Rample

How many captains/very senior pros are there in this squad? After Bradley's hyperbole I expected him to marshall the defence. Someone needs to get a grip. Wouldn't be surprised to go in 3-0 down and game over.

14 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Porter was a good signing and got goals.  Then got injured.  Sammon was expensive but a great foil for Martin late in games knocking s*** out of centre backs and making them run.  Maguire was pant's.

£400k on Porter

£400k on Maguire

£1.2m on Salmon

£750k on Russell

Tyson

Vaughan, Campbell, Dickov, Sunu, Cywka. Boulding, Bueno, Moore, Robinson, Priskin on loan

I'll give you Kuqi, Ward and Martin (although the last 2 were loans that actually worked before signing permanently)

3 hours ago, TheTinMan said:

The striker situation is seriously depressing to be honest and we just seem to keep banging the same drum of looking at veterans who have fitness issues, are past their best and will be on silly wages still and they'll just move on once the contract ends and we're back to square one with rebuilding the team. Yes it worked for a season with Didzy but he's not that long out of the PL whereas Rhodes, Waghorn etc have been lower Championship players for years now. Nigel Clough barely had a pot to pee in but still unearthed some good signings from the lower leagues and Scotland. Do we even have a scouting team? 

In fairness didn't he waste money on Maguire, Salmon and Porter.

Would be good for us.

Knows where to pop up in the box and get on the end of crosses, both with his head and for tap ins. Also capable of other types of goals and has a good penalty record. Would seem an ideal no.9 who worked under Warne at Rotherham and should slip pretty effortlessly into his system.

Contracted until 2025 at Wednesday so unless they desperately want him off the wage bill and are trying to give him away, I'd imagine a loan that either turns permanent based on promotion or at least gives them a sizeable bonus if we get promoted.

If he comes in I imagine it would add weight to the Collins/Shrewsbury rumours. I know we're looking for a target man, but with this we would be swapping a first choice target man for someone who obviously frustrates Warne a bit and wasn't his signing.

1 hour ago, DCFC1388 said:

Been told the bid from Hull for Bird was 300k 🤣

No wonder its way off & derisory

Did they miss a 0 off the end?

With Knight going for somewhere in the region of £1.7m given his identical contract situation and similar age then clearly nothing under £1m would be entertained, and even then I suspect we'd negotiate considerably upward.

Interesting Warne said that he could spend £300k on one player if he wanted, but couldn't get anyone of the required quality in for that. Sounds like Rosenior read it and said "challenge accepted" 

Not what you want to read. Has been our standout player in preseason. 

I'm open to anyone moving on if the move is good for them, if the fee is appropriate, and if they are adequately replaced.

The worry is we probably only get a couple of hundred thousand added to the budget and are suddenly chasing 4 new players rather than 3, and the extra one is someone who will need replacing asap. You don't just find Bird quality on frees or going cheap.

Suddenly our midfield opens wide up and Thompson, Johnson and Rooney become contenders to start.

Can I see Warne taking a more attacking midfielder over Bird, maybe, I think it would suit his plans, but it would probably also use the transfer funds up meaning no new striker. Suddenly we have 3 z list loanees again.

No way we are going to be able to pull Woods down here, and Hull don't have much else I'd want.

Also Rosenior mate, leave our players alone, especially if you are lowballing for them.

Nothing against Waggy but we have Joe Ward (Prowse) - think he'll be on direct kicks this season.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11764/12210822/peterborough-2-1-ipswich-joe-ward-free-kick-seals-comeback-win-for-posh

Congratulations and best of luck to him.

I assume in the same way as we've weeded a few staff out, we've also monitored the rest and will look to keep those who fit the ethos. 

I hope he has the required skills too, but I doubt he would have been appointed if not.

Downloaded some unofficial updates and going to spend a couple of hours today seeing what this can do.

Never played 3 at the back so this will be interesting.

46 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Only one spot to play for this year as Sheff Utd and Luton will be lucky to get 30 points between them.     

Be nice if one only obtained 10. 

If we can lose that record and gain 104 points to take the league one points record I'd be very happy.

£15m spent on Elanga, imagine that's largely wasted money. You'd think they'd be looking at signings that would make a difference more so than boosting an already over-inflated squad.

Another season of flirting with relegation is definitely on the cards - impossible to call relegation spots as its anyone from about 10 teams. Will all depend on luck and if they can put a run together. I can't see many of the teams outside the elite that have actually improved, most have actually lost key players or at best remain decidely mediocre.

On 24/07/2023 at 19:55, Rev said:

Did seeing it at the cinema add much to the enjoyment? 

From the reviews I've read, it's mostly talking in various rooms, doesn't sound like the big screen adds much.

Not really. There are a few wide location shots, a couple of explosions and a couple of scenes of Florence Pugh if she's your cup of tea, but none of the big set pieces Nolan is known for.

Think it would be just as intense in your own living room if you can avoid getting distracted/interrupted for 3 hours.

Has Nolan said anything about watching this in cinemas? I know he threw a hissy over Tenet.

4 minutes ago, DCFC1388 said:

 

With regards Buchanan

Talk it might be a season long loan now with a view to a permanent, so anything would be down the line.

3 hours ago, Eoghan1884 said:

Anyone know if we have a sell on % for Buchanan, Werded Bremen have released him from pre season to complete a move to either Birmingham or Swansea.

I looked earlier and it doesn't seem like it. There was a confusion as to whether he was a free agent or not at the time, and in the end they agreed to pay a development fee. I figure that is all we'll see. Not sure what fee is being bandied around, I imagine it will only be £500k plus add ons, so even if we did it wouldn't be substantial.

43 minutes ago, DCFCRhowy said:

Huddersfield just tweeted that we played a behind closed doors game Against them today.. maybe waggy played and we sneaked Rhodes on the coach home 

Isn't that how we got rid of Holmes? Who are we trying to **** off now, Hourihane?

20 hours ago, MarsdenRam said:

I still think he's being cute and has got something up his sleeve.

I think

a) it might have something to do with Rhodes wanting a pay off and as a result them wanting a few to offset it,

b) Not wanting to pay loan fees or full wages for players not guaranteed to be starters,

Both will probably still happen but on our terms.

Alternately 

c) you can't get a decent striker for 200k could translate to you can get a decent centre back for that.  So if you can move Cashin on for example then maybe you could afford a Shaun Barker sized fee for a better striker.

Maybe Cash plus cash for Ladapo or someone similar could emerge in the coming weeks. 

1 hour ago, Scott129 said:

NML's end product was fine - 7 goals and 8 assists, pretty much all in the first half of the season.

I'd argue it's less about his quality and more about his fitness. We need to find a way to keep him fit and firing for the entirety of the season and not just half of it.

Going away for the summer tournament makes this even more the case. He might start the season well as a result but unless we rotate and rest him he'll be off the boil by Christmas.

To be fair I think we're better covered now. Last season there weren't a lot of options and he had to play too much. Not relying so much on wide forwards then it's more about strikers and attacking mids. I can see him and Washington rotating.

Barbie/Oppenheimer double bill.

Barbie. Not sure what it was supposed to be really or who it's aimed at. A mum and tween bonding over practically nothing and a heavy handed message that a woman just being herself is enough rather than anything resembling a plot.

6/10

Oppenheimer. Definitely too long but I can appreciate it as a well made film and the best thing Nolan has done in a while. All I would really criticise is the last 10-15 minutes feel tagged on even though they wrap up the movie. Murphy and Downey Jr give strong performances. Wife hated it though.

7.5/10

On 19/07/2023 at 18:37, Jon Bon Pony said:

To be honest, if Bennett in the answer, what the hell is the question?

90s britpop boyband who had a minor hit with Mums gone to Iceland?

For opening day

Wildsmith picks himself

Definitely going to be Nelson Bradley and Cashin in a 3

I'd expect Ward right and Wilson left wing backs

Smith Hourihane and Bird for midfield

Then NML and Collins both in terms of fitness and likely preference as it stands.

I agree with Warne on that line up.

Can only see Elder, Washington and maybe Barkhuizen if he hits decent form seriously troubling those in the starting XI. Fozzy, Sibley and Thompson will be utility subs. 

2 or 3 additions would give us a healthy sized squad, ready to cover most issues but short of a proper step up in quality either as centre forward or attacking mid I don't see them being guaranteed starters.

Didn't see too much of him but he looked a prospect. Surprised we let him move on. I think its fair to assume he has reached championship standard and could have made an impact here.

At 25 you'd think he was pretty much fully developed now, and its not been a bad trajectory for him since leaving, captaining the champions of his country, international caps.

If he's happy with that then great, but a lot of players would be looking to take the next step at that age, a bigger european league, challenging and bettering themselves. Be interesting to see his next move.

Didn't seem to have the best attitude at times, but sounds like he's been taking coaching seriously.

I'm sure he has some knowledge to pass on, and knowing the club, players and so on should be advantageous.

Whilst I'm sure he can offer guidance on the pitch, I don't really want to see him playing over Radciffe, Robinson or Thompson.

Also, I understand Davies wanted to play on, but couldn't we have just kept him or Stears for this?

I'm warming to this now. He's a quality  finisher and puts the effort in.

Dropping down a league should boost his returns, and even if we only play him as sub or when we go 2 up top I think he offers something a bit different and can contribute important goals.

Only thing is he's their top earner so he's going to have to take a serious pay cut. I don't think a fee will be a problem as they will want him off the wage bill. Hopefully we don't offer a silly or long contract 

On 15/07/2023 at 11:44, jimbobram said:

Anyone know if he’s in the friendlies for cov at all ? 

They haven't had any yet. An oddsandsods XI who didn't go to Portugal played a non-league side and that's been it.

They play Forest Green tomorrow and Shrewsbury on Saturday.