The Prophet

Cerny Capaldi Davies Hall Gunter Commons Brunt Smith Hartley Miller Hunt

http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/stories/celtic-bumble-bee-09-10-away-kit-4.jpg Awful, just horrible. Makes ours look half decent.

Didn't realise there was a fee involved though it was Ibrahimovic for Eto's and Hleb on a season long loan. Still a good deal for Inter either way.

No, the takeover takes as long as it takes. I can understand the impatience with the lack of leadership and people to talk to but it isn't going to make the take over go any quicker.

I thought Gimp put a good shift in.

The game was lost in the first half and although we had spells in the second it was always going to be difficult to get back into it. No matter how many excuses you make we weren't good enough in the first half and if we turn up with the same attitude in the next game thinking we lost because a couple of strokes of luck we'll get beat again. We need to be competative from the off, like the reds were this time around.

That the Swindon lad? Aye, top scorer in League One last season.

Simon Cox sold to West Brom for £1.9 million.

Lopez off to Lyon for 24 Million Euros.

Blues 1/3 Draw 2/1 Reds 5/1

Nixon still hasn't told me where I'm playing, disappointing organisation.

David Craig just on SSN saying the next stage is for one of the groups to sign a sale disclosure agreement, so things must be well down the line.

Aye saw that, interesting stuff.

Has Albiol's move to Madrid been made official yet?

Didn't they get an 800 million Euro loan or something daft like that? If it's right they must have a bloody good gurantor...

No. We've had the good times under Shepherd and the bad. He's had his crack at the whip no it's someone else’s turn. In fact the only reason I'd ever want Shepherd back is because he can't be any worse than Ashley. Shepherd's reign provided good times but what it descended into contributed to the situation we are now in. His hiring and firing of managers, his jobs for the boys attitude and his seeming disregard for the clubs finances meant he was going to have leave sooner or later. You can look at the positives the third and forth place finishes, you big name players and European football but in the end what did amount to? Because of his decision making we didn't push on and do it season in, season out. Why did people get so excited when Keegan took over? Because of his past record, what he'd already achieved and accomplished. The past still has a say on how people will react to you it's common sense. Shepherd had his chance that era is over and frankly it left a bad taste in the mouth. Yes I know we had the odd good finish but the only reason I can really pin-point for wanting him back is that no matter how bad things got under his regime, it was never as bad as it is under the current lot.

http://sabahanblog.com/politikus/files/2008/07/mikeashleypa2_468x616.jpg http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01294/Chris-Hughton_1294820c.jpg http://www.fansfc.com/UploadedImages/Players/NickyButt_633571754914375000.jpg http://www.championshiptalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/coca-cola-championship.jpg

Aye alright then. Depends if you class being relegated, having an owner that can't wait to sell us, no manager, a bunch of over-paid under-performaing prima donnas as players, etc as being defeated.

I think Valencia will do OK, I don't know if he'll be anything special mind. I think Man United as a whole will be better off without Ronaldo next season.

I'm cynical but I genuine believe some clubs are daft enough to judge him on one error of judgement. Regarding Quaresma the fans loved him until he became lazy and to some arrogant. Unrest about his performances was begining to creep in. But yeah I was talking about the board rather than the fans in the post above.

Aye agree with Dave, who are the four who voted for our situation so far? It would be nice to hear your point of view, the thread is a bit one sided at the minute.

Lucho is at the peak now he's 27/28 this is where he will be his prime. It's true what you say about peanut purchases what you forget though is that Lucho was not one of these, he cost them £12m this is a big fee for a team in Portugal, and I can guarantee that River will have a sell on clause of sorts, be it 5% or as much as 25%. So when you subtract that from the £18m it's an even smaller profit margain, 5m is nothing massive to them, they could build a tidy squad with the potential 15m from Cissokho, as Jesualdo is great at buying good cheap players and getting them to work well. Alves is a different story, in my opinion he went very unnoticed until 2006 and even then he was over shadowed by the emergence and brilliance of Pepe in Porto's back line, when you consider Pepe went for €30m to Madird, you can see that Porto by no means need to accept this bid for Lucho, they have other salable assets that could go, and that money could be used for a pay rise for Lucho or in buying replacements who are just as good if not potentially better, Fernando to me has the potential to take Lucho's crown in Porto and become the new midfield general, he was nothing short of Brilliant against Man Utd at Old trafford, and this is all before we actually discuss if Lucho would even consider France, this move will be his last big move really, and France isn't really in the top 3 leagues in Europe. If I was looking for a player to nab from Porto I'd go for Cristian Rodriquez, a tricky winger that has looked really good since leaving PSG. I'd be amazed if they sell to Marseille for that price honestly, I'd expect a late bid from Inter or even Madrid/Chelsea as for £18m you won't get many better than Lucho Gonzalez. I'm unsure what the conversion rate was at the time but Porto paid two installments for Lucho. they paid about 3.5 million Euros to River Plate and about 6.5 million Euros to Global Soccer Agencies at a later date. Like I say I'm not sure what the Euro was to the pound when both installments were paid but they will still make a fair profit on the lad. Porto are such a unique club because they don't need to sell players. The Dragao built in 2003 was essentially paid for by the sponsors. They also receive massive profits from merchandising and television rights (to name a couple of things) in several different sports, yet one of of their largest sources of income is still flogging football players. It's because of the unique nature of the league they play in. Players from South America move to Portugal for a few years so they are eligible to play in Europe then bugger off to one of the bigger leagues, very few reamain loyal. There's little they can do to hold on to their better players. The fact they haven't moved to bring in a replacement this window might be telling, although there's still plenty of time. Fernando is a very different player, unless of course they plan to play Mereiles in the middle of the park. So for me the money has little to do with it, it's whether Lucho would really consider a move to France, like you say I really can't see it and I can see one the larger European clubs intervening. Ian you forgot the citations on your post mate. If they decide to accept the bid than I think they won't sell Bruno Alves and maybe Lisandro, he is still really being tracked by Inter but they are being very coy as they know for a fact Porto will want at least €25m and won't accept Quaresma and he probably won't go back to be honest. Well they were linked to FM legend Diego Buonanotte but he just looks way too small for European football, he's about 157 when you consider Messi is 169 it makes you realise just how small the guy is. Meireles is the potential technical replacement for Lucho but the like you say the lack of a replacement may be telling then we don't know who the Porto board are looking at, they are very quick when it comes to transfers, they've bought a few full backs, but should they lose Gonzalez, it's vital they get not just a midfielder but a leader and potentially new captain letting Alves take the role for the time being. Porto are my adopted European team you pleb. Aye I can't see them flogging Alves and Lucho in the same window or they'll be leaderless on the park. Alves came through the academy so any potential profit will be a decent one. The problem is there were some clubs said to be sniffing around Alves last summer and even then they weren't willing to pay too high a price if speculation is too be believed. Combine that with the clanger he dropped against Man United and in they end they might actually make a bigger profit on Lucho. Lopez is a different situation entirely. I'm shocked he's stayed as long as he has to be honest. If Inter come calling I can see his head being turned and with Porto having already signed a couple of strikers this summer and their high hopes they have for Hulk he will be a sellable asset, like I say though they don't need to sell him so they can essentially name a price and haggle from there. I can't see Quaresma going back I don't think they could wait to see the back of him.

A lot of people will see this as a no brainer. Would you rather be in City's position spending your way to the top, buying the best players in the buisness and in the eyes of some ruining the game. Throwing massive amounts of money at players will provide money and long term success but what happens if it all goes wrong, what if the backer loses interest or in the case of poor Gretna ends up on his death bed? Or would you rather be in our current position searching for an honest owner, looking to re-structure the foundations of the club and essentially provide long term success and stability? We're in a lower division, we're ownerless, we're managerless but surely once the owner of the club is in place for the long term things will begin to turn around at some stage. Personally for me it is a no brainer. I'd rather be up there with the riches, the success and the big league. Some people may feel differently but the only way to compete at the top is to spend silly money like Chelsea and Man City. I'd have no problem with it in the slightest especially compared to the situation we currently find ourselves in.

Football sold it's soul a long time ago, Chelsea was just the icing on the cake. FIFA should have imposed a limit of sorts on transfers there and then. I was jelous at the time but there would still be a part of me at that winning a trophy in that fashion would be a bit of a hollow victory. The fact is now if you want to finish in that top four year in year out you have to try something similar to what City are doing, it's wrong. The current crop governing football just seem more interested in making the rich richer and the poor poorer.