FernandoNelson

Surely Big Sam won't sell Parker and if he is, surely we have to be in there?!

I'm not so sure. Prior to Gareth Barry moving into centre midfield i would have agreed with you. But having seen all is performances in the centre since half time againest Everton & with the emergence of the excellent Craig Gardner over the last 7 games, i've never been more convinced that we don't need to strengthen the middle of the pitch as much as we do up front & at the back. I watched the Sheffield United game again last night & apart from Barry's tremendous performance, two things stood out for me:

1. Craig Gardner's all round performance as a box to box midfielder.

2. Phil Jagielka's performance at right-back for Sheffield United. I didn't notice him at the time but he was by far & away their best player & at 24 would be perfect for us.

This is really, really getting boring. Just pointscoring all the time.

Totally agree & generally the same posters to.

Jagielka is exactly the type of player i expect MON to be interested in. Young, talented and not massively overpriced.

And a tremendous attitude. Was very suprised to see he's only 24 years old. Can play right-back, centre-back & defensive midfielder. Hughes, Ridgewell & McCann's replacement all in one.

This is quite simply the funniest thread i've ever had the misfortune to stumble across.

I would say we will probably sign (or attempt to sign) one of either Bellamy, Bent or Defoe. If i were a betting man, i'd be putting my money on Bellamy & not just because he is the only one of the three i've actually heard MON commenting on positively in recent times.

Sidwell - Model proffesional, but will he be a one season wonder?

Don't forget he was the best player BY FAR in last year's championship aswell.

I went to the Albion game with a friend on tuesday night & to be fair a weakened Albion team played a full strength Boro off the park for 60 minutes with as good a display of attacking football as i've seen from any team this season. The main reasons were the performance of Koumas playing just behind a lone striker & to a slightly lesser extent, Gera on the right. I wouldn't say no to either of them.

We are not experts

You've hit the nail on the head there.

From the generals later post, I get the hint that Celtic may be after a stupid fee for Maloney and we are refusing to be held to ransom.

In other words, the type of deal that generally goes through at 11.59pm.

Maybe not one for this transfer window, but has anybody seen anything of Derby's Giles Barnes?

Well Radio 5 live made a big deal about him not being in Derby's 16 man squad last night. Saw him play live for Derby againest West Brom at the Hawthorns recently & he looked really sharp. Actually played wide on the left that day.

If Hendrie really has gone or is about to go (whether it's a loan or otherwise), MON must surely have a replacement lined up. He specifically said earlier in the week that Hendrie's possible departure depended on somebody coming in. MON has certainly seen Albion enough times this season & Koumas has been far & away their best player. You never know.

Enforced by working under Ellis.................

Exactly.

I thought young was for the right wing.........???

Young is a forward player who can play in a number of attacking positions. I'm sure Youngs versatility is one of the reasons MON brought him to the club. He'll probably play right midfield/right winger most of the time, but depending on who the opposition are, not always.

For example, in last seasons play off final, he played just behind Marlon King through the middle whilst Darius Henderson, who normally played alongside King, played on the right. Againest Villa earlier this season, he played on the right side of midfield in the first half but was pushed up front for the second, a half which Watford dominated.

Gattuso's wife is Scottish so i suppose a move to the premiership can never be ruled out at some stage.

Green - Sorenson

Neill - Bardsley

Spector - Bouma/Barry

Davenport - Mellberg

Ferdinand - Laursen/Cahill/ Ridgewell

You honestly think that theyre defence is better than ours ?

To be fair, you'e failed to mention Gabbidon (last year;s player of the year) & Paul Konchesky, two of last years 1st choice back 4.

Surely we could match that and get a world class right back who can play centre. I know im bias but hes brilliant.

Lucas Neill is a good player but calling him world class is a tad bit over the top.

i met his uncle on holiday in egypt this year (well he told me he was) so i had no reason to disbelieve him, and he said hed never be able to set foot back on merseyside cos hed get ripped to shreds, cos his family are all rotten to the core and real lowlifes of liverpool...........

His uncle obviously doesen't think much of himself then.

If £10M is the price & MON wants the player, that's the price he's got to pay. United paid way over the odds for Carrick, but i'm sure you won't hear many United fans complaining about the price if he helps them win the league this season.

but I'd hate to miss out like we did when Newcastle signed Les Ferdinand instead of us in the 90's.

I agree, although we were compensated for the loss by getting Southgate, Draper & Milsosevic with the money earmarked for Ferdinand.

and even now it seems can't prove the complete validity of their finance until next week

Surely this is an important point. If everything was in place, why not make the bid this week?

No need for the personal attacks guys

To be fair, that's a response to an attack of sorts.

I was replying to a comment by fernandonelson that these quotes attributed to AV06 came from the Lerner camp. I can assure you they did not.

Was just throwing that into the mix. Don't actually believe it for a moment.

If Lerner's PR from the very start is as good as PB suggests it is, is there any possibility that these unattributed noises are actually coming from Lerner's camp to discredit AV06 in the eyes's of the fans. The quotes just seem to have to many holes in them for my liking.

DOL could only spend the money given to him, on players that were sanctioned by the board.

When he was sacked they were in the upper echelons.

Agreed. Was at Elland Road when O'Leary went back with Villa & the reception he got from the home crowd was excellent. For all his faults at Villa (& there were many), it's to easy to forget that his 20 year career as a player & his first 3 years as a manager were faultless. Leeds were top of the league in his 4th season when Woodgate & Bowyer went out that sunday night. Leeds & O'Leary have never really recovered from the fallout.

Well, it's 8.52am US east coast time. What time does Randy get into the office at? Can we expect a formal bid at 9.00am?