Jaehyun

What'd he say?

Gotta agree Vegs, a huge difference from last season, every player in our squad looked as though they had direction and were really determined. We don't run like headless chickens like we did under Roeder anymore. Every movement or play we make seems to have a purpose, and the players seem sure of what they have to do in different situations, we're turning into a very well drilled team. I liked how we controlled the first half, and then responded to conceding a goal by slowing the pace down of the game.

We were meant to play Arsenal, but they have a championsleague qualifier. Cheers... Think it's a good thing though, gives us more time for Sam to go over the weak-points of our game as we were very shakey in the first 10-15 mins of the second half. It'll allow our team to blend more into Sam's system as well, so having that extra preparation time could be crucial to our season, the sooner the players become adapted to what Big Sam asks of them, the better.

We were meant to play Arsenal, but they have a championsleague qualifier.

Viduka was absolute class, fantastic link up play. Martins looked very determined, fast, class first goal and his confidence gifted him the second. Zoggy really looks revitalised, put in a good shift at full back. Rozenahl looked a decent player, was defensively good but still needs to adapt to the premiership, you could tell he was a class defender but also that he hasn't adapted yet. He seemed confident on the ball, and made some clearances but took too long on the ball once, and also made a defensive error against Kevin Davies which could've resulted in us conceding. Carr has improved a lot more but still not defensively great, was caught ball-watching once in the first half, then gave Anelka too much room for his goal. Geremi put in a good performance, the geremi-butt-smith midfield really won the centre of the park in the first half, we only suffered when Bolton stretched us out and added pace in the opening 15 mins of the second half. Taylor put in a good brave performance, once Rozehnal starts getting used to the league we might have a good central defensive partnership. EDIT: forgot Milner, I was pleased with Milner, looks as though he as a good footballing brain, linked up well with Smith and he kept linking up and delivering crosses in a very industrious way, leading to his assist for Martins' overhead kick. Smith would have to be man of the match for me. Went into attack and linked up well with zoggy and milner on the left, always dropped back and defended well, really controlled the central midfield.

Rooney looks human.

Actually a knowledgable opinion, because Oba often does very sharp first touches.

Because it's a pre-season friendly, the result doesn't matter.

Really Cacapa so soon?

I vote to put Geremi as our defensive midfielder and our captain.

Chuck-a-pie.

I love the big guy. :'(

Wow finally a witty thread that's actually funny, thumbs up mate, enjoyed the read.

Almost every single one (bar Rozenahl) talk about the Big Sam effect. No wonder we found it hard to sign players last year, I mean if you're a player, you hold meetings with different managers, one seems clueless on what he says, the other gives you his vision for the club, how he's going to do it, and establishes what kind of role that you will undertake in those plans, which one would you join?

thats how business should be done, not in the press where we spout our mouths off and then look ridiculous when we dont get the player we want, and also dont have to pay over inflated prices because nobody knows exactly what we have to spend. Great work Mr Mort and Mr Allardyce. Also this to me smacks of very much the MUFC model of doing things, they never rave about a player until they have hgim, until its signed, e.g. nani, anderson, tevez, ronaldo, carrick, vidic, heinze, van der sar, larsson. They only talk after they have secured an agreement Just goes to show how much of an industrious worker Big Sam is in the transfer market.

Squad coming together now. Geremi Taylor Rozenahl Dragu Is a big improvement from last year. Also rumours of us bidding 3m for Poupa Diop, that'd be fantastic, a diop-barton central midfield is quite desirable. I certainly hope that those three deals go through, Smith would provide decent backup but I don't think we should spend 6 mil on him, however I trust Big Sam to build his team, and if he can realise Smith's potential which he showed at Leeds then we'll have a quality player on our hands.

Yes, as long as we get in around 2-3 defenders before the transfer window shuts I'm happy. The only thing I fear is Allardyce losing the support of the board and being sacked after one season because he can't reach an unreachable target. However this interview says we don't have specific targets for this season so that's a good thing, I really hope Allardyce is given around three years to really develop this club, a contract extension so that he can enjoy the fruits of his labour in 4-5 years time would also be nice.

Hmm I see what you mean Taylor, but I have a feeling that that's exactly what's going to happen. Ashley's always been known to be a secret man, so Mort is probably his puppet that he talks through.

Why? Because its good to talk. Puts the dirty London media in its place as well. No it wouldn't, it'd just set it off even more. No it wouldn't. So you honestly think Ashley talking in public would shut the media up saying "okay we were wrong"? They'd just use Ashley's words as fuel to write more crap. When have the media ever admitted they are wrong? mackems.gif It stops them writing anything else in the future about him wanting to sell up, ATM they can write daft stories like that and there is nothing to quash it. It's better that it stays that way, if you keep responding to the media, they'll only write more and more crap about you. Don't feed them any information and they'll write tabloid stories which hold no credibility, once you start responding to them they'll make up new conspiracies (using what you said) which actually resemble credibility.

Why? Because its good to talk. Puts the dirty London media in its place as well. No it wouldn't, it'd just set it off even more. No it wouldn't. So you honestly think Ashley talking in public would shut the media up saying "okay we were wrong"? They'd just use Ashley's words as fuel to write more crap.

Why? Because its good to talk. Puts the dirty London media in its place as well. No it wouldn't, it'd just set it off even more.

Stop being so logical. Can't you see he is the devil incarnate?! Well...he does look like an imp I suppose.

To be honest if we just sign a left back and a centre-back, 2 players, then our team would look completely different. I'm sure we can get it sorted in 11 days.

If he becomes their starter it'd be great. Leeds are a big club with good fan support so the experience of playing for a club like that would be highly beneficial.

Left wing or AM would be great, but if we don't sign another left back by 11 August, I hope he starts as fullback ahead of Babayaro.