Keane's Signings

empirix

Have to say, i am impressed with Keane's signings,
if Miller, Yorkie and Connolly hit form Sunderland could go close, who else did he sign i'm hearing 6 in total.

Not a bad start

connundrum

But in signing such 'big names' he has put immediate pressure on himself to gain promotion in one year. So if it doesn't happen this year then I can see the new players losing faith, the new owners losing faith and ultimately.. Keane being in a bad spot.

I do hope it happens as per his plan, but if they don't gain immediate promotion then I can't see his contract lasting more than the year.

cournioni

Graham Kavanagh, Ross Wallace and Stanislav Varga. Very good signings indeed.

connundrum

Dwight Yorke, Graham Kavanagh, Ross Wallace, Stanislav Varga, Liam Miller and now David Connolly.. if the plan comes together they should really be top of the league come April '07.

The Muppet

They are all good signings for the short term and should see sunderland go up . I,m not sure they are good signings for the longer term but I suppose it's a one step at a time scenario.

gimmick

connundrum wrote:

But in signing such 'big names' he has put immediate pressure on himself to gain promotion in one year. So if it doesn't happen this year then I can see the new players losing faith, the new owners losing faith and ultimately.. Keane being in a bad spot.

I do hope it happens as per his plan, but if they don't gain immediate promotion then I can't see his contract lasting more than the year.

Nonsense. Stability is what Sunderland are after at the moment, as they saw last time how quick promotion can be counter productive. Having lost 4 already, automatic promotion already almost out of the question.

The only signing Im surprised by is Connolly, but then, he is a proven goal scorer at that level.

sofireland

Miller hopefully will shine at that level, and playing every week will help him.
FFS he was good at Celtic and in the CL for them, what happened him!

Good signings made by Keano. They'll steady the ship

Rollo Tamasi

What position were Palace in @ Christmas when they got promoted via the playoffs? 17th? It's possible to jump about 15 places in the champo with 5 straight wins!!!

The championship is very strong this season so Sunderland aren't a sure shot with the addiditon of a few smart signings. Birmingham & West Brom have the same players (for the most part) as last season and then you have Palace, Leeds, Norwich, Preston and Southampton.

Good to see Miller moving away from Man U. Sunderland also bought some Swedish international midflieder last week.

connundrum

gimmick wrote:

Nonsense. Stability is what Sunderland are after at the moment, as they saw last time how quick promotion can be counter productive.

I would totally agree that stability is key, but how many of these new signings will stick around for two years in Division 1? (Actually maybe a few would.. Connolly/Miller etc) But I would have thought that the immediate plan would include quick jump back to the Premiership.. would Quinn et co and Keane not be under pressure to get results?

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

Good to see Miller moving away from Sunderland.

Did they sell him already???

Rollo Tamasi

I don't think they're under too much pressure.

The last thing they want to do is go up and get hammered again. Hopefully S'land learn from their mistakes.

We'll know a lot more about the direction Sunderland are going under Keane by December.

Did they sell him already???

woops!

Robxxx7

I think he has made some very good signings, he has bought players that he knows and trust will do a good job for him. I don't think the pressure is on him at the moment. IF Sunderland can make a play-off place this year..then that will be good ...if they gain promotion through it then that will be fantastic for them ....but if not then they will be a lot stronger for the following season

empirix

Personally, i wouldn't see it as a bad thing if they lost out in the play offs, the squad they have with the exception of 1 or two players would probably go straight back down from the premiership - unless th emoney is made available to bring in around 7(if not more) strong premiership standard players - is this money available!!!!
Keane's best bet would be to get promotion and get a squad together for the premiership and just scrape by avoiding relegation and strenghten the squad again then - maybe then they would become a premiership middle table team - that would be a huge achievement and probaly the aim

Contradicting myself here - but tis early morning:o

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

eirebhoy

Wallace wasn't rated by most Celtic fans but I think he'll do well at Sunderland. He still looks like he's about 16 but he's decent with the ball at his feet. Varga is decent enough for Championship level. £1.1m, I thought they'd have given them away for free.

Kavanagh, Connolly, Yorke and Miller are all proven and will definitely do well in the championship.

jobonar

great business by Keano to get so many deals done in such a small space of time! the 6 players should do well for them! sorry to see Miller leaving united actually, he arrived with such hope and would have loved to see him do well but atleast now he'll get 1st team football!

Fanny Cradock

connundrum wrote:

But in signing such 'big names' he has put immediate pressure on himself to gain promotion in one year. So if it doesn't happen this year then I can see the new players losing faith, the new owners losing faith and ultimately.. Keane being in a bad spot.

rubbish!

are you saying keane should have signed "lesser" players so as to not put "immediate pressure on himself to gain promotion in one year"? they are second from bottom after 5 games, and it has been largely acknowledged by fans alike that this is the worst bunch of players in quite a few years. expectations were rock bottom before keane arrived, i hardly think that a knowledgeable fan would DEMAND promotion, and nothing less, by the end of the year. really, you should think about what you are about to type before actually typing it.

sundula

He must have went for quantity and not quality - IF they make it up all those players will have to be dropped as none are any where near prem quality. Sunderland were happy to see back of Varga last time and no doubt Cetlic were happy to see back of him and Wallace now. Connolly couldnt get a game at Wigan though if fit him might score a few in the Champ - however he shares two things in common with Miller bouth are injury prone and neither have the bottle for top flight football

Nalz

I think they're great siginings. A fit Yorke can do wonders in the Championship. Hopefully Miller and Connolly can come back to form. Varga is decent, not too sure on wallace...never really made it at Celtic Park. Kavanagh was brutal against Holland 2 weeks ago but Keane will whip him into shape Im sure

sundula

I would have thought much more of Keane if he got some of these guys on loan to check them out or tried to work with what he has got.

Looks to me like the kind of Panic buying that has got Sunderland in some much debt and so full of such average players. Putting all these guys down on permanent deals is crazy when they are fractionally above the quality of the current squad if even. If by some chacne Sunderland make the Prem they will have to hit the market hard and after all Quinns BS about the future and beter stuctures i think they should have set some sort of standard for the type of player they want. Clearly they HAVE to get back to the Prem or esle those investors will start to loose monet and patience

loyatemu

Good signings, horses for courses - all these guys are decent championship-level players and Keane should be able to get the best out of them. Connolly in particular has always scored goals at this level.

eirebhoy

They're certainly happy with Kavanagh's signing:
http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=156979

I think Yorke, Kav and Miller are definitely above average for Championship level. Maybe Connolly too. Yorke was fantastic at the world cup and arguably the best defensive midfielder on show.

connundrum

Fanny Cradock wrote:

rubbish!

are you saying keane should have signed "lesser" players so as to not put "immediate pressure on himself to gain promotion in one year"? they are second from bottom after 5 games, and it has been largely acknowledged by fans alike that this is the worst bunch of players in quite a few years.

It obviously is possible - ref earlier post.

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

What position were Palace in @ Christmas when they got promoted via the playoffs? 17th? It's possible to jump about 15 places in the champo with 5 straight wins!!!

Fanny Cradock wrote:

expectations were rock bottom before keane arrived, i hardly think that a knowledgeable fan would DEMAND promotion, and nothing less, by the end of the year. really, you should think about what you are about to type before actually typing it.

What of what I said was actually wrong? Are you telling me - with all the hype which has surrounded his arrival, as well as his new signings - that not one newly signed player will lose confidence in the Keane Locomotive? Are your saying that the the new owners will not be hugely disappointed? I said that Keane would be in a bad spot - I'm not for one second suggesting that he'll get the sack if promotion isn't gained.

Had Chelsea not seen immediate results with Mourinho then I believe the above situation would have panned out too.

But above everything else, this is merely my opinion. A civil tone is not too difficult to keep.

Fanny Cradock

you can take what i said as an insult, though it wasn't meant as such. i maintain that your statement was ridiculous and unnecessarily negative. after all, the whole point of signing a new player is to enhance your team and increase your chances of winning games.

A Dub in Glasgo

sundula wrote:

I would have thought much more of Keane if he got some of these guys on loan to check them out

He has played with 4 of these players at club level and the other 2 at international level. I am pretty sure he knows their capabilities.

evilhomer

It's a pity he didn't get the job a little earlier in the summer as i'm sure he would have had most of the united youth team on loan!

I think all his signings are very shrewd, he has played with and trained with all of them and knows what kind of attitude they have.

I know it's basically the Ireland B team, but this will probably be good for Irish football as the players will have a lot of cohesion when they go on international duty.