Ulver

He's a good player who knows how to score a goal and how to set up a goal. I'm not saying all the goals will come from direct assists but I'm sure he'd play a big role in making us more of an attacking threat.

and to think people said Bent was a passenger when he didn't have the ball. who's going to do all the extra leg work for him ? 

it just makes no sense to me

Don't particularly want Gayle but he really isn't that bad. If you look at his minutes to goals for Palace in the league it's better than 1 in 2.

i seem to recall Harewood having a similar minutes to goals ratio for us so hard to get too excited by that stat

I think he'd be an absolute revelation, he's add at least another five goals to Sinclair, Ayew and Gestede's tallys and score around 15 goals of his own. Hope we sign him.

you taking any wagers on that ? i think he just about managed 15 at Fulham and now he's a few years older still

You can see it now, we're bursting forward on the break like against Sunderland and he's still standing hands on hips (ala Ginola) in the centre circle when the balls put in the box

Mental signing if it happens. Might as well see if Zola fancies putting his boots back on while we're at it

 

 

A new link from the BBC:

 

 

Aston Villa have made an inquiry about signing Liverpool's Portuguese defender Tiago Ilori. Ilori, who joined Liverpool from Sporting Lisbon in a £7m deal in September 2013, has been out on loan at Grenada CF in La Liga and and Bordeaux in France after failing to secure first-team football at Anfield. It remains to be seen whether Villa pursue a loan or permanent deal for the 22-year-old who has also been attracting interest from Sunderland - or if he wishes to stay at Liverpool and fight his way into manager Brendan Rodgers' plans.

 

 

He was pretty good at the U21 Euros this summer, not sure how many CB's we need thou

 

when your options are Hutton & Bacuna i'd say at least one!

Gayle's not a bad striker really - we just need someone who can stick it in the net, really. We've got a lot of creativity available now. 

agreed, he's not bad. but he's not great either. we've sold a great striker and so far bought in two that aren't to replace his goals. that's the problem as i see it. we've also let two non great strikers in Weimann & Bent leave who i feel would have given us about the same goal return this season as Ayew & Gestede

why are we so keen to sign alright/not bad strikers when we have no goal threat in the side to replace what we've already lost ?

 

 

Good partner for Richards. A level headed, experienced player who will take a bit of the pressure on terms of organisation off Richards, who will need some time to grow into that role.

so basically, last seasons player of the season Clark gets bumped down the pecking order to facilitate a 33 year old ?

i'm still of the opinion that (when fit) Okore & Clark should be our CB pairing as they look a far better 'pairing' than Richards & Clark, and Richards would move to LB giving the whole back four a better feel (IMHO)

Richards - Okore - Clark - Amavi

not sure how Clark will react if dropped, could be another Cahill situation all over again.

 

Yup, because Clark isn't good enough to be starting every game for us. For me, he's isn't dominant enough and he drops the odd clanger which can cost us points. He makes me nervous.

and you reckon Richards & Lescott aren't prone to the odd clanger ???

When did Clark win player of the season? 

i've no idea who won our player of the season last year, but for me he'd have been it

Good partner for Richards. A level headed, experienced player who will take a bit of the pressure on terms of organisation off Richards, who will need some time to grow into that role.

so basically, last seasons player of the season Clark gets bumped down the pecking order to facilitate a 33 year old ?

i'm still of the opinion that (when fit) Okore & Clark should be our CB pairing as they look a far better 'pairing' than Richards & Clark, and Richards would move to LB giving the whole back four a better feel (IMHO)

Richards - Okore - Clark - Amavi

not sure how Clark will react if dropped, could be another Cahill situation all over again.

If i'm totally honest, I can't see Kozak every being a PL level striker either. I couldn't before his injury and nothing's changed since. People claiming he had a good pre-season, he scored two against the dogheads and i still thought he was crap in that match. He hasn't got any outstanding individual traits that I can see

He hasn't got speed

Quick movement

Trickery

The ability to conjure something up out of nothing

He seems decent at scoring six yard goals and not a lot else. And in the modern game that's not enough at this level. As the Bent haters constantly reminded us

which is surely why when you only have one, and you sell him for big bucks you realise you need to replace him for big bucks. just logical innit?

I'm least confident with our options upfront atm.

Really? (oops, just re read what you wrote .. my bad)

we have Gabby, who's completely useless as a goalscorer and has been for over half a decade

we have Ayew, who is new to the league and could be hit or miss

we have Gestede who is new to the league and could be hit or miss

we have Kozak who's been out for over a year with a horrible injury and could be hit or miss

that's scary as **** if you ask me! i would rather have just Benteke than that lot combined right now as at least you knew who'd guarantee some goals, get rid of Gabby and Kozak and bring in 2 more

we than have a collection of attacking midfielders with exactly the same problems

we don't have a single, what you'd call a guaranteed goalscorer in the entire squad. 

Afobe would be great. And a decent Photoshop opportunity

I can kinda see why Sherwood opted to play with Gabby, Ayew and Sinclair as a front 3

I can't, it was an utter disaster last week and last night. piss poor decision Timothy

Grealish is not a winger.

and neither is Gil

 

I'm actually glad that we sold Benteke and Delph now.

Ditto

 

Delph i couldn't care less about, but i'll believe the Benteke statement if we actually score goals to replace the 45% he contributed himself

i'm assuming the buy back clause can only be activated at the end of the contract (eg 3 years with an option of another) ?

If Barca decide they want to buy him back it can only mean the lads done amazingly well for us. 

I think folks need to calm down. We haven't signed the lad yet

I doubt Kozak has impressed Sherwood personally. Even at the dogheads match when he scored two I wasnt impressed with his performance

Gabby wouldn't even be on my bench. Kozak would be on the bench at best and we have absolutely no idea how the other two will get on (obviously)

Woefully short of a proven goalscorer

Great signing for the Baggies if it happens. Meanwhile Sherwood's claiming Kozak, Gabby, Ayew and Gestede is a cracking selection to choose from

I'm less than convinced

 

 

 

 

---------------Guzan----------------

Hutton---Richards-----Clark-----Amavi

Gueye----Westwood ----Veretout

------Ayew-------------Sinclair-----

---------------Gestede--------------

Great minds.

Thirded. Pretty good side for Grealish, Gil to fight their way back in to with I imagine another couple of signings on the horizon.

I would be very pleased to see this as the starting lineup for our premier game. Let's dust Bournemouth!

 

I'd like to see either Gil or Grealish start, I'd rather see 3 in front of a 2 than the other way around.

 

that'd be too lightweight in my mind. having a solid three in the middle means Ayew and Sinclair can roam/switch sides behind Gestede

---------------Guzan----------------

Hutton---Richards-----Clark-----Amavi

Gueye----Westwood ----Veretout

------Ayew-------------Sinclair-----

---------------Gestede--------------