Martin Lol

................... or they want Dyer's medical history, depending who you believe on KUMB.

Re; Diego - I read that rumour yesterday. I don't expect to see him in a City shirt any time soon, I think he's out of reach. Altho if he does sign I will eat my own head. When a club has a high profile manager such as SGE, I think there are very few players who are out of reach provided you can meet the transfee fee and agree personal terms. With the squad you're putting together now, it should be even easier, not harder, to attract the top talent in Europe. The problems start to arise when you're in direct competition with Europe's elite for a player's signature.

The one thing David Pleat almost got right. Tried to sign him for Spurs as a 17 year old but fell foul of work permit problems. Think an Italian grandmother then came out of the cupboard and he now has an EU passport. Agree he is a superb player, my one reservation would be if he is as good as he always seems to be when I see him, why haven't a really big club gone for him? That though is a small reservation as whenever I've seen him, he's looked the dogs wotsits.

But competing in the Uefa Cup raises the profile of the club which in turn attracts the better quality players who can take the club into the CL. European competition is very important imho.

Man City are reportedly talking to Diego, which would tie in with Elano's comment that there will be more Brazilians at Eastlands. What with the efforts to get Leighton Baines, the revolution is still very much continuing.

He's not a WUM, honest! The Baggies have signed Bostjan Cesar on a season long loan with a view to a permanent transfer. Think the papers tomorrow will be running a 'come and get me' story from Davies and his agent. Not saying Spurs will sign him, but we are trying. Honest! http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/2007/08/03/let-curt-out-of-the-bagg-plea-89520-19564240/ 'Let Curt out of the Bagg' plea EXCLUSIVE By James Nursey 03/08/2007 Curtis DAVIES last night pleaded with West Brom to grant him a dream return to the Premiership with Tottenham. The £7million-rated centre-back, 22, is desperate to quit Albion following the club's defeat in the Championship play-off final to Derby. Davies, signed from Luton in August 2005 for £3m, has given up the captaincy at The Hawthorns and had a transfer request rejected. Advertisement The defender, who starred for Albion in the top-flight in 2005/2006, is anxious to emulate his former teammates Diomansy Kamara, Jason Koumas and Paul McShane, who left West Brom this summer for Premiership sides Fulham, Wigan and Sunderland respectively. Tottenham are trying to agree a fee with Albion for the England Under-21 star who admits the prospect of moving to White Hart Lane and challenging for Champions League football is irresistible. "Spurs are a good club and with the signings they have made they could break into the top four," said Davies, whose family live in Chingford near Tottenham's training ground. "They are renowned for signing young British talent and I have some friends there like Tom Huddlestone and Aaron Lennon. "Hopefully West Brom can agree a deal for me with them or another club and we can sort things out amicably. "If we had gone up I guess I wouldn't be asking for a move but I need to look after myself and move for the sake of my career. "I can't afford to fall any further behind the other young English defenders like Steven Taylor, Anton Ferdinand, Michael Dawson and Nedum Onuoha by playing in the Championship for another season. "I am really hoping to get a move back to the Premiership so I can make my mark at that level again against the big name players. "Diomansy, Jason Koumas and Macca have got their moves and when I look at them I am envious." Spurs have been unable to agree a fee with Albion despite Baggies boss Tony Mowbray signing Leon Barnett and Marseille defender Bostjan Cesar to bolster their defence. The clubs are still miles apart on his valuation though at the present time.

You pleased with that? I really can't make up my mind about him really. I think he's done a very good job there all things considered. Be a big step back if he went, Shirley? I think he's done a good job yeah, just doubt he'd be able to take Everton to the next level. Bit s*** him not getting transfer funds though. He did well last season, has built a decent squad, got them into Europe and all that on a limited budget (iirc). If there's no transfer funds for Moyes there won't be for anyone so getting to the next level is irrelevant at this stage really. And if there are no funds we'd end up with someone like Peter Reid because no decent manager would come here. I'm not Moyes' biggest fan because I would prefer a more attack minded manager and I feel he is tactically naive at times. However, he's done well when I look back and consider the budget and what he had to start with when the useless Walter Smith was sacked. I don't think anybody we could currently attract would do a better job. The board need to go urgently. They're f****** ruining us, slowly but surely. I think Moyes has done well with the resources he's had, Beattie excepted, but can't really thrill you I suppose to be hoping for a 1-0 win because that's what its tended to be. How much more attacking minded Moyes could be with more money I don't know, probably not a lot.

He's not a WUM, honest! The Baggies have signed Bostjan Cesar on a season long loan with a view to a permanent transfer. Think the papers tomorrow will be running a 'come and get me' story from Davies and his agent. Not saying Spurs will sign him, but we are trying. Honest!

A Bingo Club ITK is saying Kia pays them £2m, Man Utd to pay no fee at all as Tevez is 'a free agent' but will pay inflated wages to Tevez with Kia taking 25% cut. Sounds as dodgy as f@ck tbh, even more than the tribunal judgement!

you heard from? Another forum would be my guess. No offence to the fella but I am guessing he is as ITK as I am anorexic! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6922733.stm West Ham and Carlos Tevez's advisers will confirm on Friday that they have reached an agreement over the striker's registration, Five Live understands. With the threat of High Court action on 22 August hanging over negotiations, talks have been ongoing this week. BBC Five Live's Nigel Adderley said: "A settlement has been reached, and that could be ratified by the Premier League and Football Association on Friday." It is thought Tevez's advisors MSI will pay West Ham between £1m and £3m. That will free the 23-year-old Argentine to complete a move to Manchester United, whose manager Sir Alex Ferguson has made no secret of his desire to sign the player. Tevez's switch to United had stalled over who will be paid the transfer fee. The Premier League and West Ham say the Hammers should receive the fee but Kia Joorabchian's companies MSI and Just Sports Inc claim they own the striker's economic rights. Adderley explained: "West Ham need to reach a settlement which proves to the Premier League they are the significant beneficiaries of any transfer involving Tevez." Tevez, meanwhile, has said he expects to join United, adding: "To play for a super-club like Manchester United without any pre-season work behind me is going to be a real handicap." The bingo boys on KUMB are not happy!! :lol: They ought to be grateful they are still in the premiership tbh.

Well, we don't have anyone on the right hand side, and when I saw him for Brazil he played on the right, so there is my guess. Corradi might have scored a few but we've not played owt decent, he' still s****. So do I. Just had a punt on them finishing in the top 6, but not at Tottenham's expense I hope! Our team is shaping up a little like this: Isaksson Richards Corluka Dunne Ball Elano Johnson Fernandes Petrov Bianchi Bojinov(?) Hart, Onuoha, Garrido, Ireland, Mpenza Which looks pretty good on paper. But there's so much new blood, I think we're going to start slowly. Can't see us cracking the top 6. In our first season under the new regime we brought in a load of new faces and we lost Santini half way through as well. In spite of that, we only missed out on Europe on the final day of the season. You have a better manager, he has the 'name' to attract quality players to the club even if nothing yet has been achieved. Allardyce said that he was missing out on players because he couldn't offer European football but SGE's name is getting City past that obstacle (or so it seems). I think you'll finish somewhere between 6th-8th but still well worth the punt imo.

Agreed but €4m is still a fair old wedge to spend on a stopgap. It's not as though there will be a resale value at the end of the contract.

So do I. Just had a punt on them finishing in the top 6, but not at Tottenham's expense I hope!

Disappointed about Corluka, Spurs were after him in a big way. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

:frantic: As I said before, I'm impressed. Well and truly rewriting the premiership's pecking order. Streets ahead of the bingo club's buying policy imho.

:lol: To be fair, if I was a Newcastle fan, Mort is saying some of the things I'd be wanting to hear. I think I'd be wanting to hear that the depth of the squad was being attended to as well as the quality. The two aspects do have to go hand in hand.

talksport say he'll sign for them today £3m for Ghaly then £6m for Mido. :kasper:. Made a profit on both of them. :kasper: Now I know the transfer market has gone completely booloo!!

From the bench I think he will be involved quite a lot. Jol was dubious when he was first signed but he now rates him very highly. He's been told that he he will be involved from the bench and it's up to him to push himself up the pecking order. Pretty well the same thing has been said to Boateng as well.

Strong rumours putting Mido in the Stadium of S***. God bless Roy Keane!! :celb: mackems.gif mackems.gif mackems.gif .............if it's true

What I've said for a while now, Ledder's will be injured more than playing for the rest of his career, shame, but these things happen. Fully expect another CD, probably Curtis Davies, to join Dawson, King, Kaboul, Rocha, Gardner, Dervite etc etc before the window closes.

Orient 2 Spurs 4 Usual pre-season fare listening to Radio London. Played 4-3-3 with Keane playing just off Berbatov and Bent with Defoe on the bench. Keane (2) Defoe and Bent scored, Bent, Berbatov and Kaboul impressed. For the money they cost, they ought to impress tbh.

They are assembling a handy squad, but how many Serie A players have adapted well and made it in the Prem? Risky strategy IMO. How many of them have been managed by someone with Serie A experience who can speak a bajillion different languages? I have faith in Sven. Especially given his apparent buying in pairs strategy. Two Bulgarians, Two Brazillians, Two Italians...should help these guys settle in. I'm with you on this one Doc, it helps to have a fellow countryman there to help with the settling in process. I also see a lot of similarity with what Sven is trying to do and what Arnesen did for Spurs 3 years ago. Started off with a poor squad and signed a lot of players in practically no time flat to get the squad quality partially improved and squad quantity very much improved. It wouldn't surprise me to see the majority (if not all) gone within 12/18 months as happened with Spurs, with new recruits providing an upgrade in quality on those going out the door. But the short term aim would have been achieved. Squad numbers up to strength, squad quality significantly up on what was there before. I'm impressed with what Sven is doing and how he is going about it tbh. In 3 years when SGE's current contract expires, it'll be interesting to see just how far City will have progressed from last season. A long long way imho. There's a fair step up in quality, to be fair. It's hard to tell without having seen them in the Premiership, but the players City have been linked with should easily compete for a place in our current squad. You can't even begin to compare the likes of Elano, Petrov and Chiellini to Sean Davis, Ziegler and Edman. Portsmouth since Redknapp came back in are probably a better example of that...hell, they even took half of the players we used when we were done with them! City now have the prospects to challenge hard for a European spot under Sven. Bring in the players they've been linked with and they should supercede the likes of Bolton and Everton in terms of quality. However, I still expect a sluggish start with the players' need to settle in, and I'm not totally convinced by the counter-argument. The move from Serie A to the Premiership is probably the hardest transition to make out of the major leagues, and these are young players...I reckon they'll do well to finish 8th/9th with a decent cup run. Which were the sort of hopes and expectations we had when we had our major overhaul. The difference for City compared to Spurs of 3 years ago is that other clubs have decided to make the big effort, West Ham and Portsmouth and, to a lesser degree, Blackburn. There is also plenty of time left in the window for Newcastle to add more new faces. Consistency against the lesser lights and avoiding defeats against the immediate competition will go a long way in determining how the league table will eventually pan out.

They are assembling a handy squad, but how many Serie A players have adapted well and made it in the Prem? Risky strategy IMO. How many of them have been managed by someone with Serie A experience who can speak a bajillion different languages? I have faith in Sven. Especially given his apparent buying in pairs strategy. Two Bulgarians, Two Brazillians, Two Italians...should help these guys settle in. I'm with you on this one Doc, it helps to have a fellow countryman there to help with the settling in process. I also see a lot of similarity with what Sven is trying to do and what Arnesen did for Spurs 3 years ago. Started off with a poor squad and signed a lot of players in practically no time flat to get the squad quality partially improved and squad quantity very much improved. It wouldn't surprise me to see the majority (if not all) gone within 12/18 months as happened with Spurs, with new recruits providing an upgrade in quality on those going out the door. But the short term aim would have been achieved. Squad numbers up to strength, squad quality significantly up on what was there before. I'm impressed with what Sven is doing and how he is going about it tbh. In 3 years when SGE's current contract expires, it'll be interesting to see just how far City will have progressed from last season. A long long way imho. I should bloody well think so with the amount of money their spending. True they've spent a lot of money but I think that only reflects how much money needed to be spent to make the squad competitive. There's bound to be successes and failures when that many players are bought, next summer will probably just as hectic for them again.

They are assembling a handy squad, but how many Serie A players have adapted well and made it in the Prem? Risky strategy IMO. How many of them have been managed by someone with Serie A experience who can speak a bajillion different languages? I have faith in Sven. Especially given his apparent buying in pairs strategy. Two Bulgarians, Two Brazillians, Two Italians...should help these guys settle in. I'm with you on this one Doc, it helps to have a fellow countryman there to help with the settling in process. I also see a lot of similarity with what Sven is trying to do and what Arnesen did for Spurs 3 years ago. Started off with a poor squad and signed a lot of players in practically no time flat to get the squad quality partially improved and squad quantity very much improved. It wouldn't surprise me to see the majority (if not all) gone within 12/18 months as happened with Spurs, with new recruits providing an upgrade in quality on those going out the door. But the short term aim would have been achieved. Squad numbers up to strength, squad quality significantly up on what was there before. I'm impressed with what Sven is doing and how he is going about it tbh. In 3 years when SGE's current contract expires, it'll be interesting to see just how far City will have progressed from last season. A long long way imho.

Bit of a rash statement!!