Jefferson Lerma

langham said:
Agreed we can’r rely on Simpson, especially if played right CB - he was all over the place at Forest last week. So ideally we need Mepham.

But if no new CB more likely that Eddie will play 4-4-2 and if/when we get Lerma he’ll provide the defensive cover we’ve missed for the past couple of years.

So first team selection surely:

Begovic
Smith
Ake
Cook
Daniels/Rico
Lerma
Gosling/Brooks
Cook
Fraser
King
Wilson

??
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As far as Brooks, Lerma and Rico, if Eddie sticks to his policy of getting to know the ‘AFCB Way’, which he did with Ake and L Cook, these new signings might not start for a while, record signing or not.
 
Lerma probably will not start, obviously rico won’t. Brooks unlikely as I think wee man and Ibe are likely but who knows Brooks is an unknown quantity and offers a different option to Ibe. If we play like we did today we could beat Cardiff 5-0. But they are on a high and on a roll and their canny manager will have something up his sleeve. However 3 points for the seasonal opener will be very very welcome.
 
kirsikka said:
I think I read that Lerma won't get automatic work permit clearance as he hasn't played enough internationals over the past two years. However, there is an appeals process and I suspect it's one of those that will be a formality. Not sure how long it takes but given he hasn't been involved in preseason at all it would make sense that he wouldn't be involved at the weekend even if available. Even with a delayed work permit process he should be available by the second match.
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I just had a quick look, Columbia are ranked 16th in the World which means that he would have had to have played 45% of competitve matches over the 2 years before application date.

Columbia played 16 competitive matches, he played 7 total but that might also include friendlies, but regardless is only 43.75% so falls short of an automatic work permit.

I can't see it being an issue getting him one though, but it might mean depending on how quickly we wrap it up that he might not be available for the Cardiff match.
 
USCherry said:
Lerma probably will not start, obviously rico won’t. Brooks unlikely as I think wee man and Ibe are likely but who knows Brooks is an unknown quantity and offers a different option to Ibe. If we play like we did today we could beat Cardiff 5-0. But they are on a high and on a roll and their canny manager will have something up his sleeve. However 3 points for the seasonal opener will be very very welcome.
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I dreamt last night we had four points from our opening two games and sat third in the league .
Then again I also dreamt about me and Jennifer Lopez doing our “ thang “ together - not sure which outcome I’d prefer really :grinning:
 
OLDSKOOL said:
I dreamt last night we had four points from our opening two games and sat third in the league .
Then again I also dreamt about me and Jennifer Lopez doing our “ thang “ together - not sure which outcome I’d prefer really :grinning:
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I think you may have to settle for 4 points !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
...bet that they are not..they are a huge club in terms of size and support, and if I was a fan of theirs I would be unhappy too. i have always found the geordies complimentary to us and I have seen us win twice there.

We can look forward to the season with more enthusiasm with the money spent so far, even though we have not always seen returns on some players in the past like Rantie and more recently Ibe..
 
Last season we signed two foreign players, Begovic and Ake.

Ake was our record signing and what a bargain he has turned out to be at £20 million.

This season we have signed two foreign players in Rico and yesterday it was announced we had broken the club record for Lerma for £25 million plus.

The difference is last season the players came from Chelsea and are used to playing in England and the Premier League.

Eddie who normally buys British, hasn’t had a good record bringing in players from abroad.

Let’s hope these two recent signings are the exception.
 
...the good thing is that Lerma should go straight into the side given his class, whereas Brooks and Rico will be nurtured unless injuries mean otherwise.
 
Lerma could be a fantastic signing and only 23 so can only improve.

What puzzles me though his how Eddie and Jason know he's the right fit for the club. I don't mean from a football perspective, they would've done their homework - watched him/had him watched, I mean personality wise.

Eddie has always said that players need to fit in culturally and behaviourally (JD said as much in his most recent interview) so I wonder how they assess this. It's perhaps easier with players here because professional football is a small community and so you can get a good sense of the player you're buying, but a Columbian, playing in Spain would be more difficult I would think.
 
If we ignore or put aside the Stadium enigma and any consequences as a result ..and just look at what we have .... a bright picture emerges;

A manager with a team now established as a threat to any when in form.
A key player in Ake ..and another hopefully has got there now...L.Cook! If Brookes and Hyndman can step on it and get regular places too..we could have something special.
Defensively it must surely improve if Rico and Lerma are a real deal ! And !..? .Mings stays lucky..a great prospective turn in his and Afcbs fortunes!!
If Fraser, my favourite player has a good season and is allowed to express himself along with better end product from Ibe we can do as well as Burnley did last season!
Ake is the inspirational one..and to a lesser extent Smith and Stanilas if they play enough!
It's quite a comprehensive squad if you consider Surman and Gosling hanging in there and S.Cook/Daniels/Francis/ Pugh being difficult to shift! I want Pughs name on a new stand.
If only we could get that 15 goals from Defoe, another 15 from King or Wilson...
That's the positives...the negatives can come from those that know more about ' formations Etc.!
 
Neil Dawson said:
Remember Lerma also offers top class cover at both centre back and right back as well as his standard midfield slot.

It’s like having Shaun Cooper back. :D
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tucktoncherry said:
Newcastle aren't happy: https://newcastle.vitalfootball.co.uk/bournemouth-showing-more-ambition
Because the owner does not want to spend money Toby progress, just want to sell it to make a massive pay day. Newcastle are a big club and should be top 8 every season with the money they should get. That’s what happens to an owner not willing to spend just hoping to survive till he sells
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