Tevez seems to be unwanted at Citeh these days, perhaps we could make a shock move for him, £50m for competing teams in Europre, £40m for South American teams, perhaps we could broker a £2m deal for a League One team?

I'd take Afobe back in a heartbeat if it could be done, he hasn't gone anywhere else yet so perhaps there's a chance?

Apparantly MB many rumours are now pointing in the direction of Oli Johnson. Not seen too much of him myself but from what I can remember, he's fast and pretty tricky but a bit light weight. The only problem I have regarding these types of rumours are that Cody Mac and Johnson would probably have been done with the Pilks deal if they were true. But as we all know on here, a striker is an absolute must whoever it is

Nah from what people have said about other players from the Premier League, if City dont want him he must be rubbish and too old!

Afobe could be a good call but want to see Rhodes and Afobe in the same starting team supported by midfield!!!

It may be worth going for a punt on a loan of a Man Utd player, say Will Keane who is young (about same as Afobe) but rated highly.

Looking at their reserve team it would be interesting to equally see Joshua King and John Cofie as they have good young scoring records.

They are all unknown quantities but teams like Utd always want to find the next Beckham and blooding them lower leagues is the only way to do it

Was Oli Johnson the Stockport player? Im sure we were linked to him the other year?

Yeah MB, been at Norwich for roughly 18mths. Not sure if he's what we need but would take him if the price was right. As I said before though, I'm pretty sure it would have already been done with the Pilks deal if true

Good point Jonny, I do wonder if there will be deals to be done closer to end of the transfer window as some top clubs are waiting to see who they can get before they let some people out on loan.

Personally I wouldnt be against a loan forward from a top club, if for no other reason than to keep the pressure on Rhodes and Co

It'll be loan players I think, we might splash the cash later depending on how we are doing in the league and what injuries we get maybe.

Surely it's time for the likes of Novak, Alan Lee and Cads to play more games alongside Rhodes...we're down to 5 subs this season so any more strikers and they won't even be on the bench.

We seem pretty well covered everywhere else with 89 midfielders, 3 keepers and 9 defenders. If Roberts goes we might buy a replacement there, but I'm guessing LC is sticking with the existing strike force,supplemented by a young loanee.

If Rhodes is indeed going to play every week then Afobe would be perfect to play alongside him as they seemed to work well together. Afobe pretty much did the work of 2 men alongside Rhodes (similar to what Novak did but with actual quality on the ball) allowing Rhodes to poach, which is what he does best. With the midfield now being more dynamic, Afobe could get involved much more and work great with the likes of Ward, Roberts and Donaldo just behind Jordan.

It's rumoured we're after Nile Ranger on loan from Newcastle again,and some lad from Crewe too.

I agree Cas, just not sure Afobe will be back. I think Donaldo may be the key man in LC's plans regarding attacking options. Alots been mentioned on here about the formation we'll play and I reckon it will be a diamond shaped midfield meaning DM will spearhead it and hopefully giving us more options in and around the box. What I would like to see happen is for us to get on to the second balls and pick up the bits if only to ease the pressure and us instead of it meaning teams pushing us back all the time

For me Afobe would work perfectly with the Ward and Donaldo idea. If you have someone like Afobe up front holding the line and supported with Donaldo running through from the middle with proper supply also from the wings then you have a potent attack and Rhodes to put them away!

I think Afobe grew massively in his time here but he is still not ready for Championship level so I could see logic in another half season atleast at League 1 level.

If he continues to develop and improves his finishing then Championship clubs would want him but until then he would be too much of a risk for them

if afobe was coming back then im sure he would be here by now teaining working on drills with donaldi ward and roberts.

johnny i think donaldo will be the man to get to every second ball around the edge of the box. hes quick and can turn a man easily i think he will score alot of goals this way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Nimely

This is who we should get on loan this season.

Nice one RW, he could be worth a look.

You may be right T4L but it often seems like the "season loans" only happen once the Premier League teams finalise their squads at the end of August. Afobe wont get game time at Arsenal and it just depends how they view his development, it makes more sense to be playing every week at a proper level then in the reserves.

Saying that he isnt the only good prospect waiting for their chance so I am sure Clark would have several loan options.

Nimely would be decent as he has a good scoring record at City for their youth sides, but hasn't done much for their reserves [elite X1] yet. He's also quite highly thought of [pretty sure he signed a new long-term contract not long since] so not sure they'd let him come to us, and even if he did he'd be a gamble as his reserve team [elite XI] record isn't as good as Afobe's was. I'd rather have Afobe than him but either would be a decent shout and worth the risk seeing as their parent clubs would more than likely pay their wages.

You have to imagine there's a whole array of talent available from top flight youth teams, it's just a case of convincing them they'll play regularly and will be well taken care of. Afobe did benefit from his spell at Town, but mostly as part of a hoofball team where he was expected to do the work of 2 men at home and play hold-up as a lone striker away - I'm not too sure Arsenal will have been thrilled with that.

i think the experience of playing competitive football in a professional environment is what arsenal would wanted. where he would have to work hard in training and in games to establish a starting place. his fitness will have improved dramatically including his stamina. so i dont really think towns style of play was what matterd to arsenal.

I agree T4L, you read for example what Man Utd said about Drinkwater's time here. They view it as good experience competing for a place and playing competitive football. I agree we would have to guarantee a certain amount of first team football but thats just the pay off the lower league teams have to face. In reality we couldnt get these lads to sign directly for us so it has to be a loan and it has to have something in it for the parent club.

I believe Spencer is about to go on a 6 month loan to a League 2 team which can only be good for him and hopefully it will be like with Hunt last year.

If we could get someone from top level for 6 months and then see how Spencer has gone on that would be perfect

Greetings town fans. 1st time poster so be gentle.

With Spencer set to join Cheltenem for 6months, I cant see beyond a striker on loan for 6months in return for us. Afobe would always be welcome back, but whether Wenger would allow him to join league 1 again is a different story.
Someone mentioned Alex Nimely, but id be inclined to go for John Guidetti of Man City. He's 20 6ft plus, and very mobile. I saw him play and score on monday night playing in Vancouver.

Another striker whos caught my eye over in the land of maple syrup, is Eric Hassli, Big brute of a centre forward. French guy signed from FC Zurich, score 8 goals already this season, Think he's 2nd to only thierry Henry in the MLS scoring charts. He does the job Alan Lee was meant to do, He's powerful, strong, good in the air, even better on the floor, penalty taker, passionate (he's been sent of 3 times and had 7 yellows, in half a season, although to be fair only 1 of the reds was warrented) and he knows where the goal is!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hassli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZw1d5bpUVc

This is the kind of play he's capable of!! I know town are aware of MLS talent, and in particular Vancouver Whitecaps, because at the end of last season they had a young American Kepper Called Bryan Sylvestre On trial

UTT

WHAT A STRIKE!!!

The guys mint, scored 2 crackers again last night, for such a big bloke he cant half get a shot in. Last night he ran at 3 defenders and literally knocked all 3 of em on the backside at the same time.

p.s.Im not his agent haha, just a big fan! and to be honest the rest of the team is terrible, barring a couple of younger lads, so he stands out ny a mile

CODY "BLEEDING" MACDONALD.

I'm sick of people putting his name forward. 20 odd goals on loan to Gillingham, woopidoo.

Hands up anyone who's seen him play and I'll show you a liar.

Eric Hasli, mmm great strike.

Seemed like a big crowd. What's the normal attendance Yapping Terrier?

The Whitecaps tend to average around 20,000, in a temperary scaffolding stadium (a la north stand lower) which is pretty much full to capacity. But they are moving to a refurbished 60k seater in the city in September, where there expected to fetch between 25-30k per match. The game where Hassli scored that goal was against Seattle Sounders and i think there was about 36k there (in Seattle) but Vancouver-Seattle is a big derby game, as its only 2 hours drive apart.
The standard of football is pretty damned poor, but the grounds and ethusiasm of support is quite refreshing! If not a little annoying at times, cos everyone is so enthusiastic all the time!! The whitecaps are bottom of both MLS leagues having only won 2 games out of 20, but they still think there going to win every week!!

Cuts in from the right.........smacks it with his left,
again & again !

Hassli - Traumtor........Cuts in from the left &......Smacks it with his right,
ALL go in the back of the net

"Yapper" take a bow.. As Geddy Lee sings "Thats Entertainment".
Bangs 'em in just like I used to do........WHAT.
He ain't as good lookin' though

Now he would be a good signing..
What yer waitin' for L Ceeeeeeeeeeeee.

Cheers YT

If you think that the standard is poor you should come down to the Galpharm.

Despite the eternal optimism of the Lee Clark lovey-dovey's the standard of football that we played last season was pretty awful at best.