scoular

Older players offloaded by Manu don't appear to be a success, and want big salaries. I wouldn't want Brown or O'Shea.

OK - so we need a new quality striker. Just say we are prepared to spend 15M, and have a sensible, I think, salary cap of 50K p.w. plus good bonuses. Where, and who, is this striker because I can't find him. I don't want Defoe, Cole Keane etc, so please tell me, bearing in mind the salary restrictions, who do you want? A good example of a quality purchase last season was Hernandez, so I suppose there are more like him somewhere?

Apparently his 1m release is worded similar to Phi Jones, and Swansea say it only allow us to talk to him. Not happening now. Dont quite understand whats went on here. One minute its about to be confirmed then theres dispute about the release clause and now Swansea have officially said he is staying and play a big part for them. Not arsed really. I dont like the welsh. ;)Ivor Allchurch - one of the greats. Not to mention Olly Burton. Taffs from Cardiff are fine. The jacks are mutants, like welsh mackems.

Apparently his 1m release is worded similar to Phi Jones, and Swansea say it only allow us to talk to him. Not happening now. Dont quite understand whats went on here. One minute its about to be confirmed then theres dispute about the release clause and now Swansea have officially said he is staying and play a big part for them. Not arsed really. I dont like the welsh. ;)Ivor Allchurch - one of the greats. Taffs from Cardiff are fine. The jacks are mutants, like welsh mackems.

Think he'll make breakthrough this coming season - probably in the hole behind Big Bad Ba.

Yes.

Thats the part that's most worrying to me Barton has been very well lokked after by the club, but thinks he is better than he is. He is not the heartbeat of the club. Nolan is, and I would be devastated if he went.

Back to Liverpool's spending - they still have a new stadium to build: cost 400M? They are backing their manager, but his buying record with us was crap. Spending 55M in Carrol & Henderson suggest that he has not learnt from his mistakes!

Why did he go to Liverpool? They sold their second best player, and spent the cash on two replacements. They have a temporary manager, who was utter crap when he was with us. They need to find 400M minimum to build a new stadium. Their new owners are on record as saying that player purchases will only be funded by sales, therefore there are unlikely to be more big signings, unless they cash in on Gerrard or Reina. They are having a brief glorious honeymoon period under their temporary manager - next season they'll be back to mid-table mediocrity.

IMO there is only one way to realistically judge our current performance. This is to compare us with clubs who are of a comparative size and history. These are: Spurs Everton Villa Everton and Spurs still need to build new stadia, not sure about Villa. I would suggest that we are now in a much stronger position to move forward, as we are more financially stable, certainly than either Villa or Everton. Remember that Rednap has a history of leaving clubs on the verge of administration, so it is not easy to assess Spurs current financial position. I would have put Chelsea and Man City in our bracket, but they both have fairy godfathers. I am quietly optimistic.

Effectively we have 41 points, as our goal difference is far better than any of all teams below us.

Hard on Smith - he never recovered from his injury, but I would never question his attitude, or his contribution in the dressing room.

Think that management believe that Ranger needs to stay so they can keep an eye on him, as they are concerned that disclipinary problems might re-appear if he went elsewhere. Personally think that he as good as Carrol was at the same age - remember Carrol's unsuccessful loan spell at Preston, when he was the same age as Ranger is now?

All depends who wants him. I don't think he would go to Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea, as I doubt that he would be first choice. So probably only clubs who could be considered to be bigger than us, and could be interested are Man City. Doubt if Spuds have the money, unless they get into Champions League again. JJ Henry has stated that Liverpool now have to sell before they can buy. I think he'll stay.

precisely. "Villa style plans"? They have spent a fortune - about 80M net from memory, and got nowhere. they gave their manager a long term contract and supposedly their owner was "shrewd", and their manager was "smart" etc....something like that ie they had a foolproof "plan" which we "never" did under the Halls and Shepherd, what a shame Villa got nowhere near the same heights despite having this "plan". No quibbles with backing their manager in essence, its just a shame he didn't spend it very well, which only goes to prove a point ie hindsight is easy/we aren't the only club not to appoint the new Alex Ferguson/Martin O'Neill is overrated and quit a club again. Mostly agree - but at the end of the Shepherd planless regime weren't we in much the same situation as Villa are currently with their planned regime? Only difference being that Shepherd spent club's money, and future sponsorship money, while Randy Lerner appears to be spending his own. Could be worong, mind.

precisely. "Villa style plans"? They have spent a fortune - about 80M net from memory, and got nowhere.

Think much depends on how we finish the season - if we finish strongly - perhaps 8th or better, he might not want to go. He wouldn't be guaranteed a regular starting place with ManU, Arsenal or Chelsea. Liverpool, according to JJ Henry, have to balance the books and sell before they buy, and I can't imagine him being sold for less than 15M. Man City could be the danger. Not sure how solvent Spurs are at the moment, but the tax dodger is adept at spending money that he does not have. I suspect that Jose feels that his international ambitions are not going to be fulfilled with us, but IF we demonstrate our ambition by bringing in some good players in the summer, it just might persuade him to stay. I do think that he loves the club and the area, but no doubt there will be an agent's sticky fingers itching to get hold of their share of the transfer fee.

We are going round in circles. No-one knows what the financial state of the club is until we see the next set of accounts. If they show an improvement, then I would certainly hope to see serious investment in the playing staff during the summer. Right or wrong, I don't think that MA will increase his loans to the club unless, at a minimum, the position has stabilised. I think that Ashley would sell, if any sort of realistic offer came along, but the alarming fact is, that there does not seem to be any interest from investors wising to buy our club. Why not?

Its a mistake to band Halls and Shepherd together. They did an excellent job while Sir John Hall was the major player in the management of the club. In my opinion, things started to go wrong when Sir John stopped taking an active roll.

An odd thread, in my opinion. I think that, over the season, he has been one of our best players, but I accept that he was not up to his usual high standards against Fulham, and in the first half against Arsenal. I wouldn't swap him for anyone. One think not mentioned so far is his immense strength, which gives him a great advantage. Wasn't he nicknaned "The Bull" in Spain before we bought him?

Just suppose that MA was to accept 80M for the club, plus the repayment of his loan, so about 180M total. Why has no-one come in and bought us? Perhaps the perception of the club that we have, is higher than that of potential investors?

Bogie, Appleby, Allon, Tinnion - really rated all of them, but they only made it into lower leagues, although Allon had brief spell with Chelski. Best of all was Paul Stephenson who I don't think really ever recovered from severe leg fracture.

Which is what I said about him having learned nothing and jeopardising us again. I Don't see a "hefty" profit even with survival though. the profit league last year was... Man U £91.3m Arsenal £58.8m Livepool 24.9m Spurs £18.4m Birmingham £13.7m Everton £6.3m Wolves -£1.6m Fulham -£2.1m Mackems -£2.4m Bolton -£5.3m Blackburn -£6.8m Stoke -£7.8m Burnley -£8.9m Hull -£9.2m Chelsea -£11.4m Villa -£13.1m Wigan -£17m Portsmouth -£17m West Ham -£32.8m Mn City -£34.2m http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...we-1912244.html Given the top 4 have a model based on champions league qualification, the next best model Ashley could look at to try and turn a profit is Birmingham. I doubt their wage bill is significantly greater than ours. If he was able to match their profits year in year out...he might have recouped his loan to the club and be able to start turning a profit in ten years time. There's only 3 clubs there that actually turn a profit outside of the champions league. The cash cow theory is full of holes. Ineptitude is far more plausible. Chelsea recently announced losses of over 30M for last financial year.

Had one for a long time - certainly over 30 years. Its an addiction, so can't stop now. Anyway, enjoyed the Championship seasons, and seasons in old Division 2. I've seen worse times!

PLEASE - is there a source for this?