saintant

Chances are we have set a high valuation for him, not in the hope of getting that figure, more in the hope of getting as much as we can. If this offer is real then it seems a pretty fair one to me.

I see Morgan Schneiderlin is a free agent at age 33. Heart says he could still do a job for us but head says probably not.

So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place then because if we don't bring in a new number one keeper, thus pushing McCarthy down to number three, we won't get near the play-offs never mind automatic promotion. If those in charge have not realised this they are very short sighted in my opinion.

It's not so much the turnovers in midfield that worry me I'm more worried about the constant turnovers close to our goal! Some of our play last night was nothing short of suicidal. We will never be so good that a healthy boot up the park won't be the best option. If the players are being drilled that they must never do this then we're going to really struggle because teams will get wise quickly and press us high.

You make a fair point about Bmuff being far more physical and aggressive than us. I fear that we will again be too weak to compete with the physical sides which fill the Championship. Not sure how we address this problem unless Martin has plans to bring in a few big athletic players who can look after themselves. We continue to look as though we have too many feeble players who get knocked off the ball far too easily.

We need two goalkeepers 🙂

On a side note I thought Dean Hammond was superb as the co-commentator.

We improved as the game went on. I was very impressed with Will Smallbone who came on and provided some great link-up play, he was always making himself available and rarely wasted a pass. He looks to be one who'll make the starting line-up against Sheff Wed. Tino had some good moments as did Stuart Armstrong and KWP was another who did well. Unfortunately, we do not have a good goalkeeper on the books and neither McCarthy or Baz are anywhere near good enough. It was a good match to watch but very hard to decide whether we are good, poor or indifferent - I guess we'll find out as the season unfolds.

Not near our first team but too much of that half looked like men against boys. McCarthy is far too slow in distributing the ball and that is putting pressure on us so we lose possession in dangerous positions - not surprisingly Bmuff are wise to this and are pressing us high up the pitch. Too many of this starting line up are clearly out of their depth and not cut out to play this possession football where you need to be cute enough to receive the ball in tight situations. The goal was much needed and probably gives the scoreline a flattering look. I hope our starting eleven against Sheff Wed has more idea how to play this system because we looked awful in large chunks of that first half. I'd rather we resorted to a few hoofs upfield than always trying to keep possession even when it's obvious we're in trouble - mix it up a bit because we are far from Man City.

Agree, from the snippets we've seen of him so far he is a confident lad and has the talent to back that up. Obviously at the young age of just 17 he'll need to be managed but I hope he gets plenty of game time because he looks like one of those players who will not be a shrinking violet on the big stage. You can always spot the youngsters with real talent because they shine the moment they get into the first team and have an almost arrogant self-belief. I think this lad fits into that category.

It would not be stunning not to get promoted if Baz remains our number one keeper.

Agree with most of this. Trouble is, as we all know, it's a game of brinkmanship. Unless a club is desperate to make certain they get one of our 'star' players they will wait until the very end of the window and hope to nick them for a low price. We are then left in a position of either accepting the offer which leaves us little or no time to buy replacements or we decline and keep an unhappy player until the next window. Neither scenario is ideal but thems the rules I'm afraid.

Wanyama could play a bit - not convinced this guy can.

No thanks.

It's a no brainer and I just hope we are looking at finding a keeper to replace Baz as our number one as a matter of priority.

This is it in a nutshell. Baz makes major mistakes in pretty much every game. That will cost you many points over the course of a season. We have to get someone much better.

Keep him as number one and we will not even make the play-offs. You have to have a reliable keeper and Baz doesn't fit the bill. Very short sighted if those in charge fail to recognise this.

Great going forward but we won't win promotion unless there is a drastic improvement at the back and I still say we must get a new keeper.

Weird logic. So what could we do once we were definitely relegated that Leicester and Leeds couldn't?

How did we have a head start? I don't understand that.

We are awash with players who don't really do much. We need a few who can influence games.

It matters not a jot how good Bazunu is with his feet if the defenders he's passing to are incapable of controlling it and moving it on quickly and accurately. Maybe our defenders will get better at this but so far they look like an accident waiting to happen every time they receive the ball under pressure.

What we need, probably above all else, is a competent, reliable guy between the sticks. Without that promotion is a pipe dream.

Spot on. Let's not keep saying none of our forwards can score when they are being offered very few decent chances. It's the build up play that is far too slow and the lack of players who can provide the killer passes.

Not a huge fan of keep-ball football where it's 100% about possession. I always think this discourages any bravery on the ball which leads to stale, negative play. It drives me nuts when we work a promising position well inside opposition territory and, because a simple pass isn't on, we go backwards and recycle leading us inevitably down the same blind alley. When we get into an attacking situation, if there's no easy pass on take the difficult option or try taking on an opponent. We have to be far more positive in the way we play or it'll be a season of pass sideways, backwards, rinse and repeat. It won't be good to watch unless we change our approach.