midds

£4m almost pays for Cabaye...

Nope. Didn't even realise he was on the park until he had that 50 yard run with the ball before giving it away. Dreadful player - it's not an anti-Sunderland thing either, he's just as shit now as he was a year ago.

Get it in the mixer.

Nolan would have fucking buried that.

Fucking hell. Sturridge has a shot, hits the bar and rebounds about 35 yards. Absolutely leathered it.

How on earth do we find a replacement capable of scoring 12 league goals for a few million quid? I can understand the club not offering him a new deal because of his age but at least keep him for a year to buy a bit of time to find a replacement. The team's being ripped apart and absolutely every single one of them is for sale. Barton and Enrique will be next.

Wages taking up 82% of turnover (and getting worse) seems to have set the alarm bells ringing in Texas. Short has been great for them until now, turning their debt into shares etc but there comes a point when he's got to say 'enough is enough'. Shelling out on transfer fees and wages without any return is going to bite them eventually. About 10,000 empty seats on average every game even though their ticket prices are amongst the lowest in the league can't be helping either... The bubble's about to burst.

I honestly think things are just starting to unravel a bit down there.

He'd do a job for us. Decent player IMO, certainly better than a lot on here claimed when they signed him. Definitely. I fall into that category tbh, never saw him as a goal threat but he's had a good season. Would like him here.

Was only 2 seconds wasn't it?

If it applied to all 92 clubs they'd never be able to appoint anyone surely? It would be chaos. I thought it was a rule for PL clubs only but could be wrong like?

Genuine question: Can Birmingham claim Villa have breached Premier League rules (forbidding any club from poaching another PL club's manager) when they aren't in the PL any more? They've gone down and are now a Football League club so the rules don't apply surely?

Fully expect him to sign for the Arsenal in the next week or so. Never mind.

I see it as a lose-lose situation. He does well, and fucking Cardiff and their arsehole supporters are in the Premiership. He does badly, and we have to suffer him as a pundit again. So I'm hoping for a mediocre, mid-table kind of performance. Which won't be good enough for Cardiff.

It'll be like Robson went to Boro. He'll be ok for them but it's a tough task to get a team out of that league next season.

Chances of this appointment being a success? 1%.

Aye, arrived this morning and sent back (pre-paid 2nd class, natch) this afternoon.

Don't think he's had/got any intention of signing a new deal with us. Him announcing that he'd "wait until we were safe" followed by "waiting to see who we sign" were purely stock phrases to buy a bit of time with the fans before fucking off. Wouldn't surprise me if we eventually find out his agent has had this next move lined up for months.

Birmingham, funnily enough...

Mick doesn't.

I'm not expecting him to produce it but I dare bet the new owners are expecting big things very quickly. They signed the cheque and if he can't produce then they'll be asking some difficult questions of Dalglish. They backed his judgement when they could have spent the cash elsewhere.

If you spend £35m on a striker then you've got a right to expect the finished article imo. I know football doesn't work like that and big fee =/= goals and performances but if he can't produce the goods then he'll be branded a flop. Had Liverpool spent £35m on a European striker like Ibrahimovic or Aguero or Higuain or someone else like that then you'd expect instant results. He'll have the same pressure even though the (massively inflated) fee had nothing to do with him. It'll be a millstone around his neck.

For £35m I'd be expecting the sort of numbers Drogba was putting up 3 or 4 years ago. He's also got to sort himself out off the park. Stop being a pisshead and try to be a better footballer.

Never mind. Looks a cracking player from what I've seen but if he wants to play for PSG then fair enough. Got to respect his decision and move on to the next one. At least it's happened in June which still leaves a couple of months to sort someone else out.

Huge season for him. Up here he was given far more leeway than he'll get in Liverpool. He's also got a massive fee hanging round his neck and his new fans and owners will want an immediate return. The big bastard could turn into the next Robin Friday if he's not careful.