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Summer 2018 Transfer Window

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Looking forward to seeing this thread busy with exciting signings.

Won’t believe any rumour until we have a manager in place, all nonsense until then.
 
Think we can afford to be really picky about signings, given that we know we need far more outs than ins, and we know which positions we need. Id prioritise the 5 key signings as such;

Left back
Centre mid (who actually passes forward and can play a bit)
Centre back
Left winger
Striker

One of Keane, Mori, or Holgate should be playing next year and each need to step up to the plate - I suspect one of them will, but we need a top centre half to partner them. The difference VVD has made across the park is obvious.

Out of our current lot, only Pickford, Coleman, Gana, Walcott, and Sigurdsson walk into the first XI as far as I’m concerned. One or two stepping up to the plate, as well as 4-5 very good signings, and we could be in business.
 

Blue Cally said:
Yes very true, but 100% nonsense now
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VDMZOD.gif
 
Geoff Nulty said:
Below is the letter James McLean wrote to his then chairman, explaining his reasons for not wearing a poppy. It's articulate, clear, and reasonable. There has never been any suggestion that he hates Britain or the British, or even that he merely tolerates the country pureply for the money he can earn here. His objection is to one particular annual practice, and even in this regard, he is simply opting out, rather than berating those who follow the custom of wearing a poppy. Many - Irish and otherwise - would agree with him. Neither is he - tachnically speaking - working in a foreign country. Although he would wish it different, he was born and raised in the UK.

Dear Mr Whelan

I wanted to write to you before talking about this face to face and explain my reasons for not wearing a poppy on my shirt for the game at Bolton.

I have complete respect for those who fought and died in both World Wars - many I know were Irish-born. I have been told that your own Grandfather Paddy Whelan, from Tipperary, was one of those.

I mourn their deaths like every other decent person and if the Poppy was a symbol only for the lost souls of World War I and II I would wear one.

I want to make that 100% clear .You must understand this.

But the Poppy is used to remember victims of other conflicts since 1945 and this is where the problem starts for me.

For people from the North of Ireland such as myself, and specifically those in Derry, scene of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, the poppy has come to mean something very different. Please understand, Mr Whelan, that when you come from Creggan like myself or the Bogside, Brandywell or the majority of places in Derry, every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland’s history – even if like me you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who we are, ingrained into us from birth.

Mr Whelan, for me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles – and Bloody Sunday especially - as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII.

It would be seen as an act of disrespect to those people; to my people.

I am not a war monger, or anti-British, or a terrorist or any of the accusations levelled at me in the past. I am a peaceful guy, I believe everyone should live side by side, whatever their religious or political beliefs which I respect and ask for people to respect mine in return. Since last year, I am a father and I want my daughter to grow up in a peaceful world, like any parent.

I am very proud of where I come from and I just cannot do something that I believe is wrong. In life, if you’re a man you should stand up for what you believe in.

I know you may not agree with my feelings but I hope very much that you understand my reasons.

As the owner of the club I am proud to play for, I believe I owe both you and the club’s supporters this explanation.

Yours sincerely,

James McClean
Click to expand...

Him or his agent write a good letter. Doesn’t change the fact that he’s a rank average player who’d be about as popular here as Allardyce was.
 

rochdaleblue said:
I agree about your greatest 11. He really was a stylish player, I’d like to see how he would adapt playing the game today. He wasn’t blessed with great pace, but had that attribute all the top players have...time on the ball. The protection afforded to players in conjunction with the better pitches, would see him flourish nowadays imo.
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Fantastic in 1986-87 title year when he had a spell in central midfield too.
 
Dario Terracotta said:
Fantastic in 1986-87 title year when he had a spell in central midfield too.
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Was going to mention that stint in central midfield. He could have been a pirlo type player dictating the game from the centre of the park, if he stayed there. It shows what complete footballers both he and the vastly underrated Trevor Steven (but not by us) were. That they were able to easily adapt to playing different positions and influencing the games the way they did.
 
rochdaleblue said:
Was going to mention that stint in central midfield. He could have been a pirlo type player dictating the game from the centre of the park, if he stayed there. It shows what complete footballers both he and the vastly underrated Trevor Steven (but not by us) were. That they were able to easily adapt to playing different positions and influencing the games the way they did.
Click to expand...
How very blessed we were to see two such supremely skilled performers as those two lads in that fantastic side, almost makes it worth the suffering watching this lot these days to know we lived through those heady days:)
 

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