Chez

Not sure. Wood hasn't impressed. I'm not a big fan of THB. Edwards being played at right back seems strange, but perhaps it's to get his fitness up. I don't understand why Bednarek move hasn't happened by now.

Just watched first half. He looked good. Much more comfortable on the ball than when I watched him for Koln.

Worth noting that all their signing that summer we're done by end of July.

Good to hear. We need about three quarters of our signings to hit, and that's never easy to do.

I didn't see yesterday's game, but in the previous game Quarshie looked ropey. He seems to have the physical attributes, which we have needed for some time, but there's more to playing there than being tall. If Bednarek is leaving, Quarshie is going to have to shine.

Once Spurs failed to get him, there was no suitor, so he took the massive pay rise.

he played 39 games but only started 13. He was a very good impact sub. The late goal at Millwall sticks in my mind. He's only 31, so no reason why he can't be just as sharp, but having not played last season, his motivation will have taken a hit. Still could turn that around...that's his job after all.

no matter the quality of players in the squad, they need to become a functional hard working unit again that is tight at the back, dominant in midfield and creates and takes chances. Like or loathe Martin, he handled considerable unrest and turnover of player and then turned a bunch of losers into a side that won a lot of games. The side had a pattern of play that by and large worked. Hopefully Still can do that, he's got his work cut out if you ask me, but let's see.

I can not imagine Moyes signing him full stop never mind persuading his board to spend what they will need to get him.

HSV officials have now had to cross a name that had recently been hotly tipped off their list. They would have liked to lure Armel Bella-Kotchap from Southampton FC to the Volksparkstadion. However, after a direct exchange with the English club, it's clear: The relegated Premier League team will not loan out its defender as HSV had intended. Instead, Southampton is considering a sale, and according to information obtained by MOPO, HSV has been given a price tag of ten million euros. Clearly too much for Hamburg, who would have only been able to meet Bella-Kotchap's lavish salary expectations if it had been a loan.

...and this particular story comes from here: https://www.mopo.de/sport/hsv/nach-gespraechsgipfel-zu-teuer-hsv-muss-wunsch-verteidiger-von-der-liste-streichen/

To clarify, according to Hamburger Mogenpost website, HSV are not looking to buy ABK for any fee, they only want to loan him...and they can only afford him (his wages) if there is no fee.

Interesting test of the theory that "SR are good sellers" proported by several posters on here.

The Skates beat a lot of teams at home last season, so on paper they might not look impressive, but collectively they performed well. We might have better known players, especially as they pretty much all have 'graced' the PL, but not sure we have matched the sum of the parts for a long time.

Yep. We have Edozie and I don't see Rak-Sakyi as a step up from him. Both are championship level players at best.

I think he's one of those players that would be on most championship teams' radar (and thus a club like Rangers too) as he was decent at Charlton and cant get a game for Palace. Everyone knows everyone these days.

I'm not surprised Aribo is still here. Why would he depart this summer when he has one year left of his contract? He's not getting more money elsewhere and he will maximise his wage if he is available on a free. I guess the same applies to Fraser.

Every man and his dog has looked at him and decided he's not a PL quality player. Palace certainly don't think so, none of the promoted clubs think so, and Sheffield United dropped him at the back end of the season haven't signed him this time around. In flashes, he looks exciting, I certainly thought so, but perhaps there just isn't enough being shown from him in games? I'd be very surprised if Rangers agreed to an obligatory £10m fee. That seems very high for them.

...or in other words, the club has received bids for the players, which have been turned down and now the players have developed imaginary knocks to ensure they don't get injured during the negotiations and also to put pressure on SFC to accept those bids. That's how I read that situation. The word 'knock' is just used to stop journalists asking too many questions that end up with publishing terms like "refused to travel" or "gone on strike".

So we have had enquiries and possibly bids as well, which we have turned down, and now we are just waiting to see if those clubs return with a more suitable offer. IN the mean time we have someone lined up that is happy to come to us, but we can't bid of them until Fernandes departs.

I thought Gassama was someone we should have bene after. He looked Sheff Wed's best player in the games I watched. I asked this earlier, on this thread I think, is Rangers a bigger draw than us right now? Can they match our wages? I wondered if we were both in for him and he chose them.

You clearly have full confidence in our strikers, which is great, but do you not have any doubts at all?

We badly need some creativity and goals from that position...and others.

Cheers. Quarshie looks a little clueless positionally in those clips.

Good to hear...but it sounds like our midfield did not control this particular game (it seems an age since we last did), which is a concern. He's only one part of the midfield, but I'd like to hear someone say "Charles ran the game" at some point in the near future.