hypochondriac

Very sad and the reason people have made a big deal of this is because of what a unique and special actor he was. People have find memories of many of his films and it reminds everyone that if it can happen to someone like him then it can happen to us too.

Nah.

I didn't say it did but then I wasn't the one arguing that we should be pleased about the signing because he comes from a good team.

I support them because I enjoy going to games, because I enjoy meeting up with my mates before and having a few beers, because I like it when the club buy exciting players that are good investments (as they did with Tadic, Wanyama, Lovren, Jay Rod and I said so at the time), because I like to see us be successful and because I have supported the club since I was little. I support the club for lot of reasons but support for me does not mean blindly trying to find positives in an incredibly depressing and poorly handled summer. I'll criticise the club when I feel it is necessary thanks and praise them when appropriate (see the Forster and Tadic threads for example.) The club have not done a lot this summer to deserve praise so no wonder they are getting more criticism than praise.

What I was responding to was someone saying we should be happy to sign Long because he comes from well performing teams. I was pointing out that that doesn't make him a good player.

So in effect, if the agent acts unprofessionally, then indirectly so too does the player. Interesting. Rebuttal from irene?

what an oddball! So irene, any evidence to back up your claims?

Not really. Long has a poor scoring record in what have been fairly well performing teams. Just because a player has played for a good team does not automatically make him a good player. Certainly not worth 12 million at any rate.

Not very professional allowing his friends to plaster the news all over a fans forum.

Turning a blind eye to unprofessional behaviour from an agent under your employment is not something I would consider professional.

So he will act professionally but instruct his agent not to?

If he is going to act professionally, how is he going to guarantee himself a move away by September if the club don't want to sell him? What is he going to do?

So how is he going to guarantee himself a move away before september?

I thought he was going to be a professional about it?

It shouldn't be right that you should have to ignore everything the people in charge say.

An absolutely massive exception to the rule.

How much resale value is there on the likes of pelle and long?

It's natural that fans will compare us to last year. Particularly as Ralph has been going on about there being no change and aiming for Europe.

Which is precisely why deals should have been done earlier in the window. Whichever way you look at it, this summer has been a monumental f*ck up. There should be consequences for the people at the top, the same way that there would be in other organisations that see a huge decrease in ambition and performance.

If that is the case (may not be but if it is), what an utterly terrible summer we have had. The management team should ashamed and Ralf "judge us on September 1" Kruger should resign.

The only thing he is proven is that his scoring record for a striker is mediocre.

And both would most likely be able to be sold in a few seasons for more than we paid for them. Unlike Pelle and Long.

Eh? No of course not. Borini and Wickham are two examples from English football. I'm not going to go and find examples for you in world football as many have already been mentioned on here all summer.

I still don't get your obsession with PL experience. I don't understand why you consider that a vital requirement considering that the majority of our team over the last season or two has had zero PL experience. It's unimportant.

Would love us to sign Byram to continue the policy of young English and with potential. You can almost guarantee that whatever we pay for him he will be worth more in a season or two. Almost certainly means we won't get him now...