Thomas

Wolves have made it two signings in two days with the capture of Andrew Surman from Southampton. The fee is believed to be in the region of £1.5 million. So what do we think of the latest recruit?

I haven’t seen much of this guy so I’m not really sure what Wolves have invested in. I understand he can play out wide or in the middle of the park, so that versatility will certainly come in handy I’m sure. He’s also played a fair few games for the England Under 21s so he must have some pedigree.

I’ve suspected for a long while that Mick won’t start the season with both Kites and Jarvis deployed on the wings. I think he’ll want a more solid player on one of the flanks who can come inside and help out defensively. For me, that leaves Matty Jarvis as the most obvious competition for Surman, although I could be wide of the mark.

I’m hoping that this signing means we won’t splash out silly money on someone like Joe Ledley who has yet to prove himself at the highest level. I’d like to see at least one more midfielder recruited and preferably one who has spent some time in the Premiership.

I don’t know about you though, but I’ll still be sweating until I see some defensive signings – preferably two or three.

It seems that Wolves have completed the signing of Kevin Doyle, which represents a massive coup for the club as they had to beat off competition from at least 3 established Premiership teams.

Anyone who read my last post on the matter will know that I predicted he would go to Fulham, so before the season has even started, I’ve got egg on my face.

What we have to think about now is how the Wolves attack will take shape in terms of the starting 11. I’d like to believe at home he’ll go with Doyle and SEB up top and Kites and Jarvis on the wings to really have a go at teams. I really thought Mick would go with a five man midfield with just SEB up top on his own. With Doyle on board though, I can’t imagine this will be the case.

Nice to have the option though! 🙂

However successful a signing Doyle turns out to be, I think it’s an important deal as it shows the fans that the club do have the ambition that they’ve spoken about since they secured promotion. £6 million is a huge outlay for Wolves, even at this moment in time and I’d really like to believe that this signals the start of a very serious assault on the Premiership.

What do you think about the signing? Have we paid over the odds or got a bargain? Will he even get in the team?

Here are the reports about the Doyle signing:

BBC Sport

Wolves Official

Express & Star

Wolves have been linked with a lot foreign players over the summer, which is somewhat strange given our supposed transfer policy. Mick McCarthy has always stated he prefers buying British and the message from the club since promotion has always been that we wanted experienced, Premiership players.

However, supposing we do end up with 5 or 6 unfamiliar names come the start of the season, I wouldn’t say we’re doomed before a ball has even been kicked. In my opinion, buying abroad represents a gamble. You can unearth some real gems for very low amounts of money, but you can also end up spending a couple of million on a player who immediately looks out of their depth (take Silas for example).

Looking back to our last unsuccessful Premiership campaign, we invested heavily in foreign players and for the most part, you’d have to say it didn’t work out. The likes of Rae, Cameron, Ince and Miller turned out to be our most consistent performers, whilst the likes of Luzhny and Okoronkwo failed to impress. But like it or not, one foreign player did come close to saving our bacon that year – Henri Camara.

Even saying his name around Wolves fans is enough to incite vociferous anger and the manner in which he engineered his exit from the club is enough to understand why. However, towards the end of the 2003/04 season, the partnership between Carl Cort and Camara came close to firing us to safety. And many believe that if Camara had found his feet just a few months prior, we’d have done the impossible and maintained our top flight status.

So it’s worth remembering that, even though we’d all prefer proven British talent, buying in from abroad can pay off if you pick and choose carefully. I think Wolves scouting system has done a pretty good job over the last few seasons, so whoever comes in I’ll be reserving judgment until I’ve seen them play myself.

If you believe what you read in the papers, Kevin Doyle will make a straight choice next week between Wolves, Sunderland, Bolton and Fulham. Assuming this is true, who would your money be on?

Sunderland certainly have the financial clout and can probably offer him better wages than the other clubs involved. I just wonder whether he’d be a regular starter for the Black Cats, given their new found wealth and that might be something which could make him think twice about the move.

Bolton might present an interesting option for Doyle. If he finds his form he could become a first-team regular there, but the Trotters already have Kevin Davies and that Swedish bloke (great journalism there), plus I don’t think Doyle fits into their style of play, as they get a lot of joy from going direct, rather than getting it down and playing.

Fulham is geographically closest to Reading, so the transition might not be as difficult, which is something I’m sure players take into account. Something else that is going for the London side is European football and none of the other sides in the mix can offer that. On balance, this would probably represent the best move for Doyle, so I’m going to stick my neck out and wager this is where he’ll end up.

Then of course, there’s Wolves. We can probably offer the best chance of regular first team football, but that’s by no means a certainty with SEB at our disposal. We also have a nucleus of young, Irish players which is something he might find attractive. And if, as reported, he’s been to look around our Compton training ground, that must have counted in our favour, as it’s a fantastic facility. I can’t get this niggling feeling out of my mind though, that the last thing he’ll want is to move to a side he thinks might go down next season, leaving him in the same boat again. Out of the four, he’ll probably feel we’re the most likely for the drop, which could be fatal to any possible deal.

So I’m going for Fulham, but hoping he might surprise me and turn out in Old Gold next season.