CB Fry

You could be like me and believe that wishing to finish fourth in league to achieve the right to enter a qualification round of another competition we can't possibly win is not actually an "achievement". It's only an achievement or in your words "one of the aims of the league" because of the money involved, which you said was ghastly. I think you should get behind us trying to a) win the FA Cup b) win the League Cup c) win the Europa League. Three things that actually are achievements. There's some "main aims" right there. Get on board.

What a load of rubbish. I could easily name the traditional kits of at least 75% of the clubs in the Football/Premier league, others on here ( calling The9) could do every sodding club. Chuck the major European clubs in and that is a heck of a lot of "traditional" kits we could all name.

Strange. You say you dont like all the "ghastly" money stuff, but you seem disappointed we didn't make it to the Champions League, the most "ghastly " money-centric football competition in the history of the world.

I predict Chelsea to grind their way to the league title, I'd like to see Arsenal win it but they won't. The two Manchester clubs could go either way - both seem to me to be on the cusp of greatness or meltdown (meltdown meaning, well, finishing fifth). I don't like City but would be happy to see United win the league, especially now that they have Morgan. I'm saying City might just do the meltdown thing and finish fifth, with Liverpool taking fourth. Spurs sixth or seventh. Everton and Newcastle will fight us for the top seventh/eighth spots. I think we'll struggle with too many fixtures and end up 9th. Palace and Villa, I think, will nudge past Swansea and be in that solid mid table pack with Stoke and WBA. I'd like to see Palace finish top of that lot. Swansea won't be in that fight and will finish 14th, with lots of MOTD analysis about "what's gone wrong at Swansea?" all season. WHU will have a sh it season but won't go down, Sunderland will have the same season again and will have some other chump manager saving them come March. Down will be Leicester, probably in a three manager season, Watford and Bournemouth, who will have an archetypal "they were fourth in September, you know" cliche debut season. Watford will sack a manager before Christmas and have a 16 point season of humiliation. Manchester United will definitely win the FA Cup and Manchester United will definitely not win the league cup. Chelsea will.

Maybe. In retrospect you can describe players as bargains or wastes of money, sure. In Victor's case, our choice is to flog now for, say, £20m, doing us out of a season of Victor Wanyama, or sell next season for £14m. My point about how the fee doesn't really matter is for our Wanyama replacement we will spend between £8-12m on come what may. It's highly unlikely we would spend, say £5m more on a replacement in 2015 rather than 2016. And in the meantime we've had that extra year of Victor in the team than selling him at the "optimal" time. The Toby affair and other transfers have created a mini forum hysteria that "if only we did xx" we could somehow chain players up in everlasting contracts and they'd never leave. Victor would be mad to sign an extension now if he has agent intelligence telling him he could be at Arsenal in a year. He probably had an eye on that way back when he signed for us in 2013. The fact that we are a stepping stone to greater things is a selling point for this club. I've no doubt Victor, Mane, Clasie, Cedric have signed for that reason among others. Good. Two years for Mane banging them gives us either a gigantic fee at the start of Y3 or another year banging them in for us and a lower fee, but still a fee at start of Y4. Happy days.

Interesting you interpret a post where I discuss how relaxed I am about Victor Wanyama leaving us next season as "frothy at the mouth". Funny, your sneering reference to "Uncle Les and co" seems far more frustrated/angry than anything I've said. Enjoy the season. We are in great hands, aren't we?

Would you call it our "traditional" away kit now MLG?

Except the club have never said anything about selling at an "optimum" time, or achieving an "optimal" fee. We will get three seasons out of Victor. I doubt he will sign an extension and if Arsenal/Liverpool etc want him next season they'll get him for £14m or another acceptable fee. Not the optimum fee we could ever get - but a fee we will accept. I don't quite understand the bed wetting about how that theoretical fee compares to what we paid Celtic for him, or some perceived sense of losing out because if he had a five year contract we could charge £35m for him or whatever. Who gives a fu cking monkeys - it isn't really our money, and it makes no difference to our ability to recruit the next one anyway. He has a year left, he won't renew, some Champions League-ish club want him, £14m or so, lovely, sold, done. Good luck and thanks Victor. Just remember we won't get ripped off, and guess what, we had a player called Victor Wanyama playing for us and his performances took us to top half finishes and European football. Three years of it. Brilliant. Now, I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that the 2016 meltdown has already started. Bring it on, you soppy old sods.

Francis Jeffers had scored 20-odd goals for Everton before he was twenty. Do I win?

Well, 4.6 effective clearances per encounter is absolutely brilliant but on the other hand I am worried because 2.3 interceptions is effing sh it. Swings and roundabouts, though isn't it really though?

Great thread.

Personally I feel that currently we are in an intolerable situation. Completely intolerable.

Clearly they didn't get seven million pounds for him.

His heart would have said go. His head would have also said go. Give him that choice 100 times again and he'd make the same choice 100 times.

Our Mars bar loving friend getting his summer 2016 meltdown in early I see.

They qualified for Europe through the fair play tables. 3 sent off already this season and manager sent to stands. Arf.

Some cod-psychoanalysis is definitely what's needed right now. He hates it here, is disruptive in the dressing room and wants out, apparently.

You utter helmet.

Personally I enjoyed it. Only Alpine could describe our most successful and satisfying season in thirty-odd years in terms better suited a war crime in Chechnya.

Wealth and rich meaning different things, eh? Fancy that.

The sense of being rich is hugely different to the concept of being wealthy, or having/acquiring wealth. Either way, Trousers said rich. I thought you knew about the language of English as taught by English teachers?

He didn't use the word wealth. He used the word rich.Can't you read the English language of English as taught by English teachers?

Funny how you always seem very keen to look at it from that direction.

Of course. If I was Toby Alderweireld there is nothing Saints could have done to force me for signing for them. Nothing. He'd know damn well other clubs would want him, and pay him more, so was just a case of sitting tight and landing that lovely fat contract and be off on his toes, with SFC as a home-banker back-up. He played it perfectly, exactly how I'd have done it. The idea that there was some "balls out" move that SFC could have done that would stop him reviewing his various options is no more than the gibberings of a fool. Ah.

But you don't want those opinions based on fiddly awkward things likes facts or statistics. Clear.