furney89

at this rate, it won't be long again until ramadam is used as a reasoning for a delay in the announcement 😂

lots of talk of keeping bruce on until end of season. sounds logical but do we really think poch/rafa/whoever else is linked would do worse than bruce in the last 9 games? if not then would it not be worth getting a new manager in sooner? even if the new manager got 2 wins that would be fine i was pro continuinty until end of season sticking with bruce but thinking about it more the lack of progress with him over the season so far what do we have to lose by getting someone more talented in sooner?

i'd be really surprised if he goes there while he has 1 year left on his contract here still. clear nufc hierarchy ambition doesn't match his own (why has new contract negotiations taken so long?) but he's genuinely loved here, something not always guaranteed (chelsea?) and even with a difference of ambition at the top i reckon he will see out his contract at least on the hope something changes. perhaps these rumours will work in the fans and rafas favour and force the board to up their game

we are SO lucky to have him as manager. unbelievable. he is the clubs biggest asset right now. whatever happens with this latest talkover talk (i still have doubts about how serious ashley is about selling) - i hope benitez waits as it is only a matter of time until he ashley does eventually leave in the next few years, its just a waiting game.

based on assumptions...i reckon there will be realistically be around 20m net to spend on transfer fees and around 20m generated by a number of players leaving. So a total of 40m to spend on fees on incomings. the majority of the premier league TV money won't be in our account until once we've completed our first season back. the club in its recent history has not (unless in extreme circumstance such as relegation) used credit or taken on extra debt when investing in the club so the idea of 50m, 100m spent this summer would be unexpected unless we get extra investment from another source. in 2010 the message was 'no capital outlay', i expect it to be similar until after we bank the money of the first season if we stay up in the first season. the conservatism of jan 2017 will continue until june next year. i think rafa's will look at the next 3 years to get guarantees, rather than just next immediate season. by season 3 we should be competitive ££ to compete for top 8. at the moment our season in the championship has meant we are financially crippled to challenge the top 10 teams ££. luckily rafa has proved he can get more out of some of the players we have and has experience in building a solid squad which hopefully should be able to stay up next year, despite there being a tight budget initially.

Leeds. I would rather play leeds in the premier league than others. Leeds by their recent history have not been successful team, but whatever you define as a 'big' team, you only have to look at the game(s) we played them this season to show that its more of an occasion to play leeds than playing other teams this season and probably next (burnley? stoke? west brom? watford? crystal palace?)

A turnover of at least 25 players in a season post relegation while still getting promoted and making a profit is a huge achievement . We are not used to building squads. Yes some players have not had the impact on the pitch we had hoped for, but the table doesn't lie and squad is much more balanced. Given the high turnover number it no surprise some players have not been big successes like Gayle and Richie. The quality generally in the squad is lower than we have had previous seasons, but the reality is we're playing in the championship and you can't argue that the plan for this season has been executed perfectly in unspectacular fashion. Judgement on Rafa should be saved after several seasons in the Prem after which has has had time to build a team at that level.

At this stage i can never imagine forgiving him for the rot that set into the club during his time here. We will be so lucky to get out of this mess if Rafa can get us promoted and bring us stability in the PL - something we have never achieved under Ashleys regime. Across his time in ownership we have been so inconsistent. I will admit I'm a relatively young mag (aged 27 - my first game was Juve in '98) but how i have felt about nufc over recent years definitely is up there with some the most despondent, oppressive feelings i have felt generally about something i care about.

So much ridicule for Spurs which i feel is a little harsh. Glad to see the back of him, didnt perform enough (+ a load of reason others have mentioned) etc etc. While he won't elevate spuds to the league title, signing him will mean they are competitive in more competitions this year. He's a solid addition to their squad and even if he doesn't start week in week out for them he does have a bit of quality from time to time. 30million is the going rate for that so i think its a good deal all round. Not every transfer can be compared to Kante who was clearly undervalued (in the current market) at 30million this summer. I think generally in comparison to other transfers such as bolasie and ibe, sissoko for 30million is not far from his current market value. levy tried to call our bluff by waiting so late, so hes probably paid slightly over the odds than if he started to negotiate earlier in the summer. oh well, lets move on and get promoted!

This will be a tough game. We will definitely be tough to beat all season, but our problem will be converting possession into chances and goals. We struggled to create chances and score last year and was also defensively very poor which was a recipe for relegation. We will get more possession this season and i think we definitely be more solid at the back but i do worry about us offensively. Richie will do well, Diame is a solid signing but we are really hingeing a lot on Mitro, Gayle and Perez to come up with the goals. Something none of them have done consistently at this level before. I'm confident they have the ability, but they need to do it consistently - which is something i have doubts about. Obviously want to the win, but would be okay with a draw. I might be spectacularly wrong but i think we will struggle to score the goals we need (for 1st place) with the current forwards. There will be lots of tight games where a proven goalscorer would make a difference.

You can only judge him on how he plays for us. It's encouraging we finally have a little depth in some positions. If it avoids us having to play Colback or some other square peg in defensive positions this is a snip at 5 million.

I must admit i am feeling particularly pessimistic, but its time for the players to step up. Everyone at the club keeps talking up finishing top 6 (Pardew even mentioned top 4 on FF) and if we are to achieve that we must get results against teams like Liverpool at Anfield. Everyone knows we havent reached anywhere near the same level of performances like last season, and we have been stumbling along and today would be a perfect opportunity to put some pressure on the top group of teams. I think this game could set the tone of the rest of our season. A fantastic performance and result would catapult us in to top 4 contention with two homes games to follow. An inept poor display with no ambition and a loss will just add to the other poor performances in a season that hasnt really got going.

I went to the Ajax game last weekend vs NAC Breda where they won 5-0, Wiel was good going forward, but wasnt tested defensively so couldnt comment. Looked neat on the ball. NAC were so bad, barely went forward, was like a training match. Its unlikely we will do a deal, but if we did he would be decent, and would provide competition for Simmo.

That's the way I see it... Really straw clutching there. Next people are going to be saying the weather will have an impact on potential players joining us

Whats the point in waiting this late to make moves for players? Especially when we are not dependant on player sales to fund recruitment. You can understand Spurs making last minute dashes to buy players as they have been waiting for several outgoing deals to be sorted. But for us, our budget hasnt really changed. Weve known roughly what we have to spend from the beggining of the window. So unless circumstances dramatically change, its pretty clear our window is over. If they wernt prepared to pay a extra 1mil for Debuchy a couple of weeks ago, then there not going to suddenly get to Friday and go "oh shit" and fax through an improved offer. They probably would of considered it at the time, as im pretty sure they havent all been sitting in a dark room for the past 4 weeks deciding if they should up the original offer.

He's clearly not going to give anything away. The more he dampens expectations the better from his point of view. If he says no deals are on the cards, then if one does come in then itl be seen as a "surprise" or unexpected from his point of view. But we've been here before havent we? Knowing we desperetely need a player or two, grasping on to any hope, when its obvious nothings in the pipework as we've made our offers for the players we want and we wont budge.

Who knows who could come in, it could literally be someone for any position. I think we've made it clear we operate on taking advantage on players that match our criteria who become available for a price we think is good value (through either clauses, wants to leave or clubs needs money etc) . If no one is "available" we will just wait and be patient, like last August when we couldn't get a striker and ended up doing a deal for Cisse when he came "available" in January.

i just listened to the pardew interview here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18981850 i'm sure he says at the end "if actually a fee comes in for a cisse, for a SHOLA or for a cabaye that is ASTRONOMICAL , we will have to take it and find that player in a different form" maybe shola really is one of the most valued players in our squad. His astronomical price tag has put other teams off......

err no! wrong, 4-4-1-1 will work a treat , and play two hard working widemen would do it,. jonas on oneside and raylor on the other ,. bring mehdi on, and take shola off arfa behind best, all sorted. pardew wont do that becuase he's f***ing clueless errr no. It would just invite more pressure and we would have no out ball. Best cant run the line himself, he needs to be playing with another striker. We might get more of the ball playing 4-4-1-1 but when weve played HBA and Best together in the 4-4-1-1 (like against Blackburn in FAC at home) it hasnt worked and we've hardly threatened. This isnt a game to sit back. If we put pressure on them higher up the pitch it will limit them more. They arnt that good, put pressure on them they will make mistakes, give the ball away etc

We have no shape whatsoever. Id get HBA off, then put Gosling at CM and go to 4-4-2. Shola needs to come off. I really cant see loven doing much worse. We desperately need something fresh up front. Going 4-4-1-1 will simply encourage Blackburn even more

We have to have two up front. I dont care if its Best/Shola/Lovenkrands. But it has to be two of them. HBA is more effective cutting in and drifting about playing than playing just behind the striker i think. If we play 4-4-1-1 it will not put Blackburn under enough pressure, and it will be another frustrating night where we threaten rarely. We are just putting the game on a plate for them with that negativity. I know you cant go gunho away from home, but we need to put them under some pressure....its blackburn ffs. Id be willing to start Lovenkrands over shola. Best is good at holding up play and getting himself about and grafting (which is sholas sole reason for playing as the "big man") and Loven might have something to prove and provide something abit different than weve seen over the past couple of weeks.

best is one of our better strikers. Ok he'l struggle to push demba and cisse, but he works so so hard. I really like the lad. Clearly not going to score alot of goals in a season, but the amount of graft he puts in is worth his place in the squad. He more consistant that shola, who has been dire recently.

Ian dowie has just said bradley orr is a good signing for brfc..... "he fits in with what they are about..hes still a YOUNG lad" etc etc Obviously doesn't have a clue hes actually 29. Ok thats not old , but football career wise hes no spring chicken

I really want to go. But i am not a member. I wonder if there might be cash turnstiles like when i went for the league cup. Just read this Kick-off at Ewood Park is at 8pm and United will return the unsold portion of their allocation on Monday. on .com

Anything that is better than last seasons utter dross performance. That was an awful awful game. A point would be fantastic, just keeps us ticking over collecting points. A win would be a real show of our intentions and of how far weve really come. Also i hope Guthrie has a great game. I remember this one last year being one of his worst performances (ranking along side his game against West Brom). I cant believe its the same player as last season. And its not as if hes "playing with confidence". His passing, determination and quality in possession is a big improvement on anything we've ever seen him do. He can actually impose himself and command the midfield area. I always thought he was abit light weight and could be bullied about, but hes complimented cabaye really well in a slightly deeper holding role. Long may it continue danny boy!