Rich

Where's this come from, then? (Source?)

Fairly useless post, Vic, all things considered. Not just concerning Crouch, either.

I agree with you, but we will have a fair bit more than £11m to spend this summer, surely.

It certainly makes sense and is more in fitting with Roeder's so-called "policy" for this Summer. I cannot see Crouch's value increasing if we buy him, but we may well get more than what we paid in a future sale if we can manage to snare Babel (as we should do with Martins.) Babel would certainly appear to be more of a long-term investment, than a quick fix. I get the feeling that when the pressure is on Roeder, like now, he will not hesitate to find "quick fixes", though, as he's desperate to succeed in his "dream job" and will probably do anything possible to keep the seat.

Rubbish, man. In this thread the debate has purely been about why we haven't seen more of him in the team ahead of Huntington, nobody else. I think most people are sensible enough to know that we look at our best with Babayaro at left-back (oh those rare occasions) and that Duff is probably more useful there, as well. Toon83 doesn't count, as he posted after you, btw!

Those shorts/socks are the most rancid/cheap-looking I've seen for a long while.

Aye, agreed. Unless one of Owen/Martins is leaving? I cannot see the Stick Insect coming here unless he was promised first-team football. Would be nice to have a squad of high-quality strikers, mind, but it's exceptionally hard to achieve for a squad who's not in Europe. If we are to buy a striker of this sort, I'd still prefer Zigic - as they'd probably cost the same and from what I've seen in La Liga/Internationals the Serbian is a far more dominant presence than Crouch and has a lot of technical ability, as well. I'm not as much against the "direct" route as everyone else seems to be. From what I remember we've played the best football of my lifetime by playing quick, direct football revolving around a target-man of a striker (Ferdinand/Shearer). With a "tinkerer" alongside, though (Beardsley/Bellamy.)

All I've read people saying is that he's looked better than Huntington and has had two very good performances against Man Utd and West Ham, and so deserves another chances AHEAD of Huntington. I love it when people accuse others of "going off the deep end" about something, when the majority have done nothing of the sort.

How about Julio Arca? He hasn't got much physical presence though he is not tiny by any means. Nor he is fast. But he has football intelligence and passing abilities, so far he's done a very good job water carrying for Boro despite being a left back by trade. But Solano probably doesn't have the stamina and leg to run the midfield whole match. How I wish Solano is 10 years younger! Arca is certainly quicker, taller and he has more stamina than the Nobby Solano of today. Nobby has never been a player who can play in limited amounts of space, which is why his move to right-back has increased his performances when he hasn't been under constant pressure from the opposition. However, in central midfield this would be a completely different story and you seem to have glossed-over the fact that dribbling is one of Arca's main strengths, whereas I personally haven't seen Nobby go on anything resembling a "dribble" for seasons now. Nobby's game is all about receiving the ball in a bit of space and picking out a pass ahead of him, or being involved in neat link-up play (provided he has a lot of movement around him - his "partnership" with Dyer is testament to this.) Central midfield is the most competitive area on the pitch and he would simply be closed-down, closed-down, closed-down (like he was away at AZ) meaning that he'd constantly have to surrender posession by hitting hopeful passes (as he did away to AZ). He's a great player given the time and space to play, but he simply cannot beat a man one-on-one (Arca can, easily) and so only has one option. In a team with such a lack of movement as ours has, I simply could not see it working. Solano has already been found-out at right-back in my eyes, it would take even less time for him to be "drowned" if he was put in a more pressurised position. Also, I think he and Arca are very different players when considered from every angle.

the same questions were raised when he was asked to play emergency right back but he aint done too bad Were they? I certainly don't remember being at all worried when he was put there. He's certainly done "bad" at right-back on quite a few occasions, yet most people seem amazed at having a full-back who can sometimes pick a pass and read a situation, so he gets away with it. Should not be first-choice next season at right-back or central-midfield.

That would be like the second-coming of Kluivert - only for far more money.

No physical presence, not much tackling ability, no pace, limited ball-carrying ability (always looks for the pass)... is there a midfielder of Nobby's size/abilities established in the centre of any Premiership team?

Edgar's contract being up this summer is worrying, to say the least. http://nufc.com/2006-07html/squad.html Perhaps he's agreed a deal to move elsewhere/has turned down a new contract and therefore Roeder is picking others ahead of him? Pure speculation, of course, but it's a theory nontheless. I don't see any other logic in why Huntington has been getting a game ahead of him after two particularly outstanding performances from the Canadian (Man Utd & West Ham). Granted, he was fairly poor away at Birmingham and was susceptible for perhaps both goals, but Huntington also had a fairly poor game at the same time - in his preferred position. Just doesn't make sense to me. From what I've seen I concur with J in that Edgar looks our best prospect. If he's not going to get a look-in down the centre, then I think he could make a cracking right-back in the future from what he's shown in glimpses so far in regards to passing/ball control/pace. The likes of Mosley could be very useful in here, as he's seen buckets of reserve games.

"It's nearly over" is the best one I've come up with so far.

Not sure they would, in all honesty. I think what people on here get most het-up about is when there are problems en masse abroad, not when there are individual fans going bonkers. Like mass racism, fighting, throwing things, etc. (There's always some daft bugger invading the Barca/Madrid games, anyway. Not throwing punches usually, of course.) It's not really comparable to one or two idiots breaking free of the stewards and getting on the pitch and isn't the same "type" of incident that I've seen fans in La Liga/Italy chastised for on here.

If that had happened in England there'd be calls to have them kicked out of Europe and, oh hang on. On this occasion, I'd be all for that.

WHHHEYYYYYYY Was only messing. I find this revealing as interesting as the rest of you. Cannot believe a full copy hasn't been leaked yet.

I'll tell you's later, by the way.

How do you keep an idiot in suspense?

I'd get rid of Butt and Parker before Emre, personally, and I'd love to see us buy a decent-sized defensive midfielder who can put himself about a bit and pass it, also. If Martins/Owen are going to be our first-choice strikers we are quite simply going to struggle with set-plays at both ends of the pitch, unless we sign two full-backs capable of challenging people in the air. If Solano stays as right-back, then we could have only two players in the entire team over six-feet tall (unless we buy a bigger LB.) In the modern game, that worries me enormously - though I know it's not the be-all and end-all. Man Utd are the current "smallest" team I can think of, but on most occasions even they have a massive goalkeeper, two big centre-halves and Gary Neville/Gabriel Heinze in the FB slots, both of whom are extremely accomplished in the air. Evra less so, when he plays, but even then Rooney/Saha are bigger than Martins/Owen and Carrick/Ronaldo aren't tiny, either. Not to mention the fact that Man Utd are incredibly well-coached, an' all. We are crying out for some power in all areas of the pitch, which is why I'm not over the moon about the prospect of Sidwell, or a Martins/Owen partnership, for that matter. It's all just a much of a muchness with what we already have and for all the fancy football we could play, I can't see beyond another season of getting bullied out of matches by the likes of Sheff Utd, Everton and Bolton.

If we are to go for a big bastard, then at least it's reassuring to know we're going for the best one around and I, for one, can take smug satisfaction in knowing that I mentioned him as a potential signing absolutely donkey's years ago now. I tend to agree with monkey's philosophy now, though. While big-men can be extremely invaluable in certain teams (Drogba and Berbatov are the current "target-men" doing the business), I'm worried that if we do sign someone like him that we'll play more direct than ever before. It would be a useful option to have in certain games and at certain times, but he's not going to come here without being a first-choice player. Just cannot see him joining us, especially at that price. It's just very unlikely.

Jesus, now THAT's a set-up. If a club/town the size of Bolton can achieve what they have been on that sort of money and with that number of fans, imagine what a similar/replica ideal could achieve at NUFC? This is why I get frustrated with the current board, more than anything else, because we are simply not as well-equipped as our rivals.

Don't see the fuss on Sidwell, personally, but I'll admit to not being the expert on Reading. However, in the previous three Reading games I've seen in their entirety I've watched him closely and he has looked average, at best (two were against Man Utd, though!) He has constantly surrendered posession, doesn't seem to have any outstanding physical attributes other than stamina and he has never looked like scoring a goal. That's all I can base it on, though, because I don't remember paying particular attention to the lad before he started getting linked with us. Certainly don't see him as being much better than what we already have. What, exactly, is so good about him? He's being a proper little runt with Reading as well and to me seems to be one of those "Jenas" players who is neither here-nor-there in regards to being an attacking or defensive midfielder. Certainly cannot imagine him being exciting alongside Butt or Parker and he's only got 4 goals in 32 appearances this season ('Boro, Tottenham & Villa x2). Good engine on him, undoubtedly, but hardly going to elevate us onto the next level, is he? 6 assists, too, but 2 were in the 6-0 over West Ham, 2 came at home to Sheffield United, 1 away to Man City and 1 at home to Charlton. He's surely not an improvement on Emre? Is this another baseless bandwagon we've started here? One person rates him and then numerous others, who've barely seen him, follow suit. Not accusing you of this Stozo, or others like tmonkey who I've seen rate him, but there are a fair few sheep around these days. Dont think Sidwell is anything special at all, but hes going on a free and Butt will be 33 next season. IMO he plays the game better than Parker/Butt, in that hes better at passing forwards, and does so more often. He therefore has more presence on the ball in central midfield, despite being a similar type of player (ie workhorse with low technical ability) - its not the fact that hes got more ability when it comes to passing forwards, its just that he does so more often and with more confidence. We need to build up a squad as opposed to a first team only, and although central midfield isnt a vital area that badly needs reinforcements, a free transfer for a decent player would only be a good thing. Sidwell has indeed been overhyped because of the Wenger praise, and his form at the start of the season was pretty impressive, but like Seol (who was stunningly good at the start), as the season has progressed, neither have managed to maintain their form. Hence, the hype. But agian, for a free and for someone who is more positive, I wouldnt say no. Also needs to be noted that imo, wed do some very good business if we were to ship out Parker for 6mill and bring in Sidwell on a free. Not much between both players in terms of ability and theyre pretty similar style players, but Sidwell afaik hasnt been messed around positionally so doesnt play as though hes confused about his role, and wed also talking about a pretty sizeable chunk which we could invest elsewhere. At the same time, in no way is Sidwell a replacement for Emre, in the way a second Scotty Parker would not be a good replacement for Emre. All makes sense to me, as usual. Good post and I understand your reasonings behind it. Was more on at the people who seem to think Sidwell would be a "brilliant" signing.

There was a thread on this the other day, and one a couple of months ago. The club is randomly sending these out to people on their list, by the looks of it.

I think he'd be excellent at Bayern, do you? Bayern sucks tbh (no pun intended to the germans) Right, then. I think they're fairly snazzy, personally.