Midfield_General

My word, they really haven't taken to dear Dejan have they : All fur coat and no knickers at the moment. He really needs to start sticking to the basics and cut out the simple errors that are costing us. Not writing him off or anything, hopefully he'll improve like, but he's a walking f*kcing mistake at the moment. It's like watching Skrtel with hair. Rash, lacking in concentration and error ridden - its like watching a front footed Skrtel! Maybe its nerves but he needs to get back to basics and improve fast Lovren is becoming a concern. We were warned that he wasnt upto much but I thought he was better then this. His positioning is appalling. http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=315355.1440

Lovren getting skinned every time and Lallana scuffs and misses from six yards, excellent.

Corky's middle name is Porteous. We should play him as part of a midfield three alongside Athos and Aramis. Would give us a cutting edge.

Right, didn't know that. OK so it's: GK: Forster, Boruc, Davis, Gazzaniga DEF: Clyne, Alderweireld, Gardos, Fonte, Yoshida, Bertrand MID: Tadic, Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Cork, Davis, Mane ATT: Rodriguez, Pelle, Long, Mayuka That makes 20. So we've got 5 more places. Have we actually got 5 more senior pros who aren't out on loan? Then the U-21s who don't count but we can still pick are: Cropper, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Isgrove, Gallagher

So far I've got: GK: Forster, Boruc, Davis, Cropper DEF: Clyne, Alderweireld, Gardos, Fonte, Yoshida, Bertrand, Targett MID: Tadic, Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Ward-Prowse, Cork, Davis, Mane, Isgrove ATT: Rodriguez, Pelle, Long, Gallagher That's only 23. Who are the other two going to be?

Chicharito, who wasn't good enough for us, signs for Real Madrid

An interesting role, also known as 'cosseted footballers' b!tch'. Simon Jordan tells some great stories about some of the stuff PLOs get asked to do, not least by our very own dear Fabrice: "Last April a Fulham player liaison officer told the papers about some of his tasks. He said he'd been called out to Alain Goma's house because 'Goma's goldfish was swimming in the wrong direction'. He'd been called to rescue a player lost on the London Underground ('he was helpless'). He'd been called out by Fabrice Fernandes who kept waking up in the morning with a wet head, and discovered the player had been 'sleeping by an open window'."

Just reading his Wiki page and discovered that rather brilliantly, Gaston's home town is Fray Bentos. If he stays, his new song should be 'who ate all the pies'. That'd confuse him.

If that's true, at 23 years old, that's extraordinary.

Samaras signs for West Brom on a free. Phew.

I really, really hope you are Daniel Agger.

In the comments underneath that article is an equally interesting preview by a supporter who goes by the username Consortium11. Interesting not least because it must be 10,000 words long. It's literally the longest web comment contribution I've ever seen. Whoever it is has dedicated a LOT of time to it. Does Consortium11 post on here?

And the flight, tbf

We're reported to be offering a big hike in wages. That normally does it.

Celtic have already got Craig Gordon but would need a replacement no. 2 if Forster went. We should offer them £6m + Gazza. They get their backup, we'd have Boruc/ Forster to fight it out for no. 1 and 2, with KD as emergency no. 3 in the unlikely event the other two are unavailable. Win win.

Ezequiel Matías Schelotto (Italian pronunciation: [skeˈlɔtto]; born 23 May 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Parma. He is nicknamed El Galgo ("The Greyhound" in Spanish) because of his running skills or, less frequently, El Mosquetero ("The Musketeer") because of his peculiar look.

So what we have heard so far this afternoon is that J Rod and Spider are staying, and that we are working on 3 signings before the weekend, which are a GK, defender and forward who will be 'young, english talent'. So let's speculate and say it's Forster, van Dijk and Ings coming in. That would mean, if Krueger is true to his word, a side/ squad more like: ------------------Pelle-------------------- ---J Rod------Ramirez------Tadic---- ------------Spider----Big Vic--------------- Targett—Fonte—Van Dijk----Clyne -----------------Forster------------- Subs: Boruc, Yoshida, Davis, JWP, Cork, Gallagher, Ings Squad: Gazza, Hooiveld, Sharp, Mayuka, Isgrove, McQueen, Reed + youth players Still need a proper LB, and another forward of PL quality. And bearing in mind J Rod won't be fit until October, probably a wide player too. And the wider squad is very weak once we start getting injuries. But it would look better…

It's Koeman's home It's Koeman's home St Mary's It is Koeman's home

Mirror: "Southampton line up French youngster Timothée Kolodziejczak to replace Luke Shaw" http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-transfer-news-timothe-kolodziejczak-3496292

Talks about his theories for improving penalty-taking, how he tested those theories at Saints, and how he thinks they could help England in the World Cup: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/19/clive-woodward-england-penalties-brazil-world-cup

Now that's not quite true is it. Fox doesn't have 88 international caps, isn't currently the captain of his country, and hasn't played 60 times in the Champion's League. The point was, in an area where we have a clear first choice but not really an automatic second choice, that's pretty handy experience to bring in as cover on a free. Targett hasn't actually played for the first team yet so in the event of Shaw getting injured there's an element of risk throwing him straight in. Also, there have been occasions where going with experience has actually delivered better results than going with youth. Bringing Boruc in to replace Gazza springs to mind. However, given where we are in the season, looking pretty likely to finish mid table, maybe it's a good opportunity to let Targett show what he can do if the need arises.

With Fox gone our options as cover for Shaw at left back look to be either Clyne or Chambers playing out of position, or Targett who would need to show he could step up. Razvan Rat left West Ham on deadline day. Mutual consent as he had played 20 times this season but wasn't holding down a regular first team place. Now a free agent. 33 years old, a lot of Champion's League experience for Shakhtar, and current captain and first choice LB for Romania. Something like 88 caps. West Ham signed him on £35k a week 6 months ago but would think that was negotiable if he's currently without a club. CHDAJFU as a proper LB who could come in for Shaw in case of injury or if/when he needs a break?

Signed. Best of luck.