine they probably know a fair amount about players like Cole, Defoe, Sigurdsson and Owen without needing to put a lot of scouting time into it.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

So basically we will say all these top quality players names but not sign any of them but it's ok as the sign of intent is there

We're gonna end up with a load of freebies aren't we

Then get relegated.

so essentially you are moaning at the club for not signing the players they've never said they were trying to sign?

Yeah, in a way.........whats the point in focusing on these players when time/effort could be used elsewhere bringing in someone decent that nobody else has spotted yet, similar to what Newcastle have done.

Who says were are focusing on these players?

[TBM]

Ah the Football Manager approach to scouting

[TBM]

Who says were are focusing on these players?

FL has confirmed bids have been made for the likes of Sig, Defoe etc - unless he is lying, but he seems to have a pretty good source within the club

[Hoop Blah]

What stops us doing both?

Resources?

Spurs had a spell of trying to sign a load of unrealistic superstar targets but I've no idea of that then helped them sign some of their current side.

We will obviously need to get a balance of freebies, lower profile signings and hopefully some more established and proven players too.

[Ian Royal]

What stops us doing both?

Resources?

Spurs had a spell of trying to sign a load of unrealistic superstar targets but I've no idea of that then helped them sign some of their current side.

We will obviously need to get a balance of freebies, lower profile signings and hopefully some more established and proven players too.

As I said earlier. I can't see that the likes of Defoe, Owen, Sig and Cole take a great deal of scouting. We've been active for a couple of months looking for players, I can't see resources being a big problem in this. The fact that we've also signed McCleary and are rumoured to be in for Rhodes, Mariappa, Butterfield, Sigurdarsson etc all seem to demonstrate we are capable of doing both.

We'll have targets, back up targets, ones to watch in case. I'm sure we can keep pegs on scores of players, so targeting half a dozen top quality, high profile players really isn't going to impact a lot on the rest of our scouting work IMO. And it's still very early days, so we can afford to take the time to go for a few biggies now and still defer back to more realistic targets as we progress through June and into July.

[Hoop Blah]

We might not need to scour them all, but we don't have unlimited resources in terms of carrying out our due diligence, discussing contracts and bids, internal decision making discussions etc etc and there are only so many players we'll have the resources to bring in and support in the club.

We can't look at and progress everyone, and we'll need to pick and choose. I distinctly remember Coppell bemoaning the fact we'd wasted time and energy on targets we really had no realistic chance of signing.

[gazzer, loyal royal]

even if the targets are a tad unrealistic it may entice players to sign for us over others. If it comes to negotiating with other players, it can't hinder us by saying we ave bids in for Defoe, Sigurdsson etc

[bigmike]

Things still seem to be chugging along nicely with the deals that I know of even the long shots are coming in to play

[Ian Royal]

We might not need to scour them all, but we don't have unlimited resources in terms of carrying out our due diligence, discussing contracts and bids, internal decision making discussions etc etc and there are only so many players we'll have the resources to bring in and support in the club.

We can't look at and progress everyone, and we'll need to pick and choose. I distinctly remember Coppell bemoaning the fact we'd wasted time and energy on targets we really had no realistic chance of signing.

Frankly, I trust the club to be making the right decisions in balancing this and am not worried about going after a few high profile signings that may be a bit unrealistic.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Who says were are focusing on these players?

FL has confirmed bids have been made for the likes of Sig, Defoe etc - unless he is lying, but he seems to have a pretty good source within the club

How many people at the club are going to really know who we've made bids for? How many of them are likely to pass that information on, knowing the person he's giving the information to is going to post it on the internet?

Lying or not, the club itself has made no such "statement of intent", so it's hard to moan about the club making that statement and not living up to it.

[Simon's Church]

I'm not sure 'Jermain Defoe and Gylfi Sigurdsson chose other clubs over us' is as big a draw as we'd like it to be.

[Basingstoke-Royal]

Things still seem to be chugging along nicely with the deals that I know of even the long shots are coming in to play

Yay ... Always hoped Shane would come back one of my favourite all time players along with sig

[paultheroyal]

Things still seem to be chugging along nicely with the deals that I know of even the long shots are coming in to play

Long was mine and Big Foots call so naff off!

Stick to your Gylfi prediction which is sinking by the hour!!!