ohmelads

Thing is the more money that's spent, the more 'efficient' teams are becoming. If anything all the money flying around will make managers more cautious than ever. There are only two teams that consistently provide flair at the moment and they are Man Utd and Arsenal. I do agree it'll be interesting though because it's hard to predict. You've got sides like West Ham pissing money up the wall, will they crash and burn or can they buy their way up the league? You've got the arrival of Torres at Liverpool and this Nani kid arrives at Man Utd highly rated. How will Arsenal cope without Henry and can Chelsea wrestle the league back from Man Utd? This certainly looks like a summer of big changes as the Premiership becomes more and more of a playground for rich owners.

Funny to think that the only current toon player is the one in blue while the other two now hate each other. Good photo.

After we were linked with a loan move for Lassana Diarra I watched him a couple of times for Chelsea and France and thought he looked a good prospect, definitely worth a look. He was energetic and got stuck in, seemed very comfortable on the ball and quick to release it too, very tidy player. I think he was playing right back and defensive midfield the times I saw him, I remember being very impressed. Could be a decent signing as an understudy to Butt.

Not a big fan of him myself, but a fair response. Anyone else?

It's not a question I usually like to ask as there are many right backs out there and it's the scouts' jobs to find them but out of curiosity, who would you rather bring in for the right back position? And other than perhaps Micah Richards who is unrealistic, can you name a better right back outside last season's top 4?

We should be doing more of this. I suspect there may be a flipside in years to come though. I can't see local young talent wanting to join an academy full of foreigners plucked from around Europe where their chances might be limited. It's just like young English kids in London know they'd be better off going to West Ham than to Arsenal. Nevertheless the pros far outweight the cons.

I think it's got all the signs of being a hard fought draw to be honest. We've got the advantage that Sam and the half-dozen people he brings know Bolton inside out, how they work, their strengths, their weaknesses, everything. But they'll have the advantage of a team fired up to beat their old boss and a home support desperate to get one over on him. We're a club in major transition and that's a double edged sword. We could come out all guns blazing, full of new confidence. After all, most managers enjoy a honeymoon period where players are playing for places or enjoying a new lease of life. But equally we may put out half a side of unfamiliar faces who will take time to get used to each other or even English football, and Bolton away is a pretty tough introduction to English football. And lastly, both teams are probably going to line up 4-5-1 so I can see it being a dour affair. Hopefully we'll go down there and run riot, of course.

If he's going to take the credit for that (credit where credit's due and all that) then he should also take the massive criticism he deserves for successive seasons where he's collected millions in wages and given the club very little in return in terms of commitment. I'd rather we got rid, even if it means we need to buy two left backs. There's no point in having backup who is only fit for half of the season. That means when our first choice left back is crocked, there's 'a chance' Baba will be there to cover him! As for all the life and death melodramatics, let's give it a rest eh? This is a football forum.

If Solano was a couple of years younger I'd have said him without a shadow of a doubt. He's loved by the fans and seems respected by teammates, loyal to the club (turned down Liverpool to come back to us saying he was 'coming home'), highly experienced. On his day he can still pull all the strings with his passing, like his performance at home against Spurs last season where he bossed the game from right back and took the p*ss out of them at times. Sadly though his stamina and speed is fading and those days are becoming few and far between. Similarly he's always been a bit inconsistent, very much so away from home. But the biggest thing against him is the fact he isn't a guaranteed starter next season, which means someone else would have to take the armband on a regular basis and that defeats the whole point really. I think Given is the sensible choice and I'd be very surprised if he doesn't get it.

I agree, nothing to lose.

He was considered a prospect until he was out injured for a couple of years on the bounce. He came back and just didn't look up to it. Don't think he's as bad as some people are making out. Huntington came in and looked totally uncomfortable and everyone was raving about him. Good luck to him I say, I remember everyone was impressed with him in that friendly against Celtic, but then he got injured for pretty much 2 years and it's clearly affected him. He wasn't exactly eased into the first team either, he was thrown in ahead of Luque and played out of position in a struggling team, not the best way to start your career.

I don't recall Owen playing wide right for Real though I could be wrong. He was there under Luxemburgo who favoured the 4-4-2 diamond midfield formation. He may have played wide right towards the end of the season but it certainly wasn't a regular occurrence. Personally I think playing Owen wide right in a 4-3-3 would be a serious waste of his talents. I'm sure he'd play OK because he works hard, has a good first touch and can dribble but his best talent is getting behind defenders and finishing and he'll get far less opportunity to do that playing out wide. While I agree with the notion that no man is bigger than the team, I also believe that we should play to our strengths. We've got a world class finisher, someone who will take most of the chances that come his way and will nick half chances to win us tight games, and we're looking at putting him out wide???

Excellent post by the thread starter, it's something I've been wondering about myself. But if you break it down like this there isn't a big problem... Solano and Dyer and to a lesser extent Milner and N'Zogbia can all play in other positions. Ameobi would be fighting with Viduka for that target man spot. That would leave Duff, Martins, Luque and Owen fighting for two wing-forward spots, and that sounds about right to me. Add the fact that Duff is out until November and that there's every chance Luque could go in the next transfer window and I don't see a big problem. Solano's contract expires at the end of the season too. Getting back to N'Zogbia and Milner, I don't believe either are suited to playing in a midfield two, where the ability to maintain possession and pull your weight is important. But playing further forward in a midfield three is a different matter, as you've got two midfielders behind you. Overall I think we're alright in terms of numbers. There's certainly no room for Gudjohnsen unless Martins goes. All we need are defenders and maybe a DM to challenge Butt. Though if we did bring in a DM it would open up a fresh can of worms as we'd have a load of players chasing those three positions.

Get him on the official list, next to Edmilson.

Henry didn't do that much for Arsenal last season due to his injuries, and yet they still finished on level points with Liverpool. They beat Man Utd home and away, put Liverpool out of both the cups at Anfield and hammered them at home, they beat Spurs three times without Henry. They also had Van Persie out for long spells but coped regardless. He's back now and I've got a feeling this could be his season. Henry has been replaced, this new guy probably isn't as good but he'll play far more games than Henry managed last season. Add to that the continuing improvement of players like Eboue, Walcott, Clichy, Adebayor, Diaby, not to mention Fabregas. Arsenal's midfield is still excellent, with players like Fabregas, Hleb, Gilberto, Rosicky. And their defence is still pretty good, with two excellent players in Gallas and Toure. They could do with improvements in one or two areas (personally I don't think Clichy is up to it defensively, and they could do with a top winger), but they still have the Reyes money to come in. What have Spurs got on that? Their attack on paper might look better than Arsenal (still highly debatable IMO) but on the field I promise you Arsenal will score more goals. They'll probably keep more clean sheets as well. So I don't see Spurs topping Arsenal at all.

Dyer to Chelsea is silly season paper talk. They get linked with loads of players, more than anyone else probably. I'm fairly confident both Owen and Martins will be here come September now. Liverpool: 26M for Torres Chelsea: Don't need strikers (Droga, Kalou, Shevchenko, Pizarro) Man Utd: Need a big striker like Berbatov for the 4-3-3 they play nowadays. If they went for someone small it'd probably be Tevez. Arsenal: Just spent a fortune on this Croatian/Brazilian guy. I think only a foreign club like Juventus are a threat now and it's not that often that those clubs buy from Premiership sides like ourselves.

The Journal today reckon Edmilson wants more than 100K a week. Surely we've given up on him by now?

I think it was probably more a case of 'souding out' Gudjohnsen while we were over there to talk about Edmilson. Now it looks like Arsenal won't be bidding for Martins, Liverpool are set to get Torres, and I don't see Chelsea coming in for any of our strikers. That just leaves Man Utd and I think they'd be more likely to look elsewhere as well, they could do with someone bigger than Owen to suit the 4-3-3 they play nowadays (someone like Berbatov for example). If they did go for someone small I think they'd be far more likely to go for Tevez than Owen.

If that is who Arsenal intend to go into the season with, then Spurs will finish 4th. I disagree. Arsenal have a far superior manager and coaching set up. People are forgetting that they beat Spurs three times last season with a weakened team every time, Henry didn't play in any of those games. I also don't believe their spending is over and all of their younger players are that bit more experienced than last season. They suffered a lot of injuries last season, I'd be surprised if they get hit that badly again (same goes for us). Arsenal will finish top 4, I'm confident of that. I do see this year as an opportunity for the likes of us and Spurs (and maybe Everton, if they can spend well on a limited budget) to close the gap on them though.

Lampard would be brilliant for Barcelona IMO. He's technically very good, his passing range is quality and the amount of time he'd have on the ball to pick his spot, I could see him rifling loads in. I can see why Barcelona are interested, he's played very well when the two teams have met. He had one off game against them I think, in the 05-06 season in the second leg, but was excellent in the others. He could come in for Deco and strengthen them in my view.

Sounds like it's gonna be a long night for Edgar.

I'd like to see Taylor get the armband but I wouldn't mind Given getting it. I do think Taylor will be a mainstay in the side and I think he'll continue progressing if he's finally got three good defenders alongside him. Playing alongside Bramble one week, Moore the next and then Ramage the week after that can't be good for anyone really, espescially when you've got players like Huntington and Edgar to your right and left or, if you're lucky, Babayaro and Carr. Let's face it the lad's done well, considering. He has a lot of qualities in his favour. Firstly, he's a geordie, and that'll spare him a bit of flak from the fans. That's a double edged sword in that they might be blind to his inadequacies, but equally he'll get a vote of confidence. Secondly, he rarely gets injured. Thirdly, he's an uncompromising player who makes 'big tackles' and does a lot (probably too much, but he'll learn) of the dirty work at the back which you see from the likes of Carragher, Terry, Puyol etc - he's the totally committed dirty centre back brought through the ranks of his hometown team. Those sorts of players tend to make good captains (I'm aware Carragher isn't captain but he easily could be). And lastly he's very vocal and competitive. He communicates a lot but he's never had a chance to establish a partnership with anyone here because of the injuries we've had. His downsides are his age and rashness. But while some players (Parker) find the armband too much, others thrive on the responsibility and mature quickly and I feel Taylor could be one of these players. But it'll almost certainly be Given.

26 and still playing in the Danish league. Doesn't fill me with excitement like.

So IF we pay £3.3M to get him in pay him 80K a week and he's out for 6 months then we could be looking at shelling out more than £5m before he's kicked a ball. You'd think we were signing the next Maradona the way we're jumping through hoops to get him. Hopefully Sam will see common sense and let this one go. There are loads of alternatives out there, we don't need to bend over backwards just to get a big name in, it's a bit desperate.

It'd be a bit reckless to let a top class winger go after just one injury affected season in a totally underperforming team led by a simple manager. Surely it'd make a sense to give him a shot in our 'new team' led by a new manager, he's one of the most naturally talented wingers in the league.