The Kraken

To be honest I don't see them finishing that low; Spurs will in all likelihood lose Bale and that'll be a massive blow for them. And Arsenal have so far entirely missed the boat ensuring that they're as far away from the top 3 as they were at the start of the window. United will still be very good; but they'll have to be exceptional to compete with Man City and Chelsea, and without the Fergie factor, like you, I simply don't see it. But even a dip to 3rd is a significant fall from grace. Moyes just seems like a poor fit, to me.

As I see it, the best they will do this season is third. Man city have an extremely capable manager and have spent pretty well in strengthening an already very strong squad. IMO they'll duke it out with Chelsea who, again, have a very strong squad. I thought United punched above their weight last season, and if RvP suffers a dip in form or injury then a slip down the table could be on the cards (particularly if Rooney goes or is completely disenchanted).

This is becoming a bit daft, Wes; but I'm sure even you can agree that Man Utd's media exposure is due in very large part to the fact that they have consistently had (and continue to have) some of the best players in the league, leading to the fact that they've hardly ever finished outside the top 2 (and never outside the top 3) in the 20+ years since football started with the inception of the Premier League. In fact, reading that back, I'm amazed this point is even a discussion.

Colin; you got what Jimmy meant, I clearly didn't, questioned it, and Jimmy admitted it wasn't that clear in the first place. I thought that's what forums were for; sharing and challenging other opinions, perhaps even reversing your own opinion if the argument is strong enough? Never mind.

A line from my Hull supporting mate about it: "It’s all a load of commercial tosh – take me back to the championship!"

And the reason they have a big following of plastic fans? Has it got anything to do with the quality of their players being generally higher than that of a team in 14th? Personally I think it might have.

I'm pretty sure he can answer for himself Colin. But no, it quite clearly doesn't do that, as Jimmy admits himself. His post also further qualified that Man United would like to buy our midfield players, and I can't say with any certainty that they would do. Schneiderlin maybe although I rate Carrick slightly higher. Cork, Cleverley is probably rated higher by all but Saints fans. And Wagamama, well I just don't know, I've not yet seen enough of him at this level to call it.

Erm, pardon me?

That's true, I may have to retract it; I don't want to stamp on anyone's dreams.

Only an idiot would claim Man United are "weak" in central midfield. Dear me. Carrick is a superb player, Phil Jones does a very good job in there when called upon. Cleverley is a better player than Cork IMO, fletcher is superb but made of glass, Kagawa is decent too. If that's a "weak" midfield then blow me down.

I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying that one good reason they get a lot of media exposure is that their players are predominantly better than ours.

Some good contenders so far, hard to argue with those. Although Pahars' goal against the skates at St. Mary's was pretty special.

The irony of taking someone off ignore just to abuse them.

Sadly this is true! The circle is complete.

I remember when some WUMs on here were halfway decent. The beige 2013 versions of Bazza, Glasgow, Dalek et al are a pale imitation and really quite dull.

Nick G's writing is even worse than Neil Allen's. Sadly he takes the Frank's Cousin approach of "more is less".

If he's significantly better than Lambert then yes, that's exactly what I would like.

A very good point. Fans may set their own benchmark on their own but the club have very publicly stated (on numerous occasions) their own level of expectation; so its kind of natural that fans' expectations may be based against that. When we were getting promoted from the championship, if you'd have offered me 14th place then, say 11th or 12th the following season, I'd have said that was a really good achievement and showed impressive progress. And that our current signings put us in a great place to achieve that. With the rhetoric from the club since promotion and the expectations they've created for themselves, I would think it could be 50/50 on MP keeping his job if he "only" finishes 12th this season.

While I'd tend to agree with some of that, there's also the factor that other clubs have also strengthened around us without losing too many key players, so there's an element of all clubs having made use of the vast PL monies to improve their squads. The improvements we've made can only truly be judged in comparison to those around us. We're likely no worse off than the others but I wouldn't say we've taken great strides forward over others with teh work we've done to date.

I personally don't think we'll see any more big signings; I get the feeling that our big signings are done. Maybe a couple of minor additions but that's the lot. I'd definitely like a winger or wide player but I've seen little evidence to suggest the club want to lash out for one. And as for a striker there have been some minor leaks but nothing substantial. Also, whether it be as striker or/wide player I saw a quote a month or so back from either Cortese or Pochettino which stated that Rodriguez will have a major role to play next season, so that would suggest to me that we're looking for him to step up rather than bring someone else in. So while new signings would be nice, I'm not expecting the arrival of a "winger" and/or "second striker".

It says the tree is for the nearby New Forest; I always thought it was a nod to the city centre parks and/or the Common.

Don't agree about RB, Clyne is quality there and needs to be the first choice, and we have enough cover there IMO. I would like another CB as I don't think Yoshida, Hooiveld and Fonte are top 8-10 starting quality players. Don't think it'll happen though.

Correct. I get the feeling that a lot of defences will have worked Lambert out and we also need another more mobile option up front. A new striker is still a priority for me, and if we could add a pacy wide player that would be a very good summer window.

Can't see much wrong with reserving judgement about our transfer activity right now. Firstly the window is still open and we'll probably bring in more players. Secondly, most of us haven't seen much of our acquisitions in action on the pitch. Making a snap judgement about them now rather than after seeing them over a course of games would be premature. So a slightly strange criticism to make, I feel.

Seething.