Bovril

Agreed. It’s one or the other for me (Pukki/Sargent) as they simply do not link up well even when as a two up top. Under Smith, Sargent will thrive more than Pukki in terms of style of play. Bringing Pukki off the bench then gives us option. Like most yesterday, both were very poor/starved of service. You could see Sargent was trying but he just isn’t suited in that formation. Has to play central and offers us an aerial threat and route which Pukki doesn’t.

If that was Nunez's first game, we'd be questioning why we paid £3m for him too. As said above, everyone was bad today. The only positives were the blocks (by numerous players) made in the 2nd half which gave us a point.

Being live on SkySports/BT The more matches selected to be on, the more fees you receive. All clubs must be on a minimum of 10 times.

From the brief cameo's we've seen so far, it's hard to tell exactly what type of player/role he does, in keeping with the whole play style under Smith. He currently looks like one of those 33-year old Brazilians who's winding down their career. Nothing particulary wrong with him at this stage but equally no spark/obvious magic/reason we paid £10m whilst in the Championship for him. Coming off the back of a bad injury though, so deserves time to bed in.

Once again, this league is shocking. The second half, before Onel came on, might as well have been played down the park. Dean Smith is not a bad manager, nor is he a great one. He's a good to average manager, and that's all we need to get out of this league this year with our squad. The squad is a mix of players/styles and still lacks cohesion, but it simply doesn't matter as the opposition is so poor this year. This team would face exactly the same punishment as last year's if promoted. The crowd know it too, you can visibly see and hear the apathy/lack of true enjoyment despite being top. This isn't a moan post but rather a realistic picture of where we are.

Think that says everything about our season last year to be honest. The only player I would be sad to see go, based on the start of this season, is Max Aarons. The rest, sadly even Pukki now, are replaceable.

Of all the clubs he could move to, he is probably most suited to Brighton. It's a good move for him play style and coach style. Time will tell if he makes it or not. Yes, he was shambolic for us, and the media massively over-hyped his one good performance for Chelsea and Scotland, but he was far from being the only shambolic player for us last year. Strengths: Stamina, Always offers/Doesn't hide Weaknesses: Physically weak, poor positioning, no creativity, poor shooting, loses duels both aerially and on ground He really only looks like being able to offer a metronome type role, which may work for him at Brighton. His positioning can be coached better and physically he can get stronger. Ultimately however, I suspect he ends up as a bench player and eventually sold down the leagues.

Nottingham Forest have literally been re-born and signed a whole new club's worth of players. Edit: He's actually off to Olympiakos on a season-long loan. The owner of Forest is the same as Olympiakos. Another case of Waford/Udinese, where owners use the wealth of one club to purchase players for the other, depending on each club's current circumstance. Initial fee is £2m, rising to £4m total.

If he wasn't injury prone, he'd still be at West Ham. The lad is a very good footballer, all-round touch and composure. He's very assured and reliable (when fit), much more so than Giann or Mcallum who are very similar in that they can attack but suspect when defending.

As other have said above, the introduction of Hayden will really let Nunez shine. It will also massively help Mclean/Gibbs, both of whom are more centre-mids rather than DMs. Alot depends on Hayden getting and then staying fit. If he does stay fit, then we'll have a very good team I suspect. If not, then we'll need to plod our way through matches as we're doing currently. I'd personally like us to forget about signing another LB on loan and instead get a proper DM on loan to cover for Hayden.

The fact we are the better team with that midfield is another fine example of how poor this league is. It's genuinely worrying the gap between the two leagues.

Cantwell, Onel, and Pukki to come on in the second half is something to look forward to (less so for Birmingham defenders).

We need to do a Forest - anyone have a spare £150m?

I think that game once again summed up the sheer lack of quality that will be in this league this year. It's the poorest league I can ever remember. I honestly think we're the best team in the division and I think that sums up the gap between the Championship and Premier League.

Realistically: £10m+ = Jorge Mendes level of salesmanship £7.5m+ = Great deal £5m+ = Good/fair deal £3m+ = Not good but consider < £3m = Poor I can see a loan with option to buy type deal with a Bundesliga club.

Josh Sargent = Dean Smith style striker Teemu Pukki = Daniel Farke style striker No right or wrong here, just different styles. Farke is more possession based and balls into feet/clever runs. Smith still wants the ball but is more pragmatic with his style and more direct, which requires a more physical type of striker who can score goals with his head, ala Sargent. The way Sargent took the 2nd goal was superb, firm strike into the side-netting after physically outmuscling two strong players. He is also extremely adept at heading, wins more than his fair share of 50/50's in the air and has already demonstrated his scoring ability with his head this year as well as his great headed goal against Watford last season. Naturally Sargent doesn't have the off-the-ball movement of Pukki (Pukki's main and superb strength) but he can still make that yard run and get his shot off as he did for his first goal against Millwall. Two different managers, two different strikers.

Anyone know if we have sold our allocation? Is it still possible to buy on the gate? Edit: Have just checked official site and you can buy up to 10 tickets in one purchase so presume we've sold less than 1,000 given the early kick-off and game being on Sky Sports.

I think Dimi and McCallum are much of a muchness. Both seem to have the same strengths and weaknesses.

I would it change it from 3 windows (+ half-time) to 2 windows (+half-time) to make any changes. That would help reduce the time wasting whilst keeping the 5 subs rule.

I believe you are talking about Pukki here (rather than Nunez).

Had a decent effort in the 1st half and should have been given a lay-off by Pukki in the 1st half too to which Pukki apologised after. If he can link up with Pukki going forward, this will really boost Pukki's mood who quite frankly seems fed up of not receiving the ball after a season or two. As a result, Pukki looks worse for it. Giving a week or two on the training pitch, optimistic Nunez will link up well with Pukki and Cantwell.

Agree fully with the summary in 1st post. Due to the types of signings made last season, we effectively have two sets of players wanting/needing to play two different styles. For example, Cantwell and Nunez will play better with Pukki. Onel, Rashica, and Sargent would play better with Hugill up top. Sinani is neither and just needs to go, offers nothing. Sorenson also needs to revert back to being reserve left-back for all the reasons mentioned in this thread already. When fit, Hayden, Mclean, Sara, Nunez, Cantwell, Pukki would work very well. Then chuck on Onel with Sargent and Hugill together if needed.

Dimitris Giannoulis suffered a horror ankle injury in Norwich City's 1-1 draw against Wigan - fact The left-back needed gas & air as doctors rushed to his side - fact He's set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines & will miss the September international break - heavily assumed due to nature of treatment and location of injury Speedy recovery Dimi - fact My guess would be he's out for 3-5 months.

Completely agree.

It's incredibly obvious that we lacking that physical, barking dog in the defensive centre of the pitch. The good news is that we've brought in a solution to that problem, the bad news is, he'll only potentially play 5 games a year due to injuries. Alot were clamouring for Sorenson to play more last year, and the first two matches against much inferior opposition is why he shouldn't. So lackadaisical beyond belief, he got away with the first but then not in position to cover for Gibson's (yet again) mistake. We need a Jonathan Hogg type player to sit in there, act as a leader and bark at the rest of the players.