Unbelievable

From a quick look at RTG I conclude that they've just won the Premiership title?

You spend too much time posting on RTG. Their mindset is slowly starting to unsettle you.

Still, hasn't been a real two horse race with the usual suspects battling it out now for a good few years..

Most of the football global audience would disagree (imo) thats why they tune into the PL & La Liga rather than kick back on a Sunday morning watching Utrecht v Den Haag hoping to see the next Michael Mols. As the great Damon Killian said "This is television, that's all it is. It has nothing to do with with competitive sport, it's to do with ratings! What I don't understand is why any football fan would WANT it to be that way. Because for me La Liga is a league I have zero emotional attachment to so on a Satuday or Sunday night I want to see the best players & zillions of goals. I am not fussed who gets relegated or stays up. Where as with the PL I want to see Kevin Davies, Bolton & Gartside get relegated, I don't mind Norwich staying up, I laugh when any of the big hitters get beat. Christ I may have cheeky tommy tank if certain players damage there cruciate ligaments in the PL. Thats because I have bought into the PL mind, body & soul. This ties in with what I'm trying to say really. You're not a fan of La Liga, just a couch potato spectator with little emotional attachment other than wanting to see some of the best players in the world score some amazing goals. If you were a proper fan of a Spanish club, even one of Real Madrid or Barcelona, in the same way like you are a fan of NUFC in the Premiership, would it not become tedious to see such complete and utter dominance by two teams over all the others? I have witnessed dominance by two clubs in the England: Liverpool & MUFC they have let occasional guests have goes but its been pretty much them picking up the league titles in my life time. Just in the last decade I make it 4 different champions.

Depends how you spend it, doesn't it? We've got plenty of people on here who would qualify this transfer window a failure for our club unless Ashley brings out his wallet and splashes some cash. I don't think they've necessarily spent badly; they've brought in the best they reasonably can get with their club profile and UK based transfer strategy courtesy of Martin O'Neill.

Most of the football global audience would disagree (imo) thats why they tune into the PL & La Liga rather than kick back on a Sunday morning watching Utrecht v Den Haag hoping to see the next Michael Mols. As the great Damon Killian said "This is television, that's all it is. It has nothing to do with with competitive sport, it's to do with ratings! What I don't understand is why any football fan would WANT it to be that way. Because for me La Liga is a league I have zero emotional attachment to so on a Satuday or Sunday night I want to see the best players & zillions of goals. I am not fussed who gets relegated or stays up. Where as with the PL I want to see Kevin Davies, Bolton & Gartside get relegated, I don't mind Norwich staying up, I laugh when any of the big hitters get beat. Christ I may have cheeky tommy tank if certain players damage there cruciate ligaments in the PL. Thats because I have bought into the PL mind, body & soul. This ties in with what I'm trying to say really. You're not a fan of La Liga, just a couch potato spectator with little emotional attachment other than wanting to see some of the best players in the world score some amazing goals. If you were a proper fan of a Spanish club, even one of Real Madrid or Barcelona, in the same way like you are a fan of NUFC in the Premiership, would it not become tedious to see such complete and utter dominance by two teams over all the others?

Wasn't Fulham away last season the first time we experimented with the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system? Looked brilliant in the first half but got torn to shreds in the second.

Most of the football global audience would disagree (imo) thats why they tune into the PL & La Liga rather than kick back on a Sunday morning watching Utrecht v Den Haag hoping to see the next Michael Mols. As the great Damon Killian said "This is television, that's all it is. It has nothing to do with with competitive sport, it's to do with ratings! I understand it's (heading) that way. What I don't understand is why any football fan would WANT it to be that way. I enjoy my Classico's as much as the next guy, I really do, but as a viewing spectacle and a sporting event it flatters to deceive more often than not, which is basically the result of the massive media attention for this particular set of games. I think the fact is now a heavily scrutinised two horse race has made La Liga as a competition less interesting in recent years in my opinion. They might as well have their own competition and start a new "season" every week.

Huh? What is it? I'm not sure I've read the rules and still don't understand. http://playerexchange.premierleague.com/rules/ Had a quick scan. Sounds like more of the same tbh. Think I'll give it a pass.

I loved when Valencia challenged for the tile in the early noughties and actually won La Liga twice. Shame these days are now almost certainly over, in the same way we will never be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and City unless we get a sugar daddy owner. I fail to see why anybody would WANT this situation to arise. Much rather have a situation like in Germany, France and Holland where there are about 4 or 5 teams each season fighting it out for the title and where your dark horse (AZ Alkmaar, Twente, Lille, Montpellier) can actually win the damn thing once in a while.

Huh? What is it?

Our forgotten man is currently our fourth choice centre forward as it stands, so wouldn't be surprised to see him feature occasionally if we don't get another striker in. Has he featured in any preseason game for the reserves at all, just wondering what his fitness level is in case of an emergency? As for the poll, looks like it will have to be option number 3

Oooh, should have been 2-2

2-1!

Not a bad shout tbf, didn't Twente sign him to replace De Jong btw? They did indeed.

Luc Castaignos

On 14 million man Fletcher: Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=724931#ixzz24UGw7IQZ

Jack Colback is actually a decent Premiership midfield player, which is as good as it gets for them (in the centre of midfield).

Having finished fifth and then seen the teams in third and fourth lose several of their best players (although Chelsea should improve), seventh would be considered a disappointment imo. You are right, fourth may not be completely unrealistic, but that is the case for quite a few clubs at the moment: Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and Everton. We're in that bracket of clubs now, and last season we were ahead of some of them (and Chelsea) because they had a disappointing season and we had a terrific one. I am not about to take it as a given that we will be above at least two of that list again, which is what you need to be to better seventh, and even that is disregarding the possibility of a surprise package like us last season to enter the fray. The aim should be fourth, because you need to aim high, but it certainly shouldn't be the expectation if you will, which is what it seems to be for some of you.

Or else?

What does "falling behind" entail might I ask? Would you qualify this new season as a failure if we "only" managed to finish, say, in seventh? I know I wouldn't, especially considering the top teams don't think twice about spending over 100 million in one transfer window these days. We've made huge steps forward in the last 3 years or so, but we shouldn't feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to qualifying for Europe. It will be very hard work if we want to achieve it again this year, just like it was last year.

Got some stick for this, worth a bump, Aye, still wouldn't say he's quicksilver, but certainly looks more useful than I expected him to be based on his first preseason outings. Well done, hope he keeps it up and becomes an important player for us.