26 Jul 2026 17:59:38
As an assessment following the West Ham friendly:
Largely positive
Aasgaard looked very good, our midfield looked solid (especially wee Devlin and Thelo)
Defensively Godfrey has impressed me (as has the rest of our defence but thought I'd single him out as the new boy)
Pandur looked bright.
In terms of recruitment the focus should be wide attackers (though defensive depth would be appreciated)
I'd also love to see Raskin/Dio out for fess to bring in Dahl (our Schrödingers midfielder) as an upgrade.
Besides that a positive showing, we just need a touch More quality outwide (though I'd like to say Antman impressed and strikes me as the Kyziridis upgrade for Derek)
26 Jul 2026 18:23:56
I was critical after St Etienne. That today was a big improvement in shape and general play.
26 Jul 2026 18:46:37
Agree with all of that, DioDefender.
Thought Gassama's passing was extremely poor. Not sure why we never took the offer from Monaco if that was legit.
Naderi needs someone beside him if he's up front.
Godfrey strolled it. We badly need cover for Rommens, he can't run that much for 50 games this season.
Neil was poor in my opinion. Hopefully he's not hitting corners any more.
There's a player in Antman.
26 Jul 2026 18:52:11
Good post, Dio. I think/and hope you might be right about Antman, pal.
26 Jul 2026 19:03:32
Our attacking options need to improve in midfield, we are severely lacking width and pace, I agree Dan Neil should not be taking corners.
26 Jul 2026 19:05:44
Still no goals from open play. Still got the last however many years we are starved of creativity.
26 Jul 2026 19:23:14
Far more positive than the last friendly. We're the better side today. Still need better in wide areas. Dan Neil currently not a starter for me anyway. Aasgaard going to have a good season this year.
26 Jul 2026 19:53:36
Dan Neil another Joe Rothwell?
26 Jul 2026 19:59:33
Nice use of Schrodinger Dio, but we won't know till we look n see if it's one or the other. 😉😄👍
26 Jul 2026 20:10:29
Neil wasn't his best today, he did try and break the lines a few times though.
26 Jul 2026 20:32:58
As you know I rate and like Dan Neil, my star, but have to be honest when I say Cammy Devlin has been our best midfielder so far and I've been very impressed with him.
👌 The first name on our team sheet for Friday night's game for me, and it is his type of game, where we'll need to roll our sleeves up and battle to get the 3 points. 🥊🇬🇧
26 Jul 2026 20:40:50
Naderi was up against two huge centre backs and did well when the ball came to his feet, his lay offs were sharp and accurate. I thought the change of shape killed any momentum we had, with Antman awful at right wing back and Chermiti contributing very little again.
Rommens had another poor game and Gassama was terrible. Aasgaard had a good game and Devlin has another game that seems to be enjoyed by everybody but me.
26 Jul 2026 20:45:10
No, he's not another Rothwell, always has to be another someone with our fans.
26 Jul 2026 20:52:30
SWS, You'll not see me judging these games, fitness is the thing for me, we don't know how hard they'll have trained, let's wait until the games start, Devlin has performed better the couple of halves in the friendlies, don't you rate Neil now, mate?
26 Jul 2026 22:37:50
I absolutely rate Dan Neil. My star. 👍 🇬🇧
26 Jul 2026 23:34:58
Neil was terrible taking corners from RH side. Hope we are not in another Tav situation when he takes them all. Not bad on left, but need others so we have a bit of variety.
Sorry, but Curtis is just not good enough & Antman, Gassama not much better, we desperately need some decent wide players.
Are we still pursuing Dahl because at 8m I am not sure McInnes would play him. Think he would rather convince Raskin to stay. Maybe better to try a bid for Bragga.
27 Jul 2026 01:04:37
Dan Neil can only take the corners if he's playing, which currently doesn't look likely as he is quite poor and too often anonymous as play passes him by. Could be this season's worst signing.