Chez

in your opinion. Other people including myself rate him. Still if you are happy with Holmes that's up to you.

we signed Forecast. How many more do we need? Actually scrub my comment about needin a right back as Cork can fill that role apparently. A striker would be good.

Yes my mistake, it was the season before he scored against us. A game where he was berated constantly I might add.

could we afford his wages?

If he rated him he'd have offered him a years contract. he didn't. I am very happy that he is not a target of ours. We need a full back that offers pace, doesn't ballwatch, is willing to put his head in and when he finds himself in the attackign third doesn't **** himself and cross into row z. These facets will do fine for now, but if he has a touch of class about him, is an athlete and can score the odd goal now and then we'll be laughing. We are in the second tier of English football. The `4th biggest league in the world'. You'd think even with our financial problems we'd be able to do better than playing two central midfielders there FFS. If we sign Pulis I will be fuming. We have Wotton, Schneiderlin, Gillett, Surman, James, Lallana already. What we need is a left back and a right back.

that was the plan, but sadly no one thinks Skacel is worth what we pay him (and they'd be spot there) so what choice does the club now have other than to listen to offers for the likes of Davis and Surman? The decision to place players like Skacel out in the cold (on the off chance we might find a club stupid enough to take them off our hands) was a very dubious one IMO and I don't think it takes too many guesses to know who came up with that plan.

Thanks but I understand clearly the financial situation we are in and I know that even if only a half decent offer comes in we will be forced to sell. However that same financial situation didn't stop us signing Cork did it? With money at a premium why sign Holmes when Surman can play there? We could have spent Holmes wages on a left back instead. We also should not have signed Holmes till we got Skacel off our books. The same applies to the Forcast signing with Davis still here. Its good to get free signings but not particulary prudent spending if you ask me. How has that helped the wage bill be reduced? Surman can play in he middle or on the left. He had some bad games last year. Suncthorpe away was a shocker, but his dip in form was just that, a dip. The guy is a decent footballer and completely wasted at left back.

but he did score in that game as well though. Fans can sing about him all they want, but I think they should recognise that he took the micky taking in good spirits acknowledging the songs with a smile on his face.

no reason why he can't stay for another season and then move on. Players like Lescott and Jagielka certainly didn't do their `short careers' any harm by biding their time, improving their game and getting the right move into the prem. Contrast their fortunes with that of Martin Cranie

could not agree more.

Surman is a quality player IMO and I bet every Premiership club has had a good long look at him. His poor form last season is all that is keeping him here. I suspect a serious offer will come in that is too good to refuse, just as it did for Jones, and we will be a worse side for it.

Surely they only brought Forecast in because they knew Davis was going at some point?

Reading need someone to buy Harper for £4-5m. Once that happens then they will obviously come in again. If he does go there he clearly is happy to play left back. If that is the case he might as well stay here. Mind you its esier to impress scouts if you are playing in a winning side.

thats supports my point. McArthy only rates him worthy of a month to month. Hardly a glowing endorsement is it?

if he couldn't get a deal at Wolves with his mate Mick at the helm then you have to doubt his credentials. The guy looked past it in his last few seasons at Leeds and that was how long ago? I'm all for signing a proper leftback to allow Surman to play instead of Holmes, but just not him.

not strictly the same, but Jan's comments on the OS in the potential Davies transfer article "...and we've made no secret of the financial pressures that have been placed on us by the bank" Baically they have made certain demands and in order to acheive these we must sell players right left and centre and that subsequently effects team selection - ie Skacel is not selected as they want to sell him.

For a second I dreamt of Diomansy Kamera from Fulham or Ricardo Vaz Te from Bolton and then I came to my senses.

Stoke fans don't rate him. Simple.

They have sold Kitson and Shorey and Harper will go as well. Money will be available for Surman if Coppell decides he is the left back they need.

someone needs to hold their hands up and apologise for taking us well beyond our means. The £7m gamble did not pay off, then some joker thought it was a good idea to gamble again, this time with money on the never never...

By not offloading them properly we end up paying their wages during the summer when they nothing to earn it.

I know Perry ****ed up on Saturday for their first goal, but Thomas makes a lot of mistakes IMO. His positional play is also poor. The more I see of him the worse he gets.

Quite clearly Jan doesn't think much of Thomas or Lancashire. Absolutely delighted he has recognised that we need a new striker. Despite having numbers last season I continually pointed out that none of the pairings when combined added up to a Kenwyne Jones.

People Eulogise about him because they could see the difference in quality between him and the jokers that have filled that burth before him such as Powell. Mobility and strength in the air is hard to find.

why? If the league 1 squad is on peanuts and the lower income could cover the lower wages and the same cost of our debt, then why would we go into administration?