Punk77

I'm not sure about that. He's made some mistakes in the past, like fooling around with certain women. But all players who have worked with him say he's a nice fellow and that he is a skilled manager. According to some reports he was treated as s*** in Soton. He must have seen it as a blow not being a manager in PL, since he probably feels he got the competence to do it.. He was out of a job, and suddenly MA comes along and offers him one of the biggest manager jobs in PL. This is probably a make or break job for him. If he fails with Castle, he will probably never be offered a PL-job again. In other words, I'm pretty sure that he will not be doing the same mistakes, behavior-wise, again. And he's already shown some humbleness to the job. In particular, he's been very respectful about what a great job Chris did with the club..

He has developed more in Wigan yes. Let us all hope that they're relegated. Or do we want to pair this nutcase with HBA?

Those things will never be as exciting as Ben Arfa accelerating through 3 defenders with the ball at feet. Sad but true. *Goosebumps.* His acceleration is just stunning.. One touch and he's past. If the defender has no security, he's FOBAR 9 out of 10 times..I pretty sure that Enrique will take his game to another level too when he plays with HBA. Now way he's leaving us. No way!

When God (Tiote) and his son Jesus (HBA) start to play together again, Enrique will become one of the latter's apostles, praying tens of holy Ben Arfas each night before he goes to bed, praising God that he's allowed to play with a footballer of such magnitude.. I think seeing Ben Arfa and Tiote on the pitch together is actually more exciting than the second coming of the messiah. I will probably have serious doubts about my heterosexuality that day. I vote for a change of this thread's name by the way..Since Tiote by this forum is sanctioned as God, I think it's reasonable that HBA as his son is baptized accordingly. After all, in my bible his home second coming is the 26th of February.. So everybody in favor of Hatem Ben Arfa - The Messiah, say aye!

But what your suggesting would turn us into a highly efficient little club. You seem to think that the advantage we hold over other clubs in revenue and stature will always be there no matter what. Mirror West Brom over the next 10 years and we'll end up very much like West Brom. The main point is that one of the reasons why we've ended up in the situation we did, was because of lack of strategy and hurling money at mediocre players. That MAs is walking the path of frugality now, doesn't necessarily mean that he will be on that stroll forever. I think 80s point, and mine too, is that by getting control on the salaries and the general economy now, will put MA og Castle in a very strong position in the future. As soon as Castle is able to stand on its own feet, MA will plow some of that money back into the club, investing more in players etc. And if we are able to stabilize around a european spot, the stadium could built out and filled with ease. There are few, if any clubs with the same potential, and I think MA know that. That's why he's setting up a sound foundation now. I think that is an ambition of intent. Spending money need not necessarily represent ambition as long as they are spent needlessly and without a clear plan.

I see Van Aanholt as more of a winger than a left back at the moment. Saying that, A. Cole matured defensively at Chelsea, and he still maintains his attacking threat. Could be a future like that for him, he is more than comfortable in possession. We really need someone prepared to play backup to Enrique. :po I see Van Aanholt as more of a winger than a left back at the moment. Saying that, A. Cole matured defensively at Chelsea, and he still maintains his attacking threat. Could be a future like that for him, he is more than comfortable in possession. We really need someone prepared to play backup to Enrique. w: Agree. Van Aanholt is too god to sit on the bench. I thought of him as Enrique's replacement, if he leaves. I forgot to mention that...

You had the player who was capable of pushing you into Europe but he got sold to Liverpool. Admittedly, Newcastle got a ridiculously high price for Carroll but the downside is you're going to be quoted ridiculously high figures for lesser players (at the present time) to replace him. Not necessary. First, if we go after players in the medium leagues such as Holland, we have an advantage because we're an english team, offering them the chance to perform in a big league. Thus, us placing a bid can be enough to unsettle the player. Second, the summer window is less frenetic, so we're able to play the wait and see game.

Exactly. That's why we need to buy players that will improve our XI with immediate effect, and not buying a player that will enhance our depth, but who realistically will not be good enough for the XI for a season or two. Wickham is not helping us keeping Enrique.

When we're in a better position than now, then we could use £10 mill on a talent. But right now, we need to use money on players, that are young, but who have progressed more than Wickham. Players that go right into the team, and who enabl us to push for Europe. That will also increase your chances of keeping other key players.

When God (Tiote) and his son Jesus (HBA) start to play together again, Enrique will become one of the latter's apostles, praying tens of holy Ben Arfas each night before he goes to bed, praising God that he's allowed to play with a footballer of such magnitude..

He's 17, Jenas was 19 and the 2nd most expensive British teenager when we signed him. Ipswich have been playing s**** all season, its only now in an attacking team with others playing well he's getting more goals. Most are saying up to £10m with addons anyhow, the initial fee being around £8m mark. And Jenas' price was more fair. He was older and more developed as player, and could go straight into the team, which he did. What you in reality are saying, is that just because he's english. Wickham is twice as good as HBA, and almost three times as god as Tiote. Which leads me to my previous conclusion: English players' value is generally overrated.

How can you compare those two? Jenas was sold for £5 mill, and he dominated the Championship for Nham in the season he was there. I will gladly take Wickham for £5 mill on the other hand. That's a reasonable price. But Wickham is an attacker, and until now he's bagged a goal for each fourth game. I'm not saying that the lad is not talented, but £10 mill is just too much I believe.

How many times have you seen him? None But I'm principally against using that amount on one single player, unless we have a chance on a player that OBVIOUSLY (with capital, bold and underlined writing) will make the team stronger, like HBA. We've made those mistakes plenty of times before (Owen, Luque and Boumsong= £37 mill in transfer fee alone) and that's one of the reasons why we ended up in the mess we did. I want us to spend money, but rather than funneling everything into one player, I want us to use £10 mill on two or three players, spreading the risk. If one of them becomes another Tiote signing, we've practically bought the other two for free. Using £10 mill on Wickham on the other hand, is a gamble. English players are generally overrated on the transfer market. Spend money, but spend them wisely because when you go big, there's no room for error. As previously mentioned: If we sign two players that cost £7.5 mill each, and both are awarded a £50 000 a week salary, then ALL of Carroll's money will be gone in only FOUR years..

£10 mill for a player that has just half a season in Championship ? And he will not be a finished article before in a couple of years! That an insane amount, just because he's English. In comparison we paid £5 mill for HBA, and £3.5 for Tiote. We have an attacker emergency, and cannot pay £10 mill now and hope he starts scoring in a couple of seasons. Search abroad, and we will find get the same kind of talent for 1/4 of the price. We need an attacker that will improve us immediately, an attacker which can give us something we lack: pace and clean finishing, and he must be good enough to go right into the team. Wickham doesn't fit into that category.

Van Aanholt!

Sickeningly optimistic. And you're sickeningly pessimistic

I think it's quite the opposite. They see that, but it's not certain that some players have the same patience. And we got to remember the cretins of all cretins: footballagents. They will use every bloody opportunity to unsettle a player because that will generate income through contract negotiations. And the most ideal thing for them is to unsettle the player so much that he want to change club. For all we know, Enrique's statement could be a deliberate strategy, set in motion by himself or the agent, in an attempt to squeeze the most out of Castle in the coming contract negotiations. The world know that Castle now got some money, and Enrique and the agent might try to take advantage of that. But Enrique's statement may actually be from an honest lad who wants a new challenge. I really hope he has patience and is willing to see how the summer's transfers pan out before he take a decision. I want Enrique to stay in the club, but only because he desires to, not because he's awarded a £70 000 a week contract. But that's not likely anyway under MA's regime anyway.

Hehe I know! Shotgun!

If we could get some money for him and buy Van Aanholt as a replacement that would be a good solution for me. Van Aanholt was fantastic against us in the Carling Cup, and was also solid in Championship. He won't be as good defensively of course, but from the few games I've seen, he's very good offensively, probably better than Enrique. It's the offensive passing and crossing that's hindered Enrique from establishing himself in the national team, I think.

Jesus christ. Can't people be more positive.

No, because the club now has the value of the player in cash form. Hypothetically, if someone bought the club from him tomorrow, they'd also effectively be buying Andy Carroll's value (either in terms of an available balance, or more likely reduced debts). So the value of the club need not be reduced by selling players. (Fyi, there's more to that conversation regarding possible club value outcomes following a player sale) It would of course be stupid to sell all the competent players at once, which is why I don't think I've seen anyone suggest that. But bleed it steadily, say by removing a couple of top class players per year and hoping internal development and good scouting will make up most of the shortfall, that definitely can be achieved. Of course that reasoning only works IF the team is kept as successful as before those players were sold. As obviously the value of a Football club is more then simply the value of its assets minus its debts. Trying the sell off the clubs best players every season, and replace them with more players you can sell for a profit the following season while keeping the club in the Premiership sounds like an unbelievably difficult way of going about getting his money back. Do you reckon he believes he can do that for the 8-10 consecutive seasons necessary to get his investment back?.. Would he even want to spend that amount of time slowly dripping the money back into his personal account? Surely the better way would be to try his best to improve the value of the club, through financial stability and improved performances on the pitch, to the point where he can sell it on. As hard as that could be its not going to be as risky or arduous as your suggestion. Spot on! I think he'll maximum sell one more player, but only if he's offered another ludicrous sum. Then he economical base will be solid and he will seek to generate income through getting us to Europe. And I think we have a good possibility of achieving that next season if we strike gold on the transfer market, again. And it's much easier to gain profit now because he's trimmed the salaries. In the summer Smith's 50-60 a week will be gone too. That will save us £3 mill a year or almost another Tiote..

He's been excellent actually. Made some very good and vital saves. I think his ability to sweep behind the defense has been the main improvement from Krul. The latter was at times insecure and didn't know when to rush out and snap the ball. Harper on the other hand has solved this task nicely

If anything, selling your best players for inflated prices and reinvesting that money on new talent (and repeating this for several cycles if necessary) is probably the most realistic way any smaller club has of getting up there with the big boys now. Agree..But we're not a small club. We're the biggest outside top 4. But we're "small" in the economical sense because of years of mismanagement. However, due to our economical position the buy and sell strategy could be a wise move to regain our strength. Another high-value sale and we've recovered about 70% of our debt, in two transactions! But I honestly can't see Enrique leaving us. He's a club favorite, and if he signs a new long term, he will go down as one of the greatest defenders in the club's history. As long as we stay clear of the relegation battle, and sign promising players in the summer, he will sign..I honestly believe that.

If we use your logic, O'Brien, Bassong, Bramble and Boumsong are all better players than Woodgate, because they played more games for us, which leads me to believe that you're bloody insane. But I agree that normally, one player's economical value/deficit for the club correlates with the amount of matches he plays. But when I made my evaluation of WOody, I focused on skills only, which then leaves the amount of games played out the equation. Skillwise, Woody is the best CB in Castle's history. Period.