At a Brighton pre-season fans forum their Chairman Tony Bloom was asked about the possibility of Dunk leaving and his response was "Not unusual to be interest in good players. Every player has a price, and while we want Lewis to stay I can't guarantee he will." Sounds promising.
better that way round than the other. If we'd missed out on Dunk and were still in for McDonald I'd be more disappointed.
I think that's what the guys were alluding to; that it's better that McDonald be the dead duck than Dunk.
Fair enough FI. Put my mis-reading the posts down to being miffed that we've given up on McDonald, because he would be my preference of the two. As you pointed out, we at least had three CB's on the radar whereas McDonald was the only DM that we appeared to be chasing. And I firmly believe we desparately need a DM just as much as a CB. Can't see Mattila stepping up to the mark in time to make the difference needed; always assuming that's his intended role.
Apparently tomorrow's U21s game vs Brighton has been changed to behind closed doors and our good friend 'A Trialist' is on the team sheet. I'm sure it's not just one of the few who have already been on trial with the U21s. Potentially a new first team player perhaps. Fingers crossed for Gayle. I'm almost certain it's not Dunk as Brighton wouldn't let him play for us against their own U21s and he'll likely be playing for them on Saturday. I'm more than likely a case of 2 + 2 = 5 on my part but that's what the silly season is for.
Ah never mind, the club initially tweeted the line up including A Trialist but then deleted it and tweeted the side again naming Ian Pino at CB so he obviously is the trialist. False alarm.
Ouch! Lewis Dunk was named MOTM by SkySport as Brighton beat Notts Forest 1-0 in the first game of the season tonight. Unfortunately that will raise a few eyebrows in the Premiership and no doubt a few dollar signs with the Brighton Chairman. Here's a link to the BBC match report (had forgotten how many of our ex-players are in their squad) : http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33729037
I watched that game last night and wow did Lewis Dunk stand out. He was incredible and looked every bit of what we need.
Today’s It’s Not the Lewis Dunk News story - "Reports on Tuesday suggest Fulham have entered the race to sign Bolton defender Tim Ream, who is also courting interest from Queens Park Rangers. please log in to view this image Ream, who has been voted as Wanderers' Player of the Year in each of the previous two seasons, was last week the subject of a £1million bid from Rangers, which was rejected by Trotters bosses. Weekend speculation linked the Hoops with an increased £1.75million move for the United States international, but it now appears Fulham have registered their interest and are set to launch a rival offer inside the next 24 hours. Ream missed Bolton's opening day draw against Derby County after returning from international duty with a severe deg lead, prompting manager Neil Lennon to dismiss theories that he had rested the 27-year-old due to rumours over his future. "There is interest from QPR but it is way short of the valuation of the player and we don't want to sell him anyway," Lennon told BBC Radio Manchester. "He's been consistent. He's been player of the year here the last two years so he's not for sale." Source: http://www.burndenaces.co.uk/2015/08/11/fulham-to-rival-qpr-for-boltons-tim-ream.html
Possibly genuine interest from us, possibly a ploy to tell Brighton that they can't keep holding out for more for Dunk. From the little I know of Ream though, this sounds like a good alternative to Dunk, so I'd be happy either way.
I posted in another thread Brighton have had a £2 mill bid accepted for a centre half from the bundesliga today, I believe we will get Dunk but not until Deadline day
I know I've seen Ream a few times and all I can remember is that he's a defender and he's blonde. He hasn't stood out in any of the games I've seen. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Considering he's a Centre Back, I'll go with good.
Well, if he's been their player of the year for the last two seasons, he must have something going for him.
Bristol City have had a bid of £6 million for Gayle accepted , if we matched that then paid £5 million for a Dunk then our summer spending would be £15 million minus the £8'million we got upfront for Roberts so £7 million pounds sounds about right to me for a team still getting parachute payments win a billionaire chairmen...... The squad we have now should be mid table, dunk and gayle should give he a chance of top six !!!
