Chez

do teams make bids without chatting to an agent first (to find out if they want to join and how much they'd want paying)? Funny how they make a low bid then five minutes later he gets a new deal. You don't think the agent played a part in initiating that? It matters not. He got paid. Maybe with the money we need for that new keeper. 😏

yep, that's an agent's job.

what odds the agent fed Villa a line that they could get him for about £30m. They make a £25m bid, we tell them where to go, but now he can go back to Saints and ask for a new contract. Saints value him as a £35m+ player, thus they should pay him as one. His wage goes from £65k a week to £100k+ a week. Agent job done.

He had a four year contract on x wages with no release clause. We give him an extra year, on more wages, with a release clause added. Yeah, sure.

Good news for him, but for one year extra we will now be paying him a shit more money. The available budget for other players wages just got smaller. If there was one year left and he signed a five year I'd be celebrating, but i think I will leave that to him and his agent. Congratulations to him, he has earned it.

I saw that story too. Excellent news that we're looking for another left back - essential IMO as we need competition. I hope he also can make the jump to first team immediately like Livramento has done. Get that over the line, a new CB and maybe attacking midfield and the squad will have been `refreshed'.

is 160+ games not seasoned? VVD was also 24 and had only played 130 games when he signed for us. Not sure anyone was using terms like `youth' and `seasoned' then, but I guess playing for Celtic in the Champions League trumps championship experience - and it was obvious he was top draw. Have you in anyone in mind? CB is a really tough position to find talent.

"Err no thanks" was the response from my brother in law when I suggested it, but that was the exact same response before we got £1.2m out of them for McGoldrick (to fund Sir Ricky transfer), so who knows.

...not a big gin fan. Yeah, I think I may have mentioned him last summer too along with Matty Cash. I get dragged to Forest and Brum games, and its pretty easy to spot a Bellingham among the dross. I think Worrall can make the step up to the Prem. He was their best player last season and has been solid for two or three seasons now. I've only been to a few Forest games in recent seasons (brother in law is a supporter), but in those he looked calm and efficient. He's tall and as a result decent in the air. He seemed OK on the ball. I didn't get a read on his pace, but I don't recall him looking slow. Forest played one up front in those games and kept things tight, so CBs were never exposed. Even Matty Cash didn't catch the eye as he didn't get license to push forward. I am not sure I can provide any further useful input as my eye tends to be on ball players. Forrest wanted £15m for him last season when Burnley enquired (as they thought Tarkowski was off). I'd guess they'd still want the same, although they are desperate to sell a player due to FPP preventing them spend before they sell. West Ham will still want Tarkowski, so Burnley may still want Worrall. With scouting abroad challenging, I wouldn't be surprised if he was watched a fair few times by our scouts.

Every dog has his day I suppose. 😏

the amount of running our two CBs do to plus gaps, I'd be thinking of adding a new/extra body in there every week after about 50 minutes.

with fitness or struggling to cope with the winger? If the latter, then that is a worry. We're focused heavily on CB, but that left back position looks mighty thin.

we press and use a lot of energy. We give the ball away, it then takes more energy to recover the ball. We run extra hard to provide cover to limited individuals, using yet more energy. When we run out of energy, we don't provide a threat making it easier for opponents to keep coming back at us. When we run out of energy gaps open. When we run out of energy we don't provide that cover individuals need.

McCarthy starts to come but Salisu moves back towards him and thus he stops thinking that Salisu will continue to retreat and jump for the header. For me its on Salisu.

not a chance in hell. Has there been a keeper more tied to his line than Forster?

I think he just got fed up of losing. He knew nothing would change this summer and Ings would leave. He wanted to play for a side that was going somewhere. Bertrand may have lost half a yard, but he had a yard to spare. I was concerned about him not getting back the right side a few times after going forward, but he got up and down OK. His touch and ability on the ball is top notch. He's a class act. We needed to keep him AND sign another left back. One of the most important positions and we don't even have two options on both side. Have a good season, but hope we tonk you.

agreed. West Ham have been heavily linked. Edit; just seen that he's left sided player, so my previous comment is null and void.

does that mean Tarkowski sale has been agreed?

if the roles were reversed, and this was the stat being bandied about in the media, we all know the outcome. I fancy us to get a shock win.

His loan spell at Sunderland was that unsuccessful that he won their young player of the year. Villas-Boas was equally `unimpressed' and made him first choice left back the following season. He fractured his ankle, but when fit was selected by then manager Sherwood. During the summer he was given a five year contract. Poch obviously wanted to give him plenty of time to `prove himself'. You can rewrite history all you want, but no one is going to tell me Rose was not a good player. He would have had a decent career with or without Pochettino. Poch may well have got the best out of him, he and his system were tremendous for us, but the idea he wasn't any good is not something I agree with.

Danny Rose looked good because he was good...and long before Poch was his manager.

We will be paying something towards the loan...unless Gao is happy for it to mount up for some other mug to clear. If we pay the interest only, say £9m, then that is £9m removed from our budget (that we could spend on wages and/or transfer fees). To say that transfer fees are not used to pay the loan down is rubbish. Transfer fees are just another income stream, along with ST money and TV money. It all goes into one pot. We may not need to sell to pay the loan down, but that's a different thing entirely.

I always think like this. Buy players on the rise, the best of the league below (or abroad)...players teams desperately want to keep but need the cash, rather than players on the way down, ageing, not good enough. However, we've bought a few from big clubs that have done pretty well like Romeu and Bertrand. Buying `young' players from big clubs that have yet to play/not played a lot is different ball game. Hope it works out for us. When it comes to CB, it has become one of the hardest positions to find anyone decent. Pace, ball player and great in the air, is a hell of a skillset to find.

One bad season? IMO he has got better each season, but it's from such a low bar. He was really poor when he first played. he has heart, but he is slow, doesn't dominate and lacks quality on the ball.

good points and a few months later...Djenepo is being talked about as a covering left back.