i like your thinking irdan. i posed it more as a question than a statement and i think i need to see a bit more of fer before i know where his best position is. before i heard we were interested in him i felt he was best as an attacking midfielder but our friend cove suggested he was better utilised defensively. capoue is a class act though - bloody good signing for cardiff if they do get him! i naturally assumed he'd end up at arsenal for obvious reasons!!
Drum roll, fanfare....... (GPB, you beat me to it but if it's taken over 7 months to get this far, I'm sure no one will mind reading it twice!)
What amazes me is the press reaction to what is going on there. Apart from the odd football blogger, the media generally carry on with their obsequious, fawning "admiration" towards 'Arry and the club. Just shows what sort of values they have, can't see beyond ££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££. The other side of the coin being their patronising and dismissive attitude to anybody who doesn't splash the cash. You'd think by now some of the more serious media would be holding QPR up to ridicule, as some Rangers supporters are doing.
At the risk of upsetting Munky again and contradicting Rick I calculate that with Barnett and Hooper we have 26. Obviously we are trying to sell Barnett to bring us down to 25 but that would only leave us with Seb, Turner ( both injured at the moment ), Bennett and Ayala as CB's. We could move Russ across but that would leave us with 1 RB. Is that adequate defensive cover for the season? If we bought another defender, another striker and another midfielder then 3 existing midfielders have got to go. Perhaps Thurnby is right - leave it as it is and risk having to use Elliott Bennett, Surman or another midfielder as an emergency full back.
This is why I suggested that it might be an idea to look at signing a right-back. R.Martin does consider centre-back to be his best position after all.
I can't believe they've also just sold Jamie Mackie to florist for a million quid, that's absolutely bonkers if you ask me He was one of their only shining lights last season, a real fans favourite who gave it his all every game and would surely have been key to any promotion bid they hope to make. Makes no sense whatsoever. And when you consider they've also just signed Karl Henry, hated by Zamora after breaking his leg and arch nemesis of Joey Barton you have to ask yourself what on earth Redknapp is trying to do to the dressing room. A cynic might suggest he's trying to manoeuvre himself a sacking and the enormous pay off that would come with it - he wouldn't do that would he?
Most of the media will always favour London based teams because they are based there themselves. Hooper does seem to complete the squad, though, and there is still another place available in the 25.
Goalkeepers 1. John Ruddy 2. Mark Bunn 3. Carlo Nash Defenders 4. Russell Martin 5. Steven Whittaker 6. Sébastien Bassong 7. Michael Turner 8. Ryan Bennett 9. Dani Ayala 10. Leon Barnett 11. Javier Garrido 12. Martin Olssen Midfielders 13. Bradley Johnson 14. Alexander Tettey 15. Robert Snodgrass 16. Jonny Howson 17. Andrew Surman 18. Anthony Pilkington 19. Wes Hoolahan 20. Elliott Bennett 21. David Fox 22. Jacob Butterfield 23. Nathan Redmond (under-21) 24. Leroy Fer Forwards 25. Ricky Van Wolfswinkel 26. Luciano Becchio 27. Gary Hooper
never understood the worry about the 25-man squad. do you really believe the manager doesn't notice how many he's got? everything is planned to a tee - they aren't going to neglect this!
I don't think anyone is worried bor, we just like to see how the entire squad is shaping up and how much room there is for new players.
yes, i noticed the forest owner announce this last night. poor decision by 'arry to let him go although i understand the player was unhappy at lack of chances under redknapp. he's the ideal player for a championship promotion push. personally i see redknapp kicking off and storming out claiming 'unfulfilled promises' or something like that
1950 always brings this issue up every summer, and it has never been an issue. Every window I end up having the same conversation with him and to be honest I was expecting it this week.
My calculation of 24 was the same as JK's, with both Barnett and Fox leaving. Redmond doesn't count as he is under 21.
I'm sure Barnett is on his way and if Fox isn't sold, he probably won't be given a squad number (didn't the same happen with C Martin last season??). We're not too badly off for defenders, as long as Bassong and Turner are fit for the Everton game. Whittaker can play anywhere aong the back 4 and E Bennett can be slotted at RB as well. Not too unhappy with the current squad, but an 'attack-minded' midfielder would be welcome. Anyone else going to the friendly against Panathinaikos on 10th Aug - just got my tickets yesterday??
we know barnett isn't in hughton's plans - he said so - so he will not be included in the 25 man squad whether he has a club lined up or not. i certainly think we'll see at least one more new face come in, be it an experienced player or a young gun but i'd like to see fox stay unless a new midfielder comes in who has similar attributes (obviously they will be better or there's no point)
by some reports we undercut their transfer offer too. Being reported our offer was for 5.2 and QPR's was 5.5million.
