Chez

We had a blend. As you say, that went brilliantly. Baz (21) KWP (26) Bednarek (27) ABK (21) Perraud (25) JWP (28) Lavia (19) Moi (28) Alcaraz (20) Sulemana (21) Che (26) However, if we replace our older guys with youngsters then we won't have a blend.

We want £50m for Tino. £50m for Jwp and probably £30m for Tella. What they are worth depends on the buyers.

Likewise, Downes is the better player but Grimes is more realistic.

Spot on. Besides, my understanding is that Southampton have demanded £30m for Tella. Burnley would like to sign the player, but the most they want to spend is £15m. ...anyone can write these stories 😉

You missed one point. Saints have effectively told Newcastle they need them to spend about £50m (so they can make about £25m-£30m). That is a huge fee. Perhaps our friend Crook was spot on after all. Newcastle may well have been shocked at the size of our demands.

"We were shocked when Newcastle said they wanted more than £12m for Bruno. They must think we are bloomin made of money here down sarf. We will move on and look at other targets that are realistically priced. Good luck to them finding a buyer."

Newcastle aint shocked we want a shed load more than £12m. If they want a player, he must be fucking good. Fucking good doesn't cost £12m.

This is how it's actually done: 1. Call players agent and find out if he fancies the move and what money the player wants. 2. Agree personal terms with agent/player. 3. Call selling club and find out how much they want.

He was Jones' Paul Telfer.

if not he can maybe collect it.

Not sure we can afford to pay him 60% of his salary never mind 100%. Not surprising Brentfoord are low payers, as it take a a few years before everyone is on proper Prem money and I suspect they are very careful with their money and wouldn't be offering him anywhere near the £100k+ a week we reportedly pay him. Money will be a factor. He aint moving to Brentford for less money than he can get with us in the Championship, but being in the Prem will also carry some weight of course. In the end, he'll get both the money and the Prem status.

that game is in February. He won't last till then.

IMO Tino wasn't excellent defensively. He ball watches badly for starters. I guess it matters little if he departs.

he won't be brushing things like our relegation under the carpet.

I wonder why he turned Brentford down? Presumably they were offering less money than we will be paying him in the Championship. Or perhaps he sees a move to a bigger club (Spurs, West Ham or whoever) as still being realistic?

cool man. I thought he curled in one or two nice crosses, which was one of the things the Luton fans said was his strength. I've not seen him play a lot, so reserve the right to change my mind after watching him all next season. Unless of course Payne or Abu get the shirt. Overall Bree looked pretty calm and composed on the ball to me, maybe a little too one paced and `steady'. He certainly wasn't quick or dynamic and I don't see him dribbling the ball down the line much, which will be a major difference (step backwards) to what we have had from Tino and KWP. I guess we are stuck with him, but I do wonder if he will fit Martin's system. Right back could easily become a weakness not a strength.

In general, English football was on a bit of a high in the years after the 1990 World Cup and there was a much more positive feel about the game compared to the 80s. From my point of view, I don't think the early years of the Prem/Sky changed anything much. There were lots of adverts for the Prem, but the presentation (like the cheerleaders and bands on the pitch) was pretty tacky and most fans didn't give a shit about that sort of thing anyway. Other than that, we were watching exactly the same thing in 1992 as we were in 1991. Not sure many people had Sky dishes in the early years, I certainly didn't, so the only thing that changed was there was football shown in the pub, which obviously worked really well. In the end, it was the huge ramp up of money from the mid-nighties onwards (enabling the signing of oversees stars) and the need to modernise the stadiums for Euro 96 that really got things moving. As other leagues struggled for money, suddenly we were flush. With better players signed there was a `product' to sell, but you'd never have imagined how it would become back in 1992.

Now we are in the championship, I'll probably be singing Perraud's praises all season...unless he fucks off of course.

Makes sense to add a sell on, but if he goes to Newcastle and turns out to be bloody great, they probably aren't going to sell him on, to anyone. They want to win the league and everything, so will be keeping their stars. I guess he could turn out to be `OK', but he's then unlikely to demand a huge fee.

We spent £130m last season on transfers with pretty much nothing coming back. There is no `may' about it. We still owe a shit load of money for these players.

You are absolutely right, he won the right back fight during preseason and got the shirt and retained it until he got injured the first time. However, I would say that he retained the shirt too long, as after a brilliant start he faded and it became evident that he ball watched and perhaps wasn't the best defensively. Obviously he is still learning the game, but when KWP eventually played at right back, in my opinion was even better than Tino. It was great to finally have some strength in depth at full back again, but no surprise at all that both may depart this summer. The other prem teams are no mugs. They know who we have that can cut it at that level. Likewise, we are not daft and won't be selling him for £12m.

I don't agree with that. His crossing was decent. There was one absolutely woeful cross, I think at Newcastle, that was highlighted heavily and may be leading you to that conclusion, but overall his crossing was miles better than Perraud or KWP.

Who is selling paying Stephens for £12m, Joe Girard?

don't be fearful. You just need to come to terms with the fact that the players you actually want to keep are the ones that will inevitably depart.

have you inserted those words to cover yourself if indeed any of the likes of Tino, Perraud, Salisu, ABK, Che, KWP, JWP, Sulemana and Acaraz depart. Which is it: Lavia and no one else Lavia and two more main players Lavia and several other main players, but later, when things change