Taylor Swift

I PM'ed him and he said it's an automatic signature thing so he doesn't actually write it after every post. I've got sigs turned off though. No, I mean it's an automatic 'signature' thing. It's in your profile settings I think.

I'd be disgusted. Honestly hate the fuckers and I couldn't stand them winning it again.

Yeah but this is about integration, albeit slowly. They're not saying to the white male demographic 'nah, you're not coming to this one' and giving the tix to Muslims. They're selling tickets which wouldn't have been normally sold. It's a marketable ploy, which is obviously quite effective. Credit to Villa for being smart enough and also for not being afraid of the reaction that some of their more right-wing fans might have.

I PM'ed him and he said it's an automatic signature thing so he doesn't actually write it after every post.

I like the idea personally. As long as it's a one-off then I think it's actually quite clever. And as for the people saying this is 'division' and stuff, it's actually quite the opposite.

if that's not comedy genius then I don't know what is.

Yeah, KK and Zoggy are with the coalition force in Iraq.

It has to be Deco. Why would anyone right now pay £15m for someone who might not even excel in the formation we're playing? I think Bentley can play a bit more central i.e. Geremi's current role atm but if we had a chance to spend the same money on someone proven, someone absolutely world-class and who will still have more than a couple of years left then it'd be stupid not to do so. Like I've said, when you're playing teams of similar quality to you, you need to have difference-makers in the team; players who rise above when it matters and can dominate the game. Bentley is not that. No matter how good he becomes as a winger, it's not an impact position. It is not a position where you can have a sustained impact on the game. Our game will not go through him, it'll go through our central midfield (like it's been going through Butt lately). Compare the RW to one of the most important positions on a football pitch, central midfield, and £15m will be better spent there, especially since the current quality of this prospective CM >>>>>> the prospective RW. The worries about the age aren't well-founded as well. Deco's 30. Zizou signed for Real at 29. Not that I'm saying they're of the same quality, but they do have similar features and Zidane was good all the way until he retired (34). There's absolutely no reason a player like Deco, someone who doesn't depend on blistering pace, wouldn't be able to sustain a high level of play up until then. I'm not saying Bentley's naff or something, but he ain't that good. And Deco's awesome. The difference between the two atm is massive and the difference in their respective impacts on our current team will also be immense.

Deco plays in an impact position, Bentley doesn't. Deco offers us extra revenue, and he'll also be a big name that can attract other quality players. Bentley's not that. If Bentley continues to develop, there's quite a massive chance that he'll never get to the level that Deco was or, in my opinion, is at. Signing Deco will help push us over the top; he'll be the difference when we play Villa, Spurs, Everton, City and Portsmouth. Can Bentley do the same? And consistently? Consider the impact that Elano had for City at the beginning of this season. Deco's a cut above him.

Ignore the better chance stuff (which is debatable anyway). Just pretend that Deco's sitting in one room, Bentley in another and both have said yes to the respective terms offered. We're paying £15m and you can only pick one.

The numbers I've taken from a mixture of rumours but added in some common sense, but if anyone wants to suggest something else which they think might be more realistic then do so.

Deco

It isn't just a straight-out poll because that'd give an uninteresting answer, so here are the conditions... 1. Both signed for £15m. 2. Deco will be paid £100k/week for 3 years. 3. Bentley will be paid £50k/week for 5 years. I think (and hope) that this might be an interesting poll.

Henry's been played on the left wing for quite a big part of the season though.

I have also seen him in the reserves - Edgar not Jesus Christ Jesus can be found anywhere in the world

What a change 3 wins on the trot makes to this forum I think we're underestimating them a bit. They are in the finals of the FA Cup and are still in 6th place in the Premiership, so they're no pushovers. And they won't be like Spurs and play players in new (read: unusual) positions therefore this will be a tougher game. The Spurs comparison also isn't that apt not only because of the aforementioned reason but because Pompey have been much better and more consistent this season than Spurs. I'm scared of the thought of Muntari zooming past our slow midfield trio and having a shot from range. It'll be a good game anyway but a point would be stellar.

I do think Edgar should get a runout because like Dave said, we know what Taylor can and cannot do.

Speculate to accumulate. We must spend.

It's got nothing to do with wins. The summer's nearly begun, why not plan ahead? It's actually got everything to do with the fact that these players can be signed if we're ambitious enough and for many people to say 'no thanks' is quite stupid. Just because Man Utd won the title with unproven kids 15 years ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again any time soon. We're going to need classy players if we want to compete with the best, but classy players on the way up aren't going to sign for us, are they (and Bentley's not in this class before anyone says so)? These kind of players, players with quite a lot to offer imo, are the kind that we can sign and should make every effort to do so. My comment was aimed at those people that suddenly seem to think we can do better than Henry. Apologies.

Btw, just to put things in perspective, Real Madrid broke the world transfer record to sign Zizou when he was 29. Deco is 30. Henry is 30.

It's got nothing to do with wins. The summer's nearly begun, why not plan ahead? It's actually got everything to do with the fact that these players can be signed if we're ambitious enough and for many people to say 'no thanks' is quite stupid. Just because Man Utd won the title with unproven kids 15 years ago doesn't mean it's going to happen again any time soon. We're going to need classy players if we want to compete with the best, but classy players on the way up aren't going to sign for us, are they (and Bentley's not in this class before anyone says so)? These kind of players are the kind that we can sign and should make every effort to do so.

Honestly, players like Deco and Henry, even if they only have a few years left, would offer us so much on the pitch let alone what they'd offer to the younger players and there's also what they'd offer in terms of revenue as well. Their skills have declined but Henry hasn't lost his ability to finish and neither has Deco lost his ability to pass the ball. They are still a cut above the rest and would easily still play for the top 4 (they're actually playing for one of the best teams in Europe but somehow they're not good enough for us?), and eventually, these are the players we need to have in our team so if the offer presents itself now, why not? Of course the only thing stopping this is fees/wages but we will eventually have to pay big wages and huge transfer fees if we want world-class players and these two (Deco and Henry) would be a brilliant start.

However highly you might rate Henry's footballing skills, he's not a team player and he's not a leader. That's not part of the package that he'd offer. The leadership thing is questionable, I agree, but like I've said, I've seen him plenty of times this season playing like someone who knows that he's not the main man anymore and thus is quite deferential to younger/better players. But anyway, even if there's doubts about that, there's absolutely no doubt he's a team player. He had one of the most all-round games you could find in the Premiership, he topped the goals and assists charts so many times so really there's no basis to your claim at all.

Personally I thought at times his attitude while captain of Arsenal was shocking, the way he'd go in the huff, pretty much abuse some of the young players. Not what I'd want from a captain or a leader. True. But different teams, different circumstances. Because he won't be expecting us to challenge for the title, I don't think he'd be wound up as tight as he was at Arsenal, and therefore resort to that form of leadership. He seems to have realized that he's no longer the best, and I've seen plenty of times this season where he's been really unselfish. He'd give us a real edge that none of our players (except maybe Barton and Zoggy) seem to possess, raise the standards around the place and will be the difference when we play teams of similar quality (Spurs, Everton, Villa and City). He'll also be perfect for the way KK wants the team to play, and I think he could teach Zoggy and Martins, two of our players who have loads of potential, quite a bit.