saintant

Archer up front on his own is not going to work from what I've seen.

Nah, did he break his leg in training yesterday 🙂

My feeling is that this is a proper rebuild to get us a team to play under Will Still. It is starting to really take shape if the reported deals get done. Far better to develop a team that fits together than what we had last year which was two stars in Fernandes and Dibling (the latter of which did little for the team) and the rest were just a mix of generally poor players. This feels like we are resetting and heading in the right direction - that's my hope anyway.

Yeah, I just get the feeling they could develop into a decent pair. Archer is nothing without a partner from what I've seen. Could play them a bit like we did Adams and Armstrong. A lot will depend on Stewart being able to stay fit so, assuming we don't sign another centre forward, it'll be a gamble unless Downs makes rapid progress.

£10m sounds cheap - will believe it when officially confirmed. If we get him it's a great signing for us and squad is beginning to take shape.

You need to have read a post on another topic 🙂

Yes but does he know the market in Marrakesh?

Yeah he probably is quicker than I gave him credit - too slow in mind though which is his major problem.

Wilcox seems to be doing a sterling job there, he's made a real difference 🙂

I don't trust any of our centre backs because all are prone to making stupid errors. However, I'd say Quarshie has shown that he may be a quick learner plus he has bags of pace and I can see him becoming the first pick before long. Wood is a difficult one as he does come across as a bull in a china shop at times but I like his 100% commitment to the cause. THB I'm hoping is just a little ring rusty after his injury and will get better with matches. Stephens would always be my last pick because he never seems aware of danger, he's very slow and has mistakes in him that are often costly. Edwards is quite a good footballing centre half but lacks height and is also very slow. In a two I'd probably go with THB and Quarshie and in a three it'd be those two plus Wood. As always Captain Jack will be the manager's first pick and one day maybe I'll understand why.

I don't get the outrage by some that Tyler chose Everton and Mateus chose West Ham. How does that affect us?

For a so called football pundit Dawson seems to know little about who negotiates transfer deals at clubs. How thick are some of these guys and why does nobody correct the crap they spout. Embarrassing.

The big boys in the Premier League generally go for the finished article.

I guess it's very similar negotiating with a street seller in Marrakech and a director of football at a Premier League club but I take your general point.

If all this is accurate he sounds like a baller. We'll see.

My guess is that he'll start on the bench as he's described as one with 'promise' rather than an established player like Azaz.

Thought you said he was staying 🙂

Like Tyler to Everton this is likely to be a stepping stone for Fernandes - he's still young so plenty of time for moves to bigger clubs. This probably makes sense for where he is in his development now.

Yeah, being widely reported that we've agreed a deal with West Ham and he'll have a medical today. Shame but hardly surprising because he's clearly too good for the Championship.

You have to feel for Ranger's fans. The majority didn't want him but they tried their hardest to convince themselves that he'd work out ok. Unfortunately the same pattern has been repeated and the exact same sound bites have been heard at press conferences. I have to take my hat off to Russ because, for a guy with little coaching ability, he's fooled a lot of people , conned his way into some good jobs and made a hell of a lot of money. I think that the snake-oil well has now run dry though but he'll probably write a book about his exploits.

Right then Will....time to show us what you're made of.

More corrupt than the world cup draw.

What and give the bin dippers a chance - no way.

We're never going to win this cup so let's put out a decent side and give them a game then concentrate on the league.

Fuck me - can we get someone other than Liverpool.