blackandwhiteboy

He'd be a cracking signing I reckon. He was very highly valued before it started to go a bit wrong at Spurs and he also has experience at this level. Even if he's no better than Enrique I'm sure he could do a decent job on the left wing.

Is it not best though, to put out a decent starting 11, hopefully win and maintain our momentum. One defeat, even with a reserve side out can easily wreck a good run. Just look at what happened to Aston Villa after they played a team of kids in the UEFA Cup last season.

I'd like to know where Hughton's confidence comes from as it's certainly not shared by me! If Keegan lost players against his will when we were in the Premiership I don't see why Hughton wont now. There was always going to be a lull at some point but I cant see us getting through deadline day unscathed.

Would it have helped though? Would it have prevented the continued lack of investment in the first team? Would it have prevented the sale of Given? Hard to say how it would have turned out but one thing is for sure, Keegan wouldn't have Ashley's bitch the way JFK was. Lack of investment no but the whole atmosphere would have been a lot more positive and i doubt Given would have gone. He genuinely cared about the club and only left because it was such a mess and quite frankly, he deserved better. I don't think it's unrealistic to think we would have finished comfortably in mid table (12th perhaps) if he'd stayed.

I guess it's pointless speculating but I wonder where we'd be now if the board had got rid of Wise and sided with Keegan. Not in the Championship that's my bet...

The thing is, it was all so predictible. Everybody knew there was going to be trouble from the moment the draw was made, so why wasn't anything done to prevent it from happening?

Anyone know for certain if it's playing or playing/coaching? I've heard people say both but playing seems absolutely mad, he's 34 already! Surely if the Notts plan works, that would mean Campbell in the premiership aged 38 or 39. Hardly forward planning...

Thing is, teams like Sheffield United may not have the same level of talent/skill but they do have experience of what it takes to do well in this division. Apart from the 'boing boing' teams (eg west brom) not too many prem teams go down then straight back up again so I wouldnt be belittling a team like Sheff Utd. It will only come back to bite us. Besides, I had a cheeky bet on them getting promoted this season, so i'll be more than happy if they join us in the prem next season

Think you must have done because he scored bucketloads of goals last season! He's got off to a good start this year too. I don't know whether he'd be good enough for the Prem but he'd definitely do well in the Championship. Unfortunately, as others have said, it doesn't really matter because until we get a manager the best we can hope for is signings on loan or on a free.

Problem is Shearer would be a risk and the last thing this club needs at the moment is to take more risks. I think we'd be better off with an experienced fooball league manager who can bring stability and has good knowledge of what it takes to win in this division. There aren't too many great players that have made great managers (regardless of whether they manage 'their' team or another team) and so to bring him in when the club is in turmoil would be very dangerous. Do you think he'd take the assistant manager job if we got someone more experienced in and Ashley left?

Probably be down to ashley offering him a piss poor contract and we're being out done by Notts County! Sad thing is, that's probably true! If we can't even sign a player on a free that is apparently keen on a move who are we going to sign? My prediction is nobody before January...

Well surely if they took him as permanent then they'd take him as having left? But then again to my knowledge he never resigned and he was never sacked. Maybe he is technically our manager now, I imagine he'll probably be back in a few weeks so that would sort of make sense. I guess it depends what the difference is between a caretaker and an actual manager. I always thought a caretaker manager was somebody already at the club or someone brought in if the manager becomes ill but is expected to return.

I dunno about that, they're not going to be taken over by an idiot, get relegated and sell all their players anytime soon!!

Certainly a tricky game. I'll go for a score draw. Palace have started the season in reasonable form and they're obviously fired up after the goal that wasnt given and a midweek win over Ipswich. On the subject of Warnock, I quite like him. He's a bit of an idiot but at least he's passionate and a character, football needs as many of them as possible.

I said when he went I thought he'd be a good bit-part/squad player for them and I still think he will be that (but nothing more). He doesn't do enough for Capello to pick him and it's difficult to argue with that judgement. He could get about 15 PL goals if he gets his confidence back a bit but that won't be enough to go to South Africa. He'll do very well to get as many as 15. First of all he's unlikely to start many games (even more so after Burnley). Second he will get injured at some point and third now his pace has gone, he's really not very good anymore. As for Ferguson, he'd look a bit of an idiot if he blamed anyone else for losing, given he made a loada changes and Carrick missed a penalty!

They're trying to fund a fans takeover at Anfield but it isn't ever going to happen. Unless you're a very small club ala Ebsfleet United these things are never likely to work. Moat seems the most likely candidate but I 'm beginning to think that Ashley is quite happy staying where he is.

Well that is pretty ominous as far as Lescott is concerned. With any luck it'll be one of those that drags on til the last few hours of deadline day and Moyes will run out of time to replace him. It's players like Taylor we need in the Championship, anyone that replaces him is likely to be old or a loan signing, neither of which is good for the long term.

I doubt football will have much impact, everybody knows attendances, morale etc will pick up dramatically if a takeover goes through. The bigger danger is selling players. At the moment there's a team capable of getting promoted, if that's dismantled, nobody is gonna want the club, good performances or otherwise. 2-1 tonight i reckon. Sheffield Wednesday are a better team than Reading.

The problem is Ancelotti is trying to force a formation by playing players out of position, rather than pick a formation to suit his players strengths. I'm no football manager but surely that's not a good idea, it's not even like he's signed a load of players to suit his diamond 4-4-2. I think they'll be poor domestically this year. A distant 2nd at best.

Seems a bit cheap to me, we need Duff far more than we need £4million. The problem is there's no manager so bringing players in wont really happen unless they're on loan. Why a manager has still not been appointed is beyond me, Ashley has had ALL summer to bring one in. I'll probably get shot down in flames for this but surely even Kinnear is a better bet than a caretaker manager - the club needs stability and a permanent manager would bring some. If Ashley ever sells, Kinnear can be replaced.

Yeah but if they sell Lescott (and given he wants to go I cant see them keeping hold of him) they'll have plenty of cash and will obviously need to find a replacement. It would be a big blow though, Taylor is ideal for the Championship. If any centre back should be sold it's Coloccini.

I think the key is to play Krul - if he just sits on the bench he's bound to jump at the chance to sit on the bench at Arsenal or somewhere similar. However, if he is promoted ahead of Harper he would have the advantage of first team football, should he stay. It'd be harsh on Harper but at 34 he is not the future.

Oh dear Thing is, it would be comical if it wasn't so important! I just get the sneaking suspicion that Ashley doesn't want to sell and never has - it's not about people not wanting to buy it's because he has been subtly undermining any takeover bid. According to reports one bid already collapsed because he wasn't responding to the offer. As for Hughtons record, it's not great is it?! Ashley would only need a couple of wins.

Yeah, surely if anybody signs it's either a purchase by Ashley or a purchase by Hughton. That would suggest either Ashley's gonna take the cheap option and keep Hughton on, or cheaper still and take over as boss himself! To be honest given his work at the club to date, I wouldn't be that suprised...