A Case for Early Transfers - Adapt & Adopt

Like Tom, I too am frustrated that we have not struck sooner in the Transfer Market.

It just makes sense, that the sooner you bring in new blood, the sooner they will be able to adapt to their surroundings and the team mentality, and the sooner they will be able to adopt the philosophies being put forward by the manager and the Club as their own.

A great example of what happens when you bring in a player early is when Jimmy Bullard's signing was anounced before the end of the 2005-2006 season. Jimmy was not only able to adapt to his new surroundings and the team mentality, but he was able to connect with the fans and his new teammates. Obviously, his horrid injury cut into his influence on the pitch, but there are not too many fans who did, and do, not already consider him a vital part of Fulham's future.

If Lawrie and the Club are looking for any and all advantages to target more wins next season, they will pull the trigger sooner, not later.

 

You make a great case.

I'm sorry but I cant get all that excited about Healy, but hope he proves me wrong.

The MOST important thing about a team is the team. It cannot be just a collection of talented players, it has to work well as a unit.

 

To be honest with you, the whole lot of Northern Ireland players does nothing to excite me. I fear that outside of this bunch, Sanchez does NOT have any ideas in terms of players and quite frankly, that scares me some.

I am not saying we need to be in the press everyday talking about targets and such, but it would be nice to get some new faces in sooner rather than later. I have heard the talk before from Al Fayed and Coleman, but I never saw action. I want to see some action and I want to see it soon when it comes to Fulham! Show us you mean business this summer!

 

We need to get players before all the good deals are gone.

 

When you go winless for a couple of months (seemed like an eternity), and everyone is betting you'll be dropped this season, you need to send out a message to all concerned (the players, the organization, the fans, the league, etc..) that last year was an abberation.

On a side note, every fan is dying to talk about something else than the new kit (plain or elegant? boring or classic??...)

 

The North Irelanders don't make me excited either, but my hope is that Sanchez is sufficiently familiar with the quality of a couple these players to know they could perform in the Premiership and boost the club for modest fees, i.e. an affirmation of Petty's "team theme." By no means should Fulham's hopes and dreams for next season rest solely on Sanchez' North Irelanders, at least I hope that's not the plan.

I remember the grumblings around here when Sanchez was first hired (aside from the sadness of Cookie receiving his P45). Some supporters clamored for a recognized manager who could help with recruiting, transfers and tactics on the pitch. However, the counterpoint espoused was that Fulham shouldn't pay for a recognized manager as funds would be better spent going after players. As Tom stated, the lack of buzz regarding any non-N.I. name coming to the Cottage is disheartening, despite MAF's proclamations to spend (OK, I know the transfer window doesn't open officially 'til tomorrow but the silence thus far is deafening).

Fulham saved a few quid on hiring the self-effacing Sanchez, but now will those funds even be able to be spent on players because nobody wants to join Fulham as nobody knows Sanchez? Fulham has great recruiting points: London-based, a rich and long club history, great supporters, new sponsorship, etc. and the club should emphasize each of these points to compensate/compliment for Sanchez' low profile.

I hope the silence in the transfer market simply means the club is acting covertly, similar to United's tracking of Nani or Anderson, as I didn't hear anything of those transfers until the deals were done.

Until the window closes, I will have hope that the funds saved by hiring Sanchez will be invested back into the club. COYW.

 

In an ideal world I bet the management would love to have all players signed and ready at the close of the season, but various factors will always prevent this stuff happening, such as the woeful scheduling of the Euro qualifiers - many players will be gearing up to international duty rather than transfer duty. It's alright for Man U to declare an interest in a player, but if a team like Fulham does it we will end up being gazummped by another team - we are a bottom half, smallish EPL team.

The other reason to delay is down to the players and especially their agents, they will tell them to hold out for more money, hold out for a better deal, wait for a bigger club etc. So it means that Fulham play cloak and daggers with transfer and we never hear about the ones that got away, while it is frustrating as a fan I bet it is more annoying for the manager and chairman.

If Fulham had announced it was going after Bullard 2 months before the end of the season a host of other clubs would have been knocking at Wigan's door as he had made a massive impact on the EPL. He could well have been a Spurs/Charlton/Villa/Blackburn/Bolton/Portsmouth etc player.

 

You guys make it sound so eassssy. But I'm afraid its a lot harder in real life then in FIFA 07.

If its possible to get them in early then yeah I'm all for it. But Bullard was really an exception to the normal scenario because he had the clause in his contract which stated that if a bid of a certain amount was offered and the player aggreed then the player had to be released. Add to that Bullard was desperate to get home.