HolteExile

Indeed.

Even aside from the regular brainfarts you mentioned he just doesn't convince, as far as I'm concerned. The cup games against Leicester look like an anomaly when you view the rest of his time with us. I was nervous about him in goal in the championship. I'd want him nowhere near the first team in the Premier League personally. Even when he manages to save one he somehow looks unconvincing. Someone once described him to me as having crisp packet hands and I'd concur. There can't be too many 26/27 year old gems hiding away in the German second division either. It's not as if we signed a youngster with plenty of scope for development. Gollini I always felt could do well either back home or in the top flight in say Portugal, Spain etc even though he struggled with us. At a standard of football where crosses/physical forwards are not so much a way of life. I'll safely predict Nyland's shot stopping won't be gracing the Champions League or any other reasonable standard of top flight football anytime soon. He's mince.

Might just be the agent texting his mates in the press. And possibly hoping for late offers from elsewhere.

Indeed. Seeing as he nearly joined AC Milan in January it's not as if he's been under the radar. For us I think we need more proven quality in most areas of the pitch this season. But with the quality we already have at right back, it's one position where a new arrival doesn't have to come in and hit the ground running. Wonder if he might be able to do a Luke Young and play at left back as well. Apparently he played right and left midfield at Forest.

We don't have to accept that at all. London maybe, but players sign for Citeh or Yanited despite Manchester, not because of it. Mancs shout a bit louder than most but Birmingham is the second city in more than name only.

Focused on Bremen. Right up until the moment he leaves. Nowt wrong with that. You'd want that from every professional.

If London is such a huge pull for him he could always get a country pile in Oxford or somewhere close and be equidistant between London and Bodymoor Heath. What is it, about an hour either way? And buy a gaff in London as well. Should hardly be a deal breaker. Terry seemed to be able to commute between Surrey and BH easy enough as both a player and a coach.

I wouldn't be completely stunned if Abraham becomes available on loan towards the end of the window. Chelsea might not want to sell outright (at this stage anyway) and the player himself might not be keen to burn his bridges completely with his hometown club. But if he's struggling to make the bench even in the early part of the campaign, a loan stint at a top flight club might be better for his development. A lot can change in football in 12 months. Who knows, a year from now Fat Fwank might not be there and a forward who has had another season bagging circa 20 goals solves one area for the new Chelsea manager. Conversely, if Lampard stays and Tammy has had another successful loan period (with us, ideally) he might be convinced we're the best long term option. If there are deals to be done with Edouard and even Watkins I'd still do them. A loan move wouldn't be instead of that. Watkins (and even Tammy himself) can play as a wide forward as and when required.

Really don't see how you're struggling with this one. Celtic tried to lowball Hibs and only put in a suitable bid when we did. McGinn had has his head turned/ seen sense when we came in and the rest is history. The players hold all the power now. When we signed Dion Dublin as far back as 98 Blackburn offered more money to Cov but he wanted to come to us. So they ultimately accepted our lower valuation. Similar scenarios will have played out many times since. If McGinn was dead set on going to Celtic he could have waited until the last knockings of that window or wound his contract down to force the issue.

The market hasn't really got going yet. Watkins - like Rashica - is probably the best player at his club and as such those deals will never be straightforward. We can't wait indefinitely, but the spin from the papers early on was he was keen to come. Players involved in the Championship Play offs/ latter stages of European competition might still be on extended breaks (genuinely not sure if that applies to Watkins. He might be back already). To my mind we need three quality editions who can come straight into the first team. I'll be happy if we have at least one of them by the start of the season and the other two are in by the end of the window.

You really don't have to.

Wise words we should all reflect on during these difficult times.

Stick another Lol in there. Make yourself seem really smart.

Why, exactly? Wesley's form was up and down pre injury. He may or may not go on to be a useful forward for us. Too early to say with that setback. But nothing pre January illustrated a lack of commitment. Just a player struggling for consistency. Pretty certain he didn't volunteer for a cruciate injury either. Odd comment.

Let's not push our luck.

Prefer this one. Is he even Brazilian if he doesn't have massive hair. Something to work on for next season.

Would've liked to see him go up with Brentford. Like what they have done there in recent seasons and be interesting to see if that stats focused approach could work in the top flight. Fulham have had multiple chances and offered very little. The Brentford plan still might work, but it's harder when you increasingly lose your best players. If we had gone down we'd have most likely lost Grealish, McGinn and Mings. I know that's the reality for most clubs but don't like to see it. Gives you precious little time to build anything of note before the vultures come circling. If there's serious interest from us in this one, the Smith factor might swing it. That could equally go against us as well: They might go all weird like that Bristol mob and buzz off selling to any club other than us. Have a feeling he'll end up at Leeds.

It's got most things right. A solid 7-8 of 10. I can revoke that obv if they stick some horrifically large second sponsor on the sleeves as per last year. A minor grumble would be that if we do have to have detailing on the main body of the shirt, I'd prefer that to be closer to what we had in the AST 95/96 kits. The pinstripe (even with a different shade) evokes the back end of the Lambert era somewhat.

Edit.

Lawnmower Man is in your head now.

If he keeps us up he's probably earned the right to have another crack at it. But that doesn't mean he's the best possible candidate to take us on to the next phase. So there's the rub.

The current Kappa kit looks OK in the versions I've seen without that horrendously oversized betting logo on the front and the North Korean patches on the arms. Don't think they can take much blame for either of those monstrosities. The Macron efforts always looked too busy even without sponsors.

I'll go out on a limb here and say he probably knows him from youth football in the Smoke.

Bowen and Olly Watkins looked standout players in the championship last season. Watkins impressed me at Villa Park last year - he impressed me even more when he spoke after the game and sounded quite sharp upstairs n'all. He can play a few positions up front and has added goals to his game this season in a more advanced role. Not saying either are nailed on to take the top flight by storm, but those are the kind of longer term projects I'd like to see us invest in.