It is apparent that we need a new midfielder but if you were YBR who would you buy

Butt? Holland? Prutton?

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Answers

Personally I would go for Holland. Butt looks decent in a good midfield so his mistakes could be easily covered whereas Holland looks good in a decent Midfield.

I'm sure Ipswich could be tempted - afterall they sold their keeper in the summer so they don't seem to have that much ambition.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Holland for me....hard working, intelligent, proven, scoring midfielder....not certain about Butt at all and Prutton is untried...

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Ipswich would be mad to sell a key player like Matt Holland, and I simply can't see it. They only sold Richard Wright because he was approaching an out-of-contract situation, and had indicated he would not re-sign, preferring to join Arsenal - ie. they had no choice.

To the wider question - the real issue is how much have we got to spend? My guess is not very much, and probably not more than about £5mm.

Players like Butt, Holland, Seth Johnson and Carrick would cost us in excess of £10mm - the kind of money we just don't have imo. So, we're probably left scrambling around in the bargain basement, where someone like David Prutton might represent good value at ca. £3mm.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Carrick and/or Holland, Butt would help lots, maybe worth a try for Barry Ferguson when Rangers lose in Europe next round.

He is the epitome or nasty snarling talent we really need.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

This is all very confusing. We NEED a midfielder. So Mac wants a ball winner, others too. Yet we lacked creativity against the 'pool so we need a creative player? Or a goal Scorer? To hell wih it let's have all three.....twenty eight million notes and you can buy one too, just like ManUre. But wait, we have our midfield super star coming through. So our midfield contains Robert, Mr X, Dyer, Solano. Hmmm bit light weight, especially if Dyer goes AWOL up front (which he's not bad at in fairness). Fact is tho' IMHO that unless we get either a) a general to replace the current model b) or some beast in the middle of the park and since the sort of beast we need is not affected by BSE or foot and mouth (unless he plays for Wark eh Bobby?) then the pricing won't slip much either. We are looking at big money either way.

Add this to the point that 'From the Terraces' made that realistically we need two full backs aswell, we may have to adjust our expectations a tad this year (again....how mista, fifty mil to ya team, man...)

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Hey, Wark is outside the Blue Box ;-)

Dyer's return is what is needed...like yesterday! Acuna is still in my 'undecided' folder. At times he does what is necessary, running all over the midfield, but doesn't get forward enough to support Shearer's knockdowns, or Bellamy getting tackled. In rugby I guess you'd call it getting to the breakdown or 2nd / 3rd phase ball.

And if I could choose a midfielder, it has to be Roy Keane. Hate him playing against us, but he is class.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

IMHO Butt would probably be had for £6m, which would be a steal. He can't break into the Manure first team and they'd be bonkers to ask more than that for a squad player. Holland and Prutton seem like decent enough players, but I'm not too certain they'd be of any use outside their own systems.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

If we'd had Dyer in the middle yesterday playing alongside speed or Acuna, would we be too lghtweight? I think we would be, which leads me to the conclusion that we need a rock in the centre of the pitch rather than a creative player we have that in Dyer or Bellamy.

As for that Rock, I don't think Carrick or Prutton fit the bill. If Butt was available he would do for me, but I think we'l be looking abroad.

When we do get that Hard man in the middle , what of Lee, Speed, Acuna and Bassedas, who will all be surpulus to requirements.

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

I would not ever buy Nicholas Butt. Not even as a tease for a pet crocodile. Acuna deserves a place, Speed is becoming less the force he once was (?!) and is returning from injury - so give him a chance, Lee has in and out games, Bassedas seems to be some way down the order.

If Dyer makes a sparkling return I'd have no problem playing Acuna or Lee beside/behind him. Hopefully, the opposition's defenders and midfielders would be more on the back foot with 5 attacking players pushing at them, and 5 defensive players behind...worked for Keegan :- )

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

I think if we're going to play with 2 light weight wingers rather than wingbacks and an extra man in central midfield, we have to accept that we'll need steel in the middle of the park instead of guile. With Solano and Robert in a 4-4-2 there is no room in the middle for a player who isn't a ball winner no matter how creative he might be, or we'll be overun. Obviously the ideal solution is to buy a creative midfielder who can tackle and run all day, but they are few and far between. We did have one in Deitmar Hamman but he slipped through our fingers. We also had Rob Lee, but we need to be thinking longer term that a 36 year old no matter how good a servant he has been to the club over the years. Who would I buy? Well I think we missed out on Seth Johnson who would certainly be expensive. Barry Ferguson has been suggested & I think he could do a job. David Batty would be nice, but that's not going to happen. Difficult isn't it???

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Butt isn't a bad player, but is he the one for us?

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Lee Clark - name comes up so often, creative, runs & tracks back - add Dyer & we're done.

Creativity is more important than strength.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

I'd go for Arnie Verstapen,he's having a great season and should be available for less than £5 million.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

Try Dabs - he likes getting forward and so on - we could use the money we'd save buying a CM on a Commanding Centre Back.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

We could do worse actually, Dougal.

I know I've been derided for saying it, but I still reckon Barton could do a job for us as a defensive central m/f player - Dabz is another possibility, and Robbie Elliott another.

If we can't afford to buy anyone right now, we really do need to try to be creative and find someone who can do a job there for us. Gary Caldwell is another I've thought of for that role, but you could ruin him by messing him around at this stage of his development.

-- Anonymous, October 02, 2001

I don't think either Dabizas or Elliot have the dynamism that we need in the area, even if they might provide solidity. If we play two wide men, we need two midfielders that can cover an awful lot of ground during the match. Difficulty is getting a player that can do the running aroung, win the ball, and then do something intelligent with it when he gets it. Dyer might resolve some of the issues, but isn't exactly a ball winning physical presence.

-- Anonymous, October 03, 2001

geoff capes?

-- Anonymous, October 03, 2001