labibs

If Hernandez does play tmw (I hate this Chicarito thing. His name is Hernandez, why he should he be called anything different?) I think we will be badly exposed. Imagine him up against Jaidi in a sprint!

I don't think so no. I just don't think we are consistent enough. There always seem to be a Tranmere or a Brentford result waiting for us around the corner. Assuming Lallana isn't out for several months, I would still expect us to get 2nd place though. Which will do for me. Really not that bothered about winning the league, just don't want Saints to be playing in it next year!

I don't think there is a team outside of the premiership who could afford to turn down a £10m bid for one of their players (QPR aside). It's crazy money for a 17 year old with 20 odd games under his belt. I would much prefer to deal in the Summer, but if someone actually chucks us £10m up front I think you have to take it. That could fund us getting out of the championship next year (if spent wisely and assuming we go up this year)

I agree, James Richardson is an excellent presenter in general. Give the Guardian's football weekly podcast a listen for a few weeks, his 'laid-back' style works excellently on there.

What if a team had three keepers at a club and they were all injured? Would they not be allowed to loan someone over the age of 21 as a replacement? The agreed fee clause means nothing, the club could just choose not to exercise their right to buy. I agree, situations such as Man City are laughable, but there are a number of times when the loan market can benefit both parties (E.g. if a player is just coming back from a major injury and the club loan them out to get match fitness back). You're right, it used to be banned to loan from one prem club to the next, but the big teams quashed it as for their young players it was better for them to get premier league experience rather than Championship games (E.g Wilshere at Bolton last season, or Cleverly at Wigan) It does annoy me when you see teams where seemingly the majority of their side are on loan, but this is often only a short term gain and makes it difficult for a club to build and develop players for the future

The lad at Rochdale, Dawson? West Brom bought him and immediately loaned him back to them for the season.

You really think Bornemouth will be better off without Howe? If he does go, then surely they will fall away. A bit like us when Strachan left, or Burnley once Coyle jumped ship. They may still challenge for the play-offs, but I wouldn't back them. If he does go to Charlton, will he be able to turn them around quickly enough to be a real force this season? I hope not! Be interesting to see if he goes back to Bornemouth for any players.

This. Liverpool's priorities in this transfer window are a left sided player and another striker, neither of which is AOC. They are not rolling in cash (particularly as they have no CL this season and barring a miracle next season as well), so I cannot see how they could justify spending enough to entice us into selling AOC, ths window. Put it this way, if you were a Liverpool fan, would you be happy with them spending the majority of their transfer budget on an unproven 17 year old with 20 odd L1 games to his name? It could be that Commoli thinks they can do what they did with Shelvey and pick up AOC for £2m. In that case he is in for a big surprise

I am absolutely delighted with this! Been in the pub straight from work and have come back to this news. Great stuff! Real statement of intent from Saints as well, I guess Lallana must have been given assurances about progress and future intentions of club or he wouldn't have signed. Get in!!!

Didn't they also sign Findley, the American striker recently? 10 strikers at the club and Davies still moans about not being backed on transfers! Can't see the Lambert move happening, doesn't make any sense to me

Can he play wide? If so, then this to me would indicate that Puncheon is indeed staying at Millwall and he is his replacement, particularly as Adkins has repeatedly said that he would have to rest AOC at some point. All speculation based on Brighton's bid being turned down of course!

Thought he had a decent game today. Finishing could have been better, but his calmness in the box for his assists were great. Definitely an asset in this league, particularly when we face teams who will park the bus (which we will) Think he got 2 assists today, if Lallana hadn't hit the woodwork, would have been three. Why complain?

The hundred push ups site looks interesting, thanks for the link. I've never really done any weights or strength work at all. I do a fair bit of running (miniumum 10 miles a week) but am keen to to build myself up a bit. I'll try this as a base and see how I get on. It'll be a long time before I am getting near this work out though!

I too backed it on saturday. I also backed Burton Port in the Gold Cup, thought they were both going to come through for me! I agree, definitely one to watch.

If Puncheon does well there and Millwall look to keep him, how much do you reckon we would get for him? Does anyone know how much we paid for him? (think it was officially undisclosed?) With regards to Holmes, I doubt he would have been on big wages when he joined us. He was going nowhere fast and I imagine he would have jumped at the chance to join a CCC club at the time. He may have signed for a modest (by a footballer's standards) basic wage and large appearance money. Not quite a pay as you play, but I doubt he is on big cash.

Some cracking racing today gents, with the likes of Imperial Commander, Master Minded and Zaynar all back in action. Anyone got any fancies? I think I'm going to take on IC with what a friend (was my intention before pricewise tipped him honestly!), probably James De Vassy in the race beforehand

Finally picked this up this weekend. Won league 1 with something like 113 points. Signed Smithies and then just relied on loans for the rest of the season. Was feeling good about my championship campaign, then Cortese went and sold Lallana to Wolves above my head! £1.8m. He's given me £2.5m plus wages of £150k for a midtable finish, which I thought was decent. (I have shifted a lot of players out though, so was massively in credit on transfers) Managed to bag Steven Taylor on a Bosman and got John Sutton from Motherwell to add some more firepower up front. Have Kakuta and Delph on season long loans as well. Watford went down and went into financial meltdown, so managed to get Scott Loach for a bargain £150k! Got Man Utd as a parent club and been offered Bebe on loan for the season. Is he any good? Everyone in football is after Chamberlain. Already knocked back bids from Man Utd and Man City.

Surely he doesn't go to the gym? With that gut?

At Saints, I remember seeing Ferdindand have a storming game for Leeds. He didn't even get out of walking pace and had our whole attack in his pocket. Other than that, last year a few of us went over to Milan for a few days and we jumped on a train to Genoa to watch a Sampdoria match (Inter v Juve at the Meazza, couldn't get tickets). Cassano was ridiculous, just miles better than any other player on the pitch.

I'm really enjoying this new version. It's a lot slower, but I like that. In previous versions, pace was everything and some games were a bit kick and rush at times. Now I feel that you need to create opportunities a bit more and earn your goals. Definitely not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction. It's just really fun to play (which is kinda the point)

Last season I would have said Lambert. Based on the way the two players have started this season, definitely Lallana. As others have said, he will go on to play top flight footy at some point. He is far, far too good for league 1!

Good day so far for your tips Frankie!

I suspect Koren would want wages far too high. West Brom let him go as he wanted too much (in that they would prefer to spend those wages elsewhere) and they're in the prem! He could easily get a move to a top flight club in France or Germany or Spain. No way would he come and play in League 1!

I'd have thought Adam Jonhson would definitely make their 25! (he would have easily made over 20 appearances had he been there all season) I would imagine that all of those players listed would go to clubs at higher than L1 level though. It would never happen, but someone like Michael Johnson would be a revelation at this level.

I think it will have two effects. In one way, it will limit the amount of young english players clubs will send out on loan, as they will need them to fill their squads to meet the homegrown quota. In the longer term, it will probably make clubs think twice about signing a foreign player, given that they need to have a certain number of British players in their squads. It might serve to push up the price of British players even higher though (a la James Milner). As for Saints, could be interesting. I would imagine they have players in mind and are waiting to see whether they make the 25 or not at their club. I agree, at least one marquee signing would really give us a boost at the start of the season.