Interpolic

Could say the same about the likes of Lampard and Gerrard, which is the point he's making I think.

Aye, edited, don't get it then unless Chelsea hold more sway and had an agreement.

Bent must surely have a knock or something to not be in that squad and perhaps Sturridge not being in is connected with him playing for the U21s over the summer. Makes little sense to prefer Wellbeck otherwise. Actually fuck it, Wellbeck was in the U21 squad as well, who knows?

:lol: That's brilliant.

As things stand he's replacing a valuable first team player ffs. And Parky, why didn't Ferguson send him out on loan, it's not like he isn't fond of doing so. Think realistically where ManU are and the type of squad they accumulate season to season he doesn't have it to compete for a first team place there. Simple as that. But in our current predicament and the clowns running the club I'm thankful for small mercies. I think he's decent and has time on his side. Fair enough and fingers crossed. I still don't think we need to be signing damaged goods in the situation that we're in, but hopefully this gives us more money for a striker. I'm also hoping Barton somehow stays and doesn't cause any disruption now because we could definitely do with him in the squad.

As things stand he's replacing a valuable first team player ffs. And Parky, why didn't Ferguson send him out on loan, it's not like he isn't fond of doing so. Such a negative guy. I wasn't negative for a whole season and a half not too long ago.

You're probably not far off. People keep going on about us having to be cautious about adding to the squad because we're paying players like Smith, R Taylor and Lovenkrands substantial amounts of money which means they should apparently be in our 25. Well the players that we sign should be able to walk into the side and plug the gaping holes then, otherwise it's a massive punt and potentially another waste of a shirt.

As things stand he's replacing a valuable first team player ffs. And Parky, why didn't Ferguson send him out on loan, it's not like he isn't fond of doing so.

The point is Jon that we should be looking to push on but I'll be delighted with another 11th-16th finish as things stand.

I'm not distraught at the signing, I'm distraught at the situation and where we're heading. It's not an ambitious signing, it's taking a punt on a 'never-was' who looks to be on the way down and I think we can do far, far better. I've seen him play a few times, no more no less, and I appreciate there's an outside chance he could prove me wrong. It annoys me that we're taking the risk when we should have enough money set aside, we've had since January to think about this and also the fact that we have/had players on the books that are getting shipped out and are far more likely to get you goals and perform. I also think it's ominous that Ferguson's had a good look at him and is happy to ship him out on a permanent transfer. But as I say, good luck to him, we'll have to go with it.

Glad most are so delighted with this signing now, hilarious. I wish the lad the absolute best of luck and will leave it at that.

I'll be happy if we win a corner against Arsenal tbh. Before anyone jumps on me for that I'm joking.

I know which side I'm on you bloody apologist.

FWIW they sent me an email the other day asking me to reconsider cancelling. I'd cancelled because it was going up from £12.99 to £29.99 according to an email last year. This new one said it was actually £34.99. Brilliant bartering skills.

That would make the Bowyer and Lua Lua issues look competent, especially after we effectively sacrificed millions of pounds last season in order to have him for the first two games. I forgot about that.

Really hope that isn't the case.

I think we're going to start the season with Krul now and see how it goes. Krul's been making noises about not wanting to sit on the bench for a long time now and I think we're just about at the point where he won't put up with it any longer or he'd want away.

Not a bad side at all but I'll be disappointed if our forward line next Saturday is no better than Best and Lovenkrands. Even Ba and Best would annoy me after the amount of time we've had to sign another forward but I suppose it's about getting someone in before September 1st now.

You're an Obertan troll face.

I think he's shit mate, he's a second division manager that was out of work and we signed him on a 5 and a half year contract. He talks absolute wank and these people that saw an improvement in our performances once Hughton left completely bemuse me. I was at Stevenage, I was at Stoke. I think he'll be hated as bad as Souness and Allardyce once he's gone. As it stands I support the team, but this guy's shown me nothing so far and it doesn't help that he's an absolute wanker. If he proves me wrong then fantastic. Joey Barton proved me wrong last year and people don't prove me wrong that often. I fucking love you, you know that? I'm not being sarcastic either. Hello, aye cheers. What do you think of Gabriel Obertan?

I can't stand it man, I've totally had enough of it now.

I think he's shit mate, he's a second division manager that was out of work and we signed him on a 5 and a half year contract. He talks absolute wank and these people that saw an improvement in our performances once Hughton left completely bemuse me. I was at Stevenage, I was at Stoke. I think he'll be hated as bad as Souness and Allardyce once he's gone. As it stands I support the team, but this guy's shown me nothing so far and it doesn't help that he's an absolute wanker. If he proves me wrong then fantastic. Joey Barton proved me wrong last year and people don't prove me wrong that often.

I sense a few are saying that because you had your hopes set on N'Zogbia, and Obertan doesn't appear to be as good as him. He's another body in and for all anyone knows, he could flourish a bit more if he's given more of a chance than he was at Man Utd, which he surely would be. People are free to air their opinions about him as a player but you'd think you were buying an inanimate object if you look at some of the comments on here. Come off it man Neil - it's the fact that we seemed to have money to spend this summer which we could have used to progress, and we've signed cheapies and non-entities. Even Everton shelled out on a few fees after getting the Rooney money. It's not what I was getting at, though. My opinion is that negatives have been overblown and positives swept under the carpet. I can see that this will have been an incredibly frustrating summer. Would I be raging about where this Carroll money has gone? Yes, of course I would. Would I be pissed off about what's going on with Barton, Enrique, Nolan etc? Of course. Has it been a Summer From Hell? Well, I'm not fully qualified to say but from what I've seen, no. I really think people have swept the signings of Marveaux, Ba, Ben Arfa and Cabaye under the carpet somewhat. You have Gosling coming back who barely played last year (if at all?) and it looks like he's beefed the fuck up, so he could really develop this year. Now you look like signing someone who yes, hasn't hit it off at Man Utd, but also hasn't been given that much of a chance. After a troublesome few days, news comes that you're signing someone who could bolster your midfield and offer some pace on the wing and who knows, with some faith placed in him, could start to really establish himself in this league. Instead, it's "he's shit". That is what I find bamboozling. Before someone says this, no, I'm not sticking up for Ashley. I am however sticking up for some of the very good business you've done so far this summer which has escaped the limelight due to the Enrique/Barton etc shenanigans. Potentially disruptive? I would certainly imagine so. Fucking shit? I don't agree. As it stands we have a worse squad than this time last year imo, and I've no idea where the goals are going to come from. With all due respect to you Neil, I don't think you'd be this casual if Everton had just came up the season before last and had made similar boardroom decisions after a season of relative success. I know you're on our side but it's easy from where you're standing to be perfectly honest. Right at the moment, I'd say you have a better squad. Tiote, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Marveaux, Jonas... see how Gosling and Obertan develop... dare I say Barton as well? That's a good midfield. Your strikeforce isn't great but Ba will help a lot providing he stays fit. Yes, perhaps I can see the positives more easily but that doesn't make them any less tangible. You have a collection of good players and, understandably, the potential on the pitch is being dominated by off-the-field histrionics. From the outside (well, semi-outside), you have a good squad. The question, of course, is can Pardew retain a sense of team spirit and resilience about the squad, come a) the start of the season and b) September 1st? IMO on paper we're about on the same level now to what we were this time last year, but at that point we were on the crest of a wave. We have to hope that players like Tiote, Colo and even the likes of Jonas and Simpson take responsibility next year or we're knackered. I stick by my earlier point tbh - if you'd sold the likes of Cahill, Jagielka and Arteta this summer and replaced them with injury-prone but promising players (and had replaced Moyes with someone as useless as Pardew) then I think you'd be worried.

I sense a few are saying that because you had your hopes set on N'Zogbia, and Obertan doesn't appear to be as good as him. He's another body in and for all anyone knows, he could flourish a bit more if he's given more of a chance than he was at Man Utd, which he surely would be. People are free to air their opinions about him as a player but you'd think you were buying an inanimate object if you look at some of the comments on here. Come off it man Neil - it's the fact that we seemed to have money to spend this summer which we could have used to progress, and we've signed cheapies and non-entities. Even Everton shelled out on a few fees after getting the Rooney money. It's not what I was getting at, though. My opinion is that negatives have been overblown and positives swept under the carpet. I can see that this will have been an incredibly frustrating summer. Would I be raging about where this Carroll money has gone? Yes, of course I would. Would I be pissed off about what's going on with Barton, Enrique, Nolan etc? Of course. Has it been a Summer From Hell? Well, I'm not fully qualified to say but from what I've seen, no. I really think people have swept the signings of Marveaux, Ba, Ben Arfa and Cabaye under the carpet somewhat. You have Gosling coming back who barely played last year (if at all?) and it looks like he's beefed the fuck up, so he could really develop this year. Now you look like signing someone who yes, hasn't hit it off at Man Utd, but also hasn't been given that much of a chance. After a troublesome few days, news comes that you're signing someone who could bolster your midfield and offer some pace on the wing and who knows, with some faith placed in him, could start to really establish himself in this league. Instead, it's "he's shit". That is what I find bamboozling. Before someone says this, no, I'm not sticking up for Ashley. I am however sticking up for some of the very good business you've done so far this summer which has escaped the limelight due to the Enrique/Barton etc shenanigans. Potentially disruptive? I would certainly imagine so. Fucking shit? I don't agree. As it stands we have a worse squad than this time last year imo, and I've no idea where the goals are going to come from. With all due respect to you Neil, I don't think you'd be this casual if Everton had just came up the season before last and had made similar boardroom decisions after a season of relative success. I know you're on our side but it's easy from where you're standing to be perfectly honest.