Thetownend.com

Shizzle dizzle;

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11679_6251766,00.html

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/headlines/8261878.BREAKING_NEWS__David_Ball_is_Town_target/

fresh. Know nothing about this one...

At least the adver didn't say they exclusively revealed it's David Ball.

I had a feeling it wasn't Nimley.  Must admit i have no idea what this lad is like but then i didn't with Danny Ward and is was fantastic for us

My only concern is the experience. Two very young lads up front. Has this Ball made any league appearances?

bit underwhelmed with this one - ok for 4th choice but not as good as the guy we had on loan from West Ham at the back of the season

still im hopeful we are still tracking a first choice striker - if this isnt the case and we are going with Pericard then IMO I think we will struggle to score goals again

how do you know?! he could be immense!

No league starts i think. I read somewhere that he broke a bone in his foot twice last year (same bone) which restricted his playing opportunities. Apparently had scored 6 goals in 5 games for the city reserves at some point. 21 yrs old 6ft sounds like he is chomping at the bit for some first team action. Could be a really decent signing i feel.

Adver article quotes Sir Lord Fittonius saying they are looking at 3 city players...  :hmmm:

I bet fatbury said the same thing about Danny Ward last season.

We shall wait and see. Still need another striker imo. Hopefully someone proven at this level.

Nice stuff Wilson, Fitton and co :)

Two top 10 Championship sides wanted Ball on loan at the tail end of last season so if he comes to League One he could be "a bit special"

Talking of "a bit special" .....the Daily Mail did an article this week about the 'great hopes' for the next World Cup and put in a predicted starting 11 including all the usual suspects such as Jack Wilshere, Rooney and Walcott.....and then.....Frank Nouble!!! WTF?!?  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

England are fucked then

very underwhelming signing. We need experienced strikers not someone who may or may not do well. May as well signed Revell. ;)

are you refering to Nouble?

Fatbury your idea of a good player is beyond me. Pook and now Nouble.

he was utter Gash

I hope this is a joke.


 :clap: this cheered me up no end!

Why the fuck do our fans persist on thinking that just because someone has a "reputation" in the game that they will be good and if they have never heard of them that they will be crap?????

He could be a great player for all we know, give the bloke a fucking chance before you write the fucker off FFS.

This

Who the fuck are Danny Ward, Charlie Austin, Simon Ferry & Scott Cuthbert?

Good players that I'd never heard of this time last year, that who.

well said colin

Hope the lad is good.  To be honest none of us have any idea do we?  Some may claim knowledge but generally that through playing champ manager or whatever its called.

I personally hope we are not relying on him being the answer.  It would be lovely if he is but we just don't know do we.  I thought we had two loanees last year (tempe obadeyi or whatever it was and Nouble) who were really hotly tipped for a big future in the game and may indeed have one, but to me seemed to be all raw power, pace and tricks and no fucking clue what to do with it when they'd beaten the 4 players and got it to the byeline.

But as I say I have no idea about the lad, and neither do I have any idea about the other one people seemed to be hoping it was (Niemly) so we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm mystified how some posters on here seem to be underwhelmed.Only yesterday, the club were
saying that they were 99.9% sure that we had a young player coming in on a seasons loan.

Wilson also said, how the young player was "champing at the bit to come and join us".

These days attitude as well as ability, is so important with loan players.

Give the lad a chance!

I think most of are happy and will give him a chance, but we've had a few loanees and some of them have been pretty underwhelming.  We'll see what he's like (i.e. give him a chance) before declaring our undying love for him.

Never seen him play, just that Sheffield United and Cardiff wanted him on loan last season which indicates he has something about him.

I'll try and do some digging for comments from City fans.

Simple, because some people on here are plums and really need to have a word with themselves!

Loan record from last season is quite an even split to be fair so don't think anyone should be underwhelmed:

Good loanees - Ward, Ferry, Sheehan and Derby
Bad loanees - Nouble, Hutchinson, Odabeyi and Revell
Undecided - Ritchie

As was stated above by alanmayes if the player has the right attitude then thats a great start, personally am not remotely dissapointed we are talking about a young player hungry for his first taste of league football.  It's a no lose situation if hes not up to it then he remains 4th choice, if hes awesome then he partners Charlie.

i wouldn't put Revell in with Hutch, Nouble and Odabeyi.
he wasn't that bad

As you say its an even split so neither should they be overwhelmed!  Depends whether you're a pessimist or an optimist.  Im happy someone want to join us and is showing the right attitude.  To be honest I don't really know why Im replying.  Im switzerland on this, totally neutral ready to decide once i've seen the evidence with my own eyes.  

Im sure Danny et al have a better eye for player than a fat 39 year old who's greatest football achievement was runner up in the springfield 5 a side league in 1841.

Agree. He deseveres his own catagory of "hardworking but medicore loanee"

I'd also argue that hutchinson deserves his own sub-bad catagory

"i hope ball does well as i really want to see him in the first team in the future one of the best academy players weve produced"

The rest of the comments seem more based on him and them benefiting from first team football so I assume a lot of them haven't seen him play.

Lets be honest here, how many of you would take any football advice from Fatbury and Mr Stanley?
 Fatbury gets a boner from watching Pook mistime a pass and Gazza just loves SSP.   

There's a mighty chasm between knocking on the door at Man City and our level, therefore this could potentially be a hell of a signing. But in one of todays Adver articles Wilson confirmed that another forward will also hopefully be signed in the next 2 weeks - this youngster will only be a part of a (hopefully strong) group of 4 or 5 goal-grabbers, and not our only/main hope.

Haha

Fatbury helped run a team once you know

We need strikers so i'm all for us signing 1 or 2. I'm sure Ball will be half decent. Can't be as bad as Hutchinson.

No, Fatbury made a youth team run. It's quite different.

I also have full confidence in Wilson, if he feels the lad will add something to the team, then it could be a great signigng, and he has also says that he is looking to bring in 2 strikers, so prehaps the other one is a more experienced player.

sam parkin-simon cox. how many games had they played?

This is all well and good but i will not judge him until i see a youtube video

Parkin had played plenty of first team football. Not sure about Cox.

Cox had a fair bit, Brentford, Northampton on loan before he came to us.

Has anyone ever signed him on football manager and does he have a youtube video?

then we can decide if he is any good.

cox and parkin had a few games between them.experience counts for fuck all.if you are good enough, then you are.fucking end of.

great minds

I wonder for how many years we'll just write "Kasali Yinka Casal" when someone posts a comment like the above? I think good old Casal could become legendary on these boards!

my judgement on footballers is purely based on youtube videos and FM!

Similar to my ethos on women....my judgement is based purely on how much they cost on russianbrides.com

He already is.

Hence, why every time we sign any player we dont know much about we ask about a youtube video

:D

We're doomed....Hope Lucas doesn't play it long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww5lQa5s4Gs

Just a thought, but is this fella related to Alan Ball at all? What with the Man City connection.

I heard that he's pretty Ball-istic in front of goal.

Oh FFS.  And we're off again.

bollocks, more puns.

Dont get testy.

If he's no good Wilson will just give him the sack.

Didn't a Michael Ball recently play for City too?

Yes, but then love changes everything.

Didn't Michael Ball play as LB and join from PSV. Not sure where he is now mind.

Didn't he go to the West end to star in Phantom of the Opera

http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=181490

According to City fans he is one of their brightest prospects.

Adver headline, Aug 7;

"IT'S A STUNNING DEBUT AS BALL-BAGS A BRACE"

Ball
David Ball
David David Ball
He's gets the ball he's David Ball
David David Ball

Heh! heh!





Fatbury/Gazza 8)

There's always a couple who like to get the negative based quotes in so they can say "told you so" if it goes badly. However, if they do well they'll have said players as their TEF avatars. It's win/win.

Fingers crossed that he fits the ball.

I like this  :)

It's quite a common surname yet I can't think of any who have played for Swindon.

... and just like footballers their cost is determined by which position they do best.

(hope the госпожа doesn't find this  :suck: )

Have Man City ever produced any decent players?

Daniel Sturridge
Shaun Wright Phillips
Nedum Onouha
Micah Richards
Stephen Ireland
Michael Johnson


Not that bad spencer

Johnson, Richards and Ireland were all definately poached from different youth teams. Not sure about the others.

Surely on that basis no team in the country genuinly produces any proper players then do they.

I dont know how sternly we are using the term produced but

Wright-Phillips was a youth at Nottm Forest
Micah Richards was bought from Oldham
Ireland came from, well Ireland
Johnson was on the books of Everton

Well if Henshall goes on to be a star, we're likely to say we produced him aren't we?

So on that basis, surely the aforementioned players are not specifically talents "produced" by Man City.

get off my avatar, cunt!

I had it first :hmmm:

Bit like we stole Jutkiewicz, Tozer and Morrison?

 :)

Thought I'd (literally) follow the forum slogan.

no you didnt.

Miss, Miss. He's stolen my pencil.

No one had heard of Ward and look how good he turned out to be. The fact he is so keen to come here is a big plus, he's sure to have ability so as long as his attitude is right i'm sure he will do well for us.

Thinking again about the origin of this story, Fitton only confirmed that Ball is 1 of 3 Man City players that the clubs are talking about.

Either the Adver omitted to add some content to that article, or they're being premature.

Going back further. Their record in producing players is fucking rubbish.

Glynn Pardoe :)

Didn't Richards come through the Oldham academy and City poached him?

Steve Finney?

They nicked him from Preston I think

Oh well,Chris Jones then!