Hodgson for Chelsea

Well I suppose that's that. My opinion is that 6.2 mill even in today's market is inflated. His true market value is 4.5m IMO. We are paying more due to this sell on clause which is Birmingham's problem not ours. Couple that with the lads past and this leaves me with reservations. Hope I'm wrong and he follows Crouchie into the England squad but I really, in all honesty don't see it somehow.

I hope I'm wrong but I think we are making a big mistake. Not convinced this lad is an LFC player.

Fair enough re Rafa's comments. Didn't they only buy him a year ago for 1 million? Not fussed about Pennant though, but we'll see.

I've decided I'm not interested in Pennant. Bruce is a t*t BTW.

Or be without one of our central targets come the start of the season. Thats the choice and IMO I'd rather buy him than sit down counting how much money I saved by not buying him.

Just pay them 12m and get him. I'm sure the bank will extend the overdraft till Cisse gets us a fee.

Does Gonzalez hug the touchline or does he drift in? I've never seen him play but if he stays wide we could balance that with Simao. If I had the choice I would want Simao over Alves and Pennant, personally I've been really impressed with him when I've seen him play.

Apparently he was waiting for a pay off before he left. If that's true it's a disgrace as he never justified his wages at any time he was here. Glad he's gone. Rubbish.

Who does own the copyright?

Me too. Not too fussed about reebok generally.

I was thinking he might be worth a go - but he could be a disruptive influence (not that I know him all that well or anything!). Good target man to get on a free.

I have been really impressed by the change in the way we handle transfers. Really felt we were paying way over the odds under GH. So far we have Bellamy for an absolute snip and are obviously not going to let Sevilla take the p!ss over the Alves fee. I thought at the time Crouchie's fee was too much but I think in hindsight it was justified by his performances. Also we were not prepared to let Baros go for a cut price fee. We desperately need a right winger though, I'd love SWP but Chelski wont want to deal.

Scouting young players and picking them up for nothing is finished. These days a decent young player will have 6 or 7 agents knocking on his door from 12 years old upwards. Just look at Chelsea paying United for that Nigerian lad. It's ridiculous. Even the young players cost big bucks these days - look at Theo Walcott. Of course we'll probably unearth 5 or 6 quality local lads in the next few years but it doesn't mean the signings we make will come cheap be they young or old. The top clubs need to sustain the crazy expense of players fees and wages and the only way to do that is expansion of the brand.

I don't think he was the type to win league titles but will have to agree to disagree! I don't have a problem with Parry/Moores but then I know sod all about what happens behind the scenes. What I'd say is that they were brave to bring in GH and ruthless when it mattered to bring in Rafa. Rafa in turn was ruthless eg. His replacement of Jerzy and his refusal to pay over the odds for Mo, opting (it seems) for Bellamy instead. We're not doing badly IMHO.

Without getting drawn into a who's right who's wrong: 1. You are correct in that the cruciate is not going to DIRECTLY affect someones speed. 2. My point was the injury WILL affect his speed, not necessarily as a direct result but a a secondary. As Daniel Taylor states in the Guardian: "Owen could lose some of his pace which, for a player who relies on sharp bursts of acceleration, must be a terrifying prospect. "

A cruciate injury can potentially cut a career short. Especially when you look at how reliant MO is on his speed (no pun intended). Hope he gets well soon but as someone else said it's time to move on.

I have to agree with this. Owen loves the club and was an amazing player for us. So what he went to Real and didn't become a martyr in a team going nowhere under Houllier. Carra said at the time don't blame him because it was a fantastic opportunity but some ppl want to be childish and hate him for it. I'd welcome Michael back with open arms because he is class.

Buy David Villa.

Legend. A game I feel we would have won with him in the team was Benfica at home. He can be mentioned in the same breath as Jocky and that is the highest compliment I could pay any centre back.

Exactly. I wish more pundits were like him. He made some great comments about Crouchey during the barren run and his advice came from someone who has been there and done it. We'll see what happens on the weekend but you have to respect someone who gives their view in such a balanced way as Quinn. He's wrong though