oldtype

Only really need one good striker and I'd say there's a decent chance that at least one of our new strikers comes into form. Need two center backs and we don't have a single one that inspires confidence.

Center back should absolutely be the priority. Our situation there is miles more desperate than it is at striker

I mean, we've been through the "don't write them off early" thing so many times now that it's silly that it even needs to be mentioned. The kid has tools and is still adapting to the league. Let's give him more than two games.

...huh?

The Korean player in question has issued a statement saying that McKay is not a racist and was one of his biggest supporters while at the club, for what it's worth.

I don't see him making a lot of bad decisions. Just lacks the technique necessary to be dangerous in the final third.

This is exactly on point. Pardew is a boring but passable manager when he's not coaching afraid and lets the lads play. It's when he gets afraid and starts reverting to "Pardyball" when things go to shit. Hopefully we'll not have a bad run this season that gets him into that sorry state.

I think we should be looking to start Perez or De Jong alongside a striker at all times.

Very impressive. If today is representative of his usual form, I would certainly have him in over Tiote.

He's fast and strong and doesn't look like a complete headless chicken. Kompany had him in his back pocket today, but he will do well against less classy defenders.

We wouldn't have paid for both Ferreya and Reviere unless the idea was that at least one of them has the potential to come good. If neither does we'll dip into the market again in January. It would be downright odd if we bid for another striker at this point given that we usually only play one anyway. The glaring need right now is center back, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of movement on that front.

Yeah, that made me chuckle as well. I think the idea is that he'll be going somewhere nicer after slumming it here for a year.

Happy. Good manager and a very decent person in my book. Good to know. Hopefully we get this one over the line then.

Looks like Van Marwijk is taking the Korea job. Thoughts, Unbelievable? Should I be happy or suicidal? Already kinda put off by the fact that he bears a passing resemblance to the king.

They've been long-term admirers since his time in Korea. Bought him off Sunderland and then loaned him to Augusburg for the second half of last season. Kid was a big talent before he made the mistake of going to Sunderland. I'm not getting my hopes up but maybe he'll do well at Dortmund.

Centerback is a pretty glaring priority given that we're stuck with Coloccini (past it), Williamson (average/unspectacular), Taylor (increasingly unreliable + always injured) and MYM (pardewed). Wish we could find a way to ship one of those out and get a replacement. At this point it almost feels like a bad thing that Colo decided not to leave.

We got him for nothing, and as long as he's better than Gosling he's met expectations. I know people dislike him because they assume Pardew will pick him over better players, but surely there's plenty of time to be angry about that when it actually happens.

Were you aware that Pardew was a bad manager and that we're a very poor side when multiple key players are missing before watching this game? If so, why does it even matter? Just seems a very odd thing to be pissed off about.

Pre-season is pre-season and the results mean absolutely nothing. Shouldn't change your opinion one way or the other.

Aside from not having a striker who's guaranteed to score one-in-two, this is the most "goals" we've had in the squad of ages. Refreshing change from nobody in the midfield posing any sort of goal threat.

de Jong played some nice through balls in NZ, i think hes just a very intelligent player and chooses the best option the majority of the time he has the ball. I hate to resort to cliches, but he looks like a textbook "neat and tidy" passer. He's not going to wow you with Cabaye-style through balls but he'll make the right decision more often than not.

Clearly centerback is the gaping hole now, so hopefully it will be addressed. Seriously doubt we'll go after another striker given that we'll probably only play one alongside De Jong up top, and we have four options + whatever miniscule game time Armstrong or Campbell get. "proven" strikers are expensive and unfortunately most of them are too ambitious or too expensive for us. I'm reasonably happy that we've made some low-risk high-return investments instead. Riviere is a striker with good numbers who wasn't a focal point for his team and didn't get a lot of minutes. He may relish being the main man and grow into the role. Ferreya has a fine record in lesser leagues. He may be able to transfer that to the Prem. Perez is a young player who seems on the verge of a breakout season. There's no guarantee that any one of them will work out, but it's probably more likely than not that at least one of them does. We have options, and in the absence of a sure thing, options is the best you can ask for.

De Jong's not a creative force either. He's more of a rich man's Kevin Nolan: plays short simple passes and scores goals. I assume Cabella will be fulfilling the ball-dominant playmaker duties for the most part.

It would be nice if we showed some ambition, but having accepted that we never will, this window has been about as good as we could possibly expect.

This sort of loan deal with a future fee agreed is all-upside really. He's an unproven player so it's good to be able to test him out for a year before making the full outlay. It's quite different from the Remy deal, where we were going for a proven player who was only interested in a short-term deal. So while the usual caveats about how everything is terrible and we're bad forever apply, it's still a good deal in isolation.