STM

I'll get shot down for this Dave but i actually believe he will be a very good centre half when he gets a bit older. However, i don't believe he is the player for us. We need someone in the peak of their career.

Looking forward to seeing the lads back in action, shame there will be no new faces for us yet.

I've said it time and time again, i'd take Sidwell here. Only if we made a real effort into converting him into a DM (ala Speed).

I have a funny feeling we will sign someone within the next 10 days like. One player will be alot to talk about. Like the sound of this Inler lad, if it's the one i saw at the Euro's that was always looking to run at people.

Hope thats all true.

Will take it on face value as a rumour, shall be interesting to see if it happens. It will be good to see us bolster our squad with good young talent.

What i'd give to have Clarence Acuna in our midfield now. His passing game would have suited the modern game alot more these days than it did then.

Would make a decent goal keeper to be fair. In fact he could probably save us a few quid on buying nets.

I think we will avoid the media shit this year. For example, i doubt we will see him have a press conference or anything like that. Newcastle seem to be making an effort to avoid the fan fair, which suits me down to the ground. I suspect when he joins up with the squad he may have an interview on .co.uk and perhaps a couple of pictures but thats all i would expect to see.

Could be possible that this was part of the agreement, that we play in the tournament. First argy to play for us? We get to chant ARG- EN- TINA EDIT- Bassedas, slipped the mind.

So the up-shot is, noone knows how much we have paid for him? I think we must have bought out his contract, i doubt it will be anywhere near the 10m mark though.

Few thoughts. First thing is first, i think alot of us share the opinion that we know very little about the guy, so lets not judge too early. He signed in time to join up with the lads for pre-season, without missing a session. He's signed for an undisclosed fee, which means we are keeping our cards close to our chest about how much we can spend. On the one hand the age signifies truth in the medium to long term targets but on the other it squashes the "no south americans" rumour. Can we please accept now that just because it doesn't sound like there is alot going on, there is no reason to panic. Good luck to the lad.

Excellent i shall be in thailand for the Mallorca tourno. Hopefully i can catch it in a bar somewhere. Who do you reckon we should have for the remaining friendly? FC Twente would be my choice because they will bring loads of fans and we can stuff McClarens side.

Martin Jols ITK has been found out. He actually just visits football rumours.com.

Owen is a striker, Arshavin is a midfielder. Owen was dropping deep where as Arshavin makes runs from deep. Although they sound the same, they are in fact different. If it was my choice i'd play him in a midfield three and let him have a free roam. That would work with 2 DCM and Arshavin infront of them then the three strikers. Precisely, it would be this.... in theory : Barton Butt Arshavin Owen Viduka Martins With Owen dropping deep, allowing Martins and Viduka the space and Arshavin creating freely from midfield. BTW, this is not a representation of my opinion of whether we will get him or the other players in the team will be here next season.

Owen is a striker, Arshavin is a midfielder. Owen was dropping deep where as Arshavin makes runs from deep. Although they sound the same, they are in fact different. If it was my choice i'd play him in a midfield three and let him have a free roam.

I agree, I think Benayoun would be an upgrade and is equally versatile. If we could get him plus a couple of million for Milner I'd snap their hands off. My only problem would be that Benayoun would be a "stop gap" albeit a very good one. Simply because although he's a good player, i don't think he excells in any position, which wouldn't make him one for the future. However, he offers more than Milner, in almost every aspect of his game.

I'd give them 15.5m like Your right though, there being either extremely silly or very clever. Since McCarthy doesn't seem to be getting the attention anymore i'd stick a bid in for him.

When i look at young players, i always think to myself "how can they improve?". Right now Milner is a hard working, decent, versitile midfield player, my main beef is that i don't think he will improve greatly in his career. I don't see him getting any quicker or any stronger now, which would be the biggest assest to his game. I think if Liverpool gave us 6-8m for Milner i'd let him go. Might be worth getting Benayoun into the bargain.

Good player that needs his career somewhat revived. No doubt in the guys talent. It's the sign of a good manager if we can sign players like him and make them work. We need players like Lennon, Aimar etc who can create space for the likes of Owen. If can sign those sort of players and get them playing, Owen, Viduka and Martins etc will thrive next season.

I hope he comes back better than ever next season. I was definately in the Harper "camp" at the end of the season and was a believer that Harps deserves his place in goal for next year. However, i will be delighted if Shay comes back in and does the stuff again. Both have been brilliant pro's and great servants, let the competition begin.

Beyewatch- I hope you are taking the piss. As for Guthrie, i always thought he was a poor liverpool reject. I haven't really tracked his goings on, since going on loan last year but certainly don't think he's anything to shout about.

Missing a trick there i feel. Sidwell's a good player, if i was Kev i would have converted him into a defensive midfielder for the long term. However, i can understand why we aren't in for him.

Saw Shola in the metro today.

What annoys me is that people are saying the fans are getting anxious, which is utter bollocks. It's just some of the forum users and transfer whores who make a drama every day about not having signed someone. I haven't spoke to one person outside this forum who is in anyway worried about our "lack" of transfer activity. It's all bollocks and the sensible ones amongst us know that.