Teale's 'tache

I'm not saying he has bad movement, it's just when somebody says 'he looks mobile' I think it means being able to cover a bit of ground, have a turn of pace, I just didn't get that from the clips I've seen. He looks a big guy, so it's no real surprise he might not be the quickest. I can still see how he might fit in to our system though. I think I'd need to see more of him before I could say he was worth throwing so much money at, but then that's what our scouts are for!

Somebody on here said he looked mobile, I didn't get that from any the videos... It's hard to judge anybody on a bunch of selected clips though.

Also, as an afterthought, I'd imagine they would of been paying the £9m for Amavi over a number of years, if they can't afford a payment what happens then? Do we get him back or is just something that get's passed on when someone else picks him up?

Thauvin has been very good for them since he left Newcastle, Payet is obviously good but also 32 now, Strootman is good but way too injury prone, Kamara is a good young center back and Sanson could be worth a look. There's a few others could do well for us as well, hopefully we are taking a look at what might be a few bargains there!

I'd agree with this, however I remember West Ham promising their fans a big name striker one summer and being linked with loads of big names, in the end they got turned down by them all and ended up chucking £20m at Swansea for Andre Ayew... I think our board are a little more competent than Gold, Sullivan and Brady though...

Your wish is Photoshop Genie's command! Although, they allowed a change in colour of the logo for the Wolves strip, so it could be in white like this... It will depend on their brand guidelines as to how we are allowed to use their logo.

I knew the top clubs had much bigger deals but I was expecting more from the rest, just goes to show a club with a bit of nouse could gain an advantage with some good negotiating.

If it is around £10m then this table shows we've done pretty well judging by last years deals.

Well there you go! If it is £10m it's doubled, not to shabby.

To be fair, pretty much any main sponsor deal agreed by a Premier League club is 'record breaking' nowadays, it just means it's more money than we've been paid for sponsorship before. Would be interesting to compare to last years deal to see how much extra being in the Premier League really gets you.

Harry Kane... comes inside Hause (pronounced "whores")...

I'd agree with that, but it's good to have a shape to begin with, and it can help having starting points to reset to. You're right though no formation is really set in stone anymore.

I agree, although the Championship games coming thick and fast was probably a good thing, as much as you can do on the training pitch it's competitive games where the changes are really enforced. Although the philosophy is embedded in the few players we have left, we have half a squad full that will need to come in and learn it quickly! Will be interesting to see how we start, pre-season and getting those signings in early could be vital for a good start.

Yep, and as @wilko154 mentioned £2m of that may be the original money we paid for the loan deal. Honestly, if it was another £8m to get him now it's worth it, anything less is a bargain really.

I think in that run the players learnt how difficult a formation it can be to play, I think before Grealish was injured he papered over the cracks of a team learning an entirely new style. He's so good at keeping the ball when most wouldn't, moving it on quickly, making himself available, and picking the right pass that when he wasn't there we couldn't seem to get it forward through the lines quickly enough, and we were losing the ball more often and in dangerous areas. I don't think that has really been fixed, if Jack isn't there we will likely struggle, maybe Jota is the answer, he's nowhere near as good as Jack but I think he can fill that kind of roll. My main concern is that with so many players coming in and not knowing the system we could be off to a slow start, and depending on how the fixtures land it could hurt our chances of staying up. There's not really anything we can do about it other than getting as many of the loan guys in as we can. It won't hurt to have a plan B, you're right in that respect, but the plan B might just be a variation of what we already do rather than an outright change.

It just depends on if you count the El Ghazi/Adomah positions as forwards or midfielders, and if you count one of the center midfielders as being entirely defensive, technically you could call it a 4-1-2-2-1. Either way it's flexible and it worked!

4-3-3 in itself can actually be a very flexible formation allowing for quick changes in-game, you have the option to change the midfield 3 around to be more/less defensive, you can switch the wingers to mix it up, it's easy to change to a 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 without even needing to make a substitution as long as your players are flexible enough. I don't think formation is everything, but being flexible and reacting to the game is an important part of management. I could argue that teams like Liverpool/Man City always play the same way and don't really have a much used plan B either, but that's because they are so good they don't need to. I think we might need to work on a shape when the backs are against the wall and we are under pressure as it's not something we've had to face much the past few seasons, but going forward I think we have enough variety and options providing we bring in the right players.

Dean Smith is an experienced manager, I'm sure he has numerous plans and formations up his sleeve, he seems the type, he's very thorough. At the moment he doesn't even know what tools he will have to work with, we need to get the players in before he can even nail down a plan A. I think the poor spell last season was obviously down to the absence of Jack but also the player were still learning his system and style of play, it takes a while, and that is a concern for the start of the season with so many incoming, but he persisted because he had faith that the system would suit the players and it worked. After that when we went on the run there was simply no need to change the way we were playing, and the stakes so high there was no real opportunity to try something different even if we wanted to, others changed their game plan for the play offs and it cost them, we stuck to what got us there and it worked. The work done in January and so far in this window suggests Smith like to have players that can play in multiple positions, it gives him more scope to change things. He will need to be more flexible tactically in the Premier League, but I've seen nothing to suggest that he can't be flexible, just that he knows when he's on to a good thing and not to change it too soon.

A bit more than I'd previously read too, but like you say still totally worth it. Sign him up!

Agree with this, the swearing is so rarely needed, it's a lazy way of trying to emphasise a point and just comes across as crass

The beard lives on!

I like him, I think he has a great temperament and attitude, he's not the most technically gifted but he's willing to learn and brave as they come, for the money being reported I think it's no risk to get him in and see what we can do with him long term.

Pretty sure I didn't call him a clogger. I've just always believed his strengths were in recovery, in the air and reading the game, and not in distribution or moving the ball quickly. He's clearly a good footballer, I just don't feel he has the attributes we need for the system we want to play. 33 year olds are pretty much always slower than they were at 28, I think you'd agree that Adomah was quicker at 28 than he was at 31 last season... players lose speed with age, it's a well known fact. The last few times I saw him play he looked really slow, you can get away with it in the championship as Terry did, not so much in the Premier League unless you are going to sit back and that is not our style. He's won a lot of things, and fair play to him, I never wanted him to leave the Villa when he did. He's been a great player, but it doesn't mean he still is now, there's a reason Chelsea stopped playing him. You are entitled to your opinion, and I wouldn't be distraught if we signed him, I just feel we should go in a different direction and look at a more modern center half.

I'd love that to happen, think he's a great left back, but I don't think Spuds would be willing to sell as he made 40 appearances last season.