shurlock

Could he play further forward, perhaps at the tip of the diamond? He's not going to get goals or be box to box; but surely he could dictate play further up the pitch with his vision and composure on the ball. There are cases of DMs -Iniesta started as one- who have moved further forward over time.

Dare I say, too late. Your pleas will fall on deaf ears. The dogs of war on here have been unleashed and smell blood.

Show causality? That's like champions league fairy dust...

Possibly, though the transfer fee (reportedly £8m) wouldn't be too high. Would add some decent leadership in such a crucial position.

That would be a huge coup. Spurs were very interested him as well.

Not sure the blackbox is a predictive/recommendation device anyway; more a glorified hard drive and dashboard to store footage and stats on players that the club has decided to track.

Koeman gave the impression it made a difference. HTH

Coming from someone who talked last season as if Toby was ours, that's rich.

And to thins some thought buying Morgan was one of Lowe's biggest blunders.

Soares and Juanmi are good buys. We got them towards the end of their contracts and they have the potential to appreciate, with minimal financial risk. If anything, I would like us to buy more, even stockpile younger players in the £5m bracket (perhaps slightly more for domestic talent), mindful that not every player, like Soares, Juanmi or Clyne will be coming to the end of his contract. Many won't pay off but like buying lottery tickets, the outlays aren't huge (contrast with a Ramirez-type fee) and the ones that pay off, the sky's the limit. I couldn't care less about blocking the path of our own, often overhyped youth which seems a preoccupation on here or carrying a bigger squad, though it is a more legitimate concern. What's clear -and going back to my original point- is that we've depended on a bumper harvest from our academy to reinvest and that there are few signs that it's going to be anywhere near as productive going forward. In no way is it a criticism of the club; few clubs generate the kind of talent we have in a lifetime, let alone in a few years. It's just a very real possibility.

If they didn't meet out valuation, then they came pretty close. Think this deal was much closer to being done than Reed's public statements suggest. His statements were for positioning, nothing more. United had sent representatives down earlier in the week and Koeman never went out of his way to say that Morgan would be featuring in the preseason openers, however 'ill' he allegedly was.

Is it a great business model? How many more Schneiderlins or players do we have who we can multiples on? JWP, perhaps? We have some very good players like Wanyama, Mané and Jrod; but we paid decent sums for them and so are unlikely to generate the kind of return that will allow us to replace and strengthen. In this sense, the cupboard is running increasingly bare.

Some lovely weight and vision on those balls. Morgan's passing, for all its range, tended to be quite one-paced. He didn't slow and speed things up as some can. Will be interesting to see if Clasie can orchestrate things as well as he did in Holland, with the likes of jonathan walters bearing down on him.

JWP and Jrod (depending on the measure)

Yep. Thought it would be a compromise. That we wouldnt insist on our valuation of £30m but that it would be significantly above their original offer. If so, no complaints sbout the fee.

Pre-admin (or BC )

End of an era. Only Davis left from the old guard and he's semi-retired.

With Chelsea, it's about the willingness of the wide players to track back and cover the fullbacks. One reason why Mourinho famously preferred Oscar over Mata. That also freed up the central midfielders.

Come on, pal, pay the fiver. You're getting dicked on here with your little complex. Seems there's unfinished biz.

No he can't. That's why he persistently ignores it and only answers the questions he, yet nobody else, asks.

Most journos, I know, have long memories and thin skin. A prI ckly, narcissistic bunch as you're likely to meet.

Yet you read other club messageboards and many think he's as close to the action as any journo.

Doesn't media coverage matter on FM?

Time will tell; but can see where you're coming from.