david in sweden

After all these years we've seen that far too often, and that's the problem. Thank goodness, we had MLT on- form for so many seasons - without him we'd have been in L1.... 10 years ago !

Great signing ..(at the last minute) ..and although it's seems unlikely... I was wondering ..did Jose Fonte travel to Spain with the rest of the squad? It would be a great opportunity to "gell" with the rest of the lads ...especially if we expect him to play on Saturday..providing there is a game to play.

my point was that we are VERY dependant on RL for goals - and that's nice - but IF he were to go, then we'd need to re-think our whole strategy up front. At present, There isn't any toughness, or grit .. Lots of skill from AL and DC and some neat finishing. Papa Waigo is a threat in his own way, but all season I've been looking for a tough CF to emerge, and it hasn't happened. A front line without Lambert would look very weak.

stats-wise.only about one person in four is left handed and (as I've seen) fewer of those are left-footed, so the number of naturally left-footed people good enough to play league football must be very few - compared to all other positions.

Rickie's doing exactly what AP needs him to do. He may be a good to average striker but he's the best dead ball specialist we've had since MLT- in his prime. Lallana is quick and with an eye for goals -bit like the young Channon and Connolly - again when fit- has an air of George O'Brien about him (those with memories fron the 60's) All entertaining, elegant stuff but IMHO what we need now is ..a big, tough ugly CF who can upset defences... (former models were;type George Kirby, Joe Jordan, Iain Dowie come to mind. they didn't score every week but they put real fear into every defender they played against.)

looks good - on paper, and OK ..if no-one gets injured ..or loses form ...or.. As we have the wherewithal to buy players I'd like to see another THREE at least and then go flat out to get a play-off spot.

..sorry, not answering difficult questions on a saturday !

heard his interview on u tube, he's got a liverpool accent you could cut with a knife !

Of course, times change but I can't get over people talking about £1 million being "big money " in L1. For any club who doesn't have money, then it sounds a lot ..but who was our first million pound player ? ...and when was that ? ... Later on ..we paid £4 million for Rory Delap (another discussion) in 2001, and probably a dozen others for a million or more since then. (NOTE; CCC Swansea have broken a club record by paying 600K for someone ) When you have money it's only a mind set. Ask Abrahamovic at Chelsea. Messers. Liebherr/ Cortese understand investments I'm sure. As soon as we get back up where we belong the better. I think they see spending a million as an investment, and with the likes of Rickie Lambert and Jose Fonte - it certainly seems like money well spent.

...and I'm sure that he (Lambert) meant every word of it ...when he said it, but a week is a LONG time in football ..as well. ...has he (Grayson) stopped dreaming now...? How long before he gets Leeds into the Prem..... on their budget?

Well they would say that - wouldn't they? As soon as Burnley ask for permission to speak to the manager, you know it's only a matter of time before .....:smt116 ..they get an offer they can't refuse ! Neither Leeds or Norwich are particularly " flush " with cash and Prem. economics are on another planet to L1.

...at Burnley. After the recent game of musical chairs between Bolton and Burnley, the latter is desperately looking for a new manager ASAP Two names in the frame (acc. to BBC site) are; Simon Grayson (Leeds) and Paul Lambert (Norwich) It's not only players who move at this time of the year:eek: OK I know - all that talk about club loyalty blah, blah, but Burnley are likely to offer the type of money that these two fellows could only dream about. If either one of them makes the move, it might certainly cause some upset to one of these top sides, and maybe break their run of form ? (Recalling our own sad history after Strachan's sudden departure) Mmmm makes you think, eh? one can only hope:) ..that Burnley choose the right man.

my thoughts exactly. but that is surely good to have 20 really good players to choose from instead of 11 ...and a mixed bunch of utility players as subs.

I think it's good to have cup-tied players. No really ! It means we have to play the others. There's sure to be an end of season clear-out and it's only fair to give them a chance to prove themselves. Anymore CCC players coming in would be OK for the JPT, but some players are in the grey-zone between going and staying and I'd like to see the likes of Thomas, Perry, Mills, Holmes and Wotton give an account of themselves before we re-think everything in the summer. Unless we make it to the FA Cup 6th round - by facing any remaining lower league sides, it does no harm. At least we won't have to worry about meeingt Man.U in the next round.

Of course we want the squad to improve..if for no other reason than we need cover for unforeseen injuries. So far this season we have had the following players out for "longer periods; " Murty, Davis, Connolly and Jaidi (seems only half fit) ". Throw in a few suspensions here and there, and it could mean having some key players out at a time when we might be heading for a play-off place. Sign more I say, and we've got options. If we make it back into CCC this season, we can have a house-cleaning in the summer.

A quick scan of the 20 pages(!)... this has on the Palace site suggests that many fans are upset at the inevitable and think they are getting a good deal but can't understand why he's going to a L1 club ..(that has money). Later posts suggest that Fonte's "salary problem " has been resolved by Saints lowering the fee from £1.5 M to £1.2M. ( a buyers market,eh ?) Now the years that Danns is also at SMS for a medical, some fans are going ballistic to think he's going too, but Palace are amongst the many clubs who are short of cash and need money for salaries.

YES, the " then" Villa manager (David O'Leary?) didn't rate Crouch and had loaned himout all over the place, before RL signed him ...and I think looking back....that 'appy 'arry wasn't so keen to play him in the beginning, but by the time Jamie had put in his two pennyworth...they'd more or less talked PC into the England team.

Yes ..does he have any of those little yellow pills left, or..? I'll be more excited when we sign BOTH the Rooney brothers..but then again I remember all THREE Wallaces' playing together, and...... Peter Shilton, Dave Watson, Kevin Keegan, Mick Mills, Alan Ball ...and Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all..... (Ah those were the days!)

OK we wait till Palace can't pay wages next week.. and get him for nothing !

well spotted Patrik, (...got enough snow down your way? - Stockholm is paralysed - as usual.) On a earlier Coventry thread (Dec.23) Coleman admits that Ward is on the way out of the club. it's just a case of where, and being a former AP player, we must be favourites to sign him.

It must be a very occasional contributor who still thinks that AP is disatisfied enough to want a move... anywhere. He has done well so far without spending a fortune even at L1 standards, and he has a chairman and owner who have the ability to dip in their pockets at any time, to buy any player they want to improve the squad.Not many clubs can say that. Many other clubs have empty pockets ...or have had their pockets " sewn-up" by the Football League. There's no saying that another club might be better just because they are higher in another league ..and broke !

you're probably right. I recall the news item, but not the precise details.