jep

Not the right thread, but I couldn't find anywhere else to put it. Anyone watching Liverpool - Portsmouth? Distin and Campbell looking rock solid at the back for pompey. Gutted that we haven't got either of them, to be honest.

I doubt anyone is expecting him to slot right in as a first-choice CB, really. If he can go on and become as solid as Ronny Johnsen was for Man Utd for several years, he'd turn out to be a pleasant surprise and a bargain at £2.5m. Well worth it, in my opinion, and I would honestly prefer Hangeland to Davies at £8m ish.

I can only recall two specific situations (feel free to correct me) where Dyer has done something that directly puts the club in a bad light, and would obviously incur the fans' wrath; snubbing the armband (and the refusal to play 'out of position' under SBR), and the on-pitch fight with Bowyer (in which he should've avoided the confrontation altogether, regardless of whether he was or wasn't to blame). On both occasions he's come out and apologized publicly, which really is all you can ask for in that respect. The brunt of the criticism Dyer has received has initially been due to his personal and social life outside of the game, and has eventually also turned into criticism of what he's done on the pitch - lack of end product, headless chicken, etc etc. At the end of the day, booing is never ever likely to improve a players performance - I find booing in general to be distasteful and unnecessary, and I'd never condone it, and I certainly don't think that what Dyer has done is deserving of him being booed. At all. I definitely hope he stays. He still has great potential to be an asset to the team and the club, and his injury record and history means we're never likely to receive the amount of money I really think he's worth - considering the amounts being thrown around these days.

I believe it was probably the same thing during the first pre-season game and this is why he was distressed after the game and has probably since decided to leave. Brand new start to the season, everyone looking forward to a new start and he's getting abuse before he's even done anything wrong. I think a break up is best for all involved. I agree. Let's keep Dyer, and get shot of all the retards who feel the need to boo their own players.

There's highlights up on the web, but I don't know what's allowed to link to and not, so I'm not gonna bother edit: ah, what the hell, it's on dailymotion.

Both are grade A tossers, to be honest. Think Heinze just edges it for me tho, due to the fact that he's far more solid defensively, and can play CB. Bridge would be miles ahead of those two combined.

Been a while since we've had a player who can create something out of nothing, to that extent (ie the goal vs spurs). He might've been blowing hot and cold under Roeder, but I'm sure we'll see a different Obafemi Martins under Big Sam. Hope he doesn't leave for a long long time.

They've definitely been on this site and read the bootcamp-thread, that's for sure.

Wouldn't suprise me, at least. The media seem to think that he'd cost more than £3M, due to his good form last season. Hope we don't go for him, think we can do better for that amount.

Being linked with this guy in the norwegian press again. www.vg.no claiming that a transfer might be imminent, even as soon as this week. This time around, both Man City and Villa are touted as competitors for his signature, as well as ourselves. His agent has commented that Hangeland wouldn't mind staying in denmark, but would listen to offers from any big club - with england being his preferred destination if he's to leave FCK. Norwegian article here.

Dennis Wise throwing a snowball at a Tromsø-player that just had tackled him, only to realise the guy he threw it at (think it was Morten Kræmer) was nearly twice his size. Looked like he was gonna s*** himself. Quite a few years ago, Chelsea lost 3-2, and Ruud Gullit was quite furious after. Not really at the "streaker shitting his legs"-level, but still..

None. Clean slate and all. Besides, we still need more squad depth. Pick this up come january, and we can talk about getting rid of deadweight.

To be fair, he's one of the best norwegian defenders there is at the moment, but I agree he's not good enough for a top premier league side. He could, however, do a good job for us up until a certain point, and I'm sure Allardyce could bring out quite alot more of his potential. That said, it's a no-story really. I'm curious though, who would you consider a "good" norwegian player? Of the ones playing in the norwegian top division at the moment, that is.

Has been solid for the norwegian national team, and used to be a very consistent performer for Viking in the norwegian top division before he moved to denmark. Never seen him after that, but apparently he's been doing quite good in FC Copenhagen. Think he'd be decent for us. Not sure if he's what we need at the moment, though.

That's the point though. Clubs of their stature will never have to resort to these sort of clauses to bring players in. At the moment, we do - if only to attract players to take us to the level where we need to, and should, be. For mid-table clubs it's a necessity, simple as.

And you're assuming Bellamy would be fine with playing second fiddle to Owen? Or did I just get whooshed?

Dunno if it's been mentioned before, cba looking it up right now. But one of the things he's said so far, that really makes me think he's got his head in this, is: Makes me think of Luque, to be honest. Arguably a class player, but clearly without the right mentality to play for this club (remains to be seen what Allardyce can do with him, of course). Some signings of players with good determination etc, would do us pretty good at the moment.

If Taylor and Bramble could play like they did against Chelsea every single game there would be no questions asked. Not very realistic tho, is it?

He's still lacking alot of experience, hence the stupid acting and pointless offenses, and to some extent the reckless challenges he makes. However, his challenges is part of his style of play, being the pressing centreback, going forward etc. He and Bramble are too alike in that way, which is why they've never worked well together (that and the fact that Bramble is shite, basically). Pair Taylor with an experience centrehalf who can sit back and mop up what gets through, and he'll be one of the top centrebacks in the premiership in a few years, I'm positive. At least he still has the potential to go that far, in my opinion - as opposed to Bramble, who wasted his a long time ago. And like Invicta says, getting someone in who already knows their trade wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Taylor has ALOT to learn still, having two players more or less ahead of him in the pecking order would give him more incentive to improve, I think.

The need for two new fullbacks is far greater than the need for a new midfielder. Stringing a run of games together, both Emre and Dyer could easily make that "creative midfielder" spot theirs, I'm positive.

This is why I'm so confused as to why the Parker/Emre-partnership hasn't worked out well, really. Granted, some of the flak this partnership has received on this board is grossly exaggerated, but it definitely hasn't worked as well as it has the potential to do - and by potential I mean that Emre does indeed possess the skills you're advertising for here. He's quick, got great technique, passes the ball well, and he's a good finisher to boot. So why isn't it working? Well, in my opinion, it's all down to Roeder really. Unless there's something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about, players bullheading to play the positions they want to play in (ie Parker not wanting to be a DMC, or Emre not comfortable in that particular position), I'm thinking Roeder simply doesn't have the managerial or tactical skills to employ the players in their right positions, which is the only real big drawback I can think of about him. The other option is obviously Dyer, and I think stringing a good run of games together, he'd make the perfect partner for Parker, cos let's face it; he does have the attributes to be a great success in that position, just as long as he can stay fit really. This would also allow us to play a real striker upfront with Martins, and add something we've been lacking whenever Sibierski hasn't been on the pitch; strength and presence. Martins really needs someone to play off to function properly, and I'm sort of wondering if Ameobi and Martins would be more than half-decent together.

Very much dependent on what team we'd be facing, and if it's at home or away - this being especially true for central midfield. Parker and Butt being the obvious "dominant" and hard-tackling choice, whereas Emre would bring more flair to it. Generally speaking, and on today's form, I'd definitely go with something like: Given - Solano, Taylor, Onyewu, Babayaro - Duff, Parker, Butt, Milner - Dyer, Martins. Sibierski and Martins seems to work well, but I think we look more dangerous with Dyer playing off Martins, and they both seem to thrive at that too. I still think Duff has shown more than N'Zogbia this season, and definitely is a more experienced player, despite the slating he gets on this board. Milner has arguably been one of our best performers this season, along with Butt. Onyewu seems solid, and Taylor beats Bramble by miles. Solano would probably prefer his natural position, but he's been class on the right back as well, I guess that just outlines how much we need a new right back, really. I don't see any good options for left back, so Babayaro would have to do for now - even considering Edgar for that position in a regular sense, is ludicrous in my opinion.

That makes two of us. Wish we'd signed him back before he signed for blackburn - Gamst Pedersen for a £1-2m beats Duff for £5m, imo.