midds

Interesting to see the dynamics of the squad. Nolan was very vocal and seemed to be in constant conversation with hughton. Was coaching the younger players during the drills etc.

Yep.

The boy started crying as soon as they started playing... Obviously just realised what he's let himself in for.

East stand is open. Sol is an absolute tank but he's hardly fat! Most of the east stand is full.

After sifting through the heaps of shite in this thread and reading between the lines, this post seems to sum the situation up. Can't be sure obviously but it fits and is totally plausible. Hope he signs but at least we're in for a player of his calibre which implies Hughton knows we're a bit short. Let's just wait and see.

Onuoha is a good signing for that lot. Saying that, how many Centre-Halves has he signed in his time there? Bramble, Dawson, Ferdinand, Da Silva, Mensah, Kilgallon (?)... For being such a good defender he can't seem to spot a good one. The cabbage-faced minge.

Got a copy of this: http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/ciu/12/02/aee1017b42a04211216b1210.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg signed by Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. Some spastic on Amazon is trying to flog one for £500...

We'll get twatted 4-0. Our season starts with Villa tbh.

That's exactly the argument for bringing in a player of this ilk surely. Guthrie and Barton don't have energy and Nolan certainly doesn't have either. Someone sitting in front of the 2 central defenders is going to bring movement and energy? Have I missed something? I don't even think it has to be somebody who just sits infront of the defenders. It just needs to be a midfielder with the legs and dynamism to get across the pitch, cover defensively and give us some energy in the centre of the park. Nearly all 'defensive midfielders' offer this. For example 2 players mentioned in this thread (Reo-Coker and Annan) both offer these qualities. I'd much rather have 2 CM that both defend when we've not got the ball and bothsupport the attack when we're going forward. Don't think we're in a position to have one specialised defensive midfielder and one asked to create. We're going to be stretched all over the place and we need the midfield to be as mobile as possible, in both directions. Each to their own though. But both Barton and Guthrie are useless defensively and both have limited physical attributes. Neither of them have the aptitude to provide mobility in both directions like you are saying. Are you suggesting we go out and buy 2 new midfielders who can do it all? (very hard to find) I agree with you that assigning a role entirely is not productive in this instance but getting somebody in who has the adequate attributes to do the defensive/physical work is important imo. In this instance somebody like Annan actually offers just as much going forward as he does defensively tbh. He's like Essien-lite. I'm hoping that Gosling and Barton can just about do it between them. Ideally, we'd be buying 2 new CM who are the business but realistically, Barton and Gosling are as close as we've currently got. I accept that we're a long way short in that area but what else are we going to do?

That's exactly the argument for bringing in a player of this ilk surely. Guthrie and Barton don't have energy and Nolan certainly doesn't have either. Someone sitting in front of the 2 central defenders is going to bring movement and energy? Have I missed something? I don't even think it has to be somebody who just sits infront of the defenders. It just needs to be a midfielder with the legs and dynamism to get across the pitch, cover defensively and give us some energy in the centre of the park. Nearly all 'defensive midfielders' offer this. For example 2 players mentioned in this thread (Reo-Coker and Annan) both offer these qualities. I'd much rather have 2 CM that both defend when we've not got the ball and both support the attack when we're going forward. Don't think we're in a position to have one specialised defensive midfielder and one asked to create. We're going to be stretched all over the place and we need the midfield to be as mobile as possible, in both directions. Each to their own though.

That's exactly the argument for bringing in a player of this ilk surely. Guthrie and Barton don't have energy and Nolan certainly doesn't have either. Someone sitting in front of the 2 central defenders is going to bring movement and energy? Have I missed something?

Much prefer 2 'box to box' midfielders in there tbh. We need movement and energy in the middle of the park.

'Son of a whore', I believe. I've been called worse down the local by my mates tbh. The Cherry Tree?

Not even I would go that far.

When the ball is gently trundling out of play for a throw-in and the linesman has got time to get in place and signal but lets the ball go past him without stopping it so play can restart quicker. All he has to do is just stop it on the line with his foot rather than wait for the player to go running past him and get it. I know it's not his job to do it but it annoys me, especially when there's only a few minutes left and a team are chasing the game.

its ashley, expect the unexpected Knowing Ashley it was probably the second question we asked. The first being do you want to buy the naming rights to a football stadium? 'Would you print names on these shirts for us? Please?' What is that all about, have they run out of glue? James has been sniffing it by the looks of the last few pages.

I'll wait until he actually signs before I get excited tbh. Very encouraging though but a lot can happen in 3 or 4 days when signing a player. Fingers crossed he comes though.

Has James Beattie's future been sorted out by Pulis or is he still on the market?

That's EXACTLY what I thought 18 months ago. Looking on the bright side might make it easier to deal with but since we went down I've looked at things in a different light. We're not quite good enough to stay up atm. Hopefully that will change but I'm not convinced it will.

Exactly this. At the minute, no. Get a string-puller in and it's a yes. I have been encouraged by what I've seen of us today and in La Coruna though.

You are canny tanned like. Or is that a liver problem? Tanfastic.

How many people are going to be disappointed when they try to watch our game tomorrow expecting it to be free because of the thread title?

Might nip up and take the boy. He may as well get used to the place.

I guess we can scrap the poll too. Ben Arfa or bust.