[wba13]

Johnstone is now being linked to Spurs along with Henderson.

[Baggievicar]

Duncan Whatmore from Boro?

[Dingle-Dingle]

Johnstone is now being linked to Spurs along with Henderson.

Another player unsettled then. DD

[Slick_Footwork]

Duncan Whatmore from Boro?

Seems we're linked with anyone and everyone who has had previous relations with Allardyce at the moment.

Watmore's one good season at Sunderland was when Allardyce was there, but subsequently he's disappeared off the map. I actually completely forgot that he existed. Looking at the stats, he remained at Sunderland but has been largely injured. His stats in the last couple of seasons, despite playing in League One, have been poor. Few games and fewer goals.

However he joined Boro on a short team deal until January and appears to have had a bit of a resurgence bagging 5 goals in 8 games (6 starts). Quite bizarre stats considering he couldn't buy a goal in League One over the past couple of years. I guess Boro only wanted to give him a short term deal to prove his fitness, but now after doing well he's out of contract.

Personally I think it would be bizarre if there is any truth in the link given the amount of wingers we have at the club and the fact his record has been pretty disastrous up until recently. But maybe if we intend to sell a couple of the wingers - Grosicki will probably be on Forest's radar again, Edwards linked with Celtic - then maybe he would be brought in for free as cover and we would invest any cash generated from sales on other priority positions.

[Salopbaggie]

I don't think it would be to hard to believe Johnston is unsettled. If I were a footballer and every time I looked on a forum or comments thread, I saw post after post from my own clubs fans criticising me, while some pundits are touting me for an England call up, I would be feeling pretty unsettled as well. I would probably be thinking F*** em, why should I show them any loyalty, might as well sign for a Premiership team whose fans would appreciate me. Some of our fans don't seem to care that I have made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, as for some of the mistakes I get criticised for, well if the defence had done their job the ball would not have been in that position, but as last man I get the blame.

[Slick_Footwork]

Johnstone is now being linked to Spurs along with Henderson.

Did anyone notice after Leeds scored their 5th goal in the week that Johnstone shouted "you're f*ck*ng sh*t" to presumably one or more of our lads defending?

It was quite easy to lip read.

While the guy has a very valid point, I was a bit surprised at the nature of the comment. Calling a teammate "f*ck*ng sh*t" is very different than illustrating a mistake or saying you "should've marked xyz". You can pretty much criticise anything about a team mates game on a Sunday Morning but just blanket calling someone "f*ck*ng sh*t" is usually reason for a punch up. Really does make you wonder what the mood in the camp is like. Also a bit ironic seeing as Johnstone attacked the fans who were critical of him during his poor spell last year.

Obviously not related to whether or not we should sell, as I've already expressed my views on that, but could illustrate he's not happy.

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I don't think it would be to hard to believe Johnston is unsettled.  If I were a footballer and every time I looked on a forum or comments thread, I saw post after post from my own clubs fans criticising me, while some pundits are touting me for an England call up,  I would be feeling pretty unsettled as well.  I would probably be thinking F*** em, why should I show them any loyalty, might as well sign for a Premiership team whose fans would appreciate me.  Some of our fans don't seem to care that I have made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League, as for some of the mistakes I get criticised for, well if the defence had done their job the ball would not have been in that position, but as last man I get the blame.

In the modern world of forums and social media, every player at every club gets criticised. So if this is the basis for being unsettled, I doubt any player is settled anywhere.

There are players who are a damn sight better than Johnstone that get criticised online. Take a look at Barcelona's social media and some of the crap Messi gets if he misses a penalty or a chance.

But given this theory, what do you suggest we do, say every player is a 10/10 every game regardless of how they perform? Say we love them all even if we think they are sh*te?

After all, they might come good in a few months or years. A poor player could even become a great manager in 20 years time so let's say he's a 10/10 every week not to upset him.

Most supporters on the forums love Johnstone and have completely forgot all the times he threw the ball in his own net over the past couple of years. Even those posters who aren't his biggest fan - like myself - have waxed lyrical about him at times this season and say he's winning them over. Obviously he got criticised after the cock up he made against Tottenham which cost us the draw, but any goalkeeper at any team gets criticised for that. You can't attack fans for having any opinion that isn't 100% positive 24/7/365. The guy is probably the most supported player at the club. He'll be hard pressed to get the same support he's had here anywhere he goes.

So if he does want to go, I think you'll find it has more to do with his financial interests than anything else. Although if you see my previous comment, I think you'll find he's more disappointed with some of his team mates than the fans.

If players are so affected by what is said on forums and social media, I'm surprised Sawyers still turns up to play! And I'm surprised the defenders want to play with Johnstone after he screamed "you're f*ck*ng sh*t" at them in the week!

[Dingle-Dingle]

My unsettled remark was not aimed at Johnstone, it was a reference to the Tottenham factor ala Fat Boy Berra.

DD

[Salopbaggie]

In the modern world of forums and social media, every player at every club gets criticised. So if this is the basis for being unsettled, I doubt any player is settled anywhere.

There are players who are a damn sight better than Johnstone that get criticised online. Take a look at Barcelona's social media and some of the crap Messi gets if he misses a penalty or a chance.

But given this theory, what do you suggest we do, say every player is a 10/10 every game regardless of how they perform? Say we love them all even if we think they are sh*te?

After all, they might come good in a few months or years. A poor player could even become a great manager in 20 years time so let's say he's a 10/10 every week not to upset him.

Most supporters on the forums love Johnstone and have completely forgot all the times he threw the ball in his own net over the past couple of years. Even those posters who aren't his biggest fan - like myself - have waxed lyrical about him at times this season and say he's winning them over. Obviously he got criticised after the cock up he made against Tottenham which cost us the draw, but any goalkeeper at any team gets criticised for that. You can't attack fans for having any opinion that isn't 100% positive 24/7/365. The guy is probably the most supported player at the club. He'll be hard pressed to get the same support he's had here anywhere he goes.

So if he does want to go, I think you'll find it has more to do with his financial interests than anything else. Although if you see my previous comment, I think you'll find he's more disappointed with some of his team mates than the fans.

If players are so affected by what is said on forums and social media, I'm surprised Sawyers still turns up to play! And I'm surprised the defenders want to play with Johnstone after he screamed "you're f*ck*ng sh*t" at them in the week!

Do I think we should be posting that every player is 10/10 every game, of course not and a bit of a silly thing to say if I may be so bold. Neither am I "attack (ing) fans for having any opinion that isn't 100% positive 24/7/365".

What I am saying is if we are going to criticise a player it should be a justified and most important accurate criticism. As an example, I would be interested if you can tell me all these times SJ "threw the ball in his own net over the past couple of years". That is exactly the type of post I mean, show me one video or report of SJ deliberately throwing the ball in the back of his own net and I will apologise profusely all day long. Now if you want to say "many times SJ allowed the ball to go through his hands into the net" then fair enough, but to say "he throws the ball into his own net", is not only inaccurate, it can have no other purpose but to try and influence the opinions of others in a negative way by dramatising your point. If SJ did say what you claim, to one or more of his team mates so what!! Remember Mozza laying out Berahino and we all thought it showed passion and commitment to team?

[wba13]

The perce has spoken, John Percy has said we are after
Sakho. age 30 8months left on contract
Demari Gray age 24 6month left on contract
Lingard Age 28 12 months left on contract
Rose. Age 30 I believe a free agent.
Might be pie in the sky but these are doable with a couple of the wage bill. Austin and Grosiki
It would improve us as al are international players.

[Slick_Footwork]

Do I think we should be posting that every player is 10/10 every game, of course not and a bit of a silly thing to say if I may be so bold.  Neither am I "attack (ing) fans for having any opinion that isn't 100% positive 24/7/365".

What I am saying is if we are going to criticise a player it should be a justified and most important accurate criticism.  As an example, I would be interested if you can tell me all these times SJ "threw the ball in his own net over the past couple of years".  That is exactly the type of post I mean, show me one video or report of SJ deliberately throwing the ball in the back of his own net and I will apologise profusely all day long.  Now if you want to say "many times SJ allowed the ball to go through his hands into the net" then fair enough, but to say "he throws the ball into his own net", is not only inaccurate, it can have no other purpose but to try and influence the opinions of others in a negative way by dramatising your point.  If SJ did say what you claim, to one or more of his team mates so what!!   Remember Mozza laying out Berahino and we all thought it showed passion and  commitment to team?

"Throwing the ball into his own net" is a figure of speech, obviously if a goalkeeper did that literally they would be out of a job

It's a fairly commonly used term to describe a goalkeeping error, or at least I thought it was. I certainly didn't coin the term.

In any matter, I believe the games in which I've heaped praise on Johnstone have been justified and accurate. Likewise, the games in which I've criticised him and have been justified and accurate too. That said, it's difficult to measure the accuracy of judging a performance on the football pitch as it's largely subjective. I've heaped praise on SJ a lot more than I've been critical this season, but that doesn't make him exempt from criticism if he makes a mistake in the next game. The same way if he makes an error and follows it up with a MOTM display, it doesn't make him exempt from praise.

What I would say is whether or not shouting "you're f*ck*ng sh*t" at team mates is right or wrong, which is open to debate, it does show the mood isn't right in the camp.

My personal stance on it is that you can shout all sorts of instructions and abuse at team mates. As someone that demands perfection myself, I wasn't shy of giving grief to team mates when I played - telling them to mark, compete more, pass the ball straight. But usually the line is drawn before an outright statement which goes beyond performance like saying someone is "f*ck*ng sh*t".

As for the Mozza incident, I was at that game and remember thinking it was completely out of order that Saido got the blame for Cardiff's equaliser because he didn't run into the corner at 3-2. I've always been of the belief that the best form of defence is attack. That said, I've always been indifferent to the punch because I don't know exactly what happened in the dressing room to cause it. What I would say is whether or not it's terrible or fantastic with passion, it proves the mood isn't quite right. I think we all know now that the camp wasn't right back then.

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The perce has spoken, John Percy has said we are after
Sakho. age 30  8months left on contract
Demari Gray age 24 6month left on contract
Lingard    Age 28 12 months left on contract
Rose.       Age 30  I believe a free agent.
Might be pie in the sky but these are doable with a couple of the wage bill.  Austin and Grosiki
It would improve us as al are international players.

Looks like it's just a list of good attainable players, rather than a list we have identified specifically to fix our problems.

The reason I say that is because Lingard and Gray are both offensive midfielders, positions that you wouldn't expect us to be looking for. Don't get me wrong though, they are all better than what we have.

I think Gray would be a none starter as he's looking to step up from Leicester I believe. Lingard I think has just signed a contract extension to summer 2022, presumably so United can sell him rather than him leaving on a free at the end of the season. I'm sure he would be out of our price range unless something strange happened like United sanctioned a loan to buy or they were for some reason looking at Mateus Pereira, who I believe they were linked with last season. I don't think he's anywhere near United class, but you never know, Solskjaer makes some crazy decisions.

Sakho and Rose would be the 2 that are in the positions we need and look most realistic. The only reservation I have is that neither have played much so will they be fit enough to hit the ground running?

Really would like us to be linked with a right back and defensive midfielder though.