This may seem abit rogue but I’m not sure how anyone can look past a switch to a 3-5-2 set up. I really like the look of: Pears Hyam Bath Pickering JRC Travis Tronstad Beck Cantwell Gueye Ohashi For me it just seems so well balanced. Let JRC and Beck provide the width and put the ball the ball in box meanwhile Ohashi and Cantwell playing off Gueye has a lot of potential. It’s been clear for a while that our wingers are no where near good enough which has led our attacking threat to be pretty much nil. This set up gives us a greater presence up top and means neither Gueye or Ohashi will be isolated - which they have constantly been this season. I honestly back Gueye. We have not been playing to his strengths - only then can we judge him.

My guess would be Godo, who was on loan at Wigan last season.

I like Travis. I would want him around the squad/Team. But the conundrum is that Tronstad is a level above as a Pivot midfielder. Travis may get around the pitch well and add real energy, however his ability to play those forward defence splitting passing/be a ball carrier is quite limited. Against weaker opposition I feel there will be better options to play in there alongside Tronstad. I’m personally a massive fan of JRC in CM and think he compliments Tronstad really well. He’s also much better in there at RM where he struggles to get into the game. He provides the quality on the ball that Travis lacks and works well as the more forward thinking player of a dual pivot. ATM we have Buckley, Travis, Tronstad and JRC in there as options. We probably need another body as cover (PREM loan ideal) and we’re pretty set. If we sold Travis and brought in someone who is an upgrade (perhaps the Colombian lad from Bayer Levekusen) then it would probably be quite smart business - mainly due to the midfield balance it would give us. I’m just not sure Travis and Tronstad are the best fit, unless we are doing a defensive job against superior opposition, which shouldn’t be too often. Then you have the issue of dropping Travis and the captain against weaker opposition which we know Travis doesn’t take well. If we brought in a good replacement then it could make sense all round.

Stansfield would be absolutely incredible business. 6M would be excellent value - he’s a real talent. My best mate is a Fulham fan so I have been aware of him for a while. He can play anywhere across the forward the line and would be excellent off Gueye. However, Silva from Fulham already announced that he will be staying as part of their squad for this season and is expected to get minutes in the prem. He came off the bench against United on Friday. No chance of that happening.

I have sky sports + but the game doesn’t seem to be on as an option but all the others are. Same for anyone else ?

You say this, and while I don’t disagree with the sentiment - Szmods got 27 league goals from attacking midfield. That is just exceptional. He’s only 28. Still got 2/3 years in his prime. He’s not a player that relies on physical attributes, it’s his movement, ability to make space and positioning that get him his goals. Doubt Idah ever gets 20 at championship level.

On a separate note, any idea where Ryo Germain would play? Look quality and has had a great 18months however seem to very much be a striker but with Gueye and Oshashi there already I would expect us to invest funds in the wide areas.

The lad from Leverkusen would be an unbelievable signing… one that is too good to be true so I doubt it would happen! While not everything is coming off (De Lange) for example I am at least encouraged by the pedigree of links ATM.

We were never going to be world beaters this season. That was always clear. This season for me was very much about survival. A week ago I would have said we were going down. Now I’m pretty confident we’ll be lower mid table. These signings aren’t for the long term, and of course there has to be questions about that - however they should keep us ticking over. A lot of sensible proven signings, albeit not super exciting. My hope would be that towards the end of the season, using the money from Smozds, we make 2-3 signings that look towards the future (Keiskinen for example). Give them this season to bed in and then next season we may have some foundations to start pushing up the league again. We should be trying to build around players like Carter, Britain, JRC, Tronstad, Tjion, Dolan (if he can step up).

Topi Keskinen has followed us on instagram… not sure if that means anything. I don’t know much about him, anyone got some insight?

As much as I want to get excited about Oshashi I am struggling. From the highlights I have seen his goals mainly seem like poor defending or poor goalkeeping. It’s a really interesting way for us to spend 800k, I’d be surprised if we spend more than that on a player for the rest of the window. Having said that, Jleague players have had a decent success rate across the champ, prem and in Scotland in recent years. This is a Park signing 100% so hopefully he has seen something. Physically I think he’ll be fine, he’ll be very similar to Smzods in terms of pressing and energy. I would have been really interested to see Oshashi up top and Smzods behind/around him as our energy and movement up front would cause issues. Sadly I think it’s a like for like replacement. Still in desperate need for some pace.

The simple reality is that we need investment. If we don’t get it we will find ourselves in a relegation battle all season. The flip side of that is the core players we have are pretty decent. A few quality first team additions + some squad depth and we will have a team capable of competing. With Smozds going we will lack goals next season. No doubt about it. Therefore the foundations of our success will need to be based on our defence and therefore I feel 3-5-2 is our best bet for next season. In terms of champ level starting players in that line up I feel we can rely on week in week out in that set up: GK: NEW RWB: Britain CB: Carter CB: Hyam CB: NEW LWB: NEW CM: Tronstad CM:JRC CAM: NEW ST: Dolan ST: NEW Bench: Pears, Oriodran, Pickering, Travis, Buckley, Siggy, Hedges. I am personally of the opinion that Gally needs to go. He would be useful off the bench but his wages arn’t worth it. Some easy pick ups for depth would obvs be Mcfadz and I also wouldn’t be against Ayari returning (although I actually think we’re alright in CM compared to other positions). A back up right back is a must while I also think Chrisene would be a great shout at the LWB starting spot. Given a run of games I feel he could really push on. With 1 year left on his Villa deal, now might be a really good time to look at a perm deal. Johansen from Rotherham is the obvs choice for a new keeper. Release clause is 900k. A left footed CB will be crucial this summer - such a shame Wharton will miss the season as I thought he was class under Eustace. Pickering gives strong cover at both LCB and LWB but i wouldn’t have him as a starter. The crucial signings and where the money needs to be invested is those 2 forward positions. We need two strikers minimum aswell as one player who can play in the hole. I’d look to get 1 proven championship striker alongside two European additions who we can get better value for (must have more first team experience than Telovic). Very much hoping Siggy will kick on next season with a full preseason. We need him too. Going to be a difficult summer.

Is this on the red button tonight

Does anyone have a spare ticket for this? 🙏🏼

Proper away win that. Terrible mistake from Leo for the goal, however thought he recovered really well and look assured from there on out. He’s streets ahead of Pears, who would have crumbled. MOTM for me was Dolan, thought he was unreal all night and consistently caused problems. Carter a very close second. Special mention to Britain who produced the real moment of quality in the game.