To really show intent we could make a serious bid for Boro's left Back

[MasterHaynes]

Lets nor beat about the bush to show serious intent lets get serious and sign a left back from Boro that has proven his quality in the championship and as a leader within teams he has played in. I'm not talking about James Husband but the player that has kept him on the bench George Friend. Boro have a ready made replacement in Husband so might be tempted with cash plus Amoborieta in exchange. reading the article on Boro's friendly  highlights the dilemma facing Boro management, maybe we could make their decision easier and take George off their hands putting some money in coffers along with a centre back to replace the CH/RB new signing from Blackburn who unfortunately broke a leg on his debut ?

James Husband took his chance and looked a threat in final third
Deputy left-back James Husband will have been quietly content with his afternoon's work when he was replaced at the break.But within 45 minutes he was reminded of the mammoth task he faces for game-time in that position in the coming season.George Friend was up to his usual tricks in the second half - marauding, robust, impressive.Husband had impressed in the first period, belting up and down the flank and going close to putting Boro ahead when he hit the post.With York struggling to impose themselves in the opening 45, it was in the opposing half where Husband did most of his work.And it's not the first time he's looked particularly impressive going forward. Boro have tried, and failed, in the past to start with two left-backs one in front of the other down the flank. It didn't work with Wayne Bridge and Ashley Cole for England either.
Husband seemed to go down a treat with Fulham fans during his short stint at the Cottage last year. In truth, he'd stroll into most Championship sides but with George as consistent and classy as ever, his bid to force his way into Boro's side won't get any easier.

[DevonFFC]

I know george well, he will not be moving anywhere this season. He has a chat with his chairman and will be with boro for another year

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[MasterHaynes]

He only has 1 year of his current deal left so either they need to offer him a new contract or take a pragmatic approach and cash in with a ready made replacement in Husband already in place. Worse case it may persuade them to release Husband. One interesting fact was that both Friend and Husband were signed from Doncaster for next to nothing, maybe we should send a couple of scouts down there.

[DevonFFC]

A new 3 ye contact is on the table

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[MasterHaynes]

Hope we are keeping close eye on this, if he signs then Husband could be available if he doesn't then I imagine it will be who has been talking to his agent longest and has the appropriate dosh on the table

[filham]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

[MJG]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

[SKSW6]

Say they did sign Friend to a new contract, a good deal all round would be a season-long loan for Husband, possibly with an option to sign at the end. Husband gets game time, we get to see a promising left back for a whole season, and Boro don't have an unhappy player stuck on the bench, or not even in the squad as was the case a lot last season.

[Nero]

Say they did sign Friend to a new contract, a good deal all round would be a season-long loan for Husband, possibly with an option to sign at the end. Husband gets game time, we get to see a promising left back for a whole season, and Boro don't have an unhappy player stuck on the bench, or not even in the squad as was the case a lot last season.

like you say get Husband on a season long loan  get promoted then the lad will definitely want to stay with Fulham and demand a move if Boro don't go up.

[filham]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

[Skatzoffc]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

:plus one:

[ToodlesMcToot]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

not arguing the need for at least one CB and a LB but, our defense will be much improved even as things stand now just by virtue of the midfield being improved. and by midfield improvement I mean having the capability for real width as well has having truly experienced Championship players

[filham]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

not arguing the need for at least one CB and a LB but, our defense will be much improved even as things stand now just by virtue of the midfield being improved. and by midfield improvement I mean having the capability for real width as well has having truly experienced Championship players

Just remember those goals from set pieces and corners and tell me how the new players in midfield are going to stop them.
Rebuilding a team should start from the back, we must address the back four weakness if these new players are going to be effective.

[FPT]

Firstly on George Friend, what I will note is that both he and James Husband are fine Championship left backs, but Friend is arguably at his peak. Friend could make the transition to the Premier League quite well, but there's pretty much seven years in between he and James Husband - Husband's only 21 but plays like a mature professional. James Husband would already be bedded in here, and he's one that we can really develop as our own and take him into the Premier League. For me, Husband needs to improve his final ball somewhat - he frequently got into the forward positions but I can't recall much quality coming in.

At the end of the day, I don't think there's too much difference in quality between the two, and it's going to be a case of one mans 'trash' is another mans treasure.



Now, about the midfield helping the defence issue, I think we'll look more solid off the ball purely for having cover for our full backs whether that's two banks of four or whatever. The argument with regards to set pieces is fair, but if you're a more solid unit off the ball, and begin to dominate the ball on it, then you reduce the amount of set pieces you concede by default. Brighton haven't had one of the best defences in the division over the past three/four years for they're set up in a particularly impressive way, it's largely because they dominate large portions of possession - it's the old 'you can't concede if you had the ball.' Same as Bournemouth somewhat this past season, they're not this great defensive outfit, they just dominate the majority of matches.

We do need a centre back and a left back with quality, and we do need to improve our defensive set pieces, but every aspect of defending is as important as the other. You can have the most organised, quality back four in the world, but if you're midfield doesn't cover and protect players - you'll concede more often than not. Jose's Chelsea have quality defensive players, but the whole team is part of the art of defending, from Branislav Ivanovic to Eden Hazard.

We'll benefit from having a full pre-season, because at points in the season you lose so much training time to concentrate on recovery and simply getting through it, so if you implement everything that needs to be implemented through the pre-season, then the momentum should make it stick through the year and training sessions can be used for more tactical and tweaking, rather than having the reorganise a whole back four. In this division I believe that if you mess up your pre-season, your season will not be what you want it to be, whereas in the Premier League you have a whole week to prepare for each game and rework certain aspects - there's coaching time to play with.

In all, we bring in a quality centre back and a left back and we get our pre-season right, then we'll be in a much better place than at any point in the previous two years.

[MJG]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

I'm not saying we dont need both,  but the tone of the op is to push the boat out for a LB. I'm just saying if we were only to get one before the 8th Aug then a CB should be it. Ideally... And I fully expect us to do so... We need a CB and LB by the 8th.

[fulhamben]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

I'm not stay no we need both,  but the tone of the op is to push the boat out for a LB. I'm just saying if we were only to get one before the 8th Aug then a CB should be it. Ideally... And I fully expect us to do so... We need a CB and LB by the 8th.

its got to be close. pressuming amorbieta leaves, that only leaves kav as a recognised lb, and even fulham have him down as a midfielder. and im not having vosser and jaz could do a job as im not convinced on them in there own positions let alone done the left. but like you say we need both

[ToodlesMcToot]

Forget all about the window closing date , we are desperate for a left back to be signed and to be ready for the start of the season. We need to have a new man at the Cottage before the end of July. Time to declare an interest in the situation at Boro.

I'd say we could muddle through to Sept 1st without a left back (but do need one) ,  it's the CB position we need more than any other.

Both a centre back and a left back are needed. We have five championship matches before September 1st. If we try to muddle through with last season's back four then the risk of conceding goals at last season's rate is enormous.

not arguing the need for at least one CB and a LB but, our defense will be much improved even as things stand now just by virtue of the midfield being improved. and by midfield improvement I mean having the capability for real width as well has having truly experienced Championship players

Just remember those goals from set pieces and corners and tell me how the new players in midfield are going to stop them.
Rebuilding a team should start from the back, we must address the back four weakness if these new players are going to be effective.

Firstly, if you'll go back and read again, I never argued that we didn't need defensive help.

Secondly, I seriously doubt that all the goals from set pieces and corners were scored by only our defenders' marks. One must also consider how many of those corners and set pieces came about.  Midfield play will have influenced a great many of the plays that resulted in those corners and set pieces.

Thirdly, I know that not all of the goals scored against us were from set pieces and corners and our midfield play will have influenced the outcome on plenty of those that were not.

Prime example from the goals encompassed in points two and three would be the lack of cover our formations (largely dictated by the lack of true/effective wide midfielders) provided to our outside backs last season. This caused quite a lot of "last ditch" defending resulting in fouls given near the 18 and a lot of corners conceded unnecessarily.

Hopefully, our revised midfield and some key signings in defense will alleviate a great deal of collective pain/frustration in the coming season.

[alfie]

I would definitely think about trying to get Michael Turner back