Merrick's Marvels

"Mildly less crap". F*****g hilarious. Deluded doesn't come close.

I'm not Aden Flint, mate.

Pearson didn't say. Nor was he asked. He didn't say how much Bournemouth have bid either. Nor was he asked. Some proper numpties about these days - of course, he probably wouldn't say but unless you ask....

We play 3 in midfield. Massengo isn't even our 5th best option in there. Plus if he doesn't want to stay, we're better off picking players who are committed to us long term. Simples.

Rinus Michels. Shankly. Clough. No mention of Alan Dicks, yet. Interesting.

Turn it up to 11, Nige.

I wouldn't call a side with Latibeaudiere, Cabango, Naughton, Grimes, Ntcham and Piroe a pushover, though. At their place. Especially when Piroe is guaranteed to score against us. Would be great to win though, no mistake. If only for momentum and confidence, our draw in the next round being less than inspiring and a cup run totally not the priority.

But without selling anyone, we're unlikely to continuously stay within FFP. I know we, apparently, don't need to sell this season but at some point down the road in the future, we're going to have to cash in someone decent, surely? FFP will see to that The only way round that, is to have a squad that's basically paid peanuts. So basically, we'd be like most of the L1 teams who come up - the Rotherhams, the Wycombes - and we all know what happens to those teams - they get relegated again because they can't afford to buy good enough players. Or you gamble that by keeping Scott, Semenyo etc you'll be promoted - at which point FFP becomes less of an issue. But SL has already shown he's not the gamble kind. So I'm not sure that we're no longer a trading club. There's only a handful of those and they're the elite. What we are trying to be, perhaps, is a club that can pick and choose when it trades, when it cashes in an asset - rather than one that's forced to by FFP or one that's happy to take the first big cheque a club higher up the pyramid waves at us. I agree that would be progress.

3,576 3,472 3,428 Y'tw a t.

Yes, it just goes to show there might be more to picking a team than meets the eye. Particularly when you're trying to re-invigorate a club going backwards, change the culture, get rid of some high earners or wasters, bring in your own players and implement your own playing style. Sounds familiar.

Yes - Ronnie Sinclair was unfair. It was just intended to make the point that - a personal preference, no more - I'm not keen on short keepers.

Read the whole thread or at least make the effort to read the previous page. You'll find the relevant info there. Why believe some stat on a website when you can check for yourself - find the 9 mins highlights of the Lincoln cup game and pause it at 6 mins 47 Andy King is 6 feet tall btw. Or maybe you think Bajic is pretty much the same height as Klose, Atkinson and Low who played in front of him that night? He's not.

"Who knows if Kalifa's been sold a lemon... Good luck to the lad (Bajic) though" "And sold him a plum. Or possibly not. We'll see" If you're going to quote me, do it correctly. You'll have to show me where I said "dud", btw. And why would you think I'm writing him off on the basis of his height and 1 first team appearance, when I've already listed the actual reasons that, combined, mean I'm forming the opinion he's not our long term no.1? Why would you think that - with respect? Yes, I've said in this thread my personal preference is for a tall keeper, one with some presence, another Maenpaa in an ideal world. Whilst also accepting we've had decent keepers in the past who've hardly been giants, such as Basso. Guess what, I then said "Fingers crossed Bajic turns out to be another Basso". So how about reading the whole thread before throwing around words like dismissive and childish? With respect.

The response dismissed my opinion as a "rant". When in fact, it's an opinion based on - in no particular order - having seen him play, who he's previously played for, at what level, how we came across him, the likelihood of unearthing the next Hugo Lloris and so on. That's what I was responding to. And not in an attempt to shut down debate. Ffs indeed.

It's called debate. Opinion. On a forum for debate and opinion. Wind yer neck in.

Stumbled it was, I'm afraid He was at some conference. It just came up in conversation - "We need a keeper, anyone got one?" Someone said, yeah. And sold him a plum. Or possibly not. We'll see.

Yeah, 1 game! Against Northern Ireland. You make him sound like the next Hugo Lloris. Or that bald **** Perez. Which he ain't. He's played virtually all his career in the French second division - all of 40 games in 5 years, mind Wow. What's the standard of the French 2nd Division, you reckon? And we signed him from a football club no-one's heard of, in a town where rugby union rules the roost. So "very highly rated" by whom, exactly? He's a punt. A punt Cisse stumbled across while networking - who knows if Kalifa's been sold a lemon or the next....yeah, I can't think of any other decent French keepers either. Good luck to the lad, though. He might turn out better than O'Leary. The bar's not exactly high.

Excellent news (so long as others leave to enable new signings). And thank you for listening to Talksport so we don't have to.

Yes he has time on his side - not sure he'll be growing any taller though! Basso wasn't the tallest and he was a fine keeper, so fingers crossed Bajic turns out to be another Basso ?

Well I had the displeasure of attending the Lincoln cup game and can tell you for sure, he didn't look 6'3 to my eyes, not remotely. Or 6'2. Or even 6'1. There was even a way to corroborate this initial impression - he had Atkinson, Klose and Low in front of him. But if you still need convincing, go to the 9 minute Youtube highlights of that game and pause it at 6 mins 47 seconds. By the way, Andy King is 6'0. It's entirely a personal preference - I prefer a keeper who has a physical presence about him and Bajic isn't for me but Maenpaa was. Even Bentley has it, he just doesn't use it. For me.

If he's 6'3" MrF then I'm a dutchman. I believe my own eyes, not some website. Edit - He's the same height as Andy King.

1 game this season and another years ago confirms it for me. I came to the conclusion a while ago that O'Leary's excellent saves in that Boro game were the exception not the rule. In contrast, Bentley's had plenty of games in his time here where, without his saves, we'd have been hammered. Not that I advocate keeping him - he's reverted to the form that made Brentford decide to sell him (and look where they are now). Albeit, I wonder if some of his poorer games this season - Brum being the obvious one - were a result of contract talks breaking down. Mentally he wasn't at it, and that's the reason why. We'll never know. Personally, I'm not interested in having a keeper that small.

He's not as good a shot stopper as Bentley and he continues to have brain farts. These need to stop - how many games has he played now? I get why he's currently getting picked - the games until the end of the season are basically an audition. Then in the summer we make a decision on whether he's good enough to be first choice. My preference is we find another Maenpaa - rock solid, if unspectacular - just one who stays fit. Perfectly happy with O'Leary as a no.2. Not that he should be. Bajic is Ronnie Sinclair and I'm not having a keeper like that.

It will be if O'Leary and Bajic are seen as our future. Dear god.