nobler

beause he virtually states in every single interview that he wants to come back to the prem

Why would he do this? 'Going for the cheap option' wouldn't make any sense whatsoever. In comparison to player fees and wages management hardly compare, yet is the most important area of the team. I have faith the board will make the right decision. It's almost like people think the board is completely skint, in absolute financial meltdown and the end of the world is nigh, it's really not the case. A line was just drawn with O'neill's spending, which simply had to be done considering our losses last year.

Jol was my first natural thought. I really believe he'd do a good job here, work well with the current crop of youngsters and above all, he just seems like a decent bloke.

I think Big Ron has genuinley lost the plot. He's suggested Candleface or Allardyce

News on SSN. O'Neill is 11/10 on being the first Prem manager to leave job. Was 14/1 this morning. Interesting.

Bored of being kicked in the balls

I think it's probably more down to the fact that O'Neill still doesn't seem to show signs of changing the way he approaches the transfer window, it frustrates the hell out of people. I think people would like to believe that, after four previous summers of generally bringing in players late that there are still no signs of attemping to get the targets he wants in early, gives the squad the best, most organised pre-season possible and going into the first game of the season with a squad that's prepared fully for the new season and not losing silly games against poor european clubs/wigans, etc. Personally, i know O'Neill won't change and i'm not too concerned about the way he deals in the transfer market. I'm sort of playing devils advocate. In this particular window though I honestly believe alot of agents are holding back, the world cup does complicate matters and i think we're holding out for the right Milner deal before given the go ahead on two or three potential targets.

There's a million ways around it. Even if it was legal, we would see a crazy rise in personal sponsorships and agents having a field day with various signing on fee's and clauses. The best players in the world, who are best at their profession will always demand the highest fee's, this happens in almost every multi million turnover industry. Personally, i think financially it would be way more messy and corporate than it already is

I would say that he is overrated but that doesn't mean that i think any less of him for his ability, which he obviously has alot of. However, when compared to Messi and Ronaldo, you're talking about two players who could at this moment in time be considered two of the greatest players to ever play the game, Rooney isn't anywhere near this yet, whereas Messi and Ronaldo live for the big games and revel in them, Rooney seems to have issues dealing with them. Regardless of his international career, i remember certain big Man.utd games where he hasn't really stepped up and taken charge of a game and shown the world what he is capable of, he just looks moody and gets bothered by the situation too much. I'd say he is overrated basically because we are desperate to just label an English player world class. I think he has the ability to become a legend of the game but at this moment I think we make too much of his perfomances against average teams week in week out.

Dunno if anyone can help me out with this. Does anyone remember a childrens bbc series from the late 80's where some guy had a t-shirt with a tiger on it and the tiger came alive? That's about as much as my memory serves me. I have no idea what the tiger did, whether it gave him special powers or not, it's just something that's bugging me and I dunno where to start my search.

Check City's site and you can see that press conference in full. A journalist asked if he was interested in signing Lescott and he answered something along the lines of "well, it's not really up to me, but if Lescott became available then we'd be interested as I think he's a good player". He was asked this AFTER we already had a bid rejected from Everton. It's hardly tapping people up is it? Also, I can probably point to 50 examples of other managers doing exactly this. What about ol' Harry over at Spurs and his penchant for shouting about how players are 'triffic players who I'd love to work with' despite them playing for other clubs? As I say, this is a common thing in any press conference. Dude in all respect, we all remember those press conferences on SSN, they even had managers at the time like Sam Alladyce commenting on how bad it was, of course they are gonna edit them on the city site to make Hughes and City look like saints, don't insult our intelligence.

Yes, I don't see a single transfer where we have done anything wrong. I'd be open to hear any accusations that you can level, as long as you keep the tabloid crap out of it. Hughes openly talking about Lescott for a start before he signed is wrong. Indeed, Hughes specifically talked about how much he rated Lescott and how well thought he'd fit in before he even signed, it was a horrendous way to go about business, I really felt for David Moyes and it did totally disrupt Evertons early season plans. I would image similar tactics to new potential signings.

Damocles, a genuine question. Do you honestly, in your wildest dreams believe that your club is going about it in the right way as concerned to transfer dealings? Surely, you can't be happy with the unsettling, bullying tactics? It's just awful.

This is ace

Like everything, it's ultimately the players decision. I think Jimmy's head is screwed on enough to realise he has the potential, eventually, to move to a proper football club, with class, history and a genuine chance of maintaining status at the highest level, not some phase at a second rate football club.

I hate modern day football. I feel sick

Goldfish are from the same family of fish as carp.

I don't remember us making internet posters claming him to be number 1. I think the majority of us were happy when he signed because he came off the back of an excellent season at Charlton and broke into the England squad. However, most of us saw through him after a few games and saw that he wasn't particulary confident, didn't have the condifence of his defence and looked very dodgy on crosses.

By their logic, any English goalkeeper that plays for them is Englands number 1, regardless of whether they actually are or not, and in this case neither Hart or Foster are first choice. Bizarre way to look at things but keeps them happy, I suppose.

Just seen this branded around Facebook, don't think i've ever seen anything so cringeworthy in my life.

It appears that Barca have signed Villa for 34.5 million. BBC Edit: Ooops apologies, didn't see it in the spanish thread.

Although i dislike the man, I think Ashely Cole could potentially have a massive impact on the tournament. He's pretty immense when he wants to be and his form is pretty good at the moment.

James Milner, obviously...

Maybe a slight exaggeration but i agree, as would most people in world football that Iniesta is the better player, it's just phenomenal how little he gives the ball away and how much he makes work from such tight situations. Fabregas plays with a differen't personality though, he's a leader with a driving force, maybe they are thinking about a long term replacement for Xavi. I have no doubt that he will settle, but the personality clashes might be interesting to see.