PlymouthGeordie

We have the most depth in defence but the strongest part of our team is the midfield 3. Bruno and Joelinton would get in to every team in the league that play a 3 man midfield bar Man City. If we could somehow add a Paqueta or DM we could really attack the top 6. My preference would be a DM over Paqueta as Bruno is better as one of the 8's. When one of Jo or Bruno are unavailable, I think we'll see a fairly big drop off but adding another midfielder will mitigate that.

Not sure if it has been said as I haven't caught up on all the comments yet but my favourite part about the performance wasn't ASM's assists or direct running, it was that for 70 minutes he grafted his nuts off. I've never seen him work so hard off the ball for the team. It was clear from 70 minutes onwards he'd blown up a bit but I think Howe left him on because everything was going through him.

If Ryder is right and the player is actively pushing for the move, I would expect this one to happen.

I disagree. I feel myself I'm a pretty balanced poster (I'm sure everyone feels that way about themselves to be fair ?). It seems to me that the more positive posters often take offence to questions asked of the ownership etc. It is those people that throw around terms such as "bedwetters" because they disagree with a bid or potential player being framed negatively. Rather than engage in a conversation they just give the other poster a "label" and dismiss their credibility even though everyones credibility on here is the same i.e we're all just supporters. Responses to people who may be unsure/unhappy about one aspect of the club or one action they've take are regularly condescending. I don't see that that happen when a more negative posters responds to someone that is overly positive.

All of the hyperbole comes from the happy clappers. It is understandable people may be a bit underwhelmed by Joao Pedro when we'd previously been linked to Diaby and Isaak who operate in similar positions. It doesn't mean they're "entitled, ungrateful or bedwetting". Most are buzzing about our signings to date and start to the new season (myself included).

Calling people bed wetters for holding a different opinion is boring craic. Not to mention I've barely seen any posts slating the (potential) signing. At most some have said it is a down grade in quality from those previously targeted (Isaak, Diaby) and that is true.

Probably the wrong thread for this but the deals we've done have all been good business at a good price bar Wood (not getting in to the debate about his impact but I think most agree 25m wasn't good value). It is the deals we haven't got done which are a concern. Ekitike was clearly out of their hands so no issue there. But in the case of Maddison, Gordon, Harrison (depending on what you believe) we have clearly been a touch scattergun in our approach. Our bid for Maddison defies all logic really. First bid reported to be 35-40 million, well below the 60m asking price. We then followed that up with a bid in the region of 40-50 million, again nowhere near their asking price only to now seemingly moved on from him all together. I think we've done some great business and getting blind sided by Ekitike has definitely had an impact. I don't think our reaction to that deal falling through has been great. Be interesting to see how the next two weeks play out.

I have no opinion on him as haven't seen much of him other than when he lept like a salmon at our place last season to score that brilliant header. If that 30m report is true (if is doing some heavy lifting), we surely have to bite the bullet and get it done? It is a valuation that falls within our reported "budget" and at some point we need to meet the selling clubs price. It does seem like we've been trying for the perfect deal on Maddison etc but Watford are under no pressure to sell this lad having just banked 20m for Dennis.

Not always, but in this instance I'd say it is because we've known for nearly 3 months Dennis and Sarr were likely to go. It's not like Dennis going has come out of the blue.

That is like saying although Messi is one of best players in the world, do you really believe he is incapable of making a mistake? Even the best, well intentioned people can make mistakes. See the Emery debacle as evidence. Accepting the club will make mistakes doesn't mean I think they aren't doing a brilliant job on the whole. It just means everyone makes mistakes.

Loans will definitely be a big part in what we do, I agree. Unfortunately they tend to happen at the at of the window so some our business will have to be late.

You basically implied the club couldn't be amateurish and it was instead people jumping to conclusions. So in effect you were defending the club but probably just too stupid to realise ?

Or maybe, God forbid we've been slow off the mark.

Where did I jump to a "dramatic conclusion"? Forest agreed a fee for Dennis on Thursday so we likely bid after that given our bid reportedly went in at the end of last week.

Forest agreed a fee for Dennis a while back. Not like this forum to defend the club at all costs because those that are even remotely critical are deemed ungrateful bedwetters.

Personally I think bidding for him after they've just sold Dennis is amateurish. If he is indeed a target, we'd have known all summer that Dennis and Sarr were both likely to be sold so why not go in earlier? Dennis is gone now and Sarr will likely follow. I'm not sure any team in world football would sell all of their first choice front 3 in the same window.

Personally i think yesterday should temper expectations a bit. Brighton are a very good footballing side but the second half wasn't too dissimilar to how Forest were against us. I'd have taken a point beforehand, but didn't expect us to be penned in our own half and clinging on for almost the entirety of the second half. Admittedly Bruno, who makes us tick, had an off day but I expected us to offer more as an attacking threat vs Brighton. Without further signings I'd say 7th will be beyond us but top 10 is definitely achievable with the cutting squad.

It's only from Bailey tbf but hopefully some truth to it.

No shock to see Scott Wilson was talking absolute shit.

Ryder reckons we're planning on going back in for Gordon if we can't get Maddison.

A draw here would be a very good result. Just like us, they are really well drilled and they play through the lines superbly.

Leicester possibly stepping up interest in Maddison's replacement?

Sorry, I meant it would be frustrating if we are wiling to go to the asking price but are taking our time to get the best deal only to miss out as a result of Chelsea signing a completely different player. Wasn't a criticism of the club.

If we lost out on Maddison as a result of acting too slowly and allowing Chelsea to sign Fofana it would be tough to take. I would assume we'll hear something tomorrow regarding our pursuit of Maddison either in terms of an increased bid or withdrawing our interest.