Chez

I'd be disappointed if we weren't contacting agents long before a deal is struck with the club to find out if the player would be game and the likely demands. If we aren't that might explain why deals possible have fallen through and take a while.

why the hostility towards Blackpool? Excellent past history and impressive recently getting promotion, the way the went about trying to stay up and then how they bounced back last season. Why are they a joke? Took us to pieces at their place, all whilst doing it on a budget. That has to be applauded, not mocked. Without Marcus it could quite easily have been us having to live on a shoe string, if we had survived at all. Besides, it's not so long ago that everyone used to say we were punching above our weight in the Prem. I know there is a pecking order, but teaks below us in that order aren't jokes.

and fair play to him. Decent club that want to keep the talent that they have nurtured. In the end though if either player wants to leave they work their way out of the contract like every player seems to do these days

not sure I agree with you about his season at Brum. I thought the blues had gone backwards having lost Hart, but they didn't Foster was outstanding, which only makes the deal for him to join the baggies even more of a bargain.

cash rich club with a stubborn manager means their prices are going to be scary. Phillips seemed to go off the boil right at the end of the season and Ince really shined, but would you pay say £8m for Ince. If I was Holloway that's the kind of figure I'd be using to scare clubs off.

I've always backed Jason, but he's not proved anything in the top flight. Hope he shines next season, but don't agree he has shown he is prem quality...yet.

Foster is a brilliant signing. Butland £6m, Foster £4m?

I certainly didn't. I prefer to judge players on what I see of them in the flesh and Zaha is the most exciting talent in the Championship. Would have much rather have seen us sign him than Rodriguez (mostly because I've seen little of Rodriguez and what I have hasn't caught my eye at all). The lad (Zaha) certainly has the talent, the only question mark is his attitude.

they might. Need a little up front, but they aren't a bad side.

he is actually very good on the ball, but it's his defending that he must get right. He's only young and could develop into a player, that said he has made me very nervous on several occasions in League 1 so god know what the Prem will do.

Had a long chat at the weekend about Dan with my brummie ST holder friend. Great in the air and fast, but perhaps needs a strong, vocal leader next to him. Brums struggles came when him and Zigic were both injured. "we could do a lot worse" than buying him for £6m. He didn't think his wages would be astronomic. I suggested we rescue Johnson and create two centre half pairings, but he thought a season in the Championship might do him some good. Massive ego, apparently. I don't actually see a huge panic here. Fonte's had a slight dip in form in the middle of the season, but he had a broken toe, he recovered and by the end of the season he was playing well again. He'll be fine so long as he respects the talent he is up against and doesn't dive in like he did when he knew he was the better player. if he adjusts he could well have a fine season. Cover is thin, but Seaborne may actually suit the Prem better as it was in the air that he struggled not on the deck. We'll get someone in I'm sure, but don't underestimate how well the current pairing did last season.

is there an official FL transfer embargo in place or is it just a case of them picking and choosing who the skates can and can't sign? Not signing players more likely down to no funds available (birch has said as much) until Portapin deal concluded/announced

well we went £21m in debt, so add your income on top of that for the three seasons, I'm guessing £25m (someone will know the eact figure) and there's you £46m cost of a double promotion in three seasons.

Bring back Darren Powell, the undisputed hoofing champion of champions is just what we need in a time of crisis

do the books balance if we pay a few players £50k a week? If they do fine, if they don't then I'd prefer to gamble on survival using players that are within our budget.

Lambert must be having a shocker of a pre-season for fans to be calling for him to be dropped in favour of Sharp.

the new site is brilliant. I say this only because I never use the official site for anything other than away ticket news and this site actually has a page specifically for that. And I can find it. The last one didn't. So I'm happy. Couldn't give a monkeys about the rest.

Portapin takeover deal all but completed is the rumour I'm hearing.

that game with the massively oversized, but extremely flat football ball being nudged slowly from the edge of the 18 yard box into an empty net by some two left footed pansy must push it close, surely?

not sure I understand the criticism of either player. For starters wingers are notoriously hit and miss, often in the same game never mind the same season. There's only about 5 wingers in the world that are great every time. De Ridder had it pretty tough I thought, with Adkins not trusting him nearly enough. He did flatter to deceive sometimes, but he also made things happen too. He should have got 5, 6, 7 games in a row when Chaplow was injured. Unless Adkins has a change of heart I wonder what future he has at the club. But he's still young so he has time to change the managers mind. That great tracking back and tackle Derry pointed out shows his raw pace. But didn't that all come from him losing it way up the pitch though? As for Fraser, I thought he was outstanding last season. Defensively sound and more than willing to push forward too. Only some hit and miss crossing let him down. Very few players in the squad not immune to the odd row z ball. Blimey. With all these crap players last season I wonder how we ever won all those games. Lallana and Lambert didn't win promotion on their own.

It's not unfair to say he is unproven at Championship level. He is unproven at that level, he got no games last year so Champ managers have little to go on. He is a proven goalscorer though, but not every striker make the jump up like Lambert did.

If fans accepted the fact that he is not fast then they might see a different player before them. Get behind him, his confidence will grow and he might do a few things for us.

the upside was that the drugs cheat was slightly distracted, apparently. Could that be a new rule, drugs cheats allowed in, but spectators allowed to throw things at them

Balding is excellent, as is Barry Davies. Like Richie Woodhall as well. Colin Jackson is simply woeful unless describing hurdles

what about away games?