De_La_Vega

Gregan is the slowest centre-half in the West, it is true. Opinions are easily swayed by certain traits, that lull the masses into silly mistakes. Take for instance Hughes cutting into the box, holding off his marker and getting a shot off - the ball goes wide, they get a goal-kick and all the Latics fans jump around going "HUUUUGHESY!". Meanwhile Alessandra stands forlorn looking at the open goal that he had, 5 yards to Hughes' left and Taylor stands on the left-hand side of the box with an open goal thinking "next time I might not bother running all this way to never get a pass". Appealing to the masses is not a sure indicator of doing the right thing, and it isn't a sure measure of compitance. Gregan is an ace passer of the ball, hard as nails and a dominate presence at the back. He is, however, slow and not quite tall enough to be comfortable against proper meat-head beasts up front. Very similar in that last respect to Hazell and Haining. The Staminator now... there was a real player.

Pretty sure that Purdie is a winger by trade, even though he can play anywhere. Get Lee in the middle - playing with a bruiser should allow him to get on the ball and use his short passing game to good effect.

Thought so... Had enough to be a useful player out wide, and to be fair to him I'd suggest that he deserves a deal of the credit that Porter collected that season when he bagged 20-odd goals.

Some of this is a bit harsh on Warne I think... I always rated him as a footballer; he'd played at a higher level and that showed in his touch. What he didn't have was a goal-scoring edge, but he probably wasn't a striker ideally. Great attitude, and along with G-Mac is one of the sort of personalities that make successful clubs. However, his time has passed and we shouldn't even consider having him back.

One of the major issues with last season in my eyes is that we dived out of the cups too early. Wenger doesn't like the League Cup but he uses it to his advantage, and we should do the same with the JPT. Look at Mourinho - first thing he did at Chelsea was go hard after the LC because he wanted to get a real winning mentality at the club, and he followed that with a couple of league titles. If we took it seriously then it could be a perfect opportunity to get lads like Stephens and Black competitive experience, and at the end of it we could be going to Wembley. Cannot see why it is even a debate - the Trophy is there to be won and we should look to be in the shake up for it.

I have been losing sleep over it - because I'm so excited. The best rule change to affect the English game in decades.

Strange because I've been impressed by his kicking when I've seen him. He needs to work on comanding his area and decision making, but for all that he showed enough as a lad in his early twenties to suggest that good coaching could turn him into a class act. Plus he's a penalty saving legend. Now if he could only stop giving them away...

Oh, and unpredictable league this year. Unfortunately Leeds, Millwall, Trannie and Huddersfield look strong to me. Not worried by what is coming up, but the three who have gone down should all fare reasonably well too depending on their starts. Play-offs may prove too much of a stretch, but it will be because the teams above us are stronger than in recent years. Still a long way to go though, and there'll be a few more big signings to be made - Graham from Carlisle being one of them.

I am mystified by some of the entirely negative commentary on this board - are people doing it for laughs or what? As for the signings; - Purdie sounds a decent player with some much needed versatility that we have missed post-Warne. - Worthington sounds like no superstar, but we've needed some steel in the middle for a long time and he should bring that. - Jacobsen is a bit of a gamble, but then good full-backs aren't imperative to getting up and we have some cover so at the least he sounds like a good gamble, if he can progress then we may have a good signing there. The Aussie sounds a bit gash, but we haven't definitely signed him yet. All this talk of "League 2 players" is daft. We have some very talented players - there have been teams that have done reasonably in this league without having anyone of the promise Eardley or Taylor show. Need we be reminded we have two of last years league team? Surrounding the "stars" we have a cast featuring a couple who I am hopeful of big things from. If we can develop them then I think Lee, Fleming and Smalley (assuming he isn't leaving) have the potential to be excellent players at this and a higher level. Hazell is a decent centre-half, we have no idea how good Stephens, Brooke or Black are/will be, and while I am not his biggest fan a guy like Whitaker will play his part this year (even if it is coming off the bench for his striking the ball outside the area and to use his passing range when the game is more stretched). We have to hope O'Grady or Alessandra can kick on, although I am not convinced by either So there are some ifs, buts and maybes for next year. However, we know that we need a centre-half and a striker and if those two positions are filled by quality players then the whole perspective of this squad changes. You cannot seriously tell me that the players already at this club would not represent a better side than Cheltenham or Hereford did last year. Well, you could but you'd be talking bollocks.

My sentiments exactly. To be a top team you need to be strong at full-back, but we're some way off it yet and need to focus our energies elsewhere. Hence taking a punt on JJ at left-back isn't a bad option in my eyes. The fact is that in Eardley we are strong at right-back, so we should than our lucky stars and invest money elsewhere to bring the rest of the team up to speed. We have some options to replace him, while if he gets injured there is always the loan system should our current crop prove to be completely inadequate.

Or they could be looking over their shoulders at guys who are pissed off at being at the club but not playing, who aren't 100% up to speed because we haven't got space for them in the reserves and they could be looking over their shoulders at guys who are taking up a wage better spent on strikers and centre-halves.

A couple of facts; 1) Taylor's value doesn't depend on Christiano "reigning world player of the year" Ronaldo 2) Dickinson is a quality player who went to the Championship, not saying he's better than Taylor but it doesn't affect his value 3) Premier League clubs are all over Delph because they see something above the ordinary in him, they aren't over any other players in this league in anything like the same way 4) Leeds have more money, more fans and better prospects of going up, Taylor loves it and is a legend but every so often a player has to look to his career and he'd be a fool to disregard a chance to join them We shouldn't put too much faith in his loyalty, great though it is that he loves the Blues. If he goes in order to try and get up a league and make as much as he can out of a short career, having played his heart out for several seasons at BP then I for one would not condemn him. I'd be gutted, but I'd take it on the chin and give him a round of applause anytime he came back to BP.

Well this is all getting a bit personal... So I'll try and get back on topic. I'm not convinced by the signing and in fact am a little bit worried. We already have Eardley and Jacobsen, with Lomax, Black, Purdie and Lee all mentioned as players who are very capable of filling in at full-back. Add to that Hazell and Taylor who could both cover there and to my mind you have a pretty comprehensive suite of options for either left or right back - which makes me wonder about this move. The only way I can make sense of our bringing in another right back is if Eardley is going to be sold, and while I can accept that may be a requirement in order to build a squad I would be aggrieved if it happens this summer. He didn't play to his potential last year, regardless of the team of the year placing, and the biggest hints seem to be coming from Huddersfield - if we sell him now to them I cannot see that we'll get either the most we could for him, or that we'll be serving our best interests for next year. If this is true then it is a strange signing, regardless of the guy's quality which I grant that I know nothing about. Our priorities have to be a star centre-half and a striker - any further signings on top of that should be versatile players who have at least a hand in either of these areas. Strange that we seem to be continually linked with players outside of our real weak areas. Can we not just go and sign the other James Vaughan from the Toffees - thought he looked quality when we played them in the FA Cup, far better than Johnson. Although that said he got scant change out of the mighty Staminator.

I think we slightly overestimate Taylor's value - £750k is very good money in this economic climate. I doubt we'll see another Nicky Maynard "throw daft money at it" sale in the near future. Not arguing for a sale, and I am not saying Taylor is crap before anyone gets upset. He does have a lot of hard work to do to be the player I think he can be, and £750k is the minimum I'd accept for him personally (and I'd like add-ons). If it was my money in the club though, and mindful of the Porter incident then I'd have to think hard about that sort of offer. Although if he goes to a club in our league then I'd look to charge a premium - especially if they happen to be Yorkshire Luddite tossrags.

Pretty pleased with all 3 signings so far. Purdie brings some good versatility and by all accounts first rate attitude and fitness, Worthington a bit of grit to a midfield that has been too soft since the loss of "Bad-tackle" Wellens and this lad sounds reasonable. How can we be complaining? He's free, young and with a decent pedigree - the least that deserves is a chance. Also if anyone here still thinks that Lomax can do a job then could they please check themselves in to the nearest sanitarium? The boy tries hard but is rubbish on the ball, cannot tackle and is poor positionally. I still hope to see more of Black this year; he's been mentioned for so long that I cannot bring myself to believe that he's not decent. Oh, and as for that Zorrro comment - no man replaces the Staminator's studly magnificence. Hang your head sir and apologise.

Who played well? Lomax? Do you sniff glue?

Quick, big and powerful centre-half who can dominate at the back. Centre-forward with strength and a bit of pace capable of leading the line, and bringing other players into the game. And Zidane as of the Euros in 2000.

At the end of the day football exists to please the fans, and should a full-back get injured and a centre-mid get sent in there to cover it can spoil a game. That was Mourinho's point, and I see it as valid - I'm not crying a river for the woes of super rich clubs but I am seeing his point. As for the arguments for the West Brom vs. ManUre game - I see your point and I can agree with them in a fashion. However surely what you are essentially saying is that United are miles too strong for West Brom, and that isn't an issue brought about by subs. It is also a very specific and highly subjective example. What is more likely to happen is that United would have room to have quality cover for every position on the bench, with match changing subs along with workhorses thus making them more able to cope with the vicissitudes of fate. But then the fact is that by having 4 outfield subs of vastly superior quality they would have that advantage anyway. You'd hope that the Premier League would dovetail this allowance with the rules about homegrown players to insist that young, English qualified talent is given a place on the benches, and so long as it is then I think the impact will be tiny, and the potential benefits clear to see when the England team of the future contains more quality players who got a chance early. As for us, I don't think in practice it will affect our squad balance.

I've got to say I don't see the arguments against. The rich aren't going to get richer, because all it means is that they can play more of their reserves from the bench should they so want to. The biggest will already have these players, and in any event there is no money attached to this so they aren't going to have increased resources with which to support larger squads. If anything all it means is that there is an increased chance of younger lads making the bench and possibly getting a run out. As for us, if we can only field 4 subs then this won't affect us will it? There are still only 11 on the pitch, and you don't need more players to fill the spaces. As I said previously, surely we'd use this increase to field young lads like Brooke or Stephens on the bench which will increase their opportunities to get on. If you have only 4 outfield players on the bench then there is an element of safety first that affects who you choose. We haven't got the cash to pay squad players so I cannot see that we'd do anything else, and I cannot see why we'd be anti the increase. You can only get three on in any game, so in theory your team still only needs to be fifteen strong - starting XI, 3 outfield players and a sub keeper.

Mourinho once made a good point on this subject, where he advocated it on the grounds that by allowing 7 subs you give the manager tactical freedom that can only improve the spectator experience - in his case this was that he couldn't field specialist full-backs on the bench as his 4 outfield players needed to cover the "key" areas down the spine of the team. Therefore if he lost right or left back the attacking component of his team was lost and a guy just filled in, primarily to cover the defensive duties. I thought that was fair enough, and a good argument for. At our level not so important, but it does give a manager the option of having younger guys like (in our case) Black, Stephens or Brooke on the bench to throw on should the game be going our way. So to be honest I'm all for. Unless we have to buy a bigger bus and that comes out of the transfer kitty. That would be rubbish.

Got to agree - Parker is gash and highly over-rated. This time round Huddersfield seem to be investing their wealth wisely...

To be fair we had a fair few quality players for this level last year - Taylor and Eardley made the league team, Jones was good, we've all loved Gregan's style in the past and Hughes scored lots. Fleming is a good keeper, Hazell holds an end up, Allott and Maher would get into a fair few teams at this level albeit not alongside each other. I think the wailing and gnashing of teeth that followed last season is a little overdone, because although we fell away massively and embarrassingly, last season was a disaster because we had good players who massively underperformed, rather than our players not being good enough. So, the point of this is that I think any players who come in must have a couple of key qualities - fitness and a good attitude. We add a few players like that (Purdie sounds like one) for every "next Porter" that we sign and we'll be onto a winner.

It'd be nice to put Bury to the sword at righteous BP, but to be honest I don't care too much who it is - I just want us to put together a bit of a cup run this year. Whether it be a good run in one of them or just staying in all of them for a couple of rounds, I'm not fussed. The limp cup displays of last year must be buried this time round - good fun and good cash for all!

Nailed on red hair? Why would anyone do that? I'm sure it just grows that way...

Hmmm, a bit of inter-mod skulduggery here? If Smalley is on his way then fair enough, another wide player would be very useful (particularly one who could do a shift up front or at full-back - Liddell or Warne-esque), but mark my words Mr Purdie plays wide right given the chance. I have foreseen it... Or at least Senior La Vega has. Anyone care to elaborate on the Smalley business? According to a teasing wretch by the name of Wardle he was supposed to be history last week wasn't he?