stevegrant

Potentially a record for us, but almost certainly not for other clubs.

He's certainly able to do so. At times this summer, my opinion is that he has chosen not to, having been swept up by the apparent negative momentum over much of the summer. He (and the BBC in general) has been unable to break exclusives as he has in the past, often being beaten to the scoop by either Gordon Simpson or Simon Peach, the latter of whom was barely in the country for most of the summer, so it's understandable that he's been frustrated by that.

Arsenal have hidden behind "safety reasons" for not giving the full 9,000 for cup games against both Spurs and Chelsea. Seems like a load of ******** to me, but I guess we should bear in mind that around 3500 of the 9,000 allocation would be in the upper tier, which potentially makes segregation difficult.

It's worth bearing in mind that Blackmore's thoughts over the summer have been "angled" to an extent by the fact that nearly every one of his close sources within the club has been sold this summer. The only one that remains is one whose contract situation is yet to be resolved...

There are the written rules, and then there is "what actually happens in real life". This isn't a computer game. Just like with transfers, clubs aren't allowed to contact players or their representatives without permission of their current club, and yet strangely it happens all the time

That's not really how it works. The home club says to the away club "this is what we plan to charge", the away club either accepts it or can take it to the competition's organisers (in this case the Football League) and contest it if they think it's unfair. To suggest that both clubs sit down and discuss the pricing (when Arsenal ALWAYS charge £10 for home league cup games) is simply wrong.

I don't know whether this is an initial allocation and we can get more if required or not, but I suspect the club may have one eye on the Arsenal cup game three days later, where tickets are a tenner and it's a much easier trip for most people.

In May we were all paying a fiver. £35 this season...

My interpretation is that he assumed he was guaranteed a start without having to actually earn it. Meh, hasn't cost us much, next!

An interview he very soon afterwards said was basically made up.

I assume Craig is just reporting what he's been told/leaked by Spurs, rather than actually checking whether it's factual or not. Top top reporting

Arsenal have been a bit sneaky with away cup allocations in the last few years, seeking to hide behind "safety concerns" with giving teams the full 9,000. They played Chelsea and Spurs at home in cup games last season, and on both occasions the away team were only given 6,000 instead of the full 9,000 (which is split 6,000 lower tier, 3,000 upper tier), which caused a bit of a backlash. The Chelsea game in the league cup was still priced at £10 for lower tier tickets though, which bodes well.

Who values him at £5m? I've not seen any club offer that sort of money for him, or indeed any money at all. The only supposed offer came from Palace for £3m, news of which was met with utter confusion by those at SFC as no such bid had been made.

I've seen nothing to suggest that doesn't still happen. It's also nothing especially new in professional sport, happens all over the place but most people don't feel the need to shout about it.

In what bizarre world is it where it makes the slightest difference? They get the train to London, stay in a hotel and the coach takes them from the hotel to the ground.

So both clubs were lying in their official statements confirming the deals, then?

Which part of "THE TWO LOANS ARE COMPLETELY SEPARATE" did you not understand?

Full draw: Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers Arsenal v SOUTHAMPTON West Bromwich Albion v Hull City Crystal Palace v Newcastle United Leyton Orient v Sheffield United Cardiff City v Bournemouth Sunderland v Stoke City Derby County v Reading Liverpool v Middlesbrough Milton Keynes Dons v Bradford City Manchester City v Sheffield Wednesday Burton Albion v Brighton & Hove Albion Swansea City v Everton Shrewsbury Town v Norwich City Fulham v Doncaster Rovers Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest

Cheap tickets (up to 9,000 of them as well), and they'll probably put their reserves out. Not a bad draw, I don't think.

Orient have won at Villa

This. Full draw numbers, it's completely unseeded from this stage onwards: 1. AFC Bournemouth 2. Arsenal 3. Bolton Wanderers 4. Brighton & Hove Albion 5. Cardiff City 6. Chelsea 7. Crystal Palace 8. Derby County 9. Doncaster Rovers 10. Everton 11. Fulham 12. Hull City 13. Liverpool 14. Manchester City 15. Middlesbrough 16. Milton Keynes Dons 17. Newcastle United 18. Norwich City 19. Nottingham Forest 20. Reading 21. Sheffield United 22. Sheffield Wednesday 23. Shrewsbury Town 24. SOUTHAMPTON 25. Swansea City 26. Tottenham Hotspur 27. West Bromwich Albion 28. Leyton Orient 29. Sunderland 30. Bradford City 31. Burton Albion 32. Stoke City Ties to be played the week commencing 22nd September.

**** me. Of all the bilge that you exhume on here - and trust me, there's a ****ing lot of it - this is right up there with the most ridiculous. Firstly, he's on loan with no obligation to buy, but the option to do so for a fixed fee (€7m) if we want to - the two loans are completely separate. Secondly, he played in what was regarded as a successful World Cup for Algeria, he's not some unknown youth teamer who we're taking a punt on. Seriously

Looking at it from a financial perspective, it also makes bugger all sense because of Palace's severely restrictive salary policy. Apparently they've not got a single player on more than £20k a week, as far as I can tell, that's more or less the salary Cork was earning when he signed for us in the Championship. Add in the inevitable promotion-based pay rise, he'd be taking a pretty big cut if he went there. Money's not everything, obviously, but I don't see him taking the risk of signing for a club who will almost certainly be in a relegation battle.

The club claimed there hadn't been a single offer for him when the earlier report of "a £3m fee has been agreed" broke - considering they've not had a manager since then, and their appointment today was something of a surprise, I would be absolutely amazed if anything had been done on those lines. Especially, as mentioned by others, as he played last night.

Correct on both counts.