Chez

when was the last time Harry spent £5m on an unproved nipper? Can't see that myself.

The figures are for last years accounts. Nothing done since Lowe returend has any effect on this set of accounts. The £5M loss comes through an increase in wages from last summer (low earners like Jones, Bale, Pele, Baird leave and replaced by high earners such as John, Thomas, R Wright etc.), the loss of the parachute payment and 3000 less on the gate every week (and the knock on effect that has in terms of matchday expenditure). Not rocket science really. When the parachite payment was stopped we should not have signed John and Saga when we had enough strikers. And we should have been able to find defenders that cost us a lot less then the £1.2m we paid for Thomas.

Yes. £600,000.

no I am not talking about stopping to catch them offside I'm talking about a situation in the second half where Readign took a throw in towards the edge of our 18 yard box and after a couple of passes they played a one two and Skacel just stopped and gave up. It wasn't as though he thought someone else was tracking the guy he just stood still and acted like it wasn't his responsibility. I know I get on Skacel's back a bit, but I also credit the lad when credits due. Here he just could not be arsed and tried to make it look like it was BWP's fault. It matters not, but I know what I saw and this sort of thing just adds to my dislike of him. Add to that him constantly mooning at the linesman for supposed fouls that were never there (that's my job), the usual falling over at the mearest hint of a push when required and the feigning of injury to try and slow things down. I don't like any of those things even though they all help the side.

meh, this is no time to worry about future let downs. Just bask in the glory of a wonderful victory. We are playing well and I see no reason why that won't continue.

I'd like to see Mills get more games unless this fella is the nuts.

Just got back after a road trip to Yorkshire via Reading. If I was to give scores after the first half it would be 10 out of 10 for each and every player. Simply outstanding display from back to front. Davies didn't have a save to make, the back four won everything and passed extremely well. The midfield ran the show, showed great composure and creativity and up front we created chances a plenty. We ran them ragged and it could easily have been 2 or 3. The diving header chance that was saved would have been one of the greatest team goals I have ever seen, pass and move, skill on the ball, drawing the opposition in, a marvelous cross from Skacel and a great header. Tremendous. Dare I say it TOTAL Football. Thank god for the second goal though, because in the end we went to pieces in the second half. There was a ten minute spell when we were all over the place, hoofing it anywhere and under real pressure. Skacel feigned an injury to put a hault to the landslide and it needed a midfield leaderf to sort things out but no one stepped up. An offside saved us from an equaliser and nails were bitten towards the end. Fair play to the lads for holding out though and what a great win. Well deserved as we looked like the CCC promotion challengers not Reading and many of their fans said the same thing on the walk back to the car. Second half scores (first half are all tens) Davis 7 - great timewasting. Not many saves to make. Good claims. James 3 - hoofed it anywhere and it was his fault for the goal. Perry 10 - brilliant. Best display I have seen from a CB in years. Cork 10 brilliant. Reading hoofed it down the channels all day long and he was there every time. Skacel 7 Decent display but he gave up on one occasion which dumbfounded me. Schneiderlin 7 - he can tackle. More please. Surman 7 chased hard but ball bypassed midfield too much for him to control the game as he did in first half. Lallana 8 needed more ball but when he got it boy did he use it well. What a player this boy is. McGoldrick 6 went missing the longer the game went on. Robertson - 7 chased until he could run no more. BWP 7 great goal but did give it away a little too cheap now and then. Pattersen 9 kept the ball and tackled hard. Excellent cameo. I have been buzzing after the great display against Wolves and now I am off the scale. Luv it.

actually the goal was once again down to James following the wide man far too deep them making a wreckless tackle (which he was yellow carded for) that he didn't win putting him out of position and stretching us massively which we never recovered from. James had a ery poor second half IMO. As for Skacel, I know I canlt stand him but was it only me that saw him give up in the second half allowing their wide man to run into the box totally untracked? Other than that he had a decent game. Perry and Cork were the key to our success though not Skacel.

likewise, SMS has been quiet and even some of the awau games have been a bit tepid. With 3000 plus it should be noisy.

I'm certainly more forgiving of academy players, and rightly so. Players like MLT, BT and now Surman all took time to find their feet. I don't ever blame players for taking big wages. I blamed scouts and managers for signing **** players. There is not a Burnley fan in the country that didn't think we had massively overpaid. GB and scouts must take the blame. I hope you are right about the number of partners effecting Thomas' game, boy do we need to improve at the back, but he must shoulder some of the blame for our defensie frailties last season. As soon as we signeed Davis (decent CB IMO) we looked much much better showing how poor Thomas was.

who is going to buy them when they can loan them and then not have to waste money on summer holiday money?

It is hard to put to one side the inflated transfer fee, not to mention the huge wages a million pound tranfer always brings. But even if I could I would still have my doubts about him. So many goals last season were as a result of mistakes by Thomas. The more I saw of him the worse he got. At Sheffield United he looked qualithym one stuf fin the air, kept BT relatively quiet and by the end strutted around like he owned Yorshire never mind Brammal Lane. But that quickly dissapeared and after a few months he looked out of his depth making errors right left and centre. He did well at right back and I'd have no problem him playing there.

our desire to get Thomas back in the side shows how far we have fallen. For me he is a very very average centre back, not that quick, not that great in the, a poor decision maker and not that great positionally. All in all a very poor signing for £1.2m but I'd still play him ahead of Lancashire as he at least offers some physical strength.

I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again, signing John was a terrible decision. Dreadful. We already had Rasiak on the wage bill who was the exact same player IMO and he was also on the huge wages that we could no longer afford never mind add to. With the paracute payment gone we should have been cutting back not spending more. It was pure madness.

Goals are all important, but the game is about more than just that. The guy is just 20 and already he runs rings around oponents. Ok so he scuffs the odd shot but we're only about 15 games into his career and `fan's are already writing him off and don't seem to care if he stays or goes. If you're old enough to remember you will know that a certain MLT was bloody eratic in his younger days and far from the `unbelievable' 30 goals a season guy we all know. Jesus some of you are clueless when it comes to the delopment of young players.

is it? The only time I ever saw him run was one time when he misplaced a pass at SMS and he sprinted to try and recover the situation. I was amazed, not only was he working for the side but he actually was fast to boot. It just made me think why on earth he never ran around in games. I'll tell you why, cos he is ****ing lazy. If I am honest I never wanted him here and I'm glad he has gone. Rasiak worked twice as hard, but was twice as slow and therefore got lambasted. John is actually pacey yet when do you ever see him making a darting run? Never. Besides the chances we create Stern should have got 30 goals last season.

reread my post I said `IF'. I have said before I am very dubious about this signing. The stoke fan I spoke to said he is cack.

I think he will too. Unfortuntaley all we do at present is cut him some slack and face facts that he is going to make mistakes and get bullied off the ball a little. That doesn't help our current situation though and he needs to lean quickly if we are to have a chance of staying up. Even if Killer is back at the weekend I would have reservations at playing him with Perry.

you are spot on. I have to say the reason we are in this **** is because we tried and failed to offload Skacel, didn't have a fit Thomas to sell and my best guess is that the deal to sell Davis fell through at the last minute (hence us buying Forecast). With them gone the books would probably have balanced. Havign said that the gates have been so low we would probably still have had to sell one if them.

McGoldrick Skacel Lallana Surman Gillett Schneiderlin Mills Svenson Lancashire Cork Davis

Bridge is the best crosser of the ball I have ever seen. Totally one footed though and doesn't look like he has improved much since he joined Chelsea. I'd liked to have seen Bale in ther top flight for us, as its impossible to compare his performances with Bridgers due to the difference in quality of the opposition. He looks a more gofted player to me, but looks rather nieve when I have seen him for Spurs and Wales. Mark Dennis was good but not as good IMO. Statham had a terrific season for us but I'd describe him as solid rather than special.

its not about age its about lack of quality. Gobern, Wotton, Pekard, Smith, Thompson, Robertson. Different ages but all very average indeed. What we need is better players playign every week. A fully fit Svensson and Euell for starters.

Technically he is a batter player, better touch, more ticks and better ability with an oponent tight to him. He plays with his head up all the time, he is a class act. Not the finished article I might add but a quality player. What he doesn't have is the pace Bale and Walcott have that enables you to get away with more mistakes and lack of experience. It its slightly less important in midfield. Where do you play him though in a Premiership side? Not many teams give players the freedom of the park. Make no mistake he is a gem and £1m offers should be laughed at no matter how much trouble we are in.

if we could get Saga, Rasiak, John, Thomas and Skacel off our books permanently then perhaps we might be able to afford to keep Surman and Lallana.

I think deals are done way before the window opens. The window is just for official paperwork.