benjii

Not a bad draw really. They have Man City away in the league on the Wednesday before (we play on the Tuesday) and they have Arsenal away in their following league match. They also have the League Cup final two weeks later. Can see them resting a few for our match.

Boruc Clyne Font Yoshi Shaw Cork Wanyama Morgan Lallana Guly Jay Rod Subs: Davis, Chambers, Hooiveld, Davis, JWP, Lambert, Gallagher

Sports Direct news is unmitigated ****e.

Utter guff. 9th it is.

Bear, you're a ****ing legend.

Somewhat alarmingly, Moyes seemed to think Fellaini was a top quality CM.

Not at all necessary. We are going to finish 9 th regardless.

I doubt it will have any effect on us finishing anywhere other than 9th to be honest. No point buying a centre back who might be a bit better than Jos or Yosh just because Lovren is out. Any centre back we do buy needs to be good enough to get in the first team when everyone is fit. In any case, Fonte and Yoshi should be fine as long as Boruc and Shaw are around. People seem to forget that we had a decent defence for much of last season without Lovren. If a CB is available who is at a similar level to Lovren then great. If not, it can wait to the summer. Three top quality recruits (GK, CB, AM) and no unwanted departures and we would be significantly closer to the top four IMO. As it is, we could sign just about anyone and it would be hard to close the gap on the likes of Everton and Spurs at this stage. Likewise, the teams below us have little chance of catching us.

Do you think Mr Wanda will keep him on?

Certainly would be a strange time of day to be getting non-critical medical news....!

Only because Lallana has stayed fit. If he gets injured or his form drops then with Gaston out as well we will have no creativity at all. In any event their position is one where there are effectively three players in the team, so we should have about six people competing seriously for those spots and it's an area*where we can certainly strengthen the first team IMO. Davis, JWP and Guly are steady but there is zero serious competition with Jay Rod and Lallana for a starting role in the supporting three. Over the summer, at least, we should be signing another creative/ explosive player regardless. We're fine at full back, striker (I have faith in Osvaldo) and centre mid. GK, AM and CB are where we need more competition.

My pick, assuming Lovren and Gas are out of the Arse game as well: Borat Chambers Font Yosh Fox Cork Morgan J Rod Lallana Guly Ozzie Bench: KD, Clyne, Jos, JWP, Big Vic, Lamberts, Reed/Isgrove/ Rowe

Based on this season's form he wouldn't be anywhere near the national squad. More bad games than good.

Despite being a skate and always seeming to have a blinder against us I've actually always had a bit of time for James. Seems like a decent bloke.

Liebherr's have invested about 50 mill at least. The purchase price plus 33mill loans converted to equity (effectively written off when you are the sole owner). Yeah, Cortese should've just popped down the bank and asked for 50mill for a high- risk football investment. FACEPALM

I thought Franny took him to court. Let's not let the facts get in the way of a grudge though. Regardless of such tattle, angelman's post is spot on. If NC thinks he can run a business without any regard to the owners then he is quite naive in that respect.

He was having a beer in The Clump with Johnny Walker and Glenn Morangie earlier too.

Well, that would depend entirely on who bought it surely?

Lol, Dubai Phil thinks Magic Circle lawyers are paid to read a football forum.

I wonder if the "five year plan" was always that Cortese would do his best to maximise the value of the club then find a buyer to get Markus his money back (ideally with a healthy return on top). As the mid point of the fifth year passes, perhaps this is all about who the buyer is and the five year plan is simply reaching it's end. I think there's no doubt that NC also has a longer term vision but, whatever passes, the Liebherrs and Cortese have delivered unmitigated success. There may be some turmoil but overall I don't see any great reason for despondency (although we obviously don't want a criminal or a looney taking over).

He's quite hot, so should fit in well. On top of that, I think he could be an inspired signing. We need another player in the squad who can carry the ball with a bit of finesse and hit an incisive pass. He can do that.

Slide Away. Can't believe it's 20 years old.

Clearly he was good enough to do a good job in the Championship and was available at a very good price for someone with his international credentials, which is why he was signed. The Jap market exposure is, I guess, an added bonus but it was clear that, absent injury, he added something to our forward options at the time (Connolly was hardly reliable, Barnard was having his off-field problems, leaving SRL and Guly, who was preferred in midfield). IMO he's a better all-round player than Billy Sharp, for example. He has been unlucky with injury. I really don't understand the disdain. I guess it's born of some desire to appear clever.

Frankly, the tedium has already got to me but do keep beating off all the same.

This is why social media should be reserved for well educated preppy types. I have stopped using Facebook since hoi-polloi got involved.