Eddy Chibas

Firmino is a huge player for them in the final 1/3. Looking like a 30m acquisition now, under Klopp. Nearly warrants a goal.

That's a pretty good shout. Colback should play Nicholas Mach 2 - perfect for a role as the group's village coward.

Watching that annoyed the hell out of me. And to think Ben Arfa received his lucky break (during the era of The King) courtesy of a foot injury to Obertan *Inserts Alan Pardew GIF*

Are the club and Aarons' representatives still at loggerheads over contractual terms? Shoving the lad into the loan market would be a nice way to put him in the shop window in the hope of at least securing 'a' transfer fee through a loan-to-buy agreement.

No positional awareness No pace No balance No strength/easily bullied when defending on his feet. No aerial ability - punches well below his listed height. By default his presence in the back 4 transforms us into a hoof-it first team. Iron Mike

OK, I mistyped the stadium name(but to old timers like me, Man C will ALWAYS be associated with Maine Rd !), but READ MY POST...Did I, or did I not say HBA was TAKEN OUT BY DE JONG.. Incidentally, HBA could also be inconsistent but how you have come to deduce that I was stating that in connection with the de Jong tackle, I have no idea. Tbf your whole post didn't really seem to have much of a coherent point to it, you basically trotted the "french wingers are moody" line out Mercurial 'flair' players do tend to be moody & inconsistent. It's how i interpreted Merlin's post - don't see any reference made to "moody French wingers". Yours on the otherhand was just jibberish. In short, you're a fuckwit.

"Super Al, Super Alan Pardew" It never gets old does it, and never loses it's impact? Sickening every time you hear it.

I'm hoping Steve Mc doesn't embark on a personal crusade to be known as the bloke who may unlock whatever potential this brainless chicken of a footballer supposedly showed yonks ago. My fear is the manager may have fallen in love with his pre-Man Utd credentials/resume ie Clairfontaine graduate, the youth international caps. Didn't somebody like Blanc once comment (on Obertan, what he showed at French Yth Lvl) that he lacked mental toughness & self belief. These frailties are on display at his constant reluctance to go after the fullback's jugular, and not use his speed. Aarons on the otherhand is ruthless, a tormenter - the wing is arguably the most isolated one-on-one positional battle on the pitch, and not one for gutless types who may train well (a training drill king, somebosy who effortlessly beats cones) but ultimately freeze up on match-day.

If so, then Iron Mike Williamson is the unslayable boogeyman of this starting XI.

The positives this side will gain (culminating in premiership points), as a result of paying out his contract & releasing him, by far outweighs the initial hit to the balance sheets.

And Titus had to play alongside Andy o'Brien who reminds me of Williamson. No wonder the Lascelles/Williamson pair up looked disastrous. That's actually insulting to O'brien. O'brien struggled against pace on the deck, and wasn't exactly a ballplayer, but he was decent in in the air (his clearance headers for example had some penetration), and added some nuisance value from set-pieces. Partnered with Woodgate, he looked a competant defender, and didn't drag Woody down - which I'm sure Willo would have done if paired with Woody. Comparing him to O'brien, and the effect O'brien had on his defensive partners, is disgusting.

Partnered with our 'budget' mainstay of the defense (Willo) is a baptism of fire for any young centre-half. Tough situation for Lascalles.

and he'll be in manchester this time next year Something I find quite funny about the prospect of Ashley/Sports Direct United (because of our feeder club mentality) receiving zilch if he has a break-out season, refuses to re-sign & walks for free.

11m pounds not euro Figure is incorrect, on a technicality. His point stands though add to that.... cementing a spot in a strong national team, three years (?) left on his contract so they're/PSV not exactly in a weakened position at the negotiating table, and PSV set a high bar already this summer when they sold Depay to Manyoo for 25m. PSV traditionally are big money sellers. For Unbelievable - the 'Porto' of Dutch football? You would think a figure of closer to 20m would prick their ears up. £11m - what a f***ing joke. It's such a disrespectful bid. I really do hope Charnley is sent home with histail.between his legs.

It's disgusting.

16m Euro offer to a club who plays hardball when selling. Amateur Hour, Sports Direct United style, has just commenced.

...... and PSV generally sell for big fees, and he is a 'big' player for them with quite a bit of mileage to run on his contract, and we're probably considered timewasters in the market and our derisory bids a waste of clubs' fax machine paper. And he doesn't need us as a stepping stone. Way out of our league.

Thread should also be titled "monitoring transfers & assessing potential pound-for-pound value bids"

correct me if i'm wrong but until he came back from greece he was generally considered slow and not up to the pace of the league aye? He didn't look slow to me, during his promising spell, certainly not in a Viana way. Adjusting to the end-to-end nature of the league, sure. Match fitness, or a lack of, would play a part in having a rough time intially when being expected to be jump out of the blocks undet Pardew regime. Lack of fitness, not necessarily athleticism, may have been to blame. Was this the view held by Pardoo, that he was too slow prior to his loan stint in Greece? His judgement, when applying to gauging attributes (ie Williamson's aerial power) has as much worth as a bag of dog s*** left out on a vacationing & enemy neigbour's front doorstep.

Good athlete, and his ball-control is tighter than Sissoko's. Having said that Sissoko is solid in this department when on international duty. I guess the French national team focuses on ballwork out on the training pitch - surprise, surprise. Of the current batch of midfielders Abeid intrigues me the most, in a good way. Hopefully its McClaren but he could easily have a breakout year, under a manager who doesn't punish him for his instinctive play of releasing the ball forward of the centre circle and supporting the strikers around the box - and he was burned and thrown on the scrapheap by Pardew because of this. If managed correctly Ashley has a tasty incoming transfer fee waiting.

Using Douglas' article as a quick guide. That's 11-12m we have spent on transfer fees, during June, in eight years under Ashley. Most of that is made up of the combined outlay for Jonas & Cabaye. The rest have been loans & frees. Jonas & Cabaye we activated clauses. You could say that all these incomings have been bargain basement deals, starring a club which especially resists paying the going rate for good players prior to the close of the financial year. Those accounts need to look pretty.

Woeful record, and it's a shame if this trend is set to continue considering the pedigree & success of it's current youth team. I'm very much hoping that Wenger/Arsenal can lure Musonda away from Stanford Bridge - we'll actually see a huge raw talent get to play, and given the best possible to adjust at the senior level in the top flight.

mrmojorisin75 is spot on. Sports Direct United has developed several creative ways to pretty-up the balance sheets. Keeps transfer expenditure at a minimal level. No spending (transfer fees & adding new wages) prior to July 1st. Top targets are snapped up early, often, prior to this date. Clubs are active earlier now. Always paying transfer fees in full, but will accept installments for outgoings. For a club with a sell to buy policy this policy reduces our incoming cashflow, and consequently our spending power. Factoring wages (1st year of a contract or more?) into the total cost of a potential deal. Once again our equation, in how we do business, places limitations on what we bid. ..... and course there's Ashley/The Thumb's old favourite, as revealed at Keegan's tribunal. Deliberately sabotaging deals with offensive underbidding. There's a degree of calculating in how we operate, by these pricks have no place in the business of football. Feigned incompetence?

This thread should be titled, "Jack Colback: Our Pound-for-Pound Midfield Talisman"

Plus the £5m per year wages, MA will be in dreamland Potentially a very promising move for the nation's pound-for-pound balance sheet champions. 14m received in transfer fees, not taking into account the 5m saved in wages, compared with the fraction of the incoming moneys Sports Direct United will actually put back into transfer fee outlay - because our number crunchers include wages (1st year of a contract, or more?) when pricing the total cost of incoming transfers. A Happy Dance occasion, in the halls of SDUFC, if Charnley can complete this one.