KaKa

Emerson?

Not being reported. Could this be a mistake? Or am I just reaching at this point.

How did the injury happen? Was it from a tackle?

Of all the freakin' players though? Why not Ramage for fuck sake WHY NOT RAMAGE???

What the hell is the point of pre-season friendlies? Seriously? Just do the freakin' training and have some practice matches against teammates. This is stupid.

Wow ... I can't believe how upset people are. The only things I have kept an eye out for in the first two friendlies are the performances of the new guys Rozehnal and Barton, as well as the guys who have been out for a while in Owen and Shola, also monitoring Martins' progress. By all accounts these players are all looking good so far. I couldn't really care less about anyone else tbh. I don't think any of the other guys are going to be playing much this season. People please calm down!

I believe it was probably the same thing during the first pre-season game and this is why he was distressed after the game and has probably since decided to leave. Brand new start to the season, everyone looking forward to a new start and he's getting abuse before he's even done anything wrong. I think a break up is best for all involved.

I would have thought that if he was looking good it would have something to do with his level of performance. um ... okay.

NSG there was tlak that N'Zogbia played as a wing back. What formation did we play? Also, how's rozehnal still looking good?

Having thought about this I honestly thin we will end up with Curtis Davies, Sammi Hyypia and a left-back from abroad. I think the £7 million bid currently on the table might very well be for Curtis Davies. They have been demanding around £10 million but I cannot imagine anyone is looking to pay that. The top four teams have all got their centre back positions sorted out and Tottenham have invested heavily in Kaboul so we shouldn't have too much competition for him. Davies has been very outspoken this week with both himself and his agent asking for West Brom to drop their asking price. He has also given up his captaincy this week also.

Apparently Barton was 20-1 to be captain this season this morning! Would have well been worth a bet. Shucks! Odds probably won't be as good now that he has been given the armband today.

Wow ... is this a joke? Owen injured, maybe Viduka and now Ameobi. *Edit: I didn't hear anything about Shola in the Terry Mac interview!

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! Viduka's on his way home woo hoo! Commiserations to all Australia fans.

What the hell Japan! Come on!

Curtis Davies should be in the poll, although I'm not sure if he would classify as being a top class defender as of yet anyway. Certainly has the potential to become one at some point.

Have to commend Sam for at least letting us know what the score is. He is making a lot of sense and it as at least a bit more relaxing to see what his thought process is. Rather than the "we are very close" routine from Roeder last summer when we ended up with nothing. There has been a lot of talk from Curtis Davies pleading with West Brom to release him for a more resonable fee. He is a prem experienced defender with a good physical presence at 6 foot 2 with pace as well and we know he worked closely with Pearson while at West Brom. I wonder if he is one of the centre backs we are after or whether he is too inexperienced for Sam.

Hope there are no Australinas on here ... but I hope Australia lose as we need Viduka fit and ready for the season. I can't believe he is injured! Is this game on TV by the way?

Japanese or Australian player off?

Yeah I agree. I wasn't aiming what i said at Allardyce at all, more at the board to be honest. Although I do think they will come good (fingers crossed!) I would love to see us wrap up all our signings this coming week/early next week. Just remembered Marquez at Barcelona ... might be another possibility as I think I recall some quotes from Barcelona that he was expendable. They've just signed Milito too.

Don't know who Taiwo is but for argument's sake we could pay a bomb on august 31st for Baines because we missed out on Taiwo. Argument goes both ways. I think last summer should serve as a strong reminder that if you try to play a game of brinkmanship with the transfer window you can get your fingers very badly burnt. Who wants to sell their player a week or a day before the window shuts? They won't have time to get a replacement, they'll either tell you to f*ck off or double their original asking price. Remember how we ended up with Sibierski, Rossi and Bernard on Aug 31st? I actually can't believe this is happening again. We really cannot afford to start the season still looking for players. We should have everyone in by the 11th of August without fail. As a matter of fact ideally we should have everyone in this coming week to at least give them all a couple of weeks to get familiar with each other before the season starts.

I don't think we have time to wait around on the Heinze situation, we need a left back quickly because the season starts in 3 weeks and Babayaro won't be available. But we also need central defenders as the article acknowledges. The only other "top class defender" who we've been linked with is indeed Barzagli. on the other hand i'd rather bring a very good player in on august 31st than a poor one in tomorrow. If we are bringing in a player who is not familiar with the premiership then we have to do so now I think. So they have a bit of time to adjust. We cannot afford to bring in any foreigners on the last day, particularly defenders, as it will only make things far more difficult for them. We cannot afford to be unstable defensively at the start of the season! you'd rather have leighton baines now than taiwo on august 31st ? I'd rather have Taiwo now or Leighton Baines on August 31st rather than Taiwo on August 31st. To be fair though I guess it depends on the type of plyer. I don't think Taiwo would need much time to adapt so I wouldn't mind him being brought in later like you say. However, someone like Barzagli I would not be happy to bring in on the last day especially if we then through him straight into the fire!

I don't think we have time to wait around on the Heinze situation, we need a left back quickly because the season starts in 3 weeks and Babayaro won't be available. But we also need central defenders as the article acknowledges. The only other "top class defender" who we've been linked with is indeed Barzagli. on the other hand i'd rather bring a very good player in on august 31st than a poor one in tomorrow. If we are bringing in a player who is not familiar with the premiership then we have to do so now I think. So they have a bit of time to adjust. We cannot afford to bring in any foreigners on the last day, particularly defenders, as it will only make things far more difficult for them. We cannot afford to be unstable defensively at the start of the season!

I don't think we have time to wait around on the Heinze situation, we need a left back quickly because the season starts in 3 weeks and Babayaro won't be available. But we also need central defenders as the article acknowledges. The only other "top class defender" who we've been linked with is indeed Barzagli. Given he's on the fringes of the Italy defence I'd be pretty excited if it was him. Not to mention that Palermo have stated that he is on the transfer market and has been for a while!

The medical only takes place after a fee has been agreed right? Maybe we have identified some targets and the clubs are willing to sell but we haven't been able to agree on the fees?

He's as possible as anyone else on that list, given that Sam has talked about him but not ruled him out. Yup. Not only did he not rule him out but he said he liked him as a player. i think there is a good chance of it happening.