The Prophet

Taylor27 was clearly absent the day they taught the kids about humour.

He was very poor last season by his high standards and getting on a bit now (age wise). While I agree he wasn't at his best to say 'he is no where near the best' is ridiculous, especially given Baines's defensive frailties.

It looks good then, doesnt it? Sounds like he's meeting Lille, not the club he's signing for.

Did he say he was going to make his decision public? Or did he not specify?

Or a bigger club? Not if he stays where he is for more money Lille have just won the double in France, as well as having Champions League football next year. and yet he is looking to leave or is he just after trying to force them into offering him a better deal? He obviously sees Lille as a bigger draw than us, and Arsenal and City as a bigger draw than Lille. It's not necessarily about money. How is that obvious We can only truly say this once his decision is made and even then it depends on u's knowing if a bid ever existed Aye, but we do know he's been quoted as saying he'd like Champions League football, something that instantly make those clubs more appealing than ourselves.

Or a bigger club? Not if he stays where he is for more money Lille have just won the double in France, as well as having Champions League football next year. and yet he is looking to leave or is he just after trying to force them into offering him a better deal? He obviously sees Lille as a bigger draw than us, and Arsenal and City as a bigger draw than Lille. It's not necessarily about money.

Or a bigger club? Not if he stays where he is for more money Lille have just won the double in France, as well as having Champions League football next year.

Or a bigger club?

Who said that? It's generally implied in a couple of posts, as well as being the general way on the forum. For the record I think N'Zogbia would come here or go to the Mackems given the oppertunity.

...but it's bad news, it must be true.

It's the Daily Mirror for fucks sake.

I just don't think we'll spend that much money, not unless there are a couple of important sales anyway. Those two and Cabaye would be £25m+ from what we've read, and there's still a couple of others we supposedly want backup for. Nah. Aye, I can't see Gameiro happening. I'd like to think we have an out and out striker lined up as an alternative, Gervinho is a quality player but he isn't going to be banging them on a regular basis.

Personally I think there's absolutely nothing in the either/or story, different players, different positions.

Football's gone mad.

He proved that in the Carling Cup. I agree with the above but that was hardly his fault.

1. No one's assuming that, Nolan will remain at the club for the short term at least, who's to say we're not coming back with another offer? 2. Again where's this talk of changing too many players too quickly come from? Barton has said he is going to see out his contract and Nolan may be here for a while yet. Even then that's two players. 3. Jonas is a valuable member of the squad, he was one of our best players in the latter half of the season. Flogging him would be moronic. 4. League rankings are dependant on other factors too. What a pointless set of assumptions.

Again people seem to be overlooking the fact Nolan has two years left on his contract and there is no indication of his imminent deprture. Any talk of 'replacing' him is premature at the moment.

Again I'm asking because I don't know if it was sepculation or actually stated at the time, but did Barton's contract talks not break down over length rather than wage?

People are jumping the gun a bit here. Nolan has not suggest he is leaving, nor is there any suggestion the club won't propose another offer. It's completely different to the Barton situation where it is the club who didn't offer him a contract. On top of that Nolan still has two years left on his contract. I think any talk of replacing him in the short term at least is a bit premature. While I agree with a lot of what Wullie has said in recent posts I also think an over-looked aspect of this is what these two players owe the club and the fans. They've performed at the top level for a year, this is after a year/half a year in Nolan's case of piss poor performances leading to relegation. Any debate about the terms of the contract themselves are speculation, but it's something Nolan and partiuclarly Barton need to bear in mind when talking of their futures.

Appreciate what they do, give them the contract, and have faith that the manager will persuade them to move on if they are no longer wanted. Trouble is the board are scared of another Nicky Butt scenario, where despite being uncertainties over relegation or whether we even wanted him, Butt announced to them all that he was taking an option out to extend his own £50k a week contract, while taking out loads of bonuses. Eh? Hope the manager can persuade them to move on from their 50k plus a week 4 year deal?? How? I know Pards is a silver tongued charmer, but I think you are overestimating his charm. I don't think any sensible business model in the world is built around people being persuaded to leave their highly paid jobs. I trust Barton and Nolan to leave the club if they are no longer wanted.

Also it's Nolan that's knocked back the contract, nothing to say negotiations aren't ongoing.

Do people realise Nolan hasn't left/hasn't suggested he is leaving in the forseeable future?