Tag Archives | New Signing

Nedum Onuoha arrives

This is a really solid and sensible signing by the club, especially considering his age and the fact that he’s so versatile. He can operate right across the back line, and it will be interesting to see where we decide to use him here, most likely in his natural position at centre-back.

He also already knows Anton Ferdinand from his loan spell with Sunderland last season, so you hope the pair can strike an immediate understanding over the coming weeks and then there’s the added bonus that he knows Shaun Wright-Phillips and has been managed already by Mark Hughes as well.

There are plenty out there who feel Onuoha is unproven at Premiership level, but it’s easy to overlook the fact that he’s made well over 100 appearances in the top-flight for both Manchester City and Sunderland, and that’s a great deal more than many of our existing players and not too bad for a 25-year-old.

He will also have benefitted from training regularly with several world class players in his time at Manchester City and you hope with us, he’ll find the form to make himself either and England or Nigerian international.

Welcome aboard and good luck!

Read full story Comments { 1 }

Taye Taiwo arrives

It might be a loan deal, but it’s still a tremendous signing for us. The left side is always difficult to fill with quality players, but here we have got someone on board who is the right age, has bags of experience both at club and international level, and really adds power to the defence. His ability from set pieces is an added bonus too.

While it hasn’t gone to plan for him at AC Milan, the experience there as well as the many years he played for Marseille in the French league will serve him well for the challenge ahead.

Welcome aboard and good luck!

Read full story Comments { 2 }

We’ve given ourselves a fighting chance

When a newly promoted club goes after players with Premiership experience, you do have to expect that you might get players at the tail end of their careers and with injury records like Daniel Gabbidon and Kieron Dyer. Or unproven youngsters, such as Armand Traore, or even those who haven’t quite done it and realised their potential yet in Anton Ferdinand, and that’s for clubs who have done really well.

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Joey Barton arrives

There’s no doubt it’s a controversial signing and a risk, but in terms of looking at this purely from a footballing perspective, it’s a huge addition to the squad.

Read full story Comments { 0 }