Pez1974

Not sure I'd say no to anyone who is at or around PL standard...it depends on the price, salary and their role. It also depends on the budget - like with Grealish, the club they're at puts greater value on them than we will, and we should respect that. We need to sign a few starters - CF, wingers, CM....and need more depth in a few areas, so need to be less picky, and ask 'are they better than what we've got now'? If (for example) Joe Hart will come here on a free transfer, and is happy to be back-up on a relatively low salary, then go for it - he's been kept out of sides by 2 of the best keepers in the league for the last few years. We might be able to sell Nyland for a few £m, and make Hart effectively a freebie for a season or 2, and maybe he finds form and we're away. But not Deeney. And not because he's a nose.

Matteo Guendouzi, anyone? I think he's a bell-end, but clearly has ability and at 21, can improve in all aspects of the game, and his attitude. Arsenal seem desperate to sell him, but despite rumours of him being a makeweight for Partey, or Barca/PSG being linked - it's very quiet. Rumours of about £20-25m? He ticks a lot of our boxes - age, experience, price, potential, and position. But not hair. If he comes, he gets a hair cut though. That's a non-negotiable.

With regards the question of his pace, and his acceleration - He seems to have a good top speed, but like a lot of tall people, he takes time to get up to speed. You see this in athletics - the short arses are usually out of the blocks quickest, but the taller people make huge gains on them after 20m or 30m. The short arses can't improve their top speed by much; but the taller ones can improve acceleration and reaction time. And it wasn't like he was going nowhere; a small improvement could be massive in the context of his career. And as he gains experience, he will become better at seeing the danger early - reducing the need for acceleration. Mick Quinn was the fattest, slowest player ever...but over a yard he was like lightening, and made a career out of knowing where the ball would land.

With regards the question of his pace, and his acceleration - He seems to have a good top speed, but like a lot of tall people, he takes time to get up to speed. You see this in athletics - the short arses are usually out of the blocks quickest, but the taller people make huge gains on them after 20m or 30m. The short arses can't improve their top speed by much; but the taller ones can improve acceleration and reaction time. And it wasn't like he was going nowhere; a small improvement could be massive in the context of his career. And as he gains experience, he will become better at seeing the danger early - reducing the need for acceleration. Mick Quinn was the fattest, slowest player ever...but over a yard he was like lightening, and made a career out of knowing where the ball would land.

I would imagine that a lot of people aren't fully convinced by Smith. He's done well so far, but the owners aspire to far greater achievements, and he may not be able to take us much further - but he definitely deserves that chance, and I'm sure the owners will give him that. I don't think we can hold off on the SD role for another 6 or 12 months, and I don't think we should. If we want the SD model in the club, it happens, irrespective of the manager. That's the point of it.

I don't think we need to rush for a replacement, although I believe this wasn't a knee jerk reaction, so plans were already in place. Also, if the Sporting Director role has any purpose, all the background work is done - all the priority areas identified, scouting done, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd choices, etc, and a budget attached to each. Now it's down to the negotiations with clubs, agents and players, which I suspect Purslow did a lot of, and has probably already been in hand for a few weeks at a tentative level. Frankly, if this isn't all ready to go - we're ****.

Don't get some of the hate. First season at this level - started well but faded. Clearly had injuries, and I suspect other stuff has gone on as well. Konsa has clearly progressed, and will (as things stand) be first choice alongside Mings next season. If this guy is the back-up right sided CB, then that sounds OK to me, but he could progress and become a lot better. He's still only 25. Yes we'll likely replace him in another year or 2, when the squad is at a completely different level, but we can only go out and buy perhaps 3 or 4 top quality players this summer, and we have higher priorities than getting this guy out of the club.

It might be a translation thing - he couldn't have been 'signing' Nzonzi. He might have been talking to him, and being told to **** off. I've had many "conversations" like that.

Absolutely - but with so many more players on the bench, and more getting on the pitch - clubs can promise these youngsters a lot more game time now. The likes of Man City can literally rotate half their team for games, knowing the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne, Aguero can all come on in the 2nd half and change the game if it ain't going well. In their place, these youngsters get 20 starts a season and Man City keep all their key players fresh.

If the match day squad stays at 20 next season, with 5 subs allowed - won't they increase the squad from 25? Given that most squads has 3x GKs (and you'd only need one of those on the bench), Or will they use it as an excuse to promote the U21s? Meaning the rich clubs start hoovering up all the youngsters.

Assuming the likes of Reina; Baston, Chester; Drinkwater are already gone. And we don't want a huge overhaul - get rid of the dead wood, and ensure we have a squad to cope with injuries and the expanded squad and subs rule. GKs - with Heaton and Steer, we can afford to lose Kalinic. With Sarkic gone we may need to keep hold of Nyland unless we really want to spend money on another GK. RBs - Guilbert, Elmo stay - don't see us bringing in anyone else, so we can't get rid LBs - Targett, Taylor stay - same reasoning as RBs CBs - Mings and Konsa definite stays. Bree can definitely go. Engels should probably stay unless the falling out is too much; Hause I'm on the fence about, but he should be 5th choice, so we need to strengthen. MFs - Gealish, McGinn, Luiz, Hourihane all stay. Lansbury and Jota should go. Nakamba is probably OK to stay for numbers and DCM cover and to see if there's improvement - but we need to strengthen here. Wing - Trez and El Ghazi I'm on the fence about - perhaps 1 goes so we can keep costs under control. We definitely need to strengthen here, and need to go big! CF - Wesley, Davis and Vassilev stay, with the latter 2 needing games time on loan; Hogan goes. Samatta might be useful as an impact sub - but he only seems to be able to head the ball, so I wouldn't mind if he went or he had 1 more season. Again, a key position for investment. I am assuming that the likes of Jacob Ramsey, Louie Barry and co will contribute to the squad if not on loan (and we need to be getting these guys game time), but won't suddenly become first team regulars. But it would be nice! That's only 2 players who have been around the squad all season going, plus 3 others who have been out on loan. We might just scrape £6-8m of funds coming in, and need 4 or 5 major signings - probably costing £100m+ between them. We can't start replacing Taylor (for example) and eat into that budget for a back-up full back. The likes of Taylor, Elmo and Nakamba should be next summer if they don't step up further (assuming next season goes well!)

I understand what you're saying, but with the extended match day squads and subs, we need to be careful how many we let go. If we get rid of Taylor, then we need to spend money on a replacement. I would rather we used pretty much all of our budget on improving the first team, rather than our reserve left back.

The guys gone. Can't run anymore, and only going to get worse. No problem with what you're suggesting in theory. He's just not physically capable now.

We need to make sure we improve the starting 11 - probably with 3 or 4 very high quality signings, assuming no-one important leaves. Exact personnel depends on the starting system, definitely need at least 1 wide forward/winger; and a physical CM. Likely a CF, 2nd winger and/or a centre half. We also need to be careful who leaves - we can't leave the squad short of players as it seems its 5 subs from 9 again next year. For example, assuming Targett remains 1st choice LB, do we really want rid of Taylor for what, a couple of £m, and then spend a whole chunk of the budget for the new Habib Beye? Keep most of the squad together, a make sure the likes of Lansbury only makes the match day squad for cup games. Finally - get the young guns out on loan having tied them into a contract. Jack had a season with Notts County, and came back ready. Lets not keep them here and stop their development for a couple of Carabao cup outings off the bench.

Really weird comments from Southgate - he's either thick as shit, or just wasn't ready for detailed questions about excluding Jack (which means he's thick as shit). He's up for PL player of the month, is a talent unlike other players he has available, and there are murmurs about how Maddison didn't get a game and how he dropped out, so he is under scrutiny and Jack is the next player for the press to focus on. Aside from not selecting him, it's just poor.

I agree. All players make mistakes, but giving this guy a run in the first team squad might just give him confidence and allow him to develop with some game time. Taylor got some games because he went a couple of games without costing us a goal; but he still offers nothing going forward and no physicality. The amount of attacks which stop once he touches the ball is amazing.

He'd have passed it back to Heaton

And relax.... Currently 11th; ahead of the dog-heads and 1 point behind Spurs, Burnley and West Ham. And we're getting better.

Sometimes players click with a club; sometimes they don't. For a host of reasons, Mings never clicked with Bournemouth, but you could see how it worked here. We are lucky to have this player, leader and person at our club. And we are lucky to have the same for our country's national team. FWIW - I obviously have no idea if this is something you can 'scout' - people talk about Guardiola and Klopp needing the right person as much as the right player - and if Deano, Pitarch and co have the ability to get this element right, then we are very, very lucky indeed.

We have good squad depth, and players like Jota have helped with that. I suspect Norwich would have liked a player of his ilk in their squad for last weekend. He can play in the cup games against lower league sides, look good, and enable us to rest first team regulars. It also gives them a chance to develop and either challenge for a first team place (and remember, he's only played a few PL games, so it's early days), or we are likely to be able to sell him over the next couple of years for a profit. At worst, he's bought us time and allows us a bit of rotation in cup games, without having to do what Brighton did. At best, he might just develop into a PL star. Most likely - he'll be gone within 18 months at a small profit after helping us survive, giving us time to bring in a replacement with next years PL money.

£4m + Gardner. So about £1m then.

I don't understand why this guy isn't on the bench. Is he injured? He covers 2 positions (Taylor only covers LB) - which is something you want from your bench. I would also argue he's better on the ball than Taylor (but so is a 2 legged horse with a bad back) and would provide more presence in both boxes at set pieces. And providing we stay up, I think this guy could be sold in the next 4 windows as I think the ability of our squad will soon make him surplus to requirements. If he's around the squad, there's money to be made, unlike with Taylor.

Really glad he stuck with the same line up after the Burnley game. We have strength in depth in CM, and playing an additional CM further forward gives us more strength on the field than playing a winger who isn't performing as highly, albeit one that slightly unbalances the team. All of the CMs are intelligent players and should be able to adapt and rotate, we have very attacking full backs with good quality on the ball, and it means we have better options on the bench to make changes later in the game. Still don't get Taylor in the squad ahead of Hause, who can cover in the centre also and cannot be a wore passer of the ball. Is he injured, or does Taylor have pictures of Deano and Terry?

Is this guy our 5th choice keeper? And he's getting a start against the Champions in Scotland. Not sure whether this says more about our strength in depth in this area (where there appears to be a fair bit of mediocrity) or more about the standard of football up there. Good experience in any case.

He made Garth Crooks team of the week. Although this is usually a pile of garbage, it at least shows that Jack is getting some positive attention.