12/18/24
January 31, 2005
EPL transfer window closes.: No more buying and selling players until the end of the season. What were the surprise deals? Which do you think were bargains? And which ones were duds?
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 01:22 PM - 31 comments
Spudz will have payed over the odds if they do manage to sign Reid and Dawson from Forest for £8m. Aside from that, the funniest deal is Villa buying Djemba Djemba from Man U. To quote The Grauniad: "And there was much rejoicing across Manchester, as Sir Alex Ferguson offloaded Eric Djemba-Djemba to Aston Villa"
posted by squealy at 02:45 PM on January 31, 2005
didn't see Bellamy to Celtic on the list. wonder how he'll do there? he has shown flashes of talent and going to Celtic means he's in a small pond, so how big of a fish will he be?an old firm match is probably a bad place for somebody with a temper though.
posted by gspm at 03:11 PM on January 31, 2005
You got to hand it to Ratboy Bellamy that's a great deal for him. He gets to play against crap, slow defenders most weeks, he'll be the highest profile player in the squad, he gets O'Neill as manager who is probably one of the few managers that can handle him AND he gets to go back to Newcastle after Sourness is sacked at the end of the season. Bravo Ratboy, and I am so glad you turned down the Blues.
posted by squealy at 03:57 PM on January 31, 2005
West Brom signed Chaplow from Burnley and took Richardson on loan from Man Utd. I'm not sure it's enough, considering that to stay up we'll have to finish above Southampton. I've been impressed with the way Harry has been remoulding the Saints, and at the moment, would be my pick of the bottom 4 to survive. That would send the 3 promoted clubs down. Crystal Palace managed to hang on to Routledge, which is huge, even if they risk losing him for a nominal sum in the summer.
posted by salmacis at 05:30 PM on January 31, 2005
John Oster, free transfer to Burnley. Anyone remember when Oster was being touted as the next big thing? And on which planet is Nicolas Anelka worth 7 million, whereas Fernando Morientes is worth 6.3?
posted by afx237vi at 05:34 PM on January 31, 2005
Not a big name but surprised to see Unsworth loaned out by Pompey, the team is bad enough unless they got Aleksandar Rodic as a direct replacement, not sure who this guy is though. Also: - Souness let Bernard go on a free? - Has Candela got something left, or rather enough left, to push Bolton back into European qualification? - Rangers really cracked open the wallet for Ferguson, GBP5 million worth? Last, what happened at Liverpool--FSP is done for the season and the best Benitez can do is recall Anthony Le Tallec? So the "healthy" strikers now are Baros, Mellor and Morientes and I suppose Luis Garcia will spend a little time upfront as well. Fourth place just got a little cloudy in my crystal ball.
posted by billsaysthis at 05:53 PM on January 31, 2005
A little non-Prem honorable mention: David Yelldell to Brighton (on loan from Rovers) will keep them safely in the League Championship, a remarkable achievement I didn't think possible in September. He's a star in the making (another athletic American goalkeeper who I hope Rovers can keep longterm), and the Gulls will likely have him between the pipes for the rest of the year with Kuiper's recent campaign-ending shoulder surgery.
posted by nllpiper at 08:27 PM on January 31, 2005
Bravo Ratboy, and I am so glad you turned down the Blues. Bravo Ratboy, and I am so glad you're no longer a Magpie.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:41 PM on January 31, 2005
Nllpiper, welcome, good to have another team represented in the ranks. Feel free to stop by often, and check the locker room for fantasy threads.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:53 PM on January 31, 2005
I don't know...i think its going to be Blackburn, Birmingham and one of the promoted teams.
posted by StarFucker at 02:19 AM on February 01, 2005
Ye gods I hope you're right SF. "And there was much rejoicing across Manchester, as Sir Alex Ferguson offloaded Eric Djemba-Djemba to Aston Villa" Huzzah, we've signed a player with one of the poorest first touches in the premiership. He'll fit right in. Bah.
posted by BigCalm at 03:19 AM on February 01, 2005
Unsworth to our lot is a fairly nice, if unglamorous, move. An experienced foot in defence for the long run in to the end of the season and hopefully we can stay in the top two, as Ipswich fans all get the shakes if anyone mentions the playoffs. Slightly more exciting is the signing of Canadian Jaime Peters, who'll jump onboard at Portman Road in May when he turns 18.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:49 AM on February 01, 2005
more on Jaime Peters. Chelsea and MU were suitors? That's impressive. Even more impressive was his decision not to go with the bigboys. I like this kid already.
posted by garfield at 10:07 AM on February 01, 2005
Brum just signed Pandiani on loan. That's quite the coup...
posted by sauril at 10:45 AM on February 01, 2005
He's virtually assured a game with us, rather than spotty appearances in the Tinpot Cup with Chelsea or ManUre and he knows that our young players are in the eye of the bigger teams - see Dyer, Bramble, Ambrose... (ok, when I say bigger teams I mean Newcastle). Darren Bent and, to a lesser extent, Dean Bowditch are doing the same - eschewing an early move to a bigger team because they know they can play often and play well at the level they're at. Plus we have a connection with Canada, with former Town player Frank Yallop managing the national team, Jason de Vos in our current side and Craig Forrest, errr, on TV. By the time he gets to us we may be a premiership side anyway.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 10:50 AM on February 01, 2005
Thank God you said "may be" Mr Bismarck. In these parts we still laugh at Wolves fans and their 11-point bottlers who blew it to of all people The Baggies. I can't say I've ever seen Walter "The Rifle" Pandiani play, but all the reports I've heard sound good, and we pipped those bastards Blackburn to the signing, so everyone's happy. The deal sounds rather stressful though.
posted by squealy at 01:07 PM on February 01, 2005
Looks like Pennant might go to jail. His performances will still be better than Emile Heskey's though.
posted by BigCalm at 01:33 PM on February 01, 2005
Neiiiiiiighhhhh!
posted by worldcup2002 at 02:00 PM on February 01, 2005
"Thank God you said "may be" Mr Bismarck. In these parts we still laugh at Wolves fans and their 11-point bottlers who blew it to of all people The Baggies." Oh aye, I'm not saying anything's done and dusted until we have a four point lead over third place with one game to play. I remember well, the big money boys of Blackburn bottling it after christmas and ending up in the playoffs while a fine team, filled with 11 good men and true strode manfully into the spot they vacated. Of course, those were the days, Jason Dozzell was good.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:09 PM on February 01, 2005
(o.t.) Meanwhile... those loveable rogues Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira have been at it again - having a full scale argument before the game kicked off at Highbury. Vieira may have shut Keane up though, (please God), as he's just scored to put the Gunners 1-0 up, before Shrek passes to Gollum, who equalises for the northerners. I imagine that, whatever happens tonight, José's smiling.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:43 PM on February 01, 2005
Guardian calls it the match to decide who's second-best. Ha. btw, Giggsy's tied it.
posted by worldcup2002 at 02:47 PM on February 01, 2005
Calmy, you must be thinking of the Liverpool Heskey because the man this year is scoring more than any players (except maybe Baros) on the team he left behind.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:56 PM on February 01, 2005
wonder who gets sent off first. Heinze and Pires already have yellows in the first half hour. They're top of the list I guess. But Rooney, Vieira and Keano could easily go too.
posted by worldcup2002 at 02:57 PM on February 01, 2005
Aye - I mention that in the guise of Shrek and Gollum above. A draw would suit José perfectly, I imagine. Especially if they pull out another three points tomorrow at Ewood.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:58 PM on February 01, 2005
Bergkamp makes it 2-1!
posted by worldcup2002 at 03:00 PM on February 01, 2005
And Ronaldo equalises for 2-2... then scores again for 3-2 Utd.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:47 PM on February 01, 2005
And Silvestre wins the wc2k2 sweepstakes, being sent off for headbutting Freddie Ljungberg. No doubt if Utd win, we'll have to listen to Arsene complaining about how the Devils don't play to the spirit of the game, or some such nonsense. At least with Chelsea up there we have a new flavour to the soap opera now.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 03:58 PM on February 01, 2005
Bye bye Arsenal. Even with Henry getting points for assists, I'm wondering if I'm not better off selling him and buying two scoring scorers - like Johnson and Bergkamp or Defoe. Man.
posted by worldcup2002 at 04:30 PM on February 01, 2005
That has to be the best game I've seen in the last few years. Though the funniest part to me is that aside from the two goals Carroll was barely challenged the entire 100 minutes; does four scores mean Lehmann gets another shot? I totally loved ManU's last two scores--where the fuck were Arsenal's defenders when O'Shea scored? Oh yeah, Campbell went off injured again and Wenger was so arrogant he put in another fullback to try and press the man advantage. One of the few times I feel really happy to see a ManU win, no doubt.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:49 PM on February 01, 2005
Almunia sucks... I hated Lehmann, but he's a "cracking" keeper.
posted by StarFucker at 09:34 PM on February 01, 2005
Harry's still got until midnight to buy and sell 17 more players, it's not over yet. I'd like to see how Arteta does at Everton - he was good a couple of years ago when he played for Marseille.