Chez

is that just the transfer fee or the wage packet as well...blimey...

very good point. I'm not suggesting that is all sat in the bank, but it could well be. You'd hope that after five years or so in the top flight we would have got our cash flow sorted to enable us to make signings without having to get bridging loans

he'd be the best centre back there, immediately. Cahill is pretty average (when you are looking at the very top CL level, as Chelsea no doubt are) and Luiz is no better than when he first got there, he just looks better when he has two CBs to cover any mistakes and poor positioning. although when compared to what we would be left with: Stephens --- Yoshida --- Bednarek its looks formidable, as you first said.

that pundit has a point, although Toby does seem to get injured a fair bit, which might put them off paying the mega bucks they would need to get him.

They certainly do. When does the prem money get paid into the bank account? That seemed to be the problem in terms of cash flow in the past causing Nik Nak to get a loan

blimey that's small. So they must be dividing the away end. Shame. No way of selling the initial batch of tickets quick, see the demand and then buy the next allocation...who am I kidding.

we've just gone through a golden period in our history. I don't see that we need to push on, I see us needing to desperately try and replicate some of that again. We need to find real youth talent again and again and again. We need to acquire the best player in the Dutch or Scottish league and find that international class defender stuck in Athletico's reserves. More scouting, more watching games, more work behind the scenes to find talent. We need a little more power, steel and single minded ruthlessness (not cloggers, just win at all costs type) in combination with real skill merchants in the final third. We have become a little second best in places and slightly devoid of real top notch ball playing. Maybe we need to cut our losses on one or two players that have not set the world on fire, and fill that squad with more talent. At the moment we only seem to buy when a gap opens up in the squad. It's not simple or cheap to move players on that you don't want, but that's how we can make progression. Upgrading rather than settling for what we have and what has come through. If Targett doesn't become one of the best left backs in the next couple of years, move him on. Let's not keep him because its cheaper, lets look to upgrade. It's all about finding and nurturing the right players. The talent is everything not the spend. Yes we will need to fork out, but £150m a season is a fair amount to play with. None of this requires a sugar daddy, it just requires great scouting and a burning desire from our management and staff to find and sign up the right players. They key therefore for me is can the current owner and her management team continue to drive this. It starts from the top. there must be a desire.

you mean its clear we need an owner willing to saddle us with greater debt...to get us to 7th place ion a regular basis?

will it be built in the harbour underwater? If yes, then its a fully blown stadium, otherwise its just a training ground...

I really struggle to understand why Man City, Man United and Chelsea are not smashing our door down in an attempt to sign him. I guess they must have all asked tentatively if he was for sale and what kind of figure we might want and the reply of `no' and or `£75m' was enough to put them off.

Is Man City's spending based on Prem money, sponsorship and commercial income? I don't know, but I agree that owners shouldn't need to be expected to spend their money propping up a club when the income they get from TV etc is so huge.

Again the word `investment' keeps being used. But what does that mean to you? What are you expecting from the next owner - to give us cash that they never want back?

when you say "cash to invest", you mean `lend to the club' or `burn'. Either way, I struggle to understand why fans would want to replace a pretty stable owner with an unknown entity that, unless we are very fortunate, will simply take us into further debt. That is not investment, its just a change of policy in terms of how much debt the club carries . With all the TV money I don't see why we need an owner to `invest'. All we simply need to do is spend the £150m we get each year wisely. In my eyes, stadium and training ground redevelopments should be the only reason for us to go into debt.

Agreed. Two games a season watching him snuff out our attack just adds salt to the wound of losing him. I suspect he's not in their plans though.

If north and south stands were closed for repairs th it probably was a sell out.

Are Huddersfield giving the entire stand behind the goal to away fans again this season?

I struggle to see a scenario where United, Chelsea or Man City come in and VVD says, nah, you're alright, I've got my heart set on Liverpool thanks Pep.

do you have a replacement in mind?

I agree LFC dont want to spend more than £60m, but how have Liverpool used the media to make sure there is only one buyer? I think the huge `interest' (discussions on the phone etc) shown by their manager is what has persuaded VVD that Liverpool is the one club for him. I don't see how the media reporting has any bearing on whether Chelsea give his agent a call to find out how much he wants and hw much Saints will let him go for. They just don't seem interested.

I didn't realise BT had decided not to bid next time round. Why the U-turn? Has it not paid off? With Sky struggling, I'd of thought one more Prem deal in BT's pocket and it could pave the end for SKY. Domestic tv income is £1.8b a season, whilst foreign is £1b a season, so I'd say there is quite a bit of foreign money for TV rights.

How is it a win if he plays badly and presumably concedes goals this season? You seem to have fallen into the trap of thinking that all that matters is the end of year financial results. I am the first to suggest we need to be financially prudent, but shouldn't the first question be, what would make us better and the second, can we afford it? Can we find a better centre midfield than Classie? Can we reshape (sell) our squad to afford that player?

what is preventing us signing us what we need even without the VVD money? About 20th richest club in the world means we should be signing roughly the 20th best player in the world in every position shouldn't we?

Sky subscriptions have been suffering due to footie streaming haven't they? BT and foreign tv money mean even that wouldn't kill prem footie.

Maybe if he was first choice it would be less dodgy?

It was, but Borucs overly casual style contributed. I'd still take him over Forster. Bournemouth have upgraded, which is exactly what we should have tried to do. Forster is not bad. Nor are any of the players we have, but a team generating the income do should have two top notch players in every position. All that money means there are no reasons to settle for second best anywhere.