hypochondriac

Morgan hasn't left yet. I don't trust Ralph either but if this were true, why would the club categorically deny it to be the case?

This was denied point blank by Ralph.

I would argue that so far: 1) below average at the moment IMO. Not enough bodies in to replace those that have left. Tadic clearly a good buy on the face of it. Bertrand remains to be seen but potentially quite a poor option to my mind. Underwhelming for villa and after being linked to quality like Rojo, is a large step down from Shaw. Pelle could be good but again unproven in the prem and has looked ordinary for much of his career. Not really any resale value and remains to be seen if he is anywhere as good as rickie. 2) abysmal situation at cb. Inexcusable after we knew improvement was needed there before the end of last season. No cover at rb currently. Just one youth team player as backup striker who to my mind is not going to be good enough or certainly didn't suggest he would be last season. Mayuka and sharp don't count. Morgan still being linked with a move away before the window closes. 3) I would be amazed if they managed to address all of those weaknesses by the end of the window. Amazed and surprised. Concerned by the reports of all these loan signings with no long term commitment and that we have missed out on our first choice targets. Also concerned that we are being linked with dross now and also that many of our targets seems quite old? Hope this is not the case.

If that's the benchmark for being considered a good signing then altidore would be a great buy.

The day we sign two loan midfielders, one of dubious quality and one who will likely replace one of my favourite players (either cork or Morgan). Still no cb signed when IMO we need two and still weak uo the top.

... And then those stars get sold to Liverpool.

If we don't get one, this board should be criticised just as much as cortese was. Perhaps even more so given that when they came in they trumpeted a new era of openness and transparency with the fans.

What are these individual circumstances that meant we simply had to sell five of our best players before bringing in replacements?

It's what the majority of well run football clubs do, buy before you sell. This was particularly important for us as by this point we had already sold three Crown jewels and had gained a perception as a crisis club.

Would be a good point apart from the fact that Ralph point blank denied this was the case. An interesting read nonetheless.

Why does the word being out as you put it mean we are obligated to sell in his timescale and not ours?

That's exactly what the board should have done. It's not about being perfect, it'd about being vaguely competent.

Well then there would at least be one upside to all this.

My theory is that is laughable b*llocks if you were in any way serious.

Other premier league clubs manage it so we should be able to as well. Letting five players leave without replacements being lined up has clearly cost us.

This is my hope too! Not looking good.

the sad thing is I could imagine that statement with just a couple of changes.

Did that mean we had to let them all leave before allowing anyone else in? It's about managing losses. You agree to let them leave but not before getting replacements in. You are kidding yourself.

Fancy that! Whoever decided to sell all our players without replacing them is boneheaded to say the least.

Thanks for that. An interesting and balanced opinion from someone who has spoken to the people involved.

I never said he didn't speak decent articulate English. I expect him to be less articulate at English than French since English is his second language. That's the last thing I'll say on the matter you moron.

Thanks. That sort of thing is reassuring. I really hope we will be able to achieve that over the next few weeks.

Also sounds like at best Morgan will be leaving in January...

Doesn't really make it less of an unpleasant thing to say though does it. Debate sure, ignore me if you like but that sort of thing is just unnecessary.

Wanting to stamp on someone's face because you don't like what they write about a football team on a message board is pretty pathetic. Plenty of people wind me up on here but if I met them in real life I'm sure most of them would be relatively normal and we could have a friendly conversation.