Neil

Is some stuff happening? STUFF.

LR, if you've got that type money to bet, i.e. can afford if you lose it, then by all means go ahead as I think Man Utd are firm favourites.

don't post your bets beforehand then only post the winners. I've noticed this has been on the rise recently.

I'd stop short of shitting the bed, but my socks would well and truly be remaining on my feet, that's for sure.

Villa will finish in the top 10 man.

4 players surrounding Lionel Gosling.

Wind-up, right? How? If Newcastle spent £3 million on 31 year-old Ricardo Fuller I'd be apoplectic. I should have made clear: it was the implied logic behind it which confused me. For one, I'm confused as to how Wigan are equated to Sunderland's level when there is quite a gap between them, hell, Stoke are on a different level to Wigan who IMO are strong relegation candidates and will go down; and also I didn't agree with the implicit reasoning of him being good enough for Sunderland but not for Newcastle. That may however be more case-specific in which case fair enough.

Wind-up, right?

Has Babatunde given his reaction to this yet?

Veteran Sergio? Where'd he go to - Levante was it?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6680936,00.html You've got to admire Bruce's media work over the past few weeks like Fuck me Said it a few times and I'll say it again - he is cringeworthy with what he says to the media. Constant moaning, hypocrisy and flat out inaccuracies. He'd do well to keep his considerably sized gob shut for a few weeks.

Bent isn't average really; few players in this league have matched him for goals in recent years. Gyan is a pretty decent striker IMO - whether he can keep it up in this league is a different matter as iirc, he was hardly clinical at Udinese or Rennes. Henderson is overrated. Watched him a few times now and nothing particularly impresses me. He's alright - but he's young and English, hence worth £15m.

Hmm, if the first payment of "around a quarter of £24m" was "barely enough to pay Spurs" for the original Bent transfer, that's quite a hit. In other words it could be seen as about £12m + add ons, not £18m + add ons. Oh dear.

Increasingly shite footballer who err, yes, tries. The minimum for anyone attempting to be a footballer never mind a Premier League footballer.

So, do we have a confirmation of how much Spurs are owed from this deal? I heard rumours of most of the £18m being paid up front, but now that isn't true? Any ideas? I'm basically just wondering as I want to use it against a Mackem mate who is a classic example of believing what you want to believe. i.e. "yeah but we got 24m for bent, haha villa are mugs!!1!!1!!!!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I bet EVERYTHING is written down these days at your gaff! IOUs and everything. We're taking things seriously now.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Not a clue why Coleman was on the list in the first place. He signed a 4 year contract only last summer.

442 has nothing on MATCH magazine.

Seamus has promised Dave he'd sign, no worries. They had a conversation and everything. Bezzie m8z. Only joking. IIRC he signed a new 4 year contract last summer, he certainly isn't in his last year.

Baba out of his hibernation due to talk of Taiwo leaving.

I think the thread on there actually quite accurately reflects the thoughts of the whole debate. Sunderland are doing better than Villa at this moment in time but I think there's a general acceptance Villa are bigger. There's always going to be bias because any supporter sees things through rose-tinted glasses but that's the state of affairs as far as those 2 clubs go. It's a lot about nothing really - 'status' may be interesting to subjectively measure but there's really no objective way of firmly concluding it, and it can be a very tiresome debate. Fwiw, I pretty much agree with your 'standings' there CP. I'd probably put Chelsea a tad above due to their recent success. I'd dare say Foolzy's assessment on Page 6 of that RTG thread sums things up for Sunderland and Villa.

In amongst the wreckage, a sensible post!?

Bruce consistently lives in a different reality. He seems to consistently whine on about how they're missing a bit of luck - er, excuse me Steve, you've been one of the (if not the most) fortunate sides this year. They've become solid this year and a better team but their position is more a reflection of a) the fact other sides who should be up there are struggling, and b) the fact they've rode their luck consistently this year. Actually, just when they looked to be having a lull on that front, the Gyan goal happened. He's a decent manager, but nothing more IMO. Let's see where they finish.