ohmelads

It's funny listening to people try and defend him saying things like 'he did a job, cleared some balls up the field etc'/'tried his best'/'didn't f*ck up totally'/'bless him he had a go'.

I voted Ramage. Baba and Carr can at least kick a football, when they're fit at least! Ramage is honestly one of the poorest footballers we've had for a long time. His ball control makes Robbie Elliott look like Zidane. His tackling is alright but it's about the only attribute he has. He made the senior squad by default really, he was arsing around in the reserves until he was about 20, we were about to give him away to Hibernian I think it was and then all of a sudden he's drafted in because of a major injury crisis to the first team. Since then he's failed to bugger off. Honestly if we put him on the market he'd end up at a low championship side or an SPL side, he's just not cut out for Premier League football in any way, shape or form.

The Times reckon Barca want £3.3M for Edmilson. So much for the 'nominal fee' Anal Oliver talked about! They're taking the p!ss.

Considering Allardyce agreed to Solano's contract extension and intends to buy Beye as well then I don't see any way how Carr can remain here. Hopefully Babayaro will be on his way as well, I don't think Allardyce maintained his player-fitness record at Bolton by keeping on players like those two. It's not just the lack of playing hours they give us, it's the total lack of motivation. It's got to be a bad influence to have around, a couple of wasters like those two.

I don't see why Mourinho's opinion is relevant. He's always said he likes his tall fullbacks, and besides, Mourinho has held onto him for 3 seasons even though he was signed by the previous manager. To say Geremi only plays when there are injuries, well, the same could be said of Bridge, someone who nearly everyone here considers good enough. Fact is Chelsea's defence is one of the best in the world. I rate Geremi, I've suggested we sign him several transfer windows on the trot. He may not be good enough for Chelsea's first team but he's more than good enough for us. Not only are our current right backs inadequate (Solano will do for backup but you wouldn't want him there every week), but I don't see a great deal of quality and available right backs out there. Geremi ticks all the boxes, in my view he's the best right back outside the top 4, bar maybe Micah Richards who would cost an arm and a leg.

Rating Duff far too early after a injury hit first season if you ask me! I haven't said anything, in fact I think he'll come good. But there's no doubting that so far it hasn't worked out.

There's a very funny clip of Edmilson on youtube if you type in "edmilson kicks ground". Puyol makes an excellent stop before Edmilson goes to punt the ball clear on his own 6 yard box and boots the turf, leaving a Depor player to smash at the keeper from 5 yards out. Bramble would have been proud

Fourth time we've gone cap in hand to Chelsea. Let's hope it works out this time. Geremi's a good player and should be a good signing, but I thought the same about Parker and Duff.

I think most fans would consider a top 8 finish satisfactory, a top 6 finish a job well done, and a top 4 finish fantastic. That is to say that I think most fans want top 6 would would accept top 8. Personally I think top 6 is a totally realistic target. If we've got Owen playing most of the season, a good manager and we buy a defence, we've got the tools to do it certainly. We've already got a good manager in and I believe the money is there for the reinforcements we need.

That might have the reverse effect, it certainly did on the Chelsea players who have come here and on Nicky Butt too. Every single one has gone dramatically downhill. Barca often dominate games with 60% possession and teams line up against them to defend and try and nick a goal on the counter. At Newcastle he won't always be recieving passes in neat little triangles and in plenty of space, he'll be expected to pull his finger out and lead the defence or the midfield, people will look up to him for inspiration, he'll be right in the spotlight which he wasn't at Barca. I don't even think he speaks English, it's a big ask. He'll probably be walking into the team in January in freezing conditions and a lot will be expected of him, big name player, Brazil international etc. He could rise to the occasion or he could be a big flop.

Exactly.

Edmilson isn't world class. World class DMs are people like Makelele, Gattuso. World class CBs are people like Puyol, Terry, Nesta. They would walk into any team in the world. Edmilson can't walk into the Barca team, in fact he's never been a vital player to them. If he was so good and reliable they wouldn't have found the need to sign Thuram, nor would they be palming him off onto us for a 'nominal fee'. He is nowhere near the level of any of those players. He's a good player but I think people will be disappointed if they expect us to sign a 'highly technical' player who can start attacks from midfield. He'll bring bags of experience from the top level and might even make a very good signing, and hell it might even be worth the risk if we're going to bring in another top defender. But we're not. I think it's pretty obvious Sam is targetting Geremi, Beye and Edmilson,then he'll look for left backs and that'll be defence done with. Rather than do that I'd prefer us to pay the money for a more motivated player who can play for us in August, will manage more than 20 games a season, and will be likely to fit into our league. If Edmilson did come he could make a good centre back and a good partner for Taylor to learn from. He'd arrive with Champions League and World Cup medals and might even lift the ambition of the players and fans. If everything goes rosy he could be a cracking signing and one to close the gap on the top four. But I don't think it will. My feeling is he'll break down time and time again as he has done his whole career, he won't be that motivated, he'll start playing in the middle of winter and struggle to pick up the pace, he'll get exposed a lot more in our side, and we'll eventually cut our losses. That's what Barca are doing - cutting their losses. They've got all they need out of the player and are now palming him onto us - injured! I'd love nothing more than for someone to drag up this thread in a year's time and show what a fool I am because Edmilson has recovered fully, maintained his fitness, settled quickly and led us into Europe. But I just don't see it happening.

Didn't know Edgar was their U20 captain. I think Edgar can potentially make it with us, he looks a lot more composed and confident than Huntington in my view. After the hype about Huntington I have to say I was a bit disappointed and I don't think he's ever going to cut it in the Premiership. Edgar might though. It might sound a bit harsh on Huntington as he was thrown in too early because of an injury crisis, but I just don't see how he's going to make the step up. He looked very nervous and I suppose that could be solved with experience (a loan move would help) but I think he needs an awful lot of work. I think he's been hyped up by the local media because he plays for England U18s. The two of them need to go on loan this season, hopefully we can find Championship or League One clubs who will give them regular games.

Good post and I echo your thoughts on Allardyce. I'm happy enough with him, I think he's the 5th best manager in the Premiership, but he's being spared a lot of scrutiny over his signings/targets at the moment because of the takeover and the goodfeeling around the place. His signings thus far have been alright, nowt spectacular, but there's a lot still to be done.

If we're playing 4-5-1/4-3-3 which is highly likely then we only need pace in the wide areas. As things stand we've got Duff, N'Zogbia, Dyer, Martins and Owen, that's probably more pace than most squads the league. Central midfielders don't need pace, consider Zidane, Scholes, Pirlo etc, they've all made careers as world class midfielders without any pace at all.

Everton would price us out of any deal. He's a good defender who I'd love to have here but we won't get him.

In fairness to Souness and Roeder, a lot of it probably had to do with Shepherd and also the need to sell before we bought. Now there's probably more money available so we can buy before we sell. Mind Roeder was bloody slow with his 'scouting missions', you could clearly tell he hadn't done all his homework prior to the window opening.

If he plays Viduka as the lone striker then Owen will be expected to drop back into midfield when the opposition have the ball and then watch as one of your defenders launches it half the length of the pitch to Viduka. The first time that happened to Anelka, he just stood there and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'What the f**k am i supposed to do with that?!' In fact it was a source of constant amusement to watch Anelka's body language after he'd held off three or four defenders before laying it off, only to find our midfield still camped out on the edge of our own penalty area! This is one of my fears about Allardyce. He will probably build a squad around his desired formation but some of our better players on paper like Duff and Owen would probably operate better in a 4-4-2. Viduka has everything required for the lone striker role except workrate and that worries me a bit. I think Ameobi can perform well in that role, I remember him giving Arsenal a torrid time as the lone striker once just through his strength and holding it up. There's a good chance he'll be in his place for the first month or so of the season as Viduka returns from the Asia Cup. It's good to have a Bolton fan around who may bring a bit of reality back to the forum. A lot of people are going on as if Allardyce is a genius and every signing he makes is part of some master ultra-sensible plan. He's a big improvement on Roeder but while some of our players will blossom under his management it's likely that some (maybe Owen) won't be suited to it at all.

He may have at the end of his season there, I don't remember. But for the vast majority of that season they played Luxemburgo's failed 'cuadrado magico' (magic square) which was a 4-4-2 diamond formation like the one Sven tried for a while with England.

Anelka is also a 'predatory finisher' who plays on the shoulder of the last defender. When we bought him, everyone expected Big Sam to switch to 4-4-2 with Davies and Anelka up front, but instead we got Davies on the right and Diouff playing on the left of a front three. Anelka played a lone striker role and was expected to hold the ball up as Kevin Davies had done before. Big Sam has always played 4-5-1/4-3-3 at every single club he's been at from Blackpool to Notts County and then Bolton. If he was prepared to play Anelka as a lone striker then you can bet he will do the same with Owen! It was a source of constant frustration to most BWFC supporters that Big Sam refused to adopt a more flexible approach! Jeez I bloody hope not! Imagine Owen as a lone striker playing with his back to goal and holding the ball up. Can't possibly see that happening. Besides, Viduka wasn't bought just to be benched, he's obviously been signed as the skillful target man (when fit). So if Viduka is going to start when fit then there's no chance Owen can possibly play as a lone striker. I see what you're saying about Anelka but even though he's not made for that back-to-goal play he's considerably bigger and stronger than Owen so it's not quite as ridiculous to play him in that role. I do agree with you that he probably has 4-5-1 in mind, I'm just wondering what on earth he intends to do with Owen.

Is it really worth changing the whole formation to 3-5-2 just to suit Owen? He's only one player. I was thinking of starting a thread on the formation issue and it's something that nobody is sure about. Allardyce loves his 4-3-3/5-5-1 but how on earth would he fit Owen into that? It's a tough one. The signings and targets don't reveal a whole lot but if he is looking for another midfielder (and intends to keep the ones we've got) then maybe he is getting the extra bodies in for a three man central midfield.

Take it for what it's worth, but Allardyce said today that he "100%" expects Owen to be here come September. Considering how big an issue it is up here I don't think he'd have said that unless he meant it, he's put his arse on the line really. It looks like Martins is the one who may leave with a good chance Gudjohnsen will be his replacement. If Owen stays I don't see him playing in a three man attack. He wouldn't be happy playing there and I don't think it would suit him, either. I think Duff, Dyer, N'Zogbia, Milner (and maybe Martins and Luque too) could potentially play as wing-forwards in that 4-3-3 system but I could never see Owen doing it. He's a predatory finisher who needs to be playing off the shoulder of the last defender.

I guess it all depends how much Liverpool have to spend. When Man Utd were criticised for paying so much for Carrick, Hargreaves, Rooney et al I tended to disagree because to them they can afford it so it can be justified. If you can buy the player and still afford to strengthen the other areas then it's not a problem. It remains to be seen how big a chunk this has taken out of Liverpool's budget. Certainly if things start going wrong (which I dont think they will particularly) then Torres will be the first to feel the pressure. I'd imagine Liverpool now need to find a winger if Garcia leaves, considering Kewell's injuries, Zenden ageing (is his contract up now?), and the possibility of Gonzalez leaving. They'll need a centre back too if Hyypia leaves.

About time a Bolton fan came on here. Welcome to the board. Perhaps you could suggest what formation you see him employing next season at Newcastle? Anything from 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 3-5-2 has been suggested. We've signed Viduka, Barton and Rozehnal (Czech centre back) and are targetting Geremi, Beye (Marseille RB & CB), Edmilson and Gudjohnsen (presumably if Arsenal get Martins). I guess it will depend on his signings. Will he buy players to suit his favoured system, or build a system that suits the squad he has inherited? Viduka and Owen would surely spell a two man strike force but perhaps he has other ideas.

My expectations will depend on the budget he's given to work with and the freedom he's given to use it. Assuming he's given a decent wedge of cash (which I think he will be) then I expect a UEFA Cup finish this season. People will say new signings need to adapt etc, but that's why we pay the manager his huge salary, to get one of the highest paid and most expensively assembled squads into a respectable league position. It's not too much to ask and I think he'll do it. I have to say I was more excited when Bobby Robson came though. I think some people are overrating Allardyce a bit although I hope their faith is justified.