Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd

They've signed Ake and Begovic, both good signings. On top of that they've signed a proven striker who's performed at every club he's been at. Who cares about his age? If you get 2 seasons out of him and he gets 15 - 20 goals each season then that's great business. Add in the effect that a player like Defoe will have on the young strikers at the club and it's hard to see any issue with his signing.

Yep. I look at some of our recent 'one for the future' purchases and all I can think is. One for the future where? In the Championship? As others have said, it's all very well buying for the future but that's not much use to you now. Particularly when we have so many average players.

Exactly.

I totally agree. Our business model is not going to turn us into a Top 4 club - All that talk is just spin from Les. The annual sale of our best players has become boring and we're just seen as a feeder club these days. Our signings feel like downgrades on the players they're replacing. Even the way we replaced Puel was comical and feels like we settled for second best. How anybody can see this as progress is completely beyond me. Clubs like Bournemouth look to be showing more ambition than we do and that's very disappointing.

If only she adopted the same approach with some of our players. ;-)

Typical ****ing greedy footballer. He's the one who signed a 6 year contract. ****!

Here's a bet for you... J-Rod to score more than any of our strikers this coming season.

Dare I say it, but I'd get rid of Tadic & Boufal and replace with one player. Don't ask me who, I just feel that there must be somebody out there who is more consistent than these two. Sure, on their day they're good players but that doesn't happen enough from either of them.

Not really. I think we have two average players for certain positions instead of 1 great player and a back up option or understudy. I'm basically saying that if we had to consolidate in some areas, where would it be.

You have to let 4 of the current squad go to bring in 2 quality additions. Who do you release???

I'm inclined to agree. The papers will run with anything at this time of year. I don't understand players who strike to try and force a move. They signed a contract and should be made to honour it. Otherwise, what's the point?

I was in Holland last week and a couple of papers were saying he's refusing to play in an attempt to force a move to Liverpool. The report said that Liverpool made an illegal approach and had been warned by the FA. They then issued a statement to say they were no longer interested but it's too late as the player's head has been turned and he is saying the only club he wants to play for is Liverpool. It goes on to say that it's a difficult situation because if he does go to Liverpool the FA will probably get involved and Liverpool may be charged.

Virgil's replacement is only going to cost £3m apparently. Zou Feddal.

I think we need a couple of special players. It feels like we've got 4 or 5 who don't really perform and just look average.

Ok, here's one for you. Would you swap him for Sturridge & Sakho?

Just back from Holland. There's reports there that VVD is refusing to play for us in an attempt to force a move to Liverpool.

Ronnie Ekelund

We had a perfectly good striker who we've sold to a rival team. :-/

Hardly surprising when you look at how Puel treated him.

Big mistake. Claude's poor man management clearly demotivated the lad. The club should've done more to support him and given him some time under the new manager. I guarantee he'll be back to haunt us. I can't help but feel this is a poor decision. Maybe I just don't like seeing our players go to similar clubs who are direct competition.

Exactly. The whole thing looks like a sideways step. There was clearly never a replacement lined up prior to Puel's dismissal. This has been handled in the same way as the Fonte saga, with Caceres coming in at the last minute. Further evidence that Les Reed hasn't got a ****ing clue what he's doing. I didn't like Puel but was happy to be proved wrong. Sadly, he did nothing that made me change my mind about him. However, I have even less respect for Les Reed and his constant gambling. The problem with gambling is that you win some and you lose some.

The stats from his last season at Alaves seem to indicate that we've swapped one manager who couldn't get a team to score goals for another manager whose main problem was scoring goals.

It's De Boer to Palace.

Totally agree. However, be careful what you wish for. Les's tinkering may cost us!

I remember meeting him after the Elfsborg pre-season friendly, not long after he joined us. One of the lads we were with asked him if it was true that he had a PFC tattoo. Crouch replied, 'Yeah, it stands for Peter ****ing Crouch'. :-) Villa were also on tour in Sweden that summer. We met some of their fans in the hotel in Gothenburg and every one of them said that Crouchie would do a great job for us. One said 'He's the complete opposite of what you'd expect. He's got a head like a 50p but he's great with the ball at his feet'.