[drewks]

Anybody understand the Ivanovic rumour?

No

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Krovinovic is training with Benfica right?

COYB

.... I'd heard he was training alone?
(To be honest I think it's 'either or' with Gallagher & Krov.)

[SomersetBaggie]

Anybody understand the Ivanovic rumour?

No

---

Krovinovic is training with Benfica right?

COYB

.... I'd heard he was training alone?
(To be honest I think it's 'either or' with Gallagher & Krov.)

I personally cannot understand why we would want Ivanovic, he is 37 and a Right Back that Chelsea got rid of because he was too slow several years ago!!

[Blue Baggie]

Anybody understand the Ivanovic rumour?

I'm guessing a £1 million signing on fee and £100k a week like we gave Barry would be affordable.
Good solid pro and a mate of Bilic's - 36 years old though. 
Percy says it's true so you can believe it. He could be playing in the opener.

---

Some gossip that "Grant" has already had a medical and signed???
£17 million pound fee being mentioned.
What's the point of keeping it under wraps I say?
Austin and/or Zohore moves delaying the announcement? Could of course be more BS piles of it flying around atm.

[drewks]

Anybody understand the Ivanovic rumour?

I'm guessing a £1 million signing on fee and £100k a week like we gave Barry would be affordable.
Good solid pro and a mate of Bilic's - 36 years old though. 
Percy says it's true so you can believe it. He could be playing in the opener.

.... I really don't understand /see this.
As has been said, he was slow a good few years ago. I know speed isn't everything but a complete lack of it is!
Also, as you say BB - he ain't gonna come cheap!
SURELY, mate or not of SB, this won't be sanctioned by them that control the purse strings?

[Slick_Footwork]

Hello all, long time no post. Probably because things went so well last season so I didn't have much to moan about. Although I did nearly have a meltdown when we stumbled over the line at the end of the season.

Regarding Ivanovic, it's an interesting link.

Personally, I understand the move... Firstly, we lack experience at the back. Secondly, i'm not sure our full back are good enough. Thirdly, he's a steely character, a winner...

If you think back to last season, Bilic preferred 1 defensive full back who held position (Ferguson) as first choice. After Ferguson was injured, Furlong and O'Shea were constantly in and out of that position but I never felt that Bilic was convinced by either hence the constant rotation. Futhermore, when Gibbs was injured, Ferguson was moved to left back because Bilic trusts Townsend even less than the right backs.

At the moment, one of these right backs is our first choice, yet they were deemed behind Ferguson last year... Bilic can't be happy with that.

For me personally, O'Shea has a lot of potential, but I understand Bilic proceeding with caution as he's had half a good season at Championship level. Personally I have question marks over both Furlong and Townsend defensively, at this level. It's a shame because Townsend come on leaps and bounds on the ball last season. But does he have the defensive power to deal with players like Adama, Salah and the like? The thought makes me shudder.

With Ivanovic, he covers the whole back line and chips in with goals because of his power in the air. It gives the opposition a lot more to think about when defending set plays when you have a full back who has this aerial power. Should we be short in midfield and need to use Ajayi there (which I fear will happen, as IMO we needed legs in the middle of the park and has been completely ignored) this could mean 4 really good headers of the ball for the opposition to mark.

He also will come without a transfer fee, so will probably act as a 'stop gap' in a summer where we have had to spend just to get the side back together that we had last season.

Now, if he's good enough at his age remains to be seen and that is the worry. I confess, I've watched nothing of Zenit in the past few years. But I don't think just because lost his way at Chelsea means he isn't good enough for us - let's remember, they won the title in his last season there and he still played some games that year. Worst case, he comes, isn't good enough and just adds some experience in the dressing room. As bizarre as it sounds given how old the squad have been in previous Premier League season, I think we need some experience and steel now.

[Blue Baggie]

Anybody understand the Ivanovic rumour?

I'm guessing a £1 million signing on fee and £100k a week like we gave Barry would be affordable.
Good solid pro and a mate of Bilic's - 36 years old though. 
Percy says it's true so you can believe it. He could be playing in the opener.

.... I really don't understand /see this.
As has been said, he was slow a good few years ago. I know speed isn't everything but a complete lack of it is!
Also, as you say BB - he ain't gonna come cheap!
SURELY, mate or not of SB, this won't be sanctioned by them that control the purse strings?

I'm with you Drewks ? I couldn't believe we paid £1m to sign Barry?
I won't pretend I have any understanding how money is circulated within the game.
Even the great Darren Moore was allowed to bring in his "mates" which contributed to his own downfall.

[WBA-Josh]

Ivanovic played 35 matches for Zenit last season, 6 in the Champions League, and all of them came at centre back. He was a constant starter and was also captain. I think that should tell us everything we need to know about whether he still has 'it'.

I see him coming in as a centre back partner for Ajayi, maybe even as vice-captain, with Kiprè and either Bartley or Hegazi as the alternates.

[Salopbaggie]

Ivanovic played 35 matches for Zenit last season, 6 in the Champions League, and all of them came at centre back. He was a constant starter and was also captain. I think that should tell us everything we need to know about whether he still has 'it'.

I see him coming in as a centre back partner for Ajayi, maybe even as vice-captain, with Kiprè and either Bartley or Hegazi as the alternates.

You know we all bow down to your knowledge of mainland European teams, so a genuine question just how good is the Russian Premier league? I have looked down and recognise the names of 6 teams of course that means nothing. But in the scheme of things how would the mid range and lower clubs compare to the mid and lower Prem teams here?

[Arcane Astral Aeons]

Ivanovic played 35 matches for Zenit last season, 6 in the Champions League, and all of them came at centre back. He was a constant starter and was also captain. I think that should tell us everything we need to know about whether he still has 'it'.

I see him coming in as a centre back partner for Ajayi, maybe even as vice-captain, with Kiprè and either Bartley or Hegazi as the alternates.

You know we all bow down to your knowledge of mainland European teams, so a genuine question just how good is the Russian Premier league?  I have looked down and recognise the names of 6 teams of course that means nothing.  But in the scheme of things how would the mid range and lower clubs compare to the mid and lower Prem teams here?

salop
please dont encourage him

[WBA-Josh]

The Russian Premier League is a funny one. It's on par with the Portuguese league as a whole but once you've taken Zenit, CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow, Krasnodar, Dynamo Moscow and Rostov out of the equation, the quality then becomes more mid-table Championship and below level. There is Rubin Kazan and Akhmat Grozny who are decent (Rubin Kazan was the best team in Russia 11-12 years ago) but no better than Blues, Reading etc.