GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS

I swear you could nuke Villa Park and the only thing left would be the cockroaches and Alan bloody Hutton, not a mark on him, stood right in the ash blasted remnants of the centre circle. He is too old, too average and on too much money. To give him a contract extension would be madness, utter, utter madness. I grant you that he puts a shift in and seems to care - and right now, he's a slightly better option than a very average Neil Taylor. But I'm shocked at how much currency that's earnt him with the fans!! His falacies are still there for all to see if you look closely. I'm all for this little swansong and i hope he writes himself into folklore with a promotion winning contribution, but once that's done, it's got to be good-bye.

Bill Oddie?

Sunderland fans' opinion on him seem to be that he's a frustrating player - in that he can be very good, but often comes across as lazy, comparisons to Darren Bent made.

Hmmm, not quite as glamorous a signing as Lamborghini Man or Ferarri Boy, but yes he'd do a job.

Keane is 6 months off being 38 and he's spent the last 5 years in the American retirement league. If he came back to the Championship he'd last 5 minutes before he was blowing out of his arse.

Why are so many people saying we don't need another winger? Other than the two currently starting and Green coming back from injury, who've we got? Yes, we've got players who can fill in there, but nobody else could be classed as a proper winger could they? Seems to me that we could do with atleast one more!

Imagine starting games with Albert and Snoddy then being able to bring Green and Markovic on in place of them for the last half hour of games... They'd rip tired defenders to pieces. In fairness all four rotating would keep them all fresh and stave off tiredness as we get into the business part of the season.

No exactly, and i think that's why we havent gone in for him. Grujic would have been a big upgrade on Onomah though and he'll definately strengthen Cardiff. I thought they'd fade away second half of the season but him and Grabban will be a huge boost.

Grujic going to Cardiff on loan. Gutted. I know we didnt nessessarily need a player in that position, but I think he'll do very well in this league. Edit: @omariqy are you the voice inside my head?

You'd think there would be a tiny bit of him that'd fancy it... Fans love him He knows the club Would bang in goals for fun!

I think what the recent forest game showed is that he's a good 'second half of a game' option, especially when it comes to that DM position. Bring him on against tiring legs and he's very effective. Thing is he needs more minutes than he's currently getting. Personally i'd give him some games at DM against the less physical teams in the division and see how he progresses.

Hang on! Ulloa and Benteke upfront? That's the Bruceball end game right there, the perfect storm, the dinosaurs wet dream!! Samba's not injured, he's just being rested in preparation for their arrival!! They said MSN (Messi, Suarez and Neymar) would never be bettered, but it's time to plug in the USB!!! In fairness it would probably work.

Chun-zoo-bee! Yeah I know, but I felt left out and all the other options were taken.

If we don't care about getting a single % towards his wages, then surely we would just tell him not to come in? It'd be the same thing. Like it or not we're stuck with him, he's our version of Winston Bogarde and so long as he turns up and clocks in on time, does what's in his contract, there's not one thing we can do about it.

Same for me too. Someone said a few pages back that he's the most obvious, no-brainer of a signing that we could ever make (so typically we won't go after him ).

I think two things will change his season... Grealish coming into the starting XI and the addition of Steve Agnew. Grealish running at players, drawing defenders onto him means theres more room for the wide boys to get composed, quality crosses into the box, plus it means more room for Scotty too. Agnew looks like he's having an effect on the way we play already, more attacking forward runing and pressing (as SH mentioned in his interview), which is excatly what Hogan needs to be effective.

I get what you're saying but I really don't think Bruce will think the same way, he rates Whelan and he'll deem him more than good enough as cover for Jedi (which is what I hope he becomes), plus Onomah can also play there if needs be. Last night proved that we have more than enough cover in most positions. Even left back seems sorted now that we have the Scottish Roberto Carlos on top form. Quality over quantity now and that has to come in the form of a big, physical striker who can score as well as hold the ball up. Get that right and we're going up for me.

---------------- Johnstone ------------------- Elmo -- Chester -- Elphick -- Hutton --- Lansbury -- Jedi -- Hourihane --- --------- Onomah -- Grealish ------------ -------------------- RHM ----------------------- Whilst they created and scored the goal against Boro, I thought both Albert and Snoddy had poor games last time out. So just for fun I'm going to go with a suitably festive, Christmas tree formation. No chance in hell it'll happen but I would like to see Bruce come up with a side which employs Grealish and Onomah together in attacking positions. They link up well and clearly enjoy playing together, but there's no chance Bruce will use them both in a 4-4-2 sadly.

Feel a bit better knowing Steer will be next in line rather than Bunn, however I think we'll replace him with another loan if he goes. Jakupovic is currently 3rd choice at Leicester and was signed under Bruce. Think he's be gettable and a quality signing.

The Great Wall What in the world did i just watch??!! So bad i would ordinarily have turned it off after 5 minutes but I had to see it out just for Matt Damon's (non) performance... it's pure hilarity. You can see him dying inside with every scene!! Life Now I wasn't expecting much as i'd seen a few bad reviews, but I quite enjoyed it. Found the dialogue a bit hard to follow at first, but once it settles down it's a decent watch. If I had to sum it up, it's a modern day, poor man's Alien - worth a watch.

I think we'll likely agree a deal to sign him at the end of the loan period - so that it comes out of next years budget.

It's like everything in the world today - take it in isolation and it's quite innocent and harmless, take it in the context of human history and it appears quite different. It's a sad reality but modern society is simply the manifestation of all our previous generation's poor choices. And it doesn't just end with society! It's everything! Christ I can't even drink through a straw these days without someone shoving a picture of turtle with one up it's nose, shouting "save the oceans" at me. We've royally buggered the place up top to bottom! Start the exodous to Mars now... everyone gets there own patch of rocks and a new face.

Can he play upfront?

Isnt that what Moneyball signings are? Players who statistically fit a specific need? I'd say careless, incompetant or lazy are better descriptions for those signings!

Marko Grujic's agent has come out in the press to say that he needs to leave Liverpool on loan in January for another English club. It's a position that we're well blessed in, but I think he'd rip the Championship apart! Another in the Josh Onomah mold, tall and powerful attacking mid, very strong in the air.