Madmax

Not at all; it was a fascinating read and quite insightful. I had De Gea in mind when asking the questions so your coverage of him was very welcome. Top, top post. Thank you.

Interesting. I'm curious to know - subjectively speaking, do you (and/or other coaches you come across) place more emphasis on the things done right, or the things not done wrong? Orthodoxy (Textbook goalkeeping) vs Effectiveness?

Where would you place Szczesny, Mignolet, Casillas, Diego Lopez, Handanovic, Howard, Guzan, Begovic and Hart?

I like how the RTs and favourites decrease as they go from promising action to selling players, and then pick up again when they confirm there'd be no more selling.

The irony is if you go to the first page of this thread, there were Celtic fans saying the same while we (including myself) jumped to his defence.

R.I.P FFP

+1 Another difference was that he was being played wide in 2011-12 and still managed to score 10 or so (I think) till Robbie came in, after which he hardly got a kick. With Drogba then leaving and Torres being the only 'recognised' striker, it'd have been natural for him to want a central role (one he'd been asking for while doing the business from the flank) but it never came. He was right to consider his future. We put him on loan at Bolton - he delivered. He put him wide for half a season - he delivered. Contrast that with Lukaku who did nothing at Chelsea, shat his pants at the sight of a 33 y.o coming in from Russia and then had the audacity to demand a starting place.

He's a nice guy so he won't cause dressing room problems either. Hope he moves on now, preferably to Spain.

I fancy a last minute loan swoop for Ola Toivonen or someone.

lolwut

No way would Hulkamania run wild in Manchester, brother!

Another layer of paint on a Chevrolet that's missing an engine .... Interesting to see what happens with the whole third party ownership quagmire seeing as it's banned in England. A post explaining Falcao's complicated contract situation --> http://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/1e8ncw/explaining_the_falcao_move_to_monaco

Sky's deadline day page is reporting interest in Cech from PSG.

Is it true our away support sang 'Chelsea reject' and 'Fernando Torres, he's better than you!' the other day?

Now that's the sort of backward pass we can all get behind!

One of the few players who that 'Not a good scorer but a scorer of good goals' cliche applies to.

Wouldn't happen had Costa been British. Coleman is painted as the 'honest lad' while Naismith was described as an " honest blood and nettles" (or something) footballer by Peter Drury (hate him) on commentary. It went something like "Well you can have your multi million pound strikers like Costa but Steven Naismith, an honest blood and nettles free transfer from Glasgow can also do the job"

Haha. My favourite scene in the movie is when the taxi driver drops Harris off at the training ground and says 'You're shite!' before driving off.

Meh. Gavin Harris is where it's at.

I meant more from Sinclair's POV. Just checked his numbers and he's played 19 league games in 2 seasons .. a little ambition never hurt someone.

Guardian are running with the story of City trying to sign Falcao for £55m by making room with disposing Richards, Negredo and Sinclair. Side note - wtf is Sinclair still doing at City?

So the injury had nothing to do with this, then? That we bought Matic and played Luiz in there on a few occasions shows the manager realised pretty quick just how underwhelming Lampard- Mikel-Ramires-Essien were. Without that injury he could very well have made one spot his own. He needs minutes so it's probably for the best. Oscar and Ake can fill in for injuries/suspensions. Hopefully next season we're shot of Mikel so he can come in. I really want him to make it here.

Spurs are so wank. Sterling with a Torres like finish at the end of a Messi like run.

Boo hoo. If Coleman wants to dish it out, he should be prepared to take it on the chin when some of it is served back. Martinez in his time at Everton has always struck me as a bit snarky and back-handed towards Mourinho and Chelsea, so this doesn't surprise me.

Harsh to put that down completely on him as it looked like him and Azpi had a breakdown in communication and the latter wasn't aware he'd been fed the ball.