Teale's 'tache

I'm stressed about how stressed I'm going to be later, it's so stressful being this stressed.

This weekend is lasting forever! I just hope we keep our heads, don't panic if we go behind, and play the way we know we can. I trust the staff to get the preparations right, the players will need to turn up, handle the pressure and execute the game plan. It's won't be easy, Derby are in good form and have their tails up after the Leeds result, they will enjoy being the underdogs and being written off, it's easy motivation for them. I believe we are good enough and brave enough. We can do this!

The yellow designs have had a very mixed reaction, and I thought the black/green would be the most divisive! Just goes to show how important market research can be, and how good a job they did with the strip this season

It's interesting to hear all the feedback on these, should send this thread off to Kappa for free market research! I expected mixed reviews to the green and black but I've been surprised how many don't like a yellow kit.

Here you go, with a couple more variations...

Yeah that shouldn't be a problem, I'll put a design together next time I'm at my computer

I agree that having a good strategy is important, but it also depends on how far along in that strategy you are, Wolves only signed 5 or 6 new(meaning not on loan the previous season) when they came up, some of them were loans and not all of them went straight in to the first team. They could get away with this because they had a solid base and managed to get the players they'd loaned the previous season on permanent deals, so they kept continuity and added in positions they needed the most. If you look at Liverpool they can afford to not really play some of their signings for several months while they get used to the system/culture because they have such a solid base. If we go up and don't get the loan players on permanent deals then we'll need to replace them, and then improve the others areas, which would mean trying to integrate too many new players in to the first team. I don't think European players has to be specifically the direction we go in, I think a mix of both European and British is better, but we need to ensure new players will fit the system and the group they are going to be working in and not just signing somebody because they are a 'big name' or play for a 'big club'.

I think although the temptation to splash the cash would be there, what we will need should we go up is some continuity. Dean Smith has done an outstanding job getting the way he want's to play across to the players in the middle of a season, but that kind of thing isn't going to fly in the Premiership, we'd need to be at it from the start. We can't afford a quite few months while half a team gets used to the system. Many people on this thread have pointed out that the first thing we need to do is lock down the loan signings that have done so well for us, I agree completely, I don't even mind paying a little over the odds to get them so we can keep the core group, and then we'd need to strengthen in a few areas with new players (i.e left back and right wing). We'd need to be wary of doing a Fulham, signing top players from Europe is not as easy as the likes of Wolves make it look...

Seeing as you guys seemed to like my first foray in to kit design, thought I'd do an update with correct sponsor and added white and yellow/black version. As you can tell I'm not at all just trying to pass the time until there's a certain football match being played on Monday...

Thought I'd have a blast, fashion is not my area of design I might add!

I don't think he fits the way we play anymore, he's out of form and injuries have not been kind either. His wages would be too much just to take a punt. A no from me.

Certainly is, it's a risk no doubt, they must have seen something they like! At the moment it's just a rumour though, that fee could be including all kinds of add-ons and clauses.

No worries

Wikipedia states "Bennett completed a transfer to Premier League club Aston Villa for a fee of £3 million, with potential add-ons rising to £4.25 million." Transfermarkt.co.uk says it was £2.84m. I'm trying to find a better source, but I've always though it was around the 3m mark.

Also they were fairly cheap, Bennett was around 3m I think, and Bowery was about 500k. Delph and Alli were both over 5m.

Who knows?! Most likely Kappa have paid us more to be a part of it and so want their own guys involved, which is fair enough as their name will be associated with it, or it could be Luke doesn't want to work on a design for the benefit of another company, that wouldn't be pushing his brand any. The point I'm trying to make is that this guy is a good designer, no doubt, but he's not the only one out there, and we don't even know how much say he had in the final designs. The people who are/have been working on whatever the new designs are deserve a chance, let's see what they come up with.

Tiemoue Bakayoko, Lucas Paqueta, Alessio Romagnoli, Krzysztof Piatek and Suso. I still love AC Milan, even though they have been bobbins for a good while!

I'll be making no judgement until I see a kit. Yes, Luke has been involved in designing a good kit, but as a designer myself I know the process will have involved many people, there are a lot of great designers out there let's give them a chance before we write them off!

*checks username*... I thought I was the only one!

I think Alli was good when he broke through but he's been struggling with injuries and form for a while now, I also think he tends to play out of his favoured position especially for England which doesn't do him any favours, he does have great movement and drags players around which isn't always obvious, and he's a tidy finisher. However, I agree, Jack certainly has more of a clear effect on a game and would cause opposition coaches more headaches. I'm all for going after young, hungry players but it's the quality that really matters, and you have to pay good money for that as others will always be interested. It's a risky policy but it can work.

I'd take El Ghazi for 5m, he's worth at least that now and still has potential to improve even more. Obvious other benefit is that he knows the group and system already.

Not for me Clive...

Seems a bit steep, if that's after add-ons etc. it may not be so bad. Fits the young hungry profile I think we should be looking for, not seen much of him myself to know if he has the required quality though.

He's not the favourite so I don't think it's all that likely, I can think of better places to be starting a managerial career as well, however we will have to get used to this kind of thing, he'll be linked with every job going in championship.

I think the problem with thin stripes in this case is that at a distance you won't make out the stripes, they'll just kind of merge into a dirty red. I like it personally, but I can see why some may be opposed to it. They've had thin stripes plenty of times before mind...