CanadaSaint

I think we might be transitioning to a different era in the Club's evolution, the one in which we start seriously preparing for life in the Premier League. In fact, I suspect we've been doing that for some time with key players (such as Lallana, Fonte and Lambert) - in the form of "accelerator clauses" in their contracts that provide for a significant wage boost if/when we reach the Premier League. If that's the case I'm less concerned about Hooper's alleged wages unsettling the dressing room because the ones we least want to unsettle are looked after. I'm much more concerned that these continual apparent leaks from the Celtic (or player) end will cause Cortese to walk away, given how much he detests publicity around matters such as this.

For those, like me, who have had a nervous eye trained on Pardew - especially since Lee signed and the Hooper rumour gathered steam, I've just received this update from a Newcastle-supporting mate: "By the way, I think you can 'almost' be assured that Rickie Lambert is staying put. The Magpies have agreed a £10million fee for a striker... Pa**** Demba Cisse, big on scoring, a national team mate of Demba Ba and is looking to transfer from SC Frieburg in the Bundesliga. It's pretty well just a matter of his signing for us." EDIT: The "Pa****" is because his name is actually "Pap*ss", which offends the swear filter and will invite all sorts of comments.

Didn't realize that but I'm sure it'll be in the scouting report - something like "vulnerable to bedroom injuries".

I mentioned Vardy back up the thread because he was very, very impressive in Fleetwood's cup tie against Blackpool - not "flash in the pan" impressive but extremely good at a whole bunch of things, and against a decent-ish marker. I recognize the big gap between league and non-league but I'd definitely take a punt on him.

Sad thread. It should have been strangled at birth.

I'm not as anti-Harry as most on here. His big mistake was trying to work with Rupert and his futuristic ideas when he's as old-school as they come. I don't think he bears us any malice and he might even feel a tiny smidgeon of guilt every time he watches Bale play. And then again ... Having said that, Harry's out for his own best interests and sending Falque to us reflects them because of the playing styles of the two clubs. Even if Levy handles the deals for Spurs, I can pretty much guarantee you that this one wouldn't have happened unless Harry was cool with it.

The underlined words may be the key ones. It could be that we were searching for value in order to be competitive in the Championship and hopefully to get out of it - the "value" being important because most of those players would probably have to be replaced if we were to secure promotion. Now that promotion is looking much more likely, a different strategy might be in play - we're willing to spend more to acquire players who are capable of playing in the PL. The underlying implication is that there may be two different budgets - one to get out of the Championship, and another one to get established in the Premier League. We might be getting our first sniff at what the second budget might be like.

I suspect you're dead right, and letting us aid in the development of a player of his supposed calibre is a reflection of the respect that Spurs and Harry actually have for Adkins and our style of football. He could have gone to WHU and learnt next door to SFA, other than how to watch the ball fly over his head en route to the front.

Thanks.

No problem, I pinched it as well! I'm not sure whose wise words they are, but I love 'em. I just wish I could remember them before wading-in, rather than after.

"Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it."

Why the hell are people even responding to this moron?

Agreed. I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing it - I'm wondering why we're willing to spend so much on doing it when there are other areas in which we need to strengthen as well. The only rationales that I can think of are 1) All is not as well with Rickie as we'd all hope, or B) We have a lot more money to spend that many of us thought. I think you're right and I'm delighted to see that. I'd hate to see us blowing our budget on players who can help us to get out of this division but are out of their depth as soon as we do.

I don't disagree at all with what you're saying - we'd be much, much stronger for signing both Lee and Hooper. However, I don't understand why we'd spend that much on our strike force if we have other positions that need strengthening unless A) something is amiss with Rickie and/or B) we're willing to spend a lot more than many of us thought and the Hooper thing is just the start.

Well, no smokescreen without fire! No, we haven't told anyone but leaks from the Celtic end - including comments from Lennon - very much suggest that we have.

I still can't understand how it can be a smokescreen to let the world know that you're willing to spend six million or more on a striker. There aren't many positives to this if we fail to land Hooper. Now everyone knows how much we're willing to spend on a striker (and it could be even more) and our current strikers have watched us sign one positional competitor and fail in an attempt to sign another one. Yes, it could gee them up, but it could also unsettle them - especially Rickie (unless he's already somewhat unsettled, God forbid). And the other thing that confuses me is why we'd look to bring in not one but two high-profile strikers 1) if Rickie is staying here, and 2) when other positions arguably need strengthening as well. Hopefully there's more legs in the Hooper thing (because I don't think we'd try that kind of cheeky raid unless we had good reason to believe that we could pull it off), and (even more hopefully) our willingness to spend six million or more on a striker suggests that there's a much bigger budget back there and a willingness to spend it.

Indeed, and even more meaningless if they seldom attend the games. I'm sure they're interested because they feel (and probably have) a responsibility to see Markus's wishes through to fruition, but whether it goes beyond that - and how much was set aside to pursue the vision - are things we don't know and probably never will. I don't set much stock in the wealth of our owners but the rumours about a huge bid for Hooper add a very interesting dimension to the discussion. Just as a matter of interest, when was the last time anyone from the Liebherr family attended a game?

They've always caused problems for keepers. Some years back the challenge was magnified by worn goal areas that could cause the ball to rear-up unpredictably. Now that element is less of a problem because the pitches wear much better, but it has been replaced by the unpredictability of the livelier ball; the pre-match pitch watering magnifies the chance that the ball will skid and pick up pace. When Tim Howard scored the other day the ball bounced higher than I ever remember seeing, and it would have "done" better keepers than Bogadan. That was a freak but the underlying issue is the thing that susses out poor technique. The really good keepers always seem to have a back-up plan and you'll see Joe Hart, for example, bring his chest into play even when diving, with the hands trapping the ball as soon as it hits his chest. He also makes an early decision to parry, which gives him a much better chance of parrying to a safe area rather than back out towards onrushing strikers. Something else we see is that too many keepers time their advance poorly. They start too soon and have to stop, meaning that when the shot comes they're trying to dive from a flat-footed position which limits their reach on either side. Just my "five eggs", but I think it's much harder to be a good keeper these days and that's compounded more than ever by weaknesses in technique.

If we'd signed him when we were supposedly trying, when he was at Millwall, we'd likely still be in the PL. He's a hell of a player whose game has gone completely pear-shaped scoring-wise, so he desperately needs a change of scenery. A reliable midfield goal scorer would add a lot to us but I doubt that he'd come here. Plus, Everton might have not forgiven us for selling them Beatts.

I think his anger was aimed at our bench, but not Nigel.

Better class of pub there!

How is it a smoke screen to advertise that you've got six million to spend?

You're missing my point, and it has nothing to do with "mates". There's a difference between remonstrating over a bad foul and deliberately trying to get someone carded - especially if the pleas for a card are coming from coaching staff on the bench. Some will say it's all part of the game these days but IMO it cheapens the sport. That sort of crap comes from people like the Ronaldos, Nanis and Poyets of the world, which is where it's best left.

I'm still struggling to understand why we'd go for both Lee and Hooper in the same window when we have Rickie and when we have other areas to strengthen as well - unless the "powers that be" aren't sure that we'll have Rickie.

True, and Surman has become quite an "engine room" for them over the past couple of months, but the distance between August and November and between January and April seems to be a lot bigger in the Premier. Plenty of recently-promoted teams have fallen away badly after a bright start. That's when their weaknesses have been well and truly spotted and exploited. I'm trying not to be too hard on our squad but I certainly think it would be a bridge too far for a fair number of them. I hope I'm wrong but I wouldn't want us to underestimate how much we'll need to spend, which was the point of my comment.