Ronaldo

That is pretty fucking awesome. I suppose they would though.

He's having a laugh isn't he?

Colo's the senior defender in a team that virtually concedes more goals than any other PL team. Shawcross is the senior defender in a team that concedes fewer goals than the vast majority of the PL. At worst he's a very solid CB.

Says who? if he was very good he wouldn't still be at Stoke. He's the best player and captain for the 9th best team in the league. He's not really a top 4 player so is there any real incentive/opportunity for him to leave when he'd cost close over £15m? Shawcross is the best CB we could hope to attract and exactly what our defence and team as a whole needs. As said, though, he'd cost too much for us to be in for him.

I wasn't being serious, like.

The Liverpool edition?

I wonder if he was told to say wow on seeing the Sports Direct logos on top of the East stand.

Was the last number 5 Danny Simpson or am I forgetting someone?

He's much better looking than Ryder, man.

Yes, he's a definite improvement. The coaching staff looks miles better than last season.

It's refreshing. Especially given the fact other aspects of the defence happily take orders from him.

As if we could/would afford Shawcross.

Bit of an absurd statement given that he's easily the best deep-lying midfielder we've got.

Depends on who the alternative is. If Colback's the blatant weakest link in a front 6 that's a pretty good 6. He's an average player who'll obviously get better.

Cisse will score goals for fun centrally with strong attacking players behind him when he can just concentrate on being on being on the shoulder. He won us countless points last season in an abject side that created fuck all.

Who the fuck is this curvy blonde on SSN?

I don't know a fucking thing about him beyond Wiki but it's nice we're spending real money on a player with a bit of pedigree. I like the fact he's Dutch too.

Funny, I don't remember you saying that when Pardew was here.

To be fair to Le Tiss he was pretty critical about Pardew earlier this year and in the autumn.

Problem is, strikers have been bough for tens of millions from clubs abroad with impeccable goalscoring reputations and have completely failed in the PL. To some extent Austin's a proven commodity. Yes he is but he can be signed for £15m less in a year. How's that remotely connected to what I've just said?

Problem is, strikers have been bough for tens of millions from clubs abroad with impeccable goalscoring reputations and have completely failed in the PL. To some extent Austin's a proven commodity.

Bobby did the same thing. Insisted the players wouldn't do in on a matchday and get booked if they refrained in training.

Should Colo have had it in the first place? We should have bought a captain figure to replace Nolan but didn't out of fear of rabble-rousing against the regime.

Michael Owen. Owen scored a few goals with the armband. Not enough, but a few. Better contribution than Colo.

Siem would be an absolute shoo-in for captaincy if his injury record didn't make Taylor almost look like Lampard.