STM

GG Do you think Williamson will be a success here?

From what i gather our business is done with Pompey, it's now down to the club and the player. Stoke are still in negotiations with Pompey, so they are different circumstances.

Extra quotes from Hughton (in the chronicle) that i don't think have been posted; “For whatever reason, it has not worked out for Mike at Portsmouth. “The fact that he attracted interest from Portsmouth before the season had really got under way shows that he has been regarded as a player who is capable of playing in the Premier League. “He must have been doing something right. “He’s a big lad and an imposing centre-back who gives us a different option to go with Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini. “Part of the reason he’s here is to increase competition for places and give us some cover.”

He hasn't played for Pompey.

If fairness RVN would probably keep them in the premiership so infact he would be worth every penny, especially without a transfer fee. I expect they will sell one or two during this window too.

He might do a job for them but he won't make them much better. O'Neill clearly doesn't fancy him, as he's been playing Cuellar at right back i think?

I don't think that anyone's under the illusion that our priorities lie further up the pitch but we do need cover in defence. Losing Taylor or Colo without cover would hurt us. In fairness to Hughton he seems to be "trying" to sign players further up the field (if rumours are to be believed).

Right now i don't want to think about the mackems, i'd rather concentrate on simply getting back in the same league. If Beye has joined them, then it's a good move for them, as he's a good player (cunt that he is). When we get promoted we will ask Joey to break his leg.

Not a bad move if he can hold his price in the market. He's obviously not going to be great but i like the fact that Hughton was supposedly interested in the summer, shows he clearly rates the lad. I hope we can get a deal sorted in the morning, so that he is registered for West Brom and give Colo or Taylor a rest.

Have we even been linked with Routledge? Or did i miss it?

Come on you should know by now that there is always something negative to find about every situation.

Long term i'd love us to sign Davis, so a loan now would be be brilliant. I have no doubt that Davis will be one of the countries top centre halfs in a few years time, once he gets some games and experiance under his belt. However, the chances of this happening are very slim, as there is there is bound to be at least one premiership club in for him.

NEVER play Loven on the wing. That's all.

Good game, great goal. I keep wanting switch over to the Spurs game but there's too many goals in this one.

Just...

I think most are in agreement about Simpson's ability, he's a decent right back who will help us to promotion but huge question marks over his future potential. From my point of view it's about squad building, he's a good young lad who works well with our other defenders, so he represents a sensible signing. However, i'd suggest should we get promoted that we should look for someone better, preferably with more experiance. I voted yes.

Just wait, end of this month we will give him a one month deal, after impressing in training.

I'd prefer us to sign Simpson than Killgallon TBH.

I like the lad and if it helps us secure promotion then i'm happy with the signing. He does very little wrong out on the pitch and seems to have a good attitude.

Exactly, if he doesn't i'd expect us to do enough to beat palace.

I'm suprised at the amount who don't rate Simpson. Don't get me wrong, he still has alot of work to do in order to become a "out of the ordinary" right back. However, IMO he's solid enough to be considered a good squad signing, with potential. The problem we have is that we can't sign players on minimal fee's anymore because that is half our budget. If we let Simpson go without signing a replacement we cause our own problems, not because i rate Simpson that highly but because we will be a man short (ditto harewood).

Assuming we haven't added to our squad (or retained Simpson), i'd guess we will look like this; Krul Raylor Taylor Kadar Enrique Butt Nolan Pancrate Guthrie Ranger Carroll IMO a cup game is a great chance to allow Guthrie to play in his natural position but there's no chance Hughton will do that. We SHOULD be playing a full strength side, due to the significant break we have had, in order to get some momentum going over the next few weeks. However, Hughton will look at this as a chance to rest some players who he views as important. Don't expect a win, in fact expect us to sacrifice the F.A cup. The only saving grace is that West Brom may rest a few of their players, who probably are not as good back up as ours.

Almost all of the other Championship clubs would take Butt simply on reputation. If they really knew i doubt they would.

I always feel like i know less every time Hughton talks.

He is, still got a massive career ahead of him. He's just returned from injury though.