midds

RCM

First time for a few years, missed the place

I like him, he's definitely got something. He's a bit raw and needs a bit of polishing but he also needs to be in and around the first team squad this year. He's quick, has a trick and also has the confidence to go at players, his decision-making is also pretty good in the final third. He dovetailed nicely with Joelinton at times and they switched positions here and there and he slotted into LCM nicely as big Joe stayed wide. For a 17 year old to stand out is impressive, he needs to play in order to develop but I honestly think he might be good enough to be thrown in sooner rather than later

Can't see how signing Todibo - who has had his heart set on Juve all summer - can work out well for West Ham. He's clearly a good player and it's a decent price but if he doesn't really want to be there...

That seems excessive too but with Kelly there was always an expectation that the salary would be much higher because of the lack of a big fee. It's why players wind their contracts down after all, but we all know this. At least it's not £150k on top of a hefty fee

£100k does seem a little excessive I must admit

I wouldn't even put it down as a mistake tbh. At the end of his loan it was a complete no-brainer to make it permanent, he'd played really, really well on loan and at the time the decision had to be made it was the correct decision to sign him permanently. It's easy to have a pop with the benefit of hindsight but you can't do that in the real world, the decision had to be made at the time

Exactly. He played intermittently for one of the worst teams in PL history who spent the vast majority of games defending. That's a perfect storm for a young inexperienced striker trying to impress, I'm essentially ignoring all of his stats for last season, he'll get plenty of minutes this season and I'll judge him purely on what I see, I think he'll do rather well tbh

He obviously passed the eye test well enough though

It wouldn't be a lack of intelligence, it would be a lack of integrity

Just posturing, it means nothing other than a public - 'yeah, he's still our player bitch'

Fair play that's a great move for him. He's been immense on (for a few seasons) and off it and been a bit of a father figure for some for the last few years. Great pro, talented and will still do a decent job for Portsmouth for a coupe of years - hope he smashes it and they appreciate him, top bloke

Exactly. Shaddsy P

Wasn't he pictured in their shirt posing next to a huge club badge a fortnight ago?

Smashed in 200+ for us

Can't believe people are leaving Shearer out. I get it's down to favourites but, fuck...

Favourite, not 'best' XI Given Tripps Colo Woodgate Bernard Ginola Lee Speed Robert Shearer Ferdinand

Barnes Isak Gordon looks a lot better than Gordon Isak Almiron though. It's a last resort but if we're pushed for money/can't shift Almiron then switching Gordon to the RW is more than a possibility. I don't want it to happen but it's a better option than sticking with Almiron. Honestly can't bare the thought of seeing Almiron lining up on RW for yet another season

The fact we've had several dozen suggestions speaks volumes about the utter shite we've had to watch for the last few decades

No-one ever accepts the first bid - for anything tbh. Palace are going to replace him and they'll need time to pick their player so the onus is on both clubs to wrap it up quickly rather than dragging it out. Just sit tight and let them haggle then agree a fee hopefully

Hasn't happened for, literally, weeks

I think the club will do everything it can to both move Almiron on and get a replacement. We 100% need a new RW option and there are a few ways of doing it - buy a direct replacement, loan someone with the option of making it permanent or moving Gordon over to the RW and letting Barnes become LW. I know which option I like best... Moving Almiron on this window is the key to solving the problem though. He's got every right to dig his heels in and refuse the move though, his contract works both ways. However, he's got to understand that he needs to be replaced, the entire fanbase can see it. If he refuses the move then he's not going to be very popular across the fanbase imo. But it's his career at the end of the day

Bought tickets for myself and the boy for Friday night and looking forward to it. Leazes, middle tier, COLE 9 93/94 Green third

Achraf Lazaar looked like a competition winner the few times I saw him 'play'. An early EFL Cup game versus Wolves (maybe?) actually had me laughing at how bad he was