Whitey Grandad

Agreed! Then all that we need is a keeper who doesn't flap at crosses (unflappable?) a midifeld dynamo/general and a couple of 20-goal-a-season forwards who can defend all over the pitch and we might get somewhere. It's easy this football management lark, isn't it?

Well I would like to think so, but I will reserve judgment on this until I have seen a few more games. I know that it won't get the crowds flocking back but all successful teams are based on a solid defence and it's a lot easier to keep the goals out than it is to score at the other end. For that you don't need skill or artistry but good, sound organisation coupled with strength and physical presence.

I'm struggling to think of many clubs to which this would apply. I understand that WBA did'nt want the money for Curtis Davis up front because they had already made a profit on sales that year so they let him go on loan for a season with the transfer fee paid a year later.

Not necessarily. It depends upon the loan agreement.

You are all concentrating on the goals scored and not on the defensive side of the game. It's one thing to try and play fast, 'attractive' 'total' football up at the top end of the park but what are the youngsters like at clearing a corner or defending a set-piece? How is D McG going to are against someone like Sh!ttu (yes, I know he's gone)? You can say what you like about Rasiak but at least he knew what to do at defending a free-kick.

Players' values are written down over the length of their contracts. If they had no value on the balance sheet then there would be a number of ways of hiding trading profits.

He was pushed.

In the week beginning the 25th August. There is an REM concert at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday 27th so I would expect Tuesday 26th.