And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

[Arturo]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Snake Plissken wrote: Patrick Bamford plays 34 minutes for Burnley in six months. This follows loan spells at Palace (ended early through lack of playing time) and Norwich (on the bench for most of it).

So obviously Aitor Karanka decides that this is the perfect time to pay up to £10m to take him from Chelsea to Boro, replacing David Nugent who was sold to Derby.

I suppose that is the going rate for him to pay to sit proven Championship goal scorers on the bench.

Even allowing for the fact he did well at Boro previously (albeit in the Championship), that is an astonishing fee. He was absolutely dreadful at Norwich last season when he was on loan here and was out of the team even before we finally went down.

[JM Footzee]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

I wonder what went so wrong there. I mean, being loaned all over the place is bound to knock you about a bit, but he was Championship Player of the Year at Boro (albeit wrongly, it should have been Deeney!).

Then to Palace and suddenly he's awful. Influence of Handsome Pards?

[Gerontophile]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Some bollocks being spoken about Arsenal and Man U sniffing after Celtic and Isle of Man star Kieran Tierney.

10 million of your finest English pounds please, but can we have it in euros?

[JM Footzee]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Feeling rather sorry for Barnsley. Having raced to promotion at the end of last season, I liked their transfer policy of signing talent from the lower leagues. They're currently an impressive 10th in the Championship, but it seems the vultures are circling.

Having lost Alfie Mawson to Swansea at the end of the window, Sam Winnall went to Wednesday earlier in January, with captain and Championship leading assist maker Connor Hourihane looking set to follow or perhaps go elsewhere in the Championship. I understand both were in the last year of their contracts (which seems a bit odd, given they were promotion winners). Various Premier League clubs are apparently looking at sticking young defender James Bree in their under-23 side (how come Barnsley are the only club in this country capable of producing defenders?!), Ipswich are supposed to be looking at Marley Watkins and today Burnley are meant to have bid £3.5m for Marc Roberts.

I haven't heard anything about them being in financial difficulty, I just assume that the money is hard to turn down and their players are on (relative) peanuts. They should probably have enough to stay up now even if they all go, which you'd have thought is unlikely.

Are there any Barnsley fans on here? I forget...

[ad hoc]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Billy Casper is, as his Kes-based name would suggest

[Billy Casper]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Thanks for your concern.

We aren't into any financial trouble at all - the John Stones sell on clause took care of this. I think in one sense our transfer policy has been too successful. Like JM says, we have a policy of going into the lower leagues and buying players who we think we can make better, and then selling them on in a year or two for a profit. Then with the money, going out and buying a slightly better lower league player and doing the same again. The 'problem' is that the players we have at the moment are all playing really well and are all attracting interest. We knew in the summer that lots of players would be out of contract in 12 months but I think we underestimated how well they would do in the Championship and so didn't offer them enough money to sign. Also our old chief executive left to join Leeds at the end of last season and his replacement left the Club the day after Winnall was sold (either in protest or was fired at a lack of action in getting replacements). This has left Paul Heckingbottom scrambling to try and sort things out.

It has been the second or third best time I've known as a Barnsley fan - up there with the great 1979-81 and 1997 periods. It started out of nowhere, having been bottom of the Division and losing 8 or 9 in a row, and it looks like it could end just as quickly. We still need to win four wins to make sure we stay up and I'm not convinced (80-1 to go down if you're interested). The other great teams died slowly which seemed like the way teams should die, this one will be killed by money.

[Snake Plissken]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

It always feels weird - and a bit guilt inducing - when suddenly we're the "big club" taking talent from others. I don't know if Roberts is good enough, but he will be sitting on the bench for at least six months. James Tarkowski is our Keane replacement and he's been waiting a year for either Keane or Mee to make a mistake and get into the side.

[JM Footzee]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

I've just gone through the top two tiers of the Dutch league because I was thinking about how more and more the big English clubs are using it as a finishing school. Here's who's over there:

* = not played for parent club

In league order...
Feyenoord
Steven Berghuis (Ned, 25) - Watford

Ajax
Tim Krul (Ned, 28) - Newcastle
Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso, 21) - Chelsea

PSV
Siem de Jong (Ned, 27) - Newcastle
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukr, 20) - Man City*
Marco van Ginkel (Ned, 24) - Chelsea

Heerenveen
Shay Facey (Eng, 22) - Man City*

AZ
None

Utrecht
Tafari Moore (Eng, 19) - Arsenal* (nb. Wikipedia has him at their reserve side in the Eerste Divisie)

Vitesse
Nathan (Brz, 20) - Chelsea*
Lewis Baker (Eng, 21) - Chelsea
Matt Miazga (US, 21) - Chelsea

Twente
Bersant Celina (Kos, 20) - Man City
Yaw Yeboah (Gha, 19) - Man City*
Enes Unal (Tur, 19) - Man City*

Groningen
Jason Davidson (Aus, 25) - Huddersfield

NEC
Taiwo Awoniyi (Nga, 19) - Liverpool*

Heracles
None

Willem II
Darryl Lachman (Curacao, 27) - Sheffield Wednesday*

Sparta Rotterdam/ADO Den Haag
None (although the latter might be loaning Obbi Oulare from Watford soon)

Excelsior
Danilo Pantic (Ser, 20) - Chelsea*

PEC Zwolle
Nicolai Brock-Madsen (Den, 24) - Birmingham

Roda JC
None

Go Ahead Eagles
Daniel Crowley (Eng, 19) - Arsenal*
Elvis Manu (Ned, 23) - Brighton
Pedro Chirivella (Spa, 19) - Liverpool

Eerste Divisie
MVV Maastricht (3rd)
Stefan O'Connor (Eng, 19) - Arsenal
Kelechi Nwakali (Nga, 18) - Arsenal*

NAC Breda (8th)
Ashley Smith-Brown (Eng, 20) - Man City*
Brandon Barker (Eng, 20) - Man City
Manu Garcia (Spa, 19) - Man City
Thomas Agyepong (Gha, 20) - Man City*
James Horsfield (Eng, 21) - Man City*
Just finished: David Faupala (Fra, 19) - Man City (there may be a few more like him, I just happened to spot him on a Man City page)

SC Cambuur (9th)
Ricardo Kip (Ned, 24) - Fleetwood*

Source: Wikipedia
29 players (21 and under: 19; 21-24: 5)
Number to not have played for parent club: 14 (it should be said, many of those that have only have a couple of games)

EDIT 20.1.17 12:02 to add totals (none include Faupala)
EDIT 3.2.17 end of window update below (plus add Awoniyi who I'd missed)

Krul - now on loan AZ Alkmaar instead of Ajax
Vitesse: Mukhtar Ali (Eng, 19) - Chelsea*
Willem: Obbi Oulare (Bel, 21) - Watford
VVV Venlo (Eerste, 1st): Gedion Zelalem (US, 20) - Arsenal

[ad hoc]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

(Looks up Darryl Lachman)

[jwdd27]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Sadly for fans of strapping 90s strikers, it appears that Man City's loanees Yeboah, Facey and Horsfield are no relation.

[Crusoe]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

jwdd27 wrote: Sadly for fans of strapping 90s strikers, it appears that Man City's loanees Yeboah, Facey and Horsfield are no relation.

Shay Facey sounds like what Delroy calls his house.

[evilC]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Blimey! I thought that B. Traore and Van Ginkel were older than that!

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

This perhaps belongs on the "is he still playing" thread, but Bury have signed Jermaine Pennant.

[Arturo]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Lots likely to be happening at Carrow Road. Martin Olsson has joined Swansea for £4.5m. Robbie Brady looks on his way out too and Burnley are apparently sniffing round Alex Pritchard. They probably won't be the last - the club has no money in the pot and need to sell before they can buy.

My biggest fear is the thought of Alex Neil spending a large chunk of the incoming cash on big money signings who aren't up to the job. It also means that he is unlikely to be leaving the club in the near future if he is being given a kitty to spend which based on his last eighteen months, is a bit of a worry.

Lots of rumours that defender Marvin Zeegelaar is on his way from Sporting Lisbon for around £3-4m. Any info on him anybody?

[Snake Plissken]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Burnley were in for Pritchard this time last year, but he headed to West Brom.

It always seems to take us three transfer windows to land a target. I know Clarets have made an offer for Brady, so that should see him pulling on the shirt in February 2018.

Erstwhile target (even at one point sitting in the Turf Moor offices waiting to sign) Henri Lansbury has gone to Villa, it seems.

[Arturo]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Snake Plissken wrote: Burnley were in for Pritchard this time last year, but he headed to West Brom.

It always seems to take us three transfer windows to land a target. I know Clarets have made an offer for Brady, so that should see him pulling on the shirt in February 2018.

Erstwhile target (even at one point sitting in the Turf Moor offices waiting to sign) Henri Lansbury has gone to Villa, it seems.

We were linked with Lansbury too but Villa are throwing money at the problem once again and offering to pay silly wages. We just can't compete with that right now and that's why we missed out on McCormack to them in August.

Pritchard is a funny one. We paid £8m in the summer even though we had two players already in that position (Naismith and Hoolahan) but the thinking was that we were going to build a team around him. However, I thought at the time that the fee seemed a lot for a player who had barely played since his impressive spell with Brentford two seasons back. He's hardly had a look in and despite fleeting moments of quality, it looks like Alex Neil wants to cash his chips.

Brady is linked with quite a few clubs. He was impressive in his first few months here but tailed off last season and hasn't really looked interested this time around. His impressive Ireland performances don't reflect how disappointing he's been at club level, so I can't say I'd be sorry to see him go.

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Villa are chucking money all over the place at the moment, there's an expectation that they're going to do deals for Conor Hourihane and Jordan Rhodes too. They're going to be absolutely fucked if they don't get promoted quickly.

[JM Footzee]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

I did the same analysis for Belgium top two tiers as I did for the Netherlands (see previous page). Not that exciting though:

K.V. Kortrijk
Idriss Saadi (Fra, 24) - Cardiff

Sint-Truiden
Cristian Cuevas (Chi, 21) - Chelsea*
Cristian Ceballos (Spa, 24) - Charlton
Igor Vetokele (Bel, 24) - Charlton

Mouscron-Peruwelz
Matej Delac (Bos, 24) - Chelsea*

[Sean of the Shed]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

David Moyes continues to rebuild his old Everton side at The Stadium of Light with the signing of Joleon Lescott to line up alongside Steven Pienaar, Victor Anichebe and Jack Rodwell. Joseph Yobo, Tim Cahill and Louis Saha should be signing a contract there any time soon.

[Snake Plissken]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Seems like Big Fat Sam is keeping his options open by weighing Patrick Van Aanholt and Robbie Brady in each hand and deciding which one to pay £9m for. Brady was supposed to be Turf Moor bound.

Hulls fire sale continues, with accepting a £10m offer for Snodgrass from Burnley. Boro, West Ham and Bournemouth invited to match. I suspect the latter two will end up with him, as surely Hull aren't so stupid as to sell one of their best players to a relegation rival.

[longeared]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Snake Plissken wrote: surely Hull aren't so stupid as to sell one of their best players to a relegation rival.

I wouldn't be so sure of that myself. They'll probably end up flogging him to Sunderland for £5m.

[Amor de Cosmos]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Ravel Morrison back training with QPR. This could be brilliant or a total disaster, almost certainly nothing inbetween.

[Eggchaser]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

West Ham get a Snodgrass to go with our new Fonte.

[Sean of the Shed]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

West Ham have finally agreed a price with Marseilles for Dimitri Payet. It's probably for the best, the idea of the West Ham board taking a moral stance is pretty laughable.

[David Agnew]

And the Oscar goes to... January 2017 transfer window

Ipswich have spent the transfer window saying "replacing Daryl Murphy is a priority", "we'll reinvest the Murphy transfer fee" and "we've got several million-pound plus bids in for players" to...

A Forest Green reserve.
Someone released by the Franchise last season, and without a club ever since.
A Leeds player so far from the first team, he's been training with the youth team (on loan).
An injured Conference winger.
An injury prone 31 year old free agent.

I mean, we've bid £2million for Jordan Hugill, but why would he leave Preston for us? You don't need to have the money if you know the deal won't go through. Much like when we offered £3m for Charlie Austin minutes after he tweeted that he was off to sign for Burnley. We haven't come close to spending that much in total since.