oldtype

He's in Lyon, at an awards ceremony. There could be a fueled chopper waiting outside?

For all we know the bid has been accepted and he's on his way, for all we know the bid was rejected within ten seconds of being submitted. There's really no point in stressing over nonsense in the media. The actual process is a black box that neither them nor us have any access to.

Even if he is, the taxes in France probably mean that his takehome wage would be higher here even if we offered significantly less.

Hope we won't be running out the usual 'fake bid' talk in this thread in a few days

So you're buying the show that fat cunt put on? He's a fucking fat British tough guy, why the fuck is doing that? Fucking embarrassing. Doesn't matter if he was diving or not. Remy is the one who put his head into him and that is a red card.

Really? He doesn't actually nut him in my eyes. There's a clear headbutt from Remy in there. Johnson was provoking him and thrusting his head forward but Remy was the one making contact.

Even if the red is rescinded only Johnson's would be. Remy's was ironclad.

Absolutely ironclad sending off that. What an idiot.

Remy you fucking idiot. Almost shouted something in class.

Why go to the lecture in the first place lol Couldn't be bothered to walk home just to watch this. Ben Arfa playing really well today. I guess h wants to prove he can be the no.1 option now.

In class, blatantly ignoring the lecture and watching this on my laptop. We're playing really well.

I do think we'll replace him adequately as we always have, probably during the summer because there's not a whole lot of time left in this window. It's just depressing though. One in, one out, the squad just staying constant at this level regardless of how much money comes into the club from player sales, no hope for improvement. I can actually understand Ashley's thinking from a business standpoint, as the marginal cost and risk associated with trying to compete anywhere above our current level is extremely high, but from a fan's standpoint it's depressing as fuck. Shepard may have run the club irresponsibly, but at least he sold us loads of false hope.

I'm really not bothered because we're in no danger of challenging for anything either way. Until Ashley leaves as long as there's eleven players in black and white I can half-heartedly cheer for on match day I'll content myself with that.

Maybe we're not the only club that does fake bids

I'm not even asking for a whole lot. I don't have CL ambitions or anything. Can we just replace Shola? Please?

What is the point in finishing 8th? What are we aiming for? I want a goal for the club that doesn't revolve around just existing in the Premier League. Are we trying to get European competition and push on from there? If there was a goal beyond this season, I'd be more than happy finishing 8th, but there isn't. Finishing 8th is what we're striving to do. Do well without daring to get ourselves involved in European competition. Yay. So exciting. Not sure why this is happening in this thread like. It's quite ironic because 8th is actually a pretty good finish by the standards of our past decade. Like you said it's just that there isn't any obvious aspiration beyond that. Sports clubs survive by getting their supporters hooked on hope and there's not a whole lot of hope being sold to us at the moment.

I do think he has an interest in maintaining a reasonably competitive squad in the 8th~10th range through minimal investment so he maximizes positive exposure for his brand (better image, more TV games) and doesn't risk future relegation. Where we are about now is the "sweet spot" where Ashley would like us to be. So I guess we'd have to hope again for relegation flirtation to spur him on. Great. Just abandon all hope, less stressful that way.

I do think he has an interest in maintaining a reasonably competitive squad in the 8th~10th range through minimal investment so he maximizes positive exposure for his brand (better image, more TV games) and doesn't risk future relegation. Where we are about now is the "sweet spot" where Ashley would like us to be.

To be fair, no team ever sells their best players for anything other than those two circumstances. (Unless they're in administration I suppose)

Come on man, at least translate that for us stupid people

Try to look at it positively. If the Cabaye sale is contingent on Cabella move, the money men at PSG may have a quiet word with Montpellier's chairman... Or they can throw us more money. In all seriousness they would probably just raise our fee to cover whatever Monpellier demand. "They want 20 mil you say? No problem here's some spare change."

If this is indeed contingent on the Cabella deal it's about as positive as the inevitable departure of Cabaye could be. Getting an immediate replacement and good wad of money left over. I mean obviously I'd prefer that we'd be able to build on players like Cabaye rather than selling them, but that's not the world we live in is it?

The hilarious/sad thing is that I could only see the words "26m" in my preview screen and I knew we were selling somebody because we couldn't possibly be buying for that money

Try to look at it positively. If the Cabaye sale is contingent on Cabella move, the money men at PSG may have a quiet word with Montpellier's chairman...

Still just a rumor, but it makes too much sense to not believe