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Can we have another Centre Back please?
at 11:46 6 Jul 2015

With Ehmer now gone, I now make us just one centre-back short. Onuoha & Caulker are a good Championship partnership, but I think we need an alternative to just Clint Hill if one gets injured or Onuoha is needed to step in for one of our inexperienced right backs. Liam Moore or Jamal Lascelles on loan would be good, don't know too much about any in the lower leagues if we're following our recent transfer policy.

Beyond that I'd say we have a good competitive Championship squad where we can put out two solid teams:

Green
Furlong - Onuoha - Caulker (c) - Yun
Henry - Luongo
Phillips - Fer - Gladwin
Austin

McCarthy
Harriman - ????? - Hill - Traore
Doughty - Faurlin
Mackie - JET - Hoilett
Polter

No idea if we'll ever see Sandro or Diakite again, but chuck in Lumley, Sutherland, Manning, Petrasso and Grego-Cox and that makes up an ever bigger squad.

Once that centre-half is in place, arguably all we need to do is sign replacements for those who move on to bigger and better things (and all for a bit of tidy profit):

Green/McCarty OUT Bentley IN
Phillips OUT Adomah IN
Fer OUT Morrison IN
Austin OUT Gray IN
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Line up next season and players In.
at 16:23 12 Jun 2015

Current team (with reserve in brackets):

Green (McCarthy)
Furlong (Harriman), Caulker (Ehmer), Onuoha (Hill), Yun (Traore)
Sandro (Doughty), Henry (Faurlin)
Phillips (Grego-Cox), Fer (Luongo), Gladwin (Hoilett)
Austin

On the basis of that, we could do with one or two strikers so JET and possibly Gray from Brentford would do.

Then a matter of replacing those players that eventually move on:

Green - Bentley from Southend
Traore - would love Liam Moore on loan from Leicester
Phillips - maybe Lingard from Man Utd
Fer - Ravel Morrison
Austin - Rudy Gestede or Jordan Rhodes
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8 inbound by July
at 15:15 29 May 2015

So eight more players, but what do we need?

Smart money is that Fer, Austin and Phillips will have a few takers, Green, Caulker and Onuoha possibly too. Unlikely we'll get any takers for Sandro, Hoilett, Traore and Taarabt who will all be unlikely to pursue a move thanks to their contracts anyway.

I'd be tempted to let Austin run down his contract, a 30-goal season and an outside chance of promotion probably worth more to us than £10 million and a gaping hole to fill. Same with Matty Phillips, but hard to know how the players would react to another year stuck in the Championship.

I guess we're short on a right-back, maybe a centre back, a couple of wingers and upwards of three centre-forwards depending on players leaving the club, same story with a back-up keeper for Green or McCarthy if one was to leave so that would make up the eight.

So a squad of:

GK: McCarthy, (NEW PLAYER)
RB: (NEW PLAYER), Furlong
LB: Yun, Hill
CB: Onuoha, Caulker, (NEW PLAYER), Ehmer
DM: Sandro, Henry, Faurlin, Doughty
AM: (NEW PLAYER), Luongo, (NEW PLAYER), Gladwin, Petrasso, Hoilett
CF: (NEW PLAYER), (NEW PLAYER), (NEW PLAYER), Grego-Cox

Seen a list of players out-of-contract: Dorus de Vries at Forest, Chris Gunter at Reading, always rated James Perch. Alex Pearce at Reading too. Would love Mackie back, heard good things about Dean Cox at Orient. Then possibly JET, Nicky Maynard or Adam le Fondre from Cardiff plus a pacy striker on loan from the Premiership?
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Barton should have stayed
at 16:41 27 May 2015

£25k a week?! 17,000 at 23 home games each paying £20 a pop brings in gate receipts of just over £7.8 million per season, and we're talking about paying £1.3 million a year on a divisive, ageing, and uneffective defensive midfielder?

20 players averaging £10k a week over the course of a year would ultimately cost just under £10.5 million. Surely a club of our size should be making this the target for at least 2 or 3 years back in the football league?

Every player on more money should be chased out of the club by any means necessary. An emphasis should be placed on scouting and coaching, enticing players with something to prove on performance-related bonuses, then eventually selling them on and starting all over again. You never know, we might just start operating like a well-run football club
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Pictures from Harlington - Mauro Zarate features
at 17:52 23 Apr 2015

Great to see Mauro Zarate actually in training but for a game he is ineligible to play in!
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Press conference.
at 11:54 6 Feb 2015

Fair enough. Karl henry then with Kranjcar on the bench
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Press conference.
at 11:50 6 Feb 2015

Team for me:

Green
Isla, Onuoha, Caulker, Yun
Barton, Sandro, Fer
Taarabt
Vargas, Austin

Flexible players and system, Sandro playing deep so he can slot into a back three to allow our full-backs to provide the width when we attack. Also the option of Taarabt and Vargas drifting wide if we need to go 4-1-4-1 at some point in the game.

Subs: McCarthy, Dunne, Hill, Henry, Hoilett, Zarate & Zamora
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Max Ehmer
at 15:34 26 Nov 2014

Saw him play for the U21s at Cardiff last season in a holding midfield role and he looked the business. Saying that, thought Yun looked atrocious in that game and look at him now!
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Best xi?
at 13:33 5 Sep 2014

Starting XI for Old Trafford for me would be:

Green, Isla, Yun, Caulker, Ferdinand, Sandro, Barton, Mutch, Fer, Vargas, Austin

Lots of athleticism, lots of versatility in there too. For instance, the formation when defending:

Green
Isla, Ferdinand, Caulker, Yun
Vargas, Barton, Sandro, Fer, Mutch
Austin

But when attacking, having someone as positionally disciplined as Sandro allows us to go with:

Green
Ferdinand, Sandro, Caulker
Isla, Barton, Mutch, Yun
Fer
Vargas, Austin

Plenty of options from the bench too if we used:

McCarthy, Onuoha, Traore, Kranjcar, Hoilett, Taarabt & Zamora
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Additional Players?
at 11:20 6 Aug 2014

I would suggest we are an athletic defensive midfielder and a striker away from having a decent squad for a relegation battle or pushing for mid-table.

Once Isla signs, I would suggest Leroy Fer (although Bentaleb on loan would be great if Fer going to Southampton allows Schneiderlein to get his move) would be next, and I would love to see Crouch back to supplement Remy & Austin. If Taarabt leaves I would expect we would look at a loan to replace him, then I guess we would splash the cash if Remy goes elsewhere too.

As it stands, a first and second XI could look like this:

Green
Onuoha, Ferdinand, Caulker
Isla, Barton, ?????, Traore
Mutch
Austin, Remy

Murphy
Simpson, Dunne, Hill
Phillips, Henry, Faurlin, Yun
Hoilett
Zamora, ?????

Add Joe Lumley (not sure what the deal is with Julio Cesar any more), Taarabt and SWP to that list and that's your 25 man squad
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Get on with it!!!
at 18:44 8 Jul 2014

6 players needed for me. I would personally aim for Caulker and Ferdinand (on a reasonable wage) as centre backs, possibly this Icelandic chap from Ajax, offer Remy for Sigurdsson and Danny Rose from Tottenham, hopefully tying up a loan deal for Nabil Bentaleb, selling on Adel Taarabt and Julio Cesar for whatever we can get. Wouldn't be averse then to signing Kevin Doyle as back-up, possibly a young lower-league keeper as back-up to Rob Green

Leaves a squad of:

Green, Murphy
Simpson, Onuoha, Rose, Yun
Caulker, Dunne, Hill, Ferdinand
Barton, Bentaleb, Henry, O'Neil, Faurlin
Phillips, Granero, Hoilett, Sigurdsson, Traore
Austin, Sigthorsson, Zamora, Doyle
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Adel gone
at 11:02 7 Aug 2013

Tempestuous, childish, spoilt, selfish.....but what a player. A real out-of-your seats type player that we have seen so little of in recent times. He was so often frustrating and seemingly so difficult to manage, but surely this is the type of player you pay to watch football for. In terms of natural ability, the best player we will see at QPR for a long long time

But this is football and things move on. Wish him all the best at Fulham and wherever he ends up after that.

Obviously things have turned sour, whether HR just doesn't fancy him, or Adel has been unprofessional or unwilling to step down but I'd be amazed to see him in hoops again. I don't see this as a loan move to keep him ticking over for us to pick up again next season, it surely has to be a shop window exercise. If we sold him now we'd get next to nothing, especially with Tottenham's sell-on clause attached. Give him a year at a solid stable Premier League club, if he excels then we're quids in, if he flatters to deceive then who knows what happens next.

Fingers crossed he does well and gets his head right so that he goes on to play on the big stage that his talent deserves
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when do we get the "mind blowing "signings then?
at 17:41 6 Aug 2013

I would suggest that who we sign is based significantly on who we get out the door.

It seems that the likes of Cesar, Mbia, Granero, Park and Taarabt will follow Remy, plus the possibility of Traore, Barton and Hoilett if rumours are to be believed.

I would imagine Redknapp is keen on a centre-half, a centre-midfielder, a winger and another striker, plus probably a left-back and another winger if Traore and Hoilett were to go.

Mooted signings seem to be Chris Baird, Gary O'Neil, Matt Phillips and one of Defoe/Crouch/A.N. Other, aLthough I'd like us to have a little look at Luciano Becchio, on a loan if Norwich were willing.

If Traore were to go, I'd like us to sign a Premier League youngster on loan to challenge YSY for a place rather than waste time on someone like Konchesky. If Hoilett were to go, I wouldn't mind seeing if someone like James McLean was available on loan....especially if Hoilett goes to Sunderland as has been suggested
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My Team v Exeter
at 14:19 6 Aug 2013

Murphy
Simpson, Onuoha, Hill, YSY
Barton, Derry, Faurlin, SWP
Jenas
Austin

A few tough away games on the horizon, in my opinion not worth risking our expensive fragile ornaments such as Zamora and Johnson (who at the moment represent two-thirds of our striking options) or Traore. Also possibly not worth risking Dunne just yet without a few reserve games under his belt considering the layoff he has had.

You would expect Exeter to give it a real go, so three in the midfield to soak up the pressure before releasing Jenas as the game goes on.

Subs for me: Green, Dunne, Traore, Henry, Hoilett, Zamora, Johnson
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Today's rumour round up
at 16:06 29 Jul 2013

Ha ha, I saw that guy piping up on Twitter last night. Friend of the agents, has about 300 followers. Seems legit
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TF Tweets
at 18:36 26 Jul 2013

Well this pre-season is turning out to be lots of fun!

For Henry and O'Hara (who hasn't actually signed yet by the way) this season, read Mackie, Hill and Derry from our last season in this division. Nobody was convinced they would be good signings but they were....give it a time and they might surprise you.

Oh, and cheer up a bit eh? The club are pressing on with plans for a new training ground and improving the youth setup, they also seem to be committed to getting rid of some of the high-earners who we can't bankroll again this season such as Samba, Bosingwa et al.

Yes, the likes of Mackie, Taarabt, Diakite, Remy and possibly even Faurlin may be shown the door, but who knows what's going on behind closed doors. They might all want to leave, they may not be putting it in in training. As much as it may irk people on here, Tony Fernandes has put faith in Harry Redknapp. A constant stream of moaning on here won't change that, so lets hope he's making the right decisions and try to enjoy the season ahead
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TF Tweets
at 12:52 26 Jul 2013

My worry with that is that he may not be given the choice. If HR had said to Mackie he wanted him to play a part this season I doubt he will have requested a transfer. My concern is that Faurlin may well be put in the same position based on the fact that Gary O'Neil and Jamie O'Hara are both available
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TF dig at Barton?
at 12:13 26 Jul 2013

More likely in relation to abuse he will have been getting over the sale of Jamie Mackie I imagine?
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My opinion about this pre-season + signings so far
at 15:57 24 Jul 2013

This Nacer Chadli chap they've signed is also a winger I believe, and I'm not sure AVB is likely to pick Townsend ahead of Lennon, Bale, Holtby, Sigurdsson and Dempsey.

Time to go surely, although wouldn't be surprised if a Cardiff or Crystal Palace didn't swoop in with a loan move
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My opinion about this pre-season + signings so far
at 15:38 24 Jul 2013

Squad for me at this moment in time:

Green, Murphy
Simpson, Harriman, Suk-Young, Traore
Hill, Onuoha, Dunne, Ehmer
Faurlin, Derry, Henry, Jenas, Sutherland
Mackie, Park, Hoilett, SWP
Zamora, Johnson

That is essentially the core 20 or 21 players, plus we can include any of the following list of players that we are unable to shift by the end of August which I imagine are surplus to requirements:

Cesar, Bosingwa, Young, Ferdinand, MBia, Diakite, Granero, Barton, Taarabt and Remy

Still a few players to sign. I would leave the goalkeepers (Lennox to cover, or a loanee in the event of injury), the defence and the centre midfield alone for now as theres enough cover there without spending out more money on transfers and wages.

If Mackie leaves as reports suggest, then I'd say we need another winger (hopefully Townsend), likewise for Hoilett. Then crucially we also need a few strikers, a link-up man and a goalscorer. Hooper and Crouch would be nice, basically anyone who can look after the ball so that we can bring attacking wingers into play so as to negate the requirement for an overly creative midfielder which we seem to lack.

Hopefully three more in, and ideally another eight or so out the door, and I reckon thats a squad strong enough to attempt to push for a play-off place.
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