Badger

We always used to have one in London, during Lawrie's day it was overseen by Bob Higgins and brought us many players, most notably Steve Williams, and the Wallaces. I wonder if we still have a network or centre in the north east. Anyone know ? I wondered about this too. Perhaps Cotterill or his chairman will be on AA routefinder working out the distance from Ashton Gate to tell us.

I did check the posts and you posted this 29th June: So well done, a few ITK points coming your way no doubt. Do you know the name of the CB centre half here ? Reason I ask is that one of the articles posted yesterday referred to a player who had previously signed for Villa but returned home due to home sickness. Just wondered if we'd stepped in and offered him the chance to stay on the coast with coastal air.

Albatross.

Oi ! F^ck off. No offence.

I think it was also reported in the equally unreliable Express .It does seem a little 'ambitious' and an unlikely move, less likely to come off. All of which makes you wonder what or who we are planning for LB, and why it is dragging. Kolowhatshisname, or Robertson seemed far more likely signings to me. Of course there is the 'see what Targett can do' school of thought, but the Premiership is a tall order for him, and best will in the world, RK may not be able to make the judgement in the friendlies we are playing. I hope we're not scratching around for a LB in late August.

This is one we may regret missing out on. Although we are currently meant to be aiming 'higher' with Rojo, I hope we don't end up with him rejecting the move and us missing out on good alternatives after chasing shadows for weeks on end.

..only by himself though

Burnley do look to be stockpiling strikers now, Deeney (or is it Deeley?) from Watford, Lucas Jukiewhatever from M'boro, Sordell.

If they are all as good as that bloke from the Channel Islands in the 90's for us, we should try getting one or two more.

Agree that we should have brought in his replacement before releasing him. In the meantime tell him to train on his own. If he does go to suit himself and his new club then it will appear that yet again the buying club has dictated the terms of the move.

Indeed it does. Sorry but I could not wade through that. So we are "positive", but does that mean "positive" in a 'we are still optimistic of signing Ings' , or a 'well, sod it, won't sign him, but the sum is shining today, and we might sign someone else instead ' way ? I'll assume and hope it's in signing Ings.

The bit about Ings was potentially interesting, before going off a tangent...

But the good thing from our angle is that the Dutch , as I understand it,have planned in advance. Hiddink until 2016, and then Danny Blind takes over for the 2018 WC. Of course it could change if either decide to take a lucrative (£££) club job. I'm impressed by their planning when compared to the 'media scrum' we have when the job comes available with most candidates running for the hills to distance themselves from the post, and another old favourite conducting his application from the window of a 4x4 to journalists outside a home in Poole.

I never thought I'd want one of our better players to join Man Utd, but yes, be delighted if he ends up somewhere other than L/pool, or the Norfff London yobbos.

Good news then , I hadn't seen any posts from him since the end of the season, and assume he is just enjoying the sunshine in Devon.

At one point he looked set to join West Ham.One report I read at the time of this falling through said Nice wanted £9m. Although this article suggests agents fees were a problem: http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/07/21/west-ham-capture-of-nice-defender-timothee-kolodziejczak-scuppered-by-agent-fees/151015/

I'd have thought Rojo might prove over ambitous for us, and the attraction for him of joining us left for norf London a while back. Would be pleased if we can pull it off though. Dier would be a useful addition if possible also.

Yes, spot on. Select another non achiever at international level - one goal in the WC for Christ sake - and a player whose very selection for the starting XI should not be taken for granted as captain. The krauts, Spanish and Dutch build teams, we just throw high profile names together and hope the 'gameplan' just comes together on the pitch.

I can agree with both points of view here. Gerrard's contribution to the national team is overrated due to club form and media 'love in' with his club. Can I recall any great moments of his time playing for England ? No. At least Beckham - who also lead England in a period of non achievement - has a few spectacular free kicks that stand out. He may deserve some "respect" , but lets not go overboard about another underachiever for the national side. He offered "commitment", but little else. Lahm also retired from international football with about the same number of caps. What has Lahm won in that time, and how many finals/semi-finals has he played in ? Compare that to Gerrard to put some perspective on it. Gerrard may have been a decent servant for England, but no no means an England legend.

Aren't they also selling all their better players after last season's exploits. Not much ambition there then. Would suit us perfectly though selling him elsewhere than to Brendan or north London yobbos.

An open invitation to disaster if we do.

GK - Forster/Marshall, and if not one of these two then McCarthy from Reading CB - de Vrij/Van Dijk , or for younger prospects Kongolo from Feyenoord who can also play LB,or Maguire from Sheff Utd LB - Robertson MF - not sure of a wide player, Grenier if we need an AM (although seems unlikely if Ramirez is staying). ST - Ings Also agree with St Rees above Clasie if Morgan goes

An issue for us is timing of getting new CB's in as you'd imagine De Vrij for example will want to know if mancs are a possibility before considering other clubs. The MEN article states: I doubt that it'll take him 3/4 weeks before making a bid for De Vrij, if they want him, but if they spend time exhausting the Hummels option first. I hope we don't wait for all this to unfold, as we might end up missing other options. If come 7th August De vrij signs elswhere, does that leave us scratching around wondering if Caulker is available to find, "oh bugger, he signed for QPR a fortnight ago.."

I read that the reason the West Ham moved did not proceed was that Nice suddenly hiked the asking price to 9m (not sure if £ or euros).

Although FF is a couple of years younger, and Watson will have worked with him with the England set up.