Mole_Toonfan

Simpson getting forward to good effect again

It's Stewart Robson and he's a right c*nt, there isn't a man or woman alive who likes him f*ckin arrogant bastard criticizing anyone and everyone. Wish people would stop hiring the c*nt.

Agreed. Also i know it's a tiresome argument that has been brought up again and again and its only pre-season but we really struggle in possession in 4-4-2.

He's clueless basically.

That or 4-3-3 with Marveaux behind Cisse, Ba left, Sammy Right and Tiote and Jonas holding. Either way i'm looking forward to it.

I'm liking that whether its 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 it should provide some good football.

I would be shocked if we bought Pieters and Debuchy quite frankly.

Assumptions based on that it's quite obvious Debuchy is our first choice and we wont be buying 2 full backs.

I really wouldn't be excited about Pieters as a CB tbh, maybe a decent option if our main fullback targets full through but as CB's go we can and we should be doing much better. As mentioned before the Pieters interest is merely we are interested him as an back up option if Debuchy doesn't happen but he isn't a priority target.

They will probably be what Sunderland fans will be saying about him as well when he fails to meet their expectations after another lower-mid table finish.

Ah cheers, should stop trusting talksport headlines

We probably are interested in him as one of the fall back options if Debuchy deal doesn't happen. I highly doubt we will pursue that interest if we get Debuchy though. Van der Wiel as well? interesting, didn't see that coming.

We were linked with him, but he is very raw and unlike at Twente he wouldnt be first choice here so best choice in his career right now really. Good business from Twente though, they seem to be very smart in the transfer market so it cant be McLaren who makes the decisions.

Why not just buy him now, what's the point in the loan for a year first? Probably don't have the money left in their budget for this summer, so loan him now and dip into next year's budget to pay it. After all Valencia are not exactly in the best financial shape.

Watching Southampton and Ajax and been very impressed with Southampton with Clyne and Lallana impressing in particular. They play some good football with some good players, i think they will do well this season.

Watched that Ben Arfa compilation yesterday, the amazing thing about it all is that it's a 13 minute video with clips between the end of feb to beginning of may. If he was fit all season i'm not even sure 30 mins would cover it lol.

Milan are making a huge error there imo, they lack LB's as it is and it was the summer to give him a chance. Happy for Valencia though, bought two solid fullbacks this summer with one of them having a pretty big upside in Vila.

Watching now. Adkins seems like an absolutely top bloke. Can't help but like him - think Southampton will do well this year. Who needs Mourinho, when you have the physio !

I agree with this when it comes to that 4-3-3 formation, but we won't always be able to stick to that and having Carroll can see us go back to 4-4-2 if others are injured/suspended. Cisse and BA won't be available all season and with ACN and Europe we need to be able to play a few types of formations and first XI's which Carroll can give us a good option for. The strange thing is that my first XI and formation preference would be with Carroll on the bench if we got him, which I suppose leads me to think it's a waste of money to spend nearly £20m on a player to be not first choice if everyone is fit. And I can't believe Ashley would sanction that. My biggest worry about all this is how much input Pardew has. It's all well and good saying that the more good players the better, but you have to be realistic about who's going to be playing almost every week. I think that's the entire point around we have been linked with big money moves for a striker. I don't think there's going to be a set eleven going forward with lots of rotation, it would explain why we want a quality striker and not just a mere back up so when we do decide to rotate the squad the drop off in quality is very small if not at all. It explains our train of thought in the CB chase too, we want someone of similar quality to S.Taylor so we can rotate and we don't lose much quality if at all. In the long run it wouldn't surprise me to see us have a CB, CM and CF with a lot of quality but wont be guaranteed a starting place. As most club's around us do. How many successful teams voluntarily rotate their key players in key positions? True, but look at the clubs around us and their bench and the quality that is on said bench. Using just one example Man Utd has Hernandez, Berbatov, Young/Nani etc etc on the bench. Another example for a team we finished closer to last season in Arsenal, they have RVP, Giroud, Podolski, Walcott, Oxlade and Gervinho for 3 positions. Obviously a slow progress but if we are to compete for CL places in the long term then there has to be more quality on the bench as the difference between our bench and the teams we are contending with is massive.

I agree with this when it comes to that 4-3-3 formation, but we won't always be able to stick to that and having Carroll can see us go back to 4-4-2 if others are injured/suspended. Cisse and BA won't be available all season and with ACN and Europe we need to be able to play a few types of formations and first XI's which Carroll can give us a good option for. The strange thing is that my first XI and formation preference would be with Carroll on the bench if we got him, which I suppose leads me to think it's a waste of money to spend nearly £20m on a player to be not first choice if everyone is fit. And I can't believe Ashley would sanction that. My biggest worry about all this is how much input Pardew has. It's all well and good saying that the more good players the better, but you have to be realistic about who's going to be playing almost every week. I think that's the entire point around we have been linked with big money moves for a striker. I don't think there's going to be a set eleven going forward with lots of rotation, it would explain why we want a quality striker and not just a mere back up so when we do decide to rotate the squad the drop off in quality is very small if not at all. It explains our train of thought in the CB chase too, we want someone of similar quality to S.Taylor so we can rotate and we don't lose much quality if at all. In the long run it wouldn't surprise me to see us have a CB, CM and CF with a lot of quality but wont be guaranteed a starting place. As most club's around us do.

I wonder how many like me do this every year and a month into the season don't touch it again

Surely, but I find it hard to believe that your scouts don't have half a dozen better ideas who to spend £15m on. Name them. Every one of them. Now.

I'm sure everyone feels the same, but how likely is Mike stumps up the cash? this is the why i don't bring up any lists of players because it's hard to think of any realistic signings. Quite frankly i wouldn't consider Remy realistic before the interest was known but now our interest has seemed to be known it seems it's more realistic. Let's wait and see, what ever Pardew and the team come up with i'm 100% behind although i do feel Carroll is the wrong deal for us unless it's for 40 or under wages and 10m or under fee.

brilliant.

It's quite obvious i was talking about during in his hot streak in the premier league before we sold him..... Even if he wasn't he still wouldn't be as important as he was as Cisse will be the focal point and not Carroll. I'm sure if he came back he would do well, but for certain reasons not the level he reached before. Also it's quite obvious what i was talking about when i said attitude issues. He would come back as a 3rd choice striker and not one of the main guys in the dressing room like he was before and i have questions about how he would adapt to that.