CB Fry

It's on the SSN ticker. It's actually happening as far as we can see. Yet another signing I didn't need permission from some forum "ITK" to hear about. Funny that. Thank you normal sports media.

Ten million quid for a keeper we don't desperately need. Suddenly very difficult to pretend this club is holding an asset stripping fire sale, isn't it?

When you say "Markus version 2" you mean "someone nothing whatsoever like Markus Liebherr", yes? And when you say "ambitious" you mean "a billionaire who is also retarded enough to pi ss away millions and millions of pounds on a provincial football team for no return", yes?

Or not. Jesus.

Don't believe a word of it until Guan confirms the signing.

What does that even mean? Stand him in the window of the club shop?

Not that weak.

Guan these days is saying we are trying to sign some players but he can't say any names. Great. No sh it. The Portuguese press links have said far more about the Rojo deal than any of the ITK on here, excluding VFTT who specifically said Reed was in Portugal.

It isn't.

So one of our ITKs says we are unlikely to sign anyone this weekend, and another ITK is saying we are going to sign as many as FOUR ready to be paraded around the pitch on Saturday. Meaning four signings today, then. If nothing else, the sources are varied, ain't they?

No, you clearly don't.

Stuart Pearce working his magic already then. One and a half million!

So are you saying you think we can finish 14th, or our aim is 14th, or our realistic target is 14th, or we should aim to target a hope to aim realistically for 14th, or the club is aiming for a target of 14th but you think we can do better or worse, realistically or otherwise?

I guess he was expecting, at least, to have the Tadier signing to fall back on if he agreed to do this interview this morning or yesterday. I just worry that he has mastered the patter to rationalise the "process" of our multiple sales, and soon we enter the phase of rationalising the "process" that we couldn't secure our top targets and hey, it's a difficult process and, sure, we're a little disappointed but Les Reed has been outstanding and we go with what we have created together in our rebuild process and anyway, Georgio Samaras has won the league, like, loads of times. Some effing signings will make your job a heck of a lot easier, Ralph.

He's been chatting to King Ralph today too, I see. On PA at 10pm, so probably will be online soon after.

Les Reed wouldn't fly to Portugal to sell Fonte. He might he going to sell SFC to Rojo.

Rojo, obviously. £15m.

Exactly. Just tiresome that people make these jolly clever "well, what about installments/it'll be lower than the figure in the headlines etc etc" but somehow suggesting that all the players we sign we pay the exact reported amount all up front in cash on day one. Top tip, forum geniuses: let's assume it's all about the same for everyone, shall we?

I bet Everton have had a fans forum and everything.

This thread is a fairly typical one on this forum that you have just chosen to pay to subscribe to. Did you think becoming a paying member grants you access to "premium content" or something?

If you bothered to actually read what I wrote you will see that first I am not "hot and bothered" about anything. And secondly I am making a point a wee bit wider than simply the day of the week "a new signing" is made on.

It's starting to, yes. It is starting to look, more and more, that the club are stringing fans along. If they're not (and I count myself as someone that still, just, thinks they're not) then someone might want to teach Les, Ron, Ralph and Co about the practice of "under promise and over deliver". For our friend from the World Economic Forum it might be worth a chapter in a future book. In German/French only, of course.

Tuesday counts as the weekend, right?

Pretty much all football clubs deal in the medium term future with every decision they make, TDD.

Think that was Les Reed, and he most recently said it in an interview post-Cortese. As someone else pointed out, Cortese sanctioned plenty of loan deals. Maybe he just pretended to rip them up and throw them in the bin, but agreed to loaning Papa Waigo anyway.