PLYMOUTH'S stupendously all singing dancing transfer thread!

[bwfcdan94]

The left-back, who captains his national side and has 88 caps, is to sign a three-year contract at Upton Park worth around £35,000 a week as Sam Allardyce, who intends to sign a new deal at the club himself, seeks to upgrade the playing staff in order to establish West Ham firmly in the top flight.

Unrealistic!

My dad has been telling me that the Romania captain is that Chiriches bloke who Spuds signed in the summer and I have kept telling him its Rat and that Rat has been captain for donkeys. I was right!

[jaffka]

Wigan have signed Markus Holgersson, who is a defender. At 6'3 sounds like he is a centre half but apparently he also can play at right back.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26048584" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hopefully they aren't interested in Dawson any longer and he will come when the loan window opens.

[Lord Kangana]

Brilliant. So then we can get him in long enough to put him in the shop window long enough for West Brom to be able sell to any newly promoted team in the summer with money.

[jaffka]

We aren't going any where, this season needs stop gaps bringing in to stop us going down.

He probably will move on to another team and good luck to him. We have missed out on other top players, if Sam is to be believed.

[Lord Kangana]

Sam?

[jaffka]

BSA and his list of great players he discovered.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Brilliant. So then we can get him in long enough to put him in the shop window long enough for West Brom to be able sell to any newly promoted team in the summer with money.

The alternative is Zat Knight running our defence. As Jaffka notes, we need short-term help first.

[Lord Kangana]

Wheater's back soon. I'd say a full back is of most pressing importance and given that we will have to pay Premier League wages for Dawson, we could conceivably get a good one. Alternatively we could drop Spearing in there, and put Ream in front of the back four. i don't necesaarily think Dawson is a prerequisite for either scenario.

Anyway, I'm worried that it'll be seen as a panacea "get Dawson in and we'll win". I think the problems are more deep rooted than that.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Wheater's back soon. I'd say a full back is of most pressing importance and given that we will have to pay Premier League wages for Dawson, we could conceivably get a good one. Alternatively we could drop Spearing in there, and put Ream in front of the back four. i don't necesaarily think Dawson is a prerequisite for either scenario.

Anyway, I'm worried that it'll be seen as a panacea "get Dawson in and we'll win". I think the problems are more deep rooted than that.

Indeed, he's not a panacea but he sure took away the pain last season. At the moment I'd be interested in any idea which could ensure we don't drop another division. We have no idea what %age of his wages we'd have to pay, but the club's noises seem to be confident that it could be afforded.

Frankly we could have Maldini and Cafu in their pomp at full-back and I think we'd still lose unless we got Mills-Ream back in the middle.

As for Wheater, our goals-against rate with him in the side was even worse than with Zat's average. I've nothing against Wheats but I would fear that turning circle might be exposed by any piss-ant striker. And if he plays alongside Knight rather than replacing him we're heading for even deeper trouble.

[boltonboris]

Be surprised if West brom are paying him what we used to class as Premier League wages. Be surprised if its half that sum to be honest

[Lord Kangana]

Indeed. I'd advocate playing Wheater and Mills with Ream and Medo in front, but with Medo having a remit not to sit timidly in our half but get stuck in in theirs. I've made my views clear on Knight, but its too easy to claim that as the only reason we lose.

Anyway, I could go on at length, but the deep rooted problems are not just confined to our defence. We play long balls at Beckford, that's not his strength, so we've put that new lad up front but then played Mark Davies behind him. Davies' strengths are more quick passing and interplay, not knock-downs from a poor man's SKD (or even a poor man's Craig Davies). It may be an emergency stop-gap, but it doesn't address the fundamental cluelessness that the managers selections seem to show.

[BWFC_Insane]

Medo is far better when he sits. He's not a "chaser" IMO he looks best playing the holding role.

I'd take Dawson if we could. We do need a left back but it may well be that there simply aren't any around available to us.

Any half competent defender with experience would be a plus.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Indeed. I'd advocate playing Wheater and Mills with Ream and Medo in front, but with Medo having a remit not to sit timidly in our half but get stuck in in theirs. I've made my views clear on Knight, but its too easy to claim that as the only reason we lose.

Anyway, I could go on at length, but the deep rooted problems are not just confined to our defence. We play long balls at Beckford, that's not his strength, so we've put that new lad up front but then played Mark Davies behind him. Davies' strengths are more quick passing and interplay, not knock-downs from a poor man's SKD (or even a poor man's Craig Davies). It may be an emergency stop-gap, but it doesn't address the fundamental cluelessness that the managers selections seem to show.

I can nod in agreement at much of that but small point of order: I've no idea how we played at Ipswich – I've had little time nor stomach to check – but at QPR it wasn't Mavies but Pratley in behind Cravies, presumably for his extra height. (Mavies was a very narrow "wide right" in the 4-2-3-1.) The plan seemed to be to catch QPR on the break. On occasion it worked (Cravies hitting the bar) but, like many, I'd rather not see us solely belting high balls forward, partly for reasons of aesthetics, partly because it's a low success rate.

As I see it, we should play to MD's strengths in the No.10 role off a forward, or perhaps in deeper midfield alongside EITHER Spearing OR Medo so we can accommodate the curiously overlooked Moritz at No.10. Either way, play it fast and frequent along the ground and we have the brains to unpick more defences than with big boots forward, which even the densest defenders know what to do with. And then there will be times (like against Blackpool) when we need 4-4-2. DF often picks players and formations I wouldn't, which I could forgive if it worked more often. I think he may have his own tactical paralysis, although not as bad as some, and not as bad as some make out.

[Lord Kangana]

I thoroughly disagree with Medo. Sitting is Spearing's game.

And DSB, my point was that you could put Beckford alongside the new lad, and then play MD behind, still leaving you the opportunity to play 2 holding midfielders. Which seems to be something that DF steadfastly refuses to stray away from.

Anyway, half competent defenders need to be managed half competently. That's the big issue.

[BWFC_Insane]

I thoroughly disagree with Medo. Sitting is Spearing's game.

I see it totally opposite. Spearing is best when he presses the ball, chases the game and uses his energy to effect the game. He's limited but a good ball winner. When he sits, he doesn't read the game well enough and then his distribution is an issue. He was at his best in the run in last season when he played as a more conventional ball winning midfield grafter.

Medo is a more clever footballer who can spray it around a bit from the deeper area and reads the game better and so blocks off the space in the holding role more effectively and picks off runners, something Spearing is poor at. In my view at least.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

you could put Beckford alongside the new lad, and then play MD behind, still leaving you the opportunity to play 2 holding midfielders. Which seems to be something that DF steadfastly refuses to stray away from.

Assuming a back four, that leaves you with just one winger. Not necessarily untenable, but a bit weird.

Quite a few teams recently (Liverpool, Villa, Hull, Everton) have played a back three in order to play a front two. Problems: you need good wing-backs, and we've barely got full-backs; you need a back three who are adaptable and very comfortable on the ball, and well, you don't need me to finish the sentence.

For the record, I wouldn't play two "holding" midfielders who are primarily defensive, in a Spearing-and-Medo style, although I understand why such a system might be employed by the manager of a team who are habitually losing.

On Medo, I think he may have more to offer further forward than BWFCi is saying - for a start, not many have a better long-range shot - but I still think MD's short passing could be well employed there, especially in a 4-2-3-1 with lots of options for him to pass to.

[LeverEnd]

I thoroughly disagree with Medo. Sitting is Spearing's game.

I see it totally opposite. Spearing is best when he presses the ball, chases the game and uses his energy to effect the game. He's limited but a good ball winner. When he sits, he doesn't read the game well enough and then his distribution is an issue. He was at his best in the run in last season when he played as a more conventional ball winning midfield grafter.

Medo is a more clever footballer who can spray it around a bit from the deeper area and reads the game better and so blocks off the space in the holding role more effectively and picks off runners, something Spearing is poor at. In my view at least.

I'm not clued up enough on tactics to overanalyse it, but I thought we lost something in terms of defensive protection when Medo stood in for the injured Spearing last season. However this isn't the same Spearing so I'd drop him for Medo now.

[bwfcdan94]

BSA and his list of great players he discovered.

Rivaldo.

[jaffka]

BSA and his list of great players he discovered.

Rivaldo.

Drogba

I'm sure there are plenty of others, that he unearthed.

[Prufrock]

Eto'o was the big one I think.

Never mentions the shithouses he thought were amazing who never turned out to be!

Plus I'm guessing anyone who ever watched Eto'o would have reckoned he was decent given he did enough to get signed up by Real Madrid!