bluedave

I like the players AVB has brought in to Tottenham and overall they should be stronger than last season but I think you might be giving him too much credit. Of the outgoing players, the two most significant players (Modric and VDV) to leave had been keen to move on anyway. Most of the other outgoings have been out of favour or bit part players anyway, so I don't think he has had to put his foot down too firmly, yet. The only surprise (to me) was making Dawson available for transfer, but it looks like he'll be staying at the club for now. I just hope Porto continue to mess them around so the Moutinho deal falls down, like they did with us and Hulk.

It looks like Man City's comings and goings have been largely like-for-like so far. Their signings will add a little more strength to their squad, but Sinclair is no Hazard (or Kagawa even). Pleased that the Sturridge rumour has gone quiet, hope it stays that way Liverpool sign Dempsey instead.

According to the BBC- "We've been given word from Arsenal that, as things stand, it is unlikely there will be any major arrivals before the transfer deadline." I was sceptical anyway but I'm glad to read that because Essien can still do a job for us.

Essien to Arsenal is interesting. It's nothing more than speculation at the moment but, if it did happen, I could see that being a move we regret later on.

So it seems Liverpool have actually made a bid for Sturridge on loan now, a proposal that has no apparent benefit to us whatsoever. I'm disappointed that we didn't reject it outright and are (supposedly) even open to idea. If Danny does leave then it would be a sh*tty way to end a great summer for us in the transfer market. I don't believe there's any substance to the Schurrle rumours considering their manager has stated publicly that Schurrle definitely will not be sold in this transfer window, and he is contracted to them for quite a few years.

The Schurrle/Sturridge rumour came from the Mirror and has no basis in reality. Chelsea are not in the habbit of loaning out important squad members.

Skimming over the Arsenal board this statement jumped out at me (grammar corrected): "They've wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on flops or managers in the meantime, and have nothing to show for it despite titles (and no, it's not always just about trophies)." DESPITE titles... it's like that lot have been brainwashed to be forever satisfied with mediocrity.

The last season of Dexter was a major step down from the previous seasons, I'm hoping the new one will be a return to form. I'm quite enjoying Better off Ted at the moment, pretty good comedy about life working for a massive hi-tech corporation.

Don't know where this story originated from so not sure whether to take it seriously or not, but Fenerbahce would be quite a step down for him. It's one thing to agree on a transfer fee, but whether the player would want to go there is another issue. He said in pre-season that he wants to fight to win back his place in the team so, if there is any substance in this rumour at all, I can't see him going along with it.

There is no news here. The Mirror have fabricated this story as a knee-jerk response to Rooney being left the bench against Fulham. "United are said to be preparing the groundwork for Rooney’s departure, with next summer the likely date for him to go" 'Said' by who? Usual tabloid BS.

If Defoe and Carroll are not good enough for Tottenham and Liverpool then they're not good enough for us. Also Carroll would seriously cramp our style. The Mirror were linking Sturridge to Liverpool months ago, claiming that he is "unhappy with the prospect of more bench time as a wideman under Roberto Di Matteo", but of course there were no quotes or anything else to back their claim up (much like now). Since then he has said: "I've been waiting for the opportunity as a striker since I joined Chelsea and hopefully this season will be the one where I can show what I can do there. The club has bought very well,†he added. “It’s important that we have players like Hazard who can make something happen out of nothing." So I don't believe he wants to leave. As our only real alternative to Torres up front he will get plenty of games this season and he will know this.

City lack bite without Silva and Aguero, and with Suarez and Borini Liverpool don't have much bite to start with. Not the most entertaining of games so far, although the scoreline is probably to our benefit at the moment.

I'm delighted that Torres is no longer the "Torres, the £50m flop" whenever his name is mentioned in the media. Great team performance yesterday but Torres' contribution was the icing on the cake.

I'm looking forward to this, it should be a good exhibition match and winning it would provide a further boost to the squad's confidence and morale. I can understand how some people can regard it as unimportant though as it's basically the European equivalent of the Charity Shield.

Really impressed by RDM's team selection. Not many people would have started with Bertrand and Meireles but turns out he got it spot on, again. Meireles showed exactly what he brings to the table today and was solid along with Mikel in midfield. Hazard was class again but Torres would be my choice for MOTM.

I think we're good for players now, assuming Moses joins. We've got good cover in all positions and some bright prospects out on loan. If we sign anybody else it should only be a special case, we'd be stupid to turn down Neymar for example if should the opportunity arise to sign him.

I've never watched him play properly, but a Spanish international for that money seems like a fair deal. Apparently he can also play in midfield, has a good right foot and puts in excellent crosses so he should be a useful alternative to Ivan.

Yeah it's on Sky, late kick off I think.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4498786/Stars-quit-Arsenal-and-win-44-medals.html I know the Murdoch's are Satan spawn and that article is basically the newspaper equivalent to a troll post, but I loved their choice of picture!

Based on recent performances, Ramires and Cahill out, Sturridge and Luiz in. While I think Mata has played quite well, I think it makes more sense to start with Oscar in a 3 man midfield with Lampard and Mikel. -----------------Cech----------------- Ivan------Luiz------Terry------Cole ----------------Mikel---------------- --------Oscar-------Lampard----- -Sturridge----Torres----Hazard-

I think Cantona was the same, probably just that typically French laissez-fair attitude (although Hazard isn't French he's as good as).

I can't remember the last time I was as excited about a new signing as I am about Hazard. 21 years old now, imagine how good he'll be in 4 years time!

Bit lucky with the result but we played some lovely football at times. Very exciting to watch, not least because we looked like conceding every time Reading went forwards. I'd start with Sturridge in place of Ramires against Newcastle, and maybe Oscar instead of Lamps.

Moses, plus that right back whose name I can't spell. Together they'll probably cost half of Hulk's transfer fee.

The Romanzo Criminale TV series is good, I actually preferred it to the film.