Lotus

Quite uncanny this

Whenever i've seen Gomis, which is occasionally, i thought he looked pretty poor tbh. Doubt we'd sign him. Better modify this now Have to say, he looked ordinairy or worse when i saw him a few times on ESPN last season. Was thinking i was glad we never signed him the 1st time we were linked.

He's been holding Obertan back imo. Worth considering.

Thought he looked a triffic player.

I was actually quite looking forward to Bent arriving, but now I know he's a replacement for Cisse it's killed my enthusiasm stone dead. For those who thought Cisse couldn't hold the ball up well, good luck with Bent. Cisse is twice the player he is outside the box IMO. Yup. I was more than happy whenI though he'd be challenging Cisse, an option off the bench or whatever. But as a replacement not at all for me. If Pardew is going to continue with his awful brand of football, Bent is not the answer. Think Bent is better at making diagonal runs actually to receive long balls. Still leaves the problem of midfield support.

Because he quite happily wore a shirt with virging money on, while playing in the barclays premier league. They're both money lenders who chatge interest. What Cisse is effectively saying is that Sharia law is ok with interest rates of less than 50%. Which is absolute bollocks. Has he been quoted as saying it's a religeous matter? It might just be a moral one (if this is even the problem). IIRC, when we announced Wonga was going to be a sponsor, some time ago now, the Muslim Council of Great Britain got on the news pretty sharpish saying how it was unacceptable for a Muslim to carry this sponsor's logo. Haven't heard a peep from the now though. You'd think that if Cisse had declared that was the issue they'd be making sure they get some exposure over it. Of course, i could be wrong but i'm convinced we have anything like the full story here.

How is Cisse being hypocritical? Who is he lending money to?

Still not convinced we've got the whole story. However, there is no hypocrisy if someone gambles but doesn't accept payday loan companies on moral grounds. It would be hypocrisy if he was loansharking himself....

Think there's a bit more to this myself.

I'd say Villa's position just got a little stronger...

Quite how i see things tbh.

Kevin Nolan got 10 goals last season doing just that. He reads the game well.

This league is very much focused on athletic ability. Haris seems fairly strong and but he's not quick. Doesn't appear to have fantastic dribbling skillz. Good eye though and a very good left foot. Given the pace of play here, he will need to be very sharp mentally to succeed. That old cliche of being a yard or 2 ahead of everyone else in the head would apply.

Signing Bent is very short-termism.

^^ Thinks it's a bit of both with Marveaux personally. He could bother his arse a bit more, like.

Will the players be wearing those distance monitors a la Fat Sam?

How do you mean? Disappears too often (when on the pitch). Drifts in and out of games. Great when on the ball at times but he doesn't go looking for it nearly enough for me.

Still not convinced he has the charachter to really be a player for us.

I think if we played as a 4-4-2 he could work as a striker that works the channels, offers and outball, etc. Just don't think we have the midfield for that though. 100% Someone like Bent would be far more of a consistent goal threat, though. Personally, i'd like to give Cisse another season before i made that judgement but you could be right...

I think if we played as a 4-4-2 he could work as a striker that works the channels, offers and outball, etc. Just don't think we have the midfield for that though.

Gouffran doesn't create anything or score many from out there, so he clearly isn't fine. It's too early to conclude that IMO. Not that I expect any of players to be given any time like. I've a lot of time for his effort but we don't really play a 4-3-3, we play more like a 4-5-1 and he doesn't really offer much as LW. Doesn't dribble, doesn't cross. They're not really his attributes.

Doesn't create. Did he get any assists last season?

30.06.2015 according to Transfermarkt. Wiki has him to 2014 unless i'm reading it wrong....

Is it true Etienne Capoue has 1 yeart left on his contract? Would think it well worth moving Tiote on and spending the money on him.

I suspect that around 55% of the fans - at least - share your views. Ashley is in for a shock when the 3 year ST period runs out unless he pulls off something spectacular before the season starts because I can see another wasted season if this squad is what the club intend to rely on until Christmas......MINUS Cabaye, of course.... We have a good set of players, the threat of relegation's off our back for now, a new season is starting. I'm surprised everyone isn't looking forward to the kick off. Aye, the Kinnear thing has been an embarrassment, but once the football starts we can forget about that. I don't see any reason to expect another season like last. Nothing has changed for the better so far though Ian. A couple of fringe players have left and a raving lunatic has been brought in. We still have the exact same personnel as last season who underperformed so spectacularly. There has been no one brought in so far in boost the squad, give them a bit of confidence for the coming season. So far there is just nothing there to say the coming season is going to be any better. Things have changed for the better though, mainly a break to refresh, the chance to regroup, and the spiral of decline broken. We have the same personnel as last season, but the new signings only played since Jan. Also, they are the same personnel who finished 5th as well. I'm not predicting an amazing season, but I don't believe we'll be as bad as last either. The level of negativity is staggering at times. Teams to tend to get judged on what they did the season before, not on what they did a couple or a few years ago. There does tend to be a good reason for that too.