Phil

While its a joke we've still not replaced Ba. That link just highlights the three that came up will go straight back down.

red card in a friendly... wtf! Anyone know what that means for suspensions?

Thought he was going to say Kinnear!

I'm surprised you think Ashley is some kind of puppet master, Llambias walking and the club targeting Bent certainly suggest Llambias felt strongly about the resale value rules we had in place. Maybe he has Stockholm syndrome? The options you suggest remind me of Fulham going for Bryan Ruiz and Berbatov. The later being the proven Premiership player with no resale value.

Our player catchment was simple - release clauses, last year of contract or free transfer. Anita - last year of contract Sissoko - last year of contract Mbiwa - extended contract on agreement the club would accept a nominal fee Cissé - had relegation release clause and they looked like they were going down Santon - dodgy knee Marveaux - free & injured Ba - Free Cabaye - release clause Gouffran - last year of contract We stalled on the Debuchy deal over 500k and walked away from the Cisse deal in the summer (we got lucky with Freiburg facing relegation) Clearly there was a resale value in the Debuchy deal at 5.5m, but Llambias new the price would only go down (as he was in the last year of his contract) and Debuchy really wanted to join us. It was this type of player blocking that I'll be glad to see the back of. There aren't that many players that fit into our former constraints, Bent certainly didnt. Who do you think we could get that's better than Bent?

I think most of the constraints walked out the door with Llambias. Remy is the only player I can think of, but my knowledge of European football is very limited.

I guess my point is only valid if it's a one or the other situation, which is how I read it - based largely on the assumption Douglas wanted 1st team wages and we didnt have the budget for both salaries. I also dont think you can pay that (again I guessing) sort of money to 3rd/4th choice. Who do you think we can realistically get that's better than Bent? We've been linked with quite a few French targets, but they've either turned us down in the past or went somewhere else.

We dont have that many games this season and free transfers always come with inflated salaries and extorsonate agent fees. To put it in perspective we paid 6m in agent "fees" last summer and signed Anita and Ba.

To be fair we had lots injuries, suspensions and games. On top of Tiote forgetting how to play football. Colochini only played just over half our games, which was massive factor - especially on Taylors performance.

I'm not saying he's a tactical genius or anything - I'm not that daft. Just that he knows more than his fair bit about the game, certainly a lot more than people give him credit for. This was highlighted by him blocking the Douglas deal (we have 4 senior centre backs) and sanctioning the Bent deal (we have 1 senior striker). While this may seem obvious to most fans. Llambias wanted Douglas and not Bent - clearly the wrong decision for the football club, most probably based on resale value. I agree with your main point that we should have made our signings already, but the fact Llambias and Pardew couldn't agreed on targets meant it was always going to be a slow summer. Then Llambias (who does our transfer negotiations) walked. These are the reasons we've made no signings, not Kinnears going on holiday; or Ashley hiring Kinnear to have final say on transfers.

After the lack of transfers last summer and blocking the Debuchy deal over 500k, I'm pretty sure Pardew will be glad to see the back of Llambias.

The rumour doing the rounds in May/June was Pardew and Llambias fell out over the "no over 25's rule". Bent was the name being banded around with the rumour, so I think it may have been close to the truth. If you believe this, which I do, then brining in Kinnear to have the casting vote wasnt such a bad decision, what alternatives did Ashley have. Sure the press have had a field day, but Kinear has a footballing brain - cancelling the Douglas deal (we have Coloccini, Taylor, Mbiwa & Williamson) and sanctioning the Bent deal (we have no cover for Cisse) backs the point up pretty well for me. As for Kinnear going on holiday, I highly doubt anyone at the club expected Llambias to walk, so the plan would have been for Kinnear to come in to finalise the targets and Llambias to work on completing them. So the issue is not Kinear being hired or going on holiday, but Llambias - who does near to f**k all during the season, quitting when he's needed to work on transfers!

I know it sounds daft, but quite a few people had the same view on Nolan.

I've never rated him, but he does have an uncanny ability to put the ball in the net. We have to be realistic about our targets, so I'd be more than happy with Bent joining. If we do "get him over the line", I can see Cisse being sold as Bent is an out and out striker, so we'd have the Cisse/Ba issue again.

My Gran would have been better at keeping on side than Cisse last season! I can't see him being that bad again. Any form of competition for Cisse has to be a good thing. Anyone who thinks Bent is below us is being unrealistic, he's a proven premier league striker.

Excellent finish by Michu. QPR are definitely going down.

I think his injuries explain why he's not made much headway into the first team

With Vuckic ahead of him, the chances will be limited. But you can't write off a 21 year old as too old... especially when he's got 6 goals in 12 games from midfield for Crewe - which makes him the second top scorer in league one!

The wage cap seems the more interesting statement.

Defoe out and Tiote back, just need Togo to win and we have to be in with a shout!

Get the f**k in he saved it!

penatly to QPR.... hope Leeds 1st team can get back into it.

The thumb looking guy just turned and just stared at him....

53m seems a little high to me. As 53m / 25 players / 52 weeks = 40k average wage.

far too much time on your hands