TheReebokBear

He always put a shift in and had some good games for us. He'd have been fine if we'd had more creative players around him. There's a section of Bolton fans who think any midfielder who does the ugly stuff. He wasn't exciting, but he wasn't the terrible player most make him out to be. You need a player like McCann in your side, the trouble was that we had more than one.

He was rated by them, and by the U21 set-up, as a future England player. Stuart Pierce had him down as the best young defensive midfielder in the country.

Puncheon is a winger in a 4-4-2. He needs to set things up. He didn't create anything for Blackpool, he just looked to shoot every time. I think he's talented, but I'm not a fan of selfish wingers in a 4-4-2.

So basically, his agent has demanded so much money that even Newcastle (That's NEWCASTLE, the ones who pay Alan Smith 70k a week to play as a midfielder) have said they won't pay it.......and therefore we should sign him. Fair enough, good player.....but his wages will be taking the piss completely.

Look on the official site. Blake has re-signed and Bibi is still in talks.

Have we played attractive football? Yes. Has it been the norm? No. Coyle has shown a desire to play football, but look at the 11. Good football starts from the back. We don't have ball-playing fullbacks, nor do we have that Campo-type player who will drop off and give the central defenders an option. Our midfield is limited, in terms of footballing ability. And Davies is still seen as "the weapon". None of these things will help in the quest for decent football.

And a lot of Spurs fans want 'Arry gone. Ideas above their station, etc.

We could all list players. David Trezeguet was just relegated.....he'd be a good signing. The question is, who is Coyle 'likely' to actually have lined up.

I can't see it being Owen, his wages will be astronomical. It could well be Bothroyd. He's on a free, he's got decent movement and drops off to get the ball. Maybe Coyle will think he can do the same job Coyle had Elmo doing. We've been linked to quite a few. Jelle Vossen, Danny Welbeck (my personal preference) etc......we'll know when he's signed.

I think that if we have any 5th option in attack, it'll be Ward covering the strikers and wings. We just can't afford to pay 5 first team wages; nor could a club of our size keep 5 experienced strikers happy.

Naturally. It's speculative. But that highlighted bit isn't a guess. If we keep Klas and Davies (no sign we won't) and sign two strikers, do you think we'll be in the market for a 5th? I can only go of what's being reported regarding Bothroyd, like anyone else. But it doesn't matter if he gets 15 thousand or 30 thousand a week, not if we sign him and Nugent; that'll still be it for us signing stikers, because it makes no sense to go with 5 up front over a season. The average wage at this level is now 25k a week, and Bothroyd has just been given an England call-up he'll be in a position to demand at least that. So to say there is no risk in the deal is plainly false. It's also a risk if he is brought in with the need for him to score(as he would have to if the other signing was Nugent) and he didn't. So there is both financial and footballing risk involved. None of that seems to be over-the-top as a claim.

I'd take Kranjcar, he's ex-Pompey. Defoe too would massively improve us. The fact is, Pompey had some quality players.....that's why they went bankrupt: They had to pay those players quality wages.

If our interest in Rhys Williams comes to fruition, we could well have the same centre back pairing that was available to Boro when they were in the bottom three of the Championship. That'll be interesting.

Nugent also got an England call in the Championship and was younger, look how well he did for Pompey. It really is a risk to sign him, given the signing fee and wages he's supposedly demanding now. Of the two, I'd have Bothroyd; just for the physical game........but if we signed both that'd be us done signing strikers. We need more goals than a 4 of Davies, Klasnic, Nugent and Bothroyd would give us. We'd struggle to get 20 goals out of them in open play, if past form at this level is anything to go by.

Nugent and Bothroyd. I genuinely hope not. Coyle has called for the backing to get some younger players in, which would be preferable. After a career doing nothing, Bothroyd knocks in a few in the Championship and suddenly he's the second coming. Signing him would be a massive risk, as he's essentially Carlton Cole with less Premier League experience. He could do a job, or just be another slogger who doesn't score enough goals. We don't play 4-5-1 any more; we need goal scorers.

The one who might be able to but never actually has at this level and isn't a midfielder?

They're average, rather than 'shite'. And we are terrible away. A lot of out players are just 'average', but they're still Premier League standard. As soon as a player hits poor form he's suddenly a Championship player. When they do well, they should play for England or be signed by Utd. Bolton fans for you.

At a guess, home sides attack more so he can run into space when the fullback gets forward. At the 'Bok, Petrov tends to end up with two on him when he gets the ball.

Lacking pace is fine if you also have solid technique and great delivery. Taylor has neither. He's fine to have in the squad, but he's not a player who is going to take you forward. If your wide player lacks pace, he has to be able to play one-twos or put his foot on the ball and play his way out of trouble. Neither of those things are in Taylor's game either. Taylor runs around, gets into decent space and tracks back. There are worse wide players around, but there are also much better ones. I don't think it's scapegoating Taylor to just be honest about what he can and can't do.

Gardner scores goals but doesn't have much of an all-round game. Birmingham will probably want to keep him, but if they sell him they'll want at least 6 million. I'd rather have Pratley on a free and see what he can do. He has more to his general play, even if he's not great. Birmingham went down because they're not very good. Their defence was a well organised unit, but the individual players are not brilliant. I'd take Martins though, as he was only on loan and we could use some pace. He's not top-drawer, but he'd score a few. Depends on his wages.

Gardner is a very average midfielder who scores some great goals. He'd be okay, but not great. Johnson is solid and better than we have (once Cahill goes), but isn't as good as is claimed.

Better make sure they didn't pay with a rubber cheque.

We'd have to sell an existing player. If we can, we should.

That doesn't follow. Jussi has been heavily praised by Ferguson a few times, who called him "one of the best goalkeepers in the division". The fact that the top clubs hunt for 'keepers who are that class above others doesn't stop Jussi being a quality player. Jussi's game isn't complete enough for Utd or Chelsea to sign him.

I'm not sure anyone thinks Taylor is 'lazy' (I've not seen it said, anyway). He's just not a very talented footballer. His other issue is that he's slow and one-paced with it, which is no good for a wide player. He went through a patch of not running as much, but generally he's willing. The trouble for Taylor is that the positive sides to his game - willingness to run, great movement, tenacity, good tracking back and aggression - are not what a wide player in a 4-4-2 is on the pitch for. He runs a lot, but doesn't time his runs down the wing well to offer an option. His movement is great, but it's great for finding attacking space; which in a 4-4-2 can draw him out of position and leave Robbo exposed. A wide player in our system needs to be able to control and retain the ball, then distribute it; or beat his man and get forward. It's a creative role. The tenacity and aggression, with the tracking of runners, is all great stuff and needed, but it doesn't make up for the lack of creativity. I actually think he did well for us when he arrived and was in a 3 man attack, and I think he'd do a great job for someone else. But he's not suited to our style and will only ever produce the odd good game for us, I think. Petrov has the opposite issue. He lacks all Matty's good traits and has all the creative ones. If we could put Petrov's feet on Taylor we'd have a quality player. Short of that, time to go shopping.