gbandit

The thing I'm probably most looking forward to this season is seeing how the kids do in competitive games. Our midfield situation should be the blueprint for the other positions. Get 1 or 2 prospects in for each position to compete for places on the bench. I'd rather have these kind of players on the bench than a Best or a Guthrie type who are good players, but they're not getting any better. These kids might be something special and they will be ours. This, I'll always advocate trying to bring young players through. Can't stand it when you have too many filler players who will never offer anything new/different or improve much. In the Souness/Roeder/Allardyce years, this became a very common theme and it was difficult to stomach, would often look at the teamsheet and think, there's not much hope right now and in long-term even less

With Tyson on this one. I said a few days ago - tongue-in-cheek - that if football was a one-person game, Obertan would be really good. Add in defenders, having to move at pace and make quick decisions is not his forte. I was saying the other day I hoped we sold him and brought in a replacement in this window but if we do keep him, I'll always support him and hope he manages to turn it around

I think Liverpool are working towards their aim of fielding 11 midfielders. I'd be pissed off if they sold Agger for over 20m and got Johnson in on loan.

Was the £15m release clause known about prior to Liverpool's interest? Seems a bit fucked up if not, Brendan leaving and all. Either way, they can have him for that sort of money. I think he's a good player, Swansea's best by some distance but he's not worth anywhere near that and Liverpool already have too many not-good-enough midfielders

Stella's on the ropes here, if there's no source. We're looking at a knockout

He's definitely more comfortable on the left but I think Pardew loves the safety of Jonas too much. Personally, I'd be looking to get Marveaux in on the left a lot this season, even if it means Jonas on the bench. Obertan can chill.

I'm of the opposite opinion to you Kets and Cajun. I really think he'll be massively successful there and will back them for the league if he goes.

Goes to show it's a game of opinions but don't think he reads the game well at all and for last season was most dangerous when he ran very fast in a straight line. In pre-season he's certainly shown a bit more dexterity on the ball. The one thing that is unforgiveable is the way he stops once a move has been broken down- again he needs to be much more alert to his position when we don't have the ball. He's by no means the worst player we've seen in that position but I struggle to see him getting a regular game. err, I think Oakie is providing a bit of comic relief. Been one of the more useful posters in the summer break for not taking things too seriously

One of my favourite posts in a while

That would be one of those rare transfers which would be bad for Chelsea, Wigan and the player

Personally think RVP is a perfect Man U signing not that I want them to succeed but I think he's exactly what they need

If I was him, I'd be doing exactly the same. He's worshipped there, absolutely worshipped. Imagine if he got them in the PL, that's a better achievement than playing in the Europa with Liverpool and hoping to get a champs league spot with those fools. In terms of the other CL/thereabout teams: Arsenal always have an abundance of winger/pacy midfielders He wouldn't get a game at City He could be useful at Man U but I'd say Fergie would prefer to bring youth through Tottenham he'd be a great fit Chelsea will be looking for a longer term, younger player So, it's really just Tottenham, but in his position I'd do the exact same thing

would be a typical Ashley move like. Disgusting club Rangers, thank god neither them nor Celtic were ever allowed in the PL

WINDOW SALIVA SMALL FINE

The reason he looks so good is there's so much space and he can just use his exceptional pace. Put him in the PL or a competitive/physical league and he just falters. I was wrong about Guthrie and Perch but I think it would take a monumental improvement for Obertan to come through. Saying that, Perch's problem when he first came into the team was his decision making and he never showed any sign of good technique. Both those things have changed markedly, so it is possible

I don't think he'll ever be vital, he could potentially be useful, but he'd have to improve a lot. I'd have more faith in us selling him and getting a replacement in before the end of the window. I can't imagine we'd be looking to sell unless we had ideas on a replacement

We can definitely sell Obertan man, we'd use the money and we'd get rid of dead weight. Would be a great sale

I watched Obertan destroy our reserves when he was at Man U once. Absolutely meaningless. I won't believe Obertan can be a player until he performs consistently for over 20 games in a season and actually does the simple things right for once. He will also need to prove he can actually deliver on a creative/technical level instead of wasting opportunities all the time. He has the most work to do to convince Newcastle fans he has anything to offer

You an Ajax fan or Newcastle Ilsteir? I know you're Dutch, how much did you rate Luuk de Jong from last season in the Dutch League?

Class, I can't describe how funny I find this club

Aye, you'd think their previous example of Hodgson would help them out on that one but no. They're too busy YNWAing

Class from Bellamy that. Two fingers up to QPR and Liverpool is the perfect move

Would be an amazing window ever if we sold Obertan and brought in a RB and young FW

Don't know how much bullshit that is, but Sinclair isn't even top 6 standard

Dunno, I think he makes some pretty good points. I don't think it's massively negative either. Based on this window, we're obviously not going to be able to compete in Europe and the league, but as long as we put in some effort in Europe, I'll mainly be looking for us to reproduce our league form from last season. The financial side of the Europa essentially means that even if we do really well and win/draw 10+ matches, we're unlikely to bring home much more than 6-7m in TV, prize money and attendances. In terms of the long-term finances and balance, I think we're doing ok. We desperately need a RB, we also desperately need a useful, young striker. Apart from that, I think we could start the season with what we have and do really well