saintant

Exactly as I saw it. Moore knew he wasn't getting there so cleverly slowed down so that Edwards ran into the back of him. It was a con.

Lewis O'Brien will need watching because if we give him space he has the ability to run the midfield. Was a bit disappointed we didn't sign him.

Think like last night space will be at a premium. Wrexham will be in our faces so possession football is going to be tough which is why I would have liked to see a target man through the middle as an out ball. It won't be pretty and if we try to make it so we'll struggle.

Agree. Has Arma ever worked as a striker through the middle? Not as far as I recall.

Would have liked to see either Downs or Stewart up front as we are lacking height and power there.

Happy for him to do all those things you list because none of them impact our chances of winning football matches - JS being on the field often does and in a negative way.

He has been trying him there but have to agree it will be a mistake because he's past his best even at this level.

Then they need to match their ambitions to increase revenue with their ambitions to create a side/squad that can have a chance of breaking into the top division and having a decent shot at staying there. They will never do that if they continue to sell all our better players as soon as there is a whiff of profit. We all know the definition of madness and, if SR are to demonstrate sanity, they need to change the way they do things in terms of buying and selling players. If not the current cycle will just continue and we'll begin to slide backwards. They've brought in an ambitious new manager who has new ideas so, if they want to get the best out of him they need to back him.

Jack Clarke was also very poor tonight but he'll get better - probably against us next week 🙂

Yeah, I'm sure there will be Premier League interest - not top 6 but any of the others will probably be looking at him.

Eduard Spertsyan looks to have it all - he has a tremendous shot on him, great sliderule passer and can go past opponents for fun. If we are lucky enough to get him he'll be the new JWP deadball specialist - he'll be on corners, penalties and free kicks especially within shooting range. He looks good enough for the Premier league so I'll be amazed if we get him. Fingers firmly crossed on this one.

The luck of Ipswich in the Championship continues. Penalty was harsh and Hirst showed what an arrogant twat he is by going to his fans and saying, 'That's what I do' 🙂 It got pretty feisty after that and I guess we should be pleased that two of the fancied teams have each dropped a couple of points. It was a poor match with few if any moments of real quality but both sides will undoubtedly improve. Let's see what we produce tomorrow but it's probably going to be a similar game littered with mistakes unless Will has worked some magic.

Two poor sides in that first half although there will be a certain amount of ring rust as we'll likely find out tomorrow. Brum and Ipswich will both improve as the season goes on. My big take is that any team with some quality players who can do the unexpected or take players on will be like gold in this division. Don't think we have much of this at the moment so will need to make some good signings asap. Nothing to fear so far but, o course, it's very early days.

Good read, thanks for sharing.

It's a tough call. Both Downes and Fernandes have missed training sessions whilst Sesay is an inexperienced, untried youngster. In those circumstance I think I'd start with Fernandes and, depending on how the game goes, swap him out for Downes on 65-70 minutes. I don't think this is a game for an untried youngster.

Amen to that. Others could certainly learn from him.

Bree is injured.

Snap, this is the side I posted above. We're probably both way off 🙂

Think we might go 5 at the back so something like; Baz Yuki Edwards Stephens Quarshie Wellington Fernandes Charles Armstrong Downs Robinson

I get the feeling he doesn't enjoy this part of the job plus, it's his first one for us. The guy is a football nut so I'm certain he's buzzing to get the season underway. Depending how we progress in the season he may relax into these press interviews or, if it goes pear shaped, he's probably going to find them very tough. Let's hope it's the former.

Thought the press conference was scheduled for 13.30. Can't see a link on the official site.

I didn't say that.

Presumably if this is true Tyler will be back training with the big boys next week. I don't think anyone is paying what the club claim he is worth. If so we may be left with a disgruntled player for a season and end up selling him for a lot less next year. Not convinced Rasmus or whoever is handling this particularly well.

Get him to have a chat with Will Still and he'll find everything interesting 🙂

Charlie Taylor is 5'9" so a decent size for a full back....plum.