Unbelievable

He told you this when?

Cisse was such a freak you can't use that as an example. The chances of finding someone so complete as a striker for so cheap are unbelievably slim. That said, Carroll isn't worth near 20m regardless. Another alternative is Modibo Maiga, who we came very close to signing. He's just gone to West Ham for £5m. I'm not saying he's as good as Cisse, but we clearly thought he was good enough to score goals in this league. Yet we didn't get involved in a very public move to West Ham. Can have been due to the ACN, but if we really have nothing in terms of viable options behind Luuk de Jong and a loan offer for Carroll I would like to believe we'd have gone back in for him if we believed he could have a similar impact to Cisse providing there indeed wasn't a serious medical issue.

Adam Campbell?

Interesting!

Based on what if you don't mind me asking?

Nah, I got a lot of withering stares, one "what the hell!" and one "you've got to be kidding me." Otherwise we were fine. Good on you. What did you make of the match itself?

Did you get in any bother with your Newcastle top in the end oldtype?

Woman in yellow on the left..

Widely reported at the time (January 2011), with quotes from old 'arry backing it up (the offer, not necessarily the amount). The reporting was all based on one Sun article IIRC. I absolutely do not believe that we would have offered 25M for Carroll, just as I do not believe we offered 30M (or whatever it was supposed to be) for Rossi. Anyway, Hoilett. Useful squad player, if he's happy with that and the wages it would bring - but I wouldn't have in in my first XI. Was quite widely reported, if you google for "spurs bid carroll". On the 29th of Jan both ESPN and Skysports reported a bid or 23/25 million had been rejected. In early february Redknapp also alluded to this in a Talksport interview. Not that it matters really. As regards to Hoilett: I'd take him here if he's withing our wage structure. Would fit quite well in a 433 formation.

Let me guess: your friend is an Ajax fan? Feyenoord. Your friend should be ashamed of himself.. Why? o.O Douglas has been sensational in his time at Twente. Certainly one of the main reasons behind their rise in stature in recent years. He does have the occasional lapse in concentration but show me a defender who hasn't and he has outgrown our league, which has made him somewhat sloppy especially the last 12 months. For a true Feyenoord fan to argue Anita is awesome is unheard of; that would be akin to a Sunderland fan claiming Tiote is the dog's bollocks or a Newcastle fan to say Catts isn't half bad. The hatred is such between the clubs that there can be no objectivity in talking about each others players.

Let me guess: your friend is an Ajax fan? Feyenoord. Your friend should be ashamed of himself..

Let me guess: your friend is an Ajax fan?

Told Tiote to join us didn't he? Or something similar. He did. Don't think he has any say in where the players they sell go. Just a matter of getting the best possible deal for his club, which is the chairman's job and has nothing to do with McLaren himself. He wasn't even manager of the club when we signed Tiote. He had just managed Tiote for 2 years though, so not beyond the reals of possibilities that Cheick would have consulted McLaren before agreeing a move. It was certainly reported this had happened at the time.

1. We offered €4m and most reports suggest they dont want too much more. 2. They havent rejected our 'fuckwit low bid' 3. Its easy to suggest ball park figures when its not your money, have you ever bought a house? Bet you were robbed if you didnt attempt to negotiate with a sensible early bid. Yes, I have bought a house thank you very much! The problem is we haven't been going back with increased offers as far as I can tell, we offer low and walk away, De Jong a prime example. Who knows what's going on, probably only Ashley & Llambias, but the way the the 2 of them do business does worry me sometimes... We made two bids for de Jong then walked away when it was obvious they wanted more than we would go. We have apparently offered a second bid for Carroll yesterday which wont meet their stupid value and are in negotiations with Lille over a second bid to secure Debuchy. So basically half of the players we have tried signing this summer prove you wrong. Agreed, it's not so much not going back for me, it's that our policy of lowball initial offers (which I am otherwise happy with btw) does involve the risk of our interest becoming public giving other clubs the chance to move in ahead of us with a higher bid. I'd rather this than overpay to be honest.

Told Tiote to join us didn't he? Or something similar. He did. Don't think he has any say in where the players they sell go. Just a matter of getting the best possible deal for his club, which is the chairman's job and has nothing to do with McLaren himself.

Who else was in for Enrique at the time? Genuinely can't remember there being anybody else than Liverpool.

Decent chance their asking price has just gone up a few mill considering there are now 3 Premiership clubs in the running.

London factor is well over played it only has any relevance if your successful. For s*** teams it's hardly an advantage at all. If he chooses Fulham or West Ham over us he wants his head looking at. Have we had a bid accepted for Douglas like? My post was using the scenario that all 3 clubs had accepted offers. Of course i know we haven't. But i don't consider Fulham and West Ham a threat, the only way they beat us to signing him is if we get cheap and don't give Twente what they want. Didn't you say similar regarding Luuk de Jong? Anyway, to discard West Ham and Fulham as serious contenders for his signature is incredibly arrogant and shortsighted if you'd ask me. Did i? in any case that was a very different scenario, Twente were asking for ridiculous amounts they are not this time. How do you know? Assumptions based on reports in the media. Do you not think FC Twente will want to maximise its fee, especially now there are apparently 3 Premiership clubs in for one of their players? Again, you are passing assumptions of as facts if you think NUFC will just meet whatever asking price FC Twente may have in mind and he will then choose us over them as we are obviously a much more attractive proposition. Don't you ever learn?

London factor is well over played it only has any relevance if your successful. For s*** teams it's hardly an advantage at all. If he chooses Fulham or West Ham over us he wants his head looking at. Have we had a bid accepted for Douglas like? My post was using the scenario that all 3 clubs had accepted offers. Of course i know we haven't. But i don't consider Fulham and West Ham a threat, the only way they beat us to signing him is if we get cheap and don't give Twente what they want. Didn't you say similar regarding Luuk de Jong? Anyway, to discard West Ham and Fulham as serious contenders for his signature is incredibly arrogant and shortsighted if you'd ask me. Did i? in any case that was a very different scenario, Twente were asking for ridiculous amounts they are not this time. How do you know?

London factor is well over played it only has any relevance if your successful. For s*** teams it's hardly an advantage at all. If he chooses Fulham or West Ham over us he wants his head looking at. Have we had a bid accepted for Douglas like? My post was using the scenario that all 3 clubs had accepted offers. Of course i know we haven't. But i don't consider Fulham and West Ham a threat, the only way they beat us to signing him is if we get cheap and don't give Twente what they want. Didn't you say similar regarding Luuk de Jong? Anyway, to discard West Ham and Fulham as serious contenders for his signature is incredibly arrogant and shortsighted if you'd ask me.

London factor is well over played it only has any relevance if your successful. For s*** teams it's hardly an advantage at all. If he chooses Fulham or West Ham over us he wants his head looking at. Have we had a bid accepted for Douglas like?

He could just stay at Twente if that's the case.. You're seriously kidding yourself if you think money doesn't come into it when a player makes a decision on his future.

Well if he joins a club like Fulham or West Ham for more money then we are best not signing him. People keep saying this as if it's some huge honour to represent us. Maybe for a born and bred Geordie it is, but I imagine for most football players any transfer deal is a tradeoff between wages, club profile and player prospect/squad role. Realistically we have to compete in the wages department just like everybody else if we want to attract the best players.