revolution saint

Well if you're pinning your hopes on pace as an attribute for Rodriguez then you'll be disappointed. Although he's not slow he's just not that kind of player.

Well playing devil's advocate here what attributes does Rodriguez bring to the team that we desperately need? He's not that quick, he likes to drop deep in the manner that Lambert has been doing for us and he's not a clever player in the same sense Lallana is either. I'd love us to spend that sort of cash but if we are going to break our transfer record then I'd rather it was on someone that addressed some glaring deficiencies in the team and got us all excited in the same way Lambert signing did. As I say, I don't think Rodriguez is a bad player and if we needed someone in the Sheringham or Dean Ashton mould then I'd be all for it. I realise we won't get them but for the money being asked Maynard or Sordell would compliment the team better. As for Gorkss I think he would have improved us but not massively.

Well my expectations are for mid table and I'd be happy with that - players such as Baldock, Gorkss, Fontaine and Waghorn I don't think will improve us dramatically, and for the first time in ages I'm pretty happy with the squad so I'm not sure how that's having high expectations? Of course it all comes down to assessments of players and of course whoever we bring in (if any) then I'll support them. As for Rodriguez, it's not that I don't rate him but I don't think he offers anything that we're crying out for and is well over valued. Personally I think we probably will go back in for him though.

No, not really. Baldock could have been good but maybe not - certainly wasn't convinced but maybe worth a gamble. I wasn't fussed about Gorkss or Fontaine either. Rodriguez, Waghorn meh, not bothered either. It's a shame if we haven't signed the players NA wants but not the end of the world.

I reckon we might settle for a loan CB now. Would make sense if the players we want aren't available and I'd rather hold on until they are rather than keep going down the wishlist until we're left with players that really aren't that much better than what we've got. I think we will sign a striker and spend decent money though.

Not really - he's not slow but you wouldn't say pace is one of his attributes. You wouldn't be able to play a quick ball and outpace the defence too often with him. That's what I'd love to see a bit more - we're passing the ball so quickly at the moment that a decent quick striker could have an absolute field day with some of the chances we'd create. Not that we're playing badly at the moment though.

I agree we're missing genuine pace up front but I'm not sure Adkins sees it that way. Billy Sharp isn't quick and neither really is Rodriguez - both decent players though. I'd quite like to see us try and sign Sordell but I don't think it'll happen.

So slightly under 25% of teams who have finished 2nd in L1 have got promoted to the prem at some point - that's actually higher than I thought it would be.

To be honest you're obsessed with someone on the interweb. Dalek annoys me as well but 500 quid to prove a point? Bonkers.

There will always be an incomplete picture if you want one to be there. How could I prove otherwise? I can't prove something that doesn't exist. I'm playing devil's advocate here but the argument doesn't stand up.

That's an assumption though. My point was that based on ability I'd have him back and frankly ability is all any of us can comment on with any authority.

I notice everyone who has said no has mentioned his attitude and not his ability. I don't know the guy from Adam so I'm not in a position to judge him on his attitude and certainly not to call him a cvnt. I'd certainly like him involved because I think he's got talent for whatever reason I think it's unlikely though.

I've got to be honest this forum is very polarised and from my perspective it does seem as if a negative opinion is jumped on quicker but that's also human nature - it's very hard to criticise a positive assessment and mostly because we all want to believe it. There are a few obvious WUMS - personally I don't think hypo is one of them and he is at least consistent. Sometimes he's wrong and sometimes it's just a difference of opinion but to be fair to him he's been called a **** today purely on the basis that initially he hasn't w*nked himself dry over the prospect of signing a CB that none of us really know much about. I'm not sure that being negative always equates to having preordained opinions or being agenda driven. Personally I wasn't that bothered about Fontaine - he sounded OK but I wouldn't have expected a world beater.

To be fair I don't think many of us can make a too detailed assessment of most NPC players. I think Maynard's good but 6M worth, probably not. The other thing to remember is NPC strikers are quite hit and miss - the game is littered with ones who have had a decent season and then not lived up to their earlier promise. I'd also rather not pay a premium just because the player is based in England. There must be some very, very good players around for half as much as Maynard is supposed to be worth. Imagine what 4M abroad would get you?

Hard to judge really without seeing them play a few games but on the face of it I think Fontaine might improve us - not sure to what extent though. Less sure about Waghorn, and doesn't obviously fit into the category of "better than we already have" but you never can tell. Shane Long wasn't exactly prolific before last season. I think I'd be "whelmed" if we signed either. FWIW I think the Waghorn rumour might be agents trying to drum up interest in a player that wants to move.

I find it quite interesting although I'm not sure why. I guess it's because they seemed bad signings and did have a bit of hype around them, as well as money spent on them. Take Pulis - didn't he cost 250K? That's the price of a reasonable house, now I'm not saying I'd rather a modest two up two down played in midfield instead of Pulis but.......well actually I am suggesting that.

I voted Cork, but it's hard picking a stand out clear winner. I just think Cork has taken us to a new level and enables us to play the way NA wants us to play. He wins the ball, keeps it moving and can spot a good pass as well - I'm hard pressed to think of a better CM we've had in years and bargain of the season so far.

Average wage is a bit of a distraction to be honest and doesn't tell the true story. I remember reading back when the average wage was 22K that if you actually earnt that you were in the top 10% of the earning population - just shows how the relatively small number of very big earners skew the average wage figure.

Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter Beatles - Norwegian Wood Billy Bragg - Price I pay Any of Bach's solo cello concertos The Jam - Funeral Pyre Book - 1984

No way! Wow you're just full of surprises

Mystic River definitely bears up to reading after seeing the film - I thought the film was excellent but the book gives much more layers to the characters. The Kenzie/Gennaro books are just as good and well written IMO much better than any other American crime writer out there at the moment.

I think I must have read virtually every Sven Hassel book when I was younger. I read "Legion of the damned" when I was nine and started from there until I was about 12. Amazing really that I was allowed to read that type of stuff at that age but I did and loved them. A friend of mine was banned from reading them so I had to smuggle them to him. I think the thing that stood out for me besides the obvious blood thirsty nature of the books was the camerarderie of the characters - they were mates in the same way our little gang at school were mates. Probably not the most wholesome reading material for pre-teens though. All good fun and I've often wondered what it would be like to read them again.

He lived in Blackfield and went to Hardley school as well.

Well I suppose it's Palace but even that's a fabricated fake rival. Have to be honest though, the interweb is making rivaly boring - a few keyboard warriors wind up some gullible people. Big deal - all it proves is every club has it's fair share of stupid supporters, us included.

Have to say I came close to turning the radio off, sometimes ignorance is bliss.