Martin Lol

Why must you turn this forum into a house of lies? No lies, it's been widely reported by the BBC, Mail, Mirror and a few other sites. You can add Brum to the list of admirers now. As I said before, it probably will never happen unless there is some deal involving payments per appearances. Apparently the medical reports make pretty grim reading.

Man City (£3m rising to £4m) and Aston Villa (£3.5m) have both bid for Ant Gardner. The good Doc and Brummie fight for the honour! :lol: It's probably all academic tbh as Snoop's knees will probably fail the medicals as they did at Charlton and the bingo club.

Can't argue with that, will take a mediocre team forward and a good team nowhere. Yet another one that dropped out of the bingo club academy. They could have been a decent tem if they had kept them all.

If only. Joe Lewis has absolutely no interest in football in general or Spurs in particular, although his son Charlie is a keen Spurs fan. Joe is happy just to pay £1.4m for the privilege of playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods but won't put anything towards Spurs. He wouldn't let Spurs hit financial problems as Levy is his nephew but he'll never become an Abramovich-type figure even if Charlie and Danny boy would like him to.

Bale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £5m rising to £10m Bent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £15.5m rising to £16.5m Kaboul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £8m Taarabt . . . . . . . . . . . . . £2m rising to £2.75m (robbed Lens blind) Berchiche . . . . . . . . . . . . £100k rising to £150k Total Final Figure . . . . . . . £37.4m How do you constantly spend so much money without Champions League football? By paying bottom rung wages to the players, letting some pass by if they want too much, and charging top rung ticket prices. I did tell Brummie in a pm over 2 months ago that there was £65m available to spend. Levy will never spend all of that in one window but he does seem to be having a serious push for 4th place this time around. I think the final figure will be somewhere around £50m.

Coleman would have spent that money far better tbh.

I'm just hoping that Gardner really is on his way to Villa............ and his knees pass the medical!

Bale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £5m rising to £10m Bent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £15.5m rising to £16.5m Kaboul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £8m Taarabt . . . . . . . . . . . . . £2m rising to £2.75m (robbed Lens blind) Berchiche . . . . . . . . . . . . £100k rising to £150k Total Final Figure . . . . . . . £37.4m Boateng's agent flying in this evening but nothing sorted yet, Petrov still nothing sorted (may happen, may not), hopefully one more big signing to come (Oujbina??), not certain. And Danny Rose says on his Bebo site that he is signing for Spurs ............. but although the club have been trying to sign him, no-one seems to know anything about it.

Good point, if Arsenal come in with a 13 million bid then fair enought sell him. Apparently Martins has been seen down at Arsenal the last two days... The Mirror is saying Whinger is contemplating applying for a work permit for Vela, someone who works at the Express is saying the same. That would mean little/no likelihood of the scum trying to sign Martins.

If he had talks with those two, he would have been walking away shaking his head afterwards.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=476416&CPID=8&clid=4&lid=&title=Utaka+claims+double+interest Quite a difference between Man City and Man United wanting you. But with a choice of Citeh, Newcastle and Pompey surprised he opted for Pompey.

Spurs have had a €7.4m bid for Kevin Prince Boateng accepted http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-kurier/print/sport/178841.html I think it says he would prefer CL football with Seville, but the Spaniards will only offer €5m

I can understand what you're saying but I can't help being cynical about his comments tbh. He was challenged weeks ago to make that kind of statement and if he had made this statement then, I would have believed in its sincerity more than I do now. My view is that he kept quiet to evaluate his options, found there weren't any so has then made the statement. MO says he doesn't respond to rumour. If he didn't want to then, why does he want to now? The easiest way for him to clear the air and bring sincerity to this statement is for him to say that he is signing a new contract with the opt out clause removed. Until he does that, there will always be the feeling that Owen is simply waiting for a club to activate the clause. Why should he sign a contract with the release clause removed? If he'd signed for Manchester United then I would see no need for him to have a release clause in his contract, and I'm sure he would too. But he didn't, he signed for Newcastle United - recognising (as I and others with their heads screwed on do) that we are pretty much second-rate, and quite volatile as a club, he negotiated a release clause in his contract in case things went tits up. If I was as good as he is, and was making Newcastle my club after time at Liverpool and Real Madrid, I'd be sure to request a release clause too. The clause should have been for at least the price we bought him for, that's the only thing that grates in all this, but that's down to our master negotiator of a chairman. As for his comments, I could have done without him making them at all, and just been happy to see him start the season playing for us. But when there's clamour all summer for him to make the comments, I'm certainly not gonna slag him off for finally making them. I just think (as a neutral) that in view of the prolonged absences over the past 2 years, MO could repay the faith the club and the fans have in him by making a gesture. Instead of a blanket clause for any club offering £9m for him to consider, why not just make it Liverpool, his home town club? True, Newcastle have been in the doldrums for a while, but there is no reason to suppose that they are incapable of coming out the other side and making a serious challenge for a top 4 position. The manager is in place, the finances are there, I don't see any reason why he couldn't make a commitment over and above what he has already said. He doesn't have to extend the contract, doesn't have to ask for more money, just have exactly the same contract except saying he can leave if Liverpool offer £9m. Personally, I don't see that as asking too much when compared to all that has gone on over the past 2 years. That surely would get all the fans on MO's side without reservation instead of just some?

I can understand what you're saying but I can't help being cynical about his comments tbh. He was challenged weeks ago to make that kind of statement and if he had made this statement then, I would have believed in its sincerity more than I do now. My view is that he kept quiet to evaluate his options, found there weren't any so has then made the statement. MO says he doesn't respond to rumour. If he didn't want to then, why does he want to now? The easiest way for him to clear the air and bring sincerity to this statement is for him to say that he is signing a new contract with the opt out clause removed. Until he does that, there will always be the feeling that Owen is simply waiting for a club to activate the clause.

Personally, I rate Chopra as a striker better than Nugent, how well he fares will depend on the players around him, which, at the moment, don't look good enough to impress. Also, my assessment of Chopra isn't so much a reflection of how good I think he is but more to do with how low I rate Nugent.

Just a simple "Contributor" title put by your name somewhere, other clubs do it too (West Ham, Spurs and Chelsea that I know of) and it doesn't cause any friction or a tier level in posters, people will think more of you if you make decent posts rather than having a star or something next to your name. Another thing I'd like to mention is the admin seem slightly embarrassed at having to post and ask for money, don't be, you as well as everyone who posts on here has helped contribute to putting together a cracking site, easily the best for football chat on the net IMO and I don't think it's much to ask of people to put their hand in their pocket to help make the forum run better. :clap: I sponsor COYS and get a 'Sponsor' badge under my name. We get the periodical request for sponsors in the forum, a couple of times a year maybe, but there's no pressure to donate and no friction from any area if you do or you don't, the simple truth is that some people due to their personal circumstances are unable to make a donation even if they would dearly love to. The badge isn't a 'look at me,see what I've done' symbol, maybe a third of the contributors to the forum sponsor so a badge isn't special, it's simply a recognition that you enjoy visiting the forum and want its high standard to be maintained. If there is a lack of income to support a suitable server and you don't want advertising, another thought is limiting access at the busy times of the year ie during the transfer windows. COYS operate a temporary cull of lurkers and F5 pushers during the windows, it may sound harsh but a top quality service is provided for those that do have access throughout what are notoriously busy periods. A forum can only be as good as its contributors, it's the lurkers that use the bandwidth but contribute nothing to the forum so I have no problem with a temporary cull. Sponsors however, even lurkers, retain access throughout and maybe it is those individuals who would have the most to gain from making a modest donation.

Harry Forrester going to Villa. There were a lot more clubs than just Man Utd and Spurs after him. http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1784_2489759,00.html Good news for Brummie.

You forgot Yuri Berchiche (Athletic Bilbao - £150k) SSN say bale was sold for 10million Is it not 5million now and the rest based on other things, like champs league spot, international games. You're correct.

I'm not convinced that Wenger has £13m to spend. Annual interest on the debt is more than that.

You forgot Yuri Berchiche (Athletic Bilbao - £150k)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23403547-details/Gallas+in+attack+on+Gunners+spending/article.do William Gallas has launched an astonishing attack on Arsenal's transfer activities this summer and raised fresh doubts over his own future at the club. The French international insists that "several players are questioning the club's future" and urged Arsene Wenger to sign proven match-winners to catch up Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. Gallas revealed he will be seeking showdown talks with the Arsenal manager and the board when he returns to pre-season training. In an interview with his own website - posted after Eduardo Da Silva's £10million switch from Dinamo Zagreb - Gallas made a a thinly veiled attack on Wenger's policy of buying and nurturing young, unproven players. He said: "What is sure, it is that several players are questioning the club's future. "Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Titi Henry [to Barcelona]? "I am not at Arsenal to play for third place. It is necessary to recruit players of reputation because the young players have many qualities but the season is very long. "The young players are thirsty for victories but Arsenal must obtain results to gain titles. If not, one will have to change policy and do the same as the other teams: recruit with more means." Gallas returns to pre-season training on Wednesday after spending his summer holidays in Guadeloupe with his family. The defender said: "I will have a discussion with Arsene Wenger and board members to know the objectives of the club this season and what they wish to set up to build an even more competitive team." Gallas had a difficult first season at Emirates Stadium after leaving Chelsea under a cloud. He joined as part of the deal that saw Ashley Cole leave for Chelsea. Asked about his own future, he said: "Today I am at Arsenal but I do not know what can occur tomorrow. "All happens so quickly in the world of football." :frantic: mackems.gif

They always are when you post Newcastle and Spurs going after the same targets is hardly a new experience! :lol:

FWIW Danny Rose and Ben Gordon are apparently refusing to sign professional contracts for Leeds. When they go, compensation will be decided by tribunal, normally around £1/200k. Rose - sounds like Spurs and Newcastle are the leading contenders, Gordon - Chelsea, Villa, Newcastle and Spurs are the possible destinations.

For £6.7m, I think he'd have been a snip tbh. We're thin on the ground for CH's and he'd have been a great addition personally. Meh, still think there are better options. Would rather just go for Campbell for £3m or something. Pricey for a 32-year-old but unquestionably worth it, imo. Roeder should have signed scumball on a Bosman when he had the chance. He could have helped Taylor's game massively, a big opportunity missed.

It used to be a really good forum, solid debate on almost any subject without friction. Then it seemed to be swamped with hordes of 15 year olds and it's never been the same since. The best contributors moved on and only the dross are left. Only found out my ID still works there but following Shak's link, haven't contributed there in ages.