More for the squad than improving things. 
I want Morgan back 
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Captain Morgan.
We do need to start drinking heavily to compensate for the dross we are getting delivered I am with you Steve.
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We need a big strong centre forward and a centre back.
Regarding Jay, let’s remember that when he was smashing them in a few years ago it was as part of the attacking midfield 3, not up top on his own.
I’d love to see us resort to 4-2-3-1 again. It has served us well, we have the players for it and most importantly it wasn’t broken. Sadly we decided to ‘fix it’.
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Less of the we there please Simon
Puel decided to fix it and as yet has not got the system he wants working correctly.
Agreed.
We need someone like Vardy.
We can’t afford to be taking risks on players that come from the lower league players*.
*Bletch attempts to out-sarcast the RaleighBoy but secretly knows that he’s about to be blown out of the water by the reply.
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Yes, I recall that when we were in League One the majority of our transfers came from the Dockyard League as our business model was to build a team capable of competing should we be relegated three tiers.
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True, but for me, the club are as much to blame as Puel. They must have known about the way he wants to play before employing him. If they are surprised then they need to have a word. People on here have already mentioned and discussed the fact that a change in playing style has to be implemented throughout the age groups, not just the first team, so in actual fact it is quite a big change that the club must be complicit in.
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Another club linked with Shane Long.
West Brom this time and West Ham also rumoured to be interested.
Papers talking shite, his agent agitating, or is it known that we want to move him on?
Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers
Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article
West Brom lining up swoop for former striker Shane Long from Southampton
Show/hide article…
West Brom are weighing up a move to re-sign Shane Long.
Boss Tony Pulis is keen to land a new striker this month and Long is the latest name under consideration at the Hawthorns.
The 29 year-old left West Brom in January 2014 to join Hull but his spell there was brief as he moved onto Southampton for £12m just eight months later.
Long has struggled for goals and fitness this season after finishing last term in impressive form.
But he opened his account for Southampton this season in their 2-1 defeat against the Baggies on New Years Eve.
Long is a wanted man with West Ham also eyeing the Irishman.
Long won’t be easy to prise away from St Mary’s with fellow Southampton striker Charlie Austin out until April with a shoulder injury, reducing Claude Puel’s attacking options.
Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe and Brentford’s Scott Hogan are two alternative striker targets Pulis has in his sights.
Go to the original article…
…generally begot by Optimus trousers…beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Originally posted by @saintbletch
Another club linked with Shane Long.
West Brom this time and West Ham also rumoured to be interested.
Papers talking shite, his agent agitating, or is it known that we want to move him on?
Probably agent agitating due to Puel’s much loved rotation system 
But…why would any club buy a player that is so badly out of form and fitness (according to that article!!)
I just spent 2 minutes looking at the transfer gossip/bullshit and yet again it is 100% outgoings. Whilst I know that we tend to do business under the radar, I am a little concerned that we will enter February empty handed.
I would like to think that the club are preparing for VVD’s inevitable departure (in the summer I suspect) already by lining up a new CB. The thing is though… what with the uncertainty over Fonte, Gardos being permanently absent for the last 2 years and Yoshida still being rather crap, I wonder whether we actually require 2 or 3 new centre backs?!
With regards Yoshida, I know he gets a lot of flack (The crowd singing - “How shit must you be, Yoshida has scored!”) but to be honest objectively speaking I tend to agree with the flack for the most part. Not the personal slating but the fact that he makes me very nervous. This is not a knee jerk opinion due to our current predicament, this is a longstanding view I have held since his debut at the Emirates. I was there that day and it was an absolute nightmare situation to make your debut in (not his fault though) and 4 years on I dont think he has recovered!
The point I’m edging towards making is that with VVD and Fonte’s situations, coupled with Claude’s rotation policy - the prospect of Yoshida playing more games scares the shit out of me. I accept that he can ‘do a job’ at times but he has shown that given a run of games the mistakes appear. He can get by in short bursts without doing something stupid but then…whoops!
Given that the success that we have had over the last few years has been based upon a solid defence, and in particular Fonte + Lovren (for the first half of that season at least)/Toby/VVD the club need to make some crucial decisions pretty soon. Especially given the fact that we can’t score goals anymore, keeping clean sheets is going to be even more important than ever!
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Barry’s right, we’ve had it.
There is no point in continuing, we should inform the league without delay that we wish to wthdraw.
We can sell off the few remaining players in the summer and build flats on SMS.
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Sky are reporting that Everton have opened talks with Utd for Morgan. Not surprised but still… 
He was never going to come back here TBF
Yeah I know, I just meant more regarding that it is Everton/Koeman getting him. He will improve a close rival (Everton and WBA) in our ‘mini-league’! I never believed it for a second. Much like the Oxlade-Chamberlain links in the summer.
I can only assume it is purely nostalgia generating these rumours.
van Dijk or Ben Gibson (he of Middlebrough fame!!)
So from that report I would suggest that the van Dijk to Everton rumours were just that. Also, Barry, Middlebrough slapped a £35m price tag on Gibson, does that mean that they want to sell him??
I think we will come out the transfer window with the same number, maybe one more than now(that could be a kid stepping up).
We will have to replace any that leave(possibly not midfield).
What positions are your priority? I would say striker, centre back, right back, in that order.
Any players you would like? Realistic(and not so realistic) for the positions you believe need strengthening.
Come on, it’s the transfer thread 
Yes, you can wish for a manager transfer(but you have to name your chosen replacement, his availability, full cv and in your own words, give a full account of how you expect him to develop the clubs playing style and who you expect him to sign).
Here’s how i see it.
Long may be going(bye bye). Replacement/upgrade Arkadiusz Milk(this is so unrealistic it’s painful). Realistic would be Ezequiel Ponce, risky but could turn out world class(my opinion). I also like Antonio Sanabria(unrealistic). There are plenty more but we all know who it’s going to be!
Fonte is off, possibly VVD, but not in the same window(please God). Replacements Semedo and Schar. Both realistic I think. Lindelof and Stefano De Vrij would be nice but unlikely.
Right back, maybe Trippier or someone from France. Personally i doubt any change.
Puel is going nowhere(partly because i don’t know enough about any manager to fulfil my own above requirements). Let him choose his preferred players and develop the youngsters, in the very successful way that he is known and respected for. Then moan if it’s not good enough.
Run down, managed decline? Was that the plan when we spent(wasted it seems) over £40m on Staplewood? New business model maybe. Doubt it will take off.
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I read yesterday Everton had a £19m(£1m more than WBA) offer turned down as it was to low. He will end up at Everton for £21m i think.
I don’t think a move to WBA was on the cards. Everton makes more sense for Morgan but hardly what he would of expected such a short time after he left us. Can’t see Long going anywhere. Puel says he is happy with his squad but perhaps he is just keeping his cards close to his chest. You don’t have to be a tactical genius like Barry to see that we need more of a goal threat.
I can’t believe people are still slating Yoshida - did he have a particularly bad game yesterday if you take the pen out of it? I didn’t see the whole match.
But I think he’s generally quality (at CB only!) - he was great in the Europa League from what I remember and seems to have cut out a lot of his silly errors. What’s the problem with him if you take his RB appearances out of the equation?
As for Jan transfer, I’d be happy with just a striker to cover for Austin, but he’d have to be quality and a real goal scorer (no, not Defoe for fuck’s sake).
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