SaintBobby

Not a prayer. He must be on two or three times the wages of any of the Saints players, quite apart from everything else.

Maybe even at half time. Shake it up a bit?

A 0-0 draw would be unacceptable to many. I guess 1-1 or 2-2 might just stay the execution. But a defeat, and he should go, agreed?

Sunderland and West Brom looking like early candidates for the drop...

Matt Le Tissier on a free from Vale Rec is probably our best signign ever. But Lambert has definitely been one of the best.

I've read it. Agree it's a really good read - but something doesn't quite ring true. I feel sure that the stories told are based on a pastiche of things rather than being directly true. Otherwise, some of the tales are so specific and involve so many people that I feel sure the Secret Footballer would have been "outed" by now.

Hodgson has also said he's not adding anyone else to the squad (making it more likely Lambert plays the full 90 mins...but is a dumb decision IMHO)

Sturridge has just been ruled out. So Lambert is sure to start, right?

PMSL...they have only won one game in League 2. Tee hee.

I'm going to the match - on a corporate jolly. Sweet.

100% this.

Crazy inconsistent, I guess. But I think there does need to be a cut off for youngster in the family stand. if not at 18, when? 20? 30? 40?

Playing golf?

Trust me, as a Londoner, the real estate value of Craven Cottage is truly enormous. Selhurst Park....hmmm...not so much (nor St Mary's tbh)

Telfer and Wright???? Blimey. If a thread like this is started again in five years time, I'm assuming Ramirez and Guly do Prado may finally discover their secret fan clubs.....

Aaron Martin - always looked good to me, but I seem to be in a tiny minority (no one has picked him up) Rudi Skacel - ok, he was popular to begin with.... Paul Jones - not sure how popular/unpopular he was, I thought he was great Tandanari Lee - what happened there?

Blimey. I watched the game with half an eye and he finished it, right? Didn't seem injured. Oh well, boosts Rickie Lambert's chances, I guess.

Did Sturridge get injured training with England? How badly? (he's in my fantasy team!)

The loyalty points system thingy is just bizarre and totally incompetent. Agree with those saying this match is mispriced too. I doubt it will maximise revenue and, in any event, it's worth getting more fans packed in to increase our chances of winning. Madness.

Well, don't disagree with that really. But I think you can make some judgements without a player even kicking a ball for us - you just need to be aware that the judgements can easily turn out to be wrong. On balance, I'd say the early signs are that our 3 new signings look pretty good - but that's not definitive, of course.

Pretty strange that we've been unable to offload him. Is he on some mental salary and we're unwilling to pay any % of it? If so, looks like a "lose lose" situation - we end up paying, say, £30K a week and Billy rots in the reserves.

I think, on balance, I'd prefer to have Osvaldo and Wanyama for £27m than Barry and Lukaku on loan. But it's a close run thing. Of course, Lukaku and Barry aren't "free" - I don't know how their enormous wages are being paid (SSN said Barry was on £120K a week). But with wages and loan fees, Everton may well be paying £5m or £6m more than the "running costs" of Osvaldo and Wanyama over the season and will have nothing to sell on at the end of it. So, I think the real numbers are Osvaldo and Wanyama on permanent deals and a net cost of about £22m or Barry and Lukaku. Even if Osvaldo and Wanyama flop pretty badly, I think we'd be able to recoup a fairly big chunk of the £22m. In any event, it's not obvious to me that Lukaku or Barry would have seriously entertained the idea of coming to SMS.

Pretty excellent all round. Most pleasing thing for me is we've retained all the players we wanted to retain, apparently effortlessly. Potential downsides: 1. We've invested all of our cash in 3 players, if any of them flop, that's going to stand out big time. So far though, I'd say all three look promising, with Lovren almost looking "proven". 2. Not a great deal of squad depth - I think we can name 25 players for the league (excluding under-21s?) and am not sure we really have 25 players worth listing, maybe only 22 or 23. 3. Strange to let Puncheon go and not replace him with a like-for-like player. No obvious blistering pace up front and signing such a player would have completed the set for me. All in all, though, reasons to be cheerful. Probably B+.

I wouldn't be too happy as a West Brom fan right now. Anchibe? Meh. And Shane Long is recalled from signing on the dotted line at Hull, as they wanted Lukaku. So, he knows he's not really wanted.

I agree. We have a very good squad, but not great. Still, onwards and upwards. It's getting better every year...