Matt

Pretty much the way I feel. If we can't win that one, I start to wonder which one we will win.

Yet to feature at any stage- he's only of a number of players signed purely as emergency backup.

Not going this time, I'll be otherwise engaged in the posh seats.

Simple 4-4-2 for me. Given Babayaro Moore Taylor Carr Zog Emre Parker Duff Martins Rossi

How many senior squad coaches do we now have? And how many of those are experienced coaches?

Without a doubt a striker was a priority- but £10m was a big hit (even though I think Martins is a quality player and have big hopes for him). We're going to have little choice but to play to our strengths this season- it will be interesting to watch but unless we tighten up the back we'll be dropping too many points on the road. I really think we could have done with cheap but experienced depth at the back and I can't see how it would have prevented us signing Martins- as we obviously had at least £4m available for our attempt for Huth (which I assume was partly linked with the Viduka and Milner deals). Unlike attackers where we all know there is no substitute for class, you get by with moderate defenders until you hit the top echelons of the league (which isn't really our target right now). I don't rate Moore personally while Bramble looks back to his 'old worst' and Taylor will be rusty and still is far from the finished article. We could have probably shored up the defence pretty well for no more than £4-5m (wage bill permitting of course). I say this now in hindsight but if you'd have asked me in May I'd have said the same. Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the window was Roeder's spin. He's either continually lied to us or we are useless at closing deals. I don't think it's the latter- with the sort of wedge going round at SJP once we get a player talking seriously we win more than we lose. Roeder had always come across as an honest bloke but let's face it, he's had us strung along all summer. Mind you, if Zat Knight is the calibre of player we're after and we were prepared to outbid Boro's hefty £6m for Huth, perhaps it's a let off after all.......

I think they have a long way to go to take BMW's crown. If anything, I'd say Mercs were second before Audis.

Valid point with regards to the training ground and stadium. For example, the financing of the stadium being structured so that the additional seats sold would cover the servicing of the debt. However I don't beleive that sort of planning has been applied to transfer policy. One of the real problems we had with Souness as manager (and I don't want to sidetrack the thread too much) was that we knew he wouldn't be here long anyway, as he was a square peg in a round hole. While Roeder's NUFC background and the fact he's actually a decent human being make him more bearable as the clubs manager do you really see him here next season? I can't see it. Why leave everything until after the World Cup? Should we not have been doing the direct opposite considering our Intertoto involvement? What people would like is for some consistency between what eminates from the club and reality. I for one feel a little short changed. Numerically Roeder may have secured his '5 or 6' players but his list when he said that will bear little resemblance to the actual recruitment, with probably only Martins possibly in mind. The thing that rankles with me in what Shepherd says is this belief that spending money is measure of acheivement or success. I look around and see clubs getting half decent players for nothing or next to nothing and can't help feel they'd have been worth a gamble. Does he really think this? If we can fix a problem for £2m not £5m then wonderful- that's never been in question. It seems he has perceived criticism of the club's activites as unhappiness of a lack of big names- when this simply is not the case. In Duff and Martins we have signed players with good reputations both in the UK and across Europe. On a serious business note, the board should be getting a better grasp on what their customers are thinking and not assume that they know best all the time.

I was always a good lad at school and generally stayed out of bother. I don't look back with a huge amount of nostalgia. Some things were fun- the fantasy football league we had was often won by forcing other managers to transfer players for small fees 'or else' (talk about realism). We had a bit of a laugh but by 6th form I couldn't wait to get away and I've not stepped back in the building since the day I picked up my A-Level results. Nee girls which was great to start with but as the years went on became more and more of an incovenience. At least the yard was just for football.

Of course we couldn't have advocate another summer with the excessive levels experienced last summer, there simply isn't the cash. What concerns me is the lack of forward planning. The fact we've gone for some short-term deals tells it all- we only think short term. The striker situation has been worsened by Ameobi's injury, one which has plaugued him for some time yet for whatever reason we have decided to just rest it and hope it gets better. You may think that 'two forwards' was the required transfers but I (and I suspect others) would have proposed a left-back and an experienced centre-half in there as well. Given the way our defence started in the early games, we should have been aware that reinforcements were required. Instead we are going into the season with our fingers crossed. Of course no-one wants us to splash out more than we can affort on a stream of big-name players. Anyway, that is SO 2005.

I'm extremely surprised he has come out and issued these statements. Firstly it clearly shows he's on the defensive, but he's basically saying 'this is the best we can do' which when you consider the woeful late attempt to get Huth and James Milner's hokey cokey up and down the M1, only seems to weaken Shepherd's opinion rating even further. Another one of those occasions when silence would have been a better option. There's nothing in the statement that would change the mind of a fan who felt the tansfer window dealings have been mismanaged.

Dont forget these

Spurs did it last year with Rasiak.

Had one a few months now- no problems, dead easy to use, very good camera and screen resolution if you're bothered for that stuff- I mainly like the walkman function. I got a 2GB Memory Stick Duo card for £35 off ebay- probably get bigger ones now for less. That equates to roughly 30 albums.

Yep, sounds like you are.

Happy Birthday feller, your desktops have been adorning my work laptop for some time. Enjoy a day off from Photoshop!

We should be pleased we failed then. Zat Knight is absolutely woeful. We all had concerns over Roeder's player spotting and transfer policies and this window has really shown we've not been targeting the right players. Should anyone take over the club, it won't be long before there is a management roeder-re-shuffle.

I'm on the precipice of obeseness according to the BMI. Yay!

Oh and.. What's the difference between a Lada and a Merc? Diana wouldn't be seen dead in a Lada.

Should have worn a seatbelt then. The one guy who did survived, didn't he? Truly never has such a public figure been so selfless, travelling across the world to point at land mines and cuddle a baby. You would never see thoudands of aid workers doing that every day. Ever. The way she really set herself apart was by giving her old clothes to charity. A truly groundbreaking move, which meant charities such as Oxfam no longer had to rely on stealing things from washing lines. She was the people's Princess because she gave up her HRH, bought a 3 bed semi in Benton and starting working at the ministry. My arse. Useless royal bastards, tbqfh. Shame she wasn't in a bus with the rest of them.

I knew a guy who works in radio called Pete Price who is also of the pink persuasion. However, after some research, it's definitely not the same guy.

You'll need to log in to your router and check the wireless settings. Get a few screenshots if you can.

He's fine, recovered from his 'gluteal brusing' sustained in the prior game! I reckon we'll end up with one panic loan signing and that'll be it. Probably a left winger, you can't have too much competition for places after all.

Robbie Dale for £7m J69?

Nope, spot on. Let's hope it's not an omen.