sharkyvilla

I don't think that many of us have seen a lot of him other than at the Euros, where the Dutch defended really poorly and he didn't shine himself. We'd be foolish to judge him on that though. Collins and/or Dunne need removing and I think this is an excellent deal on paper. Just hope everyone holds their nerve and the deal gets done.

I don't think we could attract any other £20m striker to the club tbh. Maybe a couple of cheaper ones but if Lambert really rates Carroll then Randy has to trust his judgement. It will probably mean that the rest of the Downing payment will effectively be getting paid off in one lump rather than over the next couple of years, giving Lambert a bit more in the transfer kitty this summer, with only what, £5m-£10m actual cash outlay to sign him. I doubt he will take a wage cut but if he is going to be first-team regular and is only early 20s then he'd be worth it as much as Bent is.

I'd like us to have signed Bruma. Bit wasted on another loan to Germany.

was Hargreaves not on one at City? Woodgate was on one last season at Stoke and actually managed to play about 18 games (though he was mostly garbage at right-back). If Owen could play 18 games then he'd probably score 3 times as many goals as Gabby in a whole season. If the deal is right then I can see its merits.

Nice stuff ajax-fan. Overall I'd be very happy if this comes off. Age, experience and price are all great. Get him signed!

William Gallas

I'm surprised he didn't gain dual nationality having played in France for 10 years. No work permit needed then.

As for Carroll, he'd have to take a pay cut to come here permanently I would have thought, and the loan deal doesn't seem to be that attractive either. Having Ireland's mentalness at the club is bad enough.

You recon? Looks a lot older, darker, Spanish/Portuguese looking rather than blondish and Dutch like Luuk De Jong. If the other guy is Ramis, that other guy is probably his agent. I don't think it's Ramis but doing a google search, the other guy definitely doesn't look like his agent. Just a random couple of blokes.

The school must have known his character and whether he was likely to do **** all so I'd blame them, though I guess they have to try and give everyone a placement regardless of their attitude. I think you were just unlucky and like someone else said, next year you could get a real diamond. Stick with it, if they do bugger all and just leave after 2 days then you haven't really lost that much. My work experience was great. My brother got me in at his place in the marketing department in a pharmaceutical firm. I was a really shy kid so it took me a while to find my feet but it helped me hugely. We also spent our lunchtimes playing Duke Nukem on the network and I actually god paid, which I spent on my first ever Championship Manager game. Changed my life.

I signed Gilles Grimandi (former Arsenal player, I assume he is one of their scouts) as a scout who is expert in North African football. Only just sent him out there so don't know what he is able to unearth. I'm shit at the game so am Barca - getting Messi to sign a new contract was a right pain in the arse. I was trying for 2 years to give him a new contract and at the start of his last year he wanted £415k a week and the board would only let me give him £275k, so had to give him another £275k appearance bonus, £200k scoring bonus, 20% yearly pay increase and £2.8m for getting 20 league goals, of which he scored 43 last season. I'm going to end up spending about £40m a year just on him ffs.

I'm not so sure, he isn't going to oust Ashley Cole anytime soon and his selection at left-wing for the CL final was a one-off. Playing as a first-choice left-back in the Prem has to be a pretty attractive proposition for him. Sturridge on the other hand would see it as a backward move to come here and may demand to be our top earner to even consider it.

I wouldn't say nowhere near first team level, they have shown in a few games that they don't look out of place. What they lack is consistency which isn't surprising as they've been thrown into a team on the decline. I hope Lambert will use them next season. Overall I'm fairly positive, I feel we've got the next best thing to Moyes and look forward to see him shape the club in his own way.

I've never heard of him either but welcome to the club.

Delighted we've got him back. Basically replacing him with a similar quality keeper on a free would have been difficult. Good bit of business.

I think it needs a mix. We have failed epically signing Premiership cloggers for the last few years so I'd quite like to see who Lambert can attract through a whole summer and what kind of revolution he brings. What I do know is that nobody has any idea who is on his transfer target list and the speculation is a load of bollocks, much like the manager search was. Looks like Kendrick will get drip fed bits when needed by the club.

They have an unparallelled stream of talent that puts them into a different league for me. The fact that the Bilbao team destroyed Utd over two legs, full of Spanish-qualified talent where only 2 players made the squad and only one played a few minutes, partly illustrates it. Also the side that won the under 21 Euros was unbeliavable too, with the likes of Thiago and Muniain likely to go from strength to strength over the next few years. Added to the domination of the current first team and the average age of about 27, they should go on to win the next couple of tournaments too. Utter brilliance in every department.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg

Nice start to the window. Welcome lad.

Cheese and marmite roll, bag of crisps and cake (alternates between iced bun, muffin and treacle tart) for me usually, though the canteen does a magnificent chicken madras and rice for 2 quid on a Friday

The sad thing was that in the warm-ups I thought Young was our brightest player. Then the tournament started and he was utter shite, whether he got the hump at being put out wide from the second game or not I don't know. Young blasting it down the middle and hitting the bar and Pirlo's deft chip down the middle typified the ultimate difference between the two teams. I think he is still a good player with a future for England.

I have a soft spot for him too, and one-liners in general. I don't really like comics who base their entire shows on offending people or their own racial stereotypes. I agree with those who find Russell Howard insufferable

I would only have sold him if Dalglish was still at Liverpool and he felt like wasting another £15m. Bent's right, the key to our immediate future is continuing to get the best out of Ireland (as well as fixing the defence).

I'm sure Randy would have made that abundantly clear to him in the interview/courtship that any funds will need to be spent in that way. He'll want the Milner/Young/Downing type of signings that get you fighting for Europe and can flog at £10m profit rather than the Heskey £50k a week being blown for 4 years kind of signing. Tough ask but achievable for someone with Lambert's talent.

Surely if Birmingham have any sense they'll make Butland first choice if he's that good. Staying and doing an apprenticeship for a couple of seasons there would be a good move for him as well