OTF

Another of the bench brigade at Tottenham; sparsely used collecting their big wages to sit on the bench whilst their market value deterioriates. See Keane. See Bentley. See Jenas. See Wioodgate. See King. See dos Santos. See Kranjcar. See Sando. See Corluka.

Assuming you paid no additional amount on top of the 12m for Keane from Liverpool (not including the wages you've wasted on him, which would be in the millions) plus the 14m you paid for Pavlyuchenko if you sold them to Sunderland you'd be losing a tidy 10m. Bentley's only on loan and you won't get anywhere near the 15m you paid for him before any add ons. You probably have the highest paid bench in the league excluding Manchester City who are well and truly in their own financial bracket. I don't see how you could net 4m from the signing of Bent considering you sold him for less than you bought him for. Maths not your strong point fella? Keane = 8 - 20 + 12 = 0 So a 4 mil loss on Pav. We can eat that up neh bother. Logic not your strong point? Point A. Tottenham do not have Robbie Keane Point B. Tottenham buy Robbie Keane for 12m (plus bonuses) from Liverpool Point C. Tottenham pay Robbie Keane to play in spits and spats and sit on the bench collecting money in the meantime The fact that you had had Robbie Keane at your club earlier counts for diddly as it was a completely separate set of transactions.

Assuming you paid no additional amount on top of the 12m for Keane from Liverpool (not including the wages you've wasted on him, which would be in the millions) plus the 14m you paid for Pavlyuchenko if you sold them to Sunderland you'd be losing a tidy 10m. Bentley's only on loan and you won't get anywhere near the 15m you paid for him before any add ons. You probably have the highest paid bench in the league excluding Manchester City who are well and truly in their own financial bracket. I don't see how you could net 4m from the signing of Bent considering you sold him for less than you bought him for.

Who's paying 16m for Bentley and Keane? Even if they do that's a loss as you paid up to 17m for Bentley, not to mention the massive wage he collected for sitting on your bench. Even though you made 7m approx from selling and re-buying Keane from Liverpool you still paid up to 16m for him and have consequently worn the brunt of his depreciation. He's not worth much now and noone is interested because of his age and massive wage. Definite loss there, shouldn't have bought him back from Liverpool. Plus you lost money on Bent, with Sunderland making you look like suckers with what they garnered from Aston Villa for him.

With more than 60% of the season gone I thought it would be fitting to check in on the comparison made prior to the season beginning. Updates noted. Goal Keepers Then: Shay Given (until January), Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Fraser Forster Now: Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Fraser Forster Winner: Then (with Shay), even without. Update: Shay Given is better than Krul and Harper, though both Newcastle keepers have had their highlights this season. Unfortunately they've been littered with the odd lowlight which means that neither has really stood out as out first choice keeper. Shay is still the winner, despite him seldom playing himself. Defenders Then: Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Sebastian Bassong, Claudio Cacapa, Habib Beye, Jose Enrique, Ryan Taylor (after Jan), David Edgar, Tamas Kadar Now: Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Sol Campbell, Mike Williamson, Jose Enrique, James Perch, Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Tamas Kadar Update: Our defense has looked quite strong on most occasions this season. Mike Williamson, although not perfect, has proved that he is able to compete at this level, and Coloccini is playing with confidence (excluding a horror performance against Bolton). Now is still the winner, with Enrique a more complete player than he was in 08/09 and Simpson doing a susprisingly good job at right back. Our depth in central defense has allowed us to cope well with injuries and suspensions. Winner: Now (largely due to depth). Midfielders Then: Nicky Butt, Danny Guthrie, Damien Duff, Kevin Nolan (after Jan), Joey Barton, Charles N'Zogbia, Jonas Gutierrez, Geremi, Alan Smith Now: Danny Guthrie, Kevin Nolan, Cheick Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Joey Barton, Wayne Routledge, Hatem Ben Arfa, Dan Gosling, Haris Vuckic, Alan Smith Winner: Now Update: Kevin Nolan has been scoring plenty of goals, and his leadership skills have developed immensely. Joey Barton has been a revelation playing in a hybrid right-mid position. We haven't had much of a look at Ben Arfa, but from what we've seen he looks great. Cheick Tiote has been a fantastic signing who really has filled a hole in the side. His sometimes reckless enthusiasm means that he'll miss plenty of games this season through suspension unfortunately. Dan Gosling is finally available for selection so it will be interesting to see how he fits into the overall picture. The winner is still very clearly now. Forwards Then: Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Shola Ameobi, Andy Carroll, Xisco, Peter Lovenkrands (after Jan), Now: Andy Carroll, Peter Lovenkrands, Shola Ameobi, Leon Best, Xisco, Nile Ranger Winner: Then (if Carroll stays fit/available it would be close). Update: Carroll has lived up to his promise and then some, except he already has missed quite a few games through injuries. He's certainly our stand out forward with our options after him falling away badly. Ameobi was fourth choice in 08/09 and is second choice now, which is a little worrying, but the injuries and inconsistencies of the three that were ahead of him in 08/09 means that it's still a tough choice to decide. On the strength of Carroll alone I'd give it to now, as the 08/09 crew were as inconsisten and unreliable as they come.

Bollocks, one thing that was a certain is that Carlos Edwards was never going to return and be at the same level as Hatem Ben Arfa. His reaction in the field, coupled with the way he has handled it afterwards indicates that mentally Hatem Ben Arfa is extremely strong and can't wait to get back out on the pitch. All reports medical or otherwise have him healing extremely well. The regeneration of the bones is not a problem at all and physically he should return to 100% function, it's only where substancial ligament damage occurs that a return to full function is not expected. Don't know or care the nature of Edwards injury, except to say that a 23 year old will recover from injury a lot better than a 30 year old. Agree. Even if he comes back as 80% of the player he was it's a great price. Backhanded compliments ahoy! You mean like Bent did with you guys? How much of your Bent money is going to Droopy's summer fund?

Tamas Kadar should be an alternative as well, except he's injured at the moment. Back from his 1 month loan as a result. Enrique wasn't bad in his first couple of season here IMO. Took a long while to get a regular run in the side under Allardyce in his first season, with N'Zogbia often used there instead. Was decent in his second, but was playing alongside a defense with shattered confidence behind a laughably bad central midfield. No doubt though his confidence, ability on the ball and his distribution have improved a lot through the season in the championship. He always had the makings o an excellent defender and was quick and strong from the get-go.

Being honest, this Bent thing has just made me realise how much I don't care about this anymore. In the end they'll probably shit on you. If he does a job here and leads us in Europe I'm sure we'll accept him being a miserable French twat. And the only thing I knocked about HBA's signing was the fact he's injured. A bit of a gamble to sign someone with a broken leg, sometimes they don't come back the same player. We've seen it happen at SAFC with Edwards breaking his leg, before the injury he would fly past defenders, jump into tackles etc., yet when he came back he was shot of all confidence, was scared to beat a man, wouldn't go into any challenge. It was quite sad to see really, he had a promising future, I know he wasn't exactly young but he definitely had the quality to give the PL a proper go. Carlos Edwards and Hatem Ben Arfa... peas in a pod. 30 year old Edwards suffers a leg break, having not too long before arrived from Luton Town where he had helped them to obtain relegation to the third tier of English Football playing in front of home crowds nearing 8,000. 23 year old Hatem Ben Arfa suffers a leg break, having not too long before arrived from Marseille where he had helped them become French Champions, winning the double taking out Lique 1 as well as the Coupe de la Ligue Final, playing in front of home crowds averaging over 50,000.

I'd be more upset. Even though Carroll is local, Enrique is immensely more likable.

For sure. The vultures will start circling at the end of the season otherwise as he'll then have only a year to run.

TBH Ben Arfa's for us was on par, that's without thinking too hard. Joey Barton's goal against Stevenage was possibly better too (was from further out), despite the game being abysmal.

Who would be bothered? I can't even be bothered reading it.

Just about nailed on that we line up like this against Tottenham Harper Simpson Willliamson Coloccini Enrique Barton Guthrie Nolan Jonas Best Ameobi Subs: Krul, Gosling, Perch, Ranger, Lovenkrands, and two out Ferguson/Vuckic/Airey That's if Jonas is fit to play. Pretty weak looking bench, and not a strong defensive midfield.

Yeah since his return Simpson has been quite good for us. Still likes to give his man a bit too much space when on the ball, but there's not a whole heap of players in England that are great with the ball at their feet so it doesn't cost us that much. Growing in confidence on the ball, though still a little pronee to turning it over under pressure. Decent at getting forward and has a good enough engine to do it and get back in time.

Try again, it's not even Andy Carroll, just some wannabe knob pretending to be a good English striker (nailed on it's Carlton Cole I reckon).

6 million, having a laugh. If we tried to slot Perch in there for him we'd be a good shot at relegation. Interesting reading back through this thread. Enrique was apparently a sprinter before deciding to concentrate entirely on football.

Didn't we decide that we'd be best off signing him on loan? Getting on in years and on the decline, his career may have been lengethened by not playing but then the gamble is we haven't seen him play regularly for so long does he still have what it takes to do it week in week out. Perhaps a similar deal to Ben Arfa in that we take him on loan initially with the option to buy at the close of season if we deem him worthy then. All said and done though I can't see Ashley approving wages anywhere near what he is getting now, so if he's on loan City will have to make up the difference so they'll only let him go to the place that pays the most...

Fair chance we'll get to see him on the weekend against us.

ees not married get yer fax rite eh barren dent'll be washed up in tre years time mark ma words ees got pace and an ok finish but nee footballin ed n ees pace wont last fa ever villa got fleeced n sumderlan l be larfin al way to the bank cause villa won be regulated cause other teams are more shit so they get all the money for the deal and assmowen gayn is same player anyway except is a bit younger except hes not

Didn't think so, felt we were off the pace most of the game. Had one or two decent patches, the rest we were rubbish and that's with them not even playing well.

The thin is good because it breathes. The construction of it means that there's not many seams and contrary to Tom's thoughts I reckon it's good on the nips, much better than some of the Adidas ones were. certainly doesn't feel hefty but it's a football shirt after all, so the lightweight construction is warranted. The sizing is spot on for me as well.

We were unbelievably shit against them even with Tiote not too many weeks back. It was the tactics that really failed us there, as well as Enrique being out. Rarely kept possession of the ball. We need to play our own game of keeping possession as much as we can and not push too far up the pitch. Opening up space behind us will be potentially dangerous with their speed and skill. Their defense is average and gets little help from their midfield, so if we can have Barton sending balls in to Carroll/Ameobi and Nolan sniffing about there should be goals in it for us.

Current Puma one is actually good to wear and play in.

If he doesn't get replaced it's a stupid decision IMO. As limited as Routledge is he still had a role to play, and offered something different.

Looks better with a shaved head than a wig, stupid nonce. Wages would be well above what we'd be willing to pay in a position/area where we're already relatively strong.