labibs

Had a little bash on it last night. Pretty similar to the first game in terms of its 'feel' and the controls etc. Randomly didn't feel that powerful as a big daddy though, your health gets battered pretty easily. Really, really gory game though. I'll be all over it when I get home from work tnt

Interesting. I had everyone loyal to me, so that must have helped. I sent Tali into the vent and had Garrus lead both of the second teams. I chose Samara to do the biotic field thing. I had Mordin and Legion with me for the final boss. I was worried about Mordin croaking it, so that's why I took him with me. I started a second play through on hardcore difficulty last night. Crikey that certainly is a lot harder. Everybody has a shield or a kinetic barrier!

Just finished this last night. I didn't have anyone die on the final mission, how did they die? Is it because of you pick to fill the specific roles? (Who goes in the vent, who leads the team etc?) I got most of the research upgrades though, particularly the improvements to the ship itself. Great game though, I really liked the new combat system. No spoilers, but THAT was the Collector's plan? Really? They also need to do something about the planet scanning thing in the next game, it just takes too damn long!

Really surprised about the negativity surrounding this signing. He seems to be a big, strong centre back, who has a decent amount of league experience for his relatively young age. If we can ship out Thomas this January, he would be a replacement who is: likely to be at least as good, on substantially lower wages and young enough to potentially improve greatly. I'm quite pleased with this signing, I think Pardew is also paying attention to signing players who he thinks will fit in well with the squad and not upset the team spirit. Maybe this guy fits the bill in that regard as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one for blind faith in any manager (the days of 'in GB we trust' firmly drummed that out of me), but AP has done very well for us so far and I am more than prepared to back his judgement at the minute. Hopefully I can get a look at both him and Fonte at Millwall on Saturday, particularly if Jaidi is out.

Personally, I'm going for the beers and 3 points! Looking forward to this game, very pleased that they have had to go to extra time and our boys have had a bit of a rest with Huddersfield called off. Be good to see Fonte make his debut as well. COYR!

Really looking forward to the game tmw, my first away match of the season. I always get worried when Saints are on a good run and expected to win, that's inevitably when we throw it away and put in a stinking performance. We just look to be a bit tougher so far this season. I'm going for a 2-1 win, Papa and Jaidi

He's not ready for first team football at this level. He's not the worst player in the world, he just needs to learn how to toughen up a bit. A loan out would do him the world of good. Worryingly for us, he's not even really back up at the minute. He looks to be alternating with Perry, as his old legs can't handle a game every week. We desperately, desperately need 2 new CB's.

Bit harsh to blame Rasiak for us getting relegated. He didn't play a single game for us that season did he? The club had to get him off the wage bill, so they loaned him out

The play-offs are definitely achievable, but it shouldn't be taken for granted on the back of beating a league 2 side and drawing a home game. What happens if Lambet gets injured? Huddersfield will be a much better test on Saturday. I agree we should first aim to get to zero points and then take the rest of the season in little batches of 5-6 games and set our targets accordingly. Until the end of the window, we don't know how our squad will shape up. If we can't shift Saga off the wage bill, then our options for new blood might be limited. We've made a good start and all three of our signings look to be quality, but it's very, very early to be talking of promotion. We made a decent start last season don't forget...

Mediawatch isn't on the forum, it's a page on the main site which is updated daily, Mon-Fri. http://www.football365.com/mediawatch/0,17033,8749_5478105,00.html http://www.football365.com/mediawatch/0,17033,8749_5471992,00.html That's two occasions in a little over a week. I would say that is fairly regular.

Cannot agree more. He is regularly abused on there for having absolutely no knowledge or insight on transfers!

Apparently some of the dutch boys (Sneijder, Robben, Van Der Vaart) are not wanted at Real Madrid and need to be off the wage bill. Know they might not be interested and pretty much every club in the world would take them in their squad... But if Pards, Nicola and Marcus can persuade them, we would be sorted! It's a long shot, but worth an approach IMHO. I love how deluded some of our fans are...

You mean we haven't signed anyone so far today? I have been in meetings all morning and fully expected to log onto here to see that we have signed at least five players, preferably all in positions where we already have ample cover (we're desperately short of a keeper aren't we..?) And we're not in the play-off places yet. The season is already 4 days old. Disgusting

I think everyone is agreed that we need a big brute of a centre back, we simply don't have enough cover there. We have Mills to cover LB should Harding be injured, that can't be listed as a priority. What's the script with this Saville lad we picked up from Chelsea? Is he any good / anywhere near the first team? I still think Saga and Rasiak will leave, so another striker wouldn't go amiss. The team is desperately short of pace so a striker or a winger with some speed would be welcomed. I don't think we need that many players, I'm wary of having too big a squad and having players sat on the bench eating up wages. The likes of Gobern, McClaggon and Thomson are more than adequate as back up players at this level and as youngsters have the great combination of being desperate to make an impression and being on relatively low wages. I'm still confident AP will pull out something decent in the loan market. If Saga and Rasiak do leave, that should leave us with some wiggle room in the wage budget to potentially get a prem player (likely a youngster) in on loan.

I'm absolutely delighted with this signing. It's a massive statement of intent from AP and the board. Lambert and Paterson could be a quality front two for this division. He'll be on decent money, but almost certainly less than Saga and Greg individually. Finally we have the target man up front we've been lacking since Kenwynne left. Bit random that he played on Sat if this move was in the works, but thankfully he didn't get injured. Really fired up for the new season now.

I thought Lallana was okay on Sat. He's obviously not a left winger, but he showed some nice touches and I think he will do well for us this year. Admittedly he needs to find a position, but until the window closes and we have an idea of our squad for the new season, the shape of the team is still unknown. He even won a header on Sat! AP likes both him and Schneiderlin and I exect them to be the 'flair' of the side, supported by some experienced, powerful players.

Impressed with Paterson today. What a difference from Rudeboy, I don't need to run McGoldrick. Harding looked good. We desperately need some attacking flair and pace on the wings. Overall not too disheartened, only 9 points to go!

We won't get the likes of Zak Whitbread or Danny S, we're in league 1 and are unlikely to go up this year, given our 10 point deduction. These boys want to play at as high a level as they can, they won't sign for us. Given that it seems like a lot of the frees have gone, I would predict we will end up either taking someone on loan from a higher league or splashing a bit of a cash on a commanding CB from League 1 or below. If Thomas can stay fit for more than 5 minutes, it gives us a bit of breathing space.

Good stuff, I'm in. I've done the Yahoo game for the last few years, but am making the switch this year. Should be a laugh

Rumours are that Lescott has put in a transfer request at Everton, why don't we go for him? The likes of Joe Cole may want a move to ensure they get first team football in preparation for the world cup, let's give him a call. We are not going to be signing players from the premiership unless they are: a) very old (34+), or b) very young (under 20). Even the young players will have been released by prem clubs (not good enough) or only on loan.

I'd be very, very happy with this. Big, strong centre back, with vast experience. Should be able to stand up to pressure and not wilt at set pieces. A bit of a coup for this level. Good work AP, if this comes off

Great point about Lallana. Apart from Delph and Shelvey, you don't see many league 1 players being linked with moves to the premier league. I would imagine any other club in league 1 would love to have Lallana on their books. As for someone I'd want here, I have to admit to not knowing a great deal about League 1 football, but either a hot shot striker, or a hard as nails centreback. We haven't had a rock at the back since Killer did his knee and I think it's shown.

Mr Cricket out for a golden duck! Loving it

Not massively surprised at this. Look at how many clubs the man has had during his time in England. He's not adverse to the collection of a signing fee... Don't really blame him though, last big contract and it sounds like we offered wages in line with a decent L1 striker, likely a lot less than he'd get moving to CCC on a free. He could have gone about it in a much better way though. As I've already mentioned on another thread, yes if the two Poles also leave, we will be dangerously thin up top, but obviously AP know this as well and will have plans to bring in new forwards. Getting John, Saga and Greg off the wage bill will presumably give us a lot more to play with in terms of offering contracts.

How old is John now 32? He's got a bit of a dodgy back as well, if he could secure a 2 year contract on decent wages at Palace, it would make sense.He could then swan off back to the US to finish out his career. I agree about the club having a sensible wage structure and sticking to it. Overpaying for 'superstar' players on big contracts is what got us into this mess. I don't think Liebherr will spend massive money on us. Promotion is going to be very difficult this year, so there's little point in spending crazy money. I'd much prefer we build a decent side, get us going in the right direction with a few shrewd signings and then push on again next summer. Those are talking up Liebherr as a billionaire are expecting a little too much I think. If we do lose Saga, Rasiak and John, then would free up a hell of a lot of wages off the books, especially with BWP, John and DMG already gone. You would imagine that AP has targets in mind to replace them, no-one sane would countenance going into a league 1 season with just White and Paterson as strikers. AP has said that we are a bit behind schedule, transfers may not go through until the season is already underway.