Chris_R

Although we undoubtedly need a bastarding striker, we need a right winger too. And I would rather play Gervinho there than up front, in fact I think he'd be ideal on the right wing, meaning we're still in the market for a forward. No idea who we should go for though.

Shall we suggest a swap deal? Sounds fair to me!

Berbatov won't come here. But if he would, it would be a great move for us IMO. Sure, he's 30, but he's genuinely world class and his game is based on technique rather than pace. £7.5m would be good value, but I wouldn't want to pay much more than that considering his wages and age. Berbatov Jonas Ben Arfa Gervinho Tiote Cabaye f*** me, that's a tasty (theoretical) lineup. Sturridge another one who would be awesome, would much perfer him to Berbatov but think he's probably even more unattainable. He'd come here, quite possibly, but Chelsea would be mad to sell him. At least Berbatov could be for sale.

On tenterhooks here!! So basically he wants everyone else to do all the work and then he's going to reap the benefits. Sounds familiar....

Same, I like Titus even if he is playing for that lot Personally, I like Titus BECAUSE he plays for that lot.

Nah, they only do that AFTER they've signed for us. Think of all the money we'd have saved if Owen or Luque had dropped to bits just before we signed them instead of just after?

Rodwell to Man U, £20m. That's where their money's coming from.

In a way this could all count in our favour for keeping him. Who's going to want to sign someone who goes on like this?

That would be a fucking astonishing lineup. We're a million miles away from signing all of the above but if we could it would completely vindicate the decision to sell Carroll for £35m IMO.

Oh well. *shrug*

Yeah, there's a chance they'll void the bets as per the last couple of lines on those T&Cs. But then I'm still even so no loss, got to be worth trying.

Just took 20 mins with a spreadsheet last night. If anyone wants to help themselves to the above, feel free, but of course check my maths before you do as I don't want to be held responsible for you blowing your rent money on my bad maths. The odd figures like £18.64 are because I multiplied everything up after using smaller numbers for some reason to start with on some of the figures rather than me trying to be completely exact.

Here's what I've got covered at the moment... Basically stuck £50 on a draw and £50 on a Man U win and then tried to split it so I can maximise my returns. Works out at about £125 minimum if any of the following come in, not done it precisely though so some are a little higher than others. Just got it approximate really but it's near enough. Man Utd 5 - 4 @ 500/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.25 Man Utd 5 - 3 @ 500/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.25 Man Utd 5 - 2 @ 500/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.25 Man Utd 5 - 1 @ 500/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.25 Man Utd 5 - 0 @ 500/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.25 Man Utd 4 - 3 @ 300/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.50 Man Utd 4 - 2 @ 175/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.75 Man Utd 4 - 1 @ 125/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £1.00 Man Utd 4 - 0 @ 225/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.62 Man Utd 3 - 2 @ 33/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £4.00 Man Utd 3 - 1 @ 35/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £3.75 Man Utd 3 - 0 @ 50/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £2.50 Man Utd 2 - 1 @ 10/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £13.26 Man Utd 2 - 0 @ 17/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £7.50 Man Utd 1 - 0 @ 9/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £15.00 Draw 4 - 4 @ 350/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £0.35 Draw 3 - 3 @ 75/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £1.75 Draw 2 - 2 @ 16/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £8.16 Draw 1 - 1 @ 6/1 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £20.97 Draw 0 - 0 @ 13/2 Correct Score Barcelona v Man Utd - Wembley Stadium Pending £18.64

2 secs, I'll post my bets. That should make it clearer...

4-4's covered. 5-5 in normal time and I'm fucked. Also didn't bother to cover Man U winning 6-0 or greater. Could cover that for a few extra pennies though.

Just spread £100 over Man U win / Draw correct scores on Paddy Power, thus guaranteeing at least £25 profit provided Barca don't win in normal time. If Barca do win, I get my £100 back. Seemed ridiculous not to do it really. Zero risk, decent chance of £25. Tempted to stick £25 on a Barca win in normal time (Evens), then I'll be looking for that to come in rather than hoping Man U win or draw. Will think that through in the next couple of hours.

Timing does smack of a PR exercise, probably at McKay's behest.

Especially when we wait until August 31st then desperately sign a 6.

Think he's too professional to start playing shit because he wants to leave. He signed a 5 year contract, no harm in making him honour it. Same for Barton, we need him next year too. I think Liverpool are offering so little as they're aware of just how much they overpaid in the Carroll deal. That's their problem though. Even if they offered £10m I'd tell them to get lost. Personally I'd rather sell Enrique overseas for £4m than to the scouse bin dippers for £10m

I'd rather keep him another year and then have him leave on a free than sell him for £4m. I hope our response was just ridiculous laughter for 2 minutes followed by us worldessly hanging up.

I don't want Barton playing RW, he's got no pace and will hold us back. But I'd love him to stay and play CM for the next 3-4 years. Gutted it looks like it's not to be. No idea who to blame, but it sends out a horrible message if the club have simpy said "No new deal" as the detestable Willie McKay seems to be saying. If Barton's not even being offered a new deal, then what ambition are we showing? He's blatantly been one of our best players. What are Enrique and Tiote and indeed anyone else we're likely to try and attract to the club going to think if we are seen to not even want to tie Barton down to a new contract?

I'd sell (Or try and sell): Perch Smith Lovenkrands Ryan Taylor Routledge looks gone but I'd not be averse to keeping him as backup Release: Kuqi Campbell Loan: Ranger Kadar Vukic One of Krul and Forster. Possibly Krul, give Forster some time at the club and maybe some starts. I can't add Xisco to the sale list as I've not seen enough of him play. Could be the next David Villa for all I know. That list leaves us quite a bit down on squad depth, but we all know the likes of Smith will hang round like the unflushable turd that he is (As a footballer, not as a person. I get the feeling he's well liked and works hard etc. He just has the footballing talent of a watermelon.)

Blatantly been bingeing. At this rate there's a decent chance he's gonna be a f***ing wreck when he retires. Never thought I'd see him as the leading candidate to replace Gazza. Sadly as appealing as this image is, I can't see him turning up at an armed seige with a fishing rod, 6 pack and a KFC.

That'll be Euros, no doubt. So that's €2m/year or €38k/week. Reckon even with our new payscale we can give him a rise on that. /obviouslynotgoingtohappen

Really can't see West Ham coming back up. They're managerless and probably can't attract a decent manager now, and their players are all old, on massive contracts and not half as good as the London press have been keen to make out, hence their league position. I imagine they'll have to sell a hell of a lot of players this summer and if they do that, they'll not finish in the top 6. Blackpool's key is keeping Holloway, if he stays then they've been prudent with their spending and have their parachute payments so could actually have more money than most to spend in the Championship. Depends on who comes and goes there but they could well finish top 6 and have another shot at getting back in the PL. Birmingham have an old, expensive squad and although they're in Europe, they could well struggle and finish mid-table.