Tsunami

Ashley paid off £70 million and has had £25 million of failed bids for players while not having sponsorship income to spend, he's doing his best to bring about an improvement. I can't understand how you can say that he hasn't shown it yet. He's already said that he's not in it for the money so the extra cash that the club now has by not servicing debt is available to spend on whatever the club wants. I think this has been mentioned but you do believe only what you choose too. I'm happy to accept those bids (in fact I do believe them; I'm happy to believe facts and will consider a lot of soundly based speculation until proven incorrect) if you also accept that we have been in for others & have lost out due to personal terms. I'd say that if we had secured Modric for say 14 million do you think that we'd still have 11 million to spend?

All the PL clubs are much richer - so are we & the big 4 have pulled away. FS couldn't take us further, SJH said MA was the man. Up to this point he hasn't showed it. We got to be The Entertainers by speculating when KK was in charge & we were a team players wanted to join. You accept that others clubs are a bigger attraction than us. So, in the absence of having to pay over the odds for top players to imporve us just how do you think we are going to improve? Please don't say give it 2 or 3 years and let the new policy of young cheap players kick; that is not going to happen unless we improve the first 11 now & that will take money. No I don't think they're more attractive than us. Just genuine competition. We'll get players they want, and they'll get players we want. Ok, if we think we are as attractive as those clubs mentioned then we have a problem. They got to overtake us by spending money & we seem to believe that we can catch up as we are on a level playing field & don't have to go that extra mile. That will get us to the position where we have the money & can not spend it as players will not come. Kaboul's agent's comment about him going to the Mackems should serve as a warning. Big ground, loyal fans but wouldn't be seen dead there. Yes, Sunderland may be a shit hole but Newcastle isn't the height sophistication & vogue & given a choice of which city to live in & proximity to London we are way down the list.

All the PL clubs are much richer - so are we & the big 4 have pulled away. FS couldn't take us further, SJH said MA was the man. Up to this point he hasn't showed it. We got to be The Entertainers by speculating when KK was in charge & we were a team players wanted to join. You accept that others clubs are a bigger attraction than us. So, in the absence of having to pay over the odds for top players to imporve us just how do you think we are going to improve? Please don't say give it 2 or 3 years and let the new policy of young cheap players kick; that is not going to happen unless we improve the first 11 now & that will take money.

Aye, can happen to the best of us. Eh? I was asking the question, seeing as the supposed wages those players are on have been used to criticise the board. You appear to have completely missed my point. He did agree the wages & would be entitled to be royally pissed off with what he got for it; Smith has been awful, Barton is in clink & Viduka was injured half the time. He may be thinking twice about getting bitten again; but, in the world of football at a club like ours you just have to dust yourself down & pay the going rate. KK can't take the fall for BS's signings but he seems to be suffering for it for now. If things carry on like this then we need to get the outside investment in that Ashley wants, as this be the only way we will be able make in roads into the transfer market. Considering we have a billionairre owner that should not be the case. we haven't got him captive you know. apart from the signings we have made the only thing we actually know is that we tried to break our transfer record for modric. maybe the money is there but we don't as a a club want to made made mugs of. Ok, you believe what the club puts out, ignore the gaps & the patently obvious. You can also say told you so when we do sign someone; which we will & probably 2 or 3 more. There will be no evidence that our transfer dealings this summer were anything other than well planned & executed.

Haven't I seen her on Tsunami's avatar?

Some twats nicked my bike.

Aye, can happen to the best of us. Eh? I was asking the question, seeing as the supposed wages those players are on have been used to criticise the board. You appear to have completely missed my point. He did agree the wages & would be entitled to be royally pissed off with what he got for it; Smith has been awful, Barton is in clink & Viduka was injured half the time. He may be thinking twice about getting bitten again; but, in the world of football at a club like ours you just have to dust yourself down & pay the going rate. KK can't take the fall for BS's signings but he seems to be suffering for it for now. If things carry on like this then we need to get the outside investment in that Ashley wants, as this be the only way we will be able make in roads into the transfer market. Considering we have a billionairre owner that should not be the case.

I've given you quotes that we lost out on two players which we know we bid for and didn't get, both of these we are told went elsewhere for less money, a claim which I can't remember anybody denying yet its public knowledge that it was said and it was said in print by a lawyer. The only other two players who we know for sure that we were in for both came here. Have you any quotes to say that we have a policy of lowering the wage bill? Or, have you got any quotes from club officials that say weve lost out on any named players because we offered less cash? Come on Mick, if you believe everything a lawyer put in print. Lawyers are paid to fudge the truth, in print, on a daily basis. Mort, by his standing, must be very good at it. There is no great leap of faith needed to come to the conclusion that we are currently making a pigs ear of getting the best players in. Ultimately money will talk when you are in the position we are; either pay up or miss out.

It is strange that with this new policy of lowering the wage bill that we have lost out on class players despite offering them better money than the clubs they have signed for.......................................................................... It is unfeasible that we have offered similar/ less money & that the players have opted for clubs playing in europe & who are located in more desirable parts of the world.

For your answer look at our recent transfers & league positions. We are an average PL club with a big ground & very loyal fans. We are not the club we should be.

So you don't think we were in for him? We got egg on our face with Modric and Woodgate after it was announced they were on the way & we confirmed we were in for them. I certainly would be announcing we had bollocks upped again. And, perhaps more than once (Inler for instance).

The apparent long term strategy of buying young, cheap, players will only work if we have a strong enough first 11 in the first place to allow these young players to develop & ease their way into the team. At the moment our first 11 is comfortably bottom half material. Whether he likes it or not we need to need 3 established players in & perhaps pay ott wages to get them. We need to show ambition & that we are serious about long term progress. Let's face it no top player is going to come for the love of the club, the city or the weather. In years gone by we got Beardsley & Shearer, talismen, to come home. We can't draw on that this time.

No evidence we were actually really in for him calm down. You guys take this stuff way too hard. We all had a bit of fun with it now move on. Matias Fernandez should be nailed on now anyway Nah, I'm not bothered if we don't get him; I think he's on the way down. We will of course deny that we were ever in for him but, I'd be surprised if we hadn't at least expressed an interest

KK will be gutted & the again we have been made fall guys again if this is true. However, I think he may be a bit lightweight for the PL. What it would show is that we are rubbish at convincing quality players to sign for us & we must not be offering top dollar wages. Ashley needs to wise up that we may have to pay a bit more to get the right players in.

Try & put our best 11 down on paper & it is scary.

Somewhere between 13th & 10th behind Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, AV, Pompey, Everton & possibly WH.

Let's face it, we can't afford to let Smith go until we get some new faces in. At the moment he'd be pushing hard for a starting place. That's no exaggeration.

Pacify is clearly the wrong word here. We need catalyst; a sign that things are moving in the right direction. We have renewed ST's and put our money in, we should have reason to believe that next season will be better than last. Anyway how about Roman Pavlyuchenko. We need a front man although to be honest when I look at our present choices in midfield, it is frightening.

No, i want posters that vary their opinions and don't do their utmost to find the worst in everything. There was a fairly even balance in poster mentality on here until fairly recently. Not patronising doom-monger twats that correct people's spelling. People will change the nature of their posts when they have been given reason too. At the match we all should be positive & supportive; that doesn't stop us asking questions outside of the game & being concerned. Seriously, look at our squad, it is paper thin with not much quality. It's not as though this is a new problem; it was here this time last year & a common reply was to wait until the end of August. Well, we waited & what we got was largely rubbish.

If this is on the level he really needs to get out of his Sports Direct mentality.

If I had to say I'd guess that most of the perceived negative posters are a touch older than than those deemed as positive. Doesn't make either bad, both have their opinions & there is the exuberance of youth against the experience of age. I started going regularly to matches in the late 70's when we were by any standards s**** & in the days when gates of 14,000 were a regular occurrence. At that time I believed it would always be ok & that we'd get promoted. Yes, it is an unrecognisable situation now but to progress you need to invest in the team and make the team attractive. We just aren't doing it at the moment; 1 or 2 signings isn't going to change it; we need major investment in the team. When we were s****, in the old second division, we managed to get Peter Withe. Today that would be like Leeds signing someone like Berbatov. It is frustrating as we should be able to improve but we do seem to have hit a wall. In the passed posters have said that members like me have no patience, are negative & are missing trophy signings. It is so ironic. As said I started going in the late 70's, stopped going regularly just as we got promoted to the PL as I was playing Saturday afternoon football & all the space had been taken up by regulars and the new Glory Hunters who snapped up the season tickets. I started going again once I stopped playing & got a ST when the ground grew to 52,000 - that's right; at the end of the glory period (SBR excepting). It's great that members are optimistic but don't knock those with concerns. We cannot afford to stand still or we will go backwards.

The positivity placed before the season started last season was based upon a new owner & a new manager. The manager proved to be disaster but there were those who refused to see it. Look at the games where we got late goals against the likes of Wigan, Fulham, Birmingham...... & you have to say we could have gone down. The second half display away to Birmingham paved the way for us to drag ourselves up the table. I believe BS would have taken us down & his dealings in the transfer market were appalling. That our major signing was Barton was laughable & that brings us to Ashley. He has not been seen to have backed either manager. He is looking for outside investment. He is looking to build a side based on promising youngsters & low wages. KK must be crapping himself. First time around KK had the money to attract players & there was a real feel good atmosphere around the club. This time the money has not been forthcoming so far & the club are not attractive to players. Pompey & AV are far more attractive, Spurs are way ahead & we are competing for signings with (no disrespect) the likes of Blackburn. This isn't being negative. We need to see things as they stand, right now. Yes, Ashley has put money against the debts & revamped the way the club behind the scenes is working. But, it is out on the pitch the ultimately matters & right now our squad is poor.

I'm confused; Guthrie was reported as telling his mates that he expected to join us a few weeks ago. This did appear in the press but no-one got excited as he isn't a big name. This got mentioned with the rumours of Milner and after that stopped it was still reported that Guthrie expected to come here.

I think we have to accept that Ashley is looking to cut Owen's wages on a new deal. Owen could just sit tight & sign a pre contract with someone else as he lets his contract run down. Or, he could leak the news about the contract offer to the press (a popular way of applying pressure). I can't see Ashley winning this one. KK wants Owen to stay, we need Owen to stay, both as our highest profile player & with it a reason for other players to sign for us. We appear to be messing our best player about & that is never good news.

I'd like to know what Ashley is thinking of offering these sought after investors for their cash. It's a bit worrying when our Billionairre owner is looking for other people to start giving up their money for his club. What if they don't?