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Reply | Josh Windass
at 19:40 23 Jul 2025
Windass is way better than Dykes, but that is a low bar.
Saying that the way things look with our forwards, both could get into our Squad at the moment.
Get ya boots, desperate times and all. |
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Reply | Cardiff Friendly
at 19:21 23 Jul 2025
Agree with this.
Two weeks to go, and no one can play up front. Shocking but fixable.
Possibly had to rest Celar as they didn't want an injury this early.
I still wonder why we did not play Madsen up front. I mean, this was the perfect game to try it out.
Richards crying off again was no surprise.
What we learned was that Sutton cannot play up front
Field needs someone else in the middle to help him out, DMC-wise. Dale is not the answer there.
Field was at fault for both goals, caught in possession for the first and not tracking Colwill for the second.
Adamson looked better at RB, but I suspect he could do a job at DMC instead.
Mbengue got caught out of position a few times, but looked okay, though. I am still not sure if he came up against a Frey-like player; would he win the 1-1 duels.
Cook still has it.
Morrison looked good and should be in the starting pair with Cook.
Akindileni looked decent too, looks like a good prospect.
Larkeche will be a struggle if he's our first choice LB.
Vale is a AMC or winger, he cannot play midfield on that performance. He just does not get stuck in enough to help out Field.
Poku had an average game for once, but seeing as he got no service hard to tell. Needs a number 9 to be a foil off.
Morgan is decent, good to have him in the squad.
Dembele plays better as number 10.
Madsen was still Madsen.
We still need a CF, LB and DMC in that order.
Buying that new CD today, means there is no chance of us ever buying Edwards even with mythical Eze money, as if there ever was anyway.
Colwill, for them, looked good again. If they don't get promoted next season, he will have one year left on his contract, and they will have to sell, but at L1 prices. Vultures will start to circle. |
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Reply | The QPR summer transfer rumours thread
at 23:11 22 Jul 2025
Champ strikers go for £5m a pop these days.
Therefore, as Kelman is a proven L1 ... well, last season at least, then that should be at least £3m.
Luton can afford that and I would hope it's a lot more as they have the monies.
I am not sure about Ba, he looks a bit like Sylla to me. Sylla had a decent record, but were we ever convinced? Not me.
I also read that the manager wants Chair to play centrally. So, we have Chair, Morgan and Dembele who can play in the centre. This means Madsen is not needed. They could have found a way to shift Madsen on, as his stats from last season are not that bad. 3 Goals, 3 Assists in 31 Champions appearances. It might be a cut your losses moment.
This leaves us with Kolli (who is rumoured to be off), Sutton and Smyth on the left. I suspect the view is Sutton is coming in, which would be remarkable progress. |
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Reply | Eze
at 22:04 21 Jul 2025
Not true, WBA put in a late bid, same amount, but all in cash, but they had only just been promoted and the Eze had been told about Palace and was already agreeing contracts with them.
Why would Eze move to WBA, who would be a risk, when an established Prem club and in London came in for him?
He wouldn't, so we honoured the deal, but I suspect that's how we got the 20% sell-on clause in; all this is just me guessing, of course. |
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Reply | Eze
at 23:00 20 Jul 2025
As Arsenal acquired Madueke, who can play on both sides, they don't need another winger or left-sided player, given that Martinelli had a decent season last year.
There is the idea that Eze can play a number 10, but they are about to buy Gyokeres for that, and they still have Jesus. If anything, they need to replace or improve upon Havertz, a number 9, as he was injured for a significant part of last season, just when he had started a scoring run as well.
If they move Trossard on, then maybe it might happen.
I don't see Eze going to Arsenal unless something significant changes. |
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Reply | Varane - Essential we keep this man !!
at 22:49 20 Jul 2025
Kelman cannot play number 9, as he cannot hold the ball up like Celar. There is a case to start Kelman instead of Celar if Frey is injured.
Last season proved that this team needs a hold-up player; we got away with it as we played some bad teams like Cardiff and Oxford. But we need a proper number 9, and Frey cannot last 3 games in a row, week in and week out.
I still like the idea of playing Madsen up front as he can lay the ball off with great 10-yard passes, can he hold up the ball? We won't know unless we play him there. It might also force him to head it as well. And we won't have to worry about Madsen getting up and down the pitch as he can hang around one half this way. |
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Reply | Saito
at 22:32 20 Jul 2025
I see the potential in Tuck, but I am not sure he's there yet. Needs a loan in L1 and then we shall see.
Also, Varane may be sold in the future, so it would be wise to get the replacement in now, and Colback is not gonna cut it anymore, even if we did rely on Tuck. |
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Reply | Saito
at 19:17 20 Jul 2025
Decent player whose stats deceive his overcontribution.
Took time to settle in, which is understandable, but in the end did so and well. Helped us out of many scrapes and covered well for Chair.
But he plays and can only play on the left.
Here we already have ...
- Chair
- Kolli
- Sutton
- Smyth
Even if we sell Kolli, we still have three players for that position. Sutton is ready; he looks the real deal. This will be his breakout season.
On the right we have ...
- Dembele
- Poku
- Smyth
So, we have cover on that side, which is why Smyth is so helpful, as he can play both wings.
As others have said they will want a fee for Saito, we don't even need him on loan, unless we get a mega injury crisis.
If we have any money (which we don't as spent it on Poku) what we need right now is ..
LB - 1st team replacement for Paal
CF - Backup for Frey, who we know has a body that cannot survive the Champ whilst his misses molests him all the time.
DMC - Replacement for Colback, who is too old and slow, despite being very good tactically and skillfully.
This is where we should be looking right now.
Get these 3 in and we should finish mid-table, which is progress for this club.
Don't get these in, and we are looking at a relegation battle with a hope of 16th again.
I would also as the season is less than 1 month away, offer Foxy a very much reduced terms as he can play LB reserve and also CB reserve. And our CB's get injured a lot. Hes also very useful when you need to throw on another defender and close out a game when the oppo starts lumping it. |
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Reply | Varane - Essential we keep this man !!
at 14:53 20 Jul 2025
If Varane and Frey won't be ready for a couple of weeks, then they have not had a preseason.
Which means Celar will start against PNE.
This is worrying. [Post edited 20 Jul 15:02]
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 12:27 19 Jul 2025
Michael Smith has left Sheff Wed.
Good goal-scoring record, could be a useful sub for Frey, possibly get him on super cheap wages as he's 33.
All guesswork but a 1+1 option, depending on the number of games played, would be the contract. Could be worth a look as a stop-gap until we get someone in proper.
But only having Frey as a hold-up player is not enough as his body cannot take it and he gets injured too much. As we know, Celar is not up to it. So, we need a large beast of number 9 to back up Frey. |
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Reply | Are We Going Toulouse? Match Thread
at 02:28 19 Jul 2025
After watching this one ...
Walsh 6:
Did okay, good save in the second half. Not as good as Nardi.
Dunne 6:
Decent RB performance, what we needed after the 6-0 debacle.
Mbengue 7:
Decent in defence, I would like him tested against a big lump, as I am not sure about him in the air, but on the ground, he looked solid.
Akindelini 6:
Not bad, a little out of position, should have been punished when losing the ball, but a decent effort for a youngster.
Esquerdinha 6:
Looked good enough to come out of the DS as a sub for real matches. I still think we need an experienced LB.
Field 6:
Better than the last game, held up the oppo well.
Morgan 6:
Dropped deep, made himself available, decent performance.
Dembele 5:
Did okay and then got injured. Not really in the game enough while he was on. Should be played in the middle instead.
Chair 6:
Great running, dropped deep to help out (this must be a new tactic from the manager as Morgan did it as well). They doubled up on him a lot. So the oppo was aware of him.
Smyth 8:
Scored the first and got the pen. Terrorised them with his pace. And then ran back like a manic to help out the defence. Did all that in 55 mins!
Celar 5:
Poor hold-up play, only redeemed somewhat with a great penalty. We cannot rely on this guy.
Subs:
Poku 7:
This guy looks class, better at crossing than Dembele. Hes gonna be a revelation.
Sutton 6:
This kid is the real deal, no wonder we are looking to sell Kolli. Sutton is gonna be a star.
Bennie 5:
Better than the horror show of the last game, but did not do much. He won't make it; it's time to move him on.
Amadson 6:
He was more comfortable in CD than RB, but I still think he's a midfielder. Still need to see him tackle more.
Cook 6:
Didn't move around much, but looked solid. It was noticeable when he was on, that the oppo didn't get much out of us. Commanding presence still.
Larkeche 6:
Played quite well in attack, positioned well in defence. I would have liked to have seen him defend a bit more.
Pearman 6:
Looked quite useful in the middle, much better here than in a number 10 role. Sprayed the ball around well.
Tuck 5:
Better from him, looked more in the game. Still needs work.
Vale 6:
Some nice touches, nothing major.
Kelman 5:
Looked better than when I have seen him the past. Still unable to hold the ball up as needed.
Overall in the 2nd half we controlled the game and saw it out. I must assume this is the Toulouse second team as they seemed well off the pace.
I would like to see Chair, Dembele and Poku all together, with Dembele in the middle of the three to see what that's like.
We need Frey and another like him. Considering we did not have him today, the team did very well and looked much better. Dunne at RB is a must, and if he cannot play there, then Mbengue can cover if Morrison and Cook are in the middle. Good to have options. But we need a first-team LB and a number 9 who is fast as the season starts in only a few weeks.
EDB has not been mentioned, I assume he only just went on his holidays as the loan as only just ended. I notice there was no run out for Richards, as well as the club carefully avoids being sued for £1m for mismanaging his mental health. As I said, he will be a DS regular. |
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Reply | England women’s team
at 00:26 18 Jul 2025
Kelly knows how to make runs and cross a ball.
James is a world-class player despite the penalty miss.
The whole team knows how to head a ball in attack, but not so sure about defending a cross.
Carter is a good, solid CD, but she is not up to the pace of these world-class class super-fast forwards. This is where Englands weakness is. Sweden exploited her lack of pace again, first goal was due to the press being too fast for her and the second she was unable to get back into position. Not entirely her fault but she is just not fast enough compared to all these speedsters every team seems to have.
We need someone in the back who can handle pacy forwards, otherwise we shall get undone again.
Kelly needs to start and Agy brought on much earlier, if not a starter. |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 15:51 16 Jul 2025
Yeah, but one thing they did was not waste it all on Prem wages, when they went up, they invested it.
However, since then, it has been wasted on players who were not good enough, so they can still invest and be clever, but time is running out. They are heading in our direction rather than out of it.
We run our club like PNE, Millwall now, but if we had been run that way in the Prem, more likly we would Burnley yo-yoing rather than Norwich slipping down the table. |
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Reply | Marti to Leicester…maybe
at 22:48 15 Jul 2025
Let's run the scenario:
- Massive points deduction
- Barred from transfer dealing
- Fire sale of key players
- Lots of injuries
- Yo-yo all over the top 6 and then finish 7th
Marti will claim he was robbed by the points and fire sale, fans will be on his side, and he will get another year. In that year, they will receive yet another set of parachute payments, and it's game on; he can now really press on.
I suspect he will be fine there and will be in the Prem with them. At which point, he will move on to Valencia as he hunts the next big ambition. And you know what, if you can deliver, which he does, then fair enough. If he keeps going on this trend in 4 years, he will be the Real Madrid Manager.
Which will be very QPR!
I am not sure its that a big risk for him really, even if it does go pear, he can always claim it was clusterfeck before he arrived and everyone will nod heads.
Win-win for Marti me thinks. Better than the WBA jobbie so, he's laughing all the way to the Leicester! |
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Reply | Madsen interview
at 22:19 15 Jul 2025
He can do it all but ... that only works in the Champ if you run run run.
He can tackle but only whens he's close enough to the play (which he often isn't as he does not keep running to keep up with it), he can do a defence splitting pass from the middle (which he infrequently does as he's often not in the right place at the right time as he did not run back or run forward enough so, he's oeftn 2 yards away from where he needs to be).
Played into feet he rarely gives the ball away and also shields it from the oppo who seem unable to tackle him easily, but that's not often as of course he's not in the correct position quick enough because he did not run run run.
A major flaw also is that he does not use his height which is criminal, we could really use another Dunnesk for corners as its too obvious to launch it Dunnaway all the time.
Hes in trouble this season, Poku could push Demeble into the middle behind Frey, which meanshes on the subs bench again. Not to mention Dale and Morgan can also play there. |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 15:48 15 Jul 2025
Didn't Norwich have parachute payments for 3 years?
Then they bought a lot of young players with that (rather than paying off excessive prem wages, which is the mistake we made going up and down); they have now sold these off.
This is the last pay-off season for them; if they don't go up, then they will be heading in our direction, which will be very painful for them.
Burnley were stupid paying for Sargent, I don't think he's very good (despite his stats). I think Burnley has made a mistake there. Parker will be sacked by November, me thinks. |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 15:45 15 Jul 2025
Yeah, but he would want a sign-on fee and will rake it in on large wages as they still have parachute payments. We should not do that, which is why we did not spunk £5m on him when Brizzle signed him.
In addition, not that far away, and they have Isaiah Jones, who will supply him all the chances. Not to mention whoever else they sign. It will be similar to Brum's performance last season in L1.
Makes it more challenging for Cardiff and Reading to return :) |
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Reply | Rest of the Championship thread 25/26
at 15:42 15 Jul 2025
Which shows why Coback should not be renewed if we can get just as good but younger and possibly for less.
Especially as Colback, while skilful and tactically aware, is too slow getting up and down the pitch now, and that's when he's fit, which is only for half a season.
Remember the Champ is run run run.
Everyone runs, Chair runs, Frey runs, Smyth runs, Dunne runs, everyone runs, no matter the skill. Which is why Madsen has so far failed as he does not run enough. |
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Reply | Eze
at 12:17 15 Jul 2025
If he goes to Munich, then Kane can get him in the England team and that's a big draw. Kane, after all, got Dier a new contract at Munich, which was nice of him. |
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Reply | Kolli
at 14:23 14 Jul 2025
Kolli is a quality player, with skills and a youth product as well.
If we get good money for him, then we should sell him as he's injured way too much.
But remember, Armstrong, who is nowhere near as skilful, went to Bristol to be the next big thing. They gave him a great run in the team, making him their starting forward, and the crowd went wild at his direct running. He looked like the next Collymore or Ferdinand. However, they soon found out that the results weren't happening, and he was dropped.
What about Dykes, a seasoned performer in the Champ, who drops a division and gets to play in the best team in that division? Yet he cannot make the team, as Alfie May, an L1 forward, is ahead of him. Dykes scored two goals in the league all season, one of which came for us against SU before his move! Now on social media they are saying he's not good enough for the Champ, and they need to move him on! I doubt anyone will buy Dykes in the Champ, maybe Millwall or Charlton, but that's a stretch.
We should sell Kolli if we get good money, and the same for Nardi and Chair, who are now in their prime and will only decrease in value. |
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