Steve Weaver

[Steve Weaver]

[quote user="Icecream Snow"]So far we only have Richard Money (Academy Director) and the physio left from before Webber''s appointment. Irvine, McAvoy, Kiely, Spearing, Ricky Martin and Darnborough all gone.With this guy Weaver being Academy Director for Huddersfield, you''d hope he wasn''t after Money''s job [:P][/quote]

We still have Neil Adams!

[Welcome back Snodgrass.......................]

Isn''t that Naismith''s role?

[Lambert walks away from Wolves]

Clearly just a straight swap with Tuchel from Dortmund given the reports in Bild this morning :p

[Webber announcement]

Immediate effect is a good sign. Can use the final games of the season to assess who to stay and who to go once the season is over.

Likely has a list of Huddersfield targets for the new season too which is useful!

[Palace £9m for Brady]

According to the Guardian''s live transfer blog page:

"It’s all happening. Palace have now agreed a £9m fee for Norwich City’s Robbie Brady.

Crystal Palace have agreed a deal worth an initial 9m with Norwich City for the Republic of Ireland wing-back Robbie Brady to cast doubt on the south London club’s pursuit of Patrick van Aanholt. The offer for Brady could potentially rise to as high as £12m with appearance and achievement related add-ons, an identical arrangement to that negotiated with sunderland for Van Aanholt earlier this week. The Dutch international had agreed personal terms at Selhurst Park and is understood to have initiated what would be a stringent medical. Yet Palace’s decision to explore a deal for Brady would suggest Sam Allardyce is keeping his options open as to which left-sided defender to sign.

Brady had been expected to move to Burnley. It remains to be seen if Palace also match the Clarets’ £10m offer for Hull City’s Robert Snodgrass. That deal may only be possible if Palace move on one of either Yohan Cabaye or Andros Townsend to Marseille or Newcastle respectively."

[A Position by Position Look at the Squad]

You missed Carlton Morris from the strikers list as well

Probably a decent back up Championship striker I imagine

[No Timm Klose in Switzerland Euros Squad]

Remember him saying he would address his future after the Euros, so surprised to hear he''s not in the 23 for Switzerland. Not sure if this increases or decreases his chances of staying here but certainly a surprise. Full Switzerland 23 is below:

Goalkeepers: Roman Bürki (Dortmund), Marwin Hitz (Augsburg), Yann Sommer (Mönchengladbach).

Defenders: Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Nico Elvedi (Mönchengladbach), Michael Lang (Basel), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), François Moubandje (Toulouse), Ricardo Rodríguez (Wolfsburg), Fabian Schär (Hoffenheim), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys). Midfielders: Valon Behrami (Watford), Blerim Dzemaili (Genoa), Gelson Fernandes (Rennes), Fabian Frei (Mainz), Xherdan Shaqiri (Stoke City), Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), Denis Zakaria (Young Boys).

Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Kasımpaşa), Admir Mehmedi (Leverkusen), Breel Embolo (Basel), Haris Seferovic (Frankfurt), Shani Tarashaj (Grasshoppers).

[Austin odds dropping]

Given that Ricky is rumoured to be on £40k per week, Austin''s £45k per week request for a proven Premier League goal scorer doesn''t sound excessive imo, especially if Hooper goes elsewhere (loan or otherwise)

[Lineup for Southampton]

So Southampton aren''t exactly having the best of times at the moment, after a sluggish start and going out of Europe last night, and with the International break about to appear, it''s unlikely they''ll be 100% fighting fit at the moment.

So I''m hoping we''ll start with a line-up a little different to really hit them hard to push for a win on Sunday. Toffolo has really impressed me so far (throughout pre-season and against Rotherham on Tuesday), so I''m hoping he''ll get a starting place (especially as Olsson is confirmed to be playing in the U21 tonight) and we all want to see Brady in a more advanced role, so my suggested lineup would be:

Ruddy

Whits - Martin - Bassong - Toffolo

---------------Tettey------------------

Redmond -- Howson --- Brady

--------------Hoolahan--------------

--------------Jerome-------------------

Thoughts?

[Aviva to end main sponsorship deal]

I''d be surprised if it isn''t Coral given the Barclay and team sheet branding recently.

[Charlie Austin, next day or two.]

Would we need to though - say if we used Hooper and Lafferty as part exchange then we would probably only have to pay circa £9 million for Charlie Austin which would be great for all concerned I reckon!

[Charlie Austin]

Wages are £45k a week apparently for Charlie Austin, which if you can offload Ricky and a couple of other fringe players should be easily affordable within our structure.

On 606 they''re saying he''d be a good signing for us, and I''d rather risk that level of money on a proven Premier League striker than the other names we''re being touted with.

Perhaps not as much potential resale value as the other players though.

[whilst we are at it what about bassong ?]

Give Ruddy the captaincy with a guarantee that if we stay up he''ll be captain next season as well.

Keeping Ruddy will be paramount and if we can give him the opportunity and the desire to lead, it''s more likely he''ll stay rather than heading off somewhere else (Southampton for example)

[Only black manager in English football brutally sacked...]

[quote user="The Great Mass Debater"]Thats how The Mirror puts it anyway...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/chris-hughtons-norwich-sacking-branded-3383264

Im sorry, what has him being black got to do with anything? It was hardly brutal either![/quote]

It''s nothing more than a click-bait headline.

Ethnicity doesn''t come into it at the end of the day, a poor manager is a poor manager, as Hughton was found out to be.

[If we stay up do you want CH to carry on ?]

I think I''d be happy for CH to stay on on the provision that our back-room staff is supplemented with a new attacking coach.

Although if Sherwood were to be sacked from Tottenham I''d probably opt for him instead if he can bring some of the Spurs backroom staff with him - without the fatigue of European competition I think Sherwood has the potential to be an excellent mid-table manager when he only has to worry about one game a week.

There''d be a decent likelihood of him bringing Sigurdsson over that way as well!

[Time for Bassong To Be Dropped as Team Captain]

[quote user="GJP"]Wouldn''t have been my choice for captain but nobody in the starting 11 looks a better bet.

Yobo becoming a little overrated.[/quote]

Not even Ruddy? Was watching a stream and you could hear him shouting at his back 4 regularly - he''s the closest we''ve got to a leader on the pitch right now.

Typical second season syndrome for Bassong - has seemingly happened at all his other clubs as well (i.e. influential first season, nowhere near as good the second)

With Turner back soon I hope a back 4 of Martin/Whittaker - Yobo - Turner - Olsson becomes the standard for the last 9 games

[Predictions for the next 6 games]

Stoke - Draw

Southampton - Draw

Sunderland - Win

Swansea - Lose

West Brom - Win

Fulham - Draw

 

9 points - I can see us nabbing a point at Old Trafford and possibly at home last game of the season. Depending on other results I think we''ll be OK, but if we do go down it''ll likely be on goal difference I imagine.

[The Southampton Effect]

I''m sensing some eerie parallels between that and Southamptons last season with Nigel Adkins - having the squad quality but not translating into results, leading to excuses and a loss of faith with many of the fans. The Potecchino deal was odd at the time but the shift in focus and belief has developed into a very strong and enjoyable Southampton squad to watch.

I''d rather try someone completely different than a stale English manager (say Solskjaer?) should Hughton leave, but do we think the board would have the balls to try something this radical?

Thoughts?