revolution saint

That's an issue for him but, for what it's worth, I agree. He's already good enough to be playing regularly for a top side. What happens to him after he leaves isn't our concern though and I'd be happy for him to get snapped up by a Saudi club and spend the best years of his career in a football wilderness if it meant we got more money for him.

I like the work traffic cones do against the ball.

Player of the year for them wasn’t he? To be fair I haven’t seen much of him this season but he’s a proven PL goal scorer so 8M seems pretty cheap. He’s much better than Adam Armstrong.

With Wilcox as director of football we'll absolutely be trying to sign kids from Man City. I'd imagine that's half the reason why we got him in the first place - he'll have good knowledge of both them and other players in the same age range. I don't really have a problem with that as long as we don't expect all of them to have an instant impact and maintain their form over the course of the entire season. We'll need some decent championship experience as well but as long as we keep that in mind then I don't think it's a problem. Anyone who expects our policy to massively switch is going to be disappointed though.

Sulemana, Alcaraz, Tella and Livramento could all be superb in the championship. Obviously I hope we keep them all but suspect at least one will leave but even so it's still pretty good. I'd expect us to replace Adams if he goes but if he doesn't then it's a decent player in the championship plus I still think Mara could come good after a difficult first season. There's still (at the moment) lots of reasons to be positive. Centre mid is a concern - I'm expecting Lavia and JWP to go so we'll need at least two more in of decent quality and I'm not sure Diallo is good enough or will be here. Having said all that, I wish we were Leicester.

Good news and a good deal for Forest. Price seems a bit low but just checked and he's only got a year left on his contract.

We should try to sign that Isak fella from Newcastle. I think he’d be great in the championship but if they want more than 15M then we should threaten to walk away from the deal.

The French are revolting.

I wish we were Leicester

I think he'll probably go out on loan as well and it might be the best thing for his development if he gets more minutes but still think it would be a shame. Out of interest have you seen much of Ballard? I've not seen enough to make a judgement. TBF it really depends on the context - if he isn't playing regularly then 10 goals is a decent return. Start of last season I thought Mara had quite a bit about him but seemed to struggle as things went downhill. There's stories about him struggling to settle and he's still only 20 but I'd like to think if he got some confidence and put away a few chances then we'd see a much better player.

So what do we think of Mara's chances next season? Personally think he might go and suspect there'll be options for him in France but I'm hoping he gets a chance and stays. I don't think a pressing style suited him at all but in a side that plays a bit more football he could flourish. He's looks to be athletic and pacey enough to make his mark and I suspect he's probably the most clinical of our forwards (yeah, OK, that's not saying much). I doubt we'll go into the season with him as the established main striker and I'm not sure I'd advocate doing that if we're serious about promotion but I definitely think he could make a big impact in the Championship. I reckon if we have three out of Mara, Tella, Sulemana and Alcaraz then that's a pretty exciting set of young attacking players.

He was that good at anonymity that I've completely forgotten. I remember him coming on against Man City in the cup - didn't do much though.

I haven't seen much of Barcelona recently but the idea of Moi working against the ball in a side that never loses it strikes me as quite funny.

It'll be the same with Moi - you mark my words.

Yeah, if true it'll be interesting to see how that gets accounted for in each individual club accounts. I've no idea about these things but that looks like we've sold Orsic for 2M Euros whilst Goztepe get a player worth 2M Euros without paying anything. I suppose from an accounting perspective it would involve Goztepe paying us the 2M Euros to make up the fee we receive to the reported 4M. Gutted Orsic has gone though - I though he showed flashes of anonymity in his time here.

I'm not sure anyone would start a world war over Sunderland. Possibly the Arabian state of Newcastle.

I don't recall him making too many fantastic saves that I didn't expect him to make but there were a few I thought he was at fault for. Seems to me that he's relatively comfortable with the ball at his feet so I expect him to stay and be first choice but personally I'd rather we had a good solid keeper even if his distribution isn't all that. I don't think he's big enough either - not much he can do about it but his size is probably a disadvantage.

TBF he did come out and say things wouldn't happen overnight, mentioning that Burnley were playing differently at the start of the season to how they ended it. There's a time and a place for playing it out from the back and hopefully he gets the right mix. Have to say some of the goals Swansea conceded are horrific and if we defend like that then he'll be crucified.

You're absolutely right, I don't feel qualified either but I've had a crap day at work and need a good argument so if you don't mind I'm going to insist that you really should have an opinion on this topic. You're both transphobic and sexist if you don't. And probably racist. Scum like you make me sick.

I thought he spoke OK but he wasn't as funny as Nathan Jones.

Hopefully we'll be playing with passion and smiles on faces. As a fan or manager that's all you can ask for.

Losing Tino would be disappointing but depends on the fee we get for him as to whether it's a good deal or not. There's go to be doubts over his ability to last a championship season after the injury he's had and even before his injury he had stamina problems. Shame cos when he's when he's in full flow he's great. If we get 25M (or somewhere close) then it's not a bad deal. Bree will probably be OK in the Championship and I suspect Wilcox and Martin would have a good idea of replacements. Didn't one of the Swansea lads say they were linked with the Barnsley right back who's supposed to be decent?

Agree with you to an extent and the first couple of months probably won't be plain sailing which could possibly cost us automatic promotion if there's a team that has a fantastic season. We should be able to get play off positions though even if we have a dodgy start. I think SR have come out and said their intention is to win the division though so it doesn't look like they've managed their expectations too much.

Yeah, and hopefully that's the case. Just don't want to be in a position where we're insisting on playing out from the back (for example) but lack the quality of player to be any good at doing that.

Trust the process etc etc. You're right though - I don't recall a particular emphasis on philosophy under Adkins apart from making sure the players worked hard ("Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard enough"). This is a worry for me as well and I mentioned it when we appointed Martin. I'd rather we had a flexible manager who came in, looked at the players and came up with a system and style that got the best out of what's available and then adapted to suit the opposition. It sounds like Martin is more of a dogmatic coach that will insist upon a specific style regardless of the playing staff and their various attributes. For one thing it'll lead to us becoming predictable which is never a good thing.