Missed Sticks

I see both points here. Even if LM gets on your tits you can't ignore the fact that he's seen the club at it's absolute worst and then seen the present owners turn it around, big time. It could be argued that a Board that achieved what it did so quickly has earned the right to make a few mistakes without everyone booing. For what it's worth, and i think LM agrees, those mistakes have been made now. No more second chances. I think we need a better structure in place to run the club more professionally. It maybe that the club owners think so too and looking at developing one. SJH has mentioned this in the press. Spurs got a DoF, etc fairly quickly. Seemed to have some good coaches and are looking towards the future. They're doing crap right now though so it should be pointed out that these things aren't necessarily a panacea. It might be that Roeder is there to over haul the club system, employing proven youth team scouts, he's been telling the academy coached to let flair and skill flourish, not buying expensive flops (yet), etc. These are good foundations if we manage to bring in a manager who push the 1st team towards top 4 challengers again. I know we've been there before but we f**ked that up so let's get over it and try and focus on the positives. This would be a good place for a 'hippy smiley' tbh.

Yeah but the basis of my thread is if we're short of money Anyway, i haven't seen enough of Ashton to pay the £10m+ that West Ham would want. Konchesky's cack, man.

I think Heskey would work well with Owen (proven actually) and Martins. Can win it in the air, runs the channels, he's strong and quick. Heskey seems to be putting himself about it now and not limping around feeling sorry for himself like he did at Liverpool. He's got a few years left and he's not fat like Viduka. If Wigan go down, i'd say he's worth a punt. i think Rosenior has a bit of potential. Could be decent imo.

both below par really, especially rosenior, Better than Carr and Shola tbh. And affordable for the brassic.

What at? general non-fannyness Fair enough.

What at?

Heskey, Not for his goal scoring but to cause problems for Martins/Owen to profit from. Seems to have toughened up now. Rosenior, Not bad at RB, reckon he could improve as well. Both would fancy a move as well i reckon.

Martins: would have to learn to drop deep to link up the attack, Owen hasn't got anything else to his game than shooting imo. He runs the channels but he doesn't cross much (going off memory here!) Ashton: WHFC could do 'a Birmingham' and insist on a silly fee.

Dunno about that, hasn't he had injury and attitude problems in the past. Hasn't Baba?

what exactly is you'r point FFS? if you don't have money or reputation or a decent mananger, you need a plan wow, genius tbh OK, synopsis Hire the right man and then hope he's as lucky as he is talented.

I found it strange that we didn't sign an LB for the academy/reserves actually. Someone on the cheap who the scouts thought might have a bit of promise. He could of played some games for the 1st team between now and seasons end (couldn't be any worse then Hunts/Ramage) and then carried on his development as the understudy to the proper LB i hope we sign in the summer. Would've have given a bit of experience and a taste for it, if he wasn't all that then at least he knows what standard he has to work towards in the next couple of years. Funny decision not to, like.

Not sure what all this bollox is about 'plans' this and 'plans' that, everybody has a f**king plan, it's how they get through the day. However, if you want to talk about football clubs having plans that are working then i'll suggest Bolton and Arsenal. Bolton for the obvious reason that the club consistently do better on very limited resources and a rather constant player personnel change (lot of them are loans) and Arsenal because they've done fantastically well with what i would imagine is a lesser outlay than us. Pointless mentioning Manure because they're filthy rich or Liverpool because they're extremely famous. Don't mention Chelsea. The most important plan of any club is to appoint the right manager. They can then plan to give him as much of a transfer budget as is affordable, give him a bit of time (within 2 seasons should see development in the right areas) and then hope for a bit of luck! Whenever i've heard an ex-manager asked 'What makes a good manager?' the answer has always been the same, 'Good players.' Hopefully the right manager will help set up a good scouting network (if not in place) and then, if lucky, the right players will become available for the right price. I'm not sure if Roeder's the right man, time will tell but i often use a simple barometer to reckon if a manager's any good, how many players have obviously improved during his tenure? Can't think of any ones that jump out at me during the last year tbh. Milner's been better this season, Butt's returned to his Manure form.......that's about it i think

It might be fun for one of the financial wizz kids on here to work out how much we've spent over the last 10 years and then compare that to how many points we won in each season. We could see how much we spend per point compared to our rivals like Bolton and Villa, etc. In fact every club that's stayed in the division over the last 10 seasons. I'm certainly not doing it but it'd be worth a read. It won't tell the whole story by any means but i think it might be a quick and simple way to see how efficient we've been with our resources. Set to lads, i want this finished by close of business

Tbf to Villa i'll wait until the end of the season and then see where they are compared to us. I think that losing Luke Moore was a blow and i expect them to be more potent in attack now. They'll have a decent front 3 imo. I think O'Neill has a definite idea of how he wants Villa to play and what type of player he needs. I think he exceeds Roeder in this. As far as West Ham. You just get the feeling that it all went wrong with the takeover being endlessly imminent and i got the feeling that Pardew wasn't overly keen on the the 2 Argintinians. Ashton breaking his ankle put a spanner in the works too. I think they should have stuck with Pardew, can't say that Curbs seems any better to me.

Does TOTT count?

Harper Carr Taylor Edgar Baba Milner Butt Emre/Dyer Duff Dyer/Sibs Martins

Beautiful

I'm not really sure that SJH has any interest in running the club though, and if had a better idea for a Chairman he could have voted FS out and brung his new man in. Imagine if SJH voted FS off and then appointed Douggie

I've said it before.......Steve Caldwell > Peter Ramage tbh

I can't see where how they've come up with that valuation. Just random numbers, man.

I have read every post in this thread and not seen one mention of George Weah Simply the best CF i've ever seen tbh. Power, pace, great leap, ghreat technique and a clever player to boot. Great dribbler, great scorer and a great in the air. Just f**king GREAT imo

I'll repeat what Alex Ferguson said, 'Strikers win you games but defenders win you tournaments.'

Given the complete lack of options i'd at least put Luque on the bench and maybe start him on the left. I'd also play whoever plays for the reserves at LB and. Other option would be to put reserve LB at LB (obviously), Edgar at RB, Nobby on the RW and Milner at LW, Dyer up with Femi. Most worrying thought is Drainage and Hunts at CB tbh.

Steve Caldwell > Peter Ramage tbh. My mate renamed him 'Drainage' at HT!