ohmelads

In response to the comments on Milner, I personally think he's looked very dangerous in pre-season and notched up another assist against Bolton. I'd be happy enough with him as a first choice winger, because I think he's been slowly but surely getting better and better ever since that loan spell at Villa. His crossing has improved ten-fold since he arrived at the club and his decision making is a lot better. He's picking the sensible options now, getting crosses in early. Remember how he would try to repeatedly skin his marker and lose the ball without getting a cross in? Or float crosses in that were easy for the keeper or tough to meet with any real power? Now he just beats his man and puts the ball with pace into the danger area, much more no-nonsense stuff from him. He's also taking more shots on goal and his movement to find space out wide is better. I do think we need an alternative option to him though, someone to change a game if we find ourselves lacking that spark or we're struggling to break down a stubborn defence.

Emre tries to get stuck in but he simply isn't a natural ball winner and that certainly shouldn't be his primary duty in the team. As part of a three man midfield under a sensible manager I think he'll be given more creative license and told to play a bit further up the field, operating in that area of the field between the opposition's midfield and defence where players are hard to pick up. I remember when Souness described him as a defensive midfielder and thought Parker should be doing the attacking. It was only when Butt and Emre played side by side that we saw Emre playing further up the pitch and the team looked so much more balanced and creative. More common sense like that and an injury free season and who knows.

I think those who talk about pace have a fair point, I don't think we have any genuine pace down that right hand side, and weaker teams who come to sit back and frustrate us will be happy about that. We've got enough senior players to fill any holes that appear but in terms of changing a game it is usually forwards and wingers that you look to and wide right I don't see a lot. We look stable enough to handle injuries this time around, but in terms of teams looking at our bench going "sh*t" I think it's only up front that we have those kind of options. I think we need a winger with pace, a right back, and a centre back. If the wage bill really is a problem, then someone like Belletti could act as a compromise, with Faye coming in and covering midfield and defence. In other words, I'd be happy enough with Faye and Belletti coming in for Dyer and Solano. Ideally though a quick, specialist right winger would give us an alternative to Milner without having to shuffle things around.

We want the easiest team going, at home, so we can rest as many first-team players as possible and give the younger/fringe players a chance. Morecambe at home or something like that. Looking at that list there's a few teams who could give us a tough away game.

While we need another body in midfield imo, Smith and Barton can and have played wide-right on many occasions. I see what you're getting at, it's not the end of the world if we had to play Smith there for a game or two, but the idea is hopefully to be stronger after selling Dyer & Solano than we were before and I'm not sure that'll happen. I accept that the wage bill needs to be reduced and I think one solution might be a player like Belletti, a right back who, in emergencies (if say Geremi and Milner are crocked) can go right wing and still give us width and the option of playing 4-4-2.

I actually reckon Dyer will be a decent signing for them if he stays fit. That's a big IF, but I rate his chances of staying fit higher than I did, say, 12 months ago. I'm not too fussed at losing him and while I'd be gutted at losing Solano, I could handle that one too, provided a quality right-sided replacement comes in. Without those two we'll just have Milner, and Geremi if we shift him across, leaving our wide right options for a 4-4-2 pretty limited indeed. With Duff crocked for another three months on the left hand side, we only have Zoggy there too, so an injury to him would leave us switching Milner across (or Luque, if he stays). And Carr is our only natural right back and quite injury prone, so we may need to play someone like Geremi there, further robbing us of right wing options. I think it'll be addressed, but I can't say I'm happy about this until it is. Losing two quality players this late in a transfer window is never ideal, and we will probably be a bit ripped off as we try to replace them. No club wants to sell good players in the last two weeks of August, they're buggered finding a replacement, not to mention time is running out for ourselves.

Think he mentioned that Emre is in his plans not long after he took the job. Can't remember the exact quotes. I think he could have a big part to play in a 4-3-3, keen to see how Allardyce will use him.

Alves when he signs for Chelsea. Of those made so far, Malouda looks the business.

Think it's all wait and see at the moment. I reckon there's concrete interest in him given his quotes, the media's claims and our need for a right back, potentially one able to cover right wing with Dyer and now Solano likely to be out the door. But given Belletti's not pushing for an exit and Barca aren't desperate to sell, it could be tricky. They'll want a sizeable fee and he'll want big wages as 'Sport' is saying, and given his age and the time it might take for him to adapt, we might not reach an agreement.

were not panicking, on his day he can be a great player. I think you need to get real, we only bought him as back up because Faubert is injured when he is back dyer will be keeping our bench warm. Very expensive bench warmer tbh.

I wouldn't say Dyer and Bellamy did nothing for Newcastle, they were key to us getting among the Champions League places and going on a pretty decent Champions League run. West Ham will be trying to get the best out of them obviously, and in Dyer's case keep him fit. It's a big ask but clubs like West Ham need to take some risks if they want to move up the table quickly. They should be looking at their defence as well mind, it still looks shocking.

BBC say £6M. That's an OK price, nothing special in my view. If we lose Solano as well we'll need strengthening on that right hand side.

Tbh I saw most of your game against West Ham (the pub couldn't find the Toon match and all the other local pubs had massive queues outside) and Man City didn't put in a great performance. Still, 3 goals without reply is an impressive start on paper. They were as good as we were in the second half. I left during the second half so I'll take your word for it.

Tbh I saw most of your game against West Ham (the pub couldn't find the Toon match and all the other local pubs had massive queues outside) and Man City didn't put in a great performance. Still, 3 goals without reply is an impressive start on paper.

I think to compare the Championship to the MLS is doing the Championship a disservice. You only have to look at the quality of players regularly coming out of the Championship to see that it's on a different level altogether. MLS teams would kill for the likes of Michael Carrick, Jermain Defoe, Theo Walcott, or Dean Ashton. There's quality coming out of that league all the time.

Villa at home will give us a good idea of where we are. I prefer us to take one game at a time at the moment, it's too difficult to say what shape we are in after one game. But I agree that on paper the next few weeks gives us an opportunity.

Birmingham 2 - 1 Sunderland

Made Scholes my captain in the fantasy footy this week, Tevez is in the team too Had Arteta's points yesterday as well. Looking good!

I think we can survive without Nobby because we seem to be trying to assemble a fairly big squad, but he gives us a lot off the field as well as on it, and used sparingly I think he could have been very effective for us this season. Let's not forget that he was brilliant for a good portion of last season, but he was overused because of a tiny squad and an escalating injury crisis. He was exhausted come the season's end and I think a lot of people are judging him on those performances. As part of a bigger squad, rested far more frequently, I think we'd see more of those performances like the one at home to Tottenham, where he simply ran the show. Perhaps a bit of sentiment comes into it, but we're losing a seasoned professional, an example to the younger players and someone who would ease the transition of the club from the old era to the new. I think there'll be times this season where it'll feel like we've tried to change too much too fast and we'll want someone like Nobby around. Ultimately he would probably have left in a year anyway, and he wants out, so the decision has been made easy for us, but I think he would have been an excellent squad player to have around this season. I think these conspiracy theories are a bit silly, Nobby has spent the majority of his career here, become a legend with the fans, turned down Liverpool to return - is it so difficult to believe that he has family issues, given he and his wife recently separated?

If he's class we'll build a defence around him. I don't see the problem there. All the top teams have competition for places. The main problem will be keeping him injury-free if his past record is anything to go by. If we can do that he should be a top signing given his pedigree.

Will be gutted to see Solano leave, but I'd be happier if him and Dyer aren't both going to West Ham as I think that would strengthen them quite a bit.

Mundo Deportivo are one of the Barcelona based rags in Spain and they're saying Sam may fly over there in person this week to try and convince the player, which suggests they haven't just 'borrowed' the story from the Mail. Could all be bollocks, and Belletti doesn't seem like an Allardyce full back, but as someone mentioned already he can also cover the right wing which would mean we could potentially sell Solano and Dyer without bringing in a winger. With Faye and Belletti I dare say our squad would be complete.

Excellent player going forward, was Barcelona's first choice right back until Zambrotta arrived. Like most Brazilian full backs, he's a lot better going forward than he is defending and he could have problems settling into English football at a late stage in his career, but perhaps he and Cacapa could help each other along. He'd walk into the team, no doubt about it, but how long before his legs go? He'd be a good signing, but a bit short-term and to pay a few million plus massive wages might be a gamble. If we're hard pushed to find a proven right back though then we should go for it. Could all be bollocks mind, although it's rumoured the player will be leaving Barca.

The fact Allardyce already knows all about the player (and vice versa) means he'll know best how to use him and he'll settle into Allardyce's methods quickly. A cheap low risk squad signing perhaps. The Bolton fans don't seem happy either, which suggests he's at least decent. Seems like he'd have to be happy with a rotation role at best though, as we have loads of midfielders and 3 centre backs already expected to challenge for a first team place. I hope we're still looking for a right back, it feels like the last piece of the jigsaw is missing.

Should have stuck a few quid on that