Chez

He was absolutely rock sold for Palace last season. No one caused him a problem. Everyone keeps saying teams need defenders that can defend and he can certainly do that. The question is, can he offer a threat going forward? Maybe he will be a Gary Neville and just keep it relatively simple and that will be enough. To me this feels like a very good signing.

good question, but of course a player that is, say, 10% better in terms of ability, doesn't, in reality, cost you 10% more, he tends to cost you twice as much. Those fractional gains/advantages are what makes all the difference in the end and you have to pay a premium for `proven'. Even if we could afford the £35m fee, Wilson isn't going to come to us. He will be looking for a top six club I suspect

I read that it was £3.4m rising to £5m depending on I don't know what. Serious wedge for a League 1 side already flush with Mr Disneys `new toilet' money

he doesn't pass? I don't recall that being an issue, more that when he did pass it wasn't a good one or was the wrong one. For the record, I enjoyed watching him and wanted to see much more after every cameo, but when he started games he didn't overly impress and he tired quickly in the second half like Lallana. I did feel that after an average game he was immediately dropped unlike many other players. I thought the manager needed to show a little more faith and give him several games in a row. The bust up with Hughes will be known by the new management and that will effect his chances.

interesting. Keeping a close eye on here 20% investment.

looks like the one in the club shop window.

big hole to fill. Their stand out player whenever I have seen them.

shocking?

be sure that although Clasie wants to leave and will be willing to reduce his wage, he won't want to take a huge haircut. A free transfer probably wont be sufficient. With the Prem paying such high wages, this scenario will be repeated on a regular basis requiring the Prem side to supplement wages when they go elsewhere (on loan or permanently).Cubs will need to factor this into their finances because inevitably signings will turn out to be ****.

he was completely taken to pieces at SMS by Zaha a couple of years ago in the league cup. He has improved since then, mostly in terms of positioning, he's a little stronger and more confident with the ball...but he hasn't got any quicker and Zaha and others will continue to take advantage of that. Even if he isn't being skinned alive, without top class players we will just ship more goals and lose more games. Little things all start to add up like not pushing the opponent backwards because you dont get right up and down the line. Like not being able to cover round to spare the blushes of a slow CB simply because you don't have the pace to do so. Like not getting tighter to opponents because you are terrified of all that space behind. That means less time for opponents on the ball which can make the difference between a defence cutting pass and them simply keeping possession with something simple. So I'm not talking about glaring errors (being let down), it's a failure to excel and dominate opponents. At some point we must stop eroding the quality of player we have at our disposal. Yes we need to keep adjusting the squad and keeping it young and fast, but is swapping Bertrand for Targett really doing that? Perhaps it makes good business sense, but that doesn't mean we should do it. In the end financial performance is determined by results on the pitch and on this occasion keeping a player for two more years and losing the resale value might make business sense if its the difference between staying up or not.

They are spending the forthcoming Clarke transfer money on laying a `Premiership standard' pitch to play their League 1 games. With Man U and Liverpool entering teams into the Checkatrade Trophy next season they will want to impress.

Monk didn't want Jota sold, but that happened anyway. I doubt him leaving would put a spanner in the works.

Pace at fullback is essential, without it they drop deep, don't get tight and fail to provide meaningful cover to centre halves. Top class fullbacks without pace simply don't exist.

it was a poor signing. Although not helped by the injuries he got right at the start of his Saints career, when he did play he never impressed at all, struggling to make any impact on games and seriously lacking the physical attributes needed to dominate a midfield. I wonder what alternative options we missed out on that summer? Because if you sign a duffer you also fill a shirt and a wage which prevents you signing someone else.

wants first team football? Is Gunn actually better than him?

exactly what a manager should be doing. If the buck stops with the manager then he should be intrinsically involved in the players brought in. I don't have a clue about day to day duties of a manager in current football, but I just don't understand how a manager could allow someone else to sign a player for me without scouting him (watching him live) myself.

good to hear, that's the kind of motivation needed to get him off our wage bill.

not saying we don't need all of those, but if Boufal is not going to be brought back into the fold then we still need another creative dribbler, with flair and pace. Someone that can beat a man and create something out of nothing. That final third of the pitch needs more pace, power and 'scariness'. That said, if we buy a player in any position I'd be happy as we need upgrades throughout the squad. If it was possible to ship players out relatively easy (like on a computer game) then I'd swap about 10-15

Why wereLiverpool in for him in January - was Mignolet injured? Was our inability to select Forster the reason we didn't let him go?

he is slow as ****. say what you want about any other facet of his game, he has a great first touch for starters, but when it comes to running, quickly, this lad does not do that. Cashing in on Pelle hasn't exactly worked out well for us though has it? With him, we caused teams problems and were top half. Without him we have been relatively toothless and relegation candidates...oh and we have spent god knows how much on Austin, Ings and Carillo since we 'cashed in'. Bertrand has not been in decline. He's as good now as he was two seasons ago despite what teh body language readers on here might have you believe. We have him contracted for two more seasons and we should be thankful for that. He is a top six club player in a bottom six side.

he's a midfielder not a centre back, but championship does seem a more likely destination.

stay classy Pondlife

Batman said at the time that this wont age well.

That's the Southsea Naval Memorial commemorating sailors lost in the world wars.