derry

Boy, was that a pig in a poke for Liverpool. £35m I rest my case.

But will he fit in? The players you have mentioned have hardly set the world alight.

I think we are lone voices, it doesn't stack up for me either.

At £12m I'd want a lot more than that. He would have to be the best player in the club by a country mile at that price and reported salary. I think expectations are a bit unrealistic.

He's just a name to me. I haven't seen his quality just heard opinions. Obviously he is a decent player but the thing that worries me is the reports that this is a Cortese initiative. The last one from Spurs turned out to be a 45 min cameo because it was the first time Adkins had seen him.

If he signs he signs. If he was that good where are all the big clubs, Italian, Spanish and Premier giants. At £12m he would be a snip, It doesn't add up. We are the only bidders. I don't buy Spurs wouldn't match our wages. He might turn out to everybody's expectations, it's just that it doesn't stack up for me.

If the alternative was still available that could happen but all the eggs in one basket could backfire. I saw Uruguay Olympic team three times and the only one that I noticed was Suarez probably because I knew of him. That team underperformed and failed to qualify and I don't recollect Ramirez standing out. I'm happy to pass on this one.

There is no way we should be going anywhere near the deadline with this one. We need strengthening and don't need an eleventh hour failure to sign Ramirez leaving us weaker than we could have been had we signed an alternative.

Over the years the Premier clubs have imported a whole host of foreign players with big reputations for megabucks, on big salaries and in many cases these have turned out to be big disappointments, difficult to shift and eventually sold abroad for a fraction of the outlay. I just hope if he signs he's not one of these.

Just an alternative.

A little bit less in the long run might work out to be a whole lot more in the long run. I think Ince could be the real star in time.

Money talks with Owen Oyston and it really doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. If the price was right he'd drive them down here himself.

If he signs he will have to be a top performer immediately, he may be like Poyet and fit in, on the other hand! I would still prefer Phillips and Ince plus a couple more.

Maybe if this wasn't a Cortese led initiative the plug would have been pulled a while back.

Can't help thinking all this just points to a waste of time. Ince and Phillips would be a good compromise and a lot less expensive.

Webb has become a celebrity big club games referee. Maybe he needs to referee a lot more lower and middle table games. Rodriguez was poleaxed inside the area. The player played the ball but clobbered Rodriguez with his uncontrolled follow through. Anywhere on the field but MC's penalty area it was a bolted on foul. Bloody poor refereeing. We need a first class keeper. Davis deserves a chance but he just doesn't look the answer especially when we will have lots of games where we will get pressurised. Fox is a decent player with a fatal flaw he ball watches and rarely checks over his shoulder. He lost sight of his man and the header was desperation as he stumbled. His mark was ten yards away he had loads of time and could have let it go. Hard working gutsy performance under the cosh from a dominant skilful team. We need to upgrade some more positions now, a few in January and more next summer to build a really competitive team.

All weekend games whether Saturday or TV designated days are deemed to be Saturday for registration purposes so as not to give an advantage to a team playing on Sun/Mon. Different rules for loans.

A throw away comment?

The next week on a day off I flew a photographic survey for the Forestry Commission to survey the fallen trees on their properties from here to Yorkshire. Unbelievable destruction.

I was interested to hear what happened in 1986 regarding Uruguay not that I didn't guess as they had form.

Does it really matter? I was a year out in a throw away remark that 1986 or 1987 meant little to me as I was too busy flying and travelling.

I was commuting to Aberdeen at the time and was there that night.

Talking about an international teams behaviour isn't racist. There have been many episodes over the years when Uruguayan teams have resorted to kicking out when things have gone against them. Additionally there hasn't been many Uruguyans that have been successful in this country over the years.

I think you should take a look at yourself, this is not racism. Exactly what was Suarez charged with over Evra? My comment was as a result of a perception over the years of Uruguayan football team's behaviour when things go against them. Forlan was a poor example, he was an outstanding character that cared for a handicapped sister but at MU wasn't that successful until he went to Villareal. Poyet was a great success but an attitude waiting to happen.

What happened in 1986 apart from the big storm?