Colos Short and Curlies

I'm not sure I follow the arguments re Miguel and Rooney. We had been told for a while that there was a Shearer replacement fund - i.e. funds specifically earmarked for signing a striker. The Rooney bid and subsequent Owen signing came from this fund, either from years of saving or more liekly a cute deal with Northern Rock. The Miguel/Carr fund was from the annual transfer budget (as it goes I too would have preferred Miguel, but could see the sense in signing Carr as he was proven Premiership quality). No-one seems to have acknowledged that the Rooney bid came after we had agreed to sell Woodgate - bringing in £10m plus into the coffers after fees, bonuses etc were paid. So whilst 2004 did appear to be a summer of chairman signings vs manager signings, I very much douby that funds were withheld from a fullback to bid for Rooney (who at the time had made no indication of wanting to leave Everton either)

To replace Milner? At £10m probably yes, any higher and I'd let some one else get him. Milner and Dyer will do for the right wing right now, a striker and full backs are more important

Without passing comment one way or another as to whether I believe Belgravia would be good for the club or not..... If the only thing differentiating ourselves from Chelsea is the fact that we aren't owned by a Billionaire but paid for by the fans then surely replacing Shepherd with an investment vehicle (in what ever form it may take) is just one step closer to being this 'cut price' version of Chelsea.

Pretty much the only thing that stops me hating Jamie for marrying my teen pin up.

Died in a fire mate, It was awful the way the Grove went up in flames

Saw her in Shoe in Nottingham a few years back

I think all the Liverpool boards are shut down today. Day of mourning, you see. They're all queuing up for tickets for this Apparently Atomic Kitten are going cover songs by various other artists, these include... Another brick in the wall - Pink Floyd Brick - Ben Folds Five Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John I Threw A Brick Through A Window - U2 Brick Is Red - Pixies And for the finale... I almost brained someone with a brick - The Michael Shields Megamix Only one of Atomic Kitten are Scouse (including Kerry). Fact. And Sporty Spice wasn't scouse either

You seen most of the housing in Liverpool? Boost the tramps self esteem no end

You were allowed to talk to him, so were we. We both offered contracts, he chose us. Therefore he turned you down

Ehhh La - Why does the River Mersey run through Liverpool? Cos if it walked it would get mugged. rimshot.gif

Fiver says Manu until 2 years ago Chelski, or Liverpool since 2001

First hurdle? WOuld that be when we got to the second knockout stage then pretty boy?

Just ot give a serious reply to the orignial post re empty seats. last season 6 premier league clubs (30%) had an average attendance less than 26k, reckon getting 25-26k on a freezing wet Thursday when the game is on TV aint bad in that context

haha yeh he did... he also said we've picked up in the league We have, sad state of affairs but two away draws on the bounce is a pick up at the mo

Injury cruelly cut short a glittering career and is the only reason Neville has double figures in England caps He wasn't that good before he got injured, not a patch on Gary Neville imo. Not a patch on Lee Dixon either. Wasn't Dixon left back and Choccy Winterburn right back? You've just revealed the extent of your knowledge there. Actually, when Dixon joined Arsenal he did play leftback with Winterburn right back. Just looked it up and they only swapped after a season. ha! Still, I wasn't sure i had it right, happy to be proved wrong

Injury cruelly cut short a glittering career and is the only reason Neville has double figures in England caps He wasn't that good before he got injured, not a patch on Gary Neville imo. Not a patch on Lee Dixon either. Wasn't Dixon left back and Choccy Winterburn right back?

Injury cruelly cut short a glittering career and is the only reason Neville has double figures in England caps

I think in any premierhsip greatest team I would look to accomodate Zola somewhere. Great Dane Rob Jones Hendry Adams Dicks Keane Viera Beckham Giggs Zola Henry Henry gets the nod purely to see how those two would play together, I might even stick Les there ahead of Shearer for the partnership even though Al > Les Toon Pav Barton Albert Peacock Bez Batty Lee Gillespie Robert Les Shearer Again the front two for the partnership, can't argue with the goals, Pedro and Cole came close Robert in ahead of Ginola as Daveed was really a one season wonder, Laurent probably had a longer efective spell

Agreed, stick Dyer in centre mid alongside Parker and viva la difference

£80m current turnover £5m per year stadium name rights £5m renegotiate N Rock deal £5m renegotiate Adidas deal (I think we've 2-3 years left on them) New TV deal from next season £5m You've then easily got your £100m turnover and that can't be done now becasue? Shep won't rename the Stadium and will keep the shirt sponsors as local companies. And the TV deal aint kicked in yet

You compare us to Man U The only team that has driven up those income streams in a short space of time is Chelsea and they are still making £200m losses. You can't get more advertising, sponsorship unless you are successful, unless Belagravia are going to put in hundreds of millions into the team itself (you can kid yourself it would take less by all means but we are light years behind the top 3) , we can whistle in the wind for the levels that Man U achieve, certainly over the short erm. Long term goals are another matter but I would be strongly sceptical as to the long term goals of Belgravia. It wasn't a case of comparing us to ManU - or indeed Real Madrid. It was just a case of showing how far behind we are. I can see a more open market for our next shirt sponsorship deals if Fred leaves - if a casino opens by St James expect to see MGN or similar splashed on the front of our shirts and Nike are always looking for new clubs. And whilst we may be 'hundreds of millions' behind the top 3, the immediate aim is to get back into the top 4. Spurs and Everton have shown that any team can get into the top 4 on a given season without huge investment, its staying there that will be the tricky part so where is there huge windfall from this success? Andy Johnson? I suppose spurs have been buying every player under the sun I suppose Read the last sentance, its staying power that is needed. And anyway, when was the last time Everton spend upwards of £10m in one summer before this year?

See my following reply, it wasn't a case of look what we should be getting, it was a 'look what others are getting compared to us, with the right strategy we can increase income from these areas'

Lets just get sponsored by Norwich Union NUFC has a nice ring to it

£80m current turnover £5m per year stadium name rights £5m renegotiate N Rock deal £5m renegotiate Adidas deal (I think we've 2-3 years left on them) New TV deal from next season £5m You've then easily got your £100m turnover

You compare us to Man U The only team that has driven up those income streams in a short space of time is Chelsea and they are still making £200m losses. You can't get more advertising, sponsorship unless you are successful, unless Belagravia are going to put in hundreds of millions into the team itself (you can kid yourself it would take less by all means but we are light years behind the top 3) , we can whistle in the wind for the levels that Man U achieve, certainly over the short erm. Long term goals are another matter but I would be strongly sceptical as to the long term goals of Belgravia. It wasn't a case of comparing us to ManU - or indeed Real Madrid. It was just a case of showing how far behind we are. I can see a more open market for our next shirt sponsorship deals if Fred leaves - if a casino opens by St James expect to see MGN or similar splashed on the front of our shirts and Nike are always looking for new clubs. And whilst we may be 'hundreds of millions' behind the top 3, the immediate aim is to get back into the top 4. Spurs and Everton have shown that any team can get into the top 4 on a given season without huge investment, its staying there that will be the tricky part