“I felt as if we did address the defence. We changed the left back, brought Cunningham in, we brought Adarabioyo who has the potential to be a really top player. There’s no need to go and buy another three centre halves and have them sitting on the bench thinking ‘why did they sign me?’” Why do you do that with midfielders and strikers then Tony? Anyhow, you dont buy defenders to sit on the bench, you buy them to come into the team as the defence we currently have is atrocious. Buy better than what we have and challenge those dropped to force their way back in. He has it the wrong way around so no wonder Bauer turned us down.

Unfortunately, for half of last season and most of this, we are showing relegation form. Promotion bounce gave us a decent start and was the only reason we didnt go straight back down. Once teams figured us out, and continuosuly have us sussed this season too, we were always going to struggle. TMs comments are bizarre to say the least. He said he keeps Dack playing even when not performing because we need goalscorers on the pitch. Now, while I agree that Dack should start, surely the 15 million he spent on strikers should ensure that we have some goalscorers on the pitch other than him? Lets not even start on 'Defenders are coming'. I find it amazing that every footballer that we buy has to 'learn how to play football' according to TM. Surely we should be buying some that already know how to play? Many other teams seem to be able to on a fraction of what we spend. German international needs to learn, Reed needed to learn, Rothwell need to learn, Gallagher needs to learn, Brereton needs to learn and the list goes on. Bennett doesnt need to learn though because he talks a lot.

You should check out his thread on the Brentford forums - they love him there. Fabulously talented and confident keeper.I love the way he dominates the whole penalty area,as you say catches rather than punches,and distributes the ball superbly.I go all the way back to Chick Brodie,but our current custodian really looks the business,and makes such a difference to the confidence of the players in front of him.Great signing! Raya has presence and leadership, bit like Pontus. Leads by example and gives 110% every game. What is there not to love. He came with lots of GPGers admitting to being concerned, confused or underwhelmed and got a fair bit of stick after Bournemouth friendly.Since the season started he’s been so impressive in his command of his area, willingness to come for every cross and nearly always claiming them and his distribution is excellent.He will make mistakes but only because he is committed and comes for everything, I have so much more confidence in our defence this season.Muy bien David it's funny, blackburn fans said his distribution was woeful and he never came for crosses.. weird.. I guess Bristol City fans are wondering why we slagged off Bentley and Sheff U the same with Egan. Maybe sometimes you just need to be in a different place with a different emphasis.. He's been brilliant for us so far.. Upgrade on Bentley in his command of his area and thus far distribution. He's also clearly a bit of a nutcase One of our best signings in past few seasons Don't know what you mean. What a keeper. What a footballer. What a team player. Keep focused on the massive positive that this lad brings. We got away with that one...but a clear upgrade on Bentley. At least we've gotten away with the 3 errors he's made this season... (Boro, Barnsley(?) and tonight). That said I love how he effortlessly catches every cross like it's no issue. A lot of goalkeepers are punching the one's he's collecting and distributing. Touch of the Pickfords about him.Not the biggest presence, and very erratic at times.But very athletic, a great shot stopper and superb distribution.

it does add up when you realise he did the same thing everywhere else he has been. Collects midfielders and attackers and neglects the defense. Perhaps its a mix of the two and why he was hired in the first place - they wouldnt have to do too much convincing when it comes to not making much money available for defenders.

License to print money

Never heard of him every window for the last three seasons

He didnt even really want to come here. Plus, playing on the wing is hardly going to help a striker with a big price tag to get the ball rolling.

He almost touched on things being bad in his final article but again, it was the players he was allowed to blame it on rather than the manager. Seems he is not allowed to criticize TM or those running the club in my opinion. TM needing a holiday was about as far as he could go - which was a rather preposterous article when it was put up, but now you can kind of see through it - that was as far as he was allowed to go.

Spot on whoever said Evans might as well be shipped out and Davenport brought into the squad. Evans has always been a waste of a wage until his contract is about to expire or Ireland have some games coming up. he is on the bench now too, Davenport will cost less, be more effective, and not be complete shite.

It used to be Nyambe but he has since gone quiet on that one since he has been featuring. Now every second post of his is this weird obsession with Chapman.

On Mr Smith, very odd really. Are you telling me that in his 20 years of writing he has never witnessed somebody disagreeing with his opinions? Almost feels as this was an excuse to quit rather than being the actual reason. 2 or maybe 3 posts that maybe went over the top and he cannot hack it and so suddenly leaves. Either needs skin that is 100 times thicker or was looking for something he could pin walking out on. My opinion, his hands are obviously tied as to what he can say in the LT, and with our current run he knows that it is far too difficult to keep putting a positive spin on things.

He ran Arsenal ragged in a friendly though.

You dont get pi55 splash back at PNE

Can you elaborate on these rumours?

Downing, Bennett, Gallagher and Brereton are far from quick either but get to play the wide positions.

Yet he can also play anywhere in the three behind, listed as a AMC/Winger on Wiki. he started and played in the same lineup as Dack and was MOM against Huddersfield. He should be in the same team, not competing with him. They can be fluid and swap around too (though TM would hate that). Completely wasted in DMC, a position he has only played in for 10% of his career performances. I know who I would be starting between him and AA.

Well, we were told we had money left over from last seasons transfer budget. So that on top of the 'similar' transfer budget we were told we had this season compared to last season, about 8 million considering our net spend of 2 million this year.

I remember thinking at the time that this was the perfect position for Mulgrew. Thinking about it, do we have any decent free kick takers right now?

Fans of other clubs were blown away jealous when we managed to snap up Holtby. Watch how he gets mis-used and mismanaged just like the rest of our talented players. Anywhere else he would be straight in the team in his best position, ala Reed at Fulham. He was brilliant against Huddersfield and I saw enough that day to convince me that he should be starting every match.

In other words, i have collected far too many attacking midfielders and i cannot fit them all into my team. I have Dack, Armstrong, Rothwell, Downing, Gallagher, Brereton, Samuel and Bennett (when not playing LB, RB, CM, GK) as it is for those 3 positions behind and thats before the likes of Chapman and JRC. I know half of them are strikers but I like my strikers to play on the wings, my midfielders to play in defence, and my full backs to play at CB. The German international Holtby will first have to learn from Smallwood and Evans on how to play conservatively and not be too creative, so we will stick him in defensive midfield for now until that process has been completed.

harsh lol

Just a clickbait article really, someone suggesting who we should look at rather than any actual links to those players. I would only take Jake Cooper and possibly Stephen Kingsley from that list - simply because they are defenders.

Where this differs a little is that Chapman is his own signing. Generally, player he has signed are exempt from criticism as that can be reflected back on him. Easier to criticism the young lads coming through the ranks than players he used the clubs cash to purchase. All I can assume is Chapman was not a player he really wanted and was used to appease fans as he know they loved him.

No wonder Travis rarely makes those forward passes and driving runs forward anymore.

In the grand scheme of things, they are still kids. I didn't fully grow up (some say I still haven't) until I was into my 30's. My teens and twenties was all about hanging with the lads and pulling birds. Throw in a shit ton of money and you essentially have a bunch of kids with massive egos that think they rule the world. It really is no surprise that once their careers are over, many end up broke. If I look back and wish I was wiser with my money when I was younger, imagine what some of this lot think once their hefty contracts disappear? When I think of young people with money, my mind always wanders back to: