Salopian

It''s not fair to judge him on the Wembley match, as he was probably not quite fully fit from his injury, but he hit our bar from distance with Ruddy completely beaten. Otherwise I would have to say that I am not convinced of his heading ability or his quickness in and around the box to create half chances. If he was a real Premiership prospect, I think that Chelsea would asking a much higher price.

Anyone but Whittaker. He is a fine attacker player, but he can''t compete with a speedy winger, on either flank. I Olsson and Brady aren''t fit, then either go to a 3-5-4 type of formation or play Tuffolo. I am also concerned by the way that Pinto was outjumped by Stokes, and how Ruddy was slow to get his body down. We may prove to become a much-feared high scoring team, but until Neil can sort out the fullback problems we are always liable to concede from crosses.

With our lack of extra striking power, and the performance of Jerome pre-season, I would rate our chances fairly low. We needed a striker or two, plus a central defender, and none has happened so far.

He was replaced, but at half time Whittaker was replaced. This may suggest that the latter was more responsible for the defensive weakness. Certainly with the pace of Pinto replacing the slowness of Whittaker no further goals came down that wing.

I wouldn''t regard either of them as great football thinkers or strategists, but so long as they can make clear to the team what they want and motivate them I shall be happy. Hodgson may have had ideas, but the team didn''t seem to understand them or seem keen to follow them.

Yes, if he continues in the Euro form.

Each year we look for at least one outstanding player who will turn a match by his own skills. Each year we sign a vast number of good players, or formerly good players, especially central midfielders. The exceptions are clearly Redmond and probably Brady, but some of our signings seem to disappear without trace, and money is squandered. It is true that we have some promising youngsters, but they may prove to be very good or rather average. As we don''t seem able to spot real talent, I fear for the club in the short term and in the long.

Perhaps the £20m is a figure from which we will come down after negotiation, and it mat be that Leicester cheekily thought that they could get a real bargain by enticing the player with Champions League opportunity. In fact the Leicester bid was surely well below that required for a man who was outstanding at the Euros, bearing in mind what some transfer fees have emerged this summer for players never likely to to hit the headlines. One of the consequences of TV money, etc., is that Prem teams, and especially those who have a long presence, is that transfer sums are on a rising trend.

Both Murphy boys have shown pace, passing and shooting ability, and I have no doubt that they could "cut it" at Championship level, especially if we sell both Redmond and Brady. McGrandles was something of a prodigy in Scotland, playing in senior teams while only 17 or 18. He never really threatened to get into the first team at CR, but then we have a huge number of central midfielders. Lately, of course he had the serious injury. Thompson seemed very promising, but of late doesn''t seem to have set the world alight. Now we are reportedly chasing a Reading midfielder, and we have signed yet other "prospects". We already have Howson, probably at his peak, Dorrans, Tettey and Mulumbu. The midfield arguably doesn''t need any more. We are short of good strikers. Whether Morris is good enough for next season, I have no idea. He did score a few vital goals for Hamilton, and he should return to us with more experience. Otherwise the strike force is pretty bare after Naismith and Jerome. I shall not be confident until we reinforce the spine of the team, and would like to see at least a couple of strikers, one good central defender signed even if Timm continues with us., and possibly a couple of full backs. I am not optimistic.

My main hope is of consolidation - I would be very surprised if we were challenging for promotion. There are some very good teams who have assembled expensive squads, and we lack the finance to buy for immediate challenge, even with proceeds of sale of Redmond (and possibly Brady.) I hope for top 8, and with some astute signings over the next 18 months and be challenging for promotion in 2018. We have invested in some highly promising youngsters, and I expect us to reap benefits in the near future.

I needn''t mention any names, but looking at the list some are unlikely to get a game unless there''s some kind of epidemic. We have become saddled with a number of players who will probably not be able to do much to get us back into the Prem. The squad is arguably too large. Are we not attempting to spend available money over the summer? Or is the hope to bring on some youth players? Perhaps the agents appointed to do our transfer business will do some sort of cull. If not we shall be carrying a lot of costs.

Howson for my choice - he sets a very good example, is well respected by his colleagues and has previous experience at Leeds.

Certainly very surprising, as he didn''t seem to stand out for Wednesday this year, and surely not cover for Bennett. In his day a committed and loyal member of defence, but he was never quick, and age has surely not increased his pace.

A one year emergency signing to get us back into the Prem? No thanks, it would cost too much in wages.

As there are unlikely to be any bargains until managers and scouts are back from the Euros, there''s probably no-one to answer the phone if we enquire. The fact that we see no signs of activity doesn''t mean that Neil will not be engaged with others about who to keep and where the greatest needs are. He has to speak to borderline exit players, and there will probably be discussions on wages. Added to this, he is entitled to some holiday at some point. I am as frustrated as anyone that we have not yet made exciting signings, but given the alleged Championship quality of much of the present squad I don''t expect many signings - in recent summers we have spread our spending too widely, with disappointing results. Very often we were late starting. My hope is that by the end of the Euros we shall be in position to make offers and conduct negotiations, with the end result of two or three quality players arriving well before the season starts.

I agree that Whittaker has no future in the Championship - we warned before he came that as a right back he was OK going forward but not good enough in defence! Martin is clearly not up to Premiership standard, but next season we shall be in the Championship, so 12 month''s time may be the time to sell him. I don''t know what to make of Dorrans. He has a good pedigree, but recently has been nothing like it. Unless there are special reasons, he will be only a squad player even in the Championship. Three general comments: 1) We have invested fairly heavily in promising youngsters this season, especially midfielders. If we can develop them, one or two could well become of Premiership standard. 2) We have wasted a lot of money on buying cheap gap fillers, - players who clearly were not highly rated by their previous clubs. Did we really think that we had stand-out Premiership players for £2m or £3m? 3) It seems that for the last two seasons part of our problem in signing quality players was because scouting staff left and there was a two month delay in replacing them. This clearly has to change.

We shall not be able to "swop" or replace say 12 or 15 of the squad, - we just don''t have the money, and some we now know are not good enough for the Prem could stop a season in the Championship, players such as Jarvis, Martin, even Jerome. Those we might send packing immediately, to free up places in the squad and save money on the wage bill, could include Bassong (too many errors now), Ruddy (likewise), Pinto, Whittaker, Mulumbu. I suspect that we would have to sell at very low price to be rid of them.

If Klose plays, - unlikely, then 2-0 down. If he doesn''t 4-0 down

He has his weaknesses - perhaps one is to continue with "favoured" players when they should be dropped, another is an inability to motivate for the big occasions (-the Wembley game was a great exception). I would criticize him most for signing some mediocre players, Pinto, Jarvis, Wisdome, even Naismith, but how far was this his fault, and how far either the scouts or others who recommended them, or the club unwilling to spend money? I have said it before, but with the exception of Klose we lack top quality players who can turn a game on their own. We have some very good players, Howson, Brady and Redmond at his best, but generally we have honest strivers who are short of Premiership quality. If we are ever to survive in the Premiership, we shall need to grow some outstanding players, or else be prepared to spend real money.

If we can recapture the team spirit of Wembley last May, then I can see us winning narrowly or drawing. On the other hand, if Klose isn''t playing or isn''t fully fit, then I can see us losing. I hope that Neil has a way of dealing with Defoe. Most liklely? 1-1

I would prefer and unchanged team, and let the Naismith/Mbokani partnership develop further - it looked good at times against Newcastle. I don''t think that Jarvis has played very well recently, but neither has Redmond. This is a difficult decision. We could have some quick and useful players on the bench ready to come on!

Given the scoring records of our strikers, I would suggest a 1- 1 draw.

We shall concede goals, and it may be a matter of damage limitation. Leicester have scored plenty against better defences than our''s. Whether we can score or not is hard to say, but we have been scoring a few of late. I forecast a Leicester win 3-0 or 3-1

In time Klose will make a significant contribution, I expect, and Naismith also. Otherwise we have a poor defence, and I am puzzled by the omission of Bennett, who was present in the one or two games when we kept clean sheets. There seems a lack of commitment, and players fail to turn up. One or two, Redmond for example, seem to have little enthusiasm and are not contributing much in a positive way. There seems an inability to understand what the game plan is. Much of this has to be laid at the manager''s door. He must do a number of things: 1) Be prepared to drop any player who is not trying, and be more prepared to play younger players, who will be keener. 2) Pick a new captain who understands the game plan and drives his colleagues out on the pitch. 3) Make the game plan clearer. 4) Stop tinkering and needless changes.

Villa have two or three strikers out injured, and have struggled to score of late in any case. However, we shall probably be our usual generous selves and give them at least one goal. So I''m going for 1-1 as the most likely, and with a slight chance of 1-2.