Dreamworld is: Tall angry physical central midfielder who can disrupt a team. Ideally Scandinavian with a beard. Alternative striker/second striker who can play the pressing game and chip in with goals Full back who is defensive minded and serviceable on either side OR out and out wing back on the right hand side who can play as understudy to Britain when fit (loan?) Central midfielder who plays a different game to Buckley/Morton who plays slightly further up the field and can link our deeper midfielders/inside wingbacks to our strikers in games we can't get into. Based on rumours if we bring in Demebele that hits the target for a striker for me. I fancied Simms over the summer too who's landed at Sunderland. Otherwise a Danny Graham character or Grabban as Forest did could chip some goals in (Is Kienan Davies still at villa?) Ebowele from Palace on loan fits the wing back. Otherwise Norton Cuffey at Arsenal on loan somewhere (Rotheram) can play on either side. Berget from Malmö fits the attacking midfielder and we'd be after a lump of a central midfielder which I'm sure Nordic and league one could suffice. I've heard the name Magennis from Hibs but don't watch Scottish football so can't say what role he fits or whether it's just talk. Wouldn't be hell bent on losing Edun on the basis 5 subs and his engine could be useful as season drags on although manager doesn't fancy him

Somewhat agree with this (although I do on paper see logic of playing out the back pulling them into our half and then launching over the top to Diaz) but my issue and said it earlier in the thread is once we played it from keeper to centre back to left back to centre mid - we've no one who wants to turn their man and drive. And when we don't have Diaz on, we recycle it back to defenders that's where panic starts

We really don't have any direct players besides Diaz. We have a lot of ball holding midfielders but not one who can drive forward. Consistently find ourselves lumping it for Diaz to run on to, otherwise weve nothing between central midfield and strikers and those central midfielders by nature want to sit deeper and play the ball

Agreed If we are doing bargain basement any 2 of the 3 from passed two games would elevate us Hamer O hare Thomas

Also. If this lot go down I'd be interested in Thomas.

Who is on commentary on ifollow?

Can't watch it but from the messages seems our midfield is being over run. I don't believe we have a central midfielder with any venom or size to win the physical battle so hopefully Hirst can hold the ball up and push them back that way.

Omar Elabdealloui has terminated his contract with Galatasaray. Ex Man City, Feyernoord, Hull City and Olympiacos right back. Only 30 years old. Might be one Greg has links to from his Glimt days. The one main stumbling block might be he was declared to be nearly legally blind with a 5% chance of recovery last December. He's said he's looking for a club which might indicate he's recovered enough. However that being said we have had Bradley Orr and Nuno Ribiero in recent years play the role and having watched them I was never sure how much of the game they could see either

Wonder if Juan Mata fancies staying local now he's out of a contract, presumably has kids in school in Manchester and has caked it in for years

Interesting at least that we are looking abroad and in what you'd call high reward low value markets. I definitely remember the guy I bumped into being Scott Kennedy and not Clinton Mola. So whether that's fallen through due to work permits but who knows. Personally hoping Mola is more of a central midfielder and we can move to a 3 if needed. A real core and a terrier style midfielder would be a big win for me

If fit is the key word but he fits the Rothwell replacement. Granted hes just had an operation to move his knee lower in his leg because its so off so is a big gamble - but we get a Europa league level player for that gamble

Ryan Thomas Kiwi/English box to box midfielder released by PSV because his knee has needed specialist surgery. Jack Rodwell deal potentially to lessen burden on the kids anyone? Tom Carrol, Massimu Luongo, and Thomas Rogic also available

The frustration come end of the window will be that in a season where 5 subs are allowed we don't have the squad depth to make 5 decent subs and teams run us off the park. Even players like Edun who are at best serviceable and at worst best not said can provide benefit as legs (as seen vs Sheff Utd where for me he helped get us a foot back in the game). Not every signing needs be a Bowler if we have an understanding of how we play and what we want

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Genuinely might be something or nothing but I was fuelling up on Preston New Road whilst he was. He was visibly struggling with the pay at pump and I so offered to help. Very tall man and then with the accent, the tracksuit and the car I asked what he was doing round here and he said he was a footballer. Didn't ask why or in relation to what or which club but asked if I'd had heard of him which he laughed at hence the name. Can't say I've ever seen him kick a ball but Google tells me he's 190cm (6ft 2?) and has played centre back, left back and defensive midfield. Not exactly a glowing pedigree in Austria and German second division but a couple of games for Canada of recent. Would be interesting if not here then at Deepdale or elsewhere

It's a name and it's just a name but Scott Kennedy Canadian international

I read a report a while back about how transfer fees operate in the modern game and I think the notion of installments over months, percentage of sales etc isn't real world (again based on just one article) Effectively clubs now "re-mortgage" the fee, the article said one Australian bank specialised in it, and take the money at point of sale and repay a % on top. Granted there is no reason to think every club does this nor that rovers do but when we talk about things like Diaz to Everton or Sammie being upward of 2.5m then the idea of installments seems a slight bit outdated

First time post and pure speculation but if I put my championship manager hat on and put myself in Greg's shoes I think we have a lot to offer players of smaller world cup teams who may be pushing to make the squad. As an example and having checked transfermarkt for free agents etc a 1 year deal for any of the below centre backs would be an interesting proposition - granted I can't say I've watched any of them play religiously but their pedigree looks good - and the discussion around wage structure is offset by lack of transfer fee Timothee Kolodziejczak - dual national French/Polish, spent his career in La Liga and Ligue 1. Plays centre back and left back and has been released by Saint Etienne in the summer. Completion for Centre backs for Poland is scarce especially as they play with 3 (22 year old lower level Seria A league centre back, 25 year old lower level Ligue 1 centre back). Obviously there is a lot of dominoes to this but on the face of it is interesting. Apparently qualifies for a work permit. Same idea for John Brooks who has spent his entire career in the Bundesliga before being released in the Summer. 29/30 years old and last chance at a world cup for America. Again a centre back and a discussion might be there to be had. Qualifies for a WP according to the checker website. N'Koulou - Cameroonian spent his career in Seria A. Played 3 games for Watford last year before being released. Same idea ref short term gamble which might be an alternative to a loan. Zegeelar - Dutch left back, also released by Watford after 54 games for Udinese. Aged 31 and ex Ajax youth so you'd expect could cope with the attacking side of JDTs system. Others out of a contact too Lewis Grabban aged 34 with 12 goals last year for Forrest and Miguel Hector long time championship centre back None fit with the Bodo/Glimt recruitment of lower league/youth but they do all potentially fill a gap and we may benefit from owning rather than loaning