Odear

Batshauyi looked like a clumsy oaf when he came on yesterday, i'd pass on him. Carvalho would be a coup. All the media coverage so far is most likely agents trying to sniff out a club who'll pay the asking price, we've always been a go to club for that sort of thing. I could see us paying over 20m+ for a player this summer.. but over 30? I doubt it.

We will loan him back to the mackems on deadline day. And they will be grateful.

He's more than good enough to play for any of the top 4. The only thing is the top 6 clubs mostly all have very good players in that position. Therein lies our chance.. assuming Ashley would approve a fee like that, which would undoubtedly smash our transfer record. (which is still set by Michael Owen?)

If we sell him it would be a good indication that he's looking to bring in a centre back.

If anything I'd have said he was more like a Brazilian Matt Richie. In Rafa we trust.

My obsession with the club has come back with a bang since he took over. I can't stress how cynical I'd become with year on year of utter shite and shite peddlers associated with the club. It was like a bad relationship that was soon to end. This is like Keegan except less on emotion and more on reason. Benitez didn't stay at this club to manage a mid table side. He means business.

He seems to be have been linked to pretty much every PL team for the last 3 years. Can't say I've seen much of him - is the fact no-one has bought him yet relevant in any way? Not at all, he's only 25 and been improving year on year. He doesn't score much which probably gets him overlooked. But in terms of reading the game he's in the same ball park as Kante.. except taller and stronger. Basically an intelligent player who will get stuck in and win the ball back more often than not, make the right choice in terms of running forward with it or passing quickly.. whatever will lead to the team being on the front foot in the opposition's half. Can pick a pass too.. not quite Cabaye (or Shelvey) but not far off. Can he do it in a faster league? That's the gamble... would cost 20-25 million which could be peanuts if he had a similar impact to what Kante has done since he came here.

William Carvalho mentioned AGAIN. Silly season but can ya imagine having that beast in the midfield

Hope that's the back of him.. I suspect there's more to his sudden departure.. perhaps he got wind of an investigation and decided to remove himself from the spotlight.

Regardless of who they hire as manager, can any of you see them coming straight back up??

THIS. The two seasons before and the three seasons after he joined Arsenal he was an absolute colossus. For us though, Woodgate was the man.. probably the only time we've signed a top center back in his absolute prime. His debut against Chelsea was something that will stay in the memory for a long time. We made the right call in selling him though, sports science wasn't quite there yet and he was broken. Plus in hindsight, we were about to go on our shite managerial ramble into the wilderness so he would have been wasted with us.

You assume there was money to pay him off with.

It was toxic from the beginning almost. He had a job for life at Everton and his stock has fallen sharply ever since. I don't feel sorry for the mackems at all but wouldn't wish what we went through on anyone.. and their situation is probably way worse at the minute. No money to spend with a useless squad. It's grim

he also needs to find the ability to shoot,score,head and control a ball. unfortunately these won't ever come as he's f***ing useless, he'd be the first out of the door for me All of this arises from his lack of pace imho.. he never goes clear on goal because he's not quick enough, he does however win his fair share of headed balls to link the rest of the team. He doesn't get enough chances on goal generally whether it's his feet or his head because again, he's too slow.. most of the defenders around him simply get there first. He's not had an easy first two seasons with us, and to come from a team where he was banging the goals in to a league where pace is everything, his confidence in front of goal must be shot at this point. There's a proper center forward in him somewhere and I believe if he shed a bit of weight and found an extra step he could be very good once again. At the very least he's a good option to have to come on and unsettle any team. The lad is a beast. You don't need pace to have finishing instinct. Robbie Fowler wasn't quick, neither was mackem striker Kevin Phillips. That's Mitrovic's biggest drawback, he's not good in the penalty box. With respect, your argument is flawed. While Fowler and Phillips were both excellent players, the standard in the PL was considerably poorer back then in terms of how teams were organised. He needs to improve a lot to warrant a place in the team, we can all agree on that. The only real debate is whether he can or not.

he also needs to find the ability to shoot,score,head and control a ball. unfortunately these won't ever come as he's f***ing useless, he'd be the first out of the door for me All of this arises from his lack of pace imho.. he never goes clear on goal because he's not quick enough, he does however win his fair share of headed balls to link the rest of the team. He doesn't get enough chances on goal generally whether it's his feet or his head because again, he's too slow.. most of the defenders around him simply get there first. He's not had an easy first two seasons with us, and to come from a team where he was banging the goals in to a league where pace is everything, his confidence in front of goal must be shot at this point. There's a proper center forward in him somewhere and I believe if he shed a bit of weight and found an extra step he could be very good once again. At the very least he's a good option to have to come on and unsettle any team. The lad is a beast.

Good bit of business!

If he could find a yard of pace he'd be a threat to any team, definitely could afford to lose a bit of weight. So it's a simple solution for him if he wants any success with the team?

I photoshopped this on, which took me a few minutes and it's a far better job than whoever leaked this new thing leaked today. Firstly they used a jpeg of the fun88 logo instead of a transparent png file.. as the white behind it is a different shade. Keep in mind that pretty much everything that's published will be "photoshopped" in some way. But this today is amateur.

Fernando in, Colback & Diame out. Am sold on that. Mangala? Any better than M'Bemba? They'd cost easily 25m between them as well considering City spunked a fortune on them.

Fantastic news. Rafa's quote is class.. "enjoy your summer" , he's not making a big deal out of it. Ashley's statement is far more interesting.. as he really had no reason to comment at all, or the club for that matter. My take on it is that Benitez was well aware of previous managers who may have been promised this or that in private and then it never happened, so to avoid all confusion i'd say he requested that Mike make that statement. It basically means if he goes back on it, Rafa has an cast iron reason to walk and take Mike to the cleaners. He's a shrewd man is wor Rafa!

Yep, if he has a good stint with us, like at least 4 or 5 years (preferably longer) there's no reason why we can't be making a go of getting into the european places. Won't happen overnight though. Mid table to top 10 would be a great achievement for next season. We'll kick on year by year though so how high we go will solely depend on how long we can keep him for and also how much Ashley backs him by.

Excellent news. Give the man what he wants. He's got it all planned out.

It's funny how things work out sometimes

As exciting as signing 8 players would be, it doesn't make sense to write off half a season trying to gel them into the team. I'd be happy with letting a few go and signing maybe 4 proper quality players. We need a proper defensive midfielder.. someone who can let Shelvey get on with what he's good at. Assuming Matt Richie will be first choice, we need a solid left sided midfielder. Another striker and then maybe a left back. Then have a look at it again in January.

Thank you Rafa