Hughesy

Absolutely convinced that if you looked through Lampard's catalogue of goals, you would find goals of that calibre in there.

Generally in a far worse team too. Didn't Lampard play a fair few of those games for West Ham?? Gerrard - 475 games for Liverpool, Lampard - 429 for Chelsea.

I wouldn't say that Gerrard is renowned for his speed or ability to beat players. I would say Lampard has better vision, is more intelligent in his use of the ball and the way he timed his runs, and was a better/more effective passer of the ball than Gerrard.

As in he's seemed to make a good career out of being a limited player? I think you are underestimating Lampard a huge amount in your analysis. I am not sure on what basis Lampard is a limited footballer - there is a huge amount more to his games than long range shots as you seem to imply. It would be a bit like me saying all Gerrard does is run around a lot (usually ending up in the wrong position), play long crossfield 'Hollywood' balls to the opposition full back and put in a few hard tackles (usually bordering on two footed).

Lampard has always been a more intelligent footballer than Gerrard in my opinion.

Yep - I would say that Nolan was a fair bit more overweight than HBA. I'd also say that Nolan's weight issues were often discussed and criticised on here. That's not my point - my point is whether Nolan was fined by the club for it and it was used as a reason not to pick him. The answer to that is that it wasn't.

Not the best example perhaps, but compare Elliot to someone like David James and the difference is laughable.

Yep - I would say that Nolan was a fair bit more overweight than HBA.

What sanctimonious shite. Better make sure no-one smiles on a plane.

That just says that his club want him to sign an extension, doesn't mean he will. Supposedly Liverpool are after him or Remy and so are we according to Ryder. We won't get either. Keep reading that article so that the words 'used' and 'poorly' are adjectives. Puts a new spin on it.

Why? They've the same squad as last year with their foreigners having had the year of adaptation and a better manager now? I just think that the teams around them have all improved a fair bit. Man United will be much better this season, as will Arsenal. Anyway - was more of a general musing really. I am not convinced their squad is that well balanced and it will be interesting to see how well Pochettino gets on at a bigger club, given that everyone seems to overlook the fact that his managerial record pre-Soton isn't exactly stellar.

Definitely reckon the squad is good enough to finish ahead of Southampton. The manager is the major weakness. I will be interested to see how Spurs get on this year. I can see them having a fairly poor season.

I think we should let Colback leave.. he's been a good servant.

Indeed but we both know Shola shouldn't have even made it through the academy. Really…?

Twitter quotes from that guy who was/is a director of football (think he had been at Monaco but before Riviere): Tor-Kristian Karlsen ‏@karlsentk 4m Very much looking forward to seeing Cabella in the PL, quality player. Though slightly surprised Newcastle are set to sign Rivière as well Tor-Kristian Karlsen ‏@karlsentk 3m Rivière is powerful and quick, but never struck me a likely target for a club aiming to finish top half. Hope he proves me wrong

How much would Doumbia from CSKA Moscow cost? I assume too much.. Would the same apply to Rondon?

I'd be very very surprised if we end up signing Riviere and a more proven striker. I can't see Ashley agreeing to have Cisse, Riviere and Other Striker on our books if a) we have de Jong who I am sure they see as a potential striker in a crisis and b) we end up playing a 4-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 variant. Would be delighted to be proved wrong.

Remember watching him play for Napoli on BSkyB when they had Italian football before C4 had it. Trying not to come across as an arse (genuinely not the intention), but how many games do you think you saw and (if you don't mind me asking) how old were you? Maybe 15 over 2 years and I'd have been 21 or 22. Cool.

Is Beckenbauer and Cruyff informed enough to make that decision? Because none of them think of Messi ahead of Maradona or Pele. I suspect better placed than us! But you would definitely have to factor in the potential for bias for players of that generation to venerate players around in their era. I have to say that I do find it odd that in nearly every other sport, performers have generally improved - but football appears to be different. There's absolutely no reason why this should be the case.

Remember watching him play for Napoli on BSkyB when they had Italian football before C4 had it. Trying not to come across as an arse (genuinely not the intention), but how many games do you think you saw and (if you don't mind me asking) how old were you?

People still won't have seen anywhere near as much of Maradona as Messi. I mean - not even close. So I not 100% convinced that people are as well informed on Maradona and/or Pele as they might think.

I know I shouldn't even engage... but who is the French centre forward from Auxerre?

If you ever watched Fantasy Football in the mid-90s, you would know that Pele was shite.

In the four years between 1982 and 1986, Maradona played 125 games for his clubs, Messi has played 211 since the last WC. Of those games, 7 of Maradona's were in European competition, Messi has played 43. For goals in that period, it's 68 for Maradona and 227 for Messi. Good advice for any future player wanting to be called the "best ever", just really turn it on at a World Cup instead of knackering yourself out by becoming the leading goalscorer for one of the world's greatest clubs. Stat on twitter saying that for the last 8 seasons, Messi have averaged 49 club games per season. Maradona peaked at 36 club games per season.

Remy, but there again i find it highly unlikely a CL club doesn't come in for him. It really doesn't seem like there are many other options though, unless we start to spend £12 million plus. Which seems unlikely.