brummie

Why would a chairman let a manager compile a list of players so massively out of step with what is actually available funding wise?

Disagree with this. If you let the top 4 teams in the league from the previous season, then the current CL competition will almost certainly have the league champions from the current season competing. Hence, its the Champion's League - it will almost certainly have at least one team from each country that will win their respective domestic league title in the same season. Otherwise, it would be pointless if one season a team wins the Premiership or La Liga or the Portugese/German/Dutch league for example, sells a few players or picks up injuries, then turns out to be shiite the following season - yet theyd be in the CL solely representing their country if it were the old format. Likewise, if a team finished 4th, then considerably strengthens the team to the extent that theyre going to be serious title challengers, and end up winning the title, its alot better if theyre in the CL for that season too. Take ManU this season for example - last year they looked like they were slipping, far from a top side, yet this campaign they look like champions, and they probably will be if they maintain their form. Its only fitting that theyre in the CL at same time, in the same season that theyre hitting top form. I think this way is alot better, and its still a competition for champions, just that its gone from past champions to including potential champions and hence current champions for that season. But surely the 4 teams that will enter, from England anyway, will be the same four teams for the foreseeable future? How dull is that? And the first time one of those 4 fails to qualify, I'll be interesting to see how much shit they kick up about it. And when we won it, that year we finished 11th. We still won it, though. But the concept then was for national champions to compete. Now it has become some kind of de facto "let's keep all the money here" league. Jonny2J is right, too. Bring back the Cup Winners Cup.

I'm a bit of a purist in that sense. I still object to clubs being allowed to enter the "Champions" League without having actually won their league. Bring back the old EC format. (and commentary done over the phone, crackly pictures from abroad, and teams from communist countries who wouldn't have a single player you'd ever heard of but were really, really good)

They'll only then point to the two occasions when they won it without needing a bye. Of course, we all know the UEFA cup is mere pish comparied to the proper trophy. Especially since it was devalued by the format change.

Carlton Cole is a dreadful player with a very inflated opinion of his own talent. Whilst on loan to us, he gained the nickname "Can't Control". I was quite impressed with Ekotto when we played Spurzzz

SBR is a legendary manager, but not for what he did or did not do at NUFC. The near Stalinist rewriting of history by the shitty tabloids after the 1990 World Cup was just incredible. He's a top, top man, and i really think you'd struggle to find a supporter of any club who'd disagree with that assessment.

Some weird choices here. I'll address the ones I am most familiar with. Enckelman was a decent keeper who just so happened to drop a colossal bollock in the worst game he could possibly have done it. A bit harsh to label him as one of the worst players in the premiership. Sorensen? FFS. Not even worthy of a response. Good, solid keeper. Djemba-Djemba = absolute gash. Paul Robinson? Massively overrated, but one of the worst in the premiership? Get real. And as for David James, he has, for my money, been one of the most consistent, reliable keepers this season. The only keeper who has impressed me more has been the lad at Bolton.

Villa don't want rid of him. Levante want him, they wanted him in the summer, the answer then was to tell them to cock off, and that will be the answer now. He is an absolutely quality player, rock solid, classy and is loved by the fans. Only Gareth Barry is more popular at the club. And the following quote is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on a football forum.

I think you may have a point there re the Black British population. At our place we've got Agbonlahor, Moore, Osbourne, all local black kids. Prior to that there were players like Vassell, Tony Daley, Mark Walters. One thing i will say is that a good Geordie mate of mine always used to lament the fact that newcastle traditionally missed local talent, only to see it snapped up by other teams which had good, solid scouting networks in the north east. So players like Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson, young Shearer would traditionally get missed and snapped up by other teams. That was obv the 80s, but have things improved at local level?

I'll comfort myself with thinking back to, and laughing at, this http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38905000/jpg/_38905959_headbutt_em300.jpg

Run for the hills if he is one of them.

Agreed 101% The manager is the most important thing for a football club Absolutely. What Arsenal have done under Wenger is awesome. Look at the players they bring through. Yeah, they may be foreign, but they mostly go through their youth set up, and turn into quality players. The ones they've got at Birmingham on loan are looking quality too - Muamba, Bendtner, Larsson (although you probably noticed that last week : ) which suggests that they've got another batch coming through. Spending big when you need to, and combining it with "homegrowns" is surely the way to do it, and to keep it sustainable over the long term, not the Chelsea way

Highly debatable. I'm amazed anyone wanted to buy Baros, he's a total waste of space. Houllier has always made it public knowledge that he wants Baros, every transfer window he says he's interested, he even offered Liverpool £8 million for him when he signed for you lot. Knowing all this you could have got at least £5 million for him, maybe even £6 million at a push. His value has undoubtedly gone down since he joined us. 1 goal in 17 is not good. Carew's not a highly prolific scorer either, but I suspect MON wants him to play in a 4-3-3 with Young and Agbonlahor or Luke Moore on either side of him, for which he'd be ideal. Baros offers nothing. No matter how much Houllier wants him, he must be aware that his value has decreased markedly over the last year or so.

Highly debatable. I'm amazed anyone wanted to buy Baros, he's a total waste of space.

You missed the fact we've had 5 games this month with over half our squad out injured? And because of lack of bodies we've dropped points in the West Ham game, and are out of the FA cup. We shouldn't have got 3pts for the Spuds game, so our only win was a fluke. Great month, and were still no closer to bringing in some boides to help us out. The defense is being plugged by kids and an old right winger with no pace. Now Given is out, you can guarantee any game we dont play well in we will lose. All fair points, but it isnt just about wanting or needing to get someone in, it is about being *able* to get the players you want in. We've had a similar, if less extreme, injury / suspensions situation for most of January. And look at our run of form. No wins in 12 till Saturday. We've desperately needed new bodies all season. It would have been fantastic to get someone in at the start of the month rather than not for 3 weeks, but it just isn't that easy in this stupid window - it is difficult for all clubs. Hardly anyone wants to sell, and when they do, they play brinksmanship towards the end of the window to maximise their return.

It sounds daft but it is only jan 22nd and that really is early doors in this transfer window. The nine-days-left thing is a complete and utter red herring. Things only start to heat up at about this point, and most deals go through in the last couple of days. You can bet the fans of almost all other clubs are currently saying "why the feck haven't we signed anyone yet" and getting twitchy. No need.

Absolute fucking masterstroke, swapping that useless alice band wearing waste of space Baros for Carew. Gerard Houllier wants his head tested for going anywhere near Baros. He obviously didn't see him miss 3 good chances in less than 5 minutes on Saturday. I've got a feeling Montella is going to turn out to be a good move, too.

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( That was one of the worst days of my entire life.

This has got to be Man United or you. Chelsea have the financial screws on and desperately need centre halves, not full backs. Won't be Villa, we need strikers, not left backs where we can play Barry, and have Bouma playing well there at the moment. Portsmouth? Doesn't Matty Taylor play at left back?

Football really is eating itself. I firmly believe it is on the path to implosion in the relatively near future.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer. Portsmouth this time last season brought in a shed load of players, players which kept them in the division and it looked certain they would go down. They bought Mwaruwaru, Mendes, Davis, Pamarot and Kiely in the January window. Mendes, Pamarot and Davis came for a combined 7m. Kiely was a nominal fee. Mwaruwari cost 4m or so. The thing about West Ham isn't so much the players they have signed, it is that plus the players they have tried to sign, and the prices quoted. That and the wages - Lucas Neill isn't a bad player, but he's not worth 50k a week. They've been linked with everyone, made bids for a lot of them, and signed quite a few still, and I guess we haven't seen the end of it yet. I hope they go down, fucking kitstealers. They also got D'Allesandro on loan. Was pretty poor at first, but then sparked and he brought home the bacon and the vital time for them. These signings certainly saved a team that couldn't buy a win under previous management and with that squad. West Ham had a decent squad beforehand, which was just out of form, these signings will help, but Quashie & Davenport are nothing to write home about Neill is solid and Boa Morte is good on his day, its just not his day as often as you'd hope if he palys for you. They miss Ashton, they simply should of spent £11m on bringing in Bent, and try and start up partnership up that would last for years to come. I think the problems with West Ham are ... 1. They're getting the tag of "doomed" already. Doesn't mean a huge amount but it has a psychological effect. 2. Internal strife - apparently their dressing room is like a war zone, and the chief suspects in plotting against Pardew are equally hostile to Curbs. Take a look at some of the stuff that gets posted on KUMB. Shocking, if true. 3. Their new owners are making themselves look like arses. Talking about who they want to buy, and how much they will pay. That's the manager's job, not the chairman's. 4. Mishandling players on a massive, massive scale. Tevez and Mascherano can barely get a game, FFS. Bobby Zamora is better than Tevez, is he? I don't think so. 5. Signing players the way they have (basically waving more money at them), they're a bit like Boro. A place where people go to play not because of any conviction they're a happening, notable club, just purely for the money. Players there just for the cash aren't what you need halfway through a season where you're looking at possible relegation.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer. Portsmouth this time last season brought in a shed load of players, players which kept them in the division and it looked certain they would go down. They bought Mwaruwaru, Mendes, Davis, Pamarot and Kiely in the January window. Mendes, Pamarot and Davis came for a combined 7m. Kiely was a nominal fee. Mwaruwari cost 4m or so. The thing about West Ham isn't so much the players they have signed, it is that plus the players they have tried to sign, and the prices quoted. That and the wages - Lucas Neill isn't a bad player, but he's not worth 50k a week. They've been linked with everyone, made bids for a lot of them, and signed quite a few still, and I guess we haven't seen the end of it yet. I hope they go down, fucking kitstealers.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer.

Yes, I did. However, I've pointed out several times that we're paying too much for Young. And the fee is 8m plus 1.65 based on performance - stuff like playing for England. If he plays for England, then we'll have got a good player. I also said a few posts back that the inflation factor for English players is absurd. Don't see any inconsistency there. Plenty of bad players play(ed) for England, one cap doesn't mean they become a mint player overnight. Danny Mills reached nearly 30 caps FFS, JJ is actually in this squad, and Heskey was a 1st team player at one stage. There are many others, we could go on for days about the shite which have been capped for England. Quite true. In fairness, a lot of players who have looked shite for England have looked quality for their clubs, though.

Yes, I did. However, I've pointed out several times that we're paying too much for Young. And the fee is 8m plus 1.65 based on performance - stuff like playing for England. If he plays for England, then we'll have got a good player. I also said a few posts back that the inflation factor for English players is absurd. Don't see any inconsistency there.