CloudFox

I think the KDH comparisons are probably quite apt, sans creativity and goal threat. He's not there to provide goals or assists, but drive the ball forward and "make stuff happen" that leads to assists/pre-assists. Our midfield is way too static and lacks dynamism. Jordan James would add that.

Building on this (and maybe I'm taking it a stretch too far), given how BEK and his agent have acted so far, even if it is an "obligation", if he performs well and a bigger club comes in for him...you'd expect them to find a way out of signing for Stuttgart in favour of the other club.

I'm so glad someone called this out. I mean...what?!

Very surprised Cov would let him go. Thought Sheaf was a key player for them.

This would be great competition for Abdul on the right. Mavididi, Fatawu, Monga and Rak-Sakyi is a great set of wide players for the season. Plus would take the pressure of Fatawu and Monga to be our sole threats. Get it done!

Really liked the look of him lat time 'round. Curious that it seems since the back end of last season he's mainly been a sub for Rennes, and contributed little in the way of assists or goals for them. The opposite of his time at Birmingham really. Edit: Saying that, it was only in his last season with Brum that he got 8 goals. That wasn't a feature of his game before.

Disappointed he's not in the squad, disappointed he's not going out on loan to a Championship club, but I guess this is the third best option. Just want him to get game time and show everyone what we think he's capable of. 30+ games for a promotion challenging team will be good for him.

A shame, I'd have liked to see him tear the Championship to bits, especially as some reported before all these shenanigans that he was happy to take us back up. That said, if he doesn't want to be here and with add ons / sell ons we can get the fee up to £35m, I'm happy with that. He'll do well at Stuttgart. Now let's reinvest some of that money and give Marti the tools to succeed please.

Starting for AIK today, so I doubt this is remotely close. Saying that, he is their captain, so could be a "one last hurrah". Who knows. Sidenote: TIL Benkovic plays for AIK too, and playing well by all accounts. Nice to see 😊.

Why he is still in full kit 😂. I had to double check he wasn't wearing his boots and gloves still too.

Some very fair points. However, he's a left winger. We need cover for the right wing, not the left. Unless Monga is expected to be cover for both wings? I can't remember what he was like playing on the right though—think he did a couple of games last season maybe.

Left wing is not the priority position for us to strengthen in right now. Odd move.

He's currently our best option as a 9. Hopefully we get a starting striker in ahead of him and Ayew, but Ayew is not a 9 at all. In the meantime, Daka at least helps with the pressing and can cause some chaos in behind with his pace, giving defenders something to think about and opening up opportunities for our wingers to find space.

Much better playing off or behind the main striker. We desperately need him to never play as the sole striker again. Makes the choice to take the #9 shirt all the more baffling. That said, he does seem to be working hard for the team, and in the second half I was astonished to see him pressing and having a tiny bit of pace!! Definitely should be coming off the bench. We just need a starting striker.

Wow. Need I say more?

Did anyone catch his post-match interview? My errrr perfectly legal way of watching the match cut out just before. Anyway, keep it up Marti. It's good to see some fight and defensive stability back in this team. And the subs? They just make sense.

I hear you, but it is criminally unfair and unrealistic for the club to expect to be carried on the back of 16 and 17 year olds. It's a 46 game season, Saturday-Tuesday many a week. They're going to need support. And hell, someone to learn from too at times.

True. I'm just playing a game I like to play called "worst case scenario" 😁.

Yeah I like him coming inside more. If he keeps doing that (not the slipping 🙄) that could cause Brum some problems I reckon.

He's not played great, but he has hardly seen the ball to be fair to him.

It is making me laugh at the moment though. He's like an articulated lorry when pressing or running on to a through ball. He needs to be able to drop deeper with someone ahead of him, pressing.

I actually think it's in part because we've limited them.

Weird that Evans isn't in either squad tonight. Guessing he must be on the fringes of the first team? Can he go on loan now? Can't remember if 17 is old enough.

Oh **** off He's not a bad player by any stretch, but he is 30, on a long contract and doesn't improve us in our strongest area of the pitch. I'm going to stop lulling myself into believing Football League World have any insight (out of desperation). What a load of bollocks.

I think the 8s / 10s in Cifuentes' system operate as a hybrid of both positions, so he'd probably fit that well. Him being a leader is a big plus too, but...I am very uneasy about paying high wages right now.