brummie

Let me make this about as clear as it can possibly be ... I have watched him week in, week out for a couple of years now. HE IS SHIT.

Yep, as if you'd pay well over the odds for a not very good striker. Oh, hang on a minute .....

West Ham want a frankly absurd 12m for NRC. We've apparently told them to stick it up their arses and offered 7 or 8, not a penny more. They really are a joke in the transfer market. I wonder if this Sinatra chap will wade in and offer the full amount now, to prove his "credentials" to the Citeh faithful? On Sven, when the various parties were circling the club at the start of last summer before Lerner won, it was rumoured that one was headed by Athole Still, representing some rich Saudis, and that he obviously wanted to install Sven. General feedback was that although we wanted MON, Sven would have been a really good option too.

I'll second that. He wasn't at our place for very long, but he is remembered by many of our fans for the tough as nails maverick he was. Having a mohican 45 years ago exhibited a certain amount of chutzpah

Griffin scored a stunning goal against, I think, Coventry in the cup last season.

Hmmm ... First stable season in years? Since 2005 they mean? Or 2004 (6th)? Oh, I should post this on the article comments, really. Ah, thanks for correcting me on that, I can fix that. Sorry, wasn't sniping or picking holes. In the sense that in that it was the first season free of Ellis, but with the takeover going through afterthe transfer window closed, it was very much a season of consolidation.

Trust me, he is a walking, talking calamity.

Hmmm ... First stable season in years? Since 2005 they mean? Or 2004 (6th)? Oh, I should post this on the article comments, really.

Where do I sign up?

I think he'd be a real asset to you, and a very good investment at that price. You'd be mad not to make a move for him.

Correct, McSheffrey plays wide, Forsell's knees are fucked, and even Spudface Bruce must know Campbell belongs in the lower leagues. Which is where they'll be again after next season, thankfully.

Keith Harris brokered Lerner's Villa takeover, I doubt he'd risk his respectability over a dodgy deal. By which I mean there's probably nothing dodgy about the deal.

Sven > Pearce Thai bloke with loads of cash > clueless debt ridden bloke So things must be on the up then! Had to be really, as I had you down as certs for the drop if you didn't get something sorted. Short term, think you'll be looking at something similar to Villa last year - enough time to get in a few key players before the new season, but too late for a real overhaul. Longer term, not too sure about Sven - getting on a bit now isn't he, and comes with colossal baggage - combination of him and the dodgy dictator means a potential field day for the tabloids.... They're in a much better position than we were before last season - our takeover went through after the closing of the transfer window. Eh? Didn't you buy that ex-Celtic player after teh takeover? Petrov? No, we bought him before the takeover went through. Although word has it that Lerner in some way helped us find the cash. Either way, the takeover had not gone through - my point is that City's will go through well before the deadline and the new manager should have a summer before the season starts. I'd cringe of the thought of Sven been our manager especially with the stereotypical view of the farce we can be but maybe this is the sort of manager Man City need in order to progress. Why would you cringe at the thought of Sven? His club record is excellent. So, he fucked up at England, but that job has beaten many other excellent managers before him. And his games won record was very good.

You'll have to try hard than that. Not much harder, mind

Sven > Pearce Thai bloke with loads of cash > clueless debt ridden bloke So things must be on the up then! Had to be really, as I had you down as certs for the drop if you didn't get something sorted. Short term, think you'll be looking at something similar to Villa last year - enough time to get in a few key players before the new season, but too late for a real overhaul. Longer term, not too sure about Sven - getting on a bit now isn't he, and comes with colossal baggage - combination of him and the dodgy dictator means a potential field day for the tabloids.... They're in a much better position than we were before last season - our takeover went through after the closing of the transfer window. Eh? Didn't you buy that ex-Celtic player after teh takeover? Petrov? No, we bought him before the takeover went through. Although word has it that Lerner in some way helped us find the cash. Either way, the takeover had not gone through - my point is that City's will go through well before the deadline and the new manager should have a summer before the season starts.

Yep, I know

Sven > Pearce Thai bloke with loads of cash > clueless debt ridden bloke So things must be on the up then! Had to be really, as I had you down as certs for the drop if you didn't get something sorted. Short term, think you'll be looking at something similar to Villa last year - enough time to get in a few key players before the new season, but too late for a real overhaul. Longer term, not too sure about Sven - getting on a bit now isn't he, and comes with colossal baggage - combination of him and the dodgy dictator means a potential field day for the tabloids.... They're in a much better position than we were before last season - our takeover went through after the closing of the transfer window. Although Citeh are in a bit more of a fucked up state (at least externally, I don't know if things inside the club are as much of a shambles as they were at our place). Sven = good manager New owner = minted. All good. And who cares if his reputation is somewhat questionable. I'm sure Chelsea fans couldn't give a flying fuck about the provenance of RA's immense wealth.

In that case, I'll go for being a successful club every time.

Sven would be an excellent appointment.

This "fanbase" thing is interesting. Arsenal and Chelsea both have bigger fanbases than Newcastle do now, imho, and I'll tell you why. Because if you go to Asia, or wherever you choose the other side of the world, you'll see kids wearing Arsenal and Chelsea shirts all over the place. You won't see them wearing Newcastle shirts, Villa shirts, Everton shirts, Spurs shirts etc etc. Success for Chelsea over the last few years has had a massive, massive effect globally on their support. You could also walk around - randomly selected town - Tunbridge Wells, and you'll see plenty of people wearing Arsenal and Chelsea shirts, but again, you won't see anyone wearing shirts of the other clubs, not unless you bump into transplanted Geordies, Scousers or Brummies. In these cases, they may consist almost entirely of gloryhunting 12 year olds who will go nowhere near the ground, but now football is a globally marketed commodity, number of people in the ground every other week doesn't have the impact on global fanbase it once did. Sad but true.

These dick-comparing arguments always descend into bitter recrimination, so I shall be staying relatively clear of this one. However, I agree entirely with Optimistic Nut's post on the previous page. My only other contribution will be to say that truly big clubs win things on a regular basis, and I'd rather see my club start doing that some time soon than get some temporary satisfaction over lording it over West Ham or Man City fans (or whoever). I guess the other critera about whether clubs are "big" or not is about expectations, really. If your club has won stuff in the past, or if they have an expectation of winning things in the near future (whether that expectation comes from their history, financial investment, crowds, whatever), then I guess that makes a big club. Personally, I think my club has been one of the most evocative and important in the history of football, and I hope it will be again some time soon. Do I expect other clubs fans to agree with me? Maybe, maybe not. Do I care? No. Am I interested in some kind of artificial ranking? No.

The gap between the top four and the rest is still big, but the gap between the top two and the next two is getting bigger, especially with these stories of Liverpool having piss all money to spend this summer. Spurs are best placed to challenge Two top six finishes after 15 years of being outside it shows they're clearly going the right way. Villa and Newcastle have the managers, semi-OK squads and money to challenge, but they're a season of it yet, at least. Citeh are another season behind imho. Everton are actually closer to it than Villa and Newcastle, but don't have the cash advantage the other two do. So, I'd expect a top two, then a second two, with Spurs pushing to usurp one of these, then Villa, Newcastle and Everton (no particular order), giving potentially 8 teams who can make things a bit more interesting. Possibly. Of course, I bet it doesn't work out anything like that.

If anyone knows how to get results out of slightly suspect foreign players, it is Big Sam the Yamyam.

If my club were buying him to play as a striker, I'd be pretty worried, he's not going to be prolific. If we were buying him as a decent, versatile addition to the squad, I'd be less concerned. Quite happy, in fact.