Chris_R

I can remember that being said too. Round about the same time their was a rumour that he was caught playing golf when he was supposed to be injured and that he would never play for us again. I find it hard to believe though because he's always seemed like a model pro throughout his career, i cant imagine him doing something as daft as that. I thought the "wouldn't travel" thing was just that he wouldn't travel to sit on the bench. I think if he was in the first XI, for whatever reason, he'd happily travel.

Personally I find their rampant hatred and vitriol highly amusing. They're just constantly foaming at the mouths like rabid dogs about the most ridiculous of things, they're like a collective 5'2" bloke with anger issues about his height and a hatred against the world for being born small. Not 'circus' small you understand, where they could be worth something and make a name for themselves by it, just annoyingly but unremarkably, perhaps slightly humorously small and obviously slightly deficient.

Slightly ironic that we get into Europe and think it'll be a boost to the bigger stars staying and attracting new players, but then we instantly whinge about fixture congestion and look to play the likes of Shola, Willimson and a bunch of kids instead.

Look at me, I can say Youtube, pathetic. Look at me, look at me, trying to use the "look at me, look at me...... pathetic" meme but without enough "look at me"s. Pathetic.

It's called Youtube. As far as I'm aware, saying Youtube isn't (and sure as f*** shouldn't be) a banning offence. Look: "Youtube Youtube Youtube". Seems I'm yet to be struck by lightning. Just because we can't directly link the video here, let's not get like the Scousers with the "s*n".

I see Berbatov as their potential Viduka. Massively talented but painfully slow and really can't be arsed. Only they'll probably have to shell out £10m for him, because Ferguson's no mug and knows how desperate they are, and will therefore feel obligated to give him at least a 4 year contract on utterly hilarious wages. It'll be enough to ensure they finish mid-table this season as he'll be their best striker by a mile, but ultimately he'll prove to be a massive white elephant and will strangle their potential to move forward for the next half-decade as he declines in ability and fitness (He's already a 31-year-old self-confessed chain smoker with a motivation problem), but continues to draw shitloads of dosh out of the club.

Hitler as a fullback... Pros: - Didn't give much space to opponents, ruthlessly crushed them - Didn't back off very often (except under extreme pressure as already discussed) - Lightning quick going forward, genuine attacking threat - Great motivator, would get his colleagues believing anything was possible even when staring defeat in the face Cons: - Tended to release his anger by gassing jews - Dead Guess we just have to go back in for Debuchy.

Can they afford not to though? MON seems to have learned nothing, and these are his transfer targets. They either back him and get these guys in, or they get nobody in and risk him walking because he feels he's not been supported. I can envisage either scenario happening tbh, but they're still broadly in the honeymoon period now and possibly their heirarchy is blinded by the bullshit he'll be peddling to them as we all know he's a good motivator and speaker. There's a fair chance he'll talk them into doing something financially stupid on the back of undeliverable promises. Then if (Or perhaps when) that doesn't work out, they get into the situation of either cut their losses and get rid of him or back him further. It's the situation Lerner found himself in, and eventually had to draw the line when things got desperate financially. Villa nearly went down as a consequence. The Sunderland board could draw the line at any point, including now, but equally they could back him and throw money at his targets. Depends on how much faith they have in him.

Anyway, you'd think they'd have learnt from our days of spunking countless millions on fees and wages for over-the-hill stars. Barnes, Rush, Pearce, Kluivert, Butt, Smith, Duff, Babayaro etc etc, worked out f***ing splendidly for us, didn't it? A policy that ultimately led us from title chasers to mid table to relegated. They don't have the luxury of having so far to fall, or the luxury of having the income to support such a policy for as long as we did. MON seems determined to recruit a team of 30+ hasbeens though, on silly wages, which Bruce had already started doing with O'Shea and Brown. Long may it continue IMO. Berbatov for Sunderland!

It's one thing putting a bid in for Berbatov, it's hardly a difficult thing to do to phone up Man United and say "We'll give you £10m". Frankly that's about the easiest thing in the world to do. However it's another thing getting the money together for his wages as well, which will be extortionate. And it's yet another thing altogether to get him to agree to move to that fucking backwards, inbred cesspit of a village. I'd suggest this one's a non-starter. And even if by some miracle they do manage to throw enough of the Queen's pounds at him that he's willing to forego all logic, common sense and footballing ambition for one last massive payday, then he'll quickly realise what a hole of a place he's in and just sit and rot there on ridiculous money for the next 5 years, which will be a massive millstone round the neck of the club until 2017. Win-Win really for us, whatever happens.

Thought that spoiler might be a picture of Shearer....!

And you had the fucking gall to pull me up on putting Adam Campbell 5th choice striker? Gutierrez is about as much a fullback as he is a striker. Might as well put him in that list as well. When old Diego's put enough coke up his nose to rival Tony Montana before selecting his teams you can't then use that to back up your arguments that we've got enough fullbacks. If Jonas is playing there, we're screwed. Steven Taylor will be playing DC, so he can't play DR. He's our second best centre back. Likewise, Anita will be in midfield. Last time I checked it's against the rules to clone footballers, so they'll just have to play one position each. Raylor has no pace, and both he and Perch played above themselves last season and can't be relied upon to do the same again this campaign. Maybe they will, but 6 months of good form in otherwise utterly mediocre careers suggests that they just hit a purple patch, not that they suddenly became tremendous assets to the club. Fullback before striker. Though like I say, we do need both.

Not that mental like, he could play a part in Europe. It does cry out desperation however. A) I put him as fifth choice. B) We are fairly desperate for a striker. I'm not even remotely disputing that in anything I'm saying. C) However we're even more desperate for a fullback. Who the merry hell is fifth choice there? Steve Harper?

By saying he 'might' be able to play a 'small part'? Hardly suggesting we're reliant on him. I reckon he'll get a game or 2 this season in the cups, even if coming on from the bench. We'll see.

Strikers: Ba and Cisse - Excellent Shola - Competent for short spells / excellent V mackems HBA - Can play just behind a striker, arguably his best position Adam Campbell - Looks like he might be able to play a small part this season Fullbacks: Santon - Settling in well, could have an excellent season Simpson - Terrified of the ball We need cover in both, lets not kid ourselves, but we're fucking desperate for a decent fullback to complement Santon. If we get a striker, we're adding to our depth. If we get a fullback, we're adding to our first XI. Surely that's got to be more important? I know there's the ACON etc, but that's a few games for a month or so. A fullback would be for 38 games, plus FA and League cups + Europe.

The thing is, if O'Neill had a scouting network behind him like ours, he'd do a great job. Someone else could recruit good players at a decent price and he could just stick to motivating and getting the best out of him. The problem is that he's such an egomaniac that he is incapable of seeing his own shortcomings and would never in a million years countenance someone else recruiting players for him. And thank fuck for that.

Well he got to train with Messi for a few days, not that bad for preparation . No, Messi got to train with Coloccini.

Oh my, you've just reminded me: HE'S GONE!! :celb1: :celb:

More to the point, hope he's playing against Ben Arfa. That's going to be one messy, well-witnessed arse raping.

Reckon this one will go full circle - We all start off saying how great he is then by page 1000 we're screaming for his head.

Then have him do it again in the second half.

But that still doesn't mean he's fit enough for the start of the season.

Mackem pub talk (and why I was asking) Reckons he's been sold a lie, also isn't impressed with sunderland's ability to attract players, can't get them to the negotiation table and when they do some woman they have doing the deals messes it up by being tight and stubborn. http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showpost.php?p=13155766&postcount=190 Aye but tbf to the Mackem transfer lady, someone has to keep a tight hold as marty is a transfer gusher. To be even more fair to Mackem transfer lady, she has to try to convince sane people with options in life to come to Sunderland, which must be about as rewarding as trying to kick water uphill.

"Jawdees gannin to somewhere where everyone's pewer..... ... ancient ruined buildings... ...." We'll be doing that on 21st October. [/obvious]

I should clarify my much-quoted comment slightly - I don't want Obertan in the first team. He's not a particularly good player, but I don't mind him coming on with 20/30 to go if we're trying to change the game a bit or are comfortably ahead. Let's not forget he's still young. Maybe he'll get better, maybe he won't. But he's a useful squad player as is, and next season we'll certainly need a squad. What's strange is that some people laud Sammy Ameobi as a potential player for the future but to me he's a far worse player than Obertan. Sure, Sammy's younger, but Obertan is a much better player at this point in time. Not that this is saying much, as I must stress I don't rate Obertan that highly. He's OK, that's about it. But we'll need OK players next year when we're playing 50+ games (If things go OK).