FernandoNelson

As i'm on a day off:

Beyond Belief - Elvis Costello (class)

I missed this earlier. Good thoughful post. I agree with where you're coming from.

Good to see it's 182 againest 42 in favour of the Believers thus far. Restores my faith in these boards a little bit.

I remember everybody was very happy when DOL signed the likes of Hughes, Bouma, Taylor, Phillips, Berger, Bakke (Loan) & Milner (Loan) a couple of years ago. Lots of players, but did it improve the team. Absolutely not, in fact we got worse. I believe everybody MON has brought in as 1st choice players so far (Carew, Petrov, Young & NRC) has improved the team & i don't see that changing.

Hi General,

The Holte Hotel looks fantastic from the photos on the official site. One minor point though, are there any plans to remove the rather ugly (& very bent) metal railings on the footpath in front of the Hotel which spoil an otherwide magnificent view.

Happy 4th of July.

I expect a few more to come out of the woodwork and post something opposite, just for the fun of it!

I hope you're not suggesting that just because some of us don't spend all day & all night posting on this forum means we are all of a sudden coming out of the woodwork.

Doyle = 1 season wonder!

Jez_Villa can see into the future now. Aren't you forgeting he made a little bit of a contribution to their promotion season too. Or does the championship just not count anymore with some people?

Wasnt that the West Spam match Nelson

Nope, Everton away. 4-4-2 with Petrov on the left & Gabby on the right. Petrov played in exactly the same role Berger played in towards the end of the season. Starting position on the left but drifting all over the place in front of the midfield two.

Think MON may play him on the left wing with Barry inside him allowing Sneijder to play more freely (very similar to Berger and Maloney did at the end of the season)

I actually think that's the role MON has earmarked for Petrov next season. He played in exactly that position away to Everton earlier last season with McCann & Osbourne in the middle & played excellently that day, getting great praise from MON after the game.

I know Im being facetious here, but are you really claiming Koumas will have the same impact at VP as Roy Keane had at ManUre?

Don't be silly, just making the point that because a team was relegated dosen't always tell the whole story.

I think Koumas would be a good signing to add to an already talanted bunch of midfield players & wingers. I'm not saying he should be a certain starter but i do think he would add something a little different to the squad.

I really don't understand the fascination with buying players from clubs who went down

Lucky Alex Ferguson didn't apply that rule when he signed Roy Keane then. As for me, i'd definitely take a chance with Koumas. Saw him several times last season & he was always a class above everyonce else on the pitch at that level. Thought he was excellent for the Welsh againest the Czech's at the weekend also.

Or David O'. Dreary having one last laugh at our expense?

In fact the light on the back of his skull comment could equally apply to this feck wit too!

Hilarious.

Maybe it was Staunton and the twinkle was actually the light hitting the very back of his skull.

Are you Eamonn Dunphy in disguise? Any ememy of his is a friend of mine.

A little Irish fella with a twinkle in his eye

Bertie Aherne?

The summer transfer window officially opens tomorrow, june 1st. I confidently expect several new signings to be announceed by noon.

I generally take a look at this thread once a day & all i ever see is the same 5 or 6 posters bickering over the same nonsense all of the time & a succession of one or two line smart-alec posts. Have you guy's (& you know who you are) nothing more interesting to do with your time?

Do we really want a player who is attracting the attention of Bristol City!!

There is nothing anywhere to suggest Bristol City are interested in Naismith. The only reason the name is mentioned is because their manager happened to be at the same match as MON. He could have been looking at anybody or nobody.

Don't forget againest Blackburn, Wigan & Middlesboro recently Agbonlahor played the main striker role with Maloney just behind him to great effect.

the holding role

Most teams that play 4-4-2 don't have a designated holding player. I watched Gardner & Barry very closely in the last two games & both of them switched between defence & attack at will depending on where the other one was, much like the way Sidwell & Harper did for Reading. Gardner, Barry & Petrov have attacking & defensive qualities, unlike McCann & Davis who have either one or the other.

Just sign Jagielka. He solves both our right-back and sub-goalkeeping problems

and centre back & defensive midfielder, two positions he's also filled with distinction for Sheffield United.

So because Gardner has had a few good games (we finished 11th mind) and finished a volley like Lampard does, we shouldn't be buying a new central midfielder?

The purchase of a new centre midfielder depends almost entirely on where MON sees Gareth Barry playing next season. A few months ago i thought a centre midfield player was an absolute priority when our options were McCann, Davis & Petrov. If our options for next season were Barry, Petrov & Gardner (whilst still potentially having McCann & Davis aswell), i don't see the centre midfield slot as one MON needs to fill, especially when the names bandied about are Barton, Sidwell & Reo-Coker, all inferior midfield players to Barry as far as i'm concerned.

Actually something in his game tells me that he's a lot better than Davis. Never been totally convinced by Davis whilst Gardner is looking more like it IMO.

Physically, Gardner has a lot more about him than Davis, which whether we like it or not, is extremely important in today's premiership. Technically, i didn't think he was as good as Davis but having wtached him closely home & away over the past few weeks i've come around to the view i was totally wrong on that one.

Would be very happy to sign all of those but we would still need a right back!

Neil Warnock has suggested that Phil Jagielka could eventually replace Gary Neville at right back for England so he can certainly play there as well as other positions. I watched the Villa v Sheffield United game again last night & although i didn't really notice it at the time, Jagielka was far & away thier best player at right back.

Boruc

Distin

Jagielka

Bent

Reo-Coker

I agree with this except for Reo-Coker. Barry's move into the middle of the pitch & the emergence of Graig Gardner as a midfielder of substance (no matter his age, he physically bossed Bolton's midfield giants around for long stages on saturday) leads me to believe that central midfield will not be a priority for MON.

(Edit: just to add that if we did sign Jagielka, he would provide central midfield backup aswell as the ability to play right back & central defender)

My one major disagreement is over your view of Craig Gardner, imo he is going to be the next big icon at VP. He has loads of technical ability and the heart and soul of an Ian Taylor (that was one of my "three in the morning" ramblings.)

Having seen 6 of his last 7 games live i agree totally with this. A real star in the making.