Chez

dont believe that for a minute. Dyce is no fool.

wonder of they will rotate players like we did whilst in Europa.

Dyche just confirmed in his press conference that Pope has had an operation and they are looking to bring in a keeper and will try to get dispensation from UEFA to allow him to play in Europe. Heaton not fit for game against Aberdeen. Wonder how quickly a deal might/could be done? I know everyone says the real money in the champions league, but English teams earn a tidy sum from the Europa league, so they won't want to miss out and thus will be very keen to get a keeper in.

pretty high wages for a championship club, even if we paid half.

nice post. I feel very apprehensive about the side and our prospects, but you make an excellent case for us having an improved season.

We played Shaw right from the off. Why? Because he was bloody good enough. There may well have been a change of manager or two since then, but IMO Sims and Gallagher simply have not been to the standard required to justify more games. From what I have seen of Sims, a nice run and pass at Anfield apart, he isn't some sort of Ryan Giggs in waiting. Gallagher also lacked the composure in front of goal when he was thrown in at the deep end. I admit there isn't a huge amount of games to judge them on, but the coaches know what they have. If Sims is beating Bertrand then you have a player. If he is in his pocket its hardly surprising the manager is reluctant to give them starts. Both may still come good, I've seen Gallagher improve steadily once The Clott was given the shove at Brum, but he needed another season in the Championship. Personally I have no problem whatsoever them being sent out on loan to learn the trade and get game time. Far better idea than reducing the quality of our first team. we have made some woeful signings. You don't stop trying to improve the first team because of those errors.

Cedric is not the man I'd want defending a back post header either, and our midfield is too slow and lightweight. We don't keep the ball or offer enough threat to put teams on the back foot. In short, the whole team creates defensive issues that a keeper can't always cover.

if we lost the first 6 games, conceding a few and not scoring many, our board would sit on its hands I suspect

I can't get Sunderland out of my had. Almost get relegated. Stuck with a load of players draining them of cash preventing them making serious signings that can turn the team around, get relegated, Are our signings going to make a significant positive impact to our side? If not then I predict 17th, at best.

sort of good news - shame he hasn't been sold - I've never rated him and never thought he was good enough with or without the ball. He's simply not big enough, strong enough, fast enough or fit enough. Without those facets you have to be some ball player. He aint. A very poor signing. Bet we could have signed Dembele that summer too.

amen. The use of the term black box has made me cringe almost as much as the #WeMarchOn and the bra kit.

21 years old with a better than one in two goal scoring record. Nice. I have no idea how good this guy is, but at least he has some kind of track record for putting the ball in the onion bag. That is exactly the sort of stats I'd expect to see when we break our transfer record for a striker, not some 26 year old fella that has scored a goal every 4.5 games.

he looked as dodgy as ever. I shudder at the thought of a him and Vestergaard pairing. Carthorse slow...

having a five man defence makes it ****ing easy if you ask me, but quite simply neither our back four or nor our holding midflelders were good enough to go toe to toe with opponents. Not sure its much better now either.

dare I say it, that was what Sunderland fans were saying the summer before their relegating season. Ducked a bullet then failed to reload correctly. Have we really found any ammunition this summer?

do you see a dominating centre back in there somewhere? Would be nice if there was otherwise we will have the same old problems and need to hide him and others in a very restricting five man defence.

Higgins found guilty on one count of indecently assaulting a young trainee, not guilty of another and no verdicts on 48 other counts https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-44688435

Quite a lot of fans on here have been reluctant to accept that we pay massive massive wages. If the players are worth it you can live with it, but they aren't. That new contract for Forster was one the most stupid decision in living history though. He had had a pretty poor season yet we chose to extend his deal. Utter madness and one that takes a long time and money to recover from.

its not easy finding buyers for unwanted gifts if those items are shoddy. Trialling before buying makes a lot of sense and might be something we ought to consider assuming we have learnt from the Toby situation.

Agreed. He wont go this season. I think other teams will be a bit like our fan base - see the talent, but also aware that he has good and bad games. I think they'd need to see more consistency before they put in a large bid. And they'd need to, because I suspect our management can see that he is a real talent and with a decent season will be worth £50-60m. Also, it feels too late in the day, unless of course there have been extensive VVD type discussions and video presentations going on all summer.

Was very disappointed we did not sign him back in the day. That amazing second half display away at Orient showed what a threat he was. Power, pace and headed goals. What's not to like, apart from lots of little injuries?

the squad maybe bloated, and that needs sorting, but having one right back of reasonable quality is not sufficient. We were at our best when we had Clyne and Chambers at the club. We must strive for those heights again, not settle for mediocre. As I have said, if Valery can genuinely challenge Cedric for his place then we don't need to enter the market, but if not then we must consider it. As for a club of our size, I thought we had the 20th biggest turnover of any club worldwide? is that not sufficient to justify having two right backs? Not sure why you re so concerned with the happiness of Cedric. If he is unhappy at being a reserve he can fight for his place or **** off. He's here to serve the club. The club is not here to pay him fortune and keep him sweet.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/pompey/portsmouth-born-mason-mount-signs-for-derby-county-1-8570516 Brilliant. From Pompey, gave them a look, went elsewhere, yet the Skate news still think it worthy of a story

looks a lot thinner. Maybe he has knuckled down over the last month.

Why can't we sign someone better than Cedric? He's decent, but he has several weaknesses not least strength and ability in the air - both still important. if we manage to sign someone better than Cedric (that is a big if) and he becomes a reserve so be it. Middling teams signing squad players is folly. Every signing should be equal or better than we have or at least has the potential to become better.