Bombadil

As much as I hate to say it, a strikeforce of Berbatov, Keane and Bent (and Defoe if they don't sell him) must be one of the best in the league. Fucking Spurs, fuck off.

Bridge is a class player. I'd love to see him play for us.

Excellent, let's just hope they pack it in quickly so that Allardyce gets his transfer budget.

"On another matter" = Souness claiming to be a football manager.

Skunkers' ITK was right again then.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6231950.stm

Was it Souness' mate Michael Robinson? No surprise there...

Albert Luque has lost his No 7 shirt to new boy Joey Barton at Newcastle United, (writes Alan Oliver). However, the Spanish misfit could yet save his career at St James' Park - thanks to the Sam Allardyce approach. Barton is keen to wear the United No 7 shirt worn with such distinction by Toon heroes Kevin Keegan and Robert Lee in recent seasons. Allardyce has agreed to this request, but he insists he has not given up on Luque, who has only made six Premiership starts in his two seasons with United and scored that one League goal - at Sunderland. Luque still has two years left on his contract at £40,000-a-week, but has turned down chances to move away from Tyneside - and he is still a United player. Big Sam is clearly thinking of Luque - and some other United misfits - when he says: "I feel far too many players have got lost at this football club. "It is my responsibility to make sure this does not happen to any current member of the staff or any new player I might bring in. "One of the reasons I was successful at Bolton Wanderers was transforming a foreign player out of whatever country he had come from into a Premiership player. "That's because we found out what problems he had as early as we possibly could. "I don't want to be too critical of what has happened here in the past but in my opinion there has not been enough focus on what is happening in a player's life away from the training ground and the club. "Has he got the right lifestyle? Is he living in the right place for him and his family? "In fact it's not just the player but his wife and family. "But once this is sorted out you get the best out of player and this is something I have to try and work out with Albert Luque. "He might be too far gone. Who knows? But we might still be able to resurrect his career here. We will see."

I've always wondered why it usually takes so long for transfer negotiations to be completed in cases like Rozenahl's. It's not like he was an extremely expensive player. How can it possibly take more than seven days for the buying club to get on the phone or send a fax to the selling club and reach a compromise?

I'd definitely take a swap for Shola fwiw.

Not a fan of Smith. £3m isn't too bad though.

I'm not worried at all about Owen wanting to join Man City. He'll be off like a shot if one of the Top 4 come in for him, but he won't move to a club that's in a worse state than we are.

How cringeworthy is that?

My tagliatelle al salmone are the stuff of legends.

Watching that compilation depresses me. Let's hope Duff can get back to his old self under the new management.

Is that true? "W0ZZUP SHEERA!!1 F4NCY COMIN 2 PLAY 4 B0LT3N NEXT SEAS0N?!!11! ITS GUN BE MINT!! OMG11!LOL!!11"

By the way, what's going on with Allardyce's backroom staff? I thought Forde and Taylor were basically done deals, but it seems to have gone completely quiet. We still haven't got any coaches either, apart from Pearson that is.

I'd take £13m for Martins, but I can see why Allardyce would be furious. Fat Fred has done a great job with these contracts, hasn't he...

What's happening? At work with no TV.

Me neither, and I thought that one was pretty tame. You got a laugh from me!

Agree completely. It's not about Beckham being better than Solano or Milner, FFS.

Does he? I doubt it. I fully expect him to tell us that Lalas is right...