Chez

and we get to see a manager standing up all game shouting "press" and "go on James" continuously for 90 minutes. What fun. Can't wait.

because the previous manager at each was worse than the current incumbent?

A very good point. However, conversely if they had and we relied on both as starters then we would have been relegated.

Bertrand is much better, so who is to say that a new signing from abroad might not also be much better? I like McQueen, but if we signed someone worse than Targett is right now, then whoever was responsible would want shooting.

Interesting comparison with Gylfi and Bertrand. Not quite the same as Bertrand started at Chelsea, whilst Gylfi made the move to Spurs and then returned. I suspect he will be very reluctant to make another move, whilst Bertrand doesn't have a `failed' move playing on his mind. The fact is, Swansea sold Gylfi first time round and clubs of our size will continue to sell their top players to bigger fish if they are wanted. The only way to keep them is to pay them more than they can get at those clubs, but as was proved with Arteta, even that doesn't always work.

Simple really. Those two clubs haven't tapped him up, like Liverpool seem to have, or there is no evidence that they have tapped him up, which there appears to be in Liverpool's case. Hope that helps.

Agreed, but agents touting their player around via a newspaper doesn't necessarily equal actual interest from another club. Can't see JRod being here beyond the summer, but not sure there is much clamour to sign him. If a prem side doesn't take a punt then his current wage becomes an issue for teams in the championship for example.

you have to have interested buyers to sell players. Do we have them for these players?

Depends on your point of view. **** load of money coming in, but most of it going straight back out in wages, which as you'd expect are rising. Everything is rosy until you get relegated. Sunderland £110m in debt...scary.

Seems like a very cheap loan to the club compared the Vibrac deal. Is Kat taking a huge wage or dividend?

long way short of Nik Naks £1.2m wage...

but the SKY money goes straight through the club and straight into the players pockets. You mentioned in another post how big our wage bill is. We were also reported to be £60m in debt, so I am not sure how Les and Kat have shown greed. Not sure my post will change your mind, but I am interested to know why you are so sure they are taking funds out.

Agree with you here. I have been saying it for ages, we are paying some of our guys like Austin big wages (approaching £100k a week). Still along way short of the figures being mentioned at the big five or six clubs.

Whether the £60m or £70m demands are true or not, I have to say its nice to hear these hefty figures being bandied about. £40m is too low IMO in the current market.

good point. Easy to say now, but I always thought it was a no brainer signing for any premiership club, he that far ahead of anyone else in Scotland and clearly worth the punt. But we did and are reaping the benefits. It's funny, centre half was a huge weak spot for us for years and years (and is a terribly hard position to fill as Man City have proved), but the recent signings have by and large been outstanding. Hope we can do it again. That position is crucial and as much as like Jack and Yoshida I do think there is room for improvement.

you are absolutely right, but not sure a black and whatever that colour is, striped shirt is terribly creative in itself. Personally I'm not looking for terribly creative, simple solid design works better for me. As you say, it's all about opinions.

premiership footballers having had an outstanding season and attracting all kinds of interest don't then sign five year deals for £45k a week. That said £180k a week is probably going to be beyond our means...

Home kit is an improvement on last seasons, but then again how could it possibly have been worse? I don't understand why the thin stripes around the sleave cuffs, which hark back to the 80s kit nicely are not replicated around the collar and perhaps even between the colour panels. There doesn't seem to be any continuity of design. The fussy collar doesn't seem in keeping with the simplistic sleeve cuffs for example. One of the easiest kits to get right and UA still somehow manage to do a **** design job. The away shirt is just, well, pretty **** really. Why not replicate the home shirt, but in different colours? The two tone blue shirt of the 80s was great. Perhaps that is too boring and won't get the sales they want, but why move away from thin stripes for the home and then bring them back in strange colours for the away? No rhyme or reason. It just seems like another design bodge job with a lack of joined up thinking, although without knowing the full brief perhaps I am being too harsh on the work experience guy that gets asked to do the Saint kit each year. Having said all that, I reiterate that it matters not what they look like as I never buy one of these overpriced sweat sacks and don't understand why grown men do.

should he depart, it will still be Les Reeds fault in some people's eyes, ignoring the fact that you can't keep a player happy when that sort of contract is on the table, unless you match it, which we can't.

“After we got promoted I stated how I wanted to stay at the club for a long time, how much I loved the club and I didn’t want to leave." I wanted a new long term contract, on more money. I made sure I told the fans what they wanted to hear. "The big disappointment then was in the next couple of weeks. It was quite clear which direction the club wanted to go in with the new American owners coming in. My request fell on deaf ears. Eisner clearly doesn't rate me. "With a heavy heart I decided now was the right time to move on. It wasn’t the Portsmouth that I had joined.” I'm glad to get away from the moaning dinlos. The Riquelme talk has restarted.

wouldn't leave us much time to replace him, unless you propose we buy before we eventually sell.

Pretty sure that's what I just said. The club secures the player and a larger future transfer fee, the player in return gets a wage rise.

The clowns in charge at the moment didn't have a clue, yet they still managed to get promoted three years later. It took Sheff United a long while, but money talks in the end.

********. Players sign new contracts to earn more, knowing that if a big club does want him they will spend the money required to get him. Absoluetly nothing to do with helping the current club out. That's the trade between the two. Club gets way of securing player and future transfer, player gets more money. Theo Walcott was probably the only player that did us a favour...

Fans gave him **** for 18 months, kissed his ass for a week then revert back to type.