WakefieldVillan

£20m I think would've been the right amount but certainly can't blame Brentford for getting what they can and what they think they feel he is worth. 

Will be great to get this one over the line, I just hope and pray we can get a couple more in.. or 4...

Edouard/Benrahma/King/Swift would give us loads of flexibility and improve our firepower immensely.

I don't ask for much... 

Blatantly obvious to all that we need strengthening up front and out wide and time is ticking, but that said, I'm happy we didn't sign Wilson (or that he 'chose' Newcastle), especially on the terms mentioned.

I'd much prefer Edouard and(/or) Watkins. 

Probably for another thread but are my eyes deceiving me or are people really suggesting Keinan Davis as a left back or midfielder?!

Back to transfers, I think Watkins will sign this week and I'm hopeful Benrahma too, in a double deal.

1 minute ago, MrBlack said:

It is madness to think our signings will happen in order of priority,  way too many variables for that to be the case. Sadly there are always plenty of irrational thoughts out there.

Speaking of, I choose to look at it this way...If they're willing to spend this much in a position we're not struggling in,  there must be billions to spend!

Oh yes, I totally agree. It's definitely not just as simple as going through the first eleven picking a winger out, then a striker.. etc.

I also echo your sentiments regarding the money side of things, it bodes well for other signings - 3 good quality signings in the right positions and we might be in for our first "boring" season for a while (IE 9th - 13th?)... Actually f... that - We're winning a cup!    

Anyway, welcome Matty, much better being a  than a 

If this signing had been announced after the signing of say, Rashica, Watkins and Edouard then I think we would be all pretty happy with this but because it's our first and probably in one of the positions we thought we were "ok" in, I think some are less enthused.

Taking the transfer on it's own merit I think he's a decent signing, at a good age, with scope for improvement and Forest fans rate him highly too which is good enough for me.

I think he comes in as first choice RB with Guilbert and Elmo providing competition ( I'd keep Elmo for one more season).

Mates a season ticket holder at Forest - he said he would be gutted to see Cash go, said he has all the attributes to play at Premier league level. Only played this season at RB converted from winger so obviously very attack minded. He said he's not at top level though as a winger. To be fair it's pretty much what I thought from the games I've seen of him on TV. If he signs then wish him all the best, should be decent competition for Guilbert but I wouldn't rule out Elmo leaving tbh. Would've preferred Aarons but guessing he may be out of our range.

As for Swift, have mentioned him previously, I think some will be pleasantly surprised, ok not a 'marquee' signing but a player with good potential, good on the ball, skilful, good set piece delivery, eye for goal and 8 to 12 million would be a great price. Get him in and Lansbury out and it's decent business.

Definitely don't want to be signing all Championship players though and it's a little frustrating that no one has come in yet but I would be amazed if by this time next week we haven't got 2 of 3 in the bag ✍

8 hours ago, Cjay said:

Goal scoring wise may not be to impressive  (although with minutes played taken into account his La Liga record as a striker is 1 in 3).

But MB demands far more from a striker than just goals. In that respect according to those who know more than i say Rodrigo has the things MB will want.

It seems a lot for a 29 year old but he is currently the Spanish national teams main striker at the end of the day.

His record last season isnt bad imo.

Directly involved in 17 goals in just under 28 games worth of minutes. Goal or an assist every 146 minutes,  2 goals and 2 assists  in the Champions League (Ajax, Chelsea and Lille) only played 529 minutes.

I'd rather this then spend £20mil on Ollie Watkins which is apparently something we may have done.

 

Interesting to see you posting on here again, haven't seen you on here since you flopped in the play offs whilst we gained promotion

Hope he flops miserably, as do your club.

And yes, I'm pretty childish

3 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

It usually starts off in the transfer speculation thread.

Then if enough ground gathers or another reputable link emerges on a said player then it moves into its own thread.

All individual player threads have to start off as 'speculation' but those buttons can quickly be adjusted to say 'player' the moment that they sign.

Hope that explains it a bit better mate.

 

 

I know mate, I just keep hoping next time I visit the forum I see no 'speculation' on the following threads;

Rashica

Tripper

Edouard 

Watkins

Not much to ask

I find myself constantly looking at these (new) player threads and disappointed when I see "speculation" next to their names  

Would love this to happen and I can't imagine many supporters unhappy if we did sign him - Unfortunately just can't see it.

To be honest we have more important positions in the team to fill first. 

6 minutes ago, colhint said:

When  national teams go into tournaments they take a squad of 25  which more often than not is 

3 keepers

8 defenders

8 midfielders 

5 strikers

= 24

Room for Messi then

Very excited if we pull this off (*waits for obligatory Kenneth Williams pic) but also apprehensive that it will happen - I always feel our signings come totally unexpected but fingers crossed we get this one over the line.

I will be honest I have only seen him play one full 90 against England and basing the excitement on YouTube clips (I know, I know..) but he looks accomplished, versatile, quick turn of pace, can strike a ball and to be honest we all know how desperate we are to add quality to our attack, this guy certainly looks to have the tools to do so - Here's hoping  

8 hours ago, Zatman said:

He did it because the game meant nothing and he had a bad reputation over Spygate. If Sheffield United didnt get promoted the day before then he doesn't let us score 

Correct. They had already blown automatics so not sure why the Leeds fans are still so wound up by it. Think the fact that Terry was involved probably fueled the fire. I think in hindsight I would've preferred the non goal and a defeat. We were comfortably in the play-offs by then anyway and our unbeaten run was coming to an end either with a draw or defeat. I think they would have come out of it a lot worse if they hadn't let us score. Anyway, we got the last laugh and I think that still hurts them.  I hope they do struggle next season and Bielsa implodes - I think a lot of it will depend on whether they suffer any long term injuries (always possible with Bielsa's coaching methods), if they do, with a relatively small squad then their fans are in for a rude awakening. We had long spells without Heaton, McGinn and Wesley (who was just finding a bit of form) - Were they to lose Cooper (with Berardi injured and White back at Brighton), Phillips (their star man by far) and (dare I say) Bamford for long periods then they are going to struggle big time. I think they need more reinforcements than us and we couldn't have been any closer to dropping. To be fair the manager has certainly improved the players and they all work to his system well, they played some cracking football away at Arsenal in the cup and could have been out of sight (ultimately they lost and Arsenal were poor) but can they perform consistently in the top league, bit different coming up against the likes of Aguero, Kane and Vardy as opposed to Steven Fletcher or Lee Tomlin and I think a few of their players will get found out.

2 minutes ago, AndyM3000 said:

I don't really understand the hate for JT that seems to have developed. It's like some of our fans think he's the only one responsible for how many goals we conceded last season. 

I agree. I'm chuffed to bits with this appointment but will also be equally happy if Terry stays. From the moment he signed and sung his "stand by me" he has been a true professional and I think him just being around here is a massive reason that is changing the culture of our dressing room. He is a born winner. The players must look up to him. I like that he's learning his trade here and the respect he shows our great club.

As for Shakespeare, can't see anything not to like with this one. Bags of experience, with success and what I didn't realise, a Villa fan to boot! 

Now let's get Jack on a new deal and get some quality signings in...

11 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Realistically? Or in a dream world.

In a dream world i'd have Watkins, Abraham and Davis as our options. Selling Samatta and Wesley.

Realistically our options will be Davis, Watkins, Wesley and Samatta. Which is at least one too many.

Fair enough. I feel that in either of your options we would be one light.

Without derailing the thread;

An injury to Tammy in your "dream scenario" and we're left with a guy unproven at this level and a guy that struggles for goals.

In your realistic option I would still keep all 4 and hope that they all can step up to the plate at times during the season but I would have considerable doubts. 

2 hours ago, villalad21 said:

Can't have 4 strikers in the squad when we only play one up top.

That's absolutely mad.

I'd personally rather be over stocked than risk being in a position where we are putting El Ghazi up top. End of the day goals win games. Of the 4 I selected Watkins is obviously capable of playing wide and Wesley is returning from a lengthy lay-off so a slight risk whether he hits the ground running. We also need good competition for places. Say Wesley goes 5 games without scoring then he needs to feel the pressure of someone fighting for his place. Also, I would hope that Smith will be a bit more versatile with his formations. I'd love him to mix it up so we're not as predictable to other teams. I'd like a 4-1-3-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation as options alongside the one we currently play. 

How many strikers would you have in the squad? Which ones? 

28 minutes ago, Mister_a said:

You can’t train instinct for goals. Some players have it, some don’t. It looks like Watkins has a better eye for goal than Davies. It is what it is. I’d have Watkins over Davies without any hesitation.
 

If you were a manager and you bought in someone to do coding, it doesn’t matter how good they are at building servers if they can’t fulfil the role they are supposed to be doing. (Insert other dubious analogy here). Davies is a striker who doesn’t score goals. Yes he can hold the ball up well, but that is of no use if we can’t put it in the net. 
 

See last few seasons for multiple examples.

DAVIS!

To be fair, he contributed without scoring. At Everton and West Ham in particular he played a part. Strikers will always be judged on goals which is why the majority on here (it seems) don't rate him. I personally do. I think like a lot of strikers if he got one, other goals would follow - buuuuut, he needs to be playing week in week out and we can't really afford that luxury. I'd love to go in to the season with

Abraham, Wesley, Watkins and Davis. 

I'd rather keep Davis than Samatta tbh.

But on the other hand I do think a loan for Davis might be ideal for the player, he needs lots of game time and hopefully he can improve on the one major flaw in his game! 

Without going off topic, Trez and Anwar have done some ok things for us and I don't feel we should be having mass changes like we needed last year, so would be happy enough with them both as squad players but regardless of the support of the midfield or Jack being played there, if they are our starting players next season we will be relegated IMO. Real quality competition hopefully would bring the best out of both of them.

2 hours ago, Knutserov13 said:

My take on Benrahma.

Hes a really fine player. A good creative one. Probably one thats gonna be MoM one week and not to be seen the other. Problem for me is that he plays the same position as Jack. There is no way hes better than Jack in that position. Ok, you say - Easy, we'll move Jack to the middle. I'll be totally against that, why move your best player from the position where he creates chances and scoring goals? To play Jack in the middle there is no balance in the team with McGinn and Luiz. McGinn would in that case have to convert into a DCM, is he any good at that role? If Jack plays through the middle I guess we´ll have to bench McGinn and sign a new midfielder?

But, IF Jack goes I'm all for signing Benrahma.

Doesn't make a difference for me. We need quality players in, mainly wingers/wide forwards and a centre forward and Benrahma fits the bill (for the right price).

Players get injured. We need to have a better squad. But we need to improve the starting eleven (which filters down the squad).

There's other options of course, Sarr, Rashica, Brooks, Buendia all would improve our first team. 

For all the heroics of Trez late on in the season with the goals and on stats alone El Ghazi's aren't too shabby - they were clearly weaknesses in our team and so many times the play just fizzled out when they got on the ball. A new quality front three (whether Jack be played on the left or as an 8 or 10) it would see us finish comfortably mid table. 

As for Tammy, he misses chances, he gets chances, but he scores goals, he's quick, tall - good for defending & attacking set pieces, works hard, he has confidence in his own ability, he obviously has a connection with the club - I'd have him back all day long. 

10 hours ago, roonst83 said:

Any idea when we will reveal the away and third kits?

I was wondering that too? 

My mate is a Liverpool season ticket holder so asked him his thoughts on Origi. He thinks he's better than Edouard, Iheanacho and Tammy! (Thinks the latter is over-rated). Says he's scored crucial goals and played in some big games, is pretty fast but has a tendency to be a little lazy. Said he would be better than what we have at the moment. But said the big question mark would be his work rate!

To be honest no groundbreaking info there, I was 50/50 on this before the above and I still am (IF anything materialises). 

2 hours ago, AntrimBlack said:

Are we going to say this about every player we discuss, whether we were in for them or not?

No

I guarantee if he goes to Sheffield United he bangs 2 past us the first time we play them. 

20 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Ok, I'm done with this thread until he signs or somebody else signs.

I have a habit of staying on a thread too long and debating.

My overarching opinion is that I really like the look of Watkins and would love to sign him on one condition.

 

If he was the only striker to sign then no thanks, if we brought a top notch striker and Watkins then I'm delighted.

That's exactly where I am with it too. I think he would be a great addition with versatility of being able to play wide and he seems the right sort of character which is also very important for the squad too. 

I'd take Watkins over El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Samatta all day so for me he's an improvement. I think £22M is about the right sort of fee and I think we will get him.

But I'm still holding out for Tammy too, and the likes of Benrahma, Eze, Sarr and Aarons. Then we would be set to go. I'm going to be well disappointed come the end of window.

Would be delighted with this signing. Young, quick, strong, knows where the net is (albeit so far at a lower level) and has the potential to improve along the way. Can play up top or wide so gives us an option either way. I just hope we also have a big name proven striker coming in too.