LDN Blue

Max I've missed engaging in these conversations with you. Hope all is well on your side!

I do, I just don't buy this fallacy of this supposed "pay-cut". If everyone here is right about that, then fair enough I'll hold my hands up to it. I just don't think that will be the case, especially looking at his representatives.

Good shout, but there has to be (imo) a place for Ashley Cole in there. Though he's moved on, you can tell how much this club did mean to him in the end especially when the rest of the world hated him. He was there defending the club through all, even Terry to the fury of the FA & players alike. Ash's loyalty must be commended, even though it's not worked out in Roma he'll always be one of us!

I see my wire transfer reached you successfully Chou

Touché. But I still would be pessimistic about the chances of that happening again.. 2-3 seasons ago this would've been the ideal signing because of the lack of any striker at the time. I just don't see the logic in this, we have Diego and Remy so all we need is one more striker to add depth. I'm not suggesting Bamford and Solanke, because I think the former would benefit from another loan. But there are surely cheaper options that will do the job, who is younger and cheaper. Probably just as able too. Do you have the link to this mate?

Call me a skeptic but I think that 'paycut' is quite unlikely. When you live such a luxurious lifestyle you're not going to lower your demands to such an extent. Which ever way you look at it, it's paying over the odds for a second or third striker that simply isn't suitable.

Really? £250-300,000/week (as quoted by most sources) plus a £45m transfer fee and that amounts to "2nd or 3rd striker"? Shevchenko and Torres. Two players that we signed for record deals and clearly not cut out for this squad, signed simply because of their name. Costa & Remy were smart signings, scouted and well thought out.. They contributed in abundance for fees not near what we're used to paying. Falcao is signing that signals name over anything, I saw a member even suggest shirt sales as a pro for this move?! If this club is paying those sorts of sums for a second or third striker then it's clearly going in the wrong direction. Sure, he could go elsewhere and become a success and we'd say "oh we should have signed him", but are we really in a position to take such a financial risk? Mourinho has said countless times how we're trying to abide by FFP, if that's true then this is a case of 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

I had a similar one, on here actually! Henderson- Rodwell McEachran

Yeah something like that perhaps.

True. Once the staff/obvious mentions are nominated, it becomes scarce. But by then you can always revert to 1 member a year via Forum Awards?

Exactly. We've finally had a good spell of smart, value for money, well scouted transfers and this one alone could undo all that. Costa, Fabregas, Hazard, Oscar have all come in and shown what smart transfers can accomplish. Ability > Name.

Agreed. I can't remember who it was, I think it was Rodwell, who said McEachran had more natural ability than even Jack Wilshere.

I was just thinking that actually There should be a set criteria (years active, post counts etc). But I like the idea of 2-3 every 6 months or so.

Look the only reason people are changing their tunes back to "We love Lampard" is because he didn't amount to much at City. They've basically had a dire season and it further exemplified why Lampard shouldn't have made this choice. Key word being in bold there. It's a shame because he could've either signed a contract and enjoyed leaving with a Premier League title or gone straight to the MLS without any questions of his reputation.

As a student of Aston in Birmingham... Go on Villa!

I imagine we'll be linked with Cavani and Aguero too at some point

I wouldn't get carried away. Didn't Borini have a similar record for our reserves?

The case of pot calling the kettle black, isn't it? Lmao.

I'm more skeptical FB. The power that Blatter has is demonstrated today, not a single mention of his involvement in this operation. Paying the right people to take care of these affairs has the benefits of deniability.. He should be accountable considering it's happening under his watch, but as we both know with corruption, it never ceases.

Well how's this for a bit of irony..

Anyone else going to be a bit pissed if he ends up going to Arsenal? It would feel like Lampard-City again..

True, it does seem like this a more attack minded squad. Lot of onus will be on Kane & Bamford.

'Raheem £ Sterling' At this rate Sterling will get more hate than when Ashley Cole did the same to Arsenal. Fair enough Cole had actually won something with Arsenal before he moved, but that's not Sterling's fault Liverpool haven't. I think Raheem's ceiling is incredibly high, it's no wonder you read that Bayern could be weighing up an offer. For the level he's at right now is incredible for his age group and if he continues to develop like this then he can be an integral part of any team. We have a need at RW for Sterling. Even if Willian was moved to AM, we'd still need a RW cover. Salah will probably sign for Fiorentina permanently and that leaves Cuadrado.

Don't think he'll play to be frank. Southgate left out Sterling, Barkley, Wilshere, Ox etc because he considers them senior players. RLC's inclusion seems like he's there to fill the numbers in the squad, hope we'll see a bit more of him though!

Am I the only one not too fussed about if Mourinho plays the youth? Stamford Bridge is going to be a massive party from before, during and after the match. Straight after that the trophy will be presented. So I'm sure our key players won't be resting when SB will be sold out & the trophy is right there. I see Costa, Terry, Dave, Ivanovic, Cahill, Matic, Cesc, Hazard & Willian starting for sure. Cech will likely get the nod for his last home match for us.