Pez1974

^{Good post - I think I like what we have got.}

As VERB27 says if these players can talk to clubs now then why aren't we talking to them. Obviously not the high wage earners but players like:

Turnbull as back up to Guzan

Hangeland

Danny Simpson

Gera

Brunt

Frimpong

Figueroa

Di Santo

All would definitely improve our squad.

They can only talk to clubs in another league with 6 months reminaing on their contract - officially. This is why we knew officially about Holman, but the club could not comment on the above even if we were talking to them.

It is also why you hear about Lampard and Cole maybe talking to PSG, LA Galaxy et al, but the only rumours about them with Premier League clubs is on cut price deals in January.

I have no idea why this rule exists, but it does.

A couple of ITK's mentioning that we want Lescott til the end of the season - personal ITK's rather than general, who often seem to be close to what is upcoming.

I think this would be a top move.

Happy New Year to all VT'ers. And get down the pub!

The guys a monster, is still raw, and is learning very quickly. If we still have him in 2 years time he has either gone off the boil or PL is the new messiah!

The point made earlier about yesterdays first goal's similarity to a similar position against WBA is spot on, although having Andi screaming for the ball in space instead of Bent standing on the penalty spot surrounded by defenders does help!

Carrick and Scholes were quiet today for me, which must be down to Westwood and Bannan mainly. To keep them 2 quiet, you are doing something very good indeed. Another tough couple of games ahead, but these should school them further, and make playing the like of Reading, Norwich, etc seems easier, and let them dominate the midfield in those games.

Blaming him for the 3rd goal yesterday is harsh. Stevens lost the midget, and shoudln't have.

I think KEA will make a lot of progress over the coming months. Many players struggle to make a big impact in the PL in their first season, but then go on once they get used to the pace and find their role. Petrov struggled for the first year; Bale did sod all at Spurs for a couple of seasons (although, he was young). Having said that, I think KEA will become a squad player for much of the season, which is why I got rid of him in my Fantasy League team!

However, at £2.5m and not massive wages, at least this one if it doesn't go right can easily be corrected - unlike Delph, Dunne, Collins, Hutton, Warnock, Heskey ...............

Here you go Paul, have a few of these:

:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Like MON, but with tactics, genius signings and use of subs.

A proper, top classs manager.

Dropping Given for Guzan looks like a genius decision.

Signing Vlaar, KEA, Lowton looks inspired, and Benteke showed some promise today (and hopefully the goal will calm him down). Ca't wait to see the others - Bowery will probably have a dozen goals by May!!!!

In Lambert we trust.

Really excited about this guy.

Likes a tackle, but can pass. Young, but has a fair amount of games - and if you are a lightweight, you wouldn't get very far in Leagues 1 & 2 unless there is something special in your locker - those divisions have [some] guys who can only kick people. Alos being appointed captain (no matter for how long) shows a level of maturity and responsiblity which a few of our youngsters don't have.

I can see this guy and KEA forming a good 'holding' 2, as both can step forward, but they would cover for the FBs who we know PL loves to get forward. Add Delph and Herd into the mix, I think we are fine there, and will get a lot better the more they play.

We'll be bottom half all season, I'm fairly sure of that. Tough to judge the new signings as they are all unknowns, but that in itself brings a degree of excitement. My prediction is that we'll take a few beatings until Christmas - I wouldn't be surprised to see us bottom 5 - but that we'll kick on in the second half of the season and finish 10-14th with reasons for optimism next year. We'll see, but hey, I'm looking forward to it a lot more than last year.

Onwards and upwards!

This. A proper transition year, with the young and hungry making big strides over the next couple of seasons. Whether we can get back into the top 6 will depend upon the application of Financial Fair Play properly, and how much revenue we can bring in, allowing us the additional spend.

Prett optimistic medium term.

Duplicate post. Grrr!

Delighted with this signing. We have got a good player, who will get a lot better IMO. We have (probably) paid a sensible fee, with sensible wages.

We have taken the first choice LB from the 25th best team in the country. He has also been their player of the year, and is still young. For me, this is a lot better than taking the 2nd or 3rd choice LB from (say) the 8th best team in the country, given that nobody seems to be able to name which current PL reserve LB we should be signing. There may be better available in Europe, but I don't know of one, so great signing and in Lambert we trust.

Some of the comments on here beggar belief, simply because I suspect that many have got the "Wikipedia" opinion on him and decided they don't like it.

I lived in Chesterfield for years, it's where my wife is from, and a few of her family and friends are season tickets holders; here's a few facts as they see it:

1. He is young, very fast and filling out a bit

2. His finishing has improved a lot over the past couple of years, but still needs work

3. His first touch is not as bad as many people think, but it needs work

4. His scoring record isn't as bad as many think - he started in the first team at 17, and a lot of his 'appearances' were as a sub, often for a few minutes at the end of the game.

5. They think his actual scoring record is 12 goals in 28 starts last season; 17 in 42 starts in total

Personally, I think this is the sort of singing the club should always be making. If he has some of the raw attributes, our coaches will be able to help, as they had bloody well be a lot better than a League 2 teams coaches! And if the manger see's something in him he likes, great.

He is relatively cheap, and his wages will be modest. If we sign a few like this and only 1 or 2 come off, we are quids in.

This is what Spurs were doing a few years ago, and ended up with Dawson, Lennon, Andy Reid, Huddlestone, K Walker, K Naughton, even Defoe (first time around) plus a few that didn't come off and I can't remember. The crux is that the outlay on these we relatively low compared to their current value; it has saved them a fortune and given them a CL calibre squad.

Finally, if anybody really thinks that Lambert and Faulkner are focusing on signing this guy at the expense of making the signing upfront that most of us agree is required, in my opinion, they are bonkers. Sid's probably handling this!

Lecture over. And sorry to the sane amongst us.

I have no idea what he is like, having never seen him play. Don't even know if he is the battering ram type player, if he has pace, or whether he is more of a 'number 10'.

Would still prefer him to Kevin Doyle though!!

Positives - he would probably be cheap and his wages would be comparatively low; he is young; quite big too.

Negatives - not exactly prolific, even in a poor-ish league.

It's gotta be bollocks.

There is no way Everton need someone like this, especially as they have just signed Mirillias.

It might be the sort of singing wer would make to get numbers and experience in the squad, but not even for the £4 or 5m mentioned elsewhere. A freebie, or notional cash only.

Frankly, if the Fonz cannot offer as much as this guy, he needs to be flogged too.

There has got to be 1 or 2 players on the continent who deserve a chance for this sort of money, on less wages, and would bust a gut for the club - and probably do well too.

Faulkner is clearly an intelligent guy, with good business nouse - you don't attract the attention of someone like Randy without a very good skill set. However, and as we all know, his knowledge of football was pretty low when he joined, and his first year or so left an awful lot to be desired.

But.... over recent months you can see how much he has developed.

I have seen a number of interviews with him on the BBC and SSN, so he is getting the fact that the club needs to talk to the fans. And when he does, he is sensible, articulate and professional - unlike a lot os club spokesman you see.

The commercial side of the club has clearly improved under his stewardship.

And finally, the appointment process of the new manager is a huge improvement on the debacle of a year ago - not only in the person appointed, but in the way it was conducted.

Overall, although I would still like to see a football man at the top of the club to provide him with any assistance he needs, and preferably a Villa man, I think we now have a young(ish), talented, and committed man at the top, who will continue to improve the way the club is run, and provides a vital link to the man who owns the club.

From an employment law perspective - I believe that PL had a fixed term contract, therefore if he didn't honour it, NCFC would be entitled to compensation, from him. PL's resignation from a fixed term contract is, I think, pretty irrelevant. Remember, these guys do not have employment contracts like you and me - where we can resign and leave after, say, a months notice.

However, if he had a clause in his contract allowing him to breach it in certain circumstances (and subject to any compensation agreement), and NCFC didn't honour this - i.e. if another Premier League club wanted to speak to him - then any tribunal may decide that NCFC were in breach first.

With regarding Culverhouse and Karsa, the rumour is that 1 or both have fixed term contracts to 30 June, after which they are free to leave, or sign an extended contract.

However, as a final point, virutally all of this is speculation over the details of 3 peoples contracts of employment - and much like the MON issue, all of this is simply guesswork as we just don't know!

Tend to agree with this.

QPR got trashed, and will get nothing out of Man City, so they can only get 37 points, and will have a worse goal difference.

Blackburn are too far behind considering they go to Chelsea on the last day, and the Spuds today - they need at least 4 points from those 2 games, evn if they beat Wigan to overhaul us.

I think we are safe enough, but expect us to finish 17th - which is just shite.

Terrible news.

Get well soon Stan - you're a fighter.

A rye smile when I read that we sent our scout to watch a player who was on the bench!

Probably harsh, and probably bollocks!

Van Basten

Most likely is Man Citeh. I don't think Man Ure will want him after his performance at the Barca games recently - I don't like them but they aspire to some class.

Spurs could be the dark horse option?

As an accountant, it is perfectly possible that the £12m includes McLeish compensation - they would have known it was coming so would have made an accrual for it, and given it was agreed shortly afterwards, the accrual would almost certainly be for the actual amount. In fact, if nothing is included for McLeish, something would be very wrong indeed.

No. Terrible football and terrible results.

Look at what the likes of Lambert, Rodgers, Pardew, Moyes can achieve on very little - just good managers, not big names. Big Eck just ain't up to it for me - although I am starting to like the bloke himself!

I assume we have, but is there solid confirmation on us having simply paid up the remainder of his contract?

Purely a guess, but I expect we have paid him most of what he would earn, him taking a hit for the ability to go to a club as a free agent and get wages that way. If we have paid him in full when we could have sent him out on loan and recovered some of the wages, someone needs shooting.

Where's my gun!

Can I just say he certainly wasn't one of the worst full backs we've had in the last 10 years. He did have some good games for us.

However he's a symbol of the bad points to Mon's management. Why sign a 32 year old on 40k a week when Luke Young was at the club and then it was decided that Cuellar would play most of the season at RB anyway.

This 100%