Davvo

This is where the seeming reluctance to go for higher earners doesn't sit well. I understand the need to avoid the Joe Cole's of the transfer market, but the kind of mentally tough leaders we need tend to want paying big. Who's a realistic target ? I have no idea, and our final league position will likely have some impact on that, but we need 2 smart, experienced but not necessarily too old, leaders. Think Hyppia and Gary Mac in their prime, who and where are they ?

On that point it could be very interesting to see who is targetted, ie whether it's BR's known quantities, or those suggested by the scouts/analysts. In terms of a budget, I think there will be money there from what we've saved in terms of debt payments, increased revenue, reduced wage bill etc. I'd expect circa £30M net if FSG have any ambition, yes.

It's not about the transfer fees, but rather who they are spent on, something our club is a shining example of in the last few years. If the policy continues to be youth, with relatively lower wage demands, and good resale value, then things are unlikely to get any better. There needs to be balance to the transfer policy, it's like anything in life really, throwing all your eggs in one particular basket is rarely smart. We need a dominant CB and CM, regardless of age/wage, and a couple more quality forward players, minimum. I'd throw the bulk of the transfer pot and wage pot at the first two.

I'm still very much behind BR, and feel positive about the future despite the recurring backward steps, but it's hard to argue with that right there. LVG and De Boer were the linked names that excited me the most that's for sure.

It seemed very much at odds with what Werner was saying though didn't it ? I seem to remember lots of discussion on here about that at the time, either way the impression from Werner was of more than a couple of new scouts. All points back to the question of just how competent these guys are at running a football club, of following through on their plans.

The point being made though, was that they spoke of a structure with lots of experienced, important people, with Rodgers being just the first through the door. There's no way they were talking about a couple of scouts from City, or if they were then we are in really big trouble. I'm not convinced the DOF idea had been abandoned when they opted for BR, but more that something or someone else changed their minds, whether that was BR I have no idea.

Yet they spoke of it at the press conference introducing Rodgers.

And rightly so, it was a steaming pile of horses***.

Most of what I've read in this and the match thread, doesn't reflect what I saw as a fan.

Would you be calling it a pisstake if we were playing Wednesday then Saturday, or Saturday then Tuesday ? 2 clear days between games is plenty, and happens loads. The club obviously have no issue, as it's us that moved the Swansea game forward FFS. Moaning for moaning's sake here.

The fact we're playing in Russia shouldn't come into it, that's just unlucky. As for the Monday/Thursday business, some other club's fans were moaning about this a few weeks ago and I didn't get it then either. There's a bigger break between these games than there is Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon, which has been the norm since midweek games began. We also chose to bring forward the Swansea game to Sunday, so can't complain about that either.

That's pretty cool. Says as much as you'd like about Jamie, and this club we all follow, that keeps us all hopeful of future good news.

f*** off eh.

Careful, that culd be construed as a comparison.

I thought it was just a case of people slagging him off for his ramblings since he retired, don't remember him being anything other than one of many well thought of hero's ?

BT Vision.

Will be tough to find a match in terms of approach I think, but aslong as it's a team that likes to pass the ball, he should learn. Watford or Palace if they come up would be good. He'd excel at any side that comes up, but some of the other high flying championship teams are pretty physical in their approach, experience would still be good though I think. He's more likely to get a regular start at a promoted side too, or maybe somewhere like Southampton or Reading if they stay up. An extended long term contract, and a year's loan, would definitely give him the chance to develop more than he's getting now. I suspect we will bring in at least one new face for the midfield over the Summer too.

I'm really not sure all journalits need to have an agenda/angle. It's fine having a motive for an article, but until you've uncovered all the facts there's no problem being open minded, especially in Sports. Most UK newspapers are unreadbale these days, whereas the overseas ones I read tend to be full of much more objective, and enjoyable writing.

I only ever read half a dozen or so of his articles. At least 4 of them had a dig at Carra, a couple at Gerrard, all in the year or so after Rafa left. I found he tended to have 1 decent point, spoilt by rambling around in an attempt to display what he'd learned in creative writing lessons, in every single sentence. The point often got lost in this rambling, and the inablity to avoid slagging a couple of people off at every opportunity. Comes across as a bit of a snide c*** to be hones, though I avoid his articles completely these days, just can't take to his style.

My link No desire to link to his articles, but this tells you enough. Doesn't seem much like fantasyland to me.

Henderson's the last person I'd be leaving out, on account of the fact he seems capable of running forever. Johnson, Carra, Gerrard, Agger, Enrique, Lucas all need resting for one of those and it's better Zenit so they are fresh for the Swansea game. As much of a machine as Suarez is, I'd want him being protected there somewhere too. We don't want too many people playing Thursday night in Russia, then Sunday afternoon back here.

I would play our strongest line up in the 3 home games, send a weaker team to St Petersburg with a good tactical plan. Perhaps, considering the Internationals, you might rest one or two of the strongest XI for this one, and send them to Zenit, but only those you know will recover 100% for Swansea. reina johnson-carra-agger-enrique gerrrard-lucas Borini-Henderson-Downing Suarez and for Zenit reina Wisdom-Skrtle-Coates-Downing Allen-Henderson Coutinho-Shelvey-Sterling Sturridge Sturridge then replaces Borini, and possibly Coutinho replaces Downing, from the WBA line up for the Swansea game. Might be tempted to switch Lucas/Allen and Sturridge/Suarez.

According to BBC live text, made a couple of saves around the hour mark, presumably thinking he'd have more shots to save/let in before the end. Half a dozen attempts after that either blocked or off target. If true, that kind of sums up how s*** our season was.

Outlet is the perfect word. Pace, good first touch, great to have wide when we're playing a little on the counter. Yes we can do better, but he's been decent and useful recently.