G Richards

Anelka is a good player. As it turned out, signing Diouf was a big mistake, and so Anelka's legend grew with our fans because of what might have been. Like others, I find it difficult to imagine that Anelka would have been worse than Diouf. If he had signed permanently, and if he had stayed focused and committed, then we would have had a sensational player. But that's a big if. As it so happens, Anelka's best came when he was a boy at Arsenal. For some reason he has never unleashed his talent in a sustained way since. As for now, onwards and upwards. In Kuyt we have a player with much less natural talent, but I would imagine Dirk will deliver so much more than Anelka. Given our likely budget upturn, we can possibly be going for the likes of Huntelaar or Villa in the summer too.

We will miss Bellamy's pace. so it is understandable that Rafa has gone for pace on the flanks. Hopefully our wide men will be effective today.

We need a top notch replacement for Fowler in the summer. Villa or Huntelaar would be fine by me. We need a better right winger than Pennant. Daniel, you're a star. Step forward Mr Alves. They should be our two big signings, and hopefully we can make them with the DIC money. It will be interesting to see if funds can somehow be drawn down for January if the investment deal is all but done. Other signings: LB competition for Riise - Bale from Southampton would be excellent (unless Insua is every bit as good). RB competition for Finnan - Micah Richards. Vesatility would be added bonus, as RB might not even end up being his best position. (He may be gone buy the time we have serious funds). Centre Midfielder (better than Zenden) - Mascherano link look interesting. PS - if funds are not yet in place, then Mascherano and Neill would be a great bit of business for January.

I thought the Spurs lad made a lot of sense. (He was a bit off in his assessment of Reina, though to be fair, earlier in the season Pepe was starting to invite questions with his below par performances. Glad he's back on track now though).

Reina - is good enough. He should stay. Riise - has been part of a very good defence, but off form of late. Could do with a serious challenge. Would like to see us sign Bale. Gonzalez - havn't seen enough of him, but to stay long term he will need to give us more than the glimpses so far. Zenden - squad man. Could be replaced. Crouch - is good enough. He should stay - but as our likely fourth choice striker. If Fowler finishes at the end of this season, he should be replaced. If we have money, then someone like Villa or Huntelaar could be seriously pursued, then Rafa could play any two from Kuyt/Bellamy/new man, with Crouch offering a different alternate as our fourth striker. Garcia - frustrates and dazzles in equal measure. Probably not good enough, but at least worth keeping as a squad man. Pennant - agree not good enough. SHould be replaced if we come into money, hopefully with Alves. Hyypia - has been a great servant, needs to be replaced with dominant top class CB, especially if we have money in the summer.

Oh captain my captain! I think we are possibly overdoing the whole captain thing here. We are looking for players to step up and impose themselves on the opposition, but I'm not bothered if they were captains in another life at another club. I want talented players who give everything for the shirt. If that requirement can be met then that will do for me.

If he's not suspended I expect him to play and give his all, as he normally does. He's a professional. (No leg breaks though Lucas).

I'd like us to buy Richards. He looks to be a very good player and his speed, athleticim and versatility will make him a valuable squad man. The price will probably be £15M, so unless something has been sorted out with Dubai, it won't happen for us in Jan.

Barton supposedly has a £5.5M clause.

Rush Dalglish Souness Barnes Hansen That's the best five I've seen. Gerrard should break into the group but he has a few more years of achievement to go before he can be properly assessed. I would also agree with the Liddell recommendation, based on what I've heard (not seen). Apparently he was our best ever player, but obviously during a time before mass media coverage.

Most of the luminaries mentioned in this thread were probably better than Hyypia, but it's important to note that they played for us when we were the best team in the land. When Hyypia came it is fair to say that the centre of our defence was a shambles. I couldn't bear to look whenever the opposition had a corner or wide free-kick. The big Finn changed all of that, and so his impact on the side was sizeable. It's hard to say exactly how good he has been in comparison to some of the others, since Sami never played in a title winning team for us (fingers crossed for this year, but it is a long shot). Great player and our best centre back since the Sky generation. Best ever for us? Depends when you think football started!

Rush was definitely right footed. He was very good on his left because he worked on it a lot. But he was definitely right footed.

The Sheikh needs to build us a stadium with a roof on it. That will sort it.

Keep Xabi no matter how much money we have. Time for Sami to move on. Great player and servant for the club, but Agger should have well and truly taken his spot by next summer. Carra - possibly not untouchable. His form of last season would make him nigh on untouchable, but for me, he's only starting to get back to that now. I think Rafa will go for another CB (to replace Sami), perhaps Luisao or someone we haven't thought of. Any two of the three of Carra, Agger and new cb should play, with the likes of Paletta being further behind in the pecking order. Riise - good player but in a lull right now. Could be put under pressure with new youngster (Insua, Bale), or could be replaced with someone like Lahm if his form stays poor for too long. Fowler - should be replaced. I hope we sign Huntelaar, then it's any two from Huntelaar/Kuyt/Bellamy, with Crouch providing a different sort of option as only he can. Zenden - should be replaced (perhaps with someone like Barton). Pennant - should be replaced (maybe retained as a squad man, but I'd like to see someone better brought in, probably Alves). Gonzalez - I'd like to see more of him before deciding, but at the worst, he should be retained as a squad man Finnan - not untouchable. I'd like to see Micah Richards come in. In short, we could find room in the team/squad for: Huntelaar Alves Luisao/King Richards Bale Barton Obviously the nearer you go to the top of the list, the more immediate impact you would probably have on the first team.

Had the computer churned out easier fixtures early on, it's quite possible we'd have kept in touch at the top while we were working through the gears. If we want to win this league it is imperative we hit the ground running. No international tournaments next summer will be a great bonus. If we can somehow manage to nab second spot we will also get a longer break through not having to play a CL qualifier. Most top teams had a lot of players at the world cup, and while it was a factor in our slow start, it should not be used as an excuse.

I'm not so sure that Pennant will really make it with us. I hope I'm wrong, but I think he will be the kind of player who will look great in flashes but will never quite have the application to impose himself over the longer term. Assuming DIC investment comes to fruition, I'd imagine we'd be looking at someone to come in who can make a greater impact.

If the Mancs do win the league, does anyone think Fergie might then retire? I think he might. He will consider Chelsea's recent dominance and endless money. Then he will be mindful of our resurgence under Rafa, plus the fact that we will have more money to spend in future campaigns. I speculate that if Man Utd manage to nab this season's title, old whisky breath will retire. And their future may then start to become a bit more precarious. Loads of debt that needs to be repaid, and no guarantee of the new man taking things forwards. It will be 18-16 to us, then we'll surge ahead further under Rafa and the Sheikh to put much more distance between us.

I haven't seen a lot of Bale, but it is a big jump in standard from Southampton to the upper reaches of the Prem. Shining at international level is a bonus, but it's not the most reliable indicator for me. Much better if he could do it week in week out against top attacking talent, then we'd know what we were getting. I won't be too bothered if we get him or not, but if he is the real deal, then hopefully we are well in there. As for Richards, I would definitely like us to go in for him. He will offer top competition for Finnan (if not replace him). He is fast, athletic, strong, and has the added bonus of versatility. He would cost a lot of money (£12-15M in this inflated market) but if we have the dosh, I'd like us to get him. I fear he may be off to Chelsea though.

I'm happy for Cisse. He has shown tremendous spirit to fight back from two horrendous injuries. On a financial note, it's a sad irony that when we really needed the money from his sale (to buy Alves instead of Pennant, presumably) he got injured. Now that we can hopefully look forward to a fee for Djibril, it may soon look like small change to the men in charge.

Richards or Alves for the right side. IMHO Chelsea will get one, we'll get the other. Not overly bothered which one we end up with. Left back - I'm happy with Riise. He is a good LB, and there are other areas to change before we look at this. If the young kid we just bought is as good as we hope, he may well take the spot from Riise, but for the time being, Riise is fine. Centre back - a replacement for Hyypia. I would like to bring in someone of the quality of Ledley King. Paletta doesn't look quite ready yet, and we could play any two of Agger/Carra/King. Right mid - if we sign Alves, he should play there. If we don't, then I'd like to have Pennant playing there - as back up to Stevie G. Left mid - let Gonzales get fit and show us what he can do. If he doesn't blossom then he will be a squad man and a new player will come in, though I'm not sure who. Centre mid - replacement in the summer for Zenden. Striker - a top notch, pacy goalscorer - someonw we haven't previously been able to go for due to budget. Perhaps Torres or Villa, or maybe Huntelaar. This player will replace Robbie (who will score his farewell goal for us in Athens!)

I'm not bad - I just need to work on my live interview vocabulary.

Richards Huntelaar King

While I want us to win every game, it won't be the end of the world if we end up coming second in our group. The second placed teams we may end up facing, should we win our group, include Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter.

Arsenal?

While Momo is out I'd like Pennant and Gonzales to both play all of the games. We must find out if they are going to make the grade, and a good run of games will sort the matter out. Early signs have not been very encouraging for either playr, but I'd like to see them both get a good ten games on the spin to see what they can do. If they don't improve in leaps and bounds then Kewell (!) will once again be in favour, if he can eventually get fit. I would have thought we'd need Alves too.