Cronky

If he's expecting 80K or anything like, there's no way we'll match that.

For Issue 1, you can pay what you want, with a minimum of £5-00. I've just started looking through my copy. They're obviously trying to produce something that's a bit more thoughtful and analytic. There's an amazing interview with Juanma Lillo - not previously known to me but apparently Guardiola's mentor. It's all about his philosophy of coaching and team preparation. I've never heard a football professional talk in that way before.

Ashley doesn't mind a gamble, so there could be something in this. I've not seen a great deal of him, but it looks like he can play in a variety of striking positions - advanced, withdrawn or out wide. That versatility would come in handy.

If it's scenery he's after, he'll be disappointed. ho ho.

I'd actually expect to pay the top-up in order to land Clichy. Can't help but laugh at this. You seriously think Clichy is a superior player to Enrique? Let alone value based on TWO WHOLE seasons of being absolute garbage (liability is the best descriptor, mind). If Clichy opts for Liverpool, he's basically saying that their prospects are better than Arsenal's. Wenger is desperate to keep the belief going in his players that they can raise their game that final notch which separates the Champions from the rest of the top four. That's unless Wenger is happy to get rid of Clichy, which would surprise me. As for how he compares with our lad, I wouldn't say that Jose was Mr Reliable either. There's maybe not a lot to chose between the two, but rating Clichy that bit higher doesn't strike me as strange. Liverpool seem to be thinking that way, after all.

I'd actually expect to pay the top-up in order to land Clichy. I'm not sure that Clichy would want to move from Arsenal to Liverpool. The money might be a factor, but whatever, he's been a fixture in the Arsenal team and it would be a big vote of no confidence in Arsenal's future.

We have been able to sign players from French football for a very long time now: World cup winners, young players, captains, internationals we have signed the lot from France. Players of this standard from this position in our development? Nobody springs to mind, but if so I'm sure we'd have been pleased about it at the time. I do get the feeling that it'd kill you to admit that the current regime had done anything right.

Looking on the positive side, the likes of Gameiro, Cabaye and Gervinho are of a standing that a team in 12th position shouldn't really have a prayer of signing. The work put in by Carr, and the good profile in France that we've achieved through our treatment of Ben Arfa has made us competitive in their market, even with the likes of Arsenal involved. I think Tiote and Ben Arfa have been saying positive things about us to the players that they're connected to, so that will have helped as well . The French press are a bit confused that we've landed Cabaye and that Gervinho is even considering us. Even if we end up signing just one of those three, that's good going.

I like the way the player seems to have handled the move - no histrionics, no will-I-won't-I's or publicly using our interest to entice other clubs. It looks like he gave the club an early answer and has stuck to it. First impression - decent guy.

And a bit lacking in imagination.

Yeah, he certainly looks like he can pass the ball quickly and accurately.

I think we might get £4m but I'd be happy enough if we took £3m rather than keep him here. Nolan's been a good pro for us apart from being too fat and probably liking a pint too much, but the Championship or small town premier club is where he belongs. apparently not fashionable but i might agree with this if they had someone good lined to replace him + cabaye if cabaye is the replacement then it's a bit shite as we need quality in numbers, would rather see guthrie and smith leave for fuck and keep nolan if he won't be replaced properly I think we are probably banking on Gosling playing a much bigger role next season, he's a similar type of player. There's always a risk in moving on an influential player but you can't grow as a club without taking calculated risks. Exactly. I do think a lot of this panic about Nolan going amounts to a fear of the unknown more than anything. And yes, if Gosling recovers his fitness he should be competing with Nolan for the same role.

I'd agree. I've never bought into the optimism about this player. I hope the contract we're offering is heavily incentivised, because I'd hope we could eventually bring in someone better.

Football's not like cricket. You can't have someone in the side just for their captaincy.

We've tended to rely a bit on set pieces and getting the ball forward quickly, and that's been fine for Nolan. But if we're going to progress and develop the ability to play the ball through the midfield, Nolan's going to hold us back.

Yes

It doesn't sound like a CL club or the likes of Liverpool are that keen at the moment. He wouldn't turn down the opportunity to move to a bigger club if it was available to him now, because you never know when the chance is going to come again. I also can't see us playing too much hardball with the transfer fee, if we're going to be losing him in a year's time anyway. Jose is a good player, but I still feel he falls short of the top international / CL level that he's seeking.

Same here. Rodwell is another example. Plenty of people seem to rate both players, so I assume I've been unlucky. You look for those moments in a game when a player does something that marks them as something out of the ordinary, but for me it hasn't happened yet.

On you know where, he looks way too good for the level of football that he's playing in. Impressive all the same.

Jose's touch on the ball can be a bit clumsy. I don't see him as a Barca player.

See how long it takes before this reaches twitter. Anyone got any guesses? The trouble with that kind of post is, at the back of your mind, there's always a 1 in 100 chance that it might be true.

I don't get why Swansea agreed to a £1m buy-out clause in his contract. These things are very much in the interests of the player, where they're anticipating interest from a bigger club and they want to be assured that the club can't hold them to their contract by demanding a large fee. Taylor came from the non-league and you'd have thought that it was Swansea who held the stronger hand in negotiations. I've not heard of a buy-out fee that is that small. From the club's point of view, it doesn't make sense to me.

Yeah, comes across that he very much wants to join PSG. This looks like a no-hoper.

I don't think Crouch should have reacted in that way, but..... I doubt if he'd have missed the open goal that fell to Bent. Crouch has always shown a lot of composure in an England shirt and usually puts those chances away. International football brings pressure and Crouch can handle it.

56 pages of dog's abuse. Someone points out that Keegan rated him and now he's not so bad.