OTF

6 million, having a laugh. If we tried to slot Perch in there for him we'd be a good shot at relegation. Interesting reading back through this thread. Enrique was apparently a sprinter before deciding to concentrate entirely on football.

Didn't we decide that we'd be best off signing him on loan? Getting on in years and on the decline, his career may have been lengethened by not playing but then the gamble is we haven't seen him play regularly for so long does he still have what it takes to do it week in week out. Perhaps a similar deal to Ben Arfa in that we take him on loan initially with the option to buy at the close of season if we deem him worthy then. All said and done though I can't see Ashley approving wages anywhere near what he is getting now, so if he's on loan City will have to make up the difference so they'll only let him go to the place that pays the most...

Fair chance we'll get to see him on the weekend against us.

ees not married get yer fax rite eh barren dent'll be washed up in tre years time mark ma words ees got pace and an ok finish but nee footballin ed n ees pace wont last fa ever villa got fleeced n sumderlan l be larfin al way to the bank cause villa won be regulated cause other teams are more shit so they get all the money for the deal and assmowen gayn is same player anyway except is a bit younger except hes not

Didn't think so, felt we were off the pace most of the game. Had one or two decent patches, the rest we were rubbish and that's with them not even playing well.

The thin is good because it breathes. The construction of it means that there's not many seams and contrary to Tom's thoughts I reckon it's good on the nips, much better than some of the Adidas ones were. certainly doesn't feel hefty but it's a football shirt after all, so the lightweight construction is warranted. The sizing is spot on for me as well.

We were unbelievably shit against them even with Tiote not too many weeks back. It was the tactics that really failed us there, as well as Enrique being out. Rarely kept possession of the ball. We need to play our own game of keeping possession as much as we can and not push too far up the pitch. Opening up space behind us will be potentially dangerous with their speed and skill. Their defense is average and gets little help from their midfield, so if we can have Barton sending balls in to Carroll/Ameobi and Nolan sniffing about there should be goals in it for us.

Current Puma one is actually good to wear and play in.

If he doesn't get replaced it's a stupid decision IMO. As limited as Routledge is he still had a role to play, and offered something different.

Looks better with a shaved head than a wig, stupid nonce. Wages would be well above what we'd be willing to pay in a position/area where we're already relatively strong.

Rabit, if you don't take him up on his offer of a drink on Saturday then you're the 'keyboard warrior'. Stevie plainly isn't, if you took a moment to think about it you'd know that but as it is you're more interested in trying to make a name for yourself when you're only here because you've tried the same shit elsewhere and noone gave a damn.

I wonder what sort of wages Pienaar will be wanting on his new contract? Thus far Everton have agreed to offers from both Chelsea and Tottenham believed to be approx 2-3 million. Tottenham and Chelsea of course can offer Champions League football, which is something that we can't, but surely he'd spend more time on the pitch with us than he would with either of the London sides. The price seems a snip, though wage would be a concern. Certainly we should be in a position to offer more than Everton have, though at 28 years of age signing one of Ashley's lengthy contract would be out of the question. Am I kidding myself? Whilst he's a good player he's no World beater being a bit lightweight and lacking in terms of end product.

I'm more worried about which shirt Carroll will be wearing on Saturday tbh. I reckon there's a fair chance he won't be playing at all, but no chance that he'll be playing for them.

It's a crazy tight table. Every win or loss can make a big difference. Don't care where Sunderland are on the table as long as we're safe. A few more wins under the belt quickly and I'll stop worrying about the wheels falling off. I don't think it's at all likely, but you just never know. The best thing is I'm enjoying watching us play and go into every match thinking that we could get a win. That definitely wasn't the case in 2008/09 where we were diabolically bad to watch. With 16 games left we need only 5 more goals to equal our total from that entire season.

We need to play our own game against Spurs if we want something from the game. The way we played against them at their place was pathetic. It was a Stoke/Hull'esque tactic of trying to spoil their game instead of trying to play ours. Having Andy Carroll back will be very important against their defense who aren't that good and don't get much help from their attack minded midfield.

He's English and his stats speak for themselves. His true worth might be inflated a bit but certainly not to the extent you're making out. He's also at the peak age for a striker (27 in a few weeks). Owen was 26 going on 27 when he signed for us.

18m is a crazy figure for him in my opinion. The fact that Villa are offering it tells you how much shite they reckon they're in at the minute. Sunderland should definitely cash in, has been poor of late and doesn't go together with Gyan well at all. Gyan doesn't seem to be very good either, like a shittier version of Obafemi Martins in that physically he should be very good but has attitude problems and looks much much older than he supposedly is.

Sounds like Pardew has come to realise how Ashley plans to operate in the transfer market. CT, don't know why you bother posting your 'opinion' as we all know it will change in a very short period of time, based on a win, a loss, or a statement or action taken by the club.

Couldn't even crack it for a bench spot in the Birmingham derby now that Bentley has arrived. Wonder whether that's a sign that he'll go, or if they've shifted him out of sight out of mind till the end of January hoping that he signs a new deal with them. Interestingly Villa are now supposedly interested.

He only played 11 games for us in his first premier league and started banging them away straight away in the Championship - like the Hat trick at Ipswich. I was including his 21 games for Bolton in that season as well. Funny how quickly he found his scoring boots in the Championship. Thankfully hasn't taken them off since getting back in the Premier League.

This thread started in a valley and has gone downhill from there.

Is that Ronaldinho far right? 'Power' Ranger.

Yeh it's a great celebration - a proper piss take and sometimes that's applicable - like when scoring past the mackems or putting the third past West Ham before half time, Anyway 10 goals from Nolan is exceptional - we've been crying out for a goal scoring midfielder for years but I'm not sure he fits that category due to the manner in which he gets his goals - cheeky. Hilarious at Wigan when we started chanting 'Lets all do the Nolan' 5000 toon fans doing the Funky chicken! I hope they did that today! It's crazy how far he's come along as a goal scorer for us in recent times. When we bought him from Bolton he was a spent force, well off his game. I've served up my fair share of criticism in his direction, but I'll stand up and say that I've largely been wrong. Doesn't do a lot of running, isn't a great passer of the ball nor a good tackler, but he's a good leader and has a great effect on others. Plus he has a canny knack for scoring for us, and does the little things that make a difference, like upsetting opposing goal keeper during free-kicks and corners, and generally getting into the head of the opposition. Hard to fathom that he didn't score a single goal in the 32 games in the year that we bought him.

Smith did have a good start to last season. So he should only pay back 7/8ths of what he's been paid.