CB Fry

I know some people hate it, but finishing 8th, 7th, 6th and then 8th plus a cup final, with two European campaigns is not a decline. Cortese's only full premier league campaign we finished 14th. Personally I enjoyed those campaigns, very very strange that some people write them off as a decline. Our current predicament has as much to do with the departure of Cortese as it has to do with the departure of Chris Nicholl.

We'll probably get a soul destroying Telegraph article rubbishing the whole thing within hours. Which in a funny way is better than a Telegraph article saying we are confident of signing him. Get the disappointment out of the way early doors.

And hes failed so far, which is why we need to sign a striker who has a proven record of actually scoring some goals. Dutch league, French League, Belgian League, to be honest I'd take Scotland or the Championship if we just sign someone that has actually put the ball in the net 20 -30 times the last year. If we sign this guy and he fails then no one can say they are surprised, he's got Shane Long stats and can't currently get a game. I ain't no black box but it's a no from me.

Yeah all done and dusted £29m plus add ons FACT

He was the one we took to the Huddersfield game and showed him round FACT announced by the end of next week FACT.

Conte used to pick Pelle for the national team so wonder if they've considered him.

#moneyball

Why doesn't he play every game now then? He's started two league games this season.

Including a hat-trick against a french fourth tier side with a ground capacity of 2,000 odd. And one goal against a third division team. 2 starts in the league so far this season. He might turn out to be the Micky Evans we are looking for but frankly on paper it feels like an awful buy, especially if it is on the recommendation of our current manager.

43 sub appearances should not be interpreted as "well if we ignore all of those and just look at starts he's actually the second coming of Clive Allen" it should be interpreted as he can't get a frigging game. I'd be happy with a striker who you know looks good in the right context etc etc if we were also buying one who scores lots of goals and has a track record of doing that. You know 14-18 a season, not 18 across three seasons like this guy. Goals aren't a 'stat' for strikers, that's what we're paying for and it's what we desperately need.

I really don't remember so much confidence in the Cortese "wave" that we've all apparently "ridden ever since" during the summer of 2014. If we were all so secure riding this wave that would last for four years what was all the panic about back then?

Pretty obvious to me that we'll sell/loan out Gabbiadini the second the ink is dry on this guy's contract so I don't think I'm ever going to be keen. Henri Camara.

Wikipedia has his Monaco career as 18 goals across 93 appearances. 5, 8 in the last two seasons, 5 this. Shane Long standard. That seems more realistic for a £15m player than 20 goals in 29 which is Harry Kane/Roy of the Rovers stats.

Disagree.

We didn't go down, we finished eighth and got to a cup final.

Personally I think it would have gone a long way, at least on the surface, the build some confidence in a) the team on the pitch maybe winning a game once and b) the team off the pitch actually trying to stop us getting relegated. If signing Theo is a futile gesture then I think it was exactly what we needed right now.

I was at the San Siro and supremely confident that the likelihood of us getting another European trip in the next decade was pretty small so we just enjoyed every minute of it. Except the non alcoholic beer we stupidly bought in the stadium of course. All we can hope for is a get out a jail card this season which might unlock a new impetus (new manager) next year. For all the dross that has scraped up for multiple seasons recently (Sunderland, Villa, Swansea) you'd hope we can do enough to achieve the same for just one season.

No goal record - TICK Completely coincidental link to current manager honestly we've been tracking him for years - TICK Complicated long name with high Scrabble potential - TICK Mid-teen millions asking price - TICK Crocked on arrival - TICK TICK TICK This guy is solid Les Reed gold. Get him in and on the treatment table lads.

We do need someone from the right wing.

Let's hope the club negate the bad PR of not signing Theo by sacking the manager.

I THINK YOU'LL FIND IT'S CALLED AMBITION. AMBITION.

Agree he's be pretty decent in the Championship as he is a proven lower league operator.

Almost poetic. Definitely sickening. Pah.

Personally gutted this hasn't gone through- if we were ever going to sign a big name on big money with no sell-on fee this was the one. It made sense all round and seemeddo-able. Would have given the club, fans and the city a real boost. Another fu ck up on the way to the Championship.

You absolute clown.