hypochondriac

I haven't seen anyone suggest that. A number of people have suggested that we only have a set amount of money in order to spend to improve the team this summer. If the amount we have to spend is smaller than some people imagined, then perhaps 9 million may be an awful lot to spend on one player to rotate with Azaz rather than perhaps a guaranteed starter where we are weaker in other areas and maybe a slightly cheaper Azaz alternative. No one has ever suggested that we wouldn't replace Charles when he left.

It depends. Maybe we will get a top cm in as well and Dobbin is more of a cherry on top. My concern at the moment though is that we will need to sell more in order to bring in more reinforcements of good enough quality.

That's true and they do deserve credit for bringing them in permanently but that doesn't really improve us from last year given that they were already playing for us. I read an interesting article from Adam yesterday that was quite pessimistic but argued that there is a danger that the players aren't going to be mentally up for going through hardship once again with the manner of missing out last year. I suppose that's an argument for a bit more change in the squad but the only way to answer that is to win games.

Why have you tagged me in this post? Edit: I assume you're agreeing with me?

The reason we signed Romeu was because we weren't considering Bragg. Then it turned out he was decent so Romeu became surplus to requirements.

I agree with some of your post but not that bit. He was successful last year in this league as opposed to Downs and Quarshie who were not. He's also been played out wide which Preston fans told us was where he goes missing. Where I agree with you is that if we get to the end of the window and have lost a couple more key players and replaced with cheaper and slightly less good alternatives, I would argue that 9 million pounds is a fairly large amount that may have been better spent strengthening weaker areas of the time than stocking us with two players who are must comfortable in attacking midfield.

Sounds like Bazunu could be on the move soon. Ramsdale most likely a loan sadly.

Only if we fail to sign anyone else. If BBD and Downs go as well I would be very surprised if no one else came in.

12-14 million for Sugawara and Archer would be good business tbh. I wanted to keep archer but I assume if him, bbd and downs go we will get someone else in. Maybe the Lazio guy.

I'd be pretty gutted with that if it were true and I were villa.

Worth remembering Solak's quotes: “We will work on having at least the same, if not a better quality team…” “Our goal this summer is not about making money but to have at least the same level of quality for next season.” Regarding the new players: “We don’t want to talk about them, so if anybody wants to talk about them, they would really have to wake me up with something incredible.” “If I can buy half a team for the money, then okay, we’ll discuss.” “For every guy we thought might have an offer, we have five to six guys already lined up that we are monitoring.” Interesting to see where we are in two weeks.

I wouldn't be playing Dobbin on the wing at all. I'd give Fellows a run out on the right with Matsuki and Dobbin on the bench and Azaz starting. Agree about Wood though: Peretz Bree THB Wood Manning Fellows Downes Jander (if fit) Scienza Azaz Larin Should be enough to win us the game.

I think it's an easy thing to say given we lost. I wouldn't say we lacked fitness. Arguably match sharpness given how slow we were in the first half but a lot of that was to do with the personnel we selected and where they played.

I assumed that "This us?" Referred to "another Championship rival now seen as favouries for 27yo defender."

Apology accepted. Read your own link next time! I'd love him to sign but realistically I can only see him replacing THB.

No it says Burnley.

I don't see the problem with questioning a player based on their early showings. He could be brilliant for us but he isn't at the moment and has had a slow start. It's a bit like Mane who looked poor for us for the first few games before showing his absolute quality later on. It didn't make those very early showings not poor.

Good post. It's true that he's versatile but then you get into the dangerous territory of a Jermaine Wright i.e. a jack of all trades and master of none. Really he should be used solely as a rotation option to keep Azaz fresh but in that case I'd question if the money could have been better spent elsewhere. All speculation at the moment until the end of the window but personally I'd be looking to have Stephens as first choice and probably bring in two defenders if/when THB goes.

Does it? I haven't seen much evidence lately that the club considers Quarshie to be a good option at cb. I agree we shouldn't be signing anymore until we've got rid of one or two of them, I was just surprised we dropped 9 million on Dobbin if it turns out that that is the majority of our transfer budget after Larin and Peretz. We may need some of that cash to strengthen in areas where in my opinion we are weaker.

It's a forum to discuss things. At no point was I treating anything as definitely true but it's worth talking about.

No.

9 million quid as well! Early days let's hope he comes good but looks very much like an average championship player to me so far.

It's got nothing to do with the defeat. That's irrelevant.

That may well be the case. Just frustrating that the main advantage we had over our slow start last year was that we had a more settled squad and a better chance to settle in with a winning mentality. That's not really going to be the case if we lose a load of players at the last minute and replace them all with players who haven't been here over preseason. I know it can't be helped but as you say it's frustrating.

Yes I get that. My point is that if we have rather limited funds and if we deemed it likely that we would be selling some big names like THB we'd have been better strengthening a real area of weakness such as cb rather than spending what appears to be a large chunk of our budget having two top players in that one position. If we have less monetary resources than we thought then I'd have thought we'd prioritise other areas of the pitch. With an inform Azaz Dobbin becomes a nice option to have rather than something more vital.