The only place to be

But you just said for Courtois to get a chance Cech has to suffer an injury (like Cudicini did). How else does he win a spot? Seriously? Do they take it in turns? It's a faulty premise you've got there. No true again. He could go to a couple of top clubs and be number one immediately. Barca is a case in point as Valdes is out of contract and it would be unlikely for them to go after Reina too. He is an established national keeper. No, I don't know that and neither do you. It's an unknowable. Do you know the unknowable? Are you tapped into some kind of Schrodinger-esque alternate dimension? Cech is one of the best, but Courtois isn't far behind. I don't think we lose anything in terms of points or progression in cups by substituting Courtois for Cech, and certainly not as much as we'd lose by having two keepers for one spot or selling one of the brightest talents in European football. You made a fairly ridiculous point that didn't pertain to the modern era or the club game - don't cry about it when people challenge your points in a fair manner. Grow up.

40 games maybe, but it's the make-up of those games. Does Courtois get a Saturday game then it's all change for the Wednesday night game? Does he keep a clean-sheet in a fantastic performance and then get dropped for the next game because it's Cech's turn? Or does he just get the small games where he doesn't have to do anything and we never see just what he can do? Maybe we just toss a coin an hour before each game - I'm not kidding. It makes about as much sense as any other selection method. Cech obviously gets heads.

International football in the 70s and 80s isn't comparable to the discussion at hand.

Again, Courtois is better than De Gea. He's more mature and more fundamentally sound. Even if you want to talk about the tough period he had, they now have an established number one. Short-term pain for long-term gain is anathema to modern supporters, although I don't expect us to suffer that. So Courtois should mortgage a career playing in the Champions League and winning trophies on the off-chance that Cech suffers an injury that affords him a chance? I'm not forgetting anything about training. I'm being realistic. The season we finished 6th in the league and were lucky to win a shootout when we were clearly the inferior team? If you say to me right now that Courtois isn't good enough for a team with aspirations to win domestic and European titles then I will walk away from this site right now and defer to your superior knowledge. If however you aren't building your arguments on that premise then you really have to ask yourself why we wouldn't go with Courtois now. Maybe we should just sell him to Barca and watch them struggle with him as their number one.

Courtois has already played more games for Atletico than De Gea had. By the end of the season he will have played about twice as many. He's an international keeper already. He's won European trophies and will have CL experience this season as well. He might also have World Cup experience. So what he really needs is to prove himself against Swindon on a Tuesday night and then maybe a CL game 6 night against Nordsjaellend before sitting on his arse until the first week in January for an away trip to Colchester. Only then will we know he's ready because we couldn't dare risk him in a league game where every point matters. The most ideal thing for the club is having ONE keeper. ONE voice. ONE leader in that position. Consistency in that position is key.

Courtois is better than De Gea, and United are the Champions of England. He didn't cost them points and having stuck with him they have an established number one. Ask United if they wished they'd had a replacement for Schmeichel - how many years did it take them to replace him adequately? Courtois is massively talented - we shouldn't refer jus to his potential. Right now he is probably an elite-level keeper. Explain to me how he wins a spot without us rotating between matches? FA Cup games? What does he do up until January? League cup games against inferior opposition? CL dead rubbers? He isn't a striker who can come off the bench and score a goal then start the next game. That's just not how goalkeepers exist. You make a choice and let them build a relationship with the team. Any decision has to be swift and decisive.

How does Courtois go from being one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, playing week-in and week-out to being the bench option for a season with just FA Cup games to look forward to? We either sell him, hope Cech lasts 5 more years and that we acquire another talent as good as Courtois (because they grow on trees) in that time whom we can loan in such a spectacular fashion as we did Courtois....Or we sell Cech and place our faith in a young man who has been nothing short of spectacular and could be our number one for 15 years. It's not an easy decision, but the risks involved with selling off Courtois far outweigh those of letting Cech leave. Can we win the league with Courtois? I think so. Can we win the CL with Courtois? I think so. Can we definitely get a keeper of his calibre, age and experience before Cech moves on? Perhaps....but bigger clubs than us have tried and failed to do the same.

I said he wasn't the most technically gifted - He isn't Kaka or Ronaldo, but he's made the most of his skills with dedication and hard work. Josh seems to be almost the complete opposite.

Nat will make it. He has the right attitude. Josh probably won't and the reason is he's basically too soft. I was going to call him a pussy, but that's unfair. He's a nice kid, but he's from a comfortable background. Lamps had that too but he worked his bollocks off despite his famous name. Drive and hunger can't be taught by clubs and we have a problem with that in this country. We have fat lazy kids. Look at people like David Luiz. Not the most technically gifted player but has more heart than some teams and that's why he is who he is. Josh has talent but he's pea-hearted.

Firstly, he's a billionaire. Secondly, why would any Russian billionaire buy a football club in Portugal? To level it and turn it into a holiday villa? Is the district line getting an underwater extension? Mikel's defence seems to be he's a good 'DM'. Fair enough, but the question needs to be asked whether our current system requires a 'DM' who was formed in the mould of Makelele and whether that type of player is relevant in the modern game. Re-watch the Champions League final before answering.

Not quite sure why we need a monthly award when we have reputation points as well. How much validation do some people on here need? Surely it just encourages people to be blandly inoffensive or just kiss ass for 30 days.

Why not just scrap it? It's meaningless as an award and nothing more than a popularity contest. As someone who hasn't been visiting much recently, then there's been one standout member who contributed content to this site in the last month that was genuinely interesting and worth logging on for. To me that makes them worthy of MOTM - if they're not winning it then what's the point? It becomes a cliquey exercise in rewarding quantity over quality - nothing intrinsically wrong in that if you're a teenager looking for validation but rather pointless otherwise.

How does one get that experience without playing in them? Fuck Everton - he'll learn more from that one penalty miss than 40 games in the PL this season.

He's a human being, ergo he is imperfect. Reading some of the judgmental shit on here makes me wonder whether some people on here have met a human before, or if it's just that internet thing of holding people to standards you yourself can't maintain. Captain, Leader, Legend...maybe. Human...definitely.

Cech is still world class. The thing is Courtois is also approaching that level and can't be the bridesmaid forever. At some point we have to decide whether we make the switch now or sell Courtois and hope we have another prospect as good as him in about 5 years time.

He got that support because he cost £50 million and we were desperate for him to succeed so we didn't look like mugs.

We have an increasing new breed of fan who want instant success and lack patience. That's just my opinion though.

Good in terms of squad depth, on the proviso that we already have a good team. We lost points las season against 'weaker' teams where you'd expect us to shuffle the deck, except we didn't have the players to do so. Hopefully now we do. It also depends on how good Eto'o actually is right now. Right now it seems like a pretty decent window but the are still a lot of questions which need answering. We haven't reinvented the wheel, but we may have acquired a few extra set of tyres.

Having seen his interviews and the way he carries himself, I can't agree with that in the slightest. In fact I think it's very much incorrect. He seems remarkably grounded, level-headed and mature. On the pitch he has appeared composed, calm but also enthusiastic. He's not the finished article but that's why he needs support and minutes. He could've gotten minutes at here or Everton - but he'll almost certainly get both at Everton. From that point of view it's a great loan move for him because the Everton fans will support him. Our fans?

Glad he's gone to Everton - they're a great club with great supporters who will give young players fantastic support. If only there was another team who played in blue whom I could say the same about.

Had exactly the same feeling he was going to get sent off as I did against Villa which was about 6 games ago. Enthusiasm is great but sometimes I wonder if he has a brain.

Benitez comments about plastic flags also had a grain of truth about it. Eto'o was angry, whereas Benitez was fairly incisive.

Does he?

Makes sense to loan him to Vitesse - I think the club is really looking to help them make the step up to Champions League football so in future our loanees have that top-level experience.

David Moyes is that ugly bloke at the nightclub who gets to 2am and just tries chatting up every girl. Take a hint dude - no-one likes you.