saintant

While some of the more perceptive judge by what their own eyes tell them. Let's see how many are singing his praise after a dozen games - I wager they'll be in the minority. That's not me scapegoating Baz and I'm sure we'd all be delighted if he has a fantastic season but he gives me no confidence I'm afraid. Still think we'll be making a huge gaff if we don't sign a new number one.

So why not buy a keeper in his late twenties/early thirties instead of weakening our chances of an early return to the Premier League with a youngster still learning his trade?

Tino has proved he can cope with the demands of the Premier League whereas Tella has only thrived in the Championship.

We need a new number one keeper not a third place one. Is the club not serious about promotion? I'd be amazed if we make top six with the current set up.

No way Newcastle or anyone else would be able to foresee whether Tino's very bad injuries will affect his future performances. The only way we'd ever have been able to keep him is if he suffers a recurrence or demonstrates that he'll never fully recover to be anything like the player his potential shows he could be. For the here and now it's a very good piece of business for us and I wish Tino all the best at Newcastle.

And we've only scored 5 of which 2 were against a very poor Reading side.

Wouldn't be wanting Stephens as a starter to be honest. He dithers on the ball and seems quite slow of thought so not suited to the pass out from the back tactics. Also he is a ball watcher who never appears to be aware of danger in the penalty area so does not cover players in space. On the plus side he's a good leader, not bad in the air and can tackle.

Agree. Give him some game time for the first team to see how he acquits himself. He looks quality and that was a superb pass he played yesterday to set up Smallbone. We are sorely lacking in creativity so maybe he can help.

I was replying to a post which implied that players were passing the ball then standing still rather than be proactive and make themselves available for the next pass. I have watched some of the preseason football and we are still not doing enough pass and move in my opinion. Watch the best teams and their players never stand still after making a pass.

If we have another coach who is failing to drum in the very basic concept of pass and move we are in for a very long season.

Big worry if we allowed Classie to run the show.

Since coming here both have missed chances as do all strikers. Both have also largely been fed on scraps whereas when they were free scoring in the Championship they had great supply. I still believe they have goals in them but the supply line has to come first.

Agree, if you are playing possession football there has to be bursts of pace and changes of gears or it becomes very easy to defend against.

That's what I thought.

Did they get to a European final?

Think Reading were very weak opponents.

As said above, I'm not watching but following it on here. Haven't read many comments about chances for strikers that were missed. Maybe nobody has mentioned them?

Which of our strikers missed the chances? Genuine question because I'm not watching the game.

Have we missed lots of chances then?

It was a tongue in cheek comment, of course I understand how these things work.

We don't want installments. We're a football club not a bloody Littlewoods Catalogue.

Yes please! This lad can play so would love him at the club. Not sure how likely it is to happen but he'd be a great addition.

Haven't heard of any interest in him other than Burnley who are offering insulting money. Unless they massively increase their offer, and I doubt they will, then he stays.

Found our goalie! Yahia Fofana plays for Angers in French league. He's 22 and looks fantastic and wouldn't cost much. Just checked out his skills videos and he is superb in the air, very commanding, a great sweeper keeper, good shot stopper and his distribution looks excellent. Get him signed.

You don't learn defensive transition quickly unless you are training very good players. We are not so it is going to be high risk and I'm not convinced the players at our disposal will ever get to grips with it. My view is that we'll likely lose a lot of games trying to master this system so how long will fans patience last is the big question.