Badger

I've made this point when talking to A Bristol City supporter after Cotterill/Chairman Lansdowns comments re us in Bath. When did either Bristol club nurture local talent that went on to make a name for themselves in the top flight ? By my recollection it was the Mabbutt brothers, late 70's/early 80's. And as another twist of the knife for Clotterill etc, the more sucessful of the two was Gary Mabbutt who came from Rovers.

It is probably more an expression of confidence and faith in 'the board', CEO and Les Reed in particular, and their handling of things than taking a random tweet as gospel.

Don't necessarily disagree about Fonte, but the part in bold is a bit of a flawed point, and I hope Reed does not fall into this trap. Even if we rake in £5m we still have to find and more importantly buy a replacement. There are probably plenty of players equal to or better than JF, but attracting them, and then persuading them to sign is not easy, and is an area we may struggle on. We don't need an extra £5m in the coffers we need a CB, or two. It would be good if we also retain some players who will help retain the spirit in the dressing room, Fonte for one, Cork as another , and hopefully Morgan too.

Meerkat ?

Other options: horse pony donkey donkey's dobber

Indeed. And for the younger viewers:

Hedgehog.

We always used to have one in London, during Lawrie's day it was overseen by Bob Higgins and brought us many players, most notably Steve Williams, and the Wallaces. I wonder if we still have a network or centre in the north east. Anyone know ? I wondered about this too. Perhaps Cotterill or his chairman will be on AA routefinder working out the distance from Ashton Gate to tell us.

I did check the posts and you posted this 29th June: So well done, a few ITK points coming your way no doubt. Do you know the name of the CB centre half here ? Reason I ask is that one of the articles posted yesterday referred to a player who had previously signed for Villa but returned home due to home sickness. Just wondered if we'd stepped in and offered him the chance to stay on the coast with coastal air.

Albatross.

Oi ! F^ck off. No offence.

I think it was also reported in the equally unreliable Express .It does seem a little 'ambitious' and an unlikely move, less likely to come off. All of which makes you wonder what or who we are planning for LB, and why it is dragging. Kolowhatshisname, or Robertson seemed far more likely signings to me. Of course there is the 'see what Targett can do' school of thought, but the Premiership is a tall order for him, and best will in the world, RK may not be able to make the judgement in the friendlies we are playing. I hope we're not scratching around for a LB in late August.

This is one we may regret missing out on. Although we are currently meant to be aiming 'higher' with Rojo, I hope we don't end up with him rejecting the move and us missing out on good alternatives after chasing shadows for weeks on end.

..only by himself though

Burnley do look to be stockpiling strikers now, Deeney (or is it Deeley?) from Watford, Lucas Jukiewhatever from M'boro, Sordell.

If they are all as good as that bloke from the Channel Islands in the 90's for us, we should try getting one or two more.

Agree that we should have brought in his replacement before releasing him. In the meantime tell him to train on his own. If he does go to suit himself and his new club then it will appear that yet again the buying club has dictated the terms of the move.

Indeed it does. Sorry but I could not wade through that. So we are "positive", but does that mean "positive" in a 'we are still optimistic of signing Ings' , or a 'well, sod it, won't sign him, but the sum is shining today, and we might sign someone else instead ' way ? I'll assume and hope it's in signing Ings.

The bit about Ings was potentially interesting, before going off a tangent...

But the good thing from our angle is that the Dutch , as I understand it,have planned in advance. Hiddink until 2016, and then Danny Blind takes over for the 2018 WC. Of course it could change if either decide to take a lucrative (£££) club job. I'm impressed by their planning when compared to the 'media scrum' we have when the job comes available with most candidates running for the hills to distance themselves from the post, and another old favourite conducting his application from the window of a 4x4 to journalists outside a home in Poole.

I never thought I'd want one of our better players to join Man Utd, but yes, be delighted if he ends up somewhere other than L/pool, or the Norfff London yobbos.

Good news then , I hadn't seen any posts from him since the end of the season, and assume he is just enjoying the sunshine in Devon.

At one point he looked set to join West Ham.One report I read at the time of this falling through said Nice wanted £9m. Although this article suggests agents fees were a problem: http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/07/21/west-ham-capture-of-nice-defender-timothee-kolodziejczak-scuppered-by-agent-fees/151015/

I'd have thought Rojo might prove over ambitous for us, and the attraction for him of joining us left for norf London a while back. Would be pleased if we can pull it off though. Dier would be a useful addition if possible also.

Yes, spot on. Select another non achiever at international level - one goal in the WC for Christ sake - and a player whose very selection for the starting XI should not be taken for granted as captain. The krauts, Spanish and Dutch build teams, we just throw high profile names together and hope the 'gameplan' just comes together on the pitch.