SNSUN

My guess is that they really believe in Isgrove to make the step up. I'd be a lot more confident in bringing an AM in, say Sinclair for all the speculation, but even before Puncheon went I thought we were too light creatively. Still, I suppose we'd have enough for the early part of the season, we can always correct that in January.

I thought this thread was about cigarettes. Most disappointed. Would we really let Guly go? Granted he's not the best but he's adequate cover. With no Puncheon and no Guly, even if we bring one more in, our squad in the AM department looks thin.

Bearing in mind we wear rose-tinted specs, a cross-breed Arseouthampton team would be: Boruc/Szczesny (Undecided here) Clyne Lovren Koscielny Shaw Morgan Wanyama Walcott Wilshere Ox-C Osvaldo So about half and half, but their squad is stronger than ours.

I'm not losing sleep over this. He's ours for the time being, on a long contract. As long as we get a couple of years of good service, and a hefty price tag at the end, we'll not have done bad. If we are actually pushing for Europe in a couple of years, there's every chance we could keep him indefinitely.

No, we will not finish above Arsenal. Yes, we could finish above Everton, especially if they sell Baines and Fellaini It's finishing above WBA, Norwich, West Ham and Swansea that would give us an exceptional finish this season. 7-10 would be a brilliant finish, and with the new signings and perhaps 1 or 2 more additions (in this window and next), then we could well do it.

The link to Victor Moses gets me more excited than Scott Sinclair - Sinclair is more of a goalscoring midfielder but Moses is more creative. Either would be a good addition, but I'd rather see Moses, or both(!), here.

Interesting, tricky question. GK: Need a top keeper signing. GK back-up: Boruc (as he reaches the latter stages of his career he'd still be good enough to do a job as a deputy if he was happy enough to stay.) RB: We would hope Clyne is good enough to fulfil this. I would say yes given time. After all Man Utd were interested in him for a while. As back up? Will Chambers be good enough for a top-4 back up right back? CB: Lovren and.... Probably 2-3 new top CB signings needed here, with Yoshi as back up. LB: Shaw - obviously if we keep hold of him, will be a top LB. We'd need a new reserve though, unless say Targett stepped up. CM: Wanyama (who was wanted by the top 4), Morgan (better than most top 4 midfielders anyway) and Cork is probably as good as it gets for a CM selection. One more needed? Perhaps. You need a big squad for top 4 after all. AM: Ramirez, will he ever come good? He should be good enough for a top-4 side. Sadly I doubt Lallana will be regular choice at a top 4 side, but as back up he can certainly do a job. As for the others? Possibly a youngster or two, but this department will need to be heavily invested in. Striker: Osvaldo, Lambert and JRod. Pretty tasty but another top, quick striker would probably be needed. Would JRod and Lambert be good enough for a top 4 team? Doubtful, so maybe even they would need to be upgraded upon. So top 4 players with us? Clyne, Lovren, Shaw, Morgan, Wanyama, Ramirez, Osvaldo with back ups as Cork, Lallana, Lambert and JRod. So still quite some way to go.

Incidentally is there a more annoying advert on any media system that's worse than "and all.That.Gaaaaaaaaaaaaas"...

The loss of Nigel was harsh because of the timing, the fact he deserved at least a full season in the top flight, and because he was such a likeable, positive man. Cortese has a vision to take us forwards, and he has to make ruthless decisions to do that. We were unsure about Pochettino to start with, largely because many of us hadn't heard about him, but he's got us playing well and with decent player additions, one of whom says he joined BECAUSE of Pochettino. Our future is bright at the moment, and long may that stay like that, but we'll always remember what Adkins did for us.

My wife and all her family will be at this game, and I would have been there, innocently sitting with them in the home end, but thankfully work got in the way. Outsing them people, and let's hope for my sake we win!

Golden thread then!

Have I been mugged off? I literally have no idea what the frick is going on...

This is a surprise if true. Well that's that then - either we're planning on bringing another AM in (Yay! Most likely I think...) or using Osvaldo or Lambert in a deeper role (they can't do that all season) or relying on youth players like Rowe and Isgrove to fill the gaps (Massive confidence in both if so.) From what I've seen of him, I'd take Banega in a heartbeat (but then yes, even De Ridder looked good in videos), but I would also think we're in the hunt for someone like Sinclair. Apparently he was due to sign for WBA but that still hasn't happened, so maybe he's still weighing up his options or waiting for a permanent move. Feel sorry for Punch. Ok he was a stubborn S.O.B before not wanting to play for us, but differences were resolved and he actually played quite well for us last season. Still Holloway must be a fan, he had him at Blackpool, and this way he gets more regular game time in the Premier League. Didn't he only sign a new contract last season though? Weird planning if so...

Cortese and Pochettino - persistant buggers aren't they!

Spurs close to signing Willian and Erik Lamela. My God they'll have a good team if those deals go through, and with or without Bale they'll almost definitely be top 4 material if not better this season. They're making their near neighbours look like mugs. Even our first team is close to being better than Arsenal's. Give it a couple of years... I still think another AM, CB and RB/LB would complete us as a team, and possibly another GK within a year, but if that were to happen it would stall the academy's chances of getting first team action. It'll be interesting to see if any business happens in this last 2 weeks.

It'll be one of the scousers, Carragher or Danny Murphy on MOTD. The Scouse accent should be kept in Liverpool, and as Carraghers is thicker, so should he.

I'm quite pleased we went for Osvaldo over Quagliarella. More "wow" factor, younger and a better goalscorer.

Rickie Lambert. Close the thread.

Still think Naughton would be a solid acquisition. Can't think of any English CB's we'd be interested in. Shawcross?

Arsenal in for Newcastle's Cabaye! 2 clubs in trouble. Bid only 10 million. Watch Geordies explode. That's a terrible offer from Arsenal. Do they actually want to sign anyone?

Gimme a P, P Gimme a D, D Gimme an O, O! What do you get? PDO! (Chant probably won't catch on.)

Not in my team! Captaincy gets given to Lambert. :-)

My missus likes Kelvin but then she has no taste, she chose me after all. Do we have any ugs? Mmm, Puncheon.

Currently: Boruc Clyne Yoshida Lovren Shaw Morgan Wanyama Osvaldo Ramirez JRod Lambert Thank God for squad rotation though as leaving out players like Lallana, Puncheon, Cork and co is hard.