TRon

I have no doubt that Given has been whingeing, he did regularly enough here, but this is a storm in a tea cup. Neither player is going to move from City while they are being bankrolled by the arabs, this is just typical sly muttering behind the scenes which we all got used to at Newcastle.

yeah I can't recall too many calls for 4 central midfileders across the middle.

So it was Gullitt that actually paired Hamann and Speed as a central pair. Dalglish IIRC used Speed as a wide left player mostly with Batty Hamman and Lee as his other core midfielders. His line ups were always incredibly defensive from what I remember.

Did they actually play many games in the Premier as a central pair? I recall they looked fantastic in pre-season friendlies with Hamann taking charge as the more forward player, but I'm pretty sure Batty was a central figure for Dalglish in the middle during actual league games.

I thought he was much better at leeds.

Do you think your argument might hold more water if you upgraded the fee slightly? I know he's out of contract in the summer but this isn't 1970. He's out of contract in June and he's basically been sent out on loan to put him in the shop window. Man U clearly don't want him and will take whatever they are offered. Why steam in with a million quid if just a fraction of that will get him? If he's in the shop window I somehow don't see 250k securing his services.

Do you think your argument might hold more water if you upgraded the fee slightly? I know he's out of contract in the summer but this isn't 1970.

He's young quick and a solid enough defender, that to me makes him good enough to be a premier right back right now. Fairly limited going forwards it's true, but not every team has an Ashley Cole at full back. He'll do a job until we can find someone better.

Kitson - He has been awful at Stoke & he is a ginger so I doubt anybody would of been happy with him joining us on loan. Lita - Has done nowt for a long time that is why Reading loaned him out & did not renew his contract, so I dont think people would of been happy. Bent - If that's Darren aye That's why I say at the start of the season. People, me included, were desperate for signings due to the threadbare nature of our squad. We got Harewood - he's no world beater, but he's better than what the smoggies have ended up with in a comparable market. I think we should extend the loan on the basis that he's pretty much the best we could hope for at present. A sensible summing up that. Most of us realise Harewood's not premier quality...we get it. But he knows where the goal is, he's strong, quick and a handful for defenders. Nile Ranger's a better footballer but Marlon is an experienced pro who knows what it's about and can deliver NOW. If we don't want him on loan, I'm sure some other club will gladly take him on instead.

It would be interesting to have got the Guardian's opinion when Hodgson was sacked by Blackburn. I don't recall him having many supporters then. Maybe not but he had a good reputation before that, and his Fulham side play good technical football which is easy on the eye. He's earned his stripes to a large extent.

I agree. The fact that Sunderland fans are paranoid inbreds hasn't got much to do with football tbh.

Thought he looked pretty good from the off really, just managers tend to be over cautious with new players and in some cases like Allardyce are just fucking planks. But yes he's improved as he's got more used to the game here.

He didn't have a clue what to do with Robhino either. I'd have had more respect for him if he just left him out the side than bung him into the line up somewhere and hope for the best.

'for the sake of 25k a week' - it's not pocket change. Did you miss the second part of that sentence? What's promotion worth? That 25k can be better spent IMO. Remember we're still at Mike Ashley's Penny Pinchers United. It would make your argument more valid if you could come up with a name or two. There's been a suggestion of Benjani and Philips so far neither of whom I'd want ahead of Marlon. Did you have anyone else in mind?

The crucial factor is that we have other positions which are far bigger priority, such as centrl midfield and right wing. If we can tie up the right back slot with two relatively young, solid players in Taylor and Simpson we can concentrate on more important areas first.

What's there for anyone to rage about? City have been happy to spend the Sheikh's money and buy the big name players, obviously if he's stumping up big money he's going to want a say.

He's good value and a decent defender. Ideally we need someone with a bit more going forward, if we can get someone great if not Simpson is ok.

'for the sake of 25k a week' - it's not pocket change. Did you miss the second part of that sentence? What's promotion worth?

I think Mancini might have had problems taking over from Hughes a couple of years ago, but the squad is multi national now with lots of world stars so it's going to be similar to Ancelotti taking over at Chelsea, I don't see any problems. Hughes was much more basic and seemed at home with British players and a more direct style...too many nationalities from different football cultures seems to have led to a confused style of play with no one really 100% happy as a result.

It amazes me how for the sake of 25k a week people would prefer to weaken the squad and put at risk the millions we'll get for promotion.

Because Shola's got a great record with injuries hasn't he? No doubt we could move Harewood on to some other club in this division because we KNOW Ameobi will stay fit for the rest of the season.

Coloccini might be over-priced but he's not one of the players who'll struggle in the Premier for me, the defence as a whole looks ok, Taylor has improved a lot as well. I've seen some rotten defenders here, I think people are getting a bit complacent when they start turning their noses up at what we have.

11 pages about our attendance

I just wonder sometimes how we would look with two mobile central midfielders i.e, no Butt, Smith or Nolan. Doubt it will happen any time soon but it would be interesting.

I'm assuming that is a joke? nope, seriously. "One supporters' website crashed as so many fans logged on to express their joy" page 49 It's one of those "I was there moments"