OTF

I wasn't putting it down to Williamson, though I was saying he is incapable of playing it out from the back.

Yeah, there's something differ about it. The intent to play it out is the antithesis of Williamson and most of last season. Refreshing.

Get those lottery tickets, Cisse just made a successful tackle and insightful pass in quick succession (we'll forget what he did immediately before).

Mbemba has some toe about him, it will be nice to finally have a central defender with pace. Can't decide whether Colback is doing nothing out there or if he's helping to keep our shape and give our forward men space to work in. Kind of the same with Anita.

There is no substitute for pace. Obertan really did extremely well there, Widjnaldum's run, timing and header were all top notch. I'm liking the cut of our jib spare for our defense.

Fucking brilliant! Great ball. Amazing run and header!

Brilliant Krul.

Obertan was in good form when he was injured last season. He's in there for his pace alone I would say and will likely be subbed at some point for Aarons or Perez.

It's good that they're actually talking about it, even if they don't implement it properly. It needs to be punished consistently and to the extreme because that's the only way to get it removed from the game. The saddest part is that it's so ingrained that it will take a full generation to eradicate fully, and that's being optimistic.

Tapatalk image embedding is shit.

Disappointing that that's the deserved feeling one day into a new season.

It's frustrating isn't it? It would have been a fresh start for him with a new manager.

I'd be mildly shocked if QPR don't sell him because he won't sign a new contract there. If he's not committed to the QPR promotion cause then they might not get the best of him. If you sort the midfield out competent strikers will score goals in the championship (look at Lovenkrands' record for us) so they should be able to bring someone in to score goals. The flip side of that is if his goals win them promotion next year then it's worth foregoing the 10m+ fee.

I'm disappointed in the overall performances of Haidara in the preseason, I had hoped he would come along with some consistent games. Good pace strong left foot and a desire to beat his man were good signs. If he's rubbish we need to bring in a new left back.

The price of the fee that he's worth is heavily dependant on what level of wages he's willing to accept. 13m on reasonable wages is fair IMO.

... As you do.

Wouldn't be surprised if the rumours are just a ruse to drive up his price before he inevitably goes elsewhere.

Roll the dice.

Enrique's injuries would make me reluctant to sign him. He was my favourite player so that's difficult to say. They will really have impacted on his acceleration and speed which was a key to his strength as a fullback (that and his strength/balance).

Barely anyone gave Enrique trouble back in the premier league also, but that's besides the point. Defenders can be protected and therefore made to look better by being in dominant teams that boss possession.

If not I'm selling mine, lightly used.

Don't forget that we were the dominant team in the division, much less defending to do.

http://www.prodirectsoccer.com/products/Mens-Football-Teamwear-adidas-Striped-15-Short-Sleeve-Jersey-White-Black-97254.aspx? The Magpie patch looks ok, the other looks crud, the back is fugly,

Don't think we've seen enough of him to write him off, and there has been some glimpses of ability from what we have seen. If he doesn't get a proper run this season he'll never amount to anything here, if he does thinking with extreme optimism he could be our next Cabaye

His name's easier to spell for a start...