Cronky

Well, I think it was a bit of a showdown, but my feeling is that it's had a positive effect. I'm well satisfied with the players we've brought in so far, and the best may be yet to come. I was listening to Five Live's Premiership preview with David Pleat, Gabriele Marcotti and Graham Poll. They were very negative about our chances, and full of doom and gloom about what was going on behind the scenes. It was just unreal. All this negative publicity has had a real effect. Mind you, to some extent Keegan brought it on himself, with that little rant after the Chelsea game. I think he's learned his lesson now.

Well, I take back my facetious comment about the ice cream van. I hope that photo isn't deceptive, because yes, he does look slimmer. I think he's always been lazy with his fitness, so if he's worked a bit harder that could make a big difference to us. If I'd been Keegan, I'd have told him that this was his last chance not to end his career as a talented failure.

An ice cream van?

What about Duff?

Well he was a first team regular, ahead in the pecking order of all the centre backs, so there must be a non-footballing reason behind this. The row with Keegan sounds like the most plausible.

do you mean if they sign him they will finish second as they won it last year without him? No no. This season, I think Berbatov will be the crucial player in keeping them ahead of Chelsea. They lack an out and out centre forward and he'll fill the only gap they've got.

Signing Berbatov will be the difference between Man U winning the league and coming second.

Hehe, was just typing the same thing re Edgar. Bassong looks promising so far, but the reaction of the fans of his old club at the news of him leaving them really has me worried; he was their very own Bramble.. He looked to me like the opposite of Bramble ie quite comfortable on the ball, but possibly not that strong. If Bassong can cope with the aerial challenges of Premiership strikers, then he'd be a real find.

Yeah, I'm still not convinced by this story. He could surely do better than Stoke, and I can't see why he'd be training with them before he's signed. He's not a player that would need a trial. I'm a bit baffled by some of the comments on here. I thought that Faye was not only our best defender, but a long way ahead of whoever you'd nominate as number two. Beye was a real asset in supporting the attack and was a very good buy, but he could be vulnerable from the defensive point of view.

That's the only explanation that makes sense to me. No question he was our best defender last year and really held us together. It still seems a bit strange that he's training with Stoke when he hasn't yet signed. You wouldn't have thought that a player of his Premiership experience would need a 'trial', especially with Stoke. The worrying thing about Taylor is that he doesn't seem to be progressing as he should. Last year, I was expecting him to grow in confidence and start to be more dominating. Instead, he seemed to be avoiding responsibility a lot of the time. He can improve, but only up to a point. He's clumsy on the ball, even by centre back standards.

There's no denying that spending money is an indication of ambition. However, it doesn't guarantee success, because other clubs are ambitious as well, and at the end of the day it's competitive sport and not everyone can win. Unless you're a bottomless pit of money like Chelsea, you have to be sensible. We can't go down the Leeds road of over-spending on the assumption that you're going to then recoup that outlay by winning trophies. Sooner or later, you have to balance the books.

Robinho, in which case I hope we make an offer for SWP.

It really depends on who else we bring in. We were very short of pace last year, and I think Keegan is trying to address that. The big difference that Robert and Bellamy made in 2001 was pace. We became able to hit teams on the break, and maintain a threat with a long ball over the opposition defence. But yes, nice to hear a bit of optimism.

I agree that another striker would be most welcome, but i feel we will see more goals from midfield than in recent seasons due to a vastly different style of play. It's going to be fun watching attacking football again. Yeah but three or four injuries and we're up poo poo creek without the correct utensil. That's the same for most clubs tbh, look around and see what the clubs we're supposed to be challenging have as a 4th choice striker. I'd tend to agree with Mick. I'm not quite so pessimistic, but I don't have complete confidence in any of our strikers. You could say there's strength in depth, but I'd really like to see a new addition. Smith, Viduka and Shola are slow. Martins has pace and strength, but no finesse. Owen isn't what he was. Perhaps Carroll can rise to the occasion, but he looks a bit slow as well. It's a shame, because I think a real top striker could make a big difference, a bit like Bellamy a few years ago.

I disagree over Spurs if they lose both Berbs and Keane. You can't get rid of the best facet of your team from the previous season and expect to progress. Spurs were in the relegation zone (the REAL relegation zone, not a late-season flirtation) for a large part of last season. They will be again, and could possibly be relegated. Just like last summer, they are being so frequently and so ridiculously "talked up" - so some people are (again) actually believing it!! The power of a dedicated LONDON-OBSESSED ("national") media . . . With Spurs, whatever the quality of their attacking play, their defence will determine where they finish. That's been their weakness recently, and unless they can keep Ledley King fit, it'll continue to hold them back. I feel quite happy with the signings we've made so far, and there are signs (eg Modric) that Ashley is prepared to pay big money if the right player becomes available. We just have to face the fact that we're not in the position that we were 10 years ago, when we could attract the very best.

There has been a rumour that Faye wants to return to the North West - he was linked with Blackburn a few weeks ago. Depends whether you count Stoke as north or midlands. Either way, he won't want to go to Stoke.

What do you think Capello saw in Warnock? Dunno, really. I imagine Warnock and Shorey are competing for the third choice LB spot, after Bridge and Cole. I can't say that Warnock has made much of an impression on me, either way. I wasn't having a pop at the player. He may well be a better bet than Enrique.

I get the feeling that Keegan just doesn't think that Enrique can defend properly. Not yet anyway. He may not view Warnock as anything great, just a whole lot more dependable than Enrique. If we're really in for him, I don't think it'll be as a back-up. Allardyce didn't seem to have that much faith in Enrique either. I seem to remember it took a while before he gave him a game. Personally, I'm just not sure. At times, Enrique looks like a hybrid between a FB and a CB, and falling short in both.

This idea of the big-name signing which is being kept quiet has been doing the rounds. I'm prepared to dream. SWP or Berbatov, I wouldn't be fussy.

A lot of selections feature one and even two wide men in the midfield three, and I'd say that would leave us a bit lightweight, even if the other player was purely defensive, like Butt or Faye.

Assuming Coloccini is as good as we hope - ...........Given Beye...Taylor.....Coloccini....Enrique ...Barton...Faye...Guthrie ........Gutierrez...Duff ...............Martins I'm hoping that Bassong will be good enough to displace Taylor though.

In the friendlies against Hertha and Mallorca, he was the only player that looked remotely like damaging the opposition. He got past defenders quite a few times. Players do go through these troughs where injuries prevent them from reaching their best form. We've seen that with Shearer. By all accounts, he's now fully fit, so let's give the guy a chance.

Although it's not unexpected, I do feel a bit emotional at this news. He gave his all for the club while he was here, and rescued a sinking ship. All that despite not getting the support he should have had, I can't help but feel.

I'd agree that we lack that extra bit of pace or flair to open up a defence. You don't score by passing the ball around the midfield. Oba can get you a goal out of nothing by his pace and physical presence, but his link up play isn't good, so I think we need something more to really get us up the league.

One thing I'd like to see clamped down on is players ignoring refs and continuing to walk away when he's calling them over for a word. It doesn't happen in other sports. It's rude and childish. AND IT MUST STOP NOW !!!!!!!!!!