El-Reacho

Good point. I would like it if the club engaged a bit more in this type of behavior. We've lacked shrewdness like this throughout the Lerner era. More realistically though I think after January/February Lambert found a formation and starting line up that pretty much worked so was reluctant to change it. Sylla was the only player that has forced his way into the side since then. Pre-season should be fun because I think the likes of Albrighton, Dawkins etc could feature if Lambert trys to change things around a bit.

Don't think we got what we paid for with N'Zogbia, Ireland, Hutton etc.... If Lerner throws another £20m into the kitty plus sales (as he has done most summers) we're in as good a position as any team outside of the top 6 - especially when you consider we've cleared a fair bit of salary space and will probably clear more. Don't think the likes of Fulham, Everton, Stoke, Newcastle etc can afford to increase their salary bills much more than they currently are. We on the other hand will likely be able to. We're miles miles better than Wigan.

2nd against Liverpool the best for me, closely followed by WBA goal.

He was here for the full day. That was it. And back again today. Love it! Can't wait for the summer to kick off now.... Keep in touch TheTrees.

Think it would be like Southampton bidding for Weimann or Grealish - they'd tell us where to go. They're in better financial shape than we are. They're wrapping him in cotton wool until they can cash in big time to City or Utd.

Surely the recent form of both Delph (after nearly four years in the doldrums), and Gabby shows that anyone that as shown some ability has the potential to turn things around - particulalrly under the current regime. There are no issues with his attitude so I reckon Lambert will give a chance next season if he can stay fit.

I think Lambert will identify a big vocal experienced centre half and captain in his early 20's as priority number 1 - he will spend a big chunk of the available cash on this. Similar to how he identified a need for the Benteke type forward last season and kept his cash for him until the last day. Also think this could allow Baker to compete with Bennett at LB where he gives us a lot more solidity.

I think you're exactly right with the values of players we're going to go for. A good centre back can be had for £5m. I like Kjaer (Wolfsburg), de Vrij (Feyenoord), Ecule (Lorient), Okore (Nordsjaelland) There's some left backs out there who could compete with Bennett for £2m. - We're absolutely not going to spend a lot of money in this position. N'Sakala from Troyes who just got relegated from Ligue 1 I think could be good. An attacking midfielder I think will be our biggest outlay and most important signing. Like I've said before I really really like Van Ginkel (Vitesse) if Ajax don't take him. Will Hughes (Derby) I personally think is a better prospect than the often talked about Zaha but he'll cost probably too much than we're willing to pay. Praet (Anderlecht) is a gifted, nimble passer. And one probably not on anyone's radar, has 6 goals and 12 assists in his first season in Austria and has been playing first team football for 3 years - he's only 20. A versatile winger/striker is what I feel is our last need. Someone to spell Gabby and Weimann if they're not in form and what not. Thievy Bifouma (Las Palmas), Nacer Chadli (Twente) and MArius Alexe (dinamo bucharest) are all guys I see moving this summer. Do you happen to have a 12ft satellite dish on your roof? How many sports channels do you have? Thanks for this - would imagine these are the types of names Lambert's looking at. (As in I've never heard of even one of them, except Kjaer)

Seems to be a confidence player - given the season we've just had I'm not surprised Lambert hasn't taken a chance on him. I reckon he'll get a chance next season though. You only have to take a read through the Fabian Delph thread to see how a few games in the side could completely turn things around for him. The ability's definitely there.

Lambert's performance since January has convinced me that he is a top top manager - and balanced out his performance in the first half of the season. I honestly think if Lerner had sacked him in January there's no one that could have kept that squad up. Hopefully Lerner's loyalty will pay of in the long run. Not changing managers this summer will be as good for this club as any signing. Especially when you consider Everton and possibly Stoke will be having to bed in a new managers - Sunderland are unlikely to be pulling up any trees with DiCanio in charge. WBA will not be able to achieve what they did this season again next season IMHO. Reckon Jol might be first to go. We're in a good position to start building the squad and moving up the table.

I'd say every two places would be equivalent to a Paul Lambert lower league signing.

Lambert only buys players on the way up, not the way down. Would be shocked if we bought anyone from QPR. Would deffo take McCarthy and McManaman.

Can't believe Alpay's being proposed for a worst ever Villa PL team. Him and Mellberg were superb together. Villa had one of the best centre halves in Europe after the WC in 2002 and Taylor just black-balled him from the side. We should have supported him then and we should have supported him over the Beckham incident, when we just fell in line with the media and ditched him because he dared challenge the nation's sweet heart. Ronny Johnsen, Ridgewell, Zat Knight, Collins, Dunne, Curtis Davies, Cuellar all worse IMHO - maybe Vlaar/Baker/Clark too but have to give benefit of the doubt as all three could well become extremely good. Also Hendrie was one of our first choice midfielders for 7-8 seasons including when we finished 6-7th for a few years in a row and reached the FA Cup final. You could rhyme off at least 10-15 inferior midfielders we've had to Hendrie. Pretty sure he was player of the year once or twice early on in his career?

LeFondre a great call - We'd be absolutely screwed if Benteke picked up and injury.

Moussa Sissoko is probably not all that he's cracked up to be.

If those "no names" end up being as good as Vlaar, Lowton, Westwood, Benteke and even Sylla, I won't be too disappointed. Oh nor would I, but I'd just like to see us some a few known players to make sure we dont get in a relegation scrap again. I think with a few players, we can finish top 10 and maybe try for europa. Wishful thinking I know. I don't think known players are necessary for a top 10 finish at all. Hell, it's not out of the question that we'll finish top 10 this year! With a few more "unknown" additions of the quality we've had this year, as well as the experience gained by our youngsters, I think top 10 is well within our reach next season. 'Known' players have been a big part of our demise over the last few years. I think better known players in the premier league just aren't Lambert's style. He talks about players with hunger, and those players that have played for the top four clubs don't seem to have the hunger that a 21 year old from the lower leagues or abroad will have. Look at QPR as a prime example. Their best players were Townsend and Remy who both were given their first opportunity in the PL and were determined to take it. 'Known' players bring experience but is no use if they're only after one last big contract. Incidently I've never heard of half that Swansea team last night.

Anyone have any ITK info? I don't mind if it's made up or not.

Lescott seems a logical fit in every way except Lambert doesn't really have any track record of this sort of signing. He's probably thinking why should I break the wage budget to get this guy when I could could just go and get my own Nastasic. Nearly everyone we've signed will at least keep their value in resale (Vlaar perhaps exception) - Lescott would be like Dunne we would have to pay a big transfer fee, big wages, and he would be worth very little after 2-3 years. Sinclair on the other hand seems logical and the local journalists are reporting this too. Hopefully if he has to take a pay cut City will just pay the difference in his wages - think they did this with Given, Dunne, and Ireland in a lump sum.

Would be more than happy to replicate what we did last summer, in which case I can't think of any names to suggest because I will probably have never heard of who we do end up signing... Recognized experienced international in his late 20's - approx. £4m - central midfield (will become vice captain). Unheard of mid 20's player from Holland/Belgium, will turn out to have great stats over last 2-3 seasons - £2.5m - LB Three unheard of 21 year old championship players - £2-3m each. Centre half, creative type, wide attacker. Unheard of beast like, dominant 21 year old from Holland/Belgium/France - £7.5m deadline day signing. Will be CB - must have exotic surname. Will subsequently turn out to be young Player of the year. Perhaps those with ESPN/Football manager could suggest the names? Edit - And all the dross we currently have will be sold too.

I've noticed a huge amount of good will toward this team as opposed to last year when much of the media and other team's fans wanted to see the back of us because we were undoubtedly a wretched side that you couldn't watch if you didn't support. Gary Neville was talking about us last night in terms of the youth in the squad and how this relegation battle is really bringing the players on and giving them invaluable experience. He also said about the Next Gen Champions and the other youth teams and then said - that's why I really want them to stay up. The Guardian also said yesterday about how big a loss to the league it would be if we were relegated. They said if we beat the drop we're likely to be lighting up the division more frequently next season.

To be fair, none of that is true at all. For what you say to be the case, player signings would need to be the only expenditure of the club. The money brought in from those sales went on WAGES. Lots and lots of wages I know I'm being simplistic just to make a point, but we were paying the players that left hefty wages too. I don't know what Barry/Downing/Young etc were on when they were here but it can't have been that much less than what we replaced them with.

We have replaced those players mentioned here. O'Neill brought in Downing with the money he got from the Barry sale. Houllier got Bent, Makoun, and Ireland for the Milner money. Most of last summer's recruits as well as Zog/Given/Hutton were bought from the Young/Downing money. Why should Lerner throw another few tens of millions in on top of that when he's seen how much is being wasted and how much financial trouble the club's in. I'd keep a few quid back for myself too.

Baker's foul very similar to Pogatetz's on Shane Long in the Ireland - Austria qualifier last week (same game that Clark made his mistake).

Grab Anything Association.....

I may be misinformed about this but I've been told that the GAA's behavior over the development of the stadium was disgraceful. They pulled every underhand legal trick and political maneuver they could to make sure Shamrock couldn't build their stadium over the fear that they would lose any talent in Tallaght to soccer. Whilst it was the local club that were the focal point they had the weight of the GAA (and their cash) and all of it's political pals behind them.