JimJams

His first pro booking?

Good pressure from Choudhury then. High up.

Nelson gives it away. Our lads at the back need to sort their passing out.

Timing of the press is off. Individuals pressuring while others stand off and mark nobody. Odd cos it looked well organised in preseason. Might just be the unfamiliar line up.

Hamza can't find anyone with a pass. That's a penalty on replay...

Thought it looked a pen but the ref seemed to be immediate with his reaction.

Nice give away by Hamza...

Doesn't look like Palace will be in need of him...

For anyone going, or indeed wondering what's happening in the 3rd minute.

NU NAME!!! Actually it's not is it. Just doesn't have his own thread...

Which is nice but he barely contributed on the goals front...

Yeah we signed Maddison from the Championship AND WHERE ARE WE NOW GERARD?

We could accept a fee lower than the release clause any time we liked.

I'm not sure he can wait another 3 or 4 years though...

There's the upside to them being cup-tied meaning the club we're loaning them to aren't just taking them to fill the squad for when cup games roll round.

Oh thank Christ!

And Toney...

The clause is entirely for the benefit of the player effectively taking the decision away from us. We can be lowballed while the clause is still active and accept less than the contracted fee, so it makes no difference there. They can offer £20mill now, we refuse, the clause expires, we don't now magically accept £20mill do we? It's of benefit to any prospective buyer because they can remove us from the equation.

Kind of bollocks what they've put there I think. Dortmund enquired about a loan for him, and Brighton were said to be open to loaning him out again but preferred a loan to an English club due the limitation on foreign loans and already having plans in place for other players. If they've since said they'd be open to selling him, I don't know. Everything around the Dortmund move suggested they really wanted to keep him. Perhaps with Leverkusen moving in and the problems around a loan, they will sell but only for stupid money.

I'm telling you..... Datro is inevitable.

Reckon they might turn their attention to Omari Hutchinson. He wants out. They'll probably take a hit and let him go for 25-30mill... Which isn't really taking a hit tbf.

For the money spent he would have been a sound purchase, he was £5mill wasn't he? For some reason he plays far more centrally at Boro than he did at Plymouth. Half his games for Middlesborough he's been down the middle rather than on the right. Maybe he'll fare better under Edwards, though he's still playing him through the middle.

Aluko can probably cover until Souttar is available again. Did a few preseason games at CB and looked good. The Vuskovic loan looks appealing but Spurs will want him to play not provide cover and that could be at the expense of Nelson, so I'd be cautious of that one. Alfie Gilchrist is another name that crops up here sometimes. He's played CB, but more RB, but Chelsea would surely be interested in a sale. He only has a year left, so we could probably talk them into a loan with stipulations, they extend for a year, we get an obligation that suits us? Maybe... I do prefer the idea of loaning someone we can purchase at the end of the season, having already agreed a fee. Could even try for Veiga! Of course this is all fantasy because Milan probably won't pay for Okoli.

No he meant "selling arseholes"... Easy mistake to make.

I like him but I think if we claw back the original fee and anything else on top, we sell. He's still got a lot of developing to do, he's not a Fofana either where you can see he could play at the very top level. If a sale means we effectively got a freebie for a year, trialled him and wish to try our hand elsewhere then so be it. Don't think he needs replacing either.