George Bailey

An upgrade, irrespective of if they are 'names' or not, at LB, CH, CM and striker would see me ecstatic.

Fair points Mole. I'm feeling positive about NUFC for the first time in ages though Undoubtedly NASA will announce the impending comet/asteroid soon enough and barring Bruce Willis and an unlikely mission involving Steve Buscemi everything will start falling on it's arse sooner rather than later. Okay Ponsaelius I bow to your knowledge on this one. Everton fans I have spoke to certainly gave me the impression that he is not fancied by Koeman, rather than it being about his lack of committing to the club. Time will tell re his next move. Be daft to go and bench warm imo but I guess 120 thousand a week at a bigger side etc speaks loud and clear to many, if it comes to that.

Personally no I can't see it being a shoe in and I am also not suggesting he is destined for us at all. But players of his ilk, at top 7 sides who are out of favour , for whatever reason and aren't necessarily going to be courted by bigger sides are possible. As for barkely Koeman doesn't rate him that's pretty evident. Spurs don't need him, Liverpool is a no go, Chelsea certainly don't need him. I guess you may be right if Man U are the touters but other than becoming a bench warmer at City I think he will be limited. for England it would probably be good for him to move abroad (as with a lot of our playesr, btu of course that isn't happening..other than China)

I think we may well be pleasantly surprised by a few of who we attract. And I can't agree on any of the top 4 or even 6 looking at Barkley. Outside the top 6, if I was a Stoke, Southampton, West Brom supporter (sides that may be considered to be more established in the PL than us) I would be concerned at our promotion. A defective NUFC was attractive to Benitez. A functioning NUFC with Rafa in charge and given funds must be bloody worrying to some chairmen and managers of the teams we will be competing with next season.

So if he leaves Everton, which looks a strong possibility, you think he will go upwards? I think he may be limited in options in terms of a 'bigger' club. Not saying we are , just asking the question Don't see why we couldn't be an option though, apart from the possible ridiculous fee.

If, as is being mentioned in some reports, that Koeman sees Siggurdsson as a replacement for Barkley at Everton would he be realistic? I can't see him moving up to a top 4 side at all, and if you rule out Man U, Liverpool then other than a move abroad could we be a realistic option. Southampton I guess maybe a head of us? That is if anyone thinks he is worth having in the first place Could he be one who fits into this bracket, which I agree with in terms of us being pleasantly surprised by one or two of the players we attract.

Agree. I think he is showing up as a busted flush. The signings of players that he had worked with previously must have been orchestrated by him, you would imagine, and the likes of Pienar (sp) and Anichebe have proven to be passed it/never were it gash. if he leaves them I think he may struggle to get a new job, certainly in the top 2 divisions.

Absolutely spot on. We can actually transform the side without permanent signings all in one window, if we use the loan system cleverly imo. Key positions as identified 1st choice CB, CM and CF. LW, LB and GK should be areas we look to strengthen in as well, but get some loans in some of these areas to cover 1st half of season. There must be young players out there who are better than we have and would jump at chance of 1st team experience. Realistic spending of 50-60m in summer with loans on top. Very doable.

Even better Thought Defoe would fetch a few quid for them but if he's free to move on then all the better. I assume the parachute payments will help them a wee bit, though if the proposed or talked about cuts happen then even that could screw them

I can certainly foresee a season of grief for them next year. IMO they will start like Villa did (piss poorly) and may not have the guile of a Bruce to get them moving upwards. Can't see them having much money other than the Pickford cash (10-15million?) and maybe a few sheckles for Defoe and Khazri (sp). Hopefully they stick with Moyes for as long as they can as I think he will be a disaster. Good times ahead for the tramps

To whom? The Corsican Mafia, you dilbert. Maybe this explains the clubs silence Omerta

Excellent news. Serious questions need to be asked of Charnley though. His place of work raided and him arrested. They're probably not asking what he likes on his toast tbf. Corsican sardines. Allegedly.

Illegal?? or a loop hole? twenty seconds too late

Really is a piss poor state of affairs. Irrespective of the rivalry (hatred) for that lot, our region has had nothing but crap for years. Hotbed of football Always seems to be one step ahead and about twenty back for 'us'. The domination of the NW and of London really gripes my knackers.

Hopefully wouldn't kick in till January. It kicked in last January, clearly.

Who are the posters on here with a legal or tax/accountant background? Clarity and some calming, knowledgeable posts would be rather reassuring

Income tax and National insurance fraud investigations??? WTF?

Agree I think this is the start of a new chapter for us. Happy days.

Cheers VI Excellent reading.

Went for a 4 (assuming opposite to Stifler). Enjoyable moments but overall feelings of anxiety, that I never really had last time, and poor standard of football in the division as a whole at times has made it more frustrating than exciting. Exhilarated to see us promoted again (5th one for me). Hoping he has learnt lessons and we don't make the same mistakes again now.

Agree 100% Looking at the amount of investment/changes required I think loans are going to be crucial in the short term. No way can we get the volume of replacements needed in one or two windows imo. Make key, crucial big signings and use the loan system to the max effect. A few players to look at from those teams who won't make it up (though competition for the likes of Cairney will be tough) and a few from those dropping down that would immediately improve our 1st 11. Hoping Rafas standing will get a few players interested that would maybe not consider us otherwise. Another massive summer for us in terms of what we our long term goals are. Let's hope they have learnt lessons.

For me (stating the obvious) the failure to strengthen in Jan, another great decision by our glorious leader, is biting us on the arse hugely now. I'm still confident that we can go up in the top 2 (title has gone: and credit is due to Hughton for that), but it's a lot tighter than it should be. Our squad is not as good as many make out (idiots like that Durham twat from talkshite etc) and for me Rafa has made some mistakes as well. Gayle being out in particular, but also our reliance on shite like Colback, Gouff and not having the option of dropping Lascelles etc ( a decent player who is out of form imo) is making this far harder than it should be. if, as many say, this league is 'piss poor', then we should be up by now. truth is it may lack quality but the competition is fierce and we are a huge scalp and motivation for teams to 'stuff it to the big team' I'm still at a 7. 70% confident of doing this, but as usual we are making a fucking meal of things.

This is the sort of match that shows one hell of a lot about the strength of character of your players. Time to step up and show some grit and class.

Very, very solid 7, weak 8 (....not inches). Long way to go and we need signings imo. Left sided winger, full back and central cover would be cherry on top. Shelvey is huge for us.