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Blues Close in On Pilkington and Quaner Monday, 7th Jan 2019 21:48
Town are close to completing the signings of Cardiff City winger Anthony Pilkington and Huddersfield Town forward Collin Quaner. We understand the deals could go through within the next 48 hours.
Speaking on Saturday, manager Paul Lambert said he hoped to make a “couple” of additions to his squad early this week with TWTD reporting that Pilkington was set to be one of them.
A report in Wales last week indicated that the nine-times-capped Republic of Ireland international would join a Championship club on a permanent basis this week with the Blues presumably set to take on the remaining months of his Cardiff deal which is up in the summer in much the same way as they did with the signings of Mustapha Carayol and Stephen Gleeson last January.
Pilkington previously worked under Lambert during his time as manager at Norwich City, having paid Huddersfield a fee of £2 million rising to £3 million in July 2011.
The 6ft 3in tall frontman is set to join on loan with his contract at Huddersfield having another year left to run.
Although often having operated as a central striker at his clubs in his native Germany, including hometown side Fortuna, he has usually operated wide on the right for the Terriers.
Meanwhile, academy midfielder Henry Barley, 17, has joined Felixstowe and Walton on loan having previously spent a spell with Brantham Athletic.
Photo: Action Images
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We need more goals and creativity but it's the defence that's really letting us down. The number of games we have drawn and lost from winning positions is testament to that.
As heathen66 just mentioned, another right-back and centre-half are absolutely essential.
I think they are 2 very good signings if they come off, however just look at why we are bottom of the table. Mistake after mistake from Spence, Chambers, and now it seems to be rubbing off onto Pennington. We have conceded 2 goals + in each of our last 12 away league games.so something is not right and needs addressing. I think every fan wants to see Strikers and exciting wingers, but sometimes you need to address some of the less exciting parts of the game. Hopefully this will mean we are moving to 2 up top !!!
Our defence will be just fine once the pressure is eased by more attacking options. Best place to defend is in the opposition half. In the words of Fat Les, "we're gonna score one more than you"!
Saxon Blue ,how right you are ‘attack is the best form of defence ‘; but we need some attackers who carry weight and presence in the last third of the pitch .In the same way we need mid fielders and defenders who have and can show us real personality ,character and similar determination . Last season Wolves were the outstanding team we saw at P Rd ,all strapping physical specimens with good strength and agility : see how well those characteristics are serving them in the top division . It seems certain PL knows exactly what he's doing and needs and wants : disappointingly we've far too many who are lightweight in more ways than one ; it'll be telling now to watch the outgoings and re-shaping which is long awaited . Let's hope that includes a new ,more dynamic MD who will also shape up to the task in hand ; little evidence to date he has been able to produce the goods – or have his hands been tied too ? Come on you Blues , we're all desperate to get even more behind you on an upward trail !
Quaner is an underrated player I think and will be a good addition. According to transfermarkt.com he's got 101 appearances at the equivalent German level to the Championship, scoring 17 and assisting 11. Should be hungry too after being largely ignored by Wagner this season.
Hope they can help make a difference but we desperately need a right back and some strength and quality in midfield. Dozzell and co might be the future of the club but the Millwall game where we just got bullied out of it shows they are just not ready yet.
Pilkington a must, a seasoned pro. Quaner, perhaps our Fortuna friends could tell us more about him? Woolfenden back from Swindon and Emanuel back from Shrewsbury loan spells could strengthen our mistake ridden defence? Now for that so important midfield playmaker position, Dozzell and Nolan too lightweight. That is the position that needs sorting, Skuse and Chalobah are a good fit, but that playmaker is required...any ideas?
OK, let's give it a go. If we stay up - max. 10% chance in my opinion - it will be one of the greatest "great escapes" ever. If, as is far more likely, we go down, I wonder if any of these loans can be converted into permanents in L1. This doesn't seem all that probable, but PL may engender the respect and have the powers of persuasion in the game to carry it off. Is this already the start of the re-building, or is it just a drastic attempt (as drastic as we are likely to afford anyway) to keep us up, and then the real re-building starts next season (hopefully with PL still in place)? Answers on a postcard, please ...
RobClark, he certainly knows how to finish. Not sure of the standard he played at but that is irrelevant as it is a craft to score goals at any level. Could be a very good signing.
As it has been said, great to be getting better forward options, but when is the defence going to be sorted? How come most people that post and the media now all identify the issues with Spence but it seems to be ignored by PL. I know football is about opinions but can everyone be wrong?
Harlingblue...agree with you but Emmanuel is not going to be coming back to fix the RB problem, he is not considered good enough by the club. However i think he is better than Spence and as asked by the aptly named Wishing4arightback, can everyone be wrong?
Great signings in my opinion. Yes we need defenders, especially a RB but it's on the 8th people! Give Lambert a chance and moan when the window is shut! Fully behind Lambert and the job he has on his hands is huge, he needs are 100% commitment.
Great signings in my opinion. Yes we need defenders, especially a RB but it's only the 8th people! Give Lambert a chance and moan when the window is shut! Fully behind Lambert and the job he has on his hands is huge, he needs our 100% commitment.
I would welcome them both to the club. Perhaps loans are unavoidable in the position we are in, but signing so many short term players does go against what Lambert was saying we need to do. In reality if they do well here they will probably sign for Championship clubs in the summer.
Dissboyitfc: Prior to last season I felt Emmanuel wasn't quite ready to play Championship football & needed a bit of experience elsewhere first. I always thought Kenlock was that bit further along in readiness to be starter in the team. But, to be fair to MM, he sends Josh to a league 1 club where he plays pretty much every game in a side that gets promoted & wins their young player of the year award. It's hard to see what more he could have done to justify getting a shot at the right back spot for his parent club; but Hurst comes in & immediately signs a lad who had been playing at a level lower than JE had proven himself at, and then sends him back out on loan to Division 1 again. The fact that Donacien wasn't even included in too many match day squads, & was inexplicably played at left back on occasion when he was, makes the whole thing even more bewildering. It's hard to see how such poor management would not affect the confidence of a young footballer who had been progressing nicely up to that point. We've seen what happened to the likes of Sears & Chambers when played out of position & generally messed around for a season or more, so it's hard to see JE coming back & suddenly being the confident player he was last May. Hopefully he can be built back, because he certainly has the potential & physique to be a decent Championship level right back. Funnily enough, I think there is a good footballer in Donacien also & had Hurst given him a good run in the side he could have established himself at right back. He definitely made some poor mistakes early on & found himself out of his depth, but he had improved & looked to be getting up to the speed of the Championship when he got dropped. He also has one hell of a whipped ball into the box in his locker, when he gets himself in the final third, the kind of cross a decent striker would thrive on. Of course Lambert sees him more of a centre half, so we're probably not going to be seeing those again. Whatever the future holds for those 2 young players, we definitely need to shore up the gaping hole at right back as a matter of priority.