TRon

Being a sound group of lads - which they were - doesn't mean you will get unreasonable contracts on the back of it. I think Barton and Nolan just pushed too far. Now we'll find out what Pardew's made of, up to him now to forge a new team spirit with the players left and those coming in.

What a mental and completely irrelevant thing to say. Robson bought Carl Cort ffs. You sort of missed the point. Robson bought bad players as well as good, but he had a policy of filling the side with pace and movement, especially through the middle. Both managers believed in passing football and for me, to get the best out of Nolan you need big lads fighting for the set pieces.

Absolutely delighted with this deal. Good character and obviously led the team well but after witnessing Keegan and Robson teams my heart sunk when we bought Nolan. Those two managers would never have touched Nolan with a barge pole...and it's indicative of his worth that only the likes of West Ham were interested. So long Kev, and good luck with Fat Sam.

So how much are Sunderland expecting to sell Gyan for then? He's probably worth £10million at best with his real age being about 40, but you never know with 'arry. I'm sure he could come to an agreement with his agent to bump up the fee "unofficially".

Is he strong enough to handle the physical side of the premier?

Liverpool have been offered him for £9million but they still haven't taken the bait. No one is going to pay £12million for a player with a year left on his contract.

Not a chance in hell. The only people who backed Kris Boyd as a signing probably have links with dodgy Scottish agents or want to extend their own cushy contracts based on being great lads, essential for team spirit, etc, blah blah, and so on.

Ding ding ding ding ding! Cardiff were obviously in on the plot to make Shearer look a tit, and no doubt they had closet links with Ashley and the media to make him look like a greedy cunt. Yes...that's it.

Because Pardew obviously hates the idea of Jose signing a new contract? Got it. I doubt Pardew has much of a say in it. Just like with Carroll, I'd imagine he wants to keep the best players at the club because it makes his job easier. He's just the one shoved out in front of the media to explain things. Not noticed that everyone who leaves the club is a greedy cunt? It works. Pardew said Enrique was going to be offered a fantastic contract to stay. Why doesn't Jose or his agent just call him on it if it's a lie? Perhaps they have a bit of integrity about them. Or perhaps big nose Thommo was right and the scousers already have this one in the bag. Just the fee to be bartered down as the season draws closer.

Because Pardew obviously hates the idea of Jose signing a new contract? Got it. I doubt Pardew has much of a say in it. Just like with Carroll, I'd imagine he wants to keep the best players at the club because it makes his job easier. He's just the one shoved out in front of the media to explain things. Not noticed that everyone who leaves the club is a greedy cunt? It works. Pardew said Enrique was going to be offered a fantastic contract to stay. Why doesn't Jose or his agent just call him on it if it's a lie?

How do you know he's going to slag him off? He might just say Jose doesn't want to sign a contract...then Jose could just as easily say that's bollocks. But I doubt he will.

Because Pardew obviously hates the idea of Jose signing a new contract? Got it.

I'd have respected him a lot more if he'd rolled his sleeves up and got on with the job at Newcastle but it seems we couldn't afford him once we went down. Wasn't it one of the other Championship chairmen who said Ashley had told them that their whole squad cost less than Shearer salary wise?

That's the sensible view. Seems like some just need any excuse to have a dig at the people running the club though.

That would explain why he took the job. I don't think he'd give up MOTD to muck it with a club that had to balance the books before he made any signings.

With £35m burning a hole in our pocket? Never seen Erdinc play but I must admit when Carroll left, I expected him to be replaced by more than a free transfer with a history of failing medicals. Didn't you? I always thought buying a quality striker would be the hardest part of the jigsaw. Noticeable that no one is mentioning any credible alternatives to the players we've targeted so far. Not really seeing as nobody on here, to my knowledge, is a highly paid scout. So what makes you think our official highly paid scout could do better then?

With £35m burning a hole in our pocket? Never seen Erdinc play but I must admit when Carroll left, I expected him to be replaced by more than a free transfer with a history of failing medicals. Didn't you? I always thought buying a quality striker would be the hardest part of the jigsaw. Noticeable that no one is mentioning any credible alternatives to the players we've targeted so far.

Honestly man. God forbid anyone should have an opinion on our manager. There's enough of you quick enough to slag off Alan fucking Shearer like he's just taken a shit on your car, and Chris Hughton, and Kevin Keegan. When did this prick become sacrosanct? Pardew is our manager while Shearer isn't. Shearer had his feet under the table here but didn't want to work with a budget and so Hughton stepped in and got the job done for a lot less. Now Shearer is doing what he should have done here. Better late than never. If they'd called him he might have done. I'd be amazed if he's getting anything like the money at Cardiff that he was allegedly asking for here.

Honestly man. God forbid anyone should have an opinion on our manager. There's enough of you quick enough to slag off Alan fucking Shearer like he's just taken a shit on your car, and Chris Hughton, and Kevin Keegan. When did this prick become sacrosanct? Pardew is our manager while Shearer isn't. Shearer had his feet under the table here but didn't want to work with a budget and so Hughton stepped in and got the job done for a lot less. Now Shearer is doing at Cardiff what he should have done here. Better late than never.

Why not? It's one of the higher profile lower league clubs with a passionate fan base. Great place to prove himself as a manager, I would think he'd have more money to spend than his rivals as well.

That's how I see it, with Ba also able to play as the lone striker.

How many people at this time last season were happy going into the premier with Carroll, BestAmeobi and Lovenkrands as our strike force? Hindsight is all well and good but that was considered relegation fodder last August. Maybe Ba and Erdinc will also turn out to be better than some think.

They might have done that even if we'd kept Carroll or bought Gameiro.

Seems pointless when we've just bought Cabaye. I think our name's just been leaked by Birmingham to get the mackems to pay more.

I think you have to factor in how attractive we are to the really top players at this stage because with the best will in the world you can't persuade many of them to sign when there are CL clubs in there competing. Gameiro and Gervinho being prime examples.