Best signings of the season 08/09

Xavi6

It's controversial thread time! Who have been the biggest success stories of 08/09 (doesn't have to solely Premeirship)?

My picks -

Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) - Keeper of the year imo and cost nothing.

Marouane Fellaini (Everton) - Being played out of position yet still doing a great job.

Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City) - Biased? Maybe. Great player? Definitely.

James Beattie (Stoke City) - His goals are the main reason they can look forward to another year in the top of flight.

Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal) - 8 games, 6 goals and 4 assists says it all.

Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth) - One of the few shining lights in an otherwise disappointing season. Cost nothing as well as he's on loan.

Over to you.....

Mr Alan

Albert Riera-cost about 5m iirc, been excellent for virtually the whole year. slipped into the team fairly effortlessly.

ntlbell

berbo lolz

whatawaster

Fellaini
Arshavin
Riera
Palacios
Schwarzer

Chong

Kiko Macheda not as such a signing but a promotion to the first team

eZe^

Daniel Alves. Hands down best signing this year imo...

Frisbee

eZe^ wrote: »

Daniel Alves. Hands down best signing this year imo...

this

pwd

geovanni for hull
zaki - i know he's on loan and has accomplished little except p!ssing people off in the last number of months but he did very well at the start of the season.
schwarzer, arshavin, beattie for the reason already given.

ntlbell

Maybe a bit premature but Joesph Ndo for boh's

Chong

eZe^ wrote: »

Daniel Alves. Hands down best signing this year imo...

Sheer quality this season from him, Pique not bad either.

premierstone

Chong wrote: »

Kiko Macheda not as such a signing but a poaching

FYP

Tusky

Mr Alan wrote: »

Albert Riera-cost about 5m iirc, been excellent for virtually the whole year. slipped into the team fairly effortlessly.

8m. I think hes a bit too inconsistent to be considering a great signing. A good signing ? Definitely. And for that money, you would struggle to find someone better.

Chong

Tusky wrote: »

8m. I think hes a bit too inconsistent to be considering a great signing. A good signing ? Definitely. And for that money, you would struggle to find someone better.

Certainly better than his city days.

Xavi6

Chong wrote: »

Certainly better than his city days.

Not true.

Riera was excellent for us. Scored a belter against Newcastle and picked up the MOM award when I went to see the FA Cup replay against Villa. He was awesome that night, as skillful and talented as he is now. All that's changed is he's now stronger on the ball.

Mr Alan

Tusky wrote: »

8m. I think hes a bit too inconsistent to be considering a great signing. A good signing ? Definitely. And for that money, you would struggle to find someone better.

my bad about the transfer figure.

no player is great every week, none.

more often than not Riera is excellent in matches.

I'd call that a very good signing, and certainly one of the best of the season in the PL, which is what this thread is about

Morzadec

Taking Value for money into account:

Short Term: Its James Beattie for me. Considering the money you get for staying in the Premiership what a bargain he's turned out to be.

Long Term: Arshavin looks like the real deal. A World-Class player for 15mill (very unsure about the figure, might've been more like 10m, but it certainly wasn't a monster fee) is almost impossible to find, especially one that appears to be at the peak of his career. Maybe a knee-jerk reaction to last night (although every time I've seen him play he's been absolute quality) but I think he could be huge for Arsenal the next few of years, as important a player for them as Gerrard is for Liverpool or Ronaldo for United. And for the fee they paid that's an absolute bargain.

dfx-

Schwarzer
Alves/Keita
Twigg

witnessmenow

Fellini has been good alright but he'd want to be handy enough, he cost a few notes (£15m apparently)

Also correct me if i'm wrong ( i haven't seen hull in the last few weeks) but didn't Geovanni leave his form back in 2008?

Beattie would be man for best signing.

Running Bing

Arshavin or Zaki for me. Given Zaki's form has tapered off a little Id probably go with Arshavin.



From a Spurs perspective I am thrilled with Palacios, Modric, Keane and Defoe signings but none of them are what you would call bargains. Corluka was a great bit of business though imo.

One signing I was really envious off at the start of the season was Kompany but he doesnt seem to have set the worl alight. What do City fans think of him?

Xavi6

Babybing wrote: »

Arshavin or Zaki for me. Given Zaki's form has tapered off a little Id probably go with Arshavin.

A little?! He hasn't scored since December!

One signing I was really envious off at the start of the season was Kompany but he doesnt seem to have set the worl alight. What do City fans think of him?

He is superb. A really solid player with a mature head on young shoulders (only 23). Delighted when we signed him and still delighted now.

Highsider

Fellaini by a country mile

Dont be at yourself

Jo (to Everton!)

tony1kenobi

Arshavin and little Nasri........

keane2097

Arshavin will prove to be an unbelievable signing over the next few years imo.

DSB

Definitely Alves yeah.

missingtime

// dreams about what could have been...Alves in a Liverpool shirt. Sigh....

That_Guy

Jonas for Newcastle.

Been one of Newcastle's top performers this season. Pity he's playing with such a woeful group of players.

Bassong also for Newcastle.

Great talent and still very young. See plenty of things for him in the future but I don't think it will be with Newcastle.

I think Rafael and his brother Fabio are also tremendous signings for Man United.

Deco was also a great signing. Hasn't been getting a look in as of late but he performed exceptionally under Scolari.

Geovanni for Hull was a brilliant signing and on a free too. Can't go far wrong.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

missingtime wrote: »

// dreams about what could have been...Alves in a Liverpool shirt. Sigh....

they nearly signed Arshavin too but they couldn't offload Robbie in time ...:P

mormank

playa3 wrote: »

they nearly signed Arshavin too but they couldn't offload Robbie in time ...:P

i truly hope this is not true!! it pains me to think how good andrei could be and that the pool didnt get hiim!! thenn again he probably wouldnt get in the team ahead of dirk..:rolleyes:

shano_88

already said but alves is playing great. Meant to have cost a few bob tho. I forgot Liverpool nearly signed him a few years ago. Its ok tho cos ye have dossena now!!!

CHD

That_Guy wrote: »

Jonas for Newcastle.

Been one of Newcastle's top performers this season. Pity he's playing with such a woeful group of players.

Bassong also for Newcastle.

Great talent and still very young. See plenty of things for him in the future but I don't think it will be with Newcastle.

I think Rafael and his brother Fabio are also tremendous signings for Man United.

Deco was also a great signing. Hasn't been getting a look in as of late but he performed exceptionally under Scolari.

Geovanni for Hull was a brilliant signing and on a free too. Can't go far wrong.

Deco had a great debut, 2 good performances after and has been crap ever since.

dfx-

That_Guy wrote: »

Jonas for Newcastle.

Been one of Newcastle's top performers this season. Pity he's playing with such a woeful group of players.

Indeed.

Isn't Deco injured and has been injured for a while?

TheBigLebowski

Gary Twigg. He gets the ball, he scores a goal...

iregk

There can be only one. Gary Twigg!!!

yahoo_moe

missingtime wrote: »

// dreams about what could have been...Alves in a Liverpool shirt. Sigh....

Not to start a whole big thing but I don't think Alves would look quite as good in this current Liverpool team as he does with Barca.

Mainly because he wouldn't be in the same system or have Lionel Messi ahead of him - and they've just got an awesome understanding (especially for a first season playing together).

Dave!

yahoo_moe wrote: »

Not to start a whole big thing but I don't think Alves would look quite as good in this current Liverpool team as he does with Barca.

Mainly because he wouldn't be in the same system or have Lionel Messi ahead of him - and they've just got an awesome understanding (especially for a first season playing together).

He'd have Kuyt!!!!! Think of the possibilities!!!!!!

CiaranC

The answer is Gary Twigg. You can close the thread there

eZe^

It's a little sad to see that there are much more posts in the 'worst signing of the year' thread, just goes to show most fans would prefer to belittle and attack rival teams players instead of bigging up their own...

everdead.ie

eZe^ wrote: »

It's a little sad to see that there are much more posts in the 'worst signing of the year' thread, just goes to show most fans would prefer to belittle and attack rival teams players instead of bigging up their own...

People are always more vocal when they don't like something and it's a lot easier to spot a dud aswell a lot of excellent players get unnoticed as they create space and chances and tackle hard like catermole for wigan does nothing but tackle

Morzadec

eZe^ wrote: »

It's a little sad to see that there are much more posts in the 'worst signing of the year' thread, just goes to show most fans would prefer to belittle and attack rival teams players instead of bigging up their own...

I don't really think that's what's at play here. I just think there's less to talk about this season in terms of good signings i.e. this year there have been far more failures than successes.

The 2 players I suggested were January signings. There hasn't been a Torres type signing this year that has really set the Premiership alight.

As for Gutierrez and Bassong suggestions - I don't know I'm really not sure if a Newcastle player can be considered for this award with the season they have had. Granted I don't watch them week in week out. Gutierrez looks decent, strong and works hard but does he have real quality in terms of a goal threat? Positing him as a signing of a season is a bit of a stretch IMO. Likewise Bassong, can a player playing in a side leaking so many soft goals be considered?

Morzadec

Also - excuse my ignorance - but who is Gary Twigg?

eZe^

Alves
Keita
Pique

Three sucess stories from the team I support.

Diarra
Huntelaar

Two from a rival team.

Mata
Romaric
Unai Emery

Three sucess stories from other rivals.

Arshavin
Riera
Macheda
Hiddink
Zabaleta
Robinho
Given (not sure, saw him play well once though.. :P)
Boswinga


More sucess stories. It's not because there have been more failures, it's because people will ALWAYS dwell on negative things. It's just human nature, but it's so much easier and more pleasing to talk about sucess stories than get in circular arguments with opposition fans about how 'berbatov is utter p*ss' or whatever.

everdead.ie

Morzadec wrote: »

Also - excuse my ignorance - but who is Gary Twigg?

Scored a hat trick against Galway United last week

keano_afc

Newcastle taking Alan Shearer off our tv screens is surely the best signing of the decade, never mind the season.

yahoo_moe

eZe^ wrote: »

Boswinga

Bosingwa's a great shout actually - forgot about him completely as he's been injured for, oh, about 3 weeks

Apart from that, I'd say Beattie ahead of Arshavin for two reasons:

(1) because it's a lot harder to attract the right player at Stoke's level compared to where Arsenal are at
(2) while the money each seem to have earned their clubs is about comparable, I think Stoke could well have gone down without him whereas Arsenal might still be in 4th now even if Arshavin hadn't signed.

But more because of the first reason. Riera has also been an excellent signing for Liverpool - it can't just be a coincidence that his signing has led to a more sustained challenge this year, even if they do ultimately come up short.

PHB

I think Rafael was a good signing.

Mr Alan

you have got to be fishing?!:eek:

Mr. Guappa

For Spurs:
Modric and Corluka excellent, Gomes coming good and will be one of the best keepers in the Premiership next year. In January, Palacios was a great bit of business.

Rest of the Premiership:
Friedel, Milner
Bosingwa
Fellaini
Geovanni
Schwarzer, Paintsil
Cisse, Malbranque
Crouch, Belhadj
Ilunga
Zaki, Figueroa
Arshavin
Beattie

pickarooney

Amauri

carlop

Was Hangelaand (sp?) at Fulham last season? If not, he has to be a candidate.

That_Guy

eZe^ wrote: »

It's a little sad to see that there are much more posts in the 'worst signing of the year' thread, just goes to show most fans would prefer to belittle and attack rival teams players instead of bigging up their own...

We don't have many players to "big up".