brummie

Hardly tapping up - Spurs have tried to flog him to Sunderland, and then informed him he has no future at the club. Keane clearly wants to play for Liverpool, they're his club. Benitez drops into an interview that Keane is one of the players on his list. That's absolutely fucking outrageous behaviour, and not the first time he's done similar this summer. Two weeks ago he was doing the same with David Villa. Before that it was him then his captain doing the same about Barry.

All very well. Until it happens to you. Ferguson is a cunt, but at least he's not a delusional cunt like Benitez, who has done it several times this transfer window.

Modric will have gone to Spurs at least partly because if he wants to hang around with other young Croatians, there's plenty of them around. Newcastle, I imagine, doesn't have much of a Croatian population. That's a gross simplification, but he's opted to live in one of the three or four most exciting cities in the world. For a young man with shit loads of money, that's a pretty big pull. Incidentally, pretty much nobody (except Spurs and at a push Portsmouth) has spent real money so far this season, it has been very slow. I think what will happen is a few big transfers will happen (Barry, Bentley, Ronaldo, Berbatov) and that will unlock a bigger wave of transfer moves. Things will get going soon enough.

Hleb wasn't all that. Song, Walcott, Diaby will all step up I am sure. Hleb last year put in probably the best 45 minutes I've ever seen from an opposition player at Villa Park. Well, best for a very, very long time, anyway.

MON was annoyed that, two days before a crucial end of season game against Wigan, Liverpool make an offer and it leaks into the press, to the Liverpool Echo. In those circumstances, he is going to have to comment, and he was asked about the offer in his weekly press conference. Then shortly after we get Gerrard talking about how Barry needs to leave to play on the CL stage, and how Villa fans should understand this etc etc - kind of ironic after Gerrard almost walking out on Liverpool to go to Chelsea not too long ago. It is all very shabby and not the way Liverpool used to do things. After these unsettling tactics fail to work, the player then gets his agent to issue a statement slagging off MON for not being in contact / not making him feel "wanted" (incidentally, his agent has been hawking him around - primarily to Chelsea - since the start of the year, so this really doesn't wash). As for MON going on about it - he hasn't. He has consistently said that we've got a figure we want for Barry, and Liverpool haven't matched it. Until then, there's nothing to talk about (which there isn't). The implication from Liverpool is that we should roll over and let you have him, or you'll take your money elsewhere. That might have worked a few years ago, but we don't need the money, and we don't need to sell unless we want to. If you want him, Benitez knows the price. If you don't want to pay the price, go elsewhere, but the underhand snidey stuff is really not very nice at all.

Me too. In fact, I'd prefer us to do that than keep him now, the fat-arsed cunt.

Yes. I'm surprised he has gone there, I too think he could have done better (I think Albion are after a keeper, for example). Although on the whole I'm just glad he's not coming to us. His decline after the Croatia blunder was just awful to watch. Good luck to the bloke though, said to be a nice chap, he could do with some luck. I just don't think picking the ball out of the Stoke net 4 times every match is going to help get that confidence back.

City are seriously fucked up. 25m for a washed-up, fat waster who is clearly only ever going to go there for the money? Jesus.

I think the internet should be SHUT DOWN in the summer months so we could all go back to getting our transfer news from teletext. Also, you'd still get players being sold and saying things like "the first I knew about it was when I saw it on teletext". Although, having said that, most players are so mentally backward, they probably can't work out how to use that there internet.

8. I'll get "Alan Smith is the new Cruyff" tattooed on my forehead.

re Bentley and where he would or would not go. The "we can offer more money than Spurs or Villa" thing is a bit of a red herring. The following facts are known amongst Villa fans at the moment. 1. Bentley had talks with MON two weeks ago. They went well. 2. Villa have offered Blackburn more money than Spurs (confirmed by board member). 3. Villa have offered Bentley more money than Spurs have (confirmed by board member). 4. Bentley is umming and aahing, but the one thing that keeps coming up is that he wants to go to a London club. 5. Villa are about to sign Friedel. Blackburn want Robinson to replace him. Spurs can get around the fact they're on a limited budget by offering a part ex deal involving Robinson. 6. Bentley will go to Spurs, Robinson will go to Blackburn plus some money, Friedel will go to Villa. If point 6 doesn't happen, I'll come on here and eat my hat. Points 4 - Bentley wanting London (which, incidentally, almost makes me hope we don't sign him if he's bothered mainly about shopping and clubbing), and point 6, Blackburn needing a new goalkeeper, are the salient points. This kind of shit isn't as easy as "offer him more money", esp not these days when everyone has money.

Lets see ... Option 1: act like Spurs, wank yourselves off over the bajillions of signings you get linked with every day, look like twats when the vast majority (who most people have only ever "seen" on FM anyway) dont sign, but hey, you get a month or two of jealousy from other fans on their message boards because you're acting like Charlie Big Bollocks in the transfer market. Option 2: Quietly go about acquiring the players you want, nothing breaking until they sign and it is all done and dusted. Get the players you want, don't get excited about stuff that is never going to happen, but you know your management team are doing all they can to get their targets in. Absolute fucking no brainer.

The worst kit we have ever had. A man bra on a white background. Fantastic. It looks like a bib.

I loathe the Evening Standard, it is just the Daily Mail in a different skin. However, London is one of 3 or 4 global megacities, and as such, a London newspaper can be every bit as important as a national newspaper. There's no point comparing it with the Chronicle or similar.

More examples of the shitty way they've conducted themselves this summer. I used to have a lot of time for Benitez, and Liverpool in general (it may seem a cliche, but they really did used to do things the right way), but the way he has conducted their transfer business this summer has been disgraceful.

36m for Adebayor is just absurd. In fact, it isn't just absurd, it way beyond that.

We've got one. It is quite polished and professional looking, but entirely useless in this, the age of that there internet.

Pleased with this as our first signing. He's a good player who will get better under MON, and the price is not too bad either. Gives us another midfield option and adds more strength in depth. He's not a Barry replacement, though, I've a feeling we'd probably have signed him had Barry been staying.

I know. *Bond villain laugh*

Incidentally (last one, I promise), we should NEVER EVER be wearing blue, even if it is only an away kit. Never.

Never really liked that one. Always reminded me of Dean Saunders for some reason. Because he wore it whilst scoring goals aplenty for us. I had it and loved it at the time, looking back, it was very much of its time. Incidentally, the Villa, Arsenal and Inter away kits are all exactly the same template, just different colours.

He can wear whatever he fucking wants as far as I'm concerned I particularly like his baggy shirt / long sleeves look, he looks like a sort of Tony Morley - Gordon Cowans (god, what brilliant players) hybrid.

If I were looking for a sign that nothing had changed at Newcastle, it would be you giving him 150k a week wages. And I mean that in the most positive of senses. That's 8 million of your English pounds a year. Five year contract, 40 million pounds on the back of a few decent UEFA Cup performances and two decent games int he European Championships. The world has gone utterly mad if anyone forks that out.

I quite like it. Maybe a little bit too much blue on it, but pretty cool. Nike's kits are of a pretty good quality. This one reminds me of the kit circa 1990 as worn by David Platt. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/fa/8b/0,,10265~3705850,00.jpg Blue away kit. Controversial. http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/fc/8b/0,,10265~3705852,00.jpg

Well said Matt Dickinson in The Times today.