ohmelads

Looking on the bright side, Arsenal will play their kids while we will put out the strongest team we can field, and Allardyce knows how to stifle Arsenal. We'll kick them all over the park and pump long balls to Viduka, hopefully their young 'uns won't like it and Wenger will have a good whinge afterwards while we hypocritically say the football wasn't that ugly. If this was at home I'd fancy us to turn over their kids but away it's going to be tough. We have to see it as a chance to knock out one of the big boys and stake our claim. Obviously I'd much rather get an easy home draw but the cup is rarely kind to us. I'm surprised we didn't get Chelsea again in all honesty.

Blu Bambu! Very classy !!

The pressure will be on Emre, Barton or Geremi to be the creator in a midfield three, but I think the real burden of creative responsibility will rest on the young shoulders of N'Zogbia and Milner. Playing 4-3-3 means these players are given more freedom to show their stuff, but with that comes the added responsibility.

Aye, was looking for that option myself.

Gutted he's gone. One of the players who could have eased the transition we're going through, the type of player a successful squad needs, respected by teammates and fans alike. Always been one of my favourite players while at the club. Legend he is.

The signings of Diouf and Anelka at Bolton give me some hope that Sam will invest in flair when he has laid the foundations. Mind, I don't see why he couldn't do the two at once. Hopefully in a year or two when we have cobbled together a solid back four and spine to the team he will be a bit more risky in the transfer market and invest in some genuine flair to lift us above the also rans. I do worry that a lot of teams will set themselves up the way Villa did, exploiting our lack of width, and we are cutting a bit fine with just the two wingers. I think Sam's played this window very cautiously, understandable given he admitted his first priorities will be short term. Unlike previous managers, he wants to keep his job long enough to implement longer term plans. Roeder was all about his longer term planning (so he made out, anyway) but lost sight of the short term. Sam is wary of falling into the same trap and so has gone for a big squad of experienced signings who can play his brand of football.

It's a very valid concern, but I'd rather we gone down this route for the time being. Building from the back and shorter term experienced signings. I just hope Allardyce does have plans to bring in younger and more creative players further down the line, because although we can name a few flair players he's bought, relatively speaking he hasn't bought many in his time. I do think the Smith money should have gone on a genuine winger, we knew for ages Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That's taken the shine off the window for me, our squad lacks options to change a game but I think a lot of us accepted a while ago that we're gearing up to play Bolton football, it's not pretty but it gets results, I guess. The jury is still very much out on whether Allardyce can adapt to a bigger budget or just turn us into a rich man's Bolton. My money is on the latter and I think he will only take us so far playing that way, but he'll lay solid foundations here and might prove a few of us wrong after a few transfer windows. Overall though positive strides forwards, let's just keep our fingers crossed Zog and Milner stay fit because without them we are a bit screwed.

On paper the squad looks a lot stronger, espescially the defence. The only place we look weaker is on the flanks, and perhaps the only criticism I can make is that we're left with only two fit wingers while £6m was spent on Smith, a player we seemingly did not need in any position (without him we'd still have 5 centre mids and 4 strikers). Hopefully we'll get away with it until Duff returns in November, it looks like 4-3-3 will be our main formation anyway in which case you can include Martins as a wide player. We don't know how the foreign players will get on, but on paper things look very positive indeed. Now all we have to do is batter Wigan

Finally Carr and Babayaro are not our first choice full backs.

I think Diarra has gone to the right club, with Arsenal he should go all the way. Good signing for them, shame we missed out on him.

Impossible to say. In league one he might look good, maybe he'll eventually find his feet in the Championship, but I don't think he'll ever have what it takes to be a Premier League defender. But then again, Andy O'Brien played in the Champions League for us so anything can happen. People bigged Hunty up more in hope than in expectation, I think a lot of people will now look back and accept that he looked completely out of his depth when he played. In fairness to Hunty, he was thrown in way too soon and played out of position in a side full of injuries. He wasn't ready and it showed. He is pretty slow and got totally exposed playing at left back, he didn't have the experience to stand off the quicker wingers and I remember the likes of Aaron Lennon just knocking it past him and running on, the same thing happened when we crumbled to Alkmaar where we were raped down that side. Central defence is his best and IMO only position,but he'll need to bulk out a bit. In other words he needs a lot of work, but he might be a good signing in years to come.

Never saw anything in him to think he could make it, it was starting to feel like he was here out of sympathy (the same way it feels about Ramage and the same way it did in Robbie Elliott and Pavel Srnicek's latter days) in return for emergency, sub-standard cover. Edgar probably won't make it either if we're being brutally honest, but I think there's more there to work with, he didn't crap himself when thrown into the deep end and actually held his own. Disappointing to see one of the academy's better hopes moved on, it's an area of the club that really needs worked on but at least Sam has come out and pledged to do just that and the new board seem to be receptive to his ideas.

I'd have included Geremi because he used to play there for Boro, but with Smith used on the right against Barnsley and the fact Geremi hasn't been a regular winger for ages, can we really call him that any more? I'm not sure he still has the pace. It looks like we'll have three wingers until January, and until November we'll have to get by with two. It points strongly towards 4-3-3 being our permanent formation, which I'm not sure I'd be too happy about, and leaves us limited in terms of changing a game.

Losing two wingers and not replacing them is the only negative of this transfer window for me. It's a bit frustrating because we've known for ages that Dyer and Solano wanted to leave. That Smith money should really have gone on a winger because without Solano we only have two fit wingers.

Bentley should have been made an example of. McClaren has shown himself to be a soft touch there, it won't do wonders for his reputation with both the players and the fans. It's not like we're talking about a world class player either, this is David Bentley. I know winning the game is most important right now so a short term view must be taken, but bringing in a big time charlie like him probably isn't what the team needs right now and there'll be plenty willing to get on his back if he doesn't produce the goods. It's probably for the best that Milner will get a rest though. He had a long hard season and then played with the U21s and at his age we don't want to burn him out. Not to mention that with Solano (possibly) on his way we only have two fit wingers at the club and need to wrap them up in cotton wool.

What's the craic then, are we signing Beye and Faye or not? Been out the loop all day.

If we lose Solano we only have three wingers, and one of them is crocked until November. Bit of a concern.

Let's be honest his days were numbered anyway, he was almost sold to Hibernian or someone in the SPL and instead has clung onto a place here because of a desperate shortage of defenders and a string of injuries year on year. Feel sorry for him as he has never given less than 100% for us, he was kept on as emergency cover and ended up playing far more games than he ever should have. He'll probably find his feet in the Championship when he eventually moves on.

Dyer's replacement?

I would assume his contract is running out? Always thought 'Goal' were one of these sites that just regurgitated news from elsewhere but they seem to be the only people running this.

I honestly don't believe Rozehnal has been significantly better than Taylor, I think a lot of people have held certain views about Taylor for a long time while Rozehnal has come in with a clean slate on the back of a positive window and gets the benefit of any doubt. A decent start by a new signing always results in this sort of thing. Roz has made an OK start in my eyes but I think it's fair to say that three games in we just don't know how he will cope against better teams, when we go a goal down (hasn't happened yet) or whatever else. First impressions: I like his calm head, his height, his pace and the fact he stays on his feet, but he also appears weak for a CB and lost out to Agbonlahor IIRC, and doesn't seem to be a commanding presence by any means, instead leaving a lot of the physical work to Taylor (whether this was because Sam told him to do so because of his lack of Prem experience we don't know). Despite his height, I can see why a lot of managers would feel that their burly strikers could get some change out of Rozehnal, he would probably need a more aggressive defender alongside him to get by in this league. I think Cacapa will be one of the first names on the teamsheet when fit because of his pedigree, he seems a more commanding presence which is hardly surprising given he captained Lyon for 5 years. I'd like to see him and Taylor given a run as I think they could form a solid partnership, but I can see why some people feel Taylor should be brought back down to earth and rested for a bit. At this moment in time I'm not bothered either way, I'm keen to see how our new boys get on and see what they're made of.

I think there's a fine line. More teams from England/Spain/Italy would be ridiculous and take the spice out of it, but more clubs like Rosenborg would drop the quality. I think there's an alright balance as it is, it's good to have some variety and occasionally you get clubs like Ajax in the 90s or Porto a few years ago who go on and win it. I know they're not as bad as Rosenborg, but I think it's good to have all corners of Europe represented, so long as it's just one club from these countries and they've had to qualify all the way to the group stage.

I think the English clubs will go through without too much fuss. Tough on Celtic and Rangers though.

It'll be mental to have a defence that doesn't pick itself. Really struggling to get used to the idea to be honest. Hopefully we can keep Solano, as if he goes that'd be the only downside of this transfer window with wingers leaving and none coming in. Get these two in and keep Solano and we'll be laughing.

Sounds a bit like Woodgate was for us.