Ronaldo

Whoever did that wants shooting with shite.

Didn't threaten anybody.

I do hope I meet you one day, Ash.

I still don't know just what exactly is indicative of an awful attitude. The fella was ignored for a year. He was faced with the prospect of another as a 5th choice striker in a Championship squad. I'd be willing to go to a few lengths to escape such a situation having been rated highly in my home country. That's of course if he actually said it. Not saying he should be commended. But give me someone who desperately wants first team football over someone happy to sit back and watch the cash come in.

I thought me using it would show the extremity of his poofishness. The extremity of poofishness is explored every time you start a thread about women (or any other subject) in General Chat. We don't need it spilling out into the footie talk.

Did Barton not hit that pass for Lovenkrands? Things like that change games. But he badly needs to get match fit, no doubt about it.

No I didn't, I said he made some good runs, stop exaggerating. In an ideal world, Xisco would be nowhere near the club. He's no favourite of mine and £5.7m is an absurd figure for a player with his limited ability to impose himself on a game. However, he's comfortably better than Nile Ranger and Leon Best. In certain games he'd probably be a better option than Lovenkrands and he's got the genuine pace than Shola and Carroll most certainly lack. That to me, suggests he shouldn't quite be the first out the door. And let's face it, we can't afford too many players using that door. In addition, far too many on here have jumped on the 'awful attitude' bandwagon without having anything other than a solitary (and probably fabricated) quote to justify it.

Purely on the strength of what other posters think? I'd need a little bit more than that before accusing someone of having an awful attitude. Do you normally comment on performances you haven't seen, Jon?

Not in the PL he didn't, get you facts right for once. In the Championship he was very good, I praised him on many, many occasions last season.

Nobody mentioned injury records, the arguement is about talent. I think Barton has more. And he's proved it, Guthries proved nowt, yet. Liverpool didn't want him, Bolton didn't, and we got relegated with him looking lost for large parts of the season. I like Danny, he's got a lot of creativity in his locker, but not a whole hell of a lot more than Barton. And Joey, as i've already stated, is far better equipped for the rigours of Premier League football.

I can't really comment because I didn't see any reserve games. What perplexes me are the posters who didn't see the games being accusatory.

ESPN do reserve stats?

There's a difference between a guru and a non-idiot who can follow the most simple of points. Here's the idiots guide: Guthrie hasn't been blessed with any athletic talent, he's slow, very weak and has a pretty poor engine. He's more talented with the ball at his feet, but as a footballer, Barton has the greater talent. He's a good passer, good cardiovascular endurance, average pace and average strength.

He got a few goals and assists. He couldn't have been as bad as some made out. Unfortunately, if you covered his face in boot polish and gave him Nile Ranger's shirt, those same performances wouldn't be scrutinized half as much.

Based on what? Guthrie is talented in some areas and severely deprived of talent in others. Isn't every footballer? What an absolutely ridiculous thing to say. I wasn't in any way trying to criticise Guthrie, just comparing his talent with Barton's.

All of the criticism regarding Xisco's attitude is predicated on a solitary quote reported by Brian McMackem. Xisco endured almost a full season of ignorance on the part of Kinnear and the only noises he made were about wanting to play and being prepared to work hard in order to achieve that. I'm not making a judgement on his attitude here, btw. There's not a whole hell of a lot that can be said about it. But he always seemed to try on the pitch, even if he did look clumsy and off the pace.

Based on what? Guthrie is talented in some areas and severely deprived of talent in others.

Bellamy had been a pro for a good 5 years or so before joining us. Jenas should never have won it in a million years. Cole, fair enough. But he was here during a different and completely unique era. Milner didn't look any better in 2008 than he did in 2004, his improvements only really became evident at Villa. Far too many players have come to us at a youngish age and left with their reputations in complete ruins. We just don't get the best out of them.

Too early to expect Vuckic in CM. His first appearances will probably be in a role behind the striker.

'kin hope not Me too.

Neither are in the least bit creative.

Spain by a mile.

He's lucky there's a Championship club that want him. Christ, it was only 6 months back that some on here wanted us to sign him and put him in the starting Xl.

It actually looks the other way round.