rogerbarton

Did Fergie's mam write that?

Cisse was presumably one of our main targets but we were priced out last summer. I did wonder whether Maiga failing his medical might have had anything to do with us finding out that Freiburg might have been willing to lower their asking price...

It's going to take some time for me to be fully convinced by Ashley after what he's done to the club, and the Cisse signing has been the only real outlay we've seen since his first summer in charge so I think we ought to wait before passing judgement. But that's the approach Leazes ought to take as well, now we're fighting at the business end of things, I'm sure Ashley's interest will have been piqued and he'll see an opportunity for success and vindication.

Yeah, it's a bloody daft format, especially for a second tier competition. Would provide more tension if they just did knockout rounds. maybe even altered it to one leg (shock horror!) in the early rounds.

It's a much more competitive league now, Leazes, what with these megabucks clubs who have displaced themselves like Chelsea and Man City. I think being in with a shot of Champions League this season is nothing short of remarkable.

About Collins John or the money like?

The perceived wisdom is that Mourinho's leaving in the summer, isn't it? Why would he be signing players for them?

As much as he might be a fascist neo-nazi, you can't fault that. He's done a fantastic job there and I know a few West 'Ammmm fans who would rather see him in charge than Fat Sam.

I think the fear is that a lot of the megabucks clubs like Paris Saint Germain, Man City etc. are going to get away with the sponsorship deal circumvention. I'm almost certain Citeh weren't pulled up on it, which is ridiculous. Quite an easy rule to write in to the regulations, that no company affiliated in any way with the owners can plough in extra money.

Ben Arfa seems like a spiritual man who places great importance on being in 'a good place'. The way things are going at the moment, I don't see why he'd want to leave us. That said, an extra £5m might change his mind...

Also should consider that if the FFP rules are actually effective we could be best placed to kick on from there...

COURTOIS. Ha ha, I'll take your word for it

Cech's done well for them recently. I know AVB had him earmarked as one of the players he wanted rid of, but Cech isn't actually that old and they have that Matej Delac lad in reserve who is thought of highly. Would £20m be a good enough offer? I think we'd sell tbh.

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this, but if we do get a Champions League spot, has anyone thought that we could be targets of a bid from abroad? We have all the foundations in place and would already be in the CL, seems like the perfect scenario for some multibillionaires. What would people think about such a scenario? I'm happy the way things are, with a manager we can respect and a starting XI that I really like, bringing in better players than we've seen for many a year for a fraction of the price.

Think it was him that brokered them. Brilliant! Absolutely no defence for him then like.

Quite right Fish, the mystery of why we would possibly have sold Hughes isn't really a mystery at all when you remember who sold him.

Hmm...apparently they're impressed with his work at Ajax in terms of their youth graduates, but how much of that can be attributed to him? Comolli has been made the scapegoat to save Kenny's bacon, but I think his future may still hinge on Sunday's match tbh. Whatever you say like, as director of football, Comolli should have been putting a block on some of the extortionate deals they brokered, could he not have suggested better alternatives to Henderson/Downing/Carroll?

Louise Taylor really is touching herself while she writes about Pardew this season like. I haven't got much problem with her tbh, cos she is a very good writer and she does seem to have a reasonable grasp of football, unlike certain other journos. I really don't see a problem with names like 'Pardiola', it's a reference to Pardew doing so well that he can be compared to Guardiola, not us slandering Guardiola's name and somehow crudely stating that Pardew is better than him. Happens all the time, I've been to Watford games where they've called Darius Henderson the next Pele, is that just as criminal?

What's the point in the article? The lad's only just started getting a run in our team after a horrific injury and already we've seen several aspects of world class play, not just the goals against Bolton and Blackburn but some of the finishes cutting in from the right have been fantastic too, as well as his accuracy in passing, but more than anything else, the way the ball is stuck to his feet when he dribbles. Just let him carry on and then we'll start casting aspersions half way through next season

It'd be nice if Liverpool did win on Sunday and we were virtually then guaranteed a place in Europe cos then we could just go all out for fourth spot in the knowledge that it's already been a very successful season (barring a spectacular collapse). There's just no justification for Dalglish's behaviour if you ask me, but I'd love to see who it was who told him he had to continue answering the questions on Sky!

Makes me think better of Wheater and he was pretty canny in the game to be fair

I'm sorry to keep posting but if I were that interviewer I'd have told the fucker where to stick it. What a wanker

Fuckin' hell, he's like a little child in that interview

He needs a PR advisor to be perfectly honest. He clearly doesn't understand football as a modern game - although maybe he'd be more understanding if they were top of the league. The media must hate the bloke

Manc and Chez, fantastic and interesting posts.