This Charming Man

Can't remember your name being mentioned once. You're getting paranoid...

I recognise the username, though that's purely because I always imagine it must be a 6 year old and I always remember thinking it's quite impressive that a 6 year old is using an internet forum.

What were we rumoured to have paid for him? Averaged (roughly) 1 goal every 3 games for us. Not too bad considering we had Lambert scoring 30 a season as well.

Was Messi in the NPC team of the season though last year? If not, I fully understand why we passed up on him.

So why hasn't Messi signed yet?

I'd say it is. I also never said proven PL players, just players who have already shown they can do it at a high standard. All of those teams I previously mentioned are currently languishing in the lower leagues. Fulham, Sunderland and Stoke all signed proven quality players and are firmly established Premiership sides these days and have played in European and domestic cup finals in that time as well. IMO, the way to do it is to establish ourselves first, then Cortese and Adkins can chase their pipe dream of turning us into the next Barcelona.

The thought of Chaplow anywhere near our Premiership team fills me with fear. He tries hard and never stops running but nowhere near PL standard.

What about a chairman with ambition?

Classic cricket really. You have a real tense ending and the game ends in farce with nobody knowing what's really going on. Much like our T20 final win over Somerset.

Depends how big their league title bonus is, as that's the easiest money they'll ever earn.

The gulf in class between the SPL and Holland is enormous, so please don't try and twist my words. Of course I don't expect us to be signing full top Dutch international players but players on the fringes like Lens are the exact standard of player we should be looking at. Oh and Guthrie played 20 odd games in the team that finished 5th in the Premiership last season.

This. We've been used to winning the vast majority of our games over the last few seasons and some people just seem to think that will carry on, no matter who we sign. Will be a shock from some when we're losing more games than we're winning this season.

The same Swansea that everyone on here is using as our marker and prime example of why signing unproven youngsters is ok?

The Dutch national side are one of the best in the world, players at the top clubs there play in front of 40/50,000 fans most weeks for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, they play Champions League and Europe League football. Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord have produced some of the greatest players in European football. There's not much money to be had over there so a perfect hunting ground for a club like us. Adkins would agree as I believe he was on a scouting mission over there the week after we got promoted and we've been heavily linked with Lens and Buttner (though that deal seems to have fallen through).

Only if you go after Man City type rejects coming off a massive contract like QPR have done. I don't expect us to sign any decent players from England as they're too expensive. We seem to be sniffing around a few players in the Eredivisie at the moment and that's not a bad place to look. Players can be picked up fairly cheaply and the style of football is similar to ours.

You said "what kind of player", so I advised you on the "kind" of player I would like us to sign.

Can't see us signing another CM. CB, LB and RM are our priorities now. With a CB being an urgent priority.

They're not going on any mad spending sprees but they've said in the past the money is there for the right player. The bloke has been there a few years now, he may have decided that now is the time to spend a little with a decent manager in charge who can attract players.

I thought I've said it enough on here but just for you - I'D LIKE TO SEE US SIGN A COUPLE OF PROVEN QUALITY PLAYERS WHO HAVE DONE IT AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL BEFORE.

Their backer is worth around £1bn.

Not really. We'd been heavily linked with every player we've signed so far this season.

I could be here all day reeling off players I'd like to sign. That's irrelevant. As I've stated, I'm happy with our signings so far. I think Clyne is a real coup. I just want a proven CB and a creative midfielder, someone who has done it at the highest level. J-Rod could go on and bang in 20 goals, he might score 2 and be loaned out at the end of the season, it's a gamble just like any signing is though the odds are considerably shorter when signing proven players.

He was on loan at Brum and literally played a few games for them. If he'd been there all season, they may well have stayed up, you never know. After all, he was a proven goalscorer at that level.

Can you recall what 'quality' established PL players Hull, Blackpool, Birmingham, Burnley, Wolves signed? Could you please advise me of where they are now...?

Swindon have a seriously wealthy owner. They're probably one of the richest clubs in the land. He's never splashed the cash before but the money is certainly there should he ever decide to.