Odear

So if Shearer had been sent off back when Neil Lennon head butted his boot, would we have called him a thick cunt? It was dumb. But that David Platt from Corrie lookalike playing for Spurs is a complete scumbag. He was going into to headers and throwing elbows all game and getting away with it. I'd have wanted to break his ankle too

I just hope that this is purely a lack of cash situation and that the objective is for mid table safety and then next summer to invest way more. If Rafa can be patient enough can we be? If Ashley does what happened to Keegan there would be a revolt. The loyalty is purely with the manager.. we would turn our back on the club (while Ashley remained) if he were to fuck Rafa over causing him to leave. We've done the Pardews, Kinnears, McClarens etc... there's no going back to that.

We should haggle them down to 4.75

Im not worried about GK, and we won't be bringing in any CB's better than what we have. Merino will be starting now the next few games.. I think the problem position is DM, Hayden showed his inexperience at the weekend. Didn't impose himself at all. We can't have a full season of that.

Cracking free kick, otherwise Hoffenheim have been good. That Wagner fella looks a solid alternative to the likes of Das Bost.

Your conclusion might be right but your premise is kinda strange. The premise being that I'm not devastated that he's signing for us?

Not at all, I just think it's strange that out higher profile signings haven't worked out or to be frank, have been a load of shite. I'm gonna judge this guy by hiwbhe does for us. Thinking less of him off the bat because he's a cheap transfer is flawed logic when seeing how our more expensive ones have done.

Think he'll do alright for us this lad. The majority of players who've done well for us have been in the 3-7m bracket over last few years. 8-14m haven't fared so well apart from Cisse in his first half season.

Our midfield offers no protection to the back 4, Spurs were playing right through the middle for much of the game which was worrying. As classy as Merino looks, he's not that type of player, if anything he could replace Shelvey in the team (hopefully). We still need to bring in a proven DM to be able to cope with the season.

Explain yourself.

There's blame with Rafa here for this too.. he works with this cunt day in day out. Positives to take from today too.. if he's not badly injured LeJeune will do well and mostly Manquillo has been impressive. Got stuck in a few times.

Mariner.

So if we need to change things, who do we change? Mitrovic would make us more solid but less of a threat, Murphy is an unknown quantity. If I was a gambling man I'd take off Richie for Murphy. Ayoze at least looks fit. Gayle could break down at any moment though

That fucking ref. If that was one of our players making that tackle we'd be down to 10 men

Fuck.

Am interested to see this now. He seems to have gone into individual mistakes. Strangely, I think sacking Allardyce was one of the best snap decisions he made, although he probably sees the benefits of a manager like that now.

People were also slagging me off for saying no ta to Michy Batshuayi during the summer. He looked class today didn't he.....

Love the man. He sees the potential of this club and is prepared to try and extract it from a not so ideal situation and of course, in spite of its owner. He's the man of the people this club has missed since SBR. All the misery of putting up with fuckwits like Souness, Roeder, Allardyce, Kinnear, Pardew, Carver, and McLaren have been worth it. Even if he only stays one more season, he'll have taken this club out of its cesspit despite Mike Ashley's best efforts.

Wonder what the timescale was between him agreeing our wages and Chelsea popping up ? To be fair I've seen a bit of him over a few seasons and he's average. I'd much rather Elliott or even Darlow. Missing out on Caballero is nothing to be bothered over. Rafa needs to bring in a striker. Ashley's interview could in fact help him. If clubs think we're skint, they won't be asking for over the odds for players they want off the books. Assuming we have some sort of budget left..

Well nobody saw this one coming. Rafa has been a busy little beaver at the managers conference obviously. Great squad upgrade on Colback. Am becoming quietly confident of a decent season now. A striker and goalkeeper and we'll be set.

I can't see it bursting though. Tv money is massive and super rich sugar daddy billionaires keep on spending. The bubble will only burst for those that get relegated if they've over spent and needed future Premier League money to cover current costs, and nobody will ever care about them when it bursts. Not for every club no, but there's definitely a few minnows who have been living beyond their means for a few seasons now. Everton are not a minnow but how deep do these pockets go of their new owners? The money they have spent on wages alone this window has been mental.

Generally when Rafa has told a player he's surplus to requirements it's just before he brings someone else into the fold. The only time this hasn't happened is with the GK position, which i am sure he will move on before the season starts.

The whole thing is a bubble. From the TV revenue to transfer prices and wages. Ashley is also the ultimate shark when it comes to capitalising on bubbles bursting. He's treating this like any of those high street stores he gobbles up. The second these big spending clubs start to realise they can't afford what they've done this summer, he'll be there like a buzzard.

Still hope he stays. Unless we bring some truly class player in who will guarantee 20+ goals in a season. If he plays enough he will score his share.

But surely Rafa can see how bad the pile of s*** that is Colback is, surely ? aye, made him captain Let's hope that's just a gesture by Rafa for a player leaving