Parky

Has he got any pace though? If he's tall athletic and powerful i dont want him. If he has the capability to kick a football over 50 yards then I'm not interested, either. His big plus point is that the won't dissappear in Jan.

Hamburg hold onto VDV as the club rebuff €14m from Valencia. VDV was all for moving but is being held to his contract.

Shame I'd rather we'd had this bloke.. Gabi Mudingayi from SS Lazio.

Anelka to Villareal is off.

Update on this little lot. Cassanno has all but agreed to go to Sampdoria on loan (1 year), wages to be shared. West Ham are looking at Appiah. **Chelsea have dropped their interest in Deco as Ballack is happy to stay..........Deco still a remote possibiity?

"Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is considering a move for Werder Bremen's £7million-rated Germany star Per Mertesacker as he continues his search for a central defender. O'Neill has been looking for a new centre half all summer but his search has so far drawn a blank." Mail. Would have liked him here.

Ramos now backtracking. Nice conclusion-jumping though, well done. "But before midday, UK time, Ramos appeared at Sevilla's training ground to say he was staying despite receiving an offer from Spurs. Although a squirming Ramos initially sought to deny everything, claiming that he could not understand what all the "fuss" was about, he ended by confessing to having had indirect contact with Spurs. He said that he had not met with the secretary John Alexander and the vice-chairman Paul Kemsley at the Alfonso XIII hotel on Friday, despite photographic evidence published by the Estadio Deportivo newspaper on Saturday ." Guardian.

Totally agree and ManC will have their sticky patch. We'll see how much their new boys 'fancy it' with a frost on the ground. [souness/]

I know.

That's absolute madness. But pure. Look... Duff........Smith........Milner. ........Zoggy....Barton....... ...............Diop/Faye........... Ricky....Tay....Roze....Geremi

Like the look of that Shakky. Zoggy can also have license to drift inside when one forward cycles wide. Subs: Smith for Barton Martins for Owen

The Robben thing will have gone through on the understanding that Real stand aside on Alves, I'd guess. With those two being in for him the price keeps going up, if Real drop out then the ball is back in Chelsea's court - at the minute, it's an auction. Good point.

If I was going to play a pure 443 these would be the ideal front three... Duff........Smith........Milner. Go figure. :parky:

far from ideal. owen in the past was at his best when with a partner who does all his running for him, goes out wide and makes space with his runs, a la heskey and anelka. this is only going to be more true after his bad injuries, and viduka doesn't fit the criteria. still a very good partnership as viduka drops deep and threads passes through, but not an ideal one. for owen smith might be a better bet as his movement across the pitch is better, while Viduka is perhaps better suited to exploiting Martins' qualities. Owen did alright alongside Shearer, didn't he? I'd say current Viduka > the Shearer that Owen played with in the season they were together. I went for Viduka/Owen as well, mostly agreeing with Dave's reasoning on it as well. true, but shearer is more similar to Smith than Viduka, better in the air and moved out wide more, even if he was slow as shit. There's also the fact that Viduka moves far deeper than Shearer ever did, leaving Owen stranded, and i don't think he has the pace to play that way anymore. Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word ideal, but its the best of a mixed bag. I'd like to try Smith and Owen as well if the truth be known.

Finishing 5th is hardly an achievement when you've spent twice as much as everybody outside the top 4 clubs. The board backed him last summer yet he managed to finish further away from the top 4 than the previous season and it doesnt look like he's improved the squad this season either. Can anyone explain what Martin Jol is actually good at that makes people rate him because as far as i can see it's not squad building, tactics, substitutions or man management. We spent money too! I guess my main argument is that it seems a silly time to replace him. Why I am arguing about a team I can't stand is another issue altogether. I'm done. Fuck Spurs! Hopefully this will fuck them up for a few games. On another matter I think there is a deeper reality behind this. After the high spend (which they it looks like beleived would almost gurantee a top 4 slot), they have got jittery having witnessed the form of Man City and the early good form of Everton. Our steady start hasn't gone down well either. I've had a lot of doubts about Jol tactically (for reasons stated at length elsewhere) but I felt he was doing an overall good job. They really should have fixed the left side in the summer. If indeed Jol does walk it will put thier development back a year.

Look on the bright side this is one of the first signs that Chelsea are beginning to see us as more of a threat.

Agreed. Very sad. Indeed. blueyes.gif

Richards and SWP both did well, thought Joe Cole was alright too. If we get ris of McClaren though, who comes in? Remember the debacle last time... The mastermind GR?

Baggy has been whinging like a crack whore for about 3 weeks now. blueyes.gif Fuck off you prick. I've come back to have another look, still can't believe your behaviour. YOu're a mod on another site aren't you?

Owen and Viduka would be the ideal partnership in a 442.

If Diop gets back to where he was a couple of years ago he can be immense.

Impossible. He's "fucking shite". People on here told me.