TRon

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.

I think you are wrong. Not a cat in hells chance he would choose any of the NE clubs over Liverpool or Spurs, Villa pay big wages and will be desperate for a wide man.Everton possibly on a similar level but on a pure footballing perspective not sure why any player would choose any of our teams over Everton, who will finish above both of us as per normal next season. ^ burn

It's not bias, it's good judgement. I know wearside can't bear the possibility that Newcastle might be considered more attractive than Sunderland but it is for most players wages aside. There's also the added attraction of Newcastle's growing French legion. Zog himself sold the club to Cabaye, not to mention his mates have let it be known that he'd love to come back.

How ironic would it be if the mackems couldn't sign Zog because they couldn't unload Kilgallon in time? The player they were stole from us at the last moment by spunking daft wages on him a year ago?

That's my take on it, plus from the little I've seen on YT I like the look of him. Fans can be harsh as we've seen on these boards and other clubs. Remember the early discontent at Mascherano and Teves at West Ham?

FWIW I wouldn't be unhappy with Erdinc either. If Cabaye likes making quick passes into the space then this lad seems very good at getting behind defenders. You'd like to think Carr has done his homework and likes what he sees.

Wouldn't surprise me if we'e thrown Erdinc's name out there as a decoy then we sign El-arabi.

Thanks for that image. Aye it's another Bontempi special.

Read the quotes: We have been asked to make him an offer but there has been no progress since then. I still hope we can do something but at the moment were still waiting for Jose. I dont think theres anything more I can really add on that situation at this stage. Nothing new really. That doesnt actually say that they have made him an offer, only that they have been asked to. It also says they are waiting for Jose. If the club are lying and Enrique wants to stay I'm sure he could come out and say so.

The Telegraph seem to think Wenger is confident Arsenal have won the race, pipping us and Liverpool an he should sign in the next few days. Not too fussed tbh, it was worth a go but it's no big surprise if he's chosen them.

Gyan is valued at 20 mill now, and he got what? 11 goals? It's one thing valuing him at £20m but is any club going to pay that? I don't think they'd get much more than the £12-13million they paid for him.

Because the goal keepers in the Premier League are so much better than in France? Unless your Gomes or one of Arsenal's keepers then anything that doesn't have real power on them will most likely be saved. His placement will have to be spot on because I can't see him being able to put a ball back across the face of goal and into the far corner over here where as where he plays now he seems to be able to score from wider positions then just face on. I can't see many keepers here being beaten like that. Do you know that he doesn't have a good strike on him, because in the article that Baggio posted it said that he had a strong shot.

BLACK POWER. White Power coffee colour power!

Will the club want to pay two top class left backs for a full season in the event Enrique decides he's going to see out his contract?

Fine. We get him for one more season then.

I reckon he'll definitely get goals. He's got great movement and he's quite clever with his finishing going off the clips there.

He's gone one way or the other. Just a question of whether it'll be this summer or next.