New players

[From4corners]

......

This. is. fantastic

[Mo Bot]

N'Doye in at 5.0. Horrible fixtures for the next few but it would be nice to have a few decent options in the striker department

[OIEIAO]

Charlie Austin = £7.0m. I thought they might pitch him a bit above Pelle who is £7.8m. Could be a good signing if he plays regularly.

EDIT: That's a massive understatement. He will probably be a good signing whatever, but I think that pricing is also on the generous side. I might do Ighalo -> Austin next week after the former has had a go at Newcastle.

[Notned]

Sam Byram to West Ham confirmed. I'll be interested to see what price he comes in at, provided he is likely to win a place in the team of course. A good attacking full back who knows where the goal is, at Championship level at least.

[pdhmobile]

Isnt creswell WHU rb atm?
Canr see byram going straight into team.

[Notned]

Isnt creswell WHU rb atm?
Canr see byram going straight into team.

Cresswell is a LB. I think Tomkins has been playing right back. Although Byram has played in midfield just as much as defence for Leeds lately, so I guess there are question marks over where he has been bought to play anyway. A definite wait and see.

[Isalla]

Kramarić off to Hoffenheim. Not that it matters to anyone.

[Le Red]

Kramarić off to Hoffenheim. Not that it matters to anyone.

I think that means Leicester is probably moving for a striker ain't it?

[Hotstepper]

Byram could be interesting. With the exception of Cresswell, West Ham defenders tend to be around the 4.8-4.9 mark (and given they have brough in players recently not at .0 or .5s), I'd say for a player unested in the PL, 4.5-4.8 looks about fair. At that price, if he goes in the team, could be good.

[Isalla]

Kramarić off to Hoffenheim. Not that it matters to anyone.

I think that means Leicester is probably moving for a striker ain't it?

Not necesseraly, they still have Ulloa and Okazaki.

[Notned]

Kramarić off to Hoffenheim. Not that it matters to anyone.

I think that means Leicester is probably moving for a striker ain't it?

Not necesseraly, they still have Ulloa and Okazaki.

Don't particularly rate Ulloa, but I really like what I've seen of Okazaki. A real bundle of energy, who can probably think himself unlucky not to get more starts.

[thesilkworm]

Interesting to see that the prices in Ultimate FPL, which mirror FPL's pre-season, are slightly different - they've stuck to 0.5 increments. As far as I can tell, everyone has been rounded up, with the exception of Afobe who is 6.0.

[Ironfist]

The PL used to be like a fancy shopping arcade where only the finest goods were brought from around the world, now it's like weekend market with free for all haggling and traders screaming the 'value' of their goods over the crowds.

[Les_Gomiserables]

5.0 bit heavy for Bynam.

Afobe is the main one of the new players I'm interested in. Bournemouth play football that will give strikers a chance (remember Callum Wilson) so if he's any good, could be a good one to move in.

Austin to risky ATM with Pelle/Long, wait to see if he starts?

[Notned]

Jenkinson injured. Time to see what Byram is all about.

[pdhmobile]

Townsend to newcastle, i would put him down as a definate starter, will he help winjnaldum or make his fpl score suffer?

[Notned]

Townsend to newcastle, i would put him down as a definate starter, will he help winjnaldum or make his fpl score suffer?

I'd imagine it helps him, at least in the sense that it's a natural wide player which should mean he's cemented to that no 10 role, rather than having to cover out wide now and again.

[Ruth_NZ]

Townsend to newcastle, i would put him down as a definate starter, will he help winjnaldum or make his fpl score suffer?

Interesting question.

Townsend usually plays wide right, that would mean he displaces Sissoko. Sissoko has been very good for Newcastle this season, not from a FPL perspective but from a footballing perspective. I doubt McClaren will drop him. So that suggests Sissoko at #10 and Wijnaldum wide left again.

Wijnaldum's recent good run has been while playing #10. So it's quite possible that Townsend negatively impacts Wijnaldum. Alternatively Townsend may not go straight into the team (he can't be match fit and may be eased in) or Sissoko may be dropped (unlikely) or play wide left (not a position he is at all used to).

Which is all a long way to say that until we see McClaren's team selection over a few games we won't know.

[asm_fanz]

Townsend can also play on the left

[Stemania]

Townsend will almost certainly play on the left, Gini no 10, Sissoko right. Not a chance Sissoko would move central or left.

Sissoko has hinted he will probably leave in the summer so maybe next season RW will be an option for Andros.

[Ruth_NZ]

Townsend will almost certainly play on the left, Gini no 10, Sissoko right. Not a chance Sissoko would move central or left.

Sissoko has hinted he will probably leave in the summer so maybe next season RW will be an option for Andros.

I which case Townsend should help Wijnaldum. As well as Mitrovic actually. But does Perez deserve to be dropped? And where does Saivet fit in?

[Les_Gomiserables]

What are people thinking Pato will go in as?

Don't think he's really a viable option, but prob around 7.5?

[Stemania]

I'd hope Townsend will help, but we still have bigger issues with defence and the lack of a goalscorer.

He is sometimes a tad greedy for my liking and he's got a bit of a reputation for a lack of end product, but Andros has got to be better than the consecutive Marseille flops or an out of position Perez, so can't hurt Wijnaldum, surely. (Thauvin is supposedly joining carbon copy Cabella on loan in France, tail firmly between his legs).

Perez will likely be the unlucky one to miss out, great little player, but his best position is as a support striker in the hole and Gini brings so much more to the team there.

Saivet appears to be our Tiote replacement (word is he's doing a Ramires and legging it to China). Will compete with Colback for the pivot space alongside Shelvey in the deep 2.

[nufctoon]

Townsend to newcastle, i would put him down as a definate starter

I wouldn't. Will get his fair chance at first though. I hope that Thauvin would get his fair chance too at some point but he seems to be going on loan to Marseille and that could increase Townsend's playing time. I'd say Townsend will be competing against Perez and Wijnaldum. Aarons too. There's only LM/LW role for him.

Btw, that Thauvin case is a effing piece of shit. $12M from a prospect winger, he plays 400 minutes and then he's loaned out. What an utter garbage.

[asm_fanz]

Given how he handled his tranfer to Marseille and his attitude on the pitch (insults towards Payet when they both played for Marseille for example), I'm glad to see Thauvin fail

[Le Red]

Charlie Austin is playing Championship/Prem since 2010 and he averages roughly a goal every two matches. I think he's a bargain at 7.0, but since my attack is Kun/Kane/Lukaku I'm going to wait and see. Definitely on the radar though, should I have issues with one of my strikers.

[Notned]

Swansea have just signed Alberto Paloschie from Chievo. Never heard of him, and no idea if he's any good, but it must at least raise question marks over Ayew's OOP berth continuing.

[asm_fanz]

Swansea have just signed Alberto Paloschie from Chievo. Never heard of him, and no idea if he's any good, but it must at least raise question marks over Ayew's OOP berth continuing.

Guidolin already coached him in Parma between 2008 and 2010 and earned promotion from Serie B to A in 2009 together.

I remember his debut with Milan in Serie A where he scored only 18 seconds after coming in



At the time he was considered as a potential "futur Inzaghi", because he was such a huge fan of Pippo and because they had a similar style of play.
He didn't live up to the expectations but he's been playing regularly with Chievo Verona the past few seasons and I'd say he's a decent striker (13 goals in Serie A 13/14, 9 last season and he was up to 8 in 21 games this season). He's a poacher and will need some service to perform but I reckon he'll score a few goals if he does get that service. I'd love him to do well with the Swans

[Notned]

Good info, asm_fanz. That allied with the fact he's been given the number 9 shirt all points to him being a starter, I'd say.

[Stemania]

....or just to Gomis' sale being imminent and them needing a replacement in the squad?