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Like people have said, this is the worst possible time to judge a defender. He's got undeniable quality and I believe it will shine through eventually. You don't get to play for Argentina at the World Cup by being a shit defender.

funny how, given all the talk about fraudulent nigerians, it turned out to be the respectable south african bid that was bullshit! Both of them are likely to be bullshit IMO, it'll be someone we've never heard of who hasn't done a running commentary all the way through the deal. I'm starting to fear the worst case scenario: there's actually nobody interested.

The "he left us in the shit because he loves us theory." Besides, Ramos is Spanish. That's the way clubs work where he comes from.

Even though I rate Keegan very highly as a manager, I really, really don't want him back. What I want in this club is stability, and Kevin Keegan is the last man on Earth that's going to give us that. We all know exactly what's going to happen the first time the new new board and "King Kev" disagree.

Source or Link? ZENIT, Advocaat could leave at the end of the year 22.08.2008 00.10 by Eddy Akoglu read 987 Latest rumours from Russia are suggesting that Ducth coach Dick Advocaat could leave Zenit St.Petersburg at the end of 2008. Advocaat is apparently sought after by Liverpool and Middlesbrough. Moreover, the harsh St.Petersburg cold weather seems to be too much to bear for Advocaat and his wife. Most importantly, the working relationship between the Dutchman and Zenit has recently worsened due to the fact that no top quality players were signed by the club officials despite Advocaat's request to do so. It really seems that Advocaat (affectionately nicknamed "Little General") will leave Russia soon http://www.transfermarketweb.com/?action=read&idsel=23267 Dutch media reporting he wants to leave in November. Yes please would have him Brilliant manager. His tactics for us at WC 2006 made him look like the Dutch Sam Allardyce though. Granted, that may be more down to the lack of quality in the South Korean NT than his own tactical preferences. Haven't seen much of how his Zenit teams play.

I'd personally love it if Keane came here. Won't happen though. So would I, so i don't have to hear another chorus of "Keano, he wanks his dog..." Keane is probably the manager I disklikes most. Would never want him here. People think Shearer isn't cut out for the job but they'd take Keane?

Would rather play Taylor out of position.

They're not in particularly good form either so I guess we have a chance. ...Or not

Little bit far fetched IMO. He was a deer in headlights most of the time tbh. Like Ashley he was learning on the job, looked like an unassuming average joe but more importantly, unlike Ashley he knew how to address the fans, whilst it he didnt address us quite as regularly as everyone likes to praise him for when he did it was well crafted and thought out. Something you should really expect from one of the highest respected Lawyers in London. I like the guy for the above reasons but best chairman ever is a bit of a push, he took everything day to day and was at fault for not getting the signings Allardyce wanted due to his inexperience initially. His return comes as a happy sight and memory of when everything was looking great for the club, fitting he should be back to finalise the sale of the club. Should have some random Mort chants at the Everton match though! As far as dealing with the press, communicating to fans, and making business decisions for the club, who have we had that's better? Completely ignoring issues considering transfers since that wasn't his job.

Ashley has his faults, but Mort is honestly the best chariman we've ever had. Knew EXACTLY what the fans want.

Let's not get carried away. He's better than Giggs, Nani, Cole, Riera, Lennon, Bentley, Park, Pedersen, Valencia, Walcott, Petrov, Malouda, Downing and any other winger that springs to mind, even Dirk Kuyt... Second best winger in the league I reckon, just edging out Arteta. I pray to God Rafa never notices this (and if he does that Young isn't a little greedy t***.) I think Joe Cole's actually a LOT better than he gets credit for. (I know he's an easy target, but the amount of stick he gets is absurd.) Put him in a side like Everton, Villa, or Portsmouth and I think he'd comfortably be as impressive as Young.

I've resigned myself to the fact that some of the posters here are just going to act retarded, and no amount of well-reasoned pleas will change them. I'll just accept that and try to enjoy the intelligent discourse I can have with the vast majority of posters on the board.

Has been praised on this board as recently as the first couple of games this season.

I normally rate him but Jesus he is so out of form lately. Understandable since losing KK probably hit him pretty hard. Why in God's name did we sell Faye

Let's not get carried away. I'm not. I know his name's not foreign enough but I bet he's involved in about 75% of Villa's goals. Wonderful player, totally consistent with an attitude to match. He's great. Would probably rather have Ronaldo though

I refuse to judge any of these players before they've had a couple games under a proper manager.

will be a key part of our promotion from the Championship next season

spot on mate! tayls need a rest. but he is still only 22 and is not a finished product. I reckon he will be a class act with Colo under a new regime. Hes had a couple of bad games this season, but still... U-21 captain for England.. Run and hide. Praising Taylor here is apparently punishable by death.

Yep, and 18 months of Owen's injuries were beyond his control (the metatarsal injury, and then the knee injury in Germany), yet he still got a lot of unfair stick. Oba always gets a lot of small niggly two-week three-week injuries every season though. I guess that sort of thing happens when you run as fast has he does.

His poor performances up front prior to switching roles are pretty quickly being forgotten. He's a class act playing from deep, and for that I hope he recognises and appreciates that Kevin Keegan has almost certainly given him a new lease of life. What poor performances? He's always looked a class act in a black and white shirt. Sure he may have not been involved much in some games whilst playing high up front but this was the fault of his team mates being unable to produce for him rather than him simply having bad games. I am yet to see him have a game where his touch and distribution are not spot on. There was a (surprisingly long) period last season where he was playing in a front two with Smith and both were completely, utterly useless. And he still got a few goals in that time despite playing in a sh*t team, and sh*t strike partner. Scored 4 in 17 pre-Keegan. Yeah, that's four more than Smith scored, but still pretty shit.

His poor performances up front prior to switching roles are pretty quickly being forgotten. He's a class act playing from deep, and for that I hope he recognises and appreciates that Kevin Keegan has almost certainly given him a new lease of life. What poor performances? He's always looked a class act in a black and white shirt. Sure he may have not been involved much in some games whilst playing high up front but this was the fault of his team mates being unable to produce for him rather than him simply having bad games. I am yet to see him have a game where his touch and distribution are not spot on. There was a (surprisingly long) period last season where he was playing in a front two with Smith and both were completely, utterly useless.

I've stopped watching since Hull. I miss that feeling where we've just had an massive win and you just can't wait for MoTD to come on so you can relive it. Wonder how long it'll be before I feel that again.

Ah man I wish you hadn't just said that Milner would come in more than a little bit handy now as he'd have to be a better option than Duff or Geremi on the RW. Never understood his critics. He was clearly one of our best players. Fantastic young player. O'neil is no mug and paid £12m and Benitez wanted him too. Spot on, his critics didn't like him because he didn't run 150mph like a headless chicken. Twelve million quid is great but not when its sitting in some c***s bank account and not back on the pitch in the form of re-investment. Now now, it's unfortunate that injuries have made us feel his loss, but let's ease up on the revisionist history here. He was a half-decent player, but there is no way in hell he was ever worth 12m. By all rights we should have been laughing all the way to the bank. "Fantastic young player?" Please.

Jesus Christ, with the Hull City result I think I'd now pay money for 17th. Scared shitless.