S-Clarke

I'd say he's got Sule, Rudiger, Kehrer and Tah all in front of him. As it stands we may only lose JWP and Salisu, but even that's not for sure. Not sure if Salisu is playing for Ghana yet, although he'd be nuts to miss a world cup chance. It's good for us as it gives the core of our team a chance to recharge, similar to what we did in lockdown.

This is the one window where we won't get away with that, if that is what happens. It would be frustrating because a lot of good work has been done, if they fail to add to the striking options then it will undo all of that work and will probably send us through the trap door. This week is that important imo.

Briefly. They were of the belief that it was ''too close'' to give (ffs), but they spent more time debating on the one given last week (The Villa game) and how that should have also not been given, where is the consistency etc. Poor Stevie G.

It does feel like that sadly. More focus on the new luxury padded seats in the Kingsland rather than helping the existing fans who have been around for years. (the fans who'd sat there for years were shoved out with very little consult, either pay up or get out)

I think you're missing the point here. At the fans forum the club were incredibly defensive when it was suggested that away fans in the home ends is a thing or are causing the trouble, there are some areas of the ground where it will cause a problem - and it seems as if we are being blamed for the trouble, threatened with all sorts of shit, when all along the stewards have failed in their one main job. home fans in the home ends, away fans in the away ends. But no, it's our fault.

Nominal fee, but I don't think we should expect much more. A nice long contract for him out there as well (if true) and another enormous chunk off of our wage bill.

ABK is obvious quality, but Lavia just makes the game look easy and helps our transition from the back to the front. Makes our game look much easier.

I'd hope that's our plan. I think we need better than both in the attacking third.

It sounds simple, but it really could be as straight forward as that! We have our star quality at the back, CM and full back (KWP), we just need that star quality in the 10's and as a striker. Then we can be in and around the Top half. This week will make or break our season though, it'll be frustrating not to compliment what is a really decent 60% of a side with the 40% extra quality we need at the top end. In games like today, you can defend well and shut the door (as we did pretty well), but just having that game changing attacker makes all the difference. This league is all about the moments and taking the opportunities when you get them, and we do get them, we just don't take them frequently enough.

Yeah I noticed that, it looked like a really poor surface. Not much grass in some parts either (a bit brown/torn up). Ball didn't look like it flowed particularly well in some areas. I guess we haven't had the chance to rip up the pitch for a couple of years though, the short post-covid pre-season didn't give us enough time, and this summer we had the womens football and concerts. That surface is probably a year beyond it's sell by date.

Next three for Forest... Renan Lodi (left back from A. Madrid) Serge Aurier on a freebie. Michael Keane on loan from Everton looks like a goer. And they still want a striker. That'll will make it 20/21 new signings. Insanity.

If you go through our signings so far... Bazunu - upgrade on McCarthy, replaced him in the first team. ABK - Upgrade on Bednarek, replaced him in the first team. Lavia - Upgrade on Romeu, replaced him in the first team Aribo - Upgrade on Redmond/Theo, replaced them in the first team Mara - Adds genuine threat from the bench. He will probably be a starter by the end of the season That's a pretty impressive return thus far, each of them adds so much extra physicality as well. I can't wait to see what other new additions we have up our sleeve. Next two we need - upgrade on Elyounoussi, replace his first team place. Upgrade on Adams/Adam Armstrong (or at least someone to feed off the dirty stuff Adams can do)

Credit where it's due, the bloke is full of energy and it spreads. Having Adam Armstrong's pace in front of him does help (in a 4), you can tell on some occasions that he isn't a full back but he's had to do a job and he's left it all out on the pitch - that's all you can ask.

Bloke has got a swagger about him, makes things look easy. Enjoy him whilst he's here I say! Salisu will get better with someone like him alongside him. It's so frustrating that Gao meant we wasted so many seasons persisting with Bednarek

That's what I mean, he's turning to a CB to create that havoc because we don't have that 'threat' up front height wise. I'm pretty sure we're going to get a 'tall' striker, it would give us much more of a threat.

That Bournemouth result isn't a surprise really when you look at them. They have looked so far away from the level required in all their games (bar Villa at home, maybe). Last time they were relegated from the prem they had Wilson, Fraser, Ake, Ramsdale etc to give them a shout. Now they're leading the line with Moore and Travers in goal. They've got no chance, without doing a Forest in the final week then they might as well plan for next season given how short they look in all areas. They can change the manager if they want but that will change diddly squat as their players are trash. Halland showing that he is the best finisher in the world imo. Bloke is a machine, doesn't matter what level he's put at he just scores.

It's a weird thing to say, but that's how you 'lose' a game. With a bit more 'star quality' at the top end we get at least a point in my opinion. That game just showed up our attacking limitations for all to see. On the positives - defensively. Off the ball we were excellent, through midfield at the two CB's in particular. ABK is just a beast. There were posts on here of people wanting us to sign a 'beast of a CB' - errr, we have one. The bloke is going to the top. His recovery pace aligned with Salisu makes us look so more solid, Salisu looks much better for it too as he doesn't have to cover two positions. Lavia is a superstar. His touch and confidence in tight spaces, at 18 years old, is a sight to behold. There was a point in the 2nd half where he was surrounded by 3 united players, but he still asked for the ball, got it and managed to move it forward. I really, really love this kid. A couple of years here tops, but we're going to enjoy him I think. Now onto the struggle. I thought Adams did the support stuff well, made good runs, uses his physicality to good effect....but there is no quality running off of him to really profit from that. Adam Armstrong is a good runner and got wide a few times, but we just don't have anyone at the moment who I can consistently trust to put the ball in the back of the net. I think Ralph feels the same given the sub of Lyanco in the final stages. Overall it wasn't a bad showing. Typical against the big sides really, give it a good go but they somehow manage to nick it. Lots to be positive about, but equally a lot to remedy at the top end if we are to do anything of note this year.

I think it would have been a decent watch if we had one during the L1/Champ promotion years, those sorts of scenario's gain interest as it's a feel good story. Ditto for the opposite, a slide to oblivion (like Sunderland) is also something that would gain interest. A documentary on us, at the moment, as a non-entity of a PL team wouldn't really generate any interest what so ever. Just us fans.

Don't get me wrong, Maupay isn't a terrible player, but he was a main reason as to why Brighton didn't win the games their dominance 'should have' last season (and the season before tbf). I think Adams has more about him physically for sure, but they're quite evenly matched in ability. McBurnie though....christ. £20m on that pile of shit!

'Up to' 85m apparently. "world record fee for a defender" Maybe we can now create a Bednarek bidding war. Go on Brandan, you know you want that Vestergaard and Bednarek reunion.

Everton have fixed all their goal scoring worries by signing the infrequent goal scorer that is Neal Maupay.

Ah I've missed Charlie's pearls of wisdom.

ABK surely fits that description. The bloke is a beast.

I think people are seriously overreacting to the Armstrong stuff, it was a throw away comment in a tweet that we may listen to offers. It doesn't mean we've said he can leave and are actively pushing him out of the door. You’ll see so much stuff like this in the final week of the window, and I’d say maybe 5% (maybe less) is total bollocks and just created to drive up interest in tabloids and the chuckle brothers on SSN. I'm not surprised to see a certain poster getting his knickers in a twist over it though.