I always look at it this way. If I'd have made the grade as a winger who would I rather play against ? Nyambe or Bennett ? I'd be thinking Nyambe is quick and decent in the tackle so I'm not going to do him for pace especially on the outside. His positional play isn't great, he plays a bit too near the centre halves so I could take advantage of that if I stay out wide. Bennett is only average pace wise so I'd be fancying my chances there especially if I'm running on to the ball played inside him. Neither are great headers of the ball so there's opportunities there with the long ball over the top. All in all I reckon Nyambe would be the toughest opponent one on one.

Yeah and you can have a Tugay to "recycle possession " and you can have an Evans to "recycle possession " but the difference in end product is massive.

I suppose you need to have played and hit the wall yourself to know what it feels like. Instead of smoothly moving onto the ball you find yourself sort of reaching for the ball all the time. Your touch isn't quite as sharp, your passing isn't as accurate as you would like etc. It comes on pretty rapidly too. You can be fine in August and struggling in December. That's why I'm always concerned when we sign players well into their thirties.

The mental side of his game is still that of an 19 yr old lad. Maybe he's just not that smart.

I don't think I ever saw him actually run. Possibly one of the most ineffectual " Marquee " signings we've ever made.

"Whilst he's not in his mid twenties and the middle of an England career ". Whittingham wasn't and Downing isn't. What's the difference ?

I like the lad, if you can score a bag full at Rochdale you can score anyway. Age is against him now though. Having said that he's probably younger than Downing.

You could have said all those things about Whittingham before we signed him and look how that ended up.

I prefer the signings that play on grass not paper. Whittingham was a big gamble, as is Downing. What happened to that Edwards lad that ran us ragged out wide last season at Ipswich ?

I wonder how that will effect our interest in their player/s

I wish it was still 2006, Downing would have been a good signing then.

Carlton Palmer got 19 caps for England and he was about as good as Smallwood.

The difference between the Waggy's and the modern equivalent is the Waggy's would have made a bob or two out of the game but still needed to earn a crust to get by. The Downing's and Rodwell's will be millionaires and if they don't fancy it all of a sudden so what ?

I agree with a lot of that but what wouldn't you give for a Kevin Moran now ? You're right, bravery on the field come in different forms. Berkovic hadn't got a tackle in him but he'd receive the ball in any situation under all sorts of pressure and try and make something happen. He'd get a crack and still show for a pass straight away.

We need a couple of battlers more than anything in my opinion. I'm tired of seeing heads go down when we concede and I'm tired of seeing us concede in the last 10 minutes of games. My old Union Convener had a phrase for guys like that " Spineless Bastards ".

Somebody had to blow the balls up.

What we are crying out for is one or two players with a winning mentality. Players who might not be the most skillful but will come in and inject some fighting spirit and backbone into the team when things aren't going well. Downing, for all his previous skill and ability, never came across to me as the sort of player who likes a tackle and who's up for a physical battle. We've already got enough who like to fold when the game is slipping away.

To sign an upgrade on Conway isn't the most difficult managerial task ever.

Didn't we sign Rhodes on a fans say so ? The fan that hasn't been on this site for years as far as I can see.

Me too, he was pretty decent back in the day but that was a while back. Will he turn out to be the new David Wagstaffe or will he be the new Peter Whittingham ? It's not a gamble I'd be taking. Where does this leave Chapman incidentally ?

Fascinating reading. Jim Arnold's stats make interesting reading. We concede more goals by Xmas than he did in a whole season.

Yep, I always say to my son " We'd do better if they put the goals up at the sides of the pitch instead of the ends ". I was watching the American womens team earlier. They know how to attack, they're full of running and they're always looking to move the ball forward quickly. The ball never stops moving and they use the full width of the pitch with one winger right out on the whitewash at all times. When they lose possession they really chase the ball down. It's like watching another game to the way we play.

Yeah, my phrase for it is " Pass it around until we lose it " football.

What else is new ?

Talking to Ronnie Clayton he reckoned Jones was going to be the new Duncan Edwards and Ronnie was Duncan's best mate.