YoussefSafriFromDistance

We are lacking in wide players who can get goals and assists at championship level - he got 12 goals and 3 assists in his last championship season

Wonder if there's any chance of getting Lewis-Potter on loan from Brentford he's exactly what we need and has had very little game time

Michael Edwards is an interesting one, might be an attraction in working with a coach who is similar to Klopp in both style and personality plus he worked really well with FSG who will operate in a similar way to Attanasio who also consulted John Henry / FSG before getting involved at Norwich. Huge step down but the fact he's turned Chelsea down shows he might be looking for the "right club/project" rather than one where he has lots of money to play with

Still no clues on who the left back is going to be? Deadline day is looming

I'm just wondering if anyone with more tactical knowledge than me knows how a typical Dean Smith team is set up? Or even what sort of players fit his system/philosophy? I understand he wants more physicality and players with a winning/fighting mentality but so would any manager after watching last season. I know very little about his Brentford days, I could never really see a clear playing style from his Villa side and it felt like he was just trying to piece together anything to get a result last season with us. Maybe I've been spoiled by Farkeball and the idea of having an established and obvious philosophy?

I think if we were still adrift on less than five points or something then it's not worth it but with those two signings plus a fit Pukki Normann and Rashica I really believe we can get a bit of momentum and stay up. If we do nothing and then I really do worry about our midfield especially without Normann and now Gilmour for a month, I guess this is why they're considering a back 3 again now.

If Cantwell were to move to Newcastle and Gilmour were to stay at Chelsea following his injury assessment (Is it normal for a loan player to return to their parent club for injury treatment?) that would leave us with the 10-15 million plus a prem loan spot. I think this would put us in a good position to sign a decent CDM and an attacking player to match the quality of Rashica and Pukki, this would get rid of two technically gifted but light-weight/luxury players who are clearly not physically or mentally suited to a relegation scrap and allow us to fix our two main problems. I know a lot of people think the club and Webber have given up because Dean Smith has said not to expect transfers but surely you would expect him to keep his cards close to his chest and manage expectations just in case transfers don't happen?

I think we will sign Aaron Ramsey 😂 Jokes aside, we really need a defensive minded midfielder who is happy to do the dirty work and has the robustness needed to balance our midfield. I am struggling to think of anyone who fits the mould and might be available. Anyone have any ideas?

Very true! Could be a big risk.

Make sense as he's moved down the pecking order now that Byram is back in the mix

Might as well have some fun imagining up some transfers as we aren't actually going to sign anyone 😂 Seriously though f he's going to Newcastle who are a relegation rival then I'd say I'm not (completely) deluded, I think if anything it's a real shame that these sort of players are completely out of the question for us but not our relegation rivals. It shows how difficult a task Smith and Shakespeare have on their hands for the second half of the season with our financial constraints. Hopefully Newcastle sign too many ego/diva types who aren't really ready for relegation scrap and are just there for a paycheck, otherwise we're in big trouble. OTBC

Unlikely I know as he has been sought after by Burnley but said he wants to go to a higher-profile prem team. I was wondering if he doesn't get his move to a bigger team and Burnley get someone else in, maybe we could swoop in for a loan late in the window with Juve paying half wages as they've stated that they're keen to offload him? Wages probably still too expensive at 50% but he would certainly improve continuity between midfield and attack which seem to be very disconnected at the moment.

I'm new to the forum so we'll call this part of the learning curve 😂

Had us going there for a bit @yellow_belly