youlots

6/4 on for the chop now - draw or loss to Villa & he's gone and if they win he also has to beat the toffees thereafter to survive.

lovely stuff, lovely footballer, lovely man.

mmmmm....I have to say that's a complete spoilt asshole of a comment. How have we f**ked up exactly? You don't say do you? Is it because we we're meant to pay ludicrous sums for pogba & stones? Yes or no? Cech has really fixed things for Le Arse hasn't he?!? And you feel that we should keep all our youth on the books do you so that all of them should not have the opportunity to play week in week out?!? And you have information do you that we weren't tracking pedro before the window and/or feel that because we lost the last game that it's all down to him?!? If I was your Dad I'd give you a kick up the arse, un-plug the modem for a month & command that you watch millwall matches for the same period.

You scientist you!

BQ - a very good start. I was once asked this question at school by a teacher & answered something along the lines that it said it on the pack - that totally flummoxed him.

The thing about this thread is that it really poses more questions than it can answer. For example, how long is a piece of string? Answers welcome.

Yeah - in all probability it'll be Spain. And yeah - very over-rated on the basis of what Juve allegedly want for him. But, of course, the player's worth when that player is adjudged to be the emperor's new clothes is usually if not always out of kilter is it not? What did Real pay for Bale? $80 mill odd wasn't it or thereabouts? Now has he been worth it? How long is a piece of string? Arguments for & against on that one you'd have to say. Was Zidane worth the transfer record at the time? You probably have to say yes to that one based on what Real then achieved. Is Pogba worth as much as Zidane? Who could honestly say at this time? I doubt it but who knows? Great media click bait & all a game of shadows isn't it really?

yet another hefty & salient contribution to a thread from you...good of you to inform all of us of your current state of mind.

mmmm....not sure whether your affectations or desires (of what ever nature) may have a bearing on the situation. Usually I'd ask for particulars concerning such a claim but in this instance....kindly desist.

hehe....the pogba thread...as usual, lots being made of us making various bids & Juve holding out for much much more. Claims & counter-claims abound. Always rich media click-bait. None of us on here know the exact truth & the whole truth of what our bid history has been for this player or where it currently stands & let's face it - Juve holds all the cards here. Good midfielder coming into his prime with what, a year left on his contract? On the assumption that there's been some collective interest in prising him away from Juve over the last 12 months by the usual suspects including us, it seems to me that the following salient points should be made: first, I strongly suspect that much of the information concerning our purported bids over say the last 2 weeks has been leaked/concocted by Juve themselves as opposed to being an accurate reportage of the "dealings". Why? Because it makes eminent sense: from Juve's perspective they either sell him now to the one suitor (being us so it would seem) for as much as they can get or, failing that, wait until January to see who comes knocking. Secondly, they must strongly suspect that others will come knocking at that time & that one of those suitors will be Real - especially in circumstances where same will be dependant upon how he (who cannot be named) "beds" in with the Real squad & how that team performs over the next 4 months in La Liga. In consequence of those reasons, and if I was Juve I think you either hold out for a ridiculous figure from us now or, much better, wait for the dutch auction on the player to occur in January which may involve 3 clubs possibly more & in which case you may get as much if not more from the winning suitor. The upside of that gambit is obvious & as well Juve has the player for a further 4 months in which to assist it to a healthy start to Serie A & to assist it to get through the Group stages of the CL. The downside? Real, Chels, PSG & (insert others) have good/very good/outstanding starts to the season whilst Juve doesn't & no-one comes knocking or, more likely come knocking but for a much reduced price/s. That scenario is however unlikely. If I was Juve I would hold out at present for an astronomical deal for the rest of the window. If I was making the decisions for us I wouldn't be too worried about not securing the player. We have only recently become self-sustaining, we have a stadium to build, we have some current problems in other areas (namely defence & attack) & we have had an "indifferent" start to the season. Based on that (and unless one is of the view that one player alone could solve our current problems in other areas) I don't feel that we should be trying to land this player at the moment.

it's the same person....

feelings no doubt aided by the fact that the character he plays in it is a supreme c**t.

deary me....one of the greatest film treatises on the sheer pointlessness of war. Can but slowly shake my head at such a myopic reaction.

There you go everyone, our new midfielder! And still with almost 2 weeks left in the transfer window! Now who says we've been tardy this window?

Apparently he had a pop at the hospital staff as soon as he was delivered.....

Yes -the salient issue. We can but speculate of course but I feel sure that Roman has probably matured enough footballing wise to acknowledge that the next couple of years may be a bit unpredictable results wise but that Jose is still the best choice to see us through this period. And so I like to think that the 4 year deal is a recognition of that.

Agree with this & I feel that it was a hangover after Swansea. In/after that game it may be the case that there was a collective realization/reality check by our players that the route to winning games - even as against the mid-level teams is going to be that much harder again this year. Sure, we only had 10 men for a fair amount of that match but even before that we had looked vulnerable in defence as we did even in pre-season & before pre-season. It must be a bit of a worry for Jose - our rather stolid, slowing & predictable defence - given that his hallmark has always been to build teams from a defence up. Midfield wise as well we look stolid & entirely predictable - the over reliance on Hazard to spark something etc - teams are now set up against us to mark him out of the game & if done successfully our other midfielders often seem in two minds as to what to do & as how to engage with each other. If that doesn't change then I feel that we are in for a long season. A lot of posters commented after games at the back half of last season at how out of sorts Jose seemed to be during matches. I feel that that was because he knew all of this about our defence & midfield last year as well: that is that we were slowly being overhauled & I feel that it made winning the title that much sweeter because we were able to do so despite this fact. And despite our limitations Jose was able to instill enough discipline & purpose within the team so as to grind out the results & of course we were also helped by the fact that City didn't seem to have the collective desire last year. For the last few years of course they have had by far the best squad with match-winners in every position. The big surprise last year was that given their undoubted quality that they didn't challenge & frankly win it again. So what do we take from all this apart from the fact that we're deficient in midfield & that our defence is not what it used to be? I feel that Jose has a large task in front of him in renewing confidence & purpose in certain players while at the same-time he's going to have to freshen up the team with some experimentation. That marriage is going to difficult: last year we had a pretty settled eleven but that existing idea I feel has to be shelved with this team now. In many ways all this was inevitable & this season is going to be a lot more interesting for us supporters than last year was because of it. Bring it on Jose.

very good post Davey & and at least to me an accurate summation of the psychology of Jose: he has always struck me as having many similar qualities to the fascinating fictional characters of Kurtz and also Sutpen (albeit with a much healthier dose of humour than either of those). my only cavil: can you stop posting posts comprising a series of one-line paragraphs ? When I see them I react like Kurtz: 'the horror....the horror....' etc. ;-)

mmmm...looking forward to the presser more than the game...took a poll too did you? I mean really. By the way having just watched it he didn't strike me as remotely miserable or angry....so I guess you must be disappointed. He said that he makes mistakes in the presser - he is human after-all. Now that the pantomime has run its course perhaps we can all get back to the football.

^ yes...the english panto in full swing...now if only kev was still with us as well....oh well...we can't have everything I suppose.

bit confused now Syd: are you saying that this "JLC" comprises members that have been rejected by Jose at some stage?

hehe....she's been dismissed from her employment has she? If not, where is the constructive dismissal - has she resigned? Take it from me who's done a few 'constructive dismissals' in my time before the courts - buckleys....

mmmm...abra - just let me say that you're a stalwart on here who is valued & I'll always read your posts & most of the time I agree with you regarding various issues that crop up. But not on this. I think the first point to be made is the foul on Hazard - let's be objective about this - it was a pretty innocuous body check - no more, no less. Given that, I don't think you have to have credentials from John Hopkins to understand that he wasn't injured per se. Sure, he may have fallen a bit awkwardly but really....to launch into a tirade, as you do, regarding the possibility of heart failure etc etc. You're not usually prone to exaggerate the case so why now? As far as he ref is concerned - surely you must recognize that they are instructed & trained to signal for the medicos either because of their own concern for the player's welfare and/or because (which is usually the case) they are under an on-going stipulation from the FA to 'keep things moving' in a game. If that means signalling for the medicos then they will invariably do it. It seems to me that in so far as the material ref was concerned his signal was motivated by the latter was it not? Now in those circumstances, I agree that the medicos have no choice to attend to the player - which they did. But in doing so - what should their reaction be once they attend on the player? I would've thought, quite naturally, they ask him what is wrong. If Hazard can't say because he is winded then it becomes pretty clear immediately what the problem is. At that point the medicos should be telling the ref that in their view the player is winded & that their is nothing they can do & that there is no point taking the player to the sideline. Now the ref in that situation has a clear choice - does he motion the medicos to take the player off regardless or does he just give the player 30 secs or so to recover sufficiently & in doing so not penalize the team for having a man down through no fault of its own? The reality is that during the incident, the player over-reacted, the medicos over-reacted & the ref over-reacted. It was a combination of all three. Then Jose over-reacted on the sideline but I can understand his frustration. Later he should have demurred to the question asked of him in the press conference. But he didn't. Eva then over-reacted by using social media which is a big no-no. It's an unfortunate confluence of events. But, in saying this, these things happen from time to time. It's all a bit of a storm in a tea-cup really. Not very well handled but....in the scheme of the bigger picture hardly worth the endless theoryrising & endless doom laden projections is it?

this thread is becomingly increasingly lounge-ist don't you think?

yes - not completely irrational, but I feel that some are reading a bit too much into all of this & that it may be best to give it some time.