leffe186

I'm expecting him to be gone. There is a general consensus developing (1) that Joe Lewis has given us a loan to spend that is not affected by Bale (2) that Bale is probably going anyway (3) that if Bale goes we will try for Lamela. And presumably one or two others. It's all fucking nuts.

Still absolutely no idea if Bale is staying. Looks like it's all dependent on Real putting the money together.

Just ask David Moyes - that fixture list is the price you pay for being top of the league.

This. I feel like West Ham is a horrible-looking fixture for you right now. A side you should expect to beat at home, ex-players and manager, probable aerial bombardment and lots of wing play.

...which iirc was £8M. I'd be happy to take that for him, given who seems to be joining us.

Like this idea, but Levy vs Ashley would never work. That could be a goer tbh, he's been underwhelming. Can't see him going for less than what he cost us though...

All those starred ones are loans and appear in both lists. Still canny if this last batch works out, mind.

If there's one thing the Bale saga should have taught us, it's that people make shit up all the time. I'd be fucking ecstatic if we got 93M + Coentrao, and then brought in Willian and Lamela, but until it's actually happened then it's just flannel.

Is this actually true this time? Can't get onto my Spurs forums and am stuck on my phone boxing up my house. 93M plus Coentrao would be fucking magic if we get Willian and Lamela.

Fuck me, lads. Even i'm considering switching this off. This is scary.

Exactly my fear. Don't know how any amount of pre-prepared outrage could outweigh the oceans of Gooner tears.

I was 23, playing Super Mario.

I would laugh and laugh and laugh. After our CL campaign, where they kept saying "ha, you'll never get past this round" all the way to Real Madrid, it would be so sweet. Arsenal-mania would be a delicious substitute for the waning RAWK.

Yeah, the "gentleman's agreement" is my gut feeling. I don't think it's actually conditional on getting in replacements, although I think that in Willian and Lamela that's exactly what we're trying to do. There are a couple of schools of thought - that's one, another is that we're spending the money right now having agreed to sell him next summer, another is that Joe Lewis has thought "fuck it" and given us a wodge of cash to spend. I think the gentleman's agreement is the most likely - although calling Real Madrid gentlemen is pushing it a bit.

Neither Dembele or Paulinho are DMs... Yep, and it didn't work great with just the two of them yesterday. One will naturally look to hold, which neither is great at. Dembele and Sandro were natural complements. The line-up above, with Dembele and Paulinho forward and one of Capoue/Sandro holding is their best bet. We can't work out why AVB didn't start 433 tbh, although it's early days yet. I agree with VI. We're a bit flat and dull, although by the same token we're not going to lose many games. Very similar to last year, only with better players. A 433 with Bale/Willian/Chadli/Townsend either side of Soldado would be enough, and both Sandro and Capoue are eminently capable of holding the team together while Dembele and Paulinho (or whoever) push on. It just looks like Sigurdsson isn't quite what we're looking for. If we get, say, Willian in I think that's effectively confirmation that Bale is leaving. There's no way we can spend the kind of money we have otherwise, surely? At least the fuckers gave us a penalty this season.

Hopefully therre's more to come tomorrow.

Oi!

I fucking left Podolski in as well as Luiz, silly sod. Really should have checked it last night . Ah well.

Only if someone doesn't play at all and it depends on the order of subs you set. He would be expected to be subbed on if Luiz doesn't play in the second game this week. Mint! Mignolet, Johnson and Toure. Almost makes up for Liverpool winning. Almost.

Sooooo...because I woke up late today I left Luiz in and Toure on the bench. Do they do the sub automatically?

Except that every single FF team in the world has Mignolet on it. No need to hurt my feelings, man. I was trying to spare your feelings - I know how sensitive a man you are.

Except that every single FF team in the world has Mignolet on it.

Yeah, forgot what I hated about FF. I've got almost entirely detestable players in my team.

That's absolutely brilliant. Thank you for finding it.

Yep. Southampton and Middlesbrough's academy players have consistently been recognized at U-21 level, for example.