S-Clarke

but you do it all the time. a fwiw he makes very valid points. Jury is still out on the 2 RB's, but they're very promising additions based on their form last season (1 in a league above)

we're not, but he's another player to add to the squad that wasn't really around last season. FWIW i think Punch will fill the right sided role, with Lallana on the left. Chamberlain as backup to Punch and Dickson/Mills as backup to Lallana. Our best results last season came with those 2 playing and swapping around.

Good shout on young Chamberlain, i think he may be the attacking wide-player we all think we need to buy....he may be staring at us already.

it's.the.middle.of.flaming.july and we're already talking as if the transfer window is shut and our business is over. one good thing though, when we usually get these kind of discussions a signing is announced the following day.

That's the thing Alps, no one is denying that we don't need backup players. What's irritating people is that you actually seem to think that Pardew is sat on his arse, at home, watching loose women on TV every day, letting the days pass him by and thinking ''we don't need to replace Antonio or papa''. You have such a naive view on how football works at times.

tbf Dickson will add quality as well, regarded as one of the best left sided players outside the prem. I think Huddersfield are stronger than they were last season, they've significantly strengthened in the areas we ****ed all over them (notably midfield). But i still don't get the opinions (mainly from alps) that we need to make lots of signings, that we don't actually need, otherwise we'll be left behind. Just to be sure we need to buy backup for Morgan, but then just in case....we need to get backup for the backup player as well. etc... Don't you already think we have the quality? they're adding to get close to our quality. FWIW it's mid july, the squad has just come back from switzerland and some area lready speaking like we're letting the season pass us by. bit odd tbh

you really are a bit of a bore!

yeh, but what a great time to throw that tradition out of the window! everything is in place for us to have a good start this season though tbf, no excuses.

yeh - he went on loan to Brentford last season and didn't really do much and was left on their bench. A pretty good example of a player seeing the bright lights of a big london club way too early.

The thing Hudders and Wednesday have done is sign a huge amount of new faces in a really short space of time, and as we all know - that can lead to it's own problems! We've pretty much kept everything the same with just 1 or 2 quality additions here and there - and seeing how well we gelled towards the end of last season it does give us the opportunity to start really well and force the others to play catchup.

Surprised by that if im honest...i didn't think Liverpool had the money to be throwing around on big 4 year deals (rumored to be on up to 90k p/w) Cracking signing for them though and not a bad trade off with Yossi going in the other direction a month or so ago. If they can keep hold of Masch, Gerrard and Torres adding Cole to the mix will make things interesting.

http://www.downatthemac.proboards.com/ you have to register to view though

It would make sense though, with the Wilkins connections and our need for a Papa/Antonio replacement. He's kind of similar but left footed i think.

bizarrely, an ITK huddersfield fan. The guy is usually pretty spot on with info though, as i've been having a look at their forums over the summer as i think they'll be quite close to us... '' Re: Future crop of English players (England u19's) « Result #3 Yesterday at 8:26pm » Worringly, Southampton are trying to get Kakuta on loan. The guy is class ''

Gaël Kakuta is apparently a target, we're trying to get him on loan from Chelski

If (god forbid) we did finish in the playoffs, then Pardew won't be here to take us into them. He'd have been long gone before that IMO. We've all seen what a short fuse Cortese has... That's why i agree with you on the 2nd' spot, anything less than that and we could be entering a very dodgy place.

Not at this stage John, the early pre-season games are just there for fitness games and it allows the players to get back up to speed of match sharpness/ball control etc. The first 2 results of any pre-season mean absolutely sod all in the grand scheme of things, a 12-0 win or a 2-0 defeat, it doesn't matter in the slightest. The pre-season game that should give a decent indication will be reading at home.

Yep, exactly and I'm really pleased to see that a real structure has been put in place this pre-season and there is a method behind everything we do, even the order on which we play teams. So many previous pre-seasons have been ''run, run, run'' play some games win 12-0 and it forces everyone into a false sense of security.....including the players. Pardew is spot on in his comments by saying that these 2 games will act as a wake up call, as well as being really big fitness tests.

is that seriously w******ds bell in the background?

now we know why Butterfield was rushed out there just for 2 days. Gutted for Richardson, he's struggled with injuries a bit during his career but seemed to settle down and get into some form at Charlton...then he got his big move and he gets this on his first/2nd day at the club.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2095082,00.html confirmed. what a **** bit of luck that is

yep, does look to be the case. He was featured in day 1 of the swiss diary, but since then...nothing....not even in any of the pics. Wonder if he's been flown back to get the proper treatment? must be a bad one of true.

Cracking signing at this level, interestingly he can play RM/CM as well - so he's the total replacement for James, but better and more experienced. ...and he's a free, surprised it's taken someone so long to take a punt on him you're guaranteed an honest player.

Anyone who seems to be ITK is captured by Cortese and then locked away in the St Mary's cells. Has anyone noticed that the potential ITK'ers post once to start a thread, then you never hear from then again??? Bit extreme from Cortese though imo.

i wouldn't say he's a great player, but he's talented and has good bursts of form - but the question is and will always be (even from his derby days) can he stay fit longer than 2 games?