Winter Improvement Thread (aka Winter Squad Weakening Thread and TWF Suicide Watch)

[Jack Regan]

According to the stats website I looked at he's got one assist all season, so he's hardly a creative force either.

 

[Langers]

According to the stats website I looked at he's got one assist all season, so he's hardly a creative force either.

Meh, stats stats stats. How many assists did Afobe get for us this season?

 

[Lycan]

IF the £3m pricetag for Mason is correct and IF the £9m pricetag for Afobe is correct of course.

The official word from Cardiff a week ago was that they wanted £5-6M for Mason. As Dan says they've since realised they need to sell but if the final fee is lower than £3M it wont be by much.

Isn't he supposed to be a link play support striker/number ten rather than a lethal goal scorer? If that's the case and he's basically a slightly better goal scoring version of wes hoolihan, I'd be quite happy.

He's nothing like Wes Hoolahan. Apart from the fact that he's Irish.

 

[Lycan]

According to the stats website I looked at he's got one assist all season, so he's hardly a creative force either.

He's just a decent, if unspectacular, striker. Pretty decent finisher from what I've seen, good with both feet and quite quick off the mark. Nothing wrong with him but not brilliant at anything either.

 

[Langers]

The official word from Cardiff a week ago was that they wanted £5-6M for Mason. As Dan says they've since realised they need to sell but if the final fee is lower than £3M it wont be by much.

Well we don't know that. If that rumour about administration is true, they might have accepted something lower. Possibly with addons that might take it nearer the £3m figure? And if it is true, maybe Afobe went for more than the rumoured £8/9m? I don't know.

I agree it's too hefty a pricetag for him if it's true but there are so many rumours and 'facts' that aren't concrete about this deal.

 

[Jack Regan]

Meh, stats stats stats. How many assists did Afobe get for us this season?

A big fat zero apparently.

However Dave Edwards, Adam Le Fondre and even Sheyi Ojo all have more championship assist than Mr Mason has managed.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

He's just a decent, if unspectacular, striker. Pretty decent finisher from what I've seen, good with both feet and quite quick off the mark. Nothing wrong with him but not brilliant at anything either.

I think that's a fair assessment. If we create chances for him he should do ok. If he wang the ball over his head as we have with Alfie of late then he will not do ok.

 

[Lycan]

Well we don't know that. If that rumour about administration is true, they might have accepted something lower. Possibly with addons that might take it nearer the £3m figure? And if it is true, maybe Afobe went for more than the rumoured £8/9m? I don't know.

I agree it's too hefty a pricetag for him if it's true but there are so many rumours and 'facts' that aren't concrete about this deal.

I'm sure that if it's £3M that a fair whack of it will be add-ons, just like a fair portion of Afobe's transfer fee will be. I'd imagine that most deals are set up that way these days.

Of course we don't disclose any of our transfer fees so you can never know for certain but I doubt the reported fees are that far out to make much of a difference. The £3M fee for Mason has been floating about since the summer and we've said ourselves that it was a 'significant' bid.

A big fat zero apparently.

However Dave Edwards, Adam Le Fondre and even Sheyi Ojo all have more championship assist than Mr Mason has managed.

Afobe set up Graham at Charlton so there's 1 at least.

I think that's a fair assessment. If we create chances for him he should do ok. If he wang the ball over his head as we have with Alfie of late then he will not do ok.

Mason has played most of his career for Bolton & Cardiff, I'm sure he'll be used to our 'style' by now.

 

[Revenga]

Oh man, all that stuff I said about just buy a striker and we can manage I take it back. Hopefully he just needs a fresh start and move might be good for him...maybe.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[Jack Regan]

I'm sure that if it's £3M that a fair whack of it will be add-ons, just like a fair portion of Afobe's transfer fee will be. I'd imagine that most deals are set up that way these days.

Of course we don't disclose any of our transfer fees so you can never know for certain but I doubt the reported fees are that far out to make much of a difference. The £3M fee for Mason has been floating about since the summer and we've said ourselves that it was a 'significant' bid.



Afobe set up Graham at Charlton so there's 1 at least.



Mason has played most of his career for Bolton & Cardiff, I'm sure he'll be used to our 'style' by now.

From our official match report

"The goal owed much to the persistence of Afobe who beat off a determined challenge from Lennon before running into the box and firing in a low cross.

A defender on the line appeared to get a touch and then Henderson pushed the ball out but only as far as Graham who blasted it back into the net from close range."

Doesn't officially count as an assist as it wasn't direct from Afobe to Graham as they had two chances to clear it. Pedantic as that is as without Afobe shooting we would not have scored.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I wouldn't call that pedantic, it's just not an assist.

 

[Langers]

Maybe Mason did that several times this season? Bloody stats innit.

 

[Sniffer]

Graham's cross for the goal against Brighton didn't count as an assist as it went in off a defender and not a Wolves player. How many own goals have the opposition scored for Cardiff this season? One at least.

A late own goal from Middlesbrough defender George Friend gave Cardiff their first win in three games.

Friend could do little to prevent the ball from going into his own net after Joe Mason's point-blank effort was saved by Dimi Konstantopoulos.

 

[Lycan]

From our official match report

"The goal owed much to the persistence of Afobe who beat off a determined challenge from Lennon before running into the box and firing in a low cross.

A defender on the line appeared to get a touch and then Henderson pushed the ball out but only as far as Graham who blasted it back into the net from close range."

Doesn't officially count as an assist as it wasn't direct from Afobe to Graham as they had two chances to clear it. Pedantic as that is as without Afobe shooting we would not have scored.

Ah, my mistake. I knew it bounced off a defender but I thought he was aiming for Graham anyway, definitely didn't look like a shot from my angle.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Graham's cross for the goal against Brighton didn't count as an assist as it went in off a defender and not a Wolves player. How many own goals have the opposition scored for Cardiff this season? One at least.

A late own goal from Middlesbrough defender George Friend gave Cardiff their first win in three games.

Friend could do little to prevent the ball from going into his own net after Joe Mason's point-blank effort was saved by Dimi Konstantopoulos.

Keeper pushed it off his defender?

No assist!

 

[Parkins left foot]

Given the state of the squad I shouldn't be upset if this comes off, but just seems such an uninspiring move (particularly at the price quoted, always assuming that it is in any way accurate of course).

Still seeing as how the whole season has been uninspiring it would fit in well.

Having said that whoever we sign for the front will not benefit us unless the clusterfuck behind them is dealt with

 

[Lycan]

On the plus side he is an ex-Bolton player and as we know from KJ it's a well known fact that players always score against their old clubs.

 

[prerecordedlive]

With the state of the club under its "for sale" status, they just aren't going to win fans' approval with anything they do in the transfer window.

Not spending money? Boo.
Buying a player? Waste of money. Boo.
Buying a domestic player? Our scouting sucks. Boo.
Buying a foreign player? Won't cut it in the English game. Boo.

I'll reserve judgement until we see what Mason can do in a Wolves shirt. I was completely whelmed when we signed Dicko after he did fuck-all during his loan stint and then he proceeded to wow the pants off of me.

 

[WalsallWolf]

Assuming he is our only forward we sign (and at £3m I would expect him to be) he just is not what we are looking for. I am seriously scratching my head. We need some pace and genuine movement across the front line. I am not even sure Mason is as quick as Le Fondre or Edwards, or even Sigurdarsson with a bad back!

He is certainly not on par with RVLP. Would that be a fair assessment?

 

[Lycan]

I think he's quite fast. Certainly faster than Alfie, Henry or Edwards, not that that's anything to shout about.

Nothing on van La Parra though, no.