Dex

Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Redmond Tettey Fer Murphy Hooper RvW

I agree that RB is a position that needs to be strengthened. My first choice would be Sam Byram as a replacement, failing that, Andre Wisdom on a loan to buy?

Lewis McGugan?

In the event that Snoddy is our only high profile loss this window (something which I don''t think is out of the question), I''d line the team up something like this with the current players we have at our disposal: Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Redmond Tettey Fer Murphy Hoolahan/Hooper Ricky/Grabban/Lafferty I reckon we need a left footed winger to start ahead of Murphy as well as creative play maker - essentially a younger, more consistent Wes. Also, a CB wouldn''t go amiss as I can''t see Bennett, Turner and Bassong providing enough depth in the Champo. Maybe a new RB as well.

Also, Wolves apparently set a £4m price tag on him in June 2013 (after they''d been relegated from the Champo) so I''d argue he''s still in that ballpark money wise. Source: http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2013/06/11/wolves-place-4m-price-tag-on-bakary-sako/

"Why won''t Wolves challenge for promotion too? Look at us 4 years ago !" ^ Fair point but it seems unlikely, or at least less likely than for us to be challenging. Again, I''m just throwing the name out there but he seems to tick pretty much every box for Snoddy''s replacement imho. I''d be giving him serious consideration if he was under £5m...

I''ve gotta say, I''m very surprised how many people are suggesting we''re no more attractive of a club than Wolves to him... What could they possibly offer to him (even in terms of minutes) that we couldn''t match or better? All that''s in addition to the fact that we''ll be vying for promotion this season - something Wolves realistically wont.

Not a player who we''ve been reported as being linked with, but with the seemingly imminent departure of Snoddy we''ll doubtless soon be in the market for a replacement winger. He topped the assist tables last season in League 1 for Wolves with 14 and in his previous season with Wolves in the Championship he still managed 11! He''s 26 with around 1 year left on his contract and is a player who Wolves fans seem to be in disbelief they''ve managed to hold on to for this long... He''s got a good bit of pace about him and is a natural left footer - a pretty big selling point imo because were Snoddy to leave, Murphy would be our only remaining left footed winger. Just thought I''d gauge the response of you guys. If my glance at his apparent market value is anything to go by he should be available for between £3.5-4m and if the £8m fee for Snoddy materialises I think we could do a hell of a lot worse.

I''d be happy to see an unchanged line up, but I''d probably bring in Ricky for Johnson. The lad''s lacking confidence and needs time on the pitch, especially against a West Ham side who (without Carroll) will pack the midfield and put a lot of men behind the ball.

[quote user="City1st"]"in addition to stopping our use of zonal marking."but that underpins our whole strategy as somehow the opposition will gravitate towards our players, not the other way roundit is meaningless to get hooked up on various formations (numbers) as players move about the pitch according to the game and the tactics imposedat the moment these are ones of safety first and the players funneling back, which constantly leaves the opposition with time on the ball and us with no options when we have the ballwatch the game and you will see this week after week [/quote] I''ve been watching our games week after week for the last seven seasons and I''m fully aware that players move about the pitch... As you rightly point out our current defensive system [quote user="City1st"]"constantly leaves the opposition with time on the ball and us with no options when we have the ball"[/quote] which seems to be almost part and parcel of zonal marking at this level :/ Surely opting to man mark addresses both of these issues that have hindered out performances so massively? I know there would be a transitional period afterwards if we did go down this road, but I don''t see that we have much choice in the long run.

Taking our current injuries/suspensions out of the equation, these would be my two preferred lineups: 1: To be used in games against teams around us that we should realistically be taking all 3 points against, especially at home. Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Redmond Howson Fer Snodgrass Hooper RvW 2: To be used against teams in or around the top 6. Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Pilkington Tettey Fer Snodgrass/Gutierrez Howson/Wes RvW As we''ve seen on numerous occasions, a flat 4-4-2 isn''t working for us, so in my mind we have to play one of the forwards behind the other to give man up top any real chance of service through the middle. Regardless of the starting XI, we have to stop persisting with inverted wingers because it simply does not work when playing with a target man, in addition to stopping our use of zonal marking. While it may work for some teams, it''s so evidently proving catastrophic to our defensive performances and is a relatively small change with a potentially massive impact.

Ruddy Martin Bennett Bassong Olsson Redmond Tettey Fer Gutierrez Hooper RvW

Really don''t see a need for him currently. He''s essentially just another Redmond but (this may be slightly controversial) from what I''ve seen so far I think Redmond is better. Also, with the imminent return of Pilks and Bennett as well as Josh Murphy breaking into the first team we will have 5 wingers at our disposal in a month or so. I fail to see what Zaha will bring...

Oh dear God no...

I''m surprised no one''s really made more of Heitinga wanting out of Everton, I think he''d be an excellent signing. Yes he''s getting on a little bit, but he''s got bags of experience at the highest levels (85 international caps for Holland and 137 for Everton while still being very much in favour there up until the beginning of this season.) He''s confident playing at both CB and CDM, two key positions in which we currently lack stability, and he''ll be looking to secure his place on the plane for the WC so the incentive to give 100% for us would be there every game he plays. Wages may be a slight issue, but I reckon even in January we could secure him for around 3-4 mil... He ticks the vast majority of boxes for me.

It''s not been the season that we''d hoped for so far, but I''d still give us a 5/10. I still believe we''ll be playing in this league at the end of the season under Hughton. However, whether he''ll be managing us next season I don''t know... He''s certainly got time to turn things around though, and the January window plus key players returning from injury is a definite boost.

Ruddy Martin Bennett Bassong Olsson Redmond Fer Johnson Snodgrass Hoolahan Hooper Starting two strikers against Man U (especially with our current form) would be suicide so I''d bring Wes in and pray he has one of his great games and supplies Hooper decently. Ricky and Murphy to come on as Impact subs.

So do I, but honestly I expect that against any of the bottom half sides (providing we''re not crippled with injuries etc). Does that make us a "bogey team" for those sides?

Genuinely think we will :) Don''t believe in this whole "bogey team" status regarding opposition...

Martin''s*

Not totally on topic, but what''s the general consensus on here when it comes to the whole "Martin VS Whittaker" thing? For me Martin overall game is better but Whitts offers more going forward. Thoughts?

Swap the wingers round and I agree with you :)

Is Howson definitely fit?

Fairly self explanatory post, but first of all, Merry Christmas! I''m currently (like many of us) cruising into the evening having eaten my own weight in food, watched a bit of festive telly and just generally spent the entire day relaxing :P Obviously, we''re playing Fulham tomorrow and I was just wondering how you all think we''ll line up etc :) I''d go with: 4-4-1-1 Ruddy Martin Turner Bassong Olsson Redmond Fer Johnson Snodgrass Ricky (if fit) Hooper Let''s all hope the lads give us an extra Christmas present this year!

For me, CB is the position that we most need to strengthen so if we were going to make and signings in January that''d be top priority. I''ve heard Kaboul''s name banded around a lot but unfortunately I think his wages would be too high for us :/ Aside from that, I think a creative AM would be useful but no names really spring to mind.