Bailey

Oviedo is certainly a bright spark so far.

I think Osman is on a different planet to the rest of the team. Thats twice in 5mins he has played a ball to absolutely no-one.

Gibson is playing a lot of early cross field balls. Mirallas should have scored there.

Lovely ball from Mirallas and good finish by Vic, although you would expect him to score.

Apologies I misread... I thought you said we had signed 'half their squad' and not 'after half their squad'. Even so, I dont think we will be after the other two lads as I am sure Roberto would have had that business tied up by now as well. They werent easily relegated either as they were only down with one game remaining so its not like they were sitting at the bottom of the table on 0 points! Robles was only on loan and had only been there for 6 months, Alcaraz was out for large chunks of the season and his in and out of the team stats speak for themselves and Kone was probably their best or second best player. These players werent to blame for them going down and looking at the stats, if just Alcaraz had been fit they probably would have finished in mid table. Although I quoted your response, I was aiming it more in the general direction of everyone that is implying that we are becoming Wigan Mk II and that players signed aren't going to be good enough because they played for Wigan. They are all an improvement on what we had and at least move us a couple of rungs up on the ladder on to the next level.

Gee Thanks Av Seriously though thanks for posting it, I will have a watch!

I think its more to do with the quality of the stream more than anything else. If it was high quality, good commentary and previews etc etc then Im sure folk would happily pay more but the times I have tried it, I have found it wanting to say the least.

I think he is probably better there than you think. I agree that both him (and Pienaar) do a lot of the hard work before fluffing their lines but their movement, work rate and ability to read the game (even if they can always execute it) mean that they are still the best players for the job in the current squad. I would much rather have either of them in that position than anyone else (bar Barkley on occasions).

We have only bought one who was currently at Wigan and one who had just left and barely had a proper spell in the team due to injuries. Joel may have been on loan there but calling him a Wigan player would have been like calling Cleverly a Wigan player when he went back to Utd. We have cherry picked one of their best players, improved our squad with another and then bought a promising keeper from Athletico Madrid, hardly half of the squad or the extent it implies.

Im surprised you got that far...

Must admit he is one of my concerns too. I think we have him and Barkley who are 50/50 type players at the different stages of their career. Barkley is improving all the time but isnt the finished article and his performance will be up and down and Osman is probably now starting the decline of his career where I wouldnt want to have to play him week in week out. If both stay fit and can share that attacking midfield role I would be reasonably happy but that is unlikely. Yeh thats a good point too. I could see Junior doing pretty well in that defensive role as he looks pretty solid on the ball and whilst I havent seen enough of his positioning etc I think he has the technical ability to step up.

Games at this stage of the season mean nothing. As you saw with our friendly, its a glorified run about and they probably have harder training games during the season! Oooohhh that is a kick in the sack if ever I saw one! This could be fun.

I always thought he was a winger but presumed I was mistaken!

Sign him up then!

He was bloody frustrating though last season. He has never been the best in the final thrird but normally be makes up for it with his good work before that (normally with Baines!). However this season he went through large spells of unproductivity and when that happens he isn't much use to anyone. He is an important part of the team but he rightfully deserves stick at stages of last season. It was good to see him buck his ides up again towards the end though!

I think they might be too. I think Jags will improve and develop but I am worried about Distin. In terms of pace, I presume he is pacier than Heitinga? Not that it would be hard.

Yeh good signing but not great. Any new signing needs to show it on the pitch before he can be a great IMO.

From what I saw of Mirallas when he played off the striker he simply couldnt play that role well enough in the Premier League. He isnt strong enough and he doesnt hold the ball up well enough against big strong CB's. Just because he can do it in Greece doesnt mean he can do it here. Nurturing who exactly. If we had players with this guys talent and potential then we wouldnt be signing him in the first place. Im sure his signing wont affect the likes of Barkley because they are completely different players and how on earth this becomes an issue with Martinez rather than it did with playing Naismith and out of form Osman's & Pienaar's is beyond me. If we were signing Arsenal youngsters on loan I would agree but Barcelona has probabaly the best academy in world football and this lad is meant to be the best of the next generation from it. Kone, Robles and Deulofeu lad are all better than what we had at times last season. I would also argue that Alcaraz is a better option than Heitinga (based on last years form) and Duffy. Kone would start without a doubt for me, Robles would be 50/50 and Deulofeu is an option we didnt have before. I dont expect Alcaraz to start but on a free for relatively low wages he is an astute signing.

Yeh definitely, its not like they dont have a history of it themselves. I've actually changed my mind a little, umpires are there to make the decisions and as long as the batsman isnt trying to con the umpire into believing that he didnt hit the ball (when he did) then its not his fault that the umpire can seen whats obvious to virtually everyone else! Broad just stood there and waited for the decision which he had every right to do.

Just because the Aussies do it doesnt make it right.

Im hoping he stays because the thought of him and Coleman bombing down the wings with a fluid midfield, two exciting midfielders and the movement of Kone makes me salivate a little.

I agree tbh. I know the Aussies also have some form of doing it themselves but it seemed so obvious to everyone except the umpire!

Like one of the other guys said, its not really easy to compare the two clubs Moyes is at. Personally I wouldnt be worried at all. Spunking millions up the wall doesnt help if you dont get the right players in and Im sure Moyes will be making sure he has got the right man.

He is a top player in my eyes and I would love him here. Got very excited when I saw Fourth Officials tweet!

Sign her up!