egg

I've got a lot of time for Rory, speaks sense. He's given some good perspective on the withdrawal.

This is a circular discussion between us and we'll never agree on it. I look at numbers all day every day, and I'm quite happy with my view that the finances of one similar business can never sensibly be compared with another. We can only afford what we can afford, and if others are in a different position, so be it.

They're not relevant. Sure all PL clubs play in the same league, but all clubs have different incomes, different outgoings Inc wage bills etc. If Burnley, or Brighton, or Palace, etc, can afford something, it doesn't mean we can.

Other clubs finances are completely irrelevant to ours. It's as relevant as comparing my finance to yours. The simple reality is that some clubs can afford to cover the associated costs from transfers and invest the gross receipts, others can't do can only afford to spend the net receipts.

They do, but some clubs can absorb them, but skint clubs probably can't. If we've £45m of fees, £4.5m will probably go on loyalty payments, plus some on signing on fees, some on agents. In reality I suspect that £45m has turned into £35m.

Possible, yes. Arsenal will probably sign Odegaard who'll be their number 1 at 10. Saka and Pepe will be their main wingers. He'd have been the main man at Villa. The agency business, and getting multi million pound contracts, isn't as simple as you make out.

Yep, all deals involve a pre bid chat with the agent about wages, but that's completely different to the agent feeding a bullshit selling price to a potential buyer. Anyways, the details are irrelevant, he's signed and he's going anywhere for a while.

Value

Nah, something so simplistic would come out. I think it's nothing more than they made a bid, we said no, he said he wants to go, we said not now and we'll make it worth your while, he said that's cool.

Act

Each to their own. Livramento is special and different and if the Everton lad is Livramento mk 2 that'd be great, but give me some experienced back up all day long...particularly as Perraud looked like a fish up a tree on Saturday and has yet to settle at this level.

Oh, so this lad is another Livramento, gotcha.

The solution is a left back who's played mens football at a level where they've shown that they can play in the PL. Not an unproven kid, or someone out of position.

An unproven 17 year old is not who a premier league club should be signing as back up. Crazy strategy. Vokins was highly rated before he played. Then he played. Etc.

I did not see that coming. Devil's on the detail of course...release clause perhaps.

The post you were replying to was about a 4231 line up...with wingers.

I'm not sure that an expert would play A Armstrong on the wing when we have Theo, Tella, Djenepo and Livramento.

It does, but we need players who are first team ready. We can't hope that unproven kids will step up to the first team - for every Livramento, there's half a dozen Vokins or Valery's.

He was unavailable to take the call. We don't know why - the suggestion now seems to be that he kept himself free at all times just in case he had to make or take a call in this very issue. That's nonsensical. Chances are he may have been unavailable if he was in London or his constituency. All the sensationalism over this ignores the rather pertinent fact that Afghanistan's foreign ministry refused to talk with a junior minister (a minister, not an office junior) thus losing time.

Yep, I get that, but the issues of where he was and his ability / willingness to take calls have been conflated.a Location firstly. What could he have down about the situation from London that he could not do from Crete?

Fancy going on holiday during your holidays. Imagine the scandal if there's a school teacher there too.

You think/hope that's the case, but you have no idea what the truth is - I could also guess and say the exact opposite. The reality is that we don't know what he wants, or what the club actually feel about taking the cash now. Personally, and although I'm not his biggest fan, selling him this window would be mental. We'd have ripped the spine out of the team and that wouldn't end well. However, him leaving sometime soon has a feeling of inevitability about it.

Pathetic. Getting into a football ground is not the time or place to stage a one man protest and impact other people. Just show your pass and get on with it.

I'd be more conservative than that. I wouldn't throw Tino into this, and I think 2 up top would be mental. I'd have 3 in midfield and try not to get completely over run. Your keeper / back 4. Midfield of Romeu, Diallo, JWP. S Armstrong and Redmond/Djenepo/Tella out wide, and Adams up top.

Blimey, what sad news. Very funny bloke, and taken far too young. RIP