Dean Coneys boots

Ouch- Liverpool going up the gears now. Lucky not to concede there - but good to hear the Norwich fans singing

This- I ran a thread on it a week or two back. We went up and fans could see we needed a striker and waited till Jan to get Ashton. Then we needed a CB and waited too late before getting Klose...and now...a very frugal summer but an obvious issue at the back.

On the plus side..The last time we conceded seven in the opening game we went on to win the league...

But you predicted we would be top six lakey- changing your tune? And what signs have we shown having scored zero and conceded 4 in a half

and we have Man City and Chelsea coming up 😳

I would be playing the 3 new players we should have signed at the back and CDM

Hanley should have been sold and a prem quality CB purchased to sit alongside Zimmo - but those of us who said this got panned and told we were rotters. But tonight I feel totally vindicated in saying it

The refusal to spend not looking quite so clever now is it. A long way to go but this is shocking defensively

horrid feeling we will be a decent CB short of staying up - which will be tragic as we have so much talent there

We have looked good going forward but defence is being cut to shreds. It’s going to be six or seven at this rate

Those who said he should be sold in summer and a better CB signed will be noisy tonight. The boys have to dig in now

We looked ok until that clanger. But ever since panic stations

16th or 18th Wont be much between them anyway

That is a stupid argument. Nobody is arguing splashing the cash on a new RVW - why would they? He was a total flop. However purchasing a couple of genuine first team premiership quality players would be nice. When we went up last time we needed a CB and were too stingy to sign one till January (Klose) and it cost us. The time before we all knew we needed a CF and were too stingy to sign one till January (Ashton) and it cost us. Now we all know the CDM needs replacing and defence looks shaky... between wasting money on journeymen and not spending is a thing called spending wisely...

It’s a massive gamble. Before a ball is kicked people are all happy but give it ten games and the criticism will be easy. There is being prudent and there is not even trying to give it a go. As others have said - if the team perform this will be heralded as genius. But if they don’t the anger will come quick. Put bluntly spending 750k in fees is frankly astonishingly brave for a newly promoted side. Looks like the club would rather bank the money and budget for relegation than give it a go

Interesting article about what is needed to survive in the premiership. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11764098/premier-league-newly-promoted-teams-and-the-battle-to-avoid-relegation if this is right then we are likely to go down because we haven’t spent “big but wise” and because we have not bolstered the defence - which matters more than the attack at this level. On the plus side look at how well Sunderland and Ipswich did without spending big. Key question though - did they have strong defence in championship the season before?

Ha ha - a word meaning a narrow opening has been banned as it can also be a racist term! I was using it in the innocent sense

Most teams go up because of a great attack- a talisman striker on fire. But most stay in prem due to a solid defence. That has to be a worry. The standard of strikers at the top level will make mince meat out of some of the defensive displays we put in last season. And a few drubbings and confidence will go and we could look far more like the team that collapsed to millwall than the one that beat Villa at the end. Am genuinely surprised this obvious **** in the armour hasn’t been improved on. I would gave gone all out for a strong CB and a strong CDM to shore up a promising team. Let’s hope I know nothing and Webber has it right

I have been concerned for ages but get shot down on here if I ever raise any question at all. Bottom line is that we needed to bolster a leaky defence from last year - to give our fantastic attack a chance. But we haven’t. Play like that next week and Liverpool will rip us a new one... Hope I am wrong but I think we have a sub standard defence for this level and need a CDM as a matter of urgency. On the plus side - I think we will score goals.

It would be interesting to see what the last 20 promoted sides have spent. That would give a realistic sense of a over spend versus under spend versus realistic spend

I couldn't care less what anybody sexual preference happens to be. In all honesty the whole LGBT agenda is getting very, very boring now. Its pushed so hard everywhere you look and celebrated as if somehow who you fancy is an achievement. It is made out to affect far more people than it actually does and, frankly, given far too much attention. Hardly a day goes by without a BBC article about gay this or gay that. It also suggests a level of intolerance and prejudice that I just dont see anymore- am sure it exists but not to the level we are made to believe. A trendy cause for the liberal elites and business to push, a way to virtue signal- not least because wearing rainbow badges is a heck of a lot cheaper than actually alleviating poverty, raising wages, etc... Sure I will get hammered for this opinion. But truly it is getting boring now. Who cares- play football or don't, fancy who you want, get on with life.

Its a discussion forum. I was having one by posing a genuine question. 23 seems an age when one should be in or around the first team to me.

I was quite shocked to realise that some of our “young” talent in the under 23s are actually far from young. Sean Ragget is 25, mason Bloomfield 22, Carlton Morris 23... if they are not knocking on the first team door at that age, and loaned out to lower leagues, why are they on our books?

I haven’t been to a modern carnival and doubtless they are now over sexualised just like our culture - but traditionally carnival was a Christian procession and not sexualised - Mardi Gras having its origins in pre lent practices in the church

I wouldn’t dream of letting my children watch love island for the exact same reason I wouldn’t want them at a pride march. Both are very overly sexualised. As opposed to carnival dancing which isn’t