Teasy

£3.8 million then, so its not £5 million yet he still managed to pull off this Machiavellian smokescreen!, Kinnears even more clever then I thought!!!

I'd agree most of them seem quite unconnected though. As in "I've heard we wanted him, we got him, smokescreen!". It just seems strange that Kinnear mentioned the £5 million bid for Mbia and then kept talking about a £5 million bid for a midfielder yet never told anyone that he meant another midfielder for £5 million, there's definitely more logic to it then most smokescreen theories, even if it might be bollocks.

or more likely either of........... a) they wanted more than we could offer b) they wanted more than we thought he was worth c) he didn't want to move here. I don't know like, didn't people say at the time that Everton had offered £8 million the season before and it seemed silly to even bother offerin £5 million? Now the offer starts to make sense £5mill may just have been an opening bid and the smokescreen arguement in transfers always seems silly, Well it was tongue in cheek, but I'd like to believe it, its a much more interesting scenario then wasting time and effort by offering half what a club want for a player, whatever the reality

Ditto. I won't know who to praise though, as usual. I'll praise the people I hate least Vetere? Sounds good, lets do that, with just a little bit left over for Kinnear.

Ditto. I won't know who to praise though, as usual. I'll praise the people I hate least

or more likely either of........... a) they wanted more than we could offer b) they wanted more than we thought he was worth c) he didn't want to move here. I don't know like, didn't people say at the time that Everton had offered £8 million the season before and it seemed silly to even bother offering £5 million? Now the offer starts to make sense

Could be Mbia was a smoke screen all along. Put in a £5 million bid you know won't be accepted for Mbia and a £5 million bid for Donadel. Say you have a bid in for Mbia and when people hear of a £5 million bid for a midfielder later on they assume Mbia and look no further.. genius from Kinnear!

God I hope so, I've just came a little. That good?

If we bring in some good players who improve the team he'll get a lot of praise from me.

If he's a lot better then Butt, which isn't difficult, then he's well worth the money.

Elano has been poor and Johnson is constantly injured, wouldn't be a good deal that like!

Could have been Englands number 1 but he decided to stay here because he is loyal, dont you know. Funny thing is with the state of England goal keepers at the moment he probably could have been..

They're encouraging bids (if they're even doing that) for a player who's expressed a desire to leave. Its hardly the same as encouraging bids for anyone worth selling is it?

He's only 32 man, he'll still be going strong at 38. £10 million is a realistic price, which is a poor deal considering the current market and the club that's after the player. Why should we be the only club to sell our selves short or be realistic about the value of our players when City come calling? £12 million would be a minimum IMO, I could begrudgingly accept that though I'd be disappointed. I'd be happy with £14 million, that's a good deal.

I don't think so, Martins wages aren't that high plus he's a young player so his value will only increase. Contrary to what some people believe Ashley isn't aiming to sell anyone worth selling and then replace them with Championship players..

The only good winger we have at the moment who doesn't seem to want out (yet) is Jonas. In the summer we will have Martins and Ameobi (being kind) that are good enough and want to be here/aren't being ignored. I thought you were talking about this window though? If you're talking about what we need by the start of next season I'd say we need at least 7 players. But IMO only 4 are needed this window, still probably far more then we'll get though.

Why would we need three new wingers? Three forwards is way over the top as well. I'd say we need a right back, left back, right winger and central midfielder, then a striker, a central defender and another central midfielder needed in the summer once the likes of Owen, Butt, Duff, Cacapa ect will all hopefully be gone.

Could have been us?.. this is getting desperate now

Probably because he sees exactly what Shay sees. Oh come on we are not that bad, don't be mellow dramatic. We have the players to survive. But as is always with this board, its not a case of is the glass Half full or Empty, we've not even got a fucking glass man. Most games are ticked off as loses, with people just piling more misery on if we lose. In every league season there are surprise results, Pompey 3-0 anyone? For all we know we could nick 6 points this week in two scrappy 1-0's, but we could also lose 4-0 in both and come out with 0 points. So why bother being all doom and gloom, why not try supporting the team? I've seen worse XI's than this do better, so there is no real reason to be getting suicidal. Even if we go down, at least we have a Football club, look at Leeds losing to Histon in the cup, seen more players come and go than you can remember, they might as well print shirt names on velcro. I think the fact that Harper hasn't signed the new contract by now is hugely significant considering Shay has virtually asked to leave. There's no guarantee at all that Given will leave at this point, you don't sign a contract in the hope something will happen. Harper has spent his whole career waiting for first team Football at Newcastle United even though he's a good keeper and could have had it at numerous other clubs. He's not going to walk out the moment he finally gets his chance as first choice keeper.

Yeah he's got a fantastic range of backward passes.

Ah right, so why did that happen? A fall out with the manager or he just wasn't getting a game? I just want to get an idea of what to expect from him.

Has nobody actually seen him play in the last year or so? Surely he must have lost something in his game to end up getting released like that.

Have to say I agree with a lot of what Fred's saying.

Kinnear better not bring in a new first choice keeper, especially if it means paying a transfer fee. Harper's waited more then long enough, he should be first choice if Given leaves.

If Given leaves there's not a chance in hell of Harper refusing to sign a new contract. Unless we actually do bring in another first choice keeper, which would be mind numbingly stupid.