UpweySaint

I believe somebody mentioned his name a while back, and we certainly wouldn't be the only party in the running but the bbc is carrying the story "Japan international Keisuke Honda, 26, will leave Russian league and cup champions CSKA Moscow in the summer. " in its gossip column. He could certainly dajfu!

Seconded ...

I remember, hopefully this means if we bid they wouldnt want a protracted saga. Personal choice Phillips though I would be far from dissapointed with Ince.

BBC has defoe as doubtful too ..

Oh come on its ok, we've had worse kits of that im sure! Not my personal favourite though and for me it looks a little too liverpool.

I think you might be right ...

He would expect to be a number one and not likely to be cheap. Not sure it's a priority though, Boruc is cracking and there are worse back ups then ours.

Did he not have dual nationality?

Nope I dont at all. Neither us know for sure though Next question ... anybody mentioned you'd consider a realistic/good target?

Oh you I tell you what if it gets to the end of july and we still haven't signed anybody decent i'l chuck a few quid to the charity of your choice and join you in mutual panic, which is quite clearly sincere!

Good point. I vote we all panic! Good job we've still got Forte on the books!

Parr at palace. Sky sports reckons he may be on the move to another premiership side with a year left on his contract. All honesty I haven't seen much of him myself but heard good things, meant to be Norway's first choice lb (Nobody say Forren!) and capable of playing left mid. If the price is right he could be an option for sure.

Wow calm down. Unless you're on the transfer committee you know about as much as the rest of us. La Liga may have proven to be good value for money lately but we wont be the only ones looking there and a quality player at the right price is available anywhere, even england.

Nice list, hopefully it will change over the next few years. Though I think it's worth noting Villa had to give youth a chance due to precarious finances with their previous expenditure. It will be interesting to see how genuine we are next season with a few of the academy players certainly on the fringes of being a part of the squad picture. Chambers, Stephens (assuming you count him), Isgrove, Targett and, to some extent, JWP.

Fair, I'd say more optimistic then naive. We've had more sucess and could be more hopeful of it working then, lets say, Fulham or Stoke or even Norwich. I hope we can continue to produce a good level of quality but, of course, nothing to say it wont all go pete tong. I know finances was a huge factor but I remember the "dutch experiment" and shudder!

I imagine they'l stick with him. I dont even think he did too much wrong. Poyet has ambitions, the club did not spend as much as other clubs in the league, he used the media to say he'd consider his options. Naive yes but all he was doing was saying something that maybe was best being kept private. Above all else he seems to be a good for them. Even if he stays though I admit I have no idea how involved he is in player recruitment etc.

At the risk of sounding like a creep I think he was just saying lets try to be the best at it. Noubt wrong with aspiration even if its aspiring just to do what others may have attempted but with more sucess.

Fair point the ox was poor but he has looked good in an england shirt on previous occassions. Often being one of the few genuinely willing to run at defenders and try to make things happen. Hopefully next year he'l cement his place in the Arsenal side and that will put him in good form come the summer.

Buckley would certainly be a good option for plenty of reasons as others have already mentioned. Haven't seen too much of him myself but when I have more often the not he's impressed. I suppose it comes down to price, he may have a year left on his deal but Brighton (I think!) are fairly financially stable, they will be looking to target a promotion push next season and Poyet may still be a tad bitter so may be less then inclined to play ball with us. I do wonder if trading them Hammond as a part of the deal is likely, he played quite a lot for them and isnt exactly a bad player to have for a promotion push.

Ok yes they do, we would never be Ajax overnight but tradition has to start somewhere. No reason we couldn't one day by like an Ajax-light ...?

@Badger Cant see the black on yellow happening myself, looks too dortmund, anybody fancy mocking it up with white or blue in place of the black ? Still though its not my favourite but it looks ok, I would settle with it.

You can point to Ajax coming good once more recently as a product of their academy graduates, and some good coaching by a true legend, while the hype about Germany often talks about how their league focused on bringing through a number of their own talents ahead of expensive imports. Maybe being a club with a strong reputation for both sucess and nurturing young talent is key to attracting, and keeping, bright young talent. In theory we're just a cup win away then

@Avenue Saint, I wont reply to the link directly as otherwise we'l end up with multiple copies of the picture taking up pages. A really nice design, reminds me a little of an old school ajax more then anything but cant explain why! Did you do the mock up yourself? Either way looks good, ticks a lot of peoples boxes and seems like a realistic option. (Praying you work for adidas and have let this out on the sly!)

Wow I think you took something more out of that! I'd be delighted with mid table security for a while too as it goes but the question was about how to kick on to what swansea see as "the next level" which would arguably be competing for the top six. Where in my post did I sneer or belittle? All I did was point out that I was being an optimist and thats a part of being a football fan, its like when we play bigger sides, you accept a draw would be a good result and you'd go home happy but who doesnt hope for a win?