Chez

working fine on iplayer

on bbc sport, the goal came up before it as shown in the video. Strange. Nice finish though.

Forster's not going to fuck you DT.

caused by a poor clearance by Forster. No doubt someone will claim that was a tactic.😉

Stephens is out of contract in the summer. Agreed, but we could sign a keeper now, to avoid losing him to rivals, and loan him back until the end of the season.

have we been able to compete with Chelsea, who seem to have hoovered up all the top talent across the Southern region in recent years? Or have we found a way to reverse that trend?

We will probably still need to sell though. Reading between the lines, the only difference now will be the order things happen. Cash will be available to buy first, but that outgoings (perhaps using a short term loan from the owners) will likely need to be recouped by sales thereafter.

dunno, but he's been training with us in a nice pair of black boots like JWP wears. Seems shorter these days though.

spot on. Players will be sold if they don't extend contracts. I dare say they will be sold if the player pushes for a move to a mega club. They will also be sold if the price is massive. Every club is a selling club unless you are at the top of the football pyramid.

Hmm. They found time for Tella. Stephens is another that didnt get a press release. I guess we will find out in the summer.

sure, but obviously now Forster has the gloves in a Prem side, boosting his profile and chance of a new Prem deal, he ain't going to swap that for 6 months at WBA. McCarty being injured means we can't loan him either. I think with Willy signed up, there wont be a keeper signed for this season. But I think Johnstone may be signed now for next season. We shall see.

decent enough idea, but swap deals are notoriously hard. I am also guessing that Forster will be moving to another Prem side, maybe even as back up, perhaps one of those mega deals Chelsea give for a third choice keeper? So he won't want to drop down a division, which might make people think thats his level.

no, not this season. So, let me adjust my remark to `he was shit for a few seasons prior to this one'.

went to Spurs in 90. Tremendous experience. First away game for me. Didn't frequent any drinking holes in Covent garden though. went to Coventry the year after too. A Shearer penalty took it to a replay, which I think we won. Another great experience, although a geezer creating space in a busy away end by having a piss wasn't key to that. It did stick in my mind though for some reason.

feels like the transfer policy will be pretty much the same as it was under the previous owner, just with smoother cash flow. No huge one signings that require some soft of `name' manager. A manager able to get the best out of young and hopefully improving players will be the order of the day, but as with any owner of a £100m+ business, they will want to protect that investment - which requires premiership survival and that requires results. Has there been any talk of targets since the new owners were announced?

bloody weird for a paper to announce a contract signing that hasn't happened too. Was it meant to be secret so as to not affect Forster's state of mind? I really don't understand it either.

you've opened the tap to a host of puns now Uncle Albert.

Have to say, Turkish makes a pretty good argument. Indeed 8th flattered us, but the side Puel had available to him was woeful compared to the previous teams. The keep ball tactic was boring to watch, but it prevented our CBs from being exposed to regular attacks. Perhaps without that tactic results would have been worse. Who knows. Also interesting to know what he did at Leicester. I too thought he was a total failure, but those stats Turkish posted suggests it wasn't as simple as that, he also didn't have the team of earlier years and again was judged against those good sides and not on what he got out of the side he had at the time.

We did murder Inter at the San Siro. I'd argue if Hojberg hadn't kept passing to them all game long (as he did so often back then) we'd have won at a canter. How VVD didn't score I will never know.

strange how little game time he got until recently, especially considering our lack of pace up front. [I don't care what the Sun radar gun says, Armstrong ain't fast MLG. 😉]

decent points. I don't seem to recall Johnstone being anything special. Busy, but no better than what we have. What is the average WBA fan's take on him? De Gea has been pretty shit mind you for about three seasons.

decent photoshop work.

pick your best performing player while you have them, be that loanee or even guy that will be leaving in the summer. Having said that, if you are safe at the end of the season, giving a youngster game time works (all be it the £2m per place might be worth fighting for) especially if the senior player is fucking off, like Bertrand was. If, though, Forster has said no to a contract, and McCarthy hasn't decided, maybe you pick McCarthy to encourage him to sign. However, like you and others have said, is McCarthy really going to get a better deal? Also, if McCarthy can't even take the shirt from Forster, then he cant be very good, so why offer him a contact. I'm not a big fan of either. I also don't think they are as woeful as other suggest. As aways, the question is, can we sign better? Is Johnstone actually better than both of these guys?

Possibly... Saints will sign Johnstone in this window, but allow him to stay at WBA until the summer to help them get promoted. In the interim. McCarthy ain't coming back from injury soon, so Willy is needed to provide cover for Forster. In the summer, Forster departs, as previously has been indicated, and McCarthy stays - the Athletic perhaps are correct that he has already signed a contract - and he and Johnstone fight it out for the number 1 shirt. Willy departs/retires.

yep, if you lose a senior player, perhaps a little earlier than you had planned, simply promoting the junior guy (Diallo in this case) might not always work if they are not ready - and in that situation, you may need to spend on a senior guy. Keepers maybe need to be treated slightly differently.