S-Clarke

There was talk that came out of one of the 'Cortese Dinners' that indicated that we'd look to replace if we were promoted. Apparently we are under contract with the football league to use the website template we have at the moment, and the only way we'd be able to break that contract and go our own way was promotion. So I'd expect a new website in the near future....what with the new ticketing system, I'd imagine it will all be designed and integrated in some way.

Over ambitious to say the least. Spurs can't afford him. He wouldn't even batter an eye lid at us if we ever did show interest.

We barely raise an eye-brow over there. Calm down...!

wtf? 1.5b people will not buy our shirt from the middle east, so the figures you have added up there are pointless. We're not Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid. They're the big clubs over there and we will not over take them. at all. ever. We may sell at best a couple of hundred shirts, wouldn't be noticeable on the balance sheets. This talk of income from the middle east just on the back of Chun is mental.

Lukalu is apparently joining Werder Bremen on loan, as part of the deal that see's Marko Marin join Chelsea...

We will improve the stadium if we stay in the league, I'm sure of that. It's all about evolution really. We don't want to run before we can walk....but as has been their remit from the moment they came in the door, it was to rebuild this club in a steady and structured way. So it's a logical step to make if we establish ourselves back in the league. Stadium expansion is a good talking point, as Swansea have also filed for permission to increase their capacity to 30k+. Wolves also did the same but may live to regret that decision.... It's all about striking the right balance but I think we need to establish ourselves back before we commit millions into expansion. Cortese will make the right call whatever though.

That's a good post and is pretty much my view on the whole situation. I've got no qualms with what Cortese has done for us.

I saw an official response from the FL a week or so ago, confirming that 2nd placed team in the Championship do not get any medals or trophy. They get £90m though.

I think I heard/read that if we stay up next year, then we'll add 3 extra tiers in the close season. That to me seemed somewhat ambitions though, that would leave something like 8 weeks to build 3 new stands... If we stay up and consolidate, it will happen. That doesn't mean we're destined for CL football though

Oh it did happen, and it was horrific. That day I sat and watched the worst display by a centre back that you'll ever see in the professional game. Step forward Alan Bennett. He mis-read the bounce of the ball, he couldn't distribute it, he misjudged his position and was beaten twice....yes twice, by a long punt down the middle of the field, and was outpaced by Jamie Scowcroft all game. Granted, he improved slightly after that, but he was an horrific football player and it's no surprise that he's bobbling around in L2. Reading are usually pretty good with their signings from Ireland, but they got this one seriously wrong.

He was a decent player to be fair, but his chance here was ruined by the time he made his breakthrough and his unlucky injuries. I'm surprised he dropped as low down as Winchester City as when he played for us, you could see he's football league quality. Could do a decent job for Bompey if they sign him.

Spending 1m on Lambert and 1.5m on Fonte does not suggest that we will spend the hundreds of millions required to push for the top 4. In fact, apart from the opening flurry in January 2010 I'd say our spending has been pretty modest - which has 'frustrated' some fans. I agree that you can't build a club without spending money as well, but I cannot see us making up the short-full required to hit the level of the clubs being referred to in here. It just not going to happen.

Their season has been dictated by the loss of Holden and also Chung, who I really rate. They've both had really bad injury's though and it would be a gamble to take if we were to buy one of them. This isn't Holdens first bad injury though, and he also had his injury problems in America. I don't think we'd take the risk.

David - I don't believe that it is a realistic short-term target to be aiming for Champions League football. If it is to become a realistic target we will need to spend some insane amount of money, which Nicola and co haven't shown any intention of doing so far. Their plan is to build a sustainable football club, built on the foundations of it's youth and development setup. This is to stop us needing to spend £30m on new players, as we'd develop our own. We have owners that have a bit of money, but they're not the sort that will just throw it. We will build a club that can stand on it's own 2 feet and not rely on the injections of sugardadys, and who knows what can happen in a decade or so - in the short-term though, I don't believe anything above mid-table is a realistic target.

Great read papa - what a few years.....it certainly hasn't been boring at any point!

Mental... http://www.hullcityafc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10338~2763981,00.html He was sacked for questioning the clubs transfer policy, as he didn't feel he had all the funds made available to him to push into the top 6. So even though he's done a decent job for them as manager, they've sacked him based on a non-reason. Who is the favourite to take over? The guy that has no problems with transfer policy's - billy Davies.

This is what happens when you have mad foreigners taking over football clubs. Look at Blackburn for another example. We're pretty lucky in that respect!

What Asian income? If you're talking about a few Japanese people buying our shirts because of Chun, then that's a relative dip in the pacific ocean.... And we don't have much debt, but to get CL football within 5 years we will need to rack up an extraordinary amount of debt. That doesn't fit in with the sustainable model that Cortese is pushing.

Whats wrong with them? I think they're decent pundits. I'm looking forward to being 'analyzed' by Garry Neville though, after a shaky start he has been a revelation and a massive step up from Andy Gray.

Yeah, they do look warn out. They've had a pretty busy season to say the least! They did have Doyle in goal for the first leg didn't they? What's happened to Boaz Myhill? I think he's one of the better keepers at this level. Doyle is **** though, i'll give you that.

To be fair, Norwich or Swansea had little to no premiership experience in their squad. Alot is made of 'Premiership experience' - but at the end of the day, it's still about putting the ball into the back of the net and keeping it out at the other end, the same as in all the leagues. I would like to see us continue with our policy of looking at young British up and coming talent. Take 2 examples from last year, Norwich signed Pilkington and Bennett from League 1 - they'd never played in the Championship before, let alone the premiership - but they still had the quality, that doesn't go away when you move up the level. They are just hungry young players who want to make a name for themselves, that will get us more success than looking for experienced premiership has beens IMO.

Absolutely. The contracts Modric and Van Der Vaart are on will be beyond anything we'd ever hand out. It's fair dreaming and it's nice to think of what's possible in the future, but this really isn't with our club. We're talking decades and a continuing development of our youth players to replicate the players Spurs pay £20m for. And we'd probably end up losing our better youth players too if they were 'that' good. Saint is our club and we all love it, but we're never going to compete with the best in England. It's fantasy and other fans would cringe reading some of the stuff on here.

When our owners invest £500m-1b then I'll start to believe, until then it is and always will be a pipe dream. I don't think it's fair saying 'Mongs' either. I think what the majority of us hold is a realistic and fair view of the short-term...anything else is embarrassing fantasy land.

I've always seen him as a player that slows down and restricts the teams attack. He doesn't score many either. Not sure what he does to be fair.

The only play worth looking at is Hoilett, the rest aren't great. The problem is that bigger clubs will get him before us. Not sure what you've seen in Goodwillie to recommend him???????