RobM

It all depends where he's going to play. Yoshida at RB is a lability. Yoshida at CB, his actual position, is a decent enough 3rd choice. The vast majority of criticism he received came after performances at RB.

Unfortunately not original. Man Utd sung a version of it about Scholes and Carrick. I think Watford had a version too.

Is he really though? At his age his International career is probably coming to an end; he's unlikely to be in the World Cup squad that's for sure. He's young enough to command a high wage as a 'current' top-flight player, yet old enough to consider the move in the first place. If, as has been suggested, his knee is causing problems he probably won't have a lot of years ahead of him at the top-flight anyway. It all seems a perfect-fit. A couple of years out there and he'll retire a rich and happy man.

I don't think it'll be long before Fonte becomes a real concern. Last season he had moments where he looked like his head wasn't in the game and made more errors and bad decisions than in all his years before combined. Maybe this year he will be better, with a new manager in place and hopefully an improved Cedric alongside, but if not I'd like to see us sign a real top-class CB to replace him. This year we should be fine. We have enough CB's as cover so if we sign anybody, it should improve the first-11, IMO.

While he is the best of the three mentioned, IMO... my fear is this is his motivation. He has said he wants to stay in this league and nobody else is offering him a job, so he'll make do with us.

IF - and this is a big IF - that's true, I really hope it's because there is a solid, financed and committed plan to keep our progression going and which needs a committed manager behind it. If so, it's right to give him that ultimatum.

Sums up my opinion. No surprise that three players who haven't been on-form throughout the entire season, who haven't demanded a first team place and haven't performed well enough when they were picked, are slightly annoyed at the guy picking the team. Funny that nobody who plays week-in, week-out and performs well has a problem. And no surprise at the timing of this, just before the end of the season when transfer activity steps up a notch. IMO, this is all entirely normal. It's not news.

I'd like to think this is a win-win option for everyone. He knows what we're all about, we've proven we can not only improve players but also help their international careers, he would be a 'star' in our team (thereby massaging his ego) and with the increased revenue I'm sure we could pay him well. On our side, we get an attacking player who we know a lot about (in terms of attitude and personality), who would provide balance to our team (him on one side, Mane the other), add pace and creativity and an attacking threat. His injury record might not be great, but Arsenal have a habit of breaking players and our physio team are pretty decent, so I'm sure we could help him there too.

Against Bournemouth I thought we missed Clasie more than Wanyama. Clasie is everywhere normally, chasing and hurrying the opposition, hustling them and forcing them to keep moving even if he can't win the ball back. When he does get the ball, he has already worked out the pass he wishes to make and does so quickly. Romeu lacks the sheer physical presence and aggression of Wanyama and is closer to Clasie in the way he plays, perhaps reducing the CM overall effectiveness when playing alongside him compared to a Wanyama and Clasie partnership, but I do rate him as a better footballer. Wanyama is big, strong, combative and much more defensive minded than the others. He has a part to play in our team, but only if the tactics and opposition are right. IMO it's Wanyama and Clasie when we're likely to need to win the ball back often, it's Romeu and Clasie when we're going to enjoy more time on the ball.

I wish he wouldn't sign for another English club, especially a Championship one. He's clearly not suited to the EPL, yet is definitely a talented player who will do well in the right league. If he went abroad, Italy again maybe, he could play in their highest league and would do well. Sticking in England means he'll be warming the bench of an EPL club or playing in the second tier. Seems a waste.

Clasie's passing has been impressive since day one, IMO. He has the rare ability of working out the pass he's going to make before he receives the ball. Often his first touch is the pass he wants to make. Often it's short and simple, but it's effective and on a few occasions has opened by opportunities. Saturday showed his other traits well; his tenacity and energy, he covered a lot of ground, broke up play well on occasions. One of the few highlights of the game. He's not yet at the standard I think he'll reach and can't sustain that level of work rate for 90-mins, but he's improving all the time. He's making less dumb decisions when talking too, he was a bit reckless early on. For my money, I'd go with him and Romeo for a few games. Romeo also passes well and is a very well-rounded footballer. He also provides the muscle we like to think Vic does.

In order of priority, IMO, we need: Striker. Not an attacking mid, not a creative player who wants to walk it into the box, but a striker. Get ball, take on players, shoot with confidence of actually hitting the target! Right winger. Tadic but for the other side. When you're playing Davis or JWP in that position you know you have problems. CB. Sorry Fonte, huge respect and can still do a job, but the signs are there that the end is coming. Get the replacement in now, before it's obvious and Fonte becomes a (bigger) problem. End result, if we want to keep playing a striker and three behind, is Tadic left, Mane central, new player right, then Pelle or new striker up front depending on form / fitness / competition etc. Then we have the option for two proper strikers up front, Mane up front too, with Long on the bench and JRod given time to come back to fitness. I don't see the need for a RB; Cedric has been improving with every game. When his fitness / stamina are good enough he'll be great for us at RB. He's brave, puts himself where it hurts to get a block in, gets forward and is starting to show he has the strength needed too.

There were a few moments in his last couple of appearances that suggested he is getting physically and mentally stronger. Add this to the comments Koeman made about his physical strength, needing time to adapt and the fact he's working with him specifically to prepare him physically and mentally for the EPL and it all paints a picture of him being 'one for the future'. Koeman's comments were quite funny really, saying he is sometimes the ref' in training games and doesn't blow the whistle when Juanmi gets taken down, suggesting he needs to man up, get up and get on with it more. I think he's got the ability, he's young, he's small, so he's being introduced gradually and built-up ready for next season. I don't think Koeman or anybody else at the club would bother if they didn't rate him.

Another question would be will they ever be able to play for the full 90 minutes, if we don't give them experience of playing for us for the full 90 minutes. Cup games are ideal for that. If they're having a shocker or we need to change things tactically you have to sub them, but they should at least be given the chance (maybe less so Gaston, who's had many chances in the past).

There are few things I spend my money on that give me greater pleasure than a season ticket at St.Marys. For the outlay, it provides ongoing, regular entertainment that is hard to match elsewhere and definitely not like-for-like. Sure, the argument will be I could watch lower-league football. But you can apply that logic to any item where the price increases with the quality of the product (food, clothes, cars, hotels etc).

A good team, a healthy environment and the support of professionals can make any player raise their game. It can make 'good' players 'great'. But true quality players will be quality anywhere they go, which is what I think we'll see with Shaw, Clyne and Morgan. Lovren, Lallana and others are 'good' players who were performing at a very good level, who then dropped back to 'good'.

Fair play to Gaston. He's not happy, he wants to leave, so he's going about it in the right way IMO. No fuss, no media B.S, not tantrums, but a desire to negotiate (e.g. find an outcome that works for both parties) his exit. Shame it didn't work out. But it didn't, like many others before and many others to come I'm sure. If he agrees an exit he'l be an attractive option for a mid-tier club in a European or South American league, he won't be without a club for long IMO.

That depends entirely on what he does next. If he moves, it's hard to be too angry as he's seemingly done it the right way; no public outbursts, no media B.S. from him, has been open with the club about his desires. Spurs are the problem that clouds all this, as their usual media manipulation makes Wanyama look worse when I don't think he's behind it all. If he doesn't move, he needs to get his head straight and focus on the season ahead. If he does this, much like Morgan last year, fair play to him and again it's hard to be too angry. If he doesn't move and his performances suffer and he acts like a spoilt child, **** him. That's when I'll lose all respect. I think we all knew he wouldn't be around forever and would go to a 'bigger' club, but that's not Spurs. In every interview he gives he manages to find a way of mentioning his Champions League experience against Barcelona, so if CL football is on offer I don't think anybody would begrudge him going for it. Spurs don't offer that and probably won't for a very long time. Arsenal consistently do, which I think would be a better move this time next year.

I agree with this and the other points about VVD coming good, being young and having the potential to develop into a very good CB... but is that what we need right now? This deal is supposed to be a replacement for Alderweireld, somebody able to step in and be very good almost immediately (aside from the time needed to form partnerships, learn our style and tempt etc etc). The basics of being a good CB should be in place already, especially for £10m. That's not to say I think it's a bad move, I just worry that we need quality, solidity and experience at CB today and VVD might not be the answer (today).

Been hunting for the same, looks like the calendar has been lost in the site makeover.

Jose made comments in an interview not so long ago about going to America when his Premier League days were up. I think this change in agent will have that move in mind as there will be big money involved. I think we can realistically expect a few big-name departures each season (on the assumption we can't break the glass-ceiling that is the top-4) so if we can, we should give Jose a decent renewed contract to keep him with us for another 2-3 years, on the understanding he can move onto the MLS when the time is right. It will add some much needed stability, give us time to prepare his replacement and ensure he knows he can make the move he wants when the time is right. I may be incredibly naive in saying this as it's based on not a lot, but Jose always strikes me as the sort of guy you could form such an agreement with and have faith it will be honoured and respected.

We can afford to take a gamble. While we as fans and everyone else associated with the club knows our ambitions, there isn't any real pressure to be a top-6 club every season. The clubs ahead of us who have that pressure may feel he is indeed a gamble and they need proven Prem experience, e.g. Clyne to Liverpool. But at the same time, we're sufficiently far enough ahead of those just below us (Wham, Swansea, Stoke etc) to be the more attractive option. What tends to happen is we buy players like this, if they don't work out they move on and are forgotten about and if they do well, other clubs take note and make offers. The only way that'll stop is if we progress even further up the league, meaning there are less clubs ahead of us who are a more attractive proposition.

Context is everything... We have less starting 11 players who are homegrown or academy players than we had in years gone by. We have more starting 11 players who are homegrown or academy players than most other teams in the EPL. The bar to reach our starting 11 is now a lot higher. It's far easier to reach a mid-table club's starting 11 than it is at a top-8 club.

He said in another interview recently that he feels he has a couple more years here and then he wants to move to the MLS with his old pal Guly. I don't think we have anything to worry about.

He did look good initially, then stopped looking good, stopped being effective and was deemed not good enough by the club so loaned to Hull. At Hull he hasn't looked any better, he hasn't even looked the best player in their team when he has played. Gaston isn't the answer to our problems.