ZoomVT

I know its wiki and all but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranquillo_Barnetta

Pardew and O'Neill calla truce... http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/sunderland/9718272.O_Neill_and_Pardew_call_a_truce/ what benefits is he talking about? if anything, it is more beneficial for just 1 club in an area to be the strongest as they would be able to attract all the young talent in the area and also less competition for the fan base. Not that it matters to us as we have a strong following but for scouting and youth academy.

Would it be possible to insert some kind of clause that in say 5 years we could get him for a set fee, say 3M? I hate to let players with potentiall go but i understand we cant give him the games he needs...

that basically does it. Fulham with Dempsey out is toothless. They'd be lucky to manage a draw. Any word on why he is out?

My take on this game is that Bayern should win it, only if they had a quality striker. I know Gomez can put them in but overall i think the was probably the worst striker in the later stages of the champions league. As far as them playing at home? I disagree; i hope it never changes. What a great motivational factor and achievement to get to play at home for the final. When the field is picked there is no guarantee that the home team will ever make it; it is actually extremely difficult. How often has this happened? The atmosphere is going to be something else...

Oh please make it so: Simpson to Chelsea http://www.mirror.co...er-danny-819689 I would snap their hand so fast...

why is Jonas already looking exhausted? the whole left side is super sloppy. Ba, and Cisse sitting too far back as well.

hahaha they have been relegated: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=697506

too bad norwich sat back for that 15 minute spell and let arsenal get back in. If they had kept the pressure and pushing men forward they could have actually taken this game out of reach. Whenever they turned the pressure on they were able to cause trouble in the arsenal back line. Still the draw is a great result for us.

aye, true, but big difference between shoestring and spending billions on transfers. IMO there is a sensible middle ground where a team can challenge for the title.

and the point is? its not how much you spent but the quality of the players. How much of that money is spent on bench warmers and players like balotelli, dzeko, etc? I wouldnt take any of them. Not too mention their crap fan base. with the squad they have, they should have wrapped the title 2 months ago

well, if you agree that cover is important and you still think that replacing Jonas should be a priority then I would have to agree with others and say that it sounds more like a personal agenda than an objective view of our transfer priorities. Yes, our scouting team could do wonders, but should they be focusing their energy on finding the right striker to fill in for the dembas or looking for a jonas replacement that might even get beat to the starting 11? I think their time is better spent addressing NEEDS instead of WANTS.

yeah thats what i meant. i thought i had quoted the post.

I can see both arguments. Simpson and Willo need to be improved upon. Fact. Jonas has been mint for us, hard worker, loves the club, team player, and probably an ace in the dressing room. Fact. Is he a world beater and the best in his position? well thats not quite a fact. He fits great in our system and allows other players to do well; are there better players out there that could do the job? yes, that we can afford or get? well probably not. Or at least not now and not one that can walk into the starting 11, but we could get a young one to learn and put a little pressure on the position. Should finding a young replacement for Jonas be a priority? I dont think so. I think it would be a good bit of business but not a priority; i think we need to address depth to cover for the 2/3 spots that go to the ACN. We cant afford to not have a striker while the dembas are out so I would say thats our 3rd priority. After that, a midfielder that could pressure Jonas and/or get a start when Tiote is unavailable would be fantastic. I know its not the same player but Pardiola would have to adjust the system as that is the most likely scenario. We dont have the funds to find depth for Tiote and a replacement-in-training for Jonas.

i love that only 1 of the bench players got up to break it up. All the others just looked and let it happen. The guy must have not been a hit in the dressing room.

dont know anything about him but sounds more like a young squad player with upside. Nowt wrong with that. Depending on our other transfers (depending on which europe league we go into) he could also be loaned at least next season. I got no problem in collecting a few promising young players.

One more: 9. Obertan - LOL, garbage at this time. Myabe he can get a bit better but he will struggle to challeneg a starting spot. With a revmped team i dont think he is better than just a squad player and at that he is blocking a younger player.

I just rewatched the game. some thoughts: 1. Santon is our back of the future, whether he plays left or right. He was absolutely brilliant; I know i wasnt here when enrique arrived but in other forums everyone wanted him gone. I thought back then he had a great future and it proved true. I can say that I think Santon will be much better than enrique. 2. I have never liked williamson. I think he is a mid-table serviceable CB. That still stands, besides the fact he had solid games and turned a great performance today. However all I could think today watching the game was: Is Williamson a lot worse when he has to play with Simpson? How much of his crappyness is attributed to Simpson being just poor? On the other hand, how much of Williamson playing solidly is actually due to the other 3 backs being better and covering for some of his mistakes or making it easier for him to stay organized? It may just be a matter of confidence. Ultimately i dont think Williamson can improve much; i like him as a person and appreciate his efforts but at best he would be a squad playerfor us moving forward. I would think that with this season wemight be better off getting a good price for him and adding it to the transfer budget. I am sure some mid-table or just promoted team would pay us a tidy sum for him. 3. Perch > Simpson. A lot more upside and much more versatile, IMO 4. Without Tiote we are in trouble. Serious drop with raylor in there. I know not his natural position but I dont think Tiote is a player that could be easily replaced. We better figure out a way to keep him because we wont be able to get that kind of production from someone else. 5. Jonas, what a work ethic from the lad. Not the best touch and not the best passer but he works hard. I'd keep him in the sqaud but would like to challenge himfor the starting spot. 6. Cabay, HBA. Brilliant. Impressed by Cabaye's defensive chops; and more impressed with HBA tracking back and working hard to recover the ball. He is still weak on the defensive end, but at least he is trying. Without Cabaye and Tiote working for him it wouldnt work as well. He is still pretty bad in positioning but at least he is getting in. 7. Cisse - there are no words. Brilliant. 8. Ba - a true team player - still happy to contribute. Wish he had scored that crack that hit the bar. Unfortunate.

where do they get off with 10 minutes added on?

is there one with chelski coming up?

The article said so and i was wondering who would have been after him. I personally dont rate him as high as some, obviously not as high as you. I dont care if someone is after him or not but clearly if he was a world class player then other big clubs would be after him. Not to say he is not good, I just dont rate him as high. Yes, just because there is no competition it doesnt mean a player is not good enough, Cisse its an example. But the difference is that Podolski is a well known player. Unless all the other scouts are blind or have never watched a game in their life I am sure they know who Podolski is. Arguably the same cannot be said about Cisse since quite a few scouts missed him. It was just a comment. I dont rate him as high. Dont get your panties in a bunch.

ehhhh... anyone knows how much they paid? what about wages? obviously better than not having anyone alongside van persie but not really that impressive. I doubt any of the other top 5 teams in englad were after him, i dont think barca or real were after him either, so who did they beat to his signature? maybe bayern? (i doubt it, they are going after Pizarro instead)

Ok. I'll bite. I dont know anyone here and dont care about the back and forth. I will throw in my 2 cents. I have read a few posts and know you like to throw it around as a fact, but it hardly is a fact and is more of an assumption. How do you know the ambitions are not shared by the owner? Obviously he is not going to be delusional like some here with winning a trebel year in year out, but surely he has the ambition to compete for top places. Why? For the same reasons you think otherwise. The argument is that he is just after money (agreed), however if he is as half smart as he must be (to accumulated his wealth) then he surely sees the benefit of competing: There is more money higher in the table, winning sells a lot more merchandise than losing. He is getting free advertisement but that is only worth as much as the market would pay. So a sponsor may pay x for a team in the 10th spot, but will pay 5x for a top 6 team. European competitions increase the visibility of the sponsor, more money. Now, is he frugal? yes, and he should be. Spending money is not equal to challenging to for titles, especially the way ffs was spending it. I am not a cheerleader for fma, i hate what he has done with SJP, and obviously dislike the past years; but even then (and before, when ffs was in charge) I was of the opinion that a more sensible approach of living within your means (just like you should at home) is the right way to run a club. No, success will not happen every year, and rebuilding years will take longer than if your thrown money at it, but you will not risk going broke (or down) as often. I dont care who owns the team as long as they have the right approach, currently fma is doing right, maybe he learnt his lesson, maybe he is just fooling us. I disagree, i think this approach is very sustainable and can yield high league positions year in year out. Fact? give it 3-5 years since we came back up. pre-relegation approach is not the same as the current approach. Yes, some of it is self-inflicted bad decisions, but he is not making any mistakes since we came back up (you could argue dropping CH was a mistake, but in hindsight, was it?) Fact is you dont know either so dont be calling facts. facts are backed by scientific research and data; neither of which i see along with your argument. You are free to think and believe what you want, but dont post is as fact unless it is proven. If it does come true please feel free to come and rub it in; but until then it is just your forecast of how things will turn around. My view is that i am cautiously optimistic about the direction of the club. I agree with the policy of buying underpriced players that can outperform its current market value. I do not think we have to turn over the squad (and i dont think we will). If/when fma does start selling stars that were sensibly priced (say Tiote wants 40k/wk) then i'll worry, but not if he is selling stars that want a huge payoff (say he wants 110k/wk); at that point i say sell him, he has become overpriced. Thats just my 2 pesos; read, reply, ignore, whatever.

some more scum gold: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=694851