Why would we sign a central midfielder (an injured one) to play on the right? And no, its called having an opinion beyond just assuming that if a manager picks a player, its because hes exactly what he wants. Budget restrictions, issues with recruitment etc dont come into it. Still think we are 4 or 5 short. Wanted 6 or 7, lost 2 or 3 that we hadnt factored in. Also still have to sort the futures of Brittain, Tronstad and Travis. We supposedly have "learnt" from previous mistakes

I suspect he didnt want to play him as much as he did but that season was a particularly bad one for penny pinching so he had no choice but to use the likes of Garrett, Markanday and Telalovic who where all nowhere near good enough.

Is it unrealistic though? We wanted 6 or 7 before Batth, Weimann and even Dolan left. Ismael has also said that this summer is more of a re build than we had planned. Also, even if we arent and it is a case of prioritising. I cant understand why people are prioritising another midfielder over more attacking options. Thats my main point.

And the reason he has played so much is that we have failed repeatedly to successfully recruit wide players full stop.

Says a lot about the Forshaw signing that so many feel that even with one signing that we are still short. Pointless signing. Before acknowledging that Dolan and obviously Weimann were leaving, we wanted a right winger and a forward. We didnt score enough goals last season. I just cant get my head around why people think we just need a right winger now. We have no senior competition for Cantwell without Weimann and we also dont have a striker in. Gueye is not direct competition for Ohashi as he forces a total change in style. We need more than 1, that is for sure. We need more goals and more pace.

Can get into as many good positions as he wants, he doesnt do much in those positions, the fact that you are hyping up a pass in the build up to a goal in a friendly and one of only 2 assists (and one goal) he got last season suggests hes little use. You was very keen to say that hes fine as a squad player. I presume you still think we need a first choice right winger anyway. Hopefully we can finally get one as repeated failures to do so in the market have left us having to play him.

I think the 3 attacking players are more important certainly than central midfield. Number wise though, 6/7 turning to 8/9 hopefully is what we will get baring in mind 2 or 3 extra departures. And of course more if any one else important leaves.

Pay as you play? Seems a bit fanciful. Pay his club when he plays, or pay him when he plays?

Then we would be leaving ourselves massively short along the front line. We need attacking players more than another central midfielder. Gestede mentioned a right winger to replace ACD when he was unsure that Dolan was going and some power up front to compete with Ohashi and Gueye. That was before Weimann left unexpectedly too. So he said 2 before Dolan and in particular Weimann left. So I dont think 3 is unreasonable. Gestede and Ismael also said 6 or 7 before Weimann, Batth and Dolan had decided to go, and Ismael said the other day that this window will be more of an overhaul than was expected. So 3 attackers and a defender taking us to 8 again doesnt seem unrealistic.

Today was only a friendly and I dont think it can be underestimated that we still have plenty of work to do in the transfer market, even before considering potentially replacing Brittain, Travis and Tronstad. We have nowhere near enough quality or quantity in attack. Especially if we are playing a high press and with a manager that is reknown for regular, multiple subs, we need 9 or 10 options along that front line to try and always have 3 or 4 on the bench at any one time, factoring in injuries. Its not a silly number, 5 have gone out so its not like we would suddenly be swelling the squad. We obviously need a right winger but we also need a number 10 and a striker who can compete with Ohashi, when he isnt on the pitch then Gueye forces a total change of style. We also obviously need another right footed centre back. Tavares and Alebiosu in particular feel like options more to be cover and will hopefully give us stronger options in the squad rather than last season when Forshaw/Buckley or JRC/Carter at right back really caused a huge dip.

I get that the right wide player tucks in, but the setup doesnt specifically need a right winger who offers nothing in attack to work. It would surely work better if an attacker from that position could offer a threat that would really give defences problems knowing that theres an attacking right back to deal with at the same time.

Adebajo is out until Christmas. He probably also wants his right winger to offer some semblance of attacking threat. Luton fans would be queueing up to drive Chong here. A Hedges-esque season but you seem to know exactly what Ismael wants.

He said that we are open to another centre back without committing to saying we will get one, mentioning priorities. We really do need one. Carter is unfortunately a sick note who cant be relied upon.

Probably something about me being constantly negative even though the 2 posts youve quoted are just me preferring one player to another and merely questioning the logic behind someones theory. That was a great bit of play. I wonder based on the fact that De Neve seems to be first choice, if the logic is that Kargbo is seen as/trusted only as an impact sub against tired defenders.

Typical pre season fare, a slow game purely as a fitness exercise and punctuated by changes. I almost feel like you learn more from the starting 11 as opposed to the actual game. In the few positions where we have 2 options at full fitness, it seems like De Neve, Ohashi and Ribeiro are first choice above Kargbo, Gueye and Pickering. Not so sure about the latter personally as I think Pickering is slightly better but not much in it. Always interesting to see the new signings, in this case only 1 started. Nice finish by De Neve (and also the corner he took was better than a Cantwell floated ball) but still coming to terms with what is expected of him and loose on the ball at times. Not overly quick but seems to be an athletic up and down type. Impossible to take much of a conclusion after an hour of a pre season game. We already knew that Brittain will be a gigantic loss when he goes. We already knew that we badly need reinforcements in attack, especially on the right hand side. And we already knew that Kargbo is absolutely rapid but incredibly raw.

Why would that be the reason? Adam Wharton wasnt underrated. Travis isnt underrated.

There is a reason why, considering it was almost exclusively one or the other, we won far more games with Ohashi up front than the very few with Gueye.

Did I say that? He can still be part of the first team squad without having an unhealthy reliance on him. Theres still scope for him to break through if hes ready. You want another right back and keep justifying the Forshaw deal. So with 2 senior right backs and 4 central midfielders, we may aswell sell Montgomery, right?

Slowly they have taken better decisions? In recent years, two successive managers have decided they had no choice but to leave such is the running of the club. 3 potential signings fell through due to "admin issues." A one off talent through the academy was pushed out the door for a knock down price and the money wasnt reinvested. The womens team has had the rug pulled from under it. The stadium has not been maintained. The club has been submerged under the shadow of a court case due to the owners dodgy doings. Has the academy been invested in or has it just been kept going, and are they getting praise because its an area of the club they havent closed? Attendances are really low due to disengagement and also high prices. The owners havent attended in about 10 years. Im not sure the public liason woman who was binned off after 30 years agrees with the family feel. We tried to keep Weimann and Batth so it wasnt a strategic choice for resale purposes. Forshaw still signed so how does that fit in. Wage to income % will never be healthy as a Championship club.

That last bit is the key. We need another first team attacking midfielder.

Quite interesting to hear that he said publically that Wharton isnt fit to play how he wants. Obviously hes been out for ages so its not quite like calling out any random player but still. Presumably he will want another centre back after McLoughlin. Did he say which position he sees Montgomery playing in? Also, we know that he isnt interested in loans so if any come they arent necessarily to his approval. Its a market we have relied too much on but its probably not one to totally dismiss, if you use it purely to bring one or two bits of quality we couldnt ordinarily afford. Did he say anything else about how many he wants to sign or anything else interesting?

A healthy direction! Wow. Under Venkys, with Suhail, Gestede etc making decisions? Im not sure many if any will agree. (Also, Tavares came through at Leicester)

Ipswich have a lot of players that are stand out Championship players that are unlikely to get Premier League moves. Greaves, Philogene, Clarke, Szmodics, Davis, Broadhead, Chaplin, O'Shea etc. Can see why they would be favourites. Even though they were so bad last year, it says a lot about the gap between the leagues that Southampton also have lots of really good Championship players. Leicester are the ones of the 3 who maybe look the least likely even before a points deduction.

Stubbornness that leads to losing them for free.

£5m? Can rule that one out.