S-Clarke

That was a great away showing. I didn't think the first half was too bad, a bit flat from both sides really. One thing that impressed me in the first half was our off the ball work, Leicester found it very hard to find space in open play. Whilst they had a lot of the ball, they didn't really threaten. I think that was our initial tactic, keep compact, nothing too crazy and give ourselves the chance to put our foot down a little later. The goal was obviously not planned, but again it wasn't the fault of open play or being carved open as such. Bazunu should getting a hand to that though, one to be very disappointed with. That goal forced us onto the front foot though. Maybe we benefited slightly from Leicester retreating and trying to keep what they had as quickly as they did, but we did certainly turn it up a bit in the last 30 mins. We were much better on the ball, it was sticking up top and this made a huge difference. Adams provided a presence straight away, first goal was a bit scrappy but you can't take away the second - it was a quality instinctive finish. The standout good points are our character, a team so often known for throwing away positive positions has managed to do the opposite two weeks in a row. That doesn't scream of a bunch of players not playing for the manager. The options on the bench are now making an impact, as we have more quality throughout the squad. We also showed the flexibility in game to switch back to the 5, and that is another clear string to our bow. I can't fault Moussa's attitude or positivity, he doesn't moan or create a fuss he just gets on with it. You can tell he isn't a natural full back in any way, but he stuck to his job and he deserves credit for that. Bad points were Elyounoussi. I hope we're still not considering a new contract for him. He is really not good enough. After a positive cameo last week, Armstrong was back to his ineffective and very weak self. He just couldn't impose himself and we struggled so much up front because of that. We were much better without him on the pitch. You can still see the glaring hole in the side for a striker who is able to hold the ball up, bring others into play, offer some presence etc. Che can do that as we saw, but consistency is always a question mark over him - so having another powerful option is important in my opinion. We are also still lacking quality in those 10's. Aribo is class, you can tell that straight away, but we need to be moving the likes of Elyounoussi away from the squad imo - need better than him. The attacking third is high priority for me in the remaining 2 weeks of the window.

I wonder if the club thought he'd be ready for that role sooner? Obviously they weren't scared to through Broja or Tino in, but there was hesitancy around Small. In the few appearances he's made for us (FA Cup and pre-season) he's looked so far off it sadly. Season at Port Vale may do him good, but he's not starting for them in L1. I think the club needs to be looking for a LB to bridge the gap between Small being ready, as he looks miles away atm.

I don't disagree regarding Perraud, I do like him though in that he's quite tenacious and doesn't get beaten all too often. The issue I see with Perraud is his limited technical ability and lack of explosive pace. That sort of holds him back in the formations we play which rely on marauding full backs, like KWP. We do look more balanced with KWP right, Parraud left, but we'd look even better with a KWP profile player on the left imo. I wonder if the club thought Small could be that player, but as yet it hasn't quite worked out (maybe in a few years).

Yeah exactly, it just leaves a bad taste. Loyalty is few and far between in football.

Apparently Tielemans isn't in the squad either, for 'unspecified reasons'. It does leave a bad taste in terms of how Fofana is acting though. They helped him rehab for 12 months through a nasty ACL injury, and now he refuses to play for them (whilst still picking up a wage I guess)

Maybe a little premature on this one! No idea how they've managed to pull this one out of the bag.

It's a tricky one isn't it. I don't think we look particularly comfortable in a 3 at the back, and it creates too much space in the flank areas. But by the same token I wouldn't want Moussa in at left back in a flat back 4, equally I wouldn't want to shoe-horn JWP in at RB and KWP at left back in a flat back 4. This is why I find it absurd that we are apparently not looking for full back cover anymore. This sort of situation surely tells us how critical it is to have full backs, as we're kind of wedded to a formation with square pegs until we have players available.

It really does feel like silly season is ramping up now.

Yep, they had 7 loans and then another 4 or so players out of contract. Then they sold a couple as well. My feeling is that they've come up a little too soon, the club recogniuse that, so they're throwing everything at it to raise the standard. It's a risk though without a doubt.

One of the names suggested a few days back. He ticks the boxes we were looking for - a CB with PL experience. The added bonus with Chalobah is that he can also play full back if required. He'll have links to Crooker from his time with the England youth teams over the previous years.

Dennis has signed for £15m. Aouar has agreed terms, they've just got to agree the fee - looking like £15-16m. Maupay, again agreed a £15m fee and just waiting for personal terms to be agreed. That fee for MGW is ludicrous. They are pretty much gambling their immediate future on staying up this year.

Hmm, the ''get by with current squad'' stuff bit us in the arse before. I think it would be mental to go into the season with Moussa as our second left back. Nuts. He is an absolute liability defensively. Seems a good character and works hard and can provide an attacking threat, but he cannot defend. Against the 'big sides' he will be expected to defend the wide players. Look at what kulusevski did to him. Teams will target him for fun.

There is still chatter about us wanting an experienced centre back though, so all I can think is that 'maybe' we'll target a CB who can also play full back if required. *cough* Gomez.

That would be an own goal and would leave us incredibly short. No Tino, Small loaned out, Perraud seemingly still struggling. Hope that doesn't mean we see Moussa as a full back, he quite clearly isn't.

Let's hope this isn't the start of ''we tried so hard, but couldn't get them over the line'' 😆

I don't think we'd ever be expected to fund 100% of his wages. Probably 40-50% at most.

I guess his dad has had a huge influence in that one? (I think he's a coach at Stoke)

I think Everton will need all the CB's they can get with Mina out for 2 months and Godfrey for a few months. Sanchez is an interesting shout though, but he doesn't strike me as the profile of player we're missing (i.e an organiser type)

They must be gutted..! What happened there!

Berahino. Missed out on his big move to Spurs wasn't it? Threw his toys out of the pram, banished to the reserves and never really seen since. Released by Wednesday in the summer, currently floating around as a freebie.

That striker we were linked to earlier (Ramos) plays for Benfica, and they play Dynamo Kyiv tomorrow. I still reckon he'll end up at Wolves Portugal FC though.

He had a horrible injury though, I think I've read some people say he lost all his 'explosive pace' from the back of that killer injury. So he's possibly the lesser player than he was a few years ago, but still more than good enough for clubs like us. He'd be our best number 10 if he came here.

Threw around some names on this the other day, few suggestions from everyone: Rob Holding @ Arsenal Jamal Lasselles @ Newcastle Joe Gomez @ Liverpool (if he wants to be a regular with the world cup coming up) Eric Bailly or Victor Lindelof @ Man Utd? (probably no chance with either, but if you think Varane, Martinez and Maguire are seemingly the first 3...there is an overload there) Chabolah @ Chelsea Tomkins @ Palace Phil Jones @ Utd (hmmm) Or we could push the boat out and sign Vestergaard from Leicester.!!!!!

I think you're referring to Sanagre, he opted for PSV and we got Diallo. Totally different profile of player though which was odd. In all honesty I think we have quite a list of striker targets, some more realistic than others and some which will only come to fruition as the window draws to a close. My hunch is that we're being patient and waiting for the one we really want. We're not going to leave ourselves without a striker, we know that will spell curtains for us.

It's a club without a strategy, you should have an idea about the interests of a player joining and their wage demands before you waste time on it! This is what scouting deps etc do for the months outside of the transfer window, then you start putting in the official bids when you can. Utd just sound like they have done no prep what so ever, same as every transfer window I can remember them having in recent years. Like you said they end up with no one (after chasing De Jong all summer, and Sancho a few years ago) and panic on some crap like Igalho. I reckon we can give them McCarthy, Bednarek and Redmond on the final day for a combined £50m fee and they'd do it.