LUFCTALK

NottinghamWhite wrote:

Davycc wrote:Kiko missed training this morning at Real Madrid

According to Phil Hay he's having a medical today

Hope Phils ok, do we know anyone spies at his doctors ?

It looks like we're after Callum O'Dowda of Bristol City. Phil Hay seems to have confirmed it.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk//hes-best ... ty-2433420

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is interested in Leeds United's English winger Jack Clarke, 18. (Mirror)

Sniffer wrote:It looks like we're after Callum O'Dowda of Bristol City. Phil Hay seems to have confirmed it.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk//hes-best ... ty-2433420

With the Swansea lad 1st choice. Can't say I've seen much of either, any opinions?

PC71 wrote:Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is interested in Leeds United's English winger Jack Clarke, 18. (Mirror)

if they are willing to sign him for 250 million then we should reluctantly take it. For all those sad and redundant clubs out there who can't muster a proper academy together leave our bloody young guns alone. Once were in the Premiership we will be raiding all of your academy players who have any piece of decency. I am so sick to death of these lower Premiership clubs coming in for our kids. This is another huge reason why we should get outta this god forsaken league, were just easy pickings for all premiership sides.

For a few years we sold all our best players to Leeds Utd (Mark 2) who are now sitting in third place and it didn't do any of them players any good. The lure of premiership wages must be so tempting because none of them really got game time except for Johnny Howson.

The sooner we get out of this league the better for the young kids who aspire to be premiership players. We can't go on denying the fact that if we had kept most of those young players we sold we would have probably made it to the Premiership long ago. But penny pinching owners and the squandering of our assets put paid to that over and over. If radz tries to sell Clarke for a huge financial gain without reinvesting i would be very disappointed in him and probably stop watching football forever.

Might be extreme to some on here but the reality is were a second league team as it stands and the longer we stay in this league the worse it will become for us.

sgt_pooly wrote:

Sniffer wrote:It looks like we're after Callum O'Dowda of Bristol City. Phil Hay seems to have confirmed it.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk//hes-best ... ty-2433420

With the Swansea lad 1st choice. Can't say I've seen much of either, any opinions?

I've only seen O'Dowda play with the Rep of Ireland.

Shows great promise, has good pace, reads the game well, not afraid of a tackle.

Also, the fact that he played well in most appearances (15) in a Irish team bereft of tactics and confidence, I'd be happy with the signing.

In saying that, I don't know if he is the player to push us on in the next 4 months. He's no more than a Championship quality player at the moment.
At 23 years old, he can certainly learn from Bielsa, but fans really want a signing for now, not the future.

Apparently Marcelo has told close friend Pep Guardiola that Jack Clarke is not for sale at any price following a chat between the pair of them. Mind this comes from The S*n.

Just been talking to a Robins fan friend of mine and he said O'Dowda is "steady" - a decent player who Ireland often play in the middle of the park, so that backs up what KK says about him liking a tackle.

Trouble with that is, whenever I've seen Dallas play for Norn Iron he invariably looks amazing but for us he's often just average. Don't get me wrong : I like Dallas and love his work-rate and attitude, but he's never taken a game by the scruff of the neck like Clarke has already at the tender age of 9

rigger wrote:Just been talking to a Robins fan friend of mine and he said O'Dowda is "steady" - a decent player who Ireland often play in the middle of the park, so that backs up what KK says about him liking a tackle.

Trouble with that is, whenever I've seen Dallas play for Norn Iron he invariably looks amazing but for us he's often just average. Don't get me wrong : I like Dallas and love his work-rate and attitude, but he's never taken a game by the scruff of the neck like Clarke has already at the tender age of 9

Good point Rigger. I meant to add that I'd put O'Dowda in the same bracket as Dallas at the moment, but should improve.

Again, probably not what we need at the moment, unless we're worried about squad numbers. If that's the case, then he would maintain the same level that is already there, while adding another option to the squad.

CorkWhite wrote:

PC71 wrote:Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is interested in Leeds United's English winger Jack Clarke, 18. (Mirror)

For all those sad and redundant clubs out there who can't muster a proper academy together leave our bloody young guns alone.

To be fair to Southampton they've got (or had, I can't claim to be an expert, Rigger can probably confirm) a cracking academy. They were virtually a feeder club for Arsenal a few years back.