James

Puel said Bertrand had a minor knock and that he'd hopefully be available for Sunday so I'd hardly call it a mystery....

To be honest I don't feel particularly reassured by a message that we are happy with what is, on paper at least, a weaker first team than last year.

Agreed, I'm quite excited by the change of formation. Leicester played 4-4-2 to devastating effect last year. I think this system could suit Tadic, Long and Austin in time but yesterday indicated there's a way to go until it all clicks. My one concern is whether one can get away with playing a single holding midfielder in this league. Leicester managed it because they had the super human Kante winning the ball back high up the pitch. As good as Hojberg looks and as good as Romeu is I'm not sure either have the engine to pull of a "Kante".

No If West Ham want him they will get him, they will blow us out of the water wage wise.

Saw the friendly, pretty awful. Now watching last year's review that came free with the shirt. Boy oh boy do we need to bolster our attacking options. It's as if the board have forgotten how many goals Mane and Pelle provided us with last year... Long is great and Austin's got a decent record but JRod looks a shadow of his former self thus far so we're relying on those two really. If anyone thinks Redmond will replace Mane they are deluded. Teams backed off us so much last year because they were petrified of Mane's pace, we need a pacy attacker to do the same for us next year and we just don't have that at the moment. Also, slightly concerned about how exposed the defence will be without some muscle in midfield...those early games against Newcastle, Everton etc. were just horrendous as our midfield was too lightweight.

It's tomorrow...

ITK?

Great thread...

Not what the Telegraph and Jeremy Wilson say though and they've got everything spot on so far this summer.

Will believe it when I see it. We didn't exactly set the youth leagues on fire last year and our last manager had zero faith in any of them bar those who were already in the first team. Either way, it's a pretty big risk for a top six club and not a risk that any other top half club would be willing to take. Hope it's not a case of us believeing our own hype.

But the Telegraph (which correctly predicted Puel and clearly has the clubs ear) say we aren't going to. Also, all the noises out of the club say we are focusing on youth. Very worrying with our extra commitments. All sounds a bit Jan Poortveilt at the moment if I'm honest. Hope I'm wrong.

Bonkers. We've got more games this year. Do the board not realise? Very very disappointed and a huge gamble. Relegation struggle on the way I fear.

To my mind it's not Austin that's the risk (as I agree with the above), it's any kind of reliance on J Rod which is the big worry. For me, he can't be relied upon (which is a horrible thing to admit).

All the noises point to us not spending big this summer even though we've received a club record fee for Mane along with the money for Vic and Pelle (assuming he goes). With a more competitive Premier League and extra games in the Europa league we needed to increase numbers yet the noises from within seem to suggest we aren't going to do that. Absolute madness in my mind, could all go wrong this year I think.

This is as bad a footballing performance as I can remember from England and that is saying something.

Saints would beat both of these teams with ease.

Can't see us scoring here.

Sterling was actually doing ok yet he gets sacrificed. Roy has lost the plot here.

Wilshere has been absolutely atrocious. What a pointless substitution.

Good deal in my book. Crazy money for a player who went missing mid-season. On his day he's unplayable but he's still very raw. I'm not sure we'd ever get more for him than almost 35 million up front. Only slight disappointment is that we haven't even announced a new manager and we've already sold two players!

Don't think anyone cares what other fans think but the perception of the club to the rest of the footballing world is a relevant concern. We've seen plenty of players move or sign for clubs because of the manager and all I think is being highlighted is that Puel is a relative unknown to anyone who hasn't played in or followed the French league. It maybe that this inhibits our clout in the transfer market but then again it may not, just an observation. That said, a lot of Leicester's best players are unknown cheap options from the French league. I expect we will pursue a couple of those this summer so just have to hope they are of sufficient quality to replace the likes of Wanyama, Mane and Bertrand.

No problem, not suggesting he's a Gray or a Wigley or indeed that he will be a terrible appointment. I just don't think he was the best we could have appointed and he smacks of a Black Box gamble. I am merely saying that, given where we found ourselves at the end of last season, we could have taken the opportunity to appoint an experienced, blue chip manager who would likely have raised our profile in the transfer market and convinced our big players to stay. I hope I'm wrong but I'm not sure Puel is who we need at the present moment. Anyway, what is done is done so best to see what happens and I wish Claude the very best of luck.

On what basis are you suggesting that I'm not knowledgeable? I've read all there is to read about Puel and I'm still not convinced. He appears to have done a good job with Nice but I've also read a number of things which suggest that it was the form of Ben Afra that made sure they had a wonderful season. I've also read that he was sacked by Lyon for barely mounting a title challenge in a poor league with by far the most expensively assembled squad (PSG were nowhere at this point). I've read the facts and I've got a concern, don't just make blind insults because someone doesn't agree with you.

Tell me this, if Puel did so well with Monaco and Lyon then how come he was sacked? Many managers from the French league with ostensibly better records have tried and failed in the Premier League. That's the concern I'm trying to present. It's basically pointless posting on this forum because, unless you say what a genius Les Reed is, you are just mocked for not having 100% faith in anything the club does.

Alain Perrin also won a league and cup double with Lyon back in the early 2000s.....