Shak

thats the slight worry,all first team players,and yes i know we needed a lot of work there,but how many youngsters did he bring into the bolton fold from outside. i'm not saying it's wrong,just wondering if his scouts are so good could we get them younger and save money and drill them to the NUFC way earlier Time will tell, I'm happy he's building us a good team for the now though. Finding good young players to bring through will come in time, in Sam we trust.

Rozehnal is older than Smith btw, at 27 I'd class him as entering his peak years. Defenders generally peak at an older age though.

Thought Sam wanted tall, powerful full-backs?

They'll be fine. Sam was holding them back the last year or two, CL for them this year and they'll play great football getting there.

Barton, Enrique and Rozenhal all have their peak years ahead of them still, and Geremi and Smith are only entering their peak years now. Not a worry at all for me.

Strange thing for me to say, but does it matter when the fee is so little? I think it does, I'd rather pay more and sign someone who could have a long term future at the club. I think most people would. But finding that player might be difficult, bring in Belletti (or someone similiar, if this story turns out to be untrue, hich is quite possible) in the meantime and when we find a great young prospect for the position bring him in to take over eventually.

Be happy enough with that. Ideally would like someone younger and spicier that we can look to have in our team for a decade or so, but if there's nobody like that Sam feels is worth pursuing then Belletti will provide us with a good option for a few more years.

Be a good fight that. You have to fancy Faye would annihilate him, but then Barton is a madman so that complicates things.

Looks likely this will be going through now. Pleasing addition as he fills two needs (back-up DM and a 4th CB) and seems to be highly rated by the Bolton fans. If we got a top class RB in now then it would be just fantastic, so great to finally have some squad depth. Awaits Gartside's inevitable 'Faye was boring the fans, O'Brien will bring excitement to our defence' comment on this.

Nice name change.

God damn it, that Dave is a robot I tells ya.

English FTW.

Just a little... My Fantasy team is f*****. Again. My fantasy team is in bits this week. Baines, Geremi, Steven Taylor, Nelson and Micah Richards are my defence, so only one of them actually playing.

A fourth would have been lovely. Great save though, as I think Andy Gray mentioned at least once.

This one confuses me. I'm sure I remember a lot of people here (most?) saying during last season that he was generally a bit clueless. Then he hobbles around for the U21s and scores a penalty, and suddenly he's Paolo Maldini. I may be wrong, like. I doubt it was most people saying he was clueless, a vocal minority perhaps. At times he was clueless, to be expected at his age playing with the players he had around him as well. Generally now he's considered a very good CB prospect who still has a fair bit to learn, I just think people are excited about him because we finally have a manager who we're confident can develop a prospect like Taylor.

:t'banana:

Glad we've never signed Defoe, obviously never got used to t'idea of not being miles better than any other player on the pitch as was surely the case in his teens. PASS THE BALL jackass.

Yet he wasn't considered good enough to make the Ireland squad for our game in Greece last year, even though we had a number of injuries. Kevin Kilbane and Stephen Ireland started in central midfield, what good balance. We lost 5-2. Honestly, Steve Staunton is a legend. Say's an awful lot about Stan tbh. Carsley just sits in there and does exactly what he's supposed to. This says more. He plays Steve Finnan at left back and John O'Shea at right back.

Do you understand the question? I doubt he even understands that question tbh.

Yet he wasn't considered good enough to make the Ireland squad for our game in Greece last year, even though we had a number of injuries. Kevin Kilbane and Stephen Ireland started in central midfield, what good balance. We lost 5-2. Honestly, Steve Staunton is a legend.

Paul Robinson up to no good again.

Almost 4 there. Great effort from Berbatov just beforehand. Cracking game so far.

Draw would be the ideal result for us, I reckon.

Agree with OML, excited about getting Owen back. Would have preferred him to go and target someone else, as his injury problems are a huge concern. If he gets back playing well and stays fit, he's going to be a very attractive option for clubs maybe looking to add that something to their squad for a CL push. Won't be cup-tied and available foir a snip for what a fully fit and on form Owen would bring to the team. In the short term though he gives us a world class finisher, and I expect we'll have him on the pitch more often than not. Our squad is quite flexible in midfield and I like Martins' chances out wide in the 4-3-3, so I'd say we'll see plenty of that this year, particularly away from home. I reckon Owen might play down the left when he does get a game in that system. Another good option though that we don't have to rush back, so great that almost nobody has been mentioning the fact that we've injuries to Owen, Barton, Emre and Duff with any sense of urgency. The squad is looking solid. Just need a quality RB, I'd be absolutely contented. Can't wait to see what team we have out if we ever get everyone fit.