Bailey

Its not a good plan B,C or D though!

I think he has played a lot of games in pre-season for someone who isn't expected to be here next season.

I am sure Gray will do what he usually does and start like a house on fire then decline rapidly. I don't think there is much doubt that Holgate is not good enough. Hopefully Simms does go out and make a good career for himself at the higher levels he is still very raw for his age and needs a lot more time to develop into the player we need now.

Thats a massive downgrade!

https://news.italy24.press/sports/740833.html Interesting account of the game!

Shame we didnt sell him when his value was highest! It was only ever going down after that first season!

Maupay / Dobbin partnership off and running... watch out Fulham

Myers confirmed medical next couple of days and in time for the game against Sporting at the weekend.

Seems to fit with what I have seen of him in the videos. He is going to be raw and a lot will depend on how well he is coached by Dyche etc however he looks the right type of player.

Some way to end your career

At least we have Danjuma in the squad. I think he will be best from the left.

This signing seems to be dragging on a bit but as the Italians say I guess no nusa is better than bad nusa.

I am with you on this. Basically Adams is a better version of shit, which means that as a team, we will be less shit.

This came out of the blue!

I think we certainly need a lot more technical players in midfield and if one has a bit of vision it would be welcome! I agree about Onana. He could be a genuine box-to-box player. He can do the defensive work of a Gana and get forward and create problems in the opposition box whether that be from his passing or breaking forward. He just needs lots of refining yet. Maybe Garner could do that. I am not sure how high his ceiling is. I see him as a Ward-Prowse type who has a solid all round game and excellent technique that will fall short of the highest level. He might make it to a Barry level of quality but thats a way off yet. He might need a bit more of a physical presence about him. I am looking forward to seeing how he does develop and where he ends up because he showed in the Championship that he can contribute by way of goals and assists.

I watched both the "Summer Series" games today and it does worry me a little as the four teams I watched looked a lot sharper and more organised than we have. Chelsea and Villa were the standouts. Chelsea look really good. They were a really young team and they were on it. James looks like he needs more time and they will have issues in the GK department too. I also think they could do with a genuine DM but they have so much quality in every other position. Villa are playing football like they are a big club. They dominated the game and whilst they should have created more chances, I felt like it was a bit of rustiness rather than poor players. Pau Torres playing in a left back/ centre back position looked a possible avenue to exploit as I dont think he has the agility for the position (if he plays there in the season). Whilst I think they look sharp, Fulham and Brentford were disappointing. Fulham was obvious, they are lacklustre up front and whilst Bassey looked a good signing, they are bad at the back and shipped chances. They were one of the worst defensive sided last season too. They could be in trouble. Some might look at Brentford and think a 3-3 draw with Villa couldnt have been that bad but the first was a pen, the second was a screamer and the third was caused by a screamer that hit the bar. They wont do that every week. Brentford are a funny side because they often look crap and pop up with wins and draws you don't expect but Toney being out for so long is a huge miss and I think they could struggle to counter attack as well as they used to. Flekken looked a bit crap so if Raya goes, that would look to be a big downgrade too. I thought they looked very hollow in CM and they could struggle against dynamic teams.

Does Danjuma not fit that profile for you or do you think we need another creative player on top of him?

I think there are a lot of reasons why targeted players might not come here. I personally don't think the stadium would be too much of a pull until we are actually in it and playing Premier League football inside it. It seems like we have finally regained some control of the purse strings so we aren't just paying silly money to players who don't warrant it. Secondly, we aren't an attractive proposition. We have had two season fighting relegation and there is the turmoil regarding the ownership/management of the club. Thirdly, there has to be a slight question mark over whether players in certain positions would benefit from being at a different club, for example wide players who maybe don't want to have to track back so much, or central strikers who can play in an attacking team such as the comparison with Atalanta vs Everton for El Bilal Toure. If that is the case though, we probably don't really want them after all. We don't need another Kean on our hands who thinks they are too good to do the donkey work. I do also think it would be a little naive to not think that there is a bit of a stigma around Dyche's style of football which may put some players off but I would rather have a manager that knows how he wants certain players to play and gets them to be effective compared to someone like Lampard who could talk a good game, sign them up and not have a clue what to do when they arrived.

Just to add a little context to this using xG and xGA Under Lampard we were the 17th worst attack and 2nd worst defence over that time period. Under Dyche we were the 7th best attack (!?) and the 4th worst defence over his time period. Despite playing 2 games less in his spell, Dyche out "chanced" Lampard by over 8 xG. In terms of chances, we created more than Villa over that same time period, however they outperformed that metric by taking their chances, whilst we had Maupay. Whilst our defensive play improved, I am still concerned by it and what I have seen from Tarkowski in particular so far is very worrying. I really hope it is just the hard sessions taking their toll on him and nothing more.

I agree in that I don't think Dyche is a long ball coach either but we also aren't going to play out from the back under pressure because we don't have the quality to do it. The ball has to go forward one way and I think we have seen enough last season to expect that it will go forward quite directly and whoever that forward is, will have to do a fair amount of chasing. If that forward doesn't fit that profile, the ball will come back more often, we will be under more defensive pressure and we will lose more games. If you have access to the Gana/Maupay clip can you send it to me or let me know where it is and I will have another look as I am only going off the impression I got during the game.

Put it this way, I am certainly less worried about us than I was under Lampard but at the same time, I was hoping to see some general improvements compared to last season. The latter may come yet and I am sure we will see a couple more new faces too. Enjoy your holiday!

This is exactly my concern. The biggest difference between Maupay and Dom last season wasn't finishing. It was getting the team from our own 18 yard box up the pitch. We know from Dyche's own words that he expects a lot from his wingers defensively so if we are up against a team that can pin us back, which there are more and more technically excellent sides these days, then how do we release that pressure and put the other side on the back foot and create doubt as to how often and openly they can come forward. The obvious example is the Brighton game. Dom was fantastic in that game and he was a real spearhead for our attack. He battled heard, won lots of duels and he scared the Brighton defence that was pressing high with his ability to run in behind and win the ball with his strength. When Gray played up front he had some joy because of his pace and ability on the ball. If the ball was decent and he got there first, he could do something with it, at least win a foul. When he was crowded out or the ball wasn't good enough for him, which lets face it is more common than not, he struggled. I am not sure whether Danjuma has actually been bought to play up top or from a wide position. I imagine it is predominately the latter but to be a better back-up than what we have, or maybe to provide a different option. From what I have seen, he looks best playing from the left and cutting inside (i.e. McNeil). He looks really good on the counter attack in space and he will definitely offer a threat in behind. I am not sure how many duels he is going to win where the ball isn't perfectly into feet. He certainly didn't show a lot of ability with his back to goal in that half against Stoke but it is clearly very early days and I won't hold that half against him! I would liken him to Demarai Gray, just with a more reliable end product.

Agree to disagree about the Gana ball but it certainly wasn't as easy as you make it out to be. I'm not disputing the quality of the Onana ball, it was a great ball, I am just looking at how it became possible. It took three people, the movement of Maupay, the run of Dobbin and the ball from Onana, supporting my earlier point about how the former two worked quite well together. We created more chances in the earlier matches because they were against worse teams! Bolton, were also very open which is exactly why I said it would be very different against Stoke, which it was! I don't really know where positivity/negativity sits in these posts, but I think the best way of us not being in the same position next year is to have someone up front that plays to the way Dyche wants us to play. If Dom could stay fit, I would agree with you about the next type of player we need, but that has to be a massive doubt. That is where me and Palfy sit (I think, never know with him! :P) And FWIW I have no issues with Dyche, I just think he is doing what he needs to do with this bunch of players. I don't agree with Palfy there.

I think that in the modern game, pre-season is more important than ever. Players come back far fitter than they ever used to. They do more ball work than they ever used to. Pre-season is just about getting back that match sharpness, which is hard to regulate in these type of games anyway and the other part of it is trying and tweaking new tactics and ideas. I thought both teams looked pretty sharp in the first 20 minutes of the Bolton game (which Bolton carried on for the full 45 mins), whereas yesterday we were well off the pace, almost throughout. I only really remember one season recently where we looked shite in pre-season then turned the taps on in the first game of the week and started well. That was under a certain Carlo Ancellotti season, with the introduction of a certain James Rodriguez, but look how that ended up as well. The best pre-season I remember (Martinez - 1st season) ended in our best points finish. I will say though that this next game is somewhat the litmus test. A decent side at home in the last game before the season starts. If the players aren't sharp and the tactics aren't pretty much nailed down for that game it will be a very bumpy ride again. We don't have the luxury of being able to start slow. A lot is being made of our impotent attack but we have also allowed some quite good chances at the other end, against very average players and teams. If we do that against teams with the quality of Sporting, we will concede.