ponsaelius

The thing with cliches is they are often an exaggerated version of the truth. The Prem is utter pap for the most part, I have no doubt about that. Didn't miss not watching it regularly one bit last season. Conversely I watched La Liga and Serie A consistently. Far more absorbing leagues imo.

Strange one. Guess it was Warnock's decision though, good luck to him, he did well for us last season so thanks for that.

Keep the optimism coming guys. It's refreshing

Did they say One-Size was the new QPR captain?!

He was always signed as back-up. If Carroll and Lovenkrands had both got injured, we would have needed Best to score goals ... Third choice in more ways than one. Only arrived when Beckford and Moses didn't sign up. Moses would have been a brilliant signing in hindsight imo. I forget he's only 19.

Watch us offer like 20% of his wages

I love Hughton btw, I think he's done almost everything spot on so far. (Except sign Best).

Smith started 33 games last season. Around 33 too many tbh.

Cool Your jets. The club is being run on a shoestring and the chances of us landing a flair player of genuine quality on loan are very slim. Not impossible but remote. Arfa might prove to be a great signing but ignoring the lack of apparent competition for his signature isn’t big or clever. All things being equal there’s probably a catch. Wondering what it might be isn’t negative, it’s realism – and we all have to be realistic nowadays don’t we? My grudge is the fact people will find anything to complain about. Said poster is trying his hardest to find any faults in this signing rather than looking at the positives. It's been a while since we made a signing of this ilk and I for one are gonna be pleased about it (if it comes off) rather than just mope about it. The fact of the matter is we're just over a week away from the start of the season and haven't strengthened at all (Gosling and Sol out for the start of the season, Perch looks shat) - the fact we may now actually be adding a quality player is not something to get down about.

Nasri and Benzema didn't get into the France squad. Would you take them?

Fucking shit this. Hughton's a cunt, signing these poncy foreign players with pedigree rather than keeping our current squad. I'm pretty skeptical about this to be honest, I reckon he could start picking fights with the entire squad and ruin our team morale. What if he doesn't grow facial hair with everybody else and they take umbridge about it? I'd much rather we took a gamble on somebody who hasn't proven jacksh*t in his career but plays for one of the big four. Why is nobody else signing him if he's so good, we should be competing with everybody else rather than looking for sneaky bargains under other teams noses Hope this doesn't mean Smudger will be forced out of the team. Or captain Nolan for that matter. Shit signing. MASSIVE gamble. [/Taylor27]

Shit. 3-0.

Why did Sunderland choose Welbeck over him? Hell why are Birmingham looking to buy Charles N'Zogbia when they can get this guy? Where are West Ham, Wigan, Stoke, Blackburn? Like I said, why not wait 12 months before deciding whether this is a good move or not? I'd be delighted to be wrong. You've got to be an elaborate wum.

That actually sounds really good @Beren

Cleverley and Wilshere are not being loaned out, Welbeck has gone to Sunderland.

Seriously, fuck off. You're ridiculous

I just disagree. I could give you countless examples of foreign players failing in this country. We play different football but it's certainly not worse IMO. Of course it's f**king worse. The British blueprint is why we got mullered at the World Cup and played off the park by the first decent team we come across. Take a player out of a team in Spain and hoy them in a team in England and they'll struggle to adapt (for example Borja Valero), but put a lower English team against a lower Spanish team and they'd get played off the park. They're technically and tactically streets ahead of us. There's a reason why we've only won 1 out of the last 25 Uefa Cups (or equivalents), our middle to lower teams are so far behind the top echelons. I think you have confused English footballers with the English premiership. Spain's national team (Barcelona) is excellent but that proves nothing. We need to nuture our youngsters better yes, but that has nothing to with the standard of our league. No. It's a footballing culture that manifests at every level in England. Have you watched some of the crap in the Premiership recently? It's technically inept players playing hoofball for turgid, tactically backward managers sticking with simplistic 4-4-2s for two-bit nothing football clubs. The bottom of the Premiership is a clap of horseshit, and because of that I remain some modual of confidence that we can survive. I can comfortably watch any game in Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, Eredivise and comfortably say the enjoyment levels are streets ahead of what I'd get from watching some drivel fom the Premier League.

The Premiership is so drastically overrated. Beyond Newcastle this season i genuinely couldn't be fucked with the rest of it. It's turgid for the most part.

Taylor27 you're taking the fucking piss with this transfer like. Honestly, what the fuck do you want?

I just disagree. I could give you countless examples of foreign players failing in this country. We play different football but it's certainly not worse IMO. Of course it's f**king worse. The British blueprint is why we got mullered at the World Cup and played off the park by the first decent team we come across. Take a player out of a team in Spain and hoy them in a team in England and they'll struggle to adapt (for example Borja Valero), but put a lower English team against a lower Spanish team and they'd get played off the park. They're technically and tactically streets ahead of us. There's a reason why we've only won 1 out of the last 25 Uefa Cups (or equivalents), our middle to lower teams are so far behind the top echelons.

Atleast it would put and end to the inane transfer speculation.

La Liga dross would destroy Prem dross tbh. Same goes for Serie A. There's a reason Diamanti went from Serie B to West Ham's second best player last season. Lower teams in the other leagues are streets ahead ability wise.

With the dross we've got, so he fucking should.

I think we're gonna be offering him total freedom in this team to be the playmaker tbh. He'll see us as a platform to perform and earn a move elsewhere. Shame in that way but for us in the short term it's excellent.

Think him (Ben Arfa) starting behind Carroll is definitely the way forward like, but even so, atleast we should now have depth in wide areas!