Summer '08: Ins and Outs

He's not bad for a daywalker, but kind of meh.

 

I think Kitson would be a decent signing for that price. I think we will sign several strikers and be able to find a good combination.

 

Kitson's not bad. Good size, good in the air, good work rate. Makes an occasional stupid tackle. Not a bad signing, if it happens.

 

Not a Kitson fan -- every time I saw him play for Reading last year he seemed to have an oops moment. The first game of the year, he got sent off after less than a minute after subbing on for a moronic tackle.

Also, I agree with the notion that we should move up because of the upgrade in managers from this time last year.

 

10 goals for Reading. Not bad at all considering Reading never replaced Sidwell.

 

And a very direct view from a Reading fan on the Hob Knob Forum:


If we let him go for £2.5m we'll need a trip to the clinic after such a raping

I'll throw in another one to give you a sense of what their fans think of him:

Also what about Kitson's defending at set pieces where he is our best defender?
I will be very disappointed if Kitson goes as I feel he is our most important player and when you think of people like Ellington and Earnshaw having cost around the £3million mark he must be worth £5 million. How many tall central strikers are around?

 

Nobody wants to play Bolton or Blackburn because they're dirty teams* and everyone is afraid their best player will get his leg broken.

Considering the premium you usually pay for an English player, £2.5M for a guy with good size and a decent strike rate who isn't over the hill seems to be surprisingly low. I'd take Kitson at that price for sure. Way better value for money than the silly figure that was quoted regarding Elmander.

* Blackburn was at the bottom of last year's Premier League disciplinary table with 74 yellows and 6 reds for 92 points, while Bolton was surprisingly high at 14th because they managed to avoid any red cards despite picking up 76 yellows, second only to Boro's 85, over the course of the season. In fact, Blackburn has been at the foot of that table for each of the last four seasons; Bolton was second from bottom in 2006-07 as well.

 

JMH, I think Don was referring to their results as a smaller club and that teams playing them had to really play a good game to get points from them. I never saw Bolton under Allardyce but did see several matches with Blackburn this year and they were a good team despite their rough play with some pretty good players. The body slam of Staltieri by one of their forwards, not sure his name, was a good example of what you are talking about though.

 

Let's see. Liverpool home of the needle or London home of the richest and most famous? Wow, a tough choice. Also only a damn idiot wouldn't realise that with him signing and a few more quality players, we're a top 10 team. Seriously get that un-ambitious crap outta yer head as me and others keep proving you wrong time after time. London is why players would want to come. SW6 is an even bigger reason. If we go after cheaper players or players on free transfers rather than players that cost 8M or more, then we CAN have their wages. Mo just needs to open up his book a little more and it can happen. You need to realize that.

 

Kitson? Here are some reason why Fulham would want him.


Injury Prone
Crap
No skill
Can barely hit 10 goals in this league.



Yep, he's a good signing.

 

How exactly are you and others proving my arguments wrong? In 7 EPL seasons Fulham has only ever finished in the Top 10 once (2003-2004). The past 2 seasons Fulham almost got relegated.

Do you have any idea how many quality and experienced players can be had on a free or for a low transfer price? Whom are you referring to? What players exactly? Do those players even want to play for the team that finished 17th in the league last year. Fulham, unfortunately, isn't exactly a great place for a lot of players egos.

... and why should Al Fayad ruin the club financially for want of finishing, at best, 9th? How does that make any sense?

What kind of arguments would you be making if we were in the Coca-Cola Championship right now?

Al Fayad and the Fulham board can't make money grow on trees man. Buying expensive players isn't even a guarantee of success.

 

What exactly is a good signing Internazionale fan?

 

BBC is reporting this rumour as well. Guardian is suggesting he is set to sign with Fulham.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... ucharsenal

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... -20621422/

 

Uh, Al Fayed is one of the richest bastards owning a club in this league. He CAN make money grow on trees if he wants to.

9th? With our manager and our current team, if we add 3 or 4 really quality players, we can finish higher than 9th.

Let's see last year, there was dozens of quality players on low prices and free transfers. I'm willing to bet there are more. Riise is going for 6M, Shorey would probably go for the same price,Sidwell a little less, Jon Dahl Tommasson is on a free, would you like me to keep going? Wow we might have to pay 40-50K a week, but it's a hella alot better than paying the same price or more for players that can't cut it in this league just because they cost 25-35K.

 

A player that can hit more goals and has more skill? I think that would be common sense. Obviously you haven't watched alot of Reading, but let's just say they couldn't score.

 

Why would any of these players come to Fulham when they can play for teams playing in Europe? Why, why, why? Riise has been targeted by AS Roma. Why Fulham over AS Roma? Why would Nicky Shorey come to Fulham when he can go to West Ham? West Ham is in London as well. It's more famous than Fulham and they have a better team at the moment. Tommasson plays for Villarreal... they're like in the Champions League next year. He may be past his form and then come to Fulham... but he'll come to Fulham because he's no longer wanted by bigger and better clubs.

Al Fayad, actually, is no longer one of the richest owners in the league. He certainly doesn't have the kind of money to throw around that Roman Abramovich does. Roman has a lot of cash on hand, Al Fayad's wealth is tied up in assets. If the man had a really big purse, he'd of spent more than he has by now. So forget about Al Fayad making money grow on trees. Ain't going to happen.

 

Anybody who has seen West Ham play knows they wouldn't want to go there. They're stuck in 10th place.


Tommasson is a free agent.


Compared to other owners, Al Fayed is quite rich.


We have the players to compete with the likes of West Ham, just don't currently have the ambition to go after those players.

 

How about you actually name a forward you'd like Fulham to sign?

I would argue it wasn't all Kitson's fault he didn't score. Reading had an absolutely crap midfield last season. However, the season before Kitson did quite well and played for a team that was better than Fulham. So with the right team, he can get the job done.

Brian McBride, as great a guy as he is, probably has no more skill than Kitson does. McBride was also bought on the cheap and for low wages by Fulham. You remember that?

 

Brian Mcbride was also not that good, he just worked his ass off and that's why people loved him.



How many goals has Kitson scored in his career in this league? How much has he been injured? Also does he have any kinda skill whatsoever?


Kevin Doyle.