Ishmael

Hmmm yes, QUIET OBVIOUS that you have been trying to offload him all summer... UNLESS! Bruce was lying when he said the above...

It isn't an incredible deal in full context. You've certainly got a outlandish fee, but lost an iconic figurehead of your team a few weeks into an already choppy season. The timing makes it a bad deal imo. Not much that £6m can do to help right now, is there? No he wasn't. He had scored 1 goal since Febuary. Of course, it doesn't help us till January till we can go and get someone else but now we are almost certainly going to recoup all of the £13m we paid for him and possibly even make a profit on him. Quinn has took Al Ain's eyes out. An iconic figurehead who was well off form. Sure you were one of those chaps who considered him the second coming of Phillips at some point?

It isn't an incredible deal in full context. You've certainly got a outlandish fee, but lost an iconic figurehead of your team a few weeks into an already choppy season. The timing makes it a bad deal imo. Not much that £6m can do to help right now, is there?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/sep/12/five-things-learned-premier-league

Please please please please be Andy Carroll.

RTG is easily the classiest message board on the net. It's a family message board too and what I like about it is that it's properly run the way a messageboard should be. And they're not racist. They said African. Good clean, family fun, that. Can't help but laugh at this

Spot on. What's the deal with "rushing" him? Did we not rush Cabaye then? Silly talk. Every player is different. It's up to Pardew and the coaching team to assess whether Santon is strong enough to step in straight away.

Finally, somebody with some sense. p.s. read the Santon thread.

People missing the point here. Ryan Taylor is not perfect for us at left back, but it makes more sense not to rush Santon into a game. Not the end of the world either way of course.

This doesn't work because there is no absolute certainty about Raylor costing us a game - or even killing us It's not impossible to survive a game of Russian Roulette either. Depends upon the variation of the rules in use? Anyway, it's a silly metaphor for this. Know what you're trying to do, but he's nowhere near as much a liability as you're implying.

This doesn't work because there is no absolute certainty about Raylor costing us a game - or even killing us

How do you know he wont be worse than Raylor tomorrow night? You think the QPR game will be easy for us? Attitudes like that can slip us up. Playing the team that has started the season with 3 good results, who know our system and the league, is not a disgraceful decision. It's conservative and sensible. I'm sure Santon will be a better player than Raylor in the long run, but we can afford to break him in gently.

Huh? Big difference between training and matches you know.

Rubbish post taxfree. Adding nothing to the discussion. We don't know how well Santon will play for us yet because he hasn't played for us. We can only guess based on his performances in Italy, which are promising. But, he's switched to a different country, with no fellow Italians in the team and about to play in a league that operates with a completely different style and tempo to what he is use to. He's also got to get used to how we want him to operate. Of course the sensible option is to break him in gently and we have the luxury of doing just that because Ryan Taylor is competent enough at left back to buy us a bit of time.

Cannot wait to see the back of him.

Ryan Taylor was very average/poor. He had his goals, but there is no reason Santon shouldn't start. This. You should obviously always start your best players. and we don't know how good Santon is going to be for us yet. At the moment, Raylor is the 'proven' and safest option... Hopefully Santon comes on and shows his quality, thus cementing a first team place.

Not really a disgrace is it? We've got 3 good results with our back 4 so far and there's no point rushing him in to action. See that Ruiz chappy today.

Hapless on debut. Might have avoided an Alfonso Alves (if our interest was actually firm) here lads.

Rooney, Dzeko and Aguero the front runners here. Will go for Rooney on the basis that Dzeko and Aguero will get rotated and rested now and then, whereas Rooney will most likely feature in every game.

Phil Jones looks the better player and it is a fantasy thread so I'd chuck £20m at him. Then because it's a fantasy I'd chuck £20m at Smalling for good measure. Heck, if this is a fantasy I'd have been happy to give Maidstone £30m to nip in ahead of 'boro and Fulham.

Just like the time we got relegated and we couldn't attract the likes of Ben Arfa, Cabaye or Santon in the 2 years since we returned. Oh, we did.

4 games into the season and Sunderland have already 'blown it' I assume we're in contention for the CL this season with that approach? We do have that game in hand...

Aye, came on eventually - for their captain. Same again today... Clatter off, Wickham on. Strange thing is, he wont start Wickham, as he says he's too young, isn't ready, etc, blah blah. But, he has been starting Jack Colback, who is only a kid himself, ahead of David Vaughan... go figure??!! Age isn't everything. Colback could easily have twice the footballing maturity of Wickham...

Really don't see how Rooney matching Shearer's goal tally looks unlikely. He's notched up more at this point in his career than Shearer had managed. He's playing in a far superior side and looks set to have a 30+ season ahead of himself. There's a risk or injuries ofc, but aside there's little else to get in his way.