Smirking_Saint

Exactly in agreement with Dusic and Lighthouse here, unfortunately if we wasn't blessed with pace and didn't come out of the academy I would imagine the intrigue around him would be much less, he has always been one of those players that gets better when he doesn't play Despite the Spurs game, of which i think it was more of a case that their poor fullbacks weren't ready to be closed down at pace, he hasn't really shown any improvement over the years He is quick and he works hard, but technically he is lacking. The fact that its only Championship clubs interested sort of backs my point really We have better options in the squad now

He's literally had a number of chances, and never delivered

The signing of Danso has definitely upped it from a 5 to a 7 out of ten. We are beginning to make the squad leaner too which will only be of a massive benefit in the long run. Further outgoings in Moi, Lemina and perhaps one or two others would see us be further streamlined and much more ready come January or next year. The return of what looks like a reinvigorated Boufal is certainly exciting. Adams looks good, ings looks lean and hungry, Ralph has seemingly installed a new steel into JWP that wasn’t noticeable before Compared to previous years I’m really excited for this season

Its not really at the expense of our club though is it, and being a stepping stone, for a club with our budget and size relative to the rest of the premiership is probably an excellent tactic that has arguably proved to our advantage over the years I agree we need to get stronger, and make sure we only deal with clubs on our terms especially with players that are attempting to hold us to ransom, hopefully we seem like we are doing that with Lemina and Austin. Ultimately we will never be able to sign players like VVD if we were too bullish. And I would suggest, if it wasn't for poor recruitment in both the management and player markets we should have performed much better over the last 2-4 years with not only players of VVD's quality and then the incoming funds to replace what we have.

Why wouldn't you ? Use to tell the lads to **** off out of the office if they had a cold, why risk making the rest of the office ill just to let them stay there doing a half assed job

People that do not know how to use lanes properly on the motorway People that don't say thanks when you open doors for them, move out of their way etc People with ****e bar etiquette People that don't get out of the way when people are driving faster behind them, generally seems more prevalent when speed restrictions are in place.

How does someone with such a basic grasp of footballing tactics manage to fraud your way into an FM ‘scouting’ position ?

Officially you cannot sign anyone before 1st of July anyway, and I would imagine most players that have ‘signed’ elsewhere would have had something negotiated to ensure they recieve their loyalty bonuses. I’m not panicking yet, its pretty obvious to me that we have far too much deadwood floating around that we need to remove before we can have a concrete view of what our finances will allow I’m hoping a week or so into July should see some decent movement

Agreed Certainly he isn’t worth 20m in my opinion, unfortunately cannot stay off of the physio’s table and when he does he just doesn’t seem like he suits the system

Surely the Ings fee was negotiated and prepared for last year, considering that it was reported as compulsory. It seemed as if it was a case of a ‘loan’ to beat the clock But if we are saying we’ve spent 34m ‘this year’ I would suggest our scouting department is no better than its been for the past few years, 20m for Ings is daylight robbery and from what Ive seen, read of Djenepo I can’t see him being a regular starter. Maybe it’s an FFP issue, (which could only be wage based due to our transfer incomings and TV rights over the last 3 years) in which case there is a reset at the start of July, so all being rosy in your world we’ll be fine ? Alternatively we could have been taken on by a chinese chancer more concerned with milking what is left after Katerina had her share and doing the minimum to keep us in the prem ?

Are we really this skint ?

Sims has had plenty of chances, he isn’t good enough

Its probably as Sims is an overrated one trick pony that relies on pace and with a Palace team content to sit as deep as possible it renders his one dimension toothless

Batshuayi to Crystal Palace on loan, we should be all over that really I'm not entirely sure how we have gotten ourselves into this position, we had a weakened squad at the start of the year and needed options at CB as well as in the frontline, on the last day of the window we have let a CB, RB and attacking option go and look like we will rely on the kids to get us out of this We're a shambles to be honest, Gao/Katherina are content to bleed us dry it seems

I'm not sure he is the greatest athlete to be honest, fantastic goal scorer, and would be excellent if the game was played on a the yard pitch Likely earning a pretty penny and lives in an area he likes, he isn't going anywhere unless it suits him I'm afraid

Attack ? I’d say our main priority is finding a capable CB if I’m honest, Bednarek has looked excellent but JV and JS still have question marks around them IMO The fact is we continue to score, but also continue to leak goals, that has to be our priority

I remember Fulham away in the cup last year had loads of those little drinks stations, with some form of drink filler that filled it from the bottom up (somehow) and basically allowed for a beer to be poured in around 5 seconds. Surely they need to introduce these drinks only stalls, and possibly suggest they are coupon or contactless only, and also allow people to have a food only section Unfortunately the queues are bad for everyone, god forbid some parent is being nagged to have something to eat or drink. I'm sure the service can be improved, it really can't be that difficult can it ? And saying 'Why drink that pish' is a pathetic ask really, if people want to eat, or drink, then its up to them and it should be on the club to provide a decent service.

I would suggest the opposite Currently our midfield berth, if taking with a broad brush includes; Lemina Hoijberg Romeu Davis Armstrong Reed JWP Where as LB; Bertrand Targett McQueen I'd suggest Bertrand probably will not be here forever, and likely, given a good season, will justify a move to a bigger club, leaving us short, and thats IF he isn't press ganged into playing in the LCB slot instead of Hoedt. McQueen hasn't really impressed me at LB, so losing Targett for anything other than a deal that we cannot possibly turn down is daft JWP however, is a conundrum, a good player that has never pushed himself on to command a first team role consistently. 10m is of course too low, however I wouldn't be averse to him leaving. If true I would suggest Watford are just testing the waters, I wouldn't imagine he would go for any less than 15m, and would allow him to potentially progress and us to reinvest the funds where necessary. Ultimately, I don't want to see him go, but I can arguably see the business sense in it. I would expect a bigger fee however

What happened this time ? I swear he could lose his man even if he was tied to him

Not intentionally responding to your cast here Galsgow but Im not sure we all over rate our own, many of us see it as it is. After the disastrous waste of money of both Carillo and Boufal I think its worth looking at Gallagher, Sims, Hesketh, Valery before jumping into bed with another expensive risk Theres nothing wrong with that, of course a lot can be taken from the training ground but some players need to be thrown into the deep end to see if they are the type to thrive Gallagher - Looks the target man type we have needed since Pelle, obviously lacks the pedigree, his last PL outing was years ago and wasnt terrible, he just wasn’t ready Sims - potentially the most overrated of those mentioned, is quick but lacks an efficient final ball or intelligence, likely deserving of some games off the bench Hesketh - One of our brightest talents, maybe too lightweight but the game has some lightweight talents Targett - Never let us down when he has played and looked good at a rampant Fulham side, obviously not on RBs level, however makes a more than adequate backup Valery - Honourably mentioned as a talent in our youth sides, similar to Targett will be unlikely to oust Cedric, however should prove to be a more than capable understudy

He was also a bit of a tit by all accounts, chasing other peoples mrs’ whilst he was here

The club is actively looking to offload players but its really not that simple, the likelihood is that Nice are going to take Boufal off of our hands, Clasie likely will end up at Feyanoord. Also bare in mind that its only the prem window closing soon, the rest of Europe are on the standard end of August timeline and so not in a rush to conclude We have looked for losn deals for FF, but its difficult, theres been a massive goalkeeper merry go round in the prem so his destinations are suitably reduced.

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I don’t think we are strong enough at CB, and have far too many options in midfield to play 3 atb personally. I can see it being a version of 4321/433 variant with the CDM dropping between the CBs to allow FB width in attack —————-—McCarthy ——————--—— Cedric - yoshida - vestergaard - Bertrand ———————Romeu—————————— ———hoijberg———armstrong—————- —redmond——————————-Elyounoussi ———————-Gabbi——————————— Can replace Yoshida with Hoedt/Stephens if required, I personally think Yoshi is off Gabbi for Austin/Gallagher (hopefully a new striker, we are in the market apparently) Lemina/davis/JWP for one of the CM positions We actually have the makings of a very good looking squad if we can keep what we have

Diffucult to properly assess what Hughes will do this year from the pre-season outings in China. He is missing one or two from the squad in some vital CB positions. That said I’d like to see us capitalise more using the natural wingbacks that we have but Im not sure Elyounoussi fits into a 5 atb system effectively and so it points to me like we’ll still to a 4232/433/4321 variant with Romeu filling in between the CB’s in transition. Id of said the squad looks, on paper to be much more balanced than it has been, so long as we avoid OR replace any big outgoings. From last year only Cedric/Bertrand would likely be on any major radars. Id like to see another striker, though I think Austin/Gabbi are good enough should we not secure any of our formost targets, an improvement there will likely be in the region of 20m+ and looking at Carrillo its important to get that right Im excited for the new season though... well... i was excited for last year but lets see how it goes !!