Quinn31

No. Stop the madness. Let's just re-sign Toto Nsiala because he probably wasn't given a fair shake! I like you all, but to say we don't need to bring in at least one centerback with first team experience is madness! Barry wouldn't be terrible as long as the ball stays in front of him, but if he gets beat, then its a 1 v 1 with the keeper or the other centerback having to make a last ditch tackle! Too slow. I love Mo Besic, but he's too reckless and probably not good enough in the air to be a centerback. We need to bring in cover.

God no. That's not what a club that's going to challenge for Europe would do. They'd get eaten alive by Aguero and the likes. Think both of them need loan spells of playing week in week out before I'd ever want to rely on them as our first backup CB in.

i'm with you on most of this, for what it's worth.

Wish United would sell him for a minimal fee or was already free! Maybe we could nab him for 2m in January. Definitely think he's decent cover and would push Jags and Stones and fill in well when injured. Not the next big thing but he'd definitely be good by third-choice centerback standards. Wouldn't pay 8m for him with only a year left on his contract though.

Fair enough, but a few youngsters I've never seen before (Antonee Robinson) were named to the team sheet.

Speaking of Pompey, wonder if they'll finally be able to start clawing back up the football league?

Look at the team sheet. McAleny wasn't listed in the squad despite making the trip. Don't tell me he injured himself in training? Or is Martinez rotating the squad?

If there's one thing this club needs its to speed up the pace of the game and pass the ball quicker. Last year's pace and passing was done at a disgracefully and impotently slow speed.

Think he could slot in at a few Premiership clubs but otherwise would have his best bet in the Championship. Like the interview says, playing week in and week out is what's most important.

Think he adds needed depth and can play a number of positions. Given that Gibson, Ossie, and Pienaar are always injured and Naismith isn't very effective out wide.

Very good business. Van Ginkel could really shine for them. Mark Hughes has really upgraded that squad from the days of Pulis signing Spurs' castoffs to add to his squad of lower league yarddogs.

He'll be back on the market soon when he doesn't get a sniff of game time there. He'll probably move to Spurs if/when Lloris leaves inevitably for a bigger suitor. Who knows, maybe Man U or somewhere on the continent? Silly decision on his part, in my opinion.

Relegation beckons, surely

Who are you thinking? Galloway? Browning? McAleny?

One of these days you two just need to fight it out in someone's yard.

Villa would ask a big fee unless he's winding down on his contract. I'd love him her, but he'd have to be a Jags swap/rotater if Martinez wants a CB who can play it out of the back.

Are we still giving Peter a hard time?

Shame he couldn't quite cut it here. He ha fly under the radar and then suddenly have an incredible loan spell at Doncaster and had some great England youth appearances. Seems he just couldn't take it to the next level, but my guess is he'll be a star in League 1 if that's where he settles and possibly end up being a Championship caliber player.

Still wouldn't happen. Brazilians bar Silva are soft at the back. I don't want effeminate defenders.

Never gonna happen.

If he hadn't become so unreliable fitness wise, I'd absolutely be justifying his place as a veteran leader and example who shows the Everton spirit and can come in as cover at RB and acquit himself fine, but I'm genuinely hope this year is his last and that we begin to groom someone at RB behind Coleman.

Would obviously like to get him loan experience in the Championship to see if he can really cut it. He seems to be flying under the radar a bit, but is highly rated. Maybe (being optimistic here) he could be the next Hibbo or Ossie? A long-serving squad player who never really becomes a star for us but remains a loyal servant?

Definitely understandable. Some will slip through the cracks.

Given that there is a highly likely chance that one of our two centerbacks will either fall out of form or suffer an injury (at least a minor one) at some point next year, I think it's pretty crucial to have a quality backup. It was a great problem to have from 2011 or so to 2014/15 when we always had 3 quality centerbacks (originally Heitinga, Distin, Jags) and then Stones, Distin, Jags competing for two spots. Think it made sure players played to their best and protected us from injuries. Again, I think centerback is one of the most crucial positions on the pitch, so we need to be well covered. After signing a quality backup, Martinez needs to determine whether he thinks Galloway/Browning/Pennington would be ready to step in as an emergency 4th choice or if we need to go sign someone for cheap who can be emergency cover. Can I just say how if there's one player that we've mistakenly let go over the past decade, it would appear that it's Shkodran Mustafi. Never got a look in here and 3 years later is a German national and is now linked with Real Madrid.