Dieumerci Mbokani

[Beauseant]

Lots of reports from Ukraine, France and Belgium suggesting that Mbokani is pretty much a done deal. Clearly we are prioritising a striker (and I also believe we're in for a CB) so it makes some sense with the likes of Lambert and Gestede off the market.

He did well at Andelecht and Kiev, but less so elsewhere, but seems to fit the bill of what Alex wants, ie big, fast and powerful so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

 

[bloodwagon]

I agree. Hope he brings his shooting boots with him.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

Interesting. I was going to bump the 'Mbokani on his way to Norwich' thread yesterday and pour some scorn, as after allegedly being photographed at the airport it all went quiet. if this is back on the obvious quesiton is - why the delay?

Perhaps we were in for the other strikers you mentioned and when we lost out we gave the green light for plan ?c

 

[bloodwagon]

I dont know, this could be plan A

 

[CanaryNath]

I think if we are definitely in for this guy, the club would have been exercising caution and getting extra legal advice, considering Kiev and Anderlecht are still arguing over fees owed, relating to Mbokani's previous transfer. 

 

[Wiz]

Never heard of him myself, is he any good? :blush:

 

[Suffolk Canary]

I'm not getting too excited  on that rumour at the minute. It hasnt really been reported by any major sources yet. But if he does sign, I'll be pretty happy about it, definitely one of the better players we've been linked with. 

You'd think surely that would spell the end for RVW, Hoops or Lafferty? 

 

[bloodwagon]

If stuff is going on behind locked doors that we dont know about, then the papers are not going to get hold of it are they.

Remember how we do our transfers ? City will say nothing till pen hits paper.

Think theres more to this than we know.

 

[Indy_Bones]

I'm really not overly struck on this guy, has failed pretty much every time he's played in a decent league, is known for having a bit of an attitude problem, doesn't bring any real resale value and simply doesn't excite me in the slightest.

I'd rather play RvW if I'm honest...

 

[Wiz]

I'm really not overly struck on this guy, has failed pretty much every time he's played in a decent league, is known for having a bit of an attitude problem, doesn't bring any real resale value and simply doesn't excite me in the slightest.

I'd rather play RvW if I'm honest...

Oh bugger!  :wacko:

 

[bloodwagon]

Just for you Wiz.....

hear

Got a good shot on him and hes fast.

 

[ZLF]

its clear neither hooper nor rvw have a future here but their wages are the stumbling block in moving them out;   I suspect the club would prefer them off the books before we sign anyone else but its proving very difficult (eg Bolton very keen on GH but cant afford his wages without moving players from their squad;  only champs interest in him)

I dont know enough about him but he seems to have the right attributes - the question is whether they are champs or prem standard.

 

[Beauseant]

Interesting. I was going to bump the 'Mbokani on his way to Norwich' thread yesterday and pour some scorn, as after allegedly being photographed at the airport it all went quiet. if this is back on the obvious quesiton is - why the delay?

Perhaps we were in for the other strikers you mentioned and when we lost out we gave the green light for plan ?c

The issue was Kiev jacking up the asking price to 14m Euros after City made a bid, having previously asked for 8 m . They also owed Anderlecht money from his transfer to Kiev and they then tried to hijack the deal. The player has made it very clear he wants to come to England so this may all be hogwash but there are bits of infor that suggest something is going on.

I'm reserving judgement as I haven't seen enough of him.

 

[eatonparkboy]

Know nothing just like Wiz but if its true lets hope we have a slice of luck with our striking signings. Grabban and Jerome weren't guesses and had no problem with settling into Norfolk I assume and were successes. Hooper less so but RVW a disaster.

Very difficult bringing in someone from a European/Foreign league as we know. For example, Kei Kamara has banged in 16 goals in NASL. But if you watched it, it is a poor standard.

 

[KeiranShikari]

He's big and strong so even if he's crap he'll offer more than Wolf.

 

[eatonparkboy]

He's big and strong so even if he's crap he'll offer more than Wolf.

Sounds like he might cost more as well

 

[It's Character Forming]

He's big and strong so even if he's crap he'll offer more than Wolf.

Exactly.  My feeling is that most games in the Prem we need to have 5 in midfield, especially if we want to have both Wes and Redmond on the pitch to pose problems for other teams, that can work if they are 2 out of a 5-strong midfield but not if we have just 4.

This means we need a front player who's physically strong enough to make an impact up front on his own, like Grant Holt.  The problem Hughton had when we were relegated was that none of the strikers we had could do that - both RVW and Hooper were ineffective if up front on their own, and Elmander, despite being a big guy, was no better (as for whether Becchio could have done it, let's not even go there).  So this season we have Jerome and Grabban, both are improvements for playing on their own up front, but if we can add another quality striker with the same attributes, that can only be a good thing.

Never seen him so fingers crossed if we do sign him... but that's pretty normal for me.

 

[Dubai Mark]

Indy ..."I'd rather play RvW if I'm honest..."

respect your opinion, BUT are you really sure about that? I personally would rather see Turner or Bassong play up front rather than RVW, at least they are big and strong and a few crosses just may bounce in off them.......surely he has to go and leave his nightmare behind him.

As for Mbokhani, like Wiz I have never heard of him until he appeared in the gossip.

 

[The Great Mass Debater]

The problem Hughton had when we were relegated was that none of the strikers we had could do that - both RVW and Hooper were ineffective if up front on their own, and Elmander, despite being a big guy, was no better

You make it sound as if that problem wasnt one entirely of his own making...

 

[Beauseant]

Indy ..."I'd rather play RvW if I'm honest..."

respect your opinion, BUT are you really sure about that? I personally would rather see Turner or Bassong play up front rather than RVW, at least they are big and strong and a few crosses just may bounce in off them.......surely he has to go and leave his nightmare behind him.

As for Mbokhani, like Wiz I have never heard of him until he appeared in the gossip.

I just don't get the RvW love in. Lovely lad, decent movement but reacts to the sight of a set of goalposts like a vampire to a basket of garlic. Should have had a hat trick in about 10 minutes either side of HT against the Hammers but never looked like converting the one on one (compare that to Jerome's finish on Saturday) and didn't get a decent contact on either of the others. He's not good enough for the EPL and I don't really see him being here unless we end up trading Hooper as part of a van Dijk deal.