Castiel

Link? Pretty audacious for Sky...

I don't understand. Neymar would be deployed as a winger or wide forward in the 433 or a second striker if the situation called for it. One of the pros of having him is he, like Messi, can play any offensive position to a very high standard. Sturridge can not.

People really need to put more effort into reading. Mike said: "I think sturridge is a good player but I don't think he has the potential of sturridge and play in different positions, so why and how do you compare?" Lane said: "i'm 100% certain that sturridge has the potential of sturridge . . . maybe even more potential . . . maybe even the potential of sturridge" It was a joke on his obvious typo, the joke didn't land, lets all move on. :P

Well our youth promoted Swansea so why not?

He personally wants to go to Europe and has said as much several times. He has named us directly as a club he's "proud to have interest from" several times, he hasn't named anyone else with the same praise. We have a strong Brazilian connection. (This point is relevant if you ask me, if you had to work abroad you'd probably be more comfortable with some friends or colleagues who can speak your language working with you - especially if you're 19.) Robinho, his friend has said that he wished he had joined us and not City after moving to Milan - but advises him to go to Spain. We have been tracking him since he was at least 16, the RM interests are relatively new speculation and Barcelona seem to be after Sanchez and Rossi - with Fabregas in the mix somewhere. That is a lot of money to spend. He's been told specifically not to go to City and he's not on Man United's radar for financial reasons. This is a nice amount of evidence to have in our favour, we're certainly firmly in the running.

Welcome aboard!

I'd rather not think of it as changing his position since LB and Left Wing are interchangeable positions; one with more emphasis on defensive ability with support in attack while the other sort of mirrors that. I honestly couldn't vouch for his ability as a winger on the highest stage because I just haven't seen it, but its just how I'd logically accommodate both of them (since I think it'd be a shame to let either of them go). From speaking to the Leicester fans, they seem to agree that he's much better going forward than in defence. Also, the last time we had a Dutch winger things turned out pretty well! :D

I think we should convert Van Anholt into a left winger and keep Bertrand as LB. PVA is very good in advanced positions from what I've seen but still shaky in defence. He also has lightening pace and the ability to cross. Since Malouda is coming to the end of his line and Zhirkov could be out (I hope not, still rate him) - the left wing is going to be a point of weakness. Thats how I'd do it anyway as I feel both players are worth holding onto.

The Shedend turns into the grand arena during the close season. :D

Maybe Roman lost Hiddink's number.

A lot of people complain that we're never discovering a hidden gem or a diamond in the rough. Didn't we pay something like £8m for him? What if he turns out to be as good as Kaka was and his value appreciates to £80m by the time he's 24? You have to take risks on these kids to find the gems, thats how it works. Take a look at how many Bebe's Ferguson has signed for every Ronaldo. Its the nature of the game I'm afraid.

Always liked him. Really is a shame it didn't work out but there's no denying he is a great striker. Came to the Prem at the wrong age if you ask me.

To be honest I've never even heard of the first two. I know Woods was loaned out to Notts County and bought from Leeds - and I only know that because there was a minor scandal over it. None of them have ever played for us any higher than our reserves though so it might be worth asking the teams we loaned them to.

I read somewhere that their may be a case of United illegally tapping up Phil Jones in the beginning which could dismantle any deal should Blackburn discover the balls to follow it up. Supposedly they were in discussions with him and his agent without the club having any knowledge of it. I can't even remember where I saw this though so don't take it as gospel, I'll try to find the source.

Thoroughly well thought out stance on the issue. Personally, I'm just here to revel in his misery.

They already do that to him in Brazil. They do that to Messi in Spain. Mental strength is part of what makes these people great players. Its always a risk, but no risk no reward.

If a thread is called "Ryan Giggs dirty little git....." you can infer what its about. Don't like it, don't read it. I don't care for threads about hurrying our transfer signings so I don't read them.

Ask them what the view's like down in 4th.

Xavi isn't going to retire yet. If I were Barca I'd wait them out and let Fabregas' contract run out. If he REALLY wants to go home, he wont sign a new contract, a bit like what Nasri is doing. If he resigns its his loss, if he doesn't they get him back for free or force Wenger to fold and sell him at whatever Barca are willing to pay.

He just told him not to join the Prem, but Neymar's own quotes suggest he wants to join the Prem. However, Robinho and Pele have named City by name as a team he absolutely should not join (its clear Robinho didn't enjoy his time there). They haven't named us or anyone else specifically to my knowledge. He could completely ignore their advice and join them anyway, but he did listen to Pele last time when he advised him to remain at Santos another year; and we're sort of relying on him ignoring some of their advice to join prem anyway.

He wont go to Man City, Robinho and Pele convinced him not to.

I think that'd actually improve them which would be a disappointment.

If ever there was a need for a facepalm....

Did the ending live up to your expectations? :D

Well G4 I said earlier that I'd take in your last comments and leave it there, and I'm going to do that now because I feel we're in danger of being locked in a circular debate on an entirely subjective issue. So in closing my stance is: You were correct in saying that Barry's statement was logically flawed. Your retort of his comment was also logically flawed. My premise: My reasoning subscribes to the belief that there is overwhelming evidence, enough to justify beyond reasonable doubt, that Barcelona rely on disingenuous tactics to win. They rely on manipulation of the officials and for this reason, they are afforded favourable decisions by the the officials on a disproportionate scale compared to their rivals. Is entirely substantiated with sufficient evidence to support it. The seven incidents I refer to meet a specific criteria, I never claimed that they were the only incidents or that they were absolute. I only claimed that they support the premise that Barcelona use disingenuous tactics to gain an unfair advantage over their opposition. The incidents which do not fit the criteria of the selected seven incidents also support this proposition, and others do not. I could list every single incident which lends credence to my premise but as you said yourself, it would be pointless and "boring." On that evidence I have come to my beliefs. That is all it is, a belief educated by factual evidence. Factual because they occurred, and they were awarded in favour of Barcelona, rightly or wrongly - and instigated by the clear use of disingenuous tactics (feigning injury/card waving/referee harassment). It is overwhelming because of frequency. So frequent that anytime there is a major ref controversy in the CL involving Barca, it features these disingenuous tactics. Many other people share this belief, and you, for one, do not. Thats the nature of opinion. These incidents are consistent and form a pattern. This is why Mourinho had his outburst, this is why we are arguing and this is why the ridiculous conspiracy theories surrounding Barcelona and UEFA are born. You can't prove a subjective case with pure logic either way - which is all I was trying to make you understand, but you can consider the evidence and form a judgement. My judgement of the evidence differs from yours, which is fine. But neither you, nor Barry, nor myself can speak in absolutes about a subjective judgement. Finally, I enjoyed debating this with you, thanks for taking the time for writing your thoroughly well thought responses and not letting it get personal. Most discussions on this topic would have descended into pure ad hominem argument by the first page.