S-Clarke

Hmm, this won't go away will it. Forest are now pushing for Omar Richards (and they signed another right back) so you'd have to think they've moved back from their interest now. £20m just feels too much for me, I'd be much happier if we have that sort of budget to play with that we throw it on a proper centre forward and then bring in a RB on loan to cover. The more money we can spend on an attacker the better.

Very tidy players for L1. It must be a relief for their fans to finally have a bit of hope again.

I remember either an article or an ITK post stating that we were looking at two midfielders, one in an attacking role and another 6. I think this covers both of those central options and also gives us more quality and touch in the number 10 area. He's not quite the pacy wide man type, but we don't really play that way really which is why I don't think Moussa really works for example. We play with the two 10's inverted and the full backs provide the width, so Armstrong on one side and Aribo on the other could be fairly fruitful both in terms of attacking ball retention and progression into the 'red zone' or whatever it's called.

Ah, that's a funny topic! He will always be held in upmost distain by most supporters here. He pretty much single handily destroyed our upward trajectory by splurging over £130m on players we had to give away for free and in some cases, pay off. Carillo, Hoedt, Lemina, Boufal to name just a few. Those signings in both wages and transfer fee's haunted us for years and only now are we beginning to recover. How this didn't end up relegating us is more by luck than anything else. We had a mini fortune from the VVD sale and we wasted every single penny on his recommendations. (Ings is prob the only exception) And let's not go down the road of Forster signing two contracts within 2 years....

Thanks for your views, looking forward to seeing him play. If he's half as good as the last player we signed from you guys (Davis) then we'll be sorted.

To be fair it's probably the norm! It's a strange situation to be in though, progressively improving the team with no sign of sales. (Let's hope we haven't agreed to sell JWP and Salisu 😃as that would throw my argument into the sea!)

Attacking number 10 type. Lavia is the 'DM' type midfielder. I do like how we're working down the team!

I think it's clear we finally have some money, but we needed/need to do so much work on the squad as a whole that we cannot really splurge most of our budget on a 'name' signing in this window, plus I don't really think that's our strategy. This is what I've been crying out for years to be honest. I never wanted or expected us to become Newcastle or Villa, throwing £40m at players, I just wanted a club that could be flexible in the market and attempt to build a competitive/progressive team without having to work out mathematical equations of who to sell before they could do that. I accept our place and that we will sell players in the future, but having that bit of flexibility to do stuff in advance of sales is a breath of fresh air really.

Either him or Sesko i'd be happy with, someone in that mould.

It's hard to disagree with that. For all our 15m plus signings... - Osvaldo - not a terrible player, but mentally shot. - Lemina - dross - Hoedt - Dross - Vestergaard - dross - Boufal - dross - Carillo dross - Elyounoussi - dross - Armstrong - jury out, but signs aren't great. - Ings - success - Mane - success (that one was an up to £20m deal) 75-80% fail rate with our big money signings. Over £100m down the shitter on Ross Wilsons watch.

He really is a dreadful DoF. A fraud. He came into Rangers when they were on a crest of a wave with their existing players etc, since he's started to have an influence it's all going to shit. The mess he left us in was criminal really and he shouldn't really be allowed to work in football again, but there we go.

I think we'll see one come in without a sale (given that we have to replace Broja in the main), but the additional forward will rely on a move in my opinion. What I reckon we'll do is sell Moussa and bring in someone who can cover wide and up front.

He's a good player. He was a star at Charlton at a young age, he was linked to quite a few top flight clubs before he left there (I think we were linked at that point). He's gone and developed at Rangers during a really strong period of them, a key performer in Europe as well as the SPL. Comes in at a good age, still has some development and growth in him, but has experience at decent levels to be able to make an impact straight away.

Not at all...but I think that will rely on a sale. If we shift on one of Theo, Redmond or Moussa (or maybe Ely if he doesn't renew) then we'll no doubts bring in another with whatever fee they make available. Same at CB, if we sell Bednarek or Stephens then I'd expect to see our interest in Colwill ramp up.

I can't see Broja back here, it's just media speculation putting 2+2 together. I think if we really wanted this deal to happen it would have been done by now. Other clubs with a bigger reach than us are free to jump ahead of us. I know I keep saying him, but Sesko is the ideal alternative!!

The thing which worries me about Armstrong is his physicality, but that was highlighted much more due to the fact that our strikers had to do all the work - as our 10's were rubbish. 'if' our 10's are better then 1) he may not look so isolated, and 2) he could make the runs which could benefit us - i.e channel runs, stretching the centre backs etc. He would need a Broja type alongside him though for me to be totally comfortable with that.

Well that's a bonus, he always scores against us.

I'd say top 8 is way, way too ambitious. If we get Top 8 then it's more than a success, it's an absolute stunner of a season and all the young players have just turned up to the party. Realistically, I can see bottom half again with a closer push for top 10. Then the next season, when the younger players have a year under their belts, we could then look to break into the Top 10. We're not signing players to go from 15th to 8th overnight, it's more of a 2-3 season process.

It's pretty much done bar the shouting. Fabrizo whatsit, probably the most reliable agent connected guy, has confirmed it a couple of times now.

For sure, although last season he was somewhat backed as well with the deeper squad - although now we're in a position to evolve the starters who aren't good enough and have been strung along for years. Still need significant work in the 10's and up front though, then I'd say he's been backed and has the tools to work with.

Aribo is quality, I'd be happy with that. He wouldn't cost ''too'' much either as he's out of contract next summer. Good performer in European football, not just SPL. Adds a bit of experience/know how in a position where we are crying out for goal scoring quality.

Give me a nice Yellow and Blue away kit any day, this one is making me feel a tiny bit sea sick.

It's fortunate we are able to hoover them back up after a few years then!

Great read, thanks for posting. I know he's only 18 and he's got a lot of developing to do, but much in the mould of ABK and Bazunu, if you looked at the position on the pitch and the traits the player needed to have to fit our style, he seems to tick every box.