ratio_decidendi

Right. So the transfer committee is looking to "learn from past mistakes" but is reported to be looking at this Teofilo-I'mgoingtopaintballyourface-Gutierrez? Can't see it happening. The guy is a clear liability.

Yeah, I agree with you, just didn't pick up on the 20m bit originally...

Yeah, I've just read back and didn't really pick up on the wider context of the post. My mistake.

Out of interest, what's the big problem with this? If we assume that the player leaves after c.2 years for a tasty profit, is it not a win-win situation? I guess it sucks to see a constantly fluctuating team, but if fan can swallow that... ?

don't go there

If the incentive of a move to a bigger club in the future is enough then they will.

I think you're more likely to nurture team spirit in a squad full of players that want to play for the club rather than 5-6 wantaways.

Don't pretend that every day at the moment isn't an F5 day..!

I think so many forget that, no matter how much you can knock his previous record, the decision to appoint Koeman is a big sign of ambition from the club. If we were looking to downsize etc. etc. then we'd be the ones appointing Alan Irvine and not WBA. There's such a big gulf of quality between the two managers.

I'm not sure I share your optimism for the opening day nor would I single Isgrove out for praise at this stage, but I think you're spot on with everything else. There's plenty of reasons for the fans to look at this with a 'glass half full' attitude. In my opinion, there's a lot of negative outcries that are simply knee-jerk reactions against what's happening now. Give it time and we'll look back at this experience as a tough one, but a highly beneficial one.

I guess the only consolation is that we wouldn't be hoping to compete with the parent clubs anyway. I'd be raging if we were taking loan players from midtable clubs.

Loans can be extremely beneficial, and if we were to have a player as successful as Lukaku, it'd be even better to have a 'buy' option at the end. For some reason I don't think that would be likely with these two signings.

The board's main failure would be their lack of communication with the fans, but that can be resolved and, to be fair, they managed to obtain excellent prices on all outgoing players. How that money is invested is another question, and the answer to that lies at the end of the transfer window/ season.

Loving the free form nature of OP's post. Very poetic! I also completely agree with it.

I'm sure Guan was hinting at Rojo with his red panda... would certainly be a sign of ambition!

Hang on - he's a second choice right back now. With time, he might be one of the most versatile defenders in a future England set up, that is, if Arsenal don't hinder his career in a way that Saints wouldn't. It's a relatively high risk by Arsenal because he might never fulfil his potential to make a decent return on £16m invested, but by no means is it a ridiculous fee for Chambers. That said, I will also be disappointed if he leaves, but in a way I can't help but feel that if we kept him, we'd be attempting to have our cake while simultaneously eating it. That's just my initial gut reaction, by the way.

Nabil Hassan of the BBC on Twitter: "Callum Chambers to Arsenal is a goer." Cheerio, Chambers!

Not putting much stock into this. What did Koeman say? It's all just rumours...

My opinion hasn't really changed between now and the Swindon game - he's got bags of potential, but not ready for the Prem (and certainly not ready for Liverpool!)

Oh, really? I swear I saw him in the training clips. My mistake, must have been Mayuka..

No Wanyama either. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Looking on the bright side, it might possibly indicate that a replacement has been found.

Ben Smith of the BBC on Twitter: "Southampton defender Dejan Lovren will undergo a medical with Liverpool over the weekend." Bye bye, Dejan!

Woah, why the hostility? It's only my opinion!

Yes, you can see him in the Jack Cork interview video that has just been posted by Southampton's Twitter!