Dr Gloom

i agree we look in a better state in terms of the club's ownership but i think they need to pull their finger out a bit in the transfer market. big sam has been saying as much recently. encouraging signs today but i can't underatand the smith purchase...although that is something to question sam on, not the new board. tbh i wish i was more optimistic but we struggled all season last time around and i see the teams that finished around us and above us strengthening more than we are. although we did have a knacker in charge of the team last year as well as in the boardroom. i expect sam to do better on limited resources than roeder would do flush with cash.

really? smith ahead of those two in midfield?

i'm not thrilled with the purchase but i wouldn't go that far

fair enough. i'd still have emre, butt and nobby in midfield ahead of smith.

do you think smith should be an automatic starter like? where would you play him in the team? do you think he's a player we need when you look at what we already have? i'm encouraged by the news of the new defenders btw - not a moment too soon tbh. just a bit non-plussed by the smith purchase. Tbh Dan when Gemmill said Leazes had become a parody of a parody of himself, he could have just as easily been talking about you a few months down the line. I honestly caon't take you seriously any more. In answer to your question, I think he'll be at the head of a midfield three when we play that. He's versatile though (can also play upfront and wide right etc.) and we did need a body in to replace Dyer even if he's a different sort of player. So, no he won't necessarily be an automatic starter but I fancy he'll do well here. sweet jesus. comparing me with leazes? what have i done to deserve such an honour? although maybe it's a good thing; message boards get a bit dry when everyone agrees with each other. i was as optimistic as everyone else when the takeover went through but i'm finding it hard to get too excited about the new season going on our purchases so far. i think it's a good thing that the new owners haven't gone for trophy signings like shepherd but i'd also accuse big sam of a shepherd-esque blunder by spending a big sum on smith, a player that we don't really need. i'm sorry that you can't take me seriously anymore as i always considered you one of the better posters on here but what else is there to do on a football board but prognosticate ahead of the new season? i'm surprised more people don't share my pessimism tbh.

do you think smith should be an automatic starter like? where would you play him in the team? do you think he's a player we need when you look at what we already have? i'm encouraged by the news of the new defenders btw - not a moment too soon tbh. just a bit non-plussed by the smith purchase.

I can't see this lineup working at all tbh: Geremi-Barton-Smith Martins-Viduka-Owen

"We are at a stage where we don’t want to just bring players in to add to the squad, we want players who are going to be in the first team" hmmm. smith to start in midfield then. if that quotes true i guess sam's prefered midfield lineup next season will be: geremi----barton-----smith------duff/n'zogbia unless he goes 4-3-3. fuck knows how he'll fit our players into that formation

he must be when you think about it. sam has been banging on about being happy with his forwards.

now this sounds like it could be better news. i don't know too much about him but he can't be a bad player to have captained that lyon side of the past five years plus he's the right kind of age. we could do with an experienced centre half to boss the back line so we don't have to rely on the likes of taylor, huntingdon and ramage week in week out. does anyone know much about him?

tbh i don't rate smith much more than i do shola. in fact this signing has excited me about as much as if we were to sign shola from another club. they're both fine as a 3rd or 4th choice forward but we've already got shola to fill the role of squad striker that will do a job in a handful of games in a season. do we need to spend £6m on another? that said, smith isn't a bad signing as long as we bring in players for the other areas that are in more urgent need of attention. i don't see him as a replacement for dyer though. smith will provide competition for places up front and cover in midfield but i think we could still do with at least 3 defenders and a couple of midfielders.

Why's that? He'll get a fine or something. hopefully.

what you saying? smith's our new right back

If Gudjohnsen were available for the same price then he would've been a better choice imo. you're not wrong.

that's how i feel about him. he's a decent addition to the squad but for £6m, i think we should be looking at players that will be starting most games. if everyone's fit, smith should start on the bench.

makes you wonder why we signed him in the first place with this hanging over him

so smith's been bought in to play centre mid has he?

shuddup man we always had a chance of getting him

There is plenty of money, he has just yet to find a good left back to come in! is there though? we haven't been the biggest spenders so far and it seems the smith move had to wait until the dyer sale was agreed.

he played a fair bit on the right under o'leary the season they had fowler and viduka but are you sure it was half the games he's played? i'm pretty sure he's played more games than not up front (his prefered position). but anyway, that's not the point. the chances are that if we sign him he'll be playing in midfield because we have three better strikers already at the club. would you fancy smith as our new right winger? I think BS might look at Smith on the right side of a 4-3-3 with Viduka in the middle and Martins or Luque on the left and Owen in his preferred position on the treatment table lol. you're probably right. dunno why i'm complaining. we need bodies asap. £6m seems expensive and he's not a player i would have gone for personally but i hope i'm proven wrong and he does well for us.

he played a fair bit on the right under o'leary the season they had fowler and viduka but are you sure it was half the games he's played? i'm pretty sure he's played more games than not up front (his prefered position). but anyway, that's not the point. the chances are that if we sign him he'll be playing in midfield because we have three better strikers already at the club. would you fancy smith as our new right winger?

gujohnsesn can play in midfield so he is just as versitile as smith. plus he's a far better player.

I think he has more of a football brain than Dyer and id definitely a better finisher, however as has been argued elsewhere I don't see this as "simply" a replacement situation. I'd look to Charlie to fulfill the Dyer role (though with more skill) and Smith to offer other qualities. I very much disagree tbh. Imho Dyer has a quite a good football brain with a good positional sense that too often was ridiculed as "just running around". And looking at Smith's goal record I don't know where the bit about his alleged finishing skills is coming from. Smith isn't a bad player but far too much a grafter for my liking. As I said one for the charvers who like their players being dumb, agressive and running around with flying into tackles. As a replacement for Dyer I'd hoped for someone with more football skills and a more creative type of player. agree. now dyer's gone, we should be looking at bringing someone with pace and skill that can play on the wings. suddenly our wide options are looking a bit shit with duff injured, nobby not getting any younger and n'zogbia looking crap for most of last season.

I always was when he was Leeds. I have doubts as I would on any player who comes back from a really bad injury but this is balanced by the Man U factor - I think Ferguson generally improves players who sign for him. I think he has more of a football brain than Dyer and id definitely a better finisher, however as has been argued elsewhere I don't see this as "simply" a replacement situation. I'd look to Charlie to fulfill the Dyer role (though with more skill) and Smith to offer other qualities. his goal record is almost as poor as dyer's even though he's played the majority of his career up front. plus he has no pace, he's got a dodgy temprement, he looks average in midfield and he won't start up front ahead of viduka, owen or martins. apart from that he's great though. There are situations where I can see him starting ahead of those three. Looks like Allardyce favours 4-3-3, and there'll need to be rotation. i've no problem with 4-3-3 but can't see owen fitting in if that's the lineup we're using