1878

Worst. Collar. Ever.

He tried it at times in pre-season but seemed to settle on a back four. I think we could play it since we've got Baines & Coleman and depth at centre half. You'd have Jags on the right, Distin on the left and someone more comfortable on the ball in the middle, Stones/Heitinga/Alcaraz. Personally, I would rather stick with our settled back 4 and have the extra midfield/forward option.

Can't be as funny as his muzzy.

Why do you think so highly of Everton? If you are basing this off today's performance, it was much more a case of Chelsea misfiring than anything special from Everton. Their goal was a gift and none the opposing attacking players did anything to test them. I think they will struggle for incisiveness upfront, Baines will leave in January, and they also lack depth in defence along with having players and a keeper who are prone to shipping cheap goal. They are a team with talent, but several flaws, just as Newcastle. Where do you think they will finish? I would guess somewhere between 8th and 12th. The previous 3 games this season we have dominated lesser opposition but struggled to take our chances because Kone and Jelavic. The signing of Lukaku should put a stop to those draws. Against Chelsea we put in a great defensive showing in the first half & the latter stages of the second, showing we can still grind out a win which was really encouraging for me. Still played some nice stuff at times too. I think Baines going in January is about as likely as Barca coming in for Tony Hibbert. If he was going, it was gonna be in the summer. Baffled by your comments on our defence! Would love to know who the error prone players are? We had the 2nd best defensive record last season iirc and despite the fears that we would fall apart defensively under Martinez, we've clocked up 3 clean sheets in 4 league games. Our depth in defence is actually very good apart from at right back. Stacked at centre back and Oviedo is a good understudy at left back. You're not far wrong on Howard tbh but he's been ok to start with this season. I would be shocked if we finished outside the top 10 and see no reason we shouldn't aim for 6th even if we end up a place or two lower. The squads a bit better than last year and I'm not worried that Moyes has gone. As for Newcastle, your first XI is up there but your manager will hold you back.

If he's available then we should definitely be in there for him. Would cost more than £10m though surely? No chance of us going for that, most fans on here didnt want him last time for £6m+ did they? I saw £8m, but that was on twitter. If he is available at that price I would like to see us go for him. No chance Chelsea would ditch him at a loss when his value is probably rising after last season. A pretty reliable 'ITK' says we're in talks with Chelsea over Moses. They want to sell permanently for £8m but we don't have that much cash, so want a loan with an option for a permanent deal.

Chantome from PSG if Fellaini goes to Arsenal was the rumour in France yesterday.

Loan? Transfer. €4m-€5m according to some other media that are picking it up. Hmmm, surprising. Howard's poor IMO but Joel didn't prove himself any better, too lax. Thought Atleti might keep loaning him 'til Courtois ran out too. You're right, Howard is poor so I'm glad we've signed another keeper. If Moyes was still here he'd have started the season with some total no hoper brought in as 'competition'. Didn't watch a lot of Joel last season tbh so not sure how good he is. Only remember him against us in the quarters (had nothing to do) and in the final against City (looked impressive).

Hopefully we sell Heitinga. He's on £60-65k a week and isn't worth anything like it. Would be happy having Jags, Distin, Alcaraz and Duffy as the 4 centre backs next season. Unless Martinez is planning on playing 5 at the back, in which case, we'd need another cover player.

Solid signing for yous, no? He's an ok player but it's a terrible signing financially. We can't afford to sink £5m on a 30 year old and not see a penny of the fee back. Heard he's going to be on 40/50k a week too.

The same John Ruddy that Moyes & Chris Woods thought wasn't on the same level as Iain Turner. Good luck David De Gea Anyway, this happened: Kone That kit :anguish: That badge :anguish:

Cheers for the write-up. I would agree with the last part about not developing another teams player if they are in the same league, but if the player is coming from abroad then I don't think it matters so much. Under Moyes we had a policy of not loaning unless there was an option to buy, in either case, but it seems like Martinez has done away with that.

All over twitter this morning that Spanish media are saying he's chosen a loan to us over Spurs. I was coming into this thread to ask you about it actually! Suppose its all been exaggerated based on one rumour. How highly do you rate him?

Without Moyes there we're basically both mid-sized clubs with s*** chairmen. I think we might even be able to offer slightly more money. (Beat Everton to Ba as well, didn't we?) We wouldn't pay Ba the wages you were willing to, and, wouldn't include the release clause he joined Chelsea with either. I would really rather we never blew a big chunk of our budget on a near 30yr old like Kone. So, if you pip us to him, I'm all for it Cheeky. Is it? I said the same thing about not wanting Kone in the Other Clubs Transfers thread before NUFC had any interest.

Without Moyes there we're basically both mid-sized clubs with s*** chairmen. I think we might even be able to offer slightly more money. (Beat Everton to Ba as well, didn't we?) We wouldn't pay Ba the wages you were willing to, and, wouldn't include the release clause he joined Chelsea with either. I would really rather we never blew a big chunk of our budget on a near 30yr old like Kone. So, if you pip us to him, I'm all for it

I really like their anniversary one from the other year mind. With the sash? Yeah that was a nice kit and was at least done for historic reasons. These all red shirts just reek of commercialism though. Maybe the foreign board wanting a kit like Man Utd/Liverpool rather than Stoke/Sunderland

Southampton's strip seemingly being changed to all red on a permanent basis now. Awful. Are their fans even doing anything about it?

Would have to be £20m at least. He's got to be one of the top 3 left backs in the world. Don't think Figeuroa is good enough for us tbh. Would take Danny Rose if Baines left but even he's not half as good. He's irreplaceable really because anyone close to his level would A) cost a fortune and B) not be willing to join Everton.

Not if they don't offer big money. Supposedly offered £12m What a cunt Moyes is. He'd have caused absolute murder Lescott-style if someone had made such a poor offer for Baines last season.

From an outsider I reckon that will be a quality signing for you. A good addition to Jelavic, Mirallas, Anichebe etc.. Jealous He'll probably do ok but he's not really an upgrade on what we have and striker is the main position we need to improve. If we had a decent striker last season we'd have been right up there competing for 4th until the last day imo. We also really can't afford to sign players Kone's age with no resale value. It's dead money. I would prefer that kind of transfer policy if we can develop them.

We're supposedly signing Kone for £5m this week Total waste of money on an average player that's nearly 30. Not a good start for Martinez.

http://images.dailystar-uk.co.uk/dynamic/pixfeed/covers/257x330back/2013-06-23.jpg Swop

£15m?! I thought £8m was ridiculous for a player who has had one good season in the Championship.

"I can pick the phone up at any time of the day and speak to Arsene Wenger, any manager in the league." You can imagine the scene, Wenger's PA asking Joe to hold the line "He's on again, Arsene."

That interview is unreal