Chez

wonder if we were really interested? We'll probably never know.

you won't find me suggesting him as a possible signing. The gap in wages between prem and NPC has never been higher so the only contracted Prem players you are going to get are nippers. Personally I'm more than happy with the three leftbacks we have.

You are right, but Matt Mills wasn't released, he was snapped up by Man City (for a £250,000 compensation fee) when his contract ended (recommended to them by Steve Wiggly who was by that time coaching up there).

you do realise he's having to defend against some of the best players around, not just bog standard Championship right midfielders?

I can't argue with you about the injury record, but Holmes couldn't lace Cook's boots. The guy was different class for QPR which is why he got his Premiership move to Fulham. IMO opinion Holmes isn't even good enough for the Championship never mind the Prem. Get him down to SMS and get him fully tested and into preseason. What have you got to lose?

forgot about that, I can't wait for next season already.

Agreed. The question is does Adkins have the eye to find the right three or four for the other positions. The jury is out on that one. Gonna be a great summer seeing who he goes for.

Ruddy has a Premiership appearance for Everton Barnet has about 15 for WBA Pacheco has 5 for Liverpool Lansbury has 1 for Arsenal Surman 7 for Wolves Not exactly Premiership mainstays, but all did come from the Premiership clubs. It matters not, all that matters is they improved the quality of the squad AND the first team. Mind you it was possibly easier to do so. I mean how the hell do you improve on Chamberlain and Lallana?

he's 28 and yes he has had two bad injuries so would be a gamble (lets get him down here and see how his fitness stands), but your comment about him now having no pace is complete and utter guesswork unless you saw his 9 minutes at Blackburn in January. Well, did you see those 9 minutes? Nah, thought not.

rumour is that Lee Cook is to be released by QPR. Lets get him down here and check his fitness out.

we don't need a massive overhaul. 4 players in, with a couple out on loan assuming Nigel doesn't want to offload anyone who is under contract.

maybe.

Ok for arguement's sake we sign Dawson. Why would we offer Martin a new one year deal? We'd have 5 centre backs when we only need 4. If we signed Dawson he'd be first/second choice with Fonte and then Jaidi would slip into the 2nd/3rd choice and Seaborne 4th. Would it not make sense to allow Martin to just leave? By resigning the fringe/squad players like Gobern it doesn't leave huge gaps to fill. That is what I was trying to say. As I said you are right, we'll sign some new players, top notch hopefully, just not quite as many as I thought we might.

You are probably right. I do have a valid point somewhere in there but 2 hours sleep prevents me finding the words to explain myself.

calm your skin down. I'm not Alpine crying about the lack of signings or doubting the board etc. I'm a total realist when it comes to signings and have been a poster that has constantly defended the manager when early signings have not been made as I know how tough it can be to bring players in.

You are right we will bring players in, I should have rephrased that to say bring quite a few in. I just felt thought that because we were offering new deals to squad players like Gobern, Connelly and Martin it suggested we were happy with the first 11. If we were going to bring in 5 or 6 you'd let the out of contract squad players go.

agreed. I know a lot of teams coming up have done well in the NPC, but they have all upgraded their first team. We don't look like we are going to. We'll either keep the momentum going or get found out in a few places. The better quality strikers will punish our mistakes much more. Players we thought were top notch will start to show a few weaknesses (pace in Barnard, Butterfield, Jaidi and Hammond's case, arial ability in Butterfield, Seaborne and maybe Lambert's case). The higher you go the better quality you need. If you didn't fancy Gobern, Seaborne or Forte in league 1, then will they be stars in the NPC?

a faster version of Doble?

I don't want to start another Chamberlain debate on this thread, but I can see him leaving so that will require a replacement. I'd like to see Lee Cook brought in to challenge Lallana. I don't rate Holmes at all. I'd like Martin out on loan and Dawson bought from WBA. He's never going to get a chance there. I'd take Scumball for a season. If Chamberlain leaves then I'd throw money at Huddersfield for Pilkington. Losing Alex will hurt us big style as we will need real quality to win at this higher level. Right midfield cover is an issue also. I am far from convinced Guly is happy to play out there. But we need to be careful about a too big squad. I worry that Barnard does not have the quality for the second tier. CMS won't come here and I wonder how much we are will to pay for a Lita or a Nugent? Doble out on loan for the season creates a space. And that just leaves CM. Gobern out on loan and a top notch replacement (forward running) midfield comes in to challenge Chaplow

to add to the squad or to replace a couple going out?

He, like Martin needs a full season of games.

Holmes comes back to replace N'Guessen and Gobern/Morgan back to replace Stephens. 3 GK (Davis, Bart, Forecast) 3 RB (Butterfield, Richardson, Stephens) 4 CB (Fonte, Jaidi, Martin, Seaborne) 4 LB (Harding, Dickson, Mills, Reeves) 2 LM (Lallana, Holmes) 2 RM (Guly, Chamberlain) 4 CB (Hammond, Morgan, Chaplow, Gobern) 5 CF (Lambert, Barnard, Connelly, Forte, Noble) The squad looks about the right size to me with Mills possibly leaving. Lallana, Guly, Forte and Dickson offer some extra cover. If we are going to bring a CM in, then Gobern will leave won't he? Up front relies on Connelly being fit otherwise we might be stretched. The same applies at left midfield with Holmes, although Dickson does OK there. Noble to get a full season out on loan?

Is Guly going to be regarded as our cover right midfield? I know he scored some vital goals from that position, but boy did he look uncomfortable out there at times and defensively he was woeful IMO.

if his brief showing in the first team were anything to go by he looked like David McGoaldraught, only less busy if that is at all possible.

he needs a full season in league 1 otherwise he's just not going to get enough games to improve