Cronky

This bloody club. I had a mouthful of coffee when I saw this thread, coughed and the whole lot went over my laptop.

With difficulty, I imagine. I'm not sure if Everton are playing the game here. It's a bit like us and Michael Owen, though on a different scale - offering the club and /or the player a bit more money to put the mockers on the move that he really wants. If it succeeds, it's unlikely to work out well, any more than it worked for us and MO.

If everything has been agreed apart from the exact nature of the £5m add-on, then this is surely going to go through. I wonder if everything has been sorted, but there's an agreement not to confirm it for the time being. Watford will presumably want a replacement, and they may worry about being ripped off if it's known that they have £25m lying in the bank.

Yeah, this is irritating. We have Pep's tactical genius and fighting spirit, but just in case, we'll spend a billion pounds on the squad.

Overall, extremely encouraging, because for half an hour we actually looked the better side. And when you consider that probably none of our players would have made it into their eleven, that's quite amazing. ASM's decision-making has improved a lot and he was very effective. Trippier was a bit lucky - that challenge was 50-50 between a yellow and a red, I thought. Normally that sort of professional foul means a yellow, but it involved a jump and he caught the opponent by his knee. The aerial challenge on Schar would have been a free kick anywhere outside the penalty area. It was one of those. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I thought Willock pulled out of a couple of challenges. And Eddie, please stay here for ever.

He's looked a bit nervous and is trying to adjust his game to the pace of the Premiership. We'll need to wait a few games before we judge him. And I'd like to see how it goes with a Burn-Bottman partnership. Burn adds leadership to our defending and I like to see him in the centre.

I cannot believe how well we're playing.

It looks to me like they've reached the top by cheating, so whenever they lose is a cause for celebration. If it's us that beats them, so much the better.

He looks very strong and athletic, but not so great on technique. It surprised me a little that Liverpool went for him. They seemed to have a winning formula.

Yeah, he's fallen under my radar, but based on You Tube, £30m looks about right, by current prices. Ticks plenty of boxes for me.

Yeah, good point. While we may be disappointed with aspects of the performance, we need to remind ourselves about just how far we've come in very little time. When Eddie took over, we were nailed on certainties to go down, probably with about 20 points. We were that bad. Yes, we've spent money, but 6 of the starting XI on Saturday were here at the start of last season. We are still over-achieving on what we have.

A bit rude indeed, but Tuchel shouldn't have reacted like that. Our Eddie would have got him to sit down and talk about his feelings.

I thought beforehand that the heat would suit Brighton's style more, so I'm happy we came away with a point. Two clean sheets is something to note. That's the foundation of a good side.

It looks like we can only buy one expensive player at the moment, and if it was a question of Gallagher or Ramos, it would be Gallagher for me, despite the fact that striker is the more obvious need. I just think Gallagher is a really good player and would suit our style perfectly. I think he could also play as a second striker, or even lead the line if need be. If there's a chance to sign him long-term, we shouldn't pass it up. Chelsea seem dead set on Fofana, and may need to offload in order to buy him. Clutching at straws maybe.

What has been the problem with him? Are there off the field issues? Long-term injuries? Does he fall out with managers or team mates? Does he lack motivation? I've never come across an explanation.

His career has gone south after a very, very promising start. If a manager could only get a grip of this lad, he could be a really good signing.

De Gea has looked more brittle in recent years, and I think he should have been moved on. With Fergie, the minute anyone slipped from their previous high standards, whether it was a Beckham or a Cantona, they got the boot. (In Beckham's case literally ho ho) The first goal was poor, but I thought the second was even worse. That pass to Eriksen was never on, but it was like De Gea's brain was too scrambled to adjust from his original intention. I also thought that going in front of the camera doing a 'mea culpa' was a mistake, and he should have been stopped by his manager. He wasn't in the right frame of mind and the interview moved on to talking about the more general problems within the team. Not an area to get into when you've just a couple of bad ricks.

They're using words like 'magnificent' but Brentford didn't have to play all that well. The first two goals were really bad goalkeeping errors, and the final two probably wouldn't have been conceded against most Premiership defences. Man U seemed to go out there without any plan as to how to close down the particular threat posed by the opposition. I daresay when you're managing Ajax, you don't have to worry too much about what the smaller clubs are going to do to you, but this is a different league. Ronaldo has jerked the club around for the last few months, and I can't believe they've hung on to him. He's drained the spirit out of that team.

What I don't understand is the big discrepency between the two views of how FFP would affect us. A few months ago, there was comment from sources outside the club that, because we hadn't had losses in previous years, we could easily spend a huge amount - like £350m +. The reality for the club seems to be very different. Can anyone explain how this discrepency has arisen? I'm not having a go at the club, incidentally, I'd just like to know.

Well, he'd never become bigger than the club.

I'm sure if we remembered to press Bcc instead of Cc on the circular email, and added 20 pleases at the end, we'll be all right.

Very impressive. Yes please.

Since the takeover, we haven't signed anyone from the top six, on loan or whatever. We are seen as a threat and they are not going to do us any favours.

I like Maddison a lot, but I suspect that Leicester are going to stick with a high valuation that we won't reach. Given the state of the squad, the priority has to be another striker anyway. Ideally the club would like to go for someone who is young but also ready to step into the first team, and there won't be many of those that haven't already been snapped up or earmarked for the CL clubs. I think we'll have to settle for someone a bit older. We've been linked with so many that it gets confusing, but of the latest candidates, Raul de Tomas and Luis Muriel look like they can do a job for us. (Based on YT admittedly)

He's high on energy but not great on technique. That's the package he offers, and fair play to him, he's managed to battle his way into the side at the moment. If the side is to move to another level, he's unlikely to be a first team regular, but he may remain a useful squad player. I think his pace and work rate will make him useful to have around.