STM

Nicky Butt. Leads by example, no nonsense footballer. Thats assuming Sam plans him for the first team next year. If not Joey Barton.

Ah, you see thats where i believe your wrong. Ashton has more than just physical presence. From what i've seen it's his intelligence that gets him into the position to score goals, his physcial presense is needed to execute the chance.

I don't think MJ dislikes Defoe but playing him limits tactical options, he's not the team player that Keane is, JD can only play well with Berbatov. It's the lack of options that MJ dislikes. I'm not baffled at the price, it's Egghead paying way over the top to try to avoid a repeat of last season's near miss (courtesy of nil points deduction). Spurs have made their final offer, £12.5m + 1 player nearly out of contract + 1 player on a seasons long loan. It's now up to Bent and Charlton. If Bent says I'm not going to Upton Park (which is what his agent is saying) will Charlton accept the Spurs bid? If not, will Bent take the risk of winding u in the Championship? I think Bent will eventually go to the Bingo Club in exactly the same way (as others have mentioned before) that Owen made his way to Newcastle, not by choice but by sufferance. Ledley's knees once again show that signing Younes Kaboul (although not yet announced) and actively chasing Curtis Davies also is a sensible decision. Whether Spurs actually sign Davies is still in the lap of the Gods. "although not yet announced" Your ITK bollocks cracks me up every time.

and boro have more clout than us?

Don't worry they have Dawson.

Good defence, yes. Good midfield, no. The only real talent in your midfield is Downing and he is massively over-rated. Yakubu did score 15 goals but that might have something to do with his superior striker partner who now plays in black and white. and why would our player of the year from last season even contemplate joining boro? The packed stadium? The amazing ambition? The great financial resources? The great manager? Their great players? Their wonderful city/town/shithole? Think before you speak.

Good shout on the Rozenhal situation. I always get the feeling when a club is rejected by someone it makes them more eager to appease the fans with another signing. Rightly or wrongly.

Exactly. Nearly everyone i speak to rates Ashton very highly. It has been along time since football fans and pundits have been united in praise of this kind to a youngster. The last time was Rooney. TBH it won't be long until he over takes Owen to become Englands number one striker. Him and Rooney would be mouth watering TBH.

What, so he just bundles the ball in? Strength is an asset, but that alone won't get you goals. To me, the fact that he has no outstanding other qualities (isn't technically brilliant, isn't an absolute speed demon, and he's not creative either) and looking at his goalscoring record, suggests to me that he is more of a natural striker whose main forte is simply scoring goals. Strength is an asset, but that alone doesn't get you goals. ---- Gutted about Ledley. I fear it'll be a stop-start career for him now, which is such a shame for him, Spurs and even England. Yet another reason why we can't afford to let a quality defender like Chimbonda go. Our back 4 could be another shambles next season. That isn't what i mean. I think goalscorers like Bent come around quit alot, Johnson, Saha, Defoe, Baros, Heskey (in his couple of seasons he had) to name a few. These players were never destined to be great players, they score goals for a couple of seasons then just fade into history. In ten years time i don't think we will look back and say " that darren bent, what a great player he was" in the same vein that we would about those i mentioned first. He's a good goalscorer for sure, and an asset to any side but i'd want alot more than that for the money talked about.

I'd still be very worried if i was a boro fan. I genuinly think they need to stengthen there side if they will avoid relegation. The have some good players but their strikerforce is non existant. I don't believe someone like Tuncay will dramatically transform that. Also add to the fact the slow paced defensive football they play and i think they could be in trouble.

I don't see Bent as a special player. He seems to rely alot on his physcial power as apposed to striker instinct. The likes of RVN, Shearer, Owen, Fowler all had a special eye for goal. For me this lad just doesn't have that, therefore is not worth 16m IMO.

Nah, not a chance chelsea would hold out for 5m for what essentially is a squad player. If/when they sign Chimbonda i would say 2.5m on the table. Not many clubs would pay more than that.

Spot on for me. Great idea with Geremi too. We need versitile players to plug the gaps and he has an excellent set piece on him too. If we play him as first choice right back and when butt gets injured/tired we play nobby at right back. f*** off... that was my idea! Depends whether you mean the Versitility part or signing him because I lay claim to the signing of him from about two seasons ago. It was about june 27th at 1.32pm approx. I've been going on about him for about a week, but i've always really liked him. Cos we're in need of one right-back and one right-mid. Plus, as has been said, he can fill in as a defensive mid aswell. And he's better than Chimbonda. Absolutley. Speaking of Chimbonda, if Chelsea do sign him then i see no reason why Geremi wouldn't be available. As we know Chelsea don't exactly ask for big prices. I think we could get him for a couple of million easily.

Papa Bouba Diop is soooooooo last season ... His time has come and gone. Lot's of other up and coming DMs in the French league who we could probably get for the same money we woul spend on Papa Diop. We can't have that attitude though. The fact that his reputation has dropped doesn't mean his talent has. For me he would be a perfect big sam signing. Has alot of qualities i would want. It's easy enough saying there is alot of players in the french league but how many of them are proven in the premiership?

Spot on for me. Great idea with Geremi too. We need versitile players to plug the gaps and he has an excellent set piece on him too. If we play him as first choice right back and when butt gets injured/tired we play nobby at right back. f*** off... that was my idea! Depends whether you mean the Versitility part or signing him because I lay claim to the signing of him from about two seasons ago. It was about june 27th at 1.32pm approx.

Spot on for me. Great idea with Geremi too. We need versitile players to plug the gaps and he has an excellent set piece on him too. Play him as first choice right back and when butt gets injured/tired we play nobby at right back.

Papa Bouba Diop. Suprised to hear noone else mention him. Now Coleman has gone they might not expect 20m for him. 3-4m would be my guess.

Haha sorry about that. Allardyce said "the lure of chelsea seems to have been to much for ben haim", he also said "he's sad that he doesn't get to work with him". Basically his way of saying he has made his mind up. Source SSN.

Allardyce says he is off to chelsea.

About time. Even though i was confident it would go through we all know what football is like and i'm glad it can finally happen. Might get a few words from the lad.

What the fuck is it with our crap managers and not playing 442. How many times has anyone seen England play 451 or some kind of combination like that and it work? Must be very rare. Play 442 for fuck sake and take the game to the bastards.

More importantly, he is not going to get worse. A regular 17 goal a season striker is worth alot of money in football, so if he didn't improve (even though i think he will) his value will barely drop. Which i believe currently is around the 13m mark. Why not keep him and if he doesn't improve significantly a couple of years down the line, then we can get rid for the same value?

Martins scored 17 goals for us last season and at 22 is only going to get better, why sell?

Absolutley. The problem is that we have been signing squad players from champion sides, when we should be signing hungry players which stand out in theor otherwise average sides. (Ben haim, Barton, Viduka, Baines).

It's easy enough suggesting the man has gone off the boil but is anyone forgetting who our manager is. Allardyce can get the bet back oout of him again. For free he would be a good signing but not a priority IMO.