I dont get the clamour to play a back 5, in essence partially to accommodate Wharton, as if he needs to be shoehorning into the starting 11. Nyambe is never a wing back in a million years either. That back 5 would hardly instill any confidence. The Phillips link seems very much a weak one but if he did sign, he would have to be capable of playing in a defensive 2. It would also make absolutely no sense to play 4-3-3 throughout pre season (and the end of last season) if he was going to totally change it.

I would suggest that article is a rehash of the rumour from elsewhere with many assumptions and regurgitated facts. I think he insisted that we wanted Phillips based on rumours for a while.

You could also say what have you seen from Dolan aside from a couple of bright cameos and a cup game? There is a reason why he is regularly in the first team squad at the best team in England.

I know but I would and many others would understand that there is an element of jeopardy. Even if this was a calculated plan, how can you justify a total silence from the club?

There is absolutely no chance of Curtis Jones coming here as he is in and around the Liverpool first team squad, but it is absolutely crazy that you would be dead against the idea, if you are being serious.

I think the criticism is not in regards to genuine slithers of gossip to discuss, it is at the baiting of a cryptic message with absolutely no substance, no name, no position, no personal opinion, so nothing really to discuss. Thats only my opinion. Regarding Nathaniel Phillips, he has barely played any senior football and presumably would only be a loan. Not for me. Ashley Williams, absolutely not.

McNair is a central midfielder.

He seemingly came on in an attacking position based on the team line up v Barrow and he scored a penalty anyway. The most important thing is that Rankin Costello is clearly not a defender and thus was regularly seen out of position or beaten by the winger of Doncaster. Nyambe is a far better defender which is the main priority.

Surely after the loan finished he would be a free agent.

I think he has one year left at Spurs so I dont see why they would loan him out.

Your logic makes no sense. There may be less people in a position to be able to afford a season ticket. But there are still people both able and willing to do so. So surely it is worth selling to them?

He was on the bench sometimes. 17 times to 26 starts. They had 2 left footed centre backs, 32 year old journeyman Jason Pearce was seemingly a more conservative option, and Sarr a more cultured but defensively mistake prone option. Sometimes they played in a back 3 together with right sided Lockyer who has today joined Luton.

Greg Cunningham played for Cardiff earlier today in a friendly. Sarr might be a decent option ideally as one of 2 if it is him. Badly need a left back ASAP too. Sarr was not fully trusted I dont think by Bowyer at Charlton.

Them transfer values are fairly meaningless. Sarr has a value of 0 because he doesnt have a club. Kipre is a far better defender but ultimately is worth 900k.

Isnt blatant teasing against forum rules ?

He was all over the place on Saturday but he is so important to us because he has been our only defender under Mowbray who can lead the defence and head a ball. He missed 9 games last season in which we picked up 5 points and lost 6 games. He isnt perfect but he is so important to us. We need more defenders who can actually defend. Kipre would be perfect but seemingly it wont be happening. Sarr is possibly the opposite of what we need.

But some people clearly will. I am happy to take the small risk and get one, many others clearly are, its a nonsensical argument at this stage. Obviously there might be a percentage of people unwilling to take the health risk, a percentage of people who cannot afford it due to being furloughed or made redundant, and some people who normally go who are unwilling to take the risk, fine, they wont buy one but others will and not only cant, but havent the foggiest what is going on because the club cant be arsed to even communicate.

We surely are looking for more than just a solitary centre back, we want 2 plus other positions especially left back. I get that there is an element of balance in terms of allocating the budget and I also get that Kipre is likely better than any alternative but even if we left that contract on the table, we could be getting in a left back and another centre back but it all seems to be one in at a time. If we go to Bournemouth with a defence with Bell and Wharton in, we will struggle. Imagine if Lenihan picks up a knock for Ireland!

Fairly random suggestion. Dont think he would need to quarantine coming from Denmark but no idea on availability. Read an article last week from Lewis Morgan who was at Sunderland with him, who claimed that he regularly feigned injury when he couldnt be arsed: https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-afc-news/sunderland-lewis-morgan-slams-bryan-oviedo/

With a loan, I think it would only even potentially be acceptable if it was with a permanent signing aswell, and also if it was a player at a bigger side who ultimately would be better than what else we could afford. For example, Lindsay is 5th or 6th choice at Stoke, we dont want to be loaning players like that. Conversely, if Adarabioyo became available, or someone similar, then as 1 of 2, sure.

The thing is, unless we sign a Kipre, an Ayala or a Van Der Hoorn, all of which seem unlikely, I fear that we are very unlikely to get someone as good as Adarabioyo, who himself was part of a defence that conceded 63 goals. So I think it will take far more than a centre back replacement to fix our defensive problems. We need 2 centre backs really, at least one of whom has to be dominant in the air. I know Mowbray wants players who can play it out from back but that may be a luxury we cannot afford. When Lenihan misses games, we lose games because none of our other centre backs could head and lead, so we need to avoid that being a risk, especially considering Lenihans injury record. Naby Sarr seems to have been mentioned but he seems to be one who brings the ball out but often has concentration problems, if we signed him in addition to another more conservative defender, then that could be better. We need Kaminski to be a success, he cant afford to make loads of mistakes like Walton. We could do with an experienced number 2 who can step in should Kaminski be struggling, which will be difficult to find. We need to prioritise signing a left back, Bell has shown time and time again that he is miles away from the standard we need and any improvement is a myth. We need to sign a left back of quality ASAP. The importance of competent full backs shouldnt be underestimated, our points per game with and without Nyambe and with and without Cunningham last season shows that. Downing also had a decent spell at LB too. Bennett and Bell at full back will lead to us conceding goals and losing games and Rankin Costello is not a full back either. The important thing is full backs that are good defensively, again, ones flying forward setting up goals too are a bonus. As an aside, Naby Sarr seems to have progressed at Charlton but even at the end Bowyer seemed to trust an ageing journeyman in Jason Pearce more to start games.

I was unsure which of the 2 you meant but my point was just in general about Lindsay to be fair. Would be very much inferior to Kipre but that always would have been an excellent bit of business at the price quoted.

There is also the issue about the price. Stoke paid over 2m only a year ago so I doubt theyd accept a 6 figure fee so presumably it would be a loan. Kipre had a really impressive season at Wigan and would come highly recommended. I remember last year when we were linked, the common consensus from the Barnsley fans was that it was Pinnock that would go on and excel in the Championship out of the 2 and so it has proven. Lindsay made quite a few errors and slipped down to 5th or 6th in the pecking order at Stoke and is slow so that may hinder any prospect of us pressing high in the same way that Mulgrew did. I cant say that I have seen enough of him to write him off and for under a million in England we are going to struggle to get someone of real quality so maybe Lindsay in a new environment at a more settled club would flourish. If we had a deal lined up for Kipre and now he has gone elsewhere or is going elsewhere, of course thats a blow. But we shouldnt just be working on that deal. We supposedly want 2 CBs and a left back, yet there is no sign that we are actively working on other deals unless the club has been pulling a blinder in terms of hiding it from the press! Its typical though. We signed Cunningham on the last day of the transfer window and of course the Adarabioyo deal took ages to conclude last season. We started the season with Mulgrew, Bell and Bennett in defence and already its about playing catch up.

Where is this from? Lindsay would be a far cry from Kipre and is not a player that I would be particularly excited about but at least I suppose that would involve not putting all of our eggs into one basket when we have numerous positions to sign.

If Kipre is holding on for a Premier League move, and of course the much higher wage that goes with it, I totally understand that and would do the same if I was Kipre and dont feel like there is any scope for resentment, I also think that there would be a good chance that Kipre could have got plentt of first team football there. Ultimately we will need to move on to other targets with the clock ticking. Mowbrays said that we are close to making a signing and I would be very dissapointed if it was just the Kipre deal and nothing else is close. We need more than one player and whilst it is a blow if the Kipre deal was lined up and has since broken down, we are also just as desperate for a left back and the plan was to sign 2 centre backs. Thats before we mention a sub keeper and an attacking player. If Mowbray and Waggott are putting in the late nights, we surely are down the road than more than just the Kipre deal.