I'm really surprised that Hull haven't tried to pick a few off the clubs that went down, there's a few there that would do a decent job, and must have some ambition to stay in the top flight.

Ishmael Miller I like, Gary O'Neil would give Hull some width say. Arca is a decent footballer. Tuncay is a headless chicken but he'd give you 100% and in a side with few legs to get about, he'd give you that.

I just can't see the sense in Barton, aside from his obvious issues, he's another run of the mill, central midfielder.

For me they needed (and still need) a right back, a central midfielder or 2, a left winger and at least 2 strikers.

What's most bizarre is that there have been plenty of players in the positions they want potentially on the move, but they've either shown little interest or an unwillingness to stump up the money. Instead they prioritised a young, unproven in the top-flight kid who continually messed them about and a pipe dream of Michael Owen.

What they should have been looking at IMO is the likes of Huddlestone, Ashton, Brunt, Doyle, Derbyshire, Commons, and maybe some younger loanees/gambles like Gibson and Jonathan Spector. As said, unlike Brown I'd have also been interested in Hunt. Gudjohnsen would also have been a more realistic big name to go for than Owen, particularly with the Bolton links.

In some ways I think Owen was a more realistic target than Gudjohnsen. Looking back from now, with Owen very happily set up at United, it'd seem that they were never in with a realistic chance of getting him. But when Hull were going after Owen there was only Stoke City being mentioned as being interested in him.

I don't know what's happening with Gudjohnsen, so if he's in the process of signing up for some dire side like Hull I'll be proven wrong, but I'd just think he'd think of packing it in if Hull City are the calibre of side he's attracting. Owen going from the jokers at Newcastle to Hull was at least a move back to the PL, but Gudjohnsen would be going from the Spanish and European Champions to Hull.

All of those players would improve City as would some of the names JWP mentioned in his post. It's not rocket science, for me it show the cluelessness of the manager and the lack of ambition of the chairman. I honestly can't see a way City can stay up unless they produce 3/4 good signings before the end of the month.

Personally I think Owen would have gone abroad before signing for any team not expected to compete for a european place. Also his reaction to the Hull interest even before Man Utd entering the frame showed that he considered it laughable.

Gudjohnsen from a playing perspective is still quite unlikely, but you never know how his previous experience of Phil Brown could affect the chances. The last I heard of him was that he was interested in Celtic. Now aside from the historical name, that's almost as much of a step down in calibre IMO.

Exactly right. It's not like they've been unlucky with signings, or there's no suitable options about. The fact is they've simply been found incredibly wanting and are looking odds on to receive the consequences. Still, they'll have made a few bob, which is looking more and more like the priority for them.

All of which is a real shame as they had a genuine chance this season of cementing themselves as a PL club with 4/5 shrewd signings and taking a little bit of a gamble.




I see Guillem Balague has said that Utd and Valencia have spoken about David Silva but as yet no offer has been made for the player.

Taylor > Kadar > Mouyokolo

Senderos to Everton.