The Prophet

Should we be constantly looking to improve on our current striking options meaning individuals fall down the pecking order as opposed to buying strikers to play as a 'fourth choice'? Yes By this time next summer should we have aquired enough quality meaning Shola is surplus to requirements? Yes Does offering a contract show a willingness to settle for mediocrity? Yes

Not particularly happy with this, but there's some massive overreactions in here.

Like a Wes Brown or a Crouch? Aye, exactly like that. For f***s sake man just because I'd like someone a bit more proven it doesn't mean they have to be old and average. Has this lad ever found the net on a regular basis? Name someone then. The only experienced strikers on the radar seem to be the likes of Crouch and Pav who as you say, don't excite. /I think we have a proven striker in Ba. I'm not a scout, but someone like Papiss Cisse or Burak Yilmaz who've scored on a regular basis in their respective leagues would be nice.

http://twitpic.com/62zwfd Don't think it mentions annything about caughtoffside, someone more fluent in Spanish may want to confirm that though.

Which one? Keirrison or Toivonen (sp?) Sorry I'm not up to speed which players are part of this transfer influx, it seems to change on the hour. Keirrison, Marca are usually pretty reliable so I can see this being a goer.

Like a Wes Brown or a Crouch? Aye, exactly like that. For fucks sake man just because I'd like someone a bit more proven it doesn't mean they have to be old and average. Has this lad ever found the net on a regular basis?

Would have mixed feelings about this one, can't help but feel we need someone who's been there and done it.

Aye, we're overrun with quality forwards at the moment.

Sounds like a goer. Aye, is he in the last year of his contract? Cheap buy out clause perhaps? Would make it a certainty.

So how many times have you seen Gosling, Marveaux and Ben Arfa play on the right? I'm guessing no more than a handful of times between them. Also for the record Gosling came here to play in the middle and Ben Arfa plays off the front man and on the left.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/preacherskid/files/2011/07/Jesus-wept.jpg

Do I remember right that at Inter he once threw a tantrum in the centre circle because he felt no one was passing to him?

I doubt it, tried asking Mark Douglas but no response, his mate hates me though so no surprise Mr Ryder?

HBA role if HBA was injured or on the wing.. Would just be great to have options ---------------------Krul Simo------Tayls-----------Colo--------Jose -----Jonas---------Tiote----------Cab ------------Sulej-----------HBA ----------------------Ba Personally can't see Jonas working in a midfield three, Gosling perhaps. Like I say options.. would be SO nice to have options A bench with game changing players on it. Depth? What's depth?

aye he's a good looking lad Knew that was coming, but seriously?

HBA role if HBA was injured or on the wing.. Would just be great to have options ---------------------Krul Simo------Tayls-----------Colo--------Jose -----Jonas---------Tiote----------Cab ------------Sulej-----------HBA ----------------------Ba Personally can't see Jonas working in a midfield three, Gosling perhaps.

Is Marveaux fit?

Typing like a monkey and trolling aside I'll give my two pennies worth on the situation Pardew finds himself in. I don't know if the bloke is being fed a yarn or whether he's a bare faced liar but what is clear is if it wasn't the case before he is now fully aware of the situation he finds himself in. He has to delicately balance sensibly investing the shoe string budget the higher ups have provided him with while trying to convey sufficient ambition to fans and players alike. I think the tension between the two means both are not possible and therefore it's difficult to take his word too literally. Personally, I honestly think he was burnt by the Carroll deal. Of course it's just speculation but he made promises about Carroll and the cash generated from his sale and he was sold contrary to those guarantees. I now think he is reluctant to commit to promises he may not be able to keep due to the actions of the board. He knows they won't invest substantially so he's not promising too much too soon. We've bought some good players this summer. Things of course could be better still if we throw a bit of money about but Pardew has little control over that. He has to progress with the money he has been given. It's difficult to tell how the league will pan out this year but if it's anything like last there will be a pack of teams in the middle filling anywhere from 8th-14th, last season we were one of those sides. For me at least, progress this season would be avoiding that melee and convincingly finishing in the top half ala Everton. With the size of that squad it would require good luck on the injury front but if we can keep our best 13/14 I see no reason why we cannot achieve that. Of course, the jury is still out on Pardew's managerial ability. Last season he took over in a difficult situation and managed a reasonable finish with an extremely limited strike force and he deserves credit for that. Hopefully the addition of Ba and another will go some way to addressing this and this will see us push on a bit. Looking at us and looking at Everton I see no reason why we cannot give them a good run for that seventh spot. Of course Moyes is a far superior manager to Pardew but if he can somehow keep the camp fit, happy and confident we might just surprise a few this season, despite the chronic lack of investment.

How would that work? http://photovalet.com/data/comps/PCF/PCFV01P10_14.jpg I'd rather have my head in the sand than up my own arse. Being negative doesn't make you a better fan, just a better moaner. I know man, I was on the wind up. I have myself down as one of the more positive posters roaming these boards.

How would that work? http://photovalet.com/data/comps/PCF/PCFV01P10_14.jpg

The club has already said it wants a top ten finish, i think everyone can agree, we'd all be happy with a top ten this year? If so, im not even sure what we are arguing about. Would you be saying the same if Tchoyi had headed his final chance over the bar? Very convenient result for the club that was. Regardless of what happened last season, a top ten finish would represent progress. Again, I think we'd all take that. It wouldn't have if we'd beaten West Brom. It depends on the manner it's done. If we're competing with the mid-table pack who could finish anywhere from 8th and 14th we haven't progressed much from last season. If we do an Everton and comfortably avoid the mid-table scramble convincingly finshing 7th/8th, we've progressed.

Neesy's found a way to get round the ban I see. f***ing hell, just read that back Tidied

For me at east, if we'd of reinvested the Carroll cash wisely we'd of closed the gap no Everton, Liverpool and Spurs.

I fucking hate Man United