KitKat

I would agree all our new signings look to be doing well. Usual suspects letting us down a bit. I think if this gets to HT @ 0-0 then it's going to be down to which manager makes the better changes.

Oh great I didn't know Stoke had signed Sidwell. Get a bet on him for the winner then...

We don't have anyone in midfield to link the play to Gabby as of yet. Andi and Zog been a bit anonymous, most of our play coming from long balls up the middle.

**** hell Charles. Waste of a corner.

Andi lucky to win a corner there I think. Looking a bit sluggish.

I think we knew Stoke would come out flying here and we've absorbed it all so far. We're getting in to the game more and more now as its started to settle down.

If there is one thing Stoke can deal with its balls over the top. Better delivery from Westwood from the free kick though.

Good play from Richardson though.

Oh my **** god.

Stokecelona

Arnautovic has the swagger and confidence of a much better footballer than he actually is.

It kind of looks as though were ready to burst forward in numbers from midfield with Gabby holding the ball up a bit. It's hard to tell though since we've not done a lot yet. Good defending by Cissokho there though, made Bojan look like a child.

I remember our terrible 0-0 with these @ VP either last season or the one before...I'd probably take that right now as sad as that sounds. We never do well against Stoke, not since their most recent promotion.

Welcome Sanchez, time to dish out some knuckle sandwiches! I'm confident this guy will be a good signing for us. Lambert's track record when spending more than £3m is pretty good, therefore he must be good. I'm pretty sure that science.

We need to find that fat scouser who took his photo after he fell over the advertising hoardings against Liverpool. He hasn't been the same since so obviously the most logical explanation is if we get that photo back he can re-absorb his soul?

While I can see him being eased back in to the side, I also think he might even claim his spot in the team in a similar way to Guzan did a couple of seasons ago - just purely on the back of the kind of form where he's too good to be dropped. Being optimistic of course! Also, why does it matter who was in for him or not? He's ours now so it matters not.

Did you just compare Cissokho to Messi? Because it sounded an awful lot like you just compared Cissokho to Messi...

Sorted that out for you!

I think we'll see him a fair bit this season. As noted he can play a number of positions and with no Sylla/Bowery/Albrighton there is probably a bit more room for shuffling him in somewhere (even if he's behind Hutton/Lowton @ RB). Would he be able to fill a kind of simple Reo-Coker type role for us, he's got the energy/strength or would he be wasted there?

I would not mind this. We've previously seen a lot of players have very decent loan spells when out to prove something, and he definitely has a lot of talent. Just the question remains about how much he feels he's got to prove now that he's at United, but with the (sigh) LvG factor there now maybe it would be the motivation he needs? In any case he would be a step up in quality over Albrighton, although probably not a step up in work rate.

Saw an article on Ladbrooks re our chances this season and theyve got us at 3/1 to go down. Looking on Odds Checker and we've got some breathing room there but were still apparently more likely than Hull, if you want to feel a bit more depressed. If we get Benteke back in good time and he hits the ground running I think we should have more comfortable season than many are expecting. We're such a chaotic team though it's very difficulty to predict.

Realistically, if we avoid getting too carried away, we're going to see him come on to roll a different kind of dice in the times where we would have previously seen Tonev etc. Probably most often for Weimann or Gabby after they've tuckered themselves out. Same with Cole, I imagine. No Benteke/Kozak for the opening part of the season might see him higher up the pecking order though.

I ended up watching a fair bit of Liverpool last season and Moses was absolutely dog shit whenever he had a chance to come on, ruining attack after attack like a disinterested Zog. Buuuuut....that said, I would not be 100% against getting him in on loan if we weren't paying any of his wages.

When it comes to Vlaar himself, I wouldnt blame him if he wants to leave. If Lambert can talk him in to staying, or even signing a new contract I would be very very pleased, but I wouldn't hold it against Ron if he gets the opportunity for a big move and decides he wants to go. The general uncertainty were operating in this summer really isnt mixing well with all this heat! People don't seem to know whether we're coming or going! I can only hope that the squad (including Ron) have been given certain assurances and/or made a bit more confident about whats going on because it's obvious from people talking on here and other places that as fans we don't have a clue.

Yep, I think Lambert knows the importance of Vlaar to the team and would want to keep him even if it meant losing him for nothing next season whereas Lerner won't allow that as he is looking to cash in on everything. You could also argue that, if there is no immediate take over in the pipe line, Lerner could see Vlaar as important to keeping the club in a saleable position (ie still in the prem). We truthfully do now know how the club will react to any kinds of bids for our better players.