Champfan45

Maguire was the only English player that impressed me today. As much as I detest parking the bus he's effective when the priority is a clean sheet or protecting a lead. Tyler Adams was the best player on the pitch for me. I've seen where people have compared him to David Batty and while it's still early days that's probably his ceiling. For €17M he's one of the steals of the summer market.

11 hours ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

Lots of countries have poor human rights for gay citizens, corruption and the death penalty.

What put Qatar so much into the spotlight was that they bought the tournament by open bribery and corruption and - having none of the stadia or hotels necessary to stage it - imported tens of thousands of poor Asians to build that infrastructure in conditions that led to thousands of deaths.

If the World Cup is going to be limited to countries that have European standards of human rights, then it will only ever be played in Europe.  And Australia hopefully.  

The fact that there were literally thousands of deaths means there was probably a few of them dying every single day. The fact that they must have seen this, and chose to continue doing it anyway speaks to a level of cruelty and greed that I can't comprehend. It's very easy for me to say, but if I were a footballer I would hope that I would not even consider participating. For me it's equivalent to the Holocaust, albeit on a smaller scale. Personally I won't be watching a minute of it.

Realistically if you were recruiting players for a club like Crystal Palace, how many centre forwards are there in the division that you would take over Antoine? I don't think any of the clubs who are likely to be in the mix for top 6 are going to be happy to part with their main striker, which could help. That would likely rule out BBD, Ndiaye, Sargent, Sarr, and probably a couple others I forgot about.

Maybe this is a homer take but I don't think more popular names like Gyokeres, Piroe, or Akpom are any better than Antoine is. And when you consider he's likely to be a bit more affordable I could see a decent offer or 2 come in for him. I think his eventual ceiling is as a solid starter for a top half Premier League side if his development continues to ascend. In the meantime he could be a valuable impact sub as he's able to contribute whether you're chasing a goal or trying to see out a result.

15 hours ago, CiderJar said:

Who knew that there was a version of BBC News in Pidgin English?


https://www.bbc.com/pidgin

I wonder how one would go about editing these articles. Is there a Pidgin auto correct available? It would be great fun to turn it on surreptitiously if one of your mates leaves their phone lying around 

If he's found guilty and subsequently banned, would Brentford be able to sell/loan him out to a foreign league? Or would his contract be terminated 

7 hours ago, David Brent said:

We, and he, miss the Chris Martin of last season. 

It looked like Semenyo was starting to become that kind of striker that can hold the ball up and link the play, but it seems like he coughs it up a bit too much. Kinda reminds me of Lukaku who is a big lad but his game revolves more around running in behind 

I always find it funny when fans who about abuse at players on the pitch suddenly become very precious when the favor is returned 

On 10/11/2022 at 08:47, Ivorguy said:

If Rangers really are preparing a bid of £5m foe Semenyo then we should grab it with both hands.

I could see him doing well there. He's not going to be the primary focus for opposing defenders and could probably be quite dangerous off the bench, plus pick up Europa/Champions League experience. More important than the initial fee will be the sell on percentage 

If NP does go at some point in the near future the fact that we don't really have any natural wingers (IMO) is going to rule a lot of potential candidates out from a tactical standpoint 

On 09/11/2022 at 05:27, Bris Red said:

I am still of the opinion we should have taken the dough when Watford came calling..Can’t remember how much it was alleged they offered, was it around the £10 mill mark?

It was Bournemouth I believe but yes 10 million was the rumored amount 

If we're considering managers that aren't very realistic like Gerrard I wouldn't mind Ralph Hassenhuttl. I think his tactics are much better suited to the Championship then they are the Premier League 

On 09/11/2022 at 15:31, Chivs said:

Where has this myth that Naismith gave us an "extra attacking threat" come from?

He doesn't come forward like Atkinson and his long passing is just average. He can pass short (though tends to prefer a Cruyff turn on the edge of the penalty box giving away goals) just like Klose....

I think he's got a good delivery on set pieces but I agree he's too blase at times in possession 

I don't know whether it's realistic to take for granted that the club will engage in savvy recruitment but I admire your optimism

It was a poor performance but if you weren't saying NP out prior to tonight I don't think losing a meaningless cup game should be the final straw. If we perform like this Saturday then we can revisit it 

I was gonna say...there's no way we spent 7 million on Han Noah it was less than half that 

1 hour ago, TomShor10 said:

The bloke is pathetic. Putting half arsed performances so he is ready for the World Cup. Here’s hoping he doesn’t get selected 

He's already confirmed to be in the Ghana squad, and we can only hope for the clubs sake he performs well. That rumored £10M offer from the summer is looking better and better....

I won't name names but there are several regular posters on here that will be very put out by this. Personally I will have to remember to leave my 4 foot tall bong pipe at home next time 

16 hours ago, maxjak said:

Ian wouldn't be impressed if we signed Messi.?.........he'd say he doesn't tackle back enough?  Didn't think anyone could be more downbeat than the Gaymeister?      But having just listened to the Boro'  podcast.......It's obvious to hear that Les is also a little ray of sunshine?

Marcelo Bielsa once famously said when he scouted Messi he felt he wasn't good enough in the air

What kind of offer would you accept for him...is 10 million enough now? I don't see who else we could sell, I wouldn't take less than 20 for Scott and I don't think anyone will offer that much 

I wonder why Semenyos pressing has dropped off. Last year he had the 2nd highest pressures per 90 in the division.

1 hour ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

It's about attention, and a bit of "look at me!" I got me ears pierced in 1982, just for that. Worked a treat! Girlies loved it. Teachers hated it. Result! Did one ear the old fashioned way, ice cube behind and through with a needle. Ouch. Should've made a preparatory hole with a bradawl first. School boy error. After that, got the other - the right ear, that was considered a bit "gay" back in them days, a little bit out there - one done proper job, in a shop in Broadmead. 

Moved on to DIY tatts after that, another school boy error (although I wasn't at school by then). That's another "look at me!" "Because I'm worth it" thing, tatts. Every one's got a bloody tatt nowadays, yer local vicar, yer lady administering yer covid jab this morning, yer Liz Trust - I bet she's got "Growth" tattooed on her bleedin arse or somewhere. And ear rings.

 

That's cool. I just didn't get why people would be upset about him wearing an earring. I don't have any issue with it personally 

54 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

For me I would have got rid in the summer of we could have. 

Pearson has made comments about HNM not signing a contract and not deserving a place in the team over others that have committed their futures but for me Semenyo is in the same boat. 

6 months +12 months left on his contract, he's got no intention of signing a new deal. As his contract winds down then so does his value. We're his home town club that have invested a lot into him in terms of development and recovering from injuries and he's essentially costing us money so imo unless he's willing to sign a new deal then he is a bench warmer. 

For a while now I've got the feeling that Semenyo cares more about playing for Ghana than he does us.

I'm not sure whether this is fair to Antoine. The clubs not a charity, the only reason they invested time and money into him was because they wanted to reap the rewards. And there's nothing wrong with that, but there's also nothing wrong with Antoine doing what he feels is best for himself and his family. His contract and wages weren't handed to him, he earned it. I've not seen any evidence of him lacking desire or heart, have I missed something?

Not sure I understand the earring thing. What's that all about 

Apparently some coaches from the Ghana national team were there to watch him last night. I generally thought he played well especially his shot turned assist and he had a lovely turn later on although he completely fluffed the resulting shot

The new midfield was impressive. James is clearly so important to our forwards having success, like the end of last season/beginning of this one. I think a midfield of James/Scott/Naismith would certainly create a lot of goals