They've clearly been trying to prep the way for this from the start of the window just like they were looking for a rb/rwb from the off. Obvious what the plans were at the start of summer to cash in on two more 10k a week or thereabouts 1 year left players who have several known interested buyers. Squad building my arse it's all about realising what assets are left and replacing with much cheaper potential.

Hyam isn't signing a new contract, not a chance. I think they will go back in for Colin Rosler next summer to replace him, we love revisiting old targets.

Nixon was also pushing Kapaudi for another good week or so saying our bid was still live despite signing McLoughlin when it clearly wasn't. So yeah coming round to thinking that Henriksson is an alternative to Baradji but Nixon hasn't caught up yet.

Wouldn't be surprised if we lost our first 2 games.

On paper feels like WBA are big favorites but each season we surprise by coming out of the blocks pretty well. I like Ismael, has the team fit and motivated and tactically tight. Think we have a decent chance.

I'm going down for this game (or up? It is England's highest altitude football ground), anything can happen on the day. I was there when Richie Smallwood kept a clean sheet and I was there when Big Mak turned into Haaland there last year. Both very bizarre matches. I'm not optimistic though, I would take a draw now.

If Russell Martin was made of chocolate, he’d defo eat himself.

Very true, we need good footballers !

did Man Utd ever sign a 3rd/4th/5th choice keeper? 😉

Nixon is way behind honestly wouldn’t give him the time of day

Telewag reporting that Pears and Buckley are on their way out, having been omitted from VI's squad that went to Nijmegen yesterday. Anyone know where they are going? Have there been enquiries?

If we lost those 2 and maybe Tronstad as well, then we really would struggle. The Hyam contract situation certainly has gone cold again.

Who can forget cherno Samba and julius aghahowa

Especially as @BankEnd Rover points out. Ismael said we are close to 2, not 3.

The right winger wouldnt need to be one that goes on the outside but we still need an actual right sided player who is a natural attacking player. These are both central midfield players who seemingly have very little if any experience of playing away from that position. And one would be sat on the sidelines for months. If anything, with someone like De Neve on the left, a player who has spent a lot of time as a left back and who isnt someone who has scored many goals. It puts more onus on the right sided player offering a goal threat. We need an attacking right sided player (and a striker) and if your proposed plan is correct then we will be left short.

Quite possible.

He has been saying he didn't know about the swede but we are still active with Baradji. Nobody had been seriously linked with Brittain until 24 hours before he refused to play.As the window goes on I can definitely see interest and bids being put in for Travis and Hyam if a championship club is looking for a cb

One of the stories can't be true. Val said we were close with one, otherwise he'd of said 2. Like many have said, I can't see us bringing both players in, maybe with a normal club but we leave things to the bare minimum here.

I get that there is a chance of them 2 both going. But there is no suggestion of any club being strongly interested in either. So it just seems a strange utilisation of limited funds. Also makes no sense to spend a chunk of a limited budget on a player who wont be fit for months. I wonder if Nixon is just not up to speed, he hasnt reported on this Swede so I wonder if we moved on. He holds his stories until Sunday so maybe its just out of date.

There is no Mercers winger, he's just taken a speculative punt saying there's a winger in the building because that position needs filling.

Off the charts level of arrogance for someone who has achieved what exactly in the game apart from a parachute club promotion?

I've always felt public criticism of players is a sign of a manager who is not in control. Unless it's something seriously egregious, those things should be kept private. Doing it after one league game is lunacy.

Noticed this in the game yesterday. Both Hedges and De Neve were deep infield. Was a risky move as our fullbacks were exposed and we got outplayed and couldn’t compete whole of first half. Rw is definitely needed as we have spent many years being easily worked out.Opposition didn’t need to do homework as we were so predictable. Signing the right players for a system I’m all for it. But not signing another RW would disrupt us from switching things up. We need someone not to just challenge hedges but to ideally replace him

Sadly what you're asking for in a player is someone we probably won't be able to afford. For example, if Kargbo was a better decision maker he'd be playing at a higher level.

We could time it right, pay both under the 10k wage cap and when one is out for 2 months the other one can come back