StanBalaban

IF we are in for him, then I'm sure its because PL has seen something in him. I'll mention again that Everton have players like Gibson that were shouted down on here when linked to us. IF we are after Spearing, I'm sure he wouldn't cost too much or be at the expense of anyone else.

Why what time is kick off? About 10 minutes after the window closes? Ive completely missed both your attempts at sarcasm. Just incase you're having trouble undertanding my post, im saying that the transfer window closes at 23:00 BST on Friday, thus when people wake up on Saturday and read the papers or watch Sky Sports News, they will be dissappointed at the quality/amount of signings. Clear enough? Or shall i draw you both a picture? I for one would like to see you explain that in picture format.

Robert Carlos Let's hope so!

Hahaha CI and the Nzonzi obsession, to be honest i know nothing about him is he really that good though? I think he's coming to villa judged by the below pic CI has him held at gunpoint

Oh Carbone, the memories... I can still see his name flash in the good old CM text message when I close my eyes. Carbone Good times.

CI shoots James Milner (in the bum) as he dares to get near his beloved Steven N'Zonzi!

Me too. Hoping they're not counting the young lad from Chesterfield as the striker though...

The option to buy would be better, but how is having an asset for a whole season a waste of time when people decide to panic after 2 games?

Coleman, Arteta, Naismith, Baines, Beckford, Cahill and Jagielka didn't exactly come from footballing powerhouses you know mate. Not once have I said we need to go out and spend a fortune signing establish big name players. But so far after an abysmal start we have signed a young kid from the championship. I don't care how much they cost, and to an extent where they are from as long as they are good enough to improve us. The problem is though at the moment we need some quality to come in straight away, not just players who have fantastic potential. I know what you're saying, but we've got a couple more to come in I reckon, plus some to come back too. Give Lambert a bit of time to have the Moyes effect and, whilst I don't think we'll be ripping up many trees this year, I think we'll be fine and have a good base to build on next year. This is not directed at you John btw, but how many on here would moan if we had signed those Everton players listed? When linked with Gibson this place was full of ridicule for instance. When questioning why we're not necessarily in for the likes of Berbatov for instance, could it be because it's Lambert's choice not to go after him, not just Lerner being tight. There's a lot to be said for a tightly-knit, well balanced squad working hard for each other.

How on Neptune do you work that one out? Season before last his performances earned him a move to Inter. At Inter he barely got a chance to feature, playing in less than a third of the league campaign yet when he did he still managed to score goals and create chances. Hmmm, a logical and rational post on VT?

Coleman, Arteta, Naismith, Baines, Beckford, Cahill and Jagielka didn't exactly come from footballing powerhouses you know mate.

If we sign some quality players I won't ignore them. Currently there are very little positives. But that's ok because Everton are doing well this year. Everton have got some quality players, thats why they are doing well. Everton have got quality in Fellaini, Jelavic and Baines, but they have a team that plays well for their manager made up of Coleman, Osman, Gibson, Hibbert and Neville. We have some good players too remember. Bent, Ireland, Zoggy, Gabby are not without their assets. Add Vlaar and Kea plus the promise of Weimann, Bennett, Herd and Baker. We may not have a Fellaini yet, but if PL can get his team to gel like Moyes has then we'll be fine for mid table. From there we can look to build again.

First day of the season away to a horrible West Ham side with a bunch of players who have hardly played together. At home to a buzzing Everton with the wrong team selection, its got nothing to do with just Joe Bennett solving it, its about getting team selection right to compete with Everton but that was never going to happen with some of the players picked and where they played. And guess what theres a good chance we will get beat this weekend but that still wont mean we are going to get relegated but no doubt a load of people will shit their pants over it. Good post Houlston. I think Everton are a good example of being notoriously poor starters in the past, yet we don't seem to see their fans shitting themselves. Their start in 2010 - 2011 was atrocious, yet they finished seventh. Everton results I wonder if their fans kicked up a stink when Moyes got players in his team Cahill, Beckford, Hibbert, Phil Neville.... Remember the shit on here when we were linked with Darron Gibson?

2 days and a January window if I'm going to be pedantic. :winkold:

Great minds isgill88!

If we do bring in Stephens I would say that Lambert is sticking to his original game plan, as this wouldn't be the sort of reaction buy associated with our current position.

I think it's because Milner did what anyone would do, go to a side capable of challenging (successfully) for silverware whilst getting a huge payrise. He also gave everything for Villa in both his spells whilst leaving us with a nice transfer fee. Downing on the other perhaps owed us one at least one more season after we took him on with a broken leg. Add to that the infamous photo and doing a u-turn on his previous comments about staying at the club, plus he was a pussy in the challenges, overshadow his excellent form and the money we got for him. People just took to Milner and he was justified in making his move. Downing is now looking a little red faced, but I'd still have him back here cos he's a fine player and would improve the service to Bent massively.

Again, I know I'm someone who's quick to look for the positives, but I don't think it's an unreasonable hypothesis to suggest Lambert wanted to come in take a look and give the current players time in the system too. He bought some essential players early on and had others in mind, perhaps happy to wait and see if other players could be shifted first, whilst letting these players have a go in the opening games so far, now that he has seen a couple of signs of what needs to be done, he's prepared to move a bit faster. That's just one view, and please no sarcastic responses of "omg you'd defend randy if he shat on you" type responses, that's just to my mind a fairly plausible scenario that doesnt need to invite dramatic concerns about 'backing' just yet. I think that's more than fair a hypothesis Rodders. As we have no idea of what Lambert had been promised and his original views on who to get over this transfer window, no matter what new faces we get they will always be viewed a "panic buys" by many.

Heard any news on this mate?

Good thing is he opted to play international football for Belgium, not DR Congo, so no need to worry about losing him to the African Cup of Nations.

Nothing wrong with signing players from the lower leagues. If Lambert has identified him, then he's obviously done enough to catch his attention. At the end of the day he hasn't just plucked him out of thin air. As many have alluded to, players like Ashley Young, Kyle Walker, Adam Johnson and much of Swansea were all from the Championship.

I'm surprised a pair of novices like Moyes and Lambert have no idea what to expect from Kevin Doyle. :winkold:

Viewing players in pre season and training is very different to viewing them in competition. This is especially so for Lambert as the whole team is new to him. Just a theory, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lambert has used the firt two matches almost as sacrificial lambs in the hope of testing the merits of certain players whilst the window is still open. No other reason I can think of for not choosing a similar team to West Ham other than to observe players like Delf, Bannan, Herd over Weimann, Ireland and Delph. Off the back of this, expect PL to be very clear about what he needs to add to the squad. (answer: a lot)