The Regulator

Right, thought I'd throw my 2 pennies in since I was actually at the game, but I'm acutely aware that people may not read my sometimes overlong laboured posts. So I'll keep it to the players that played and how I thought they did:
 
Howard - Solid game, never really challenged too much by Cardiff but never really looked like being beaten.
 
Coleman - Good performance in an average game. Spent most of his time in the opposition half and made some half decent runs, but was stifled by our inherent lack of directness.
 
Jagileka - Great game. Played well, found a man with almost every pass, pushed forward when he could and looked calm on the ball. Certainly seems comfortable adopting to RM's methods.
 
Distin - Saved himself with some important defensive work but he was awful positionally. Read the game wrong at times and had to rely on his pace and power to save his errors. Not teh strongest performance by him but made up for it with his usual effort.
 
Baines - Fantastic game from him. True professionala nd convinced me in 90 minutes that there was no way he was leaving. Crossing hasn't been spot on but he can't be perfect every game.
 
Mirallas - Very, very poor. Had several opportunities to run into space and neglected to do so. Chose the wrong option on several occasions and not even a hint of a barnstorming run ala stoke being made. Needs to up his game.
 
Osman - Please for the love god let the arrival of McCarthy and Barry mean he doesn't start anymore. No sort of impact whatsoever.
 
Fellaini - Basically played as a defender. Showed a complete lack of motivation and made it obvious that his time with us was over.
 
Barkley - No idea why he made man of the match. Seriously. A good performance in parts, including some great incisive runs, but teh amount of times he tried to do too much, lost the ball and we ended up chasing back was ridiculous. Seriously guys, how anyone can say that this performance deserved man of the match is beyond me. Granted he was losing the ball in their final third as opposed to ours which is a big imporvement, but he was still trying far too hard. He looked a lot better distributing the ball and acting as a playmaker than as an attacker. Although his ability to create chances was hindered by the inferior quality of the rest of our midfield, barring one...
 
Pienaar - Man of the match. By far. First half saw a few moments of individual brilliance but he couldn't link up well enough to create a solid threat. Second half though he and Baines looked like they always used to, overlaps and underlaps, Pienaar would burst in and out of pockets of space allowing runs from 2 or 3 of our players. Everything good about us going forward involved at least one key pass from pienaar, if not a sudden burst of movement. I was in the ninian stand and second half he was in fornt of me the whole time. Everytime he got on the ball he lokoked a threat and more than once cardiff fans had to say "fair play" as he was a class above the opposition.
 
Jelavic - FFS sums up his performance.
 
Delofeu - How is he not starting? 5 minutes and gave us more threat than we had for the other 85. Superb player on the looks of it, direct skillful and put in a few crosses one of which had every cardiff fans heart in their mouth. Seriously, should start the next game ahead of Mirallas. Or at least get a good 25-30 to show what he can do. We've got a player here.
 
Kone - leave the poor bastard alone!! Kone came on and then it looked like we actually had a striker playing!!! Good first touch, good link up play, and at least he took a fucking shot!!! Jelavic on his current form is a good few steps behind Kone. Kone will score for us, he looked like Saha when fit and firing for the short time he was on. Again, I'd say he should start against Chelsea. I think we underestimate this guy.
 
 
In summary, although it was a lacklustre, uncreative and scrappy draw, there were elements and passing movements that suggest we will be playing very good football and winning games by good margins before too long. And if nothing else, Pienaar and Kone are getting way more flak than they deserve.
 
Anyway I rambled again. Yeah....sorry bouth that

The way i see it we look strong all over the park now after selling two players, one of which was never going to cement a first team place. After letting go of Hitzlsperger and mucha and neville retiring, we needed cover desperately. At first, the mad dash for 3 wigan players made that desperation look transparent. But when you look at the squad and where everyone can play, we are in a stronger position than a lot of teams in terms of quality:
 
Keepers: Howard, Joel, Springthorpe
 
Springthorpe probably wont get a game but Joel and Howard give us 2 strong keepers for the season, necessary in my opinion to create the competition needed to maintain top end performances. Joel's age also gives us a future prospect of some potential, whilst Howard is still holding his own at the tail end of his career.
 
Defenders: Coleman, Stones, Hibbert, Browning, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Alcaraz, Duffy, Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt
 
Defensively this season, I think we're going to be fine. I don't see the whole expanisve style means shipping goals ethos being applied here. Everton had one of the best defensive records last season and you don't just forget how to defend overnight. Alcaraz will prove important in terms of depth, and Stones coming through means we don't have to stress too much about the possibility of selling Heitinga. Distin isn't getting any younger but by the looks of things he can handle it for at least another season. Keeping Baines meanswe still have europes best left back.
 
Midfielders: Delofeu, Mirallas, Naismith, Gibson, Osman, Barkley, McCarthy, Barry, Pienaar, Kennedy
 
The emergence of Ross Barkley has been like a new signing anyway, Martinez faith in his maturity paying dividends so far, but the most important player we acquired was Barry IMO. He has experience that Gibson and Osman simply don't, and his all round game will add a calmness and assurance to our game. In Mccarthy, we've signed the much touted replacement for Fellaini, for a similar fee for when we took Fellaini from Liege. The key difference being Mccarthy has worked with Martinez for a few years, there is an understanding there, and he also has Premier League experience. All round he is better than Fellaini when he first arrived, and I think he will progress quicker. We could still do with selling naismith and buying a left sided winger but overall we have a stronger midfield now without Fellaini than we did with him.
 
Strikers: Jelavic, Kone, Lukaku, Vellios
 
Vellios was our young player of the year in his breakthrough season and I think he will benefit from seeing another young player in Lukaku taking his chance. I think Vellios might see a handful of games and get himself one or two goals. Obviously Jelavic is lacking in confidence but we know he is a first time finisher and a poacher. If he starts scoring again, I don't think he'll stop. But just in case, we have Kone, who notched 11 last season and again, if he can find form, will be another striker who could bag us more than we bargained for. Finally, Lukaku's 17 last season was an indication that he, like Benteke, deserves to be a first choice striker. the fact that Chelsea bought Samuel Eto'o for a year means I think mourinho didn't trust Lukaku under the pressure that is now on Chelsea to win the big prizes. He scored 17 fo West Brom, but that's West Brom. Chelsea will be expected to win the league and having also signed Atsu and Schurrle and having a plethora of attacking midfielders, I can easily see why they plumped to loan him out again. luckily, we were perfectly posied as we are a step above West brom in terms of quality and expectation, and I imagine he'll start every game he's fit enough to play in. Lukaku will bring us much needed goals and to swap that for Victor makes it even sweeter.
 
Overall, when you look at our squad, we're maybe only one or two away from actually having a squad that can compete at the very highest level.
 
Barry is a free agent at the end of this year, which means we could simply sign him straight up if he has a good season for us, the option to resign Delofeu seems plausible and so we'll only really lose Lukaku at the end fo this season. However, dependent on Chelsea and our success this season, we might even be able to prize him off them if we're clever.
 
I'm extremely happy with the signings, and I honestly think ourselves, Liverpool and Chelsea have done the best business of the window. Tottenham's massive spending offset by bale wont backfire, but it could take too long to settle the team down for them to reap the rewards this season. Arsenal have signed a fantastic player in Ozil, but not solved the defensive problems, Man City have bought well but have a new manager who I feel will do better in the champs league than the league, and Man U under Moyes are an absolute joke, but the players there should not be written off.
 
The top 7 this year will be Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, but the order is so far up in the air, I don't think we'll have an idea of where people will end up until at least February. If we can maintain our solid if uninspiring start and utilise our new look squad properly, I see no reason why we can't be in the mix.and rightfully, given that all the loan players could just leave and not return at the end of this spell, we need to maximise their input and use it to get as much from this season as we can.
 
A trophy would gaurantee us Europa League next season, whilst a consistent season could easily see us pushing for 4th.
 
After all that, it would be interesting to see if Martinez still thinks the transfer window should have shut a month ago

The way i see it we look strong all over the park now after selling two players, one of which was never going to cement a first team place. After letting go of Hitzlsperger and mucha and neville retiring, we needed cover desperately. At first, the mad dash for 3 wigan players made that desperation look transparent. But when you look at the squad and where everyone can play, we are in a stronger position than a lot of teams in terms of quality:
 
Keepers: Howard, Joel, Springthorpe
 
Springthorpe probably wont get a game but Joel and Howard give us 2 strong keepers for the season, necessary in my opinion to create the competition needed to maintain top end performances. Joel's age also gives us a future prospect of some potential, whilst Howard is still holding his own at the tail end of his career.
 
Defenders: Coleman, Stones, Hibbert, Browning, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Alcaraz, Duffy, Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt
 
Defensively this season, I think we're going to be fine. I don't see the whole expanisve style means shipping goals ethos being applied here. Everton had one of the best defensive records last season and you don't just forget how to defend overnight. Alcaraz will prove important in terms of depth, and Stones coming through means we don't have to stress too much about the possibility of selling Heitinga. Distin isn't getting any younger but by the looks of things he can handle it for at least another season. Keeping Baines meanswe still have europes best left back.
 
Midfielders: Delofeu, Mirallas, Naismith, Gibson, Osman, Barkley, McCarthy, Barry, Pienaar, Kennedy
 
The emergence of Ross Barkley has been like a new signing anyway, Martinez faith in his maturity paying dividends so far, but the most important player we acquired was Barry IMO. He has experience that Gibson and Osman simply don't, and his all round game will add a calmness and assurance to our game. In Mccarthy, we've signed the much touted replacement for Fellaini, for a similar fee for when we took Fellaini from Liege. The key difference being Mccarthy has worked with Martinez for a few years, there is an understanding there, and he also has Premier League experience. All round he is better than Fellaini when he first arrived, and I think he will progress quicker. We could still do with selling naismith and buying a left sided winger but overall we have a stronger midfield now without Fellaini than we did with him.
 
Strikers: Jelavic, Kone, Lukaku, Vellios
 
Vellios was our young player of the year in his breakthrough season and I think he will benefit from seeing another young player in Lukaku taking his chance. I think Vellios might see a handful of games and get himself one or two goals. Obviously Jelavic is lacking in confidence but we know he is a first time finisher and a poacher. If he starts scoring again, I don't think he'll stop. But just in case, we have Kone, who notched 11 last season and again, if he can find form, will be another striker who could bag us more than we bargained for. Finally, Lukaku's 17 last season was an indication that he, like Benteke, deserves to be a first choice striker. the fact that Chelsea bought Samuel Eto'o for a year means I think mourinho didn't trust Lukaku under the pressure that is now on Chelsea to win the big prizes. He scored 17 fo West Brom, but that's West Brom. Chelsea will be expected to win the league and having also signed Atsu and Schurrle and having a plethora of attacking midfielders, I can easily see why they plumped to loan him out again. luckily, we were perfectly posied as we are a step above West brom in terms of quality and expectation, and I imagine he'll start every game he's fit enough to play in. Lukaku will bring us much needed goals and to swap that for Victor makes it even sweeter.
 
Overall, when you look at our squad, we're maybe only one or two away from actually having a squad that can compete at the very highest level.
 
Barry is a free agent at the end of this year, which means we could simply sign him straight up if he has a good season for us, the option to resign Delofeu seems plausible and so we'll only really lose Lukaku at the end fo this season. However, dependent on Chelsea and our success this season, we might even be able to prize him off them if we're clever.
 
I'm extremely happy with the signings, and I honestly think ourselves, Liverpool and Chelsea have done the best business of the window. Tottenham's massive spending offset by bale wont backfire, but it could take too long to settle the team down for them to reap the rewards this season. Arsenal have signed a fantastic player in Ozil, but not solved the defensive problems, Man City have bought well but have a new manager who I feel will do better in the champs league than the league, and Man U under Moyes are an absolute joke, but the players there should not be written off.
 
The top 7 this year will be Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, but the order is so far up in the air, I don't think we'll have an idea of where people will end up until at least February. If we can maintain our solid if uninspiring start and utilise our new look squad properly, I see no reason why we can't be in the mix.and rightfully, given that all the loan players could just leave and not return at the end of this spell, we need to maximise their input and use it to get as much from this season as we can.
 
A trophy would gaurantee us Europa League next season, whilst a consistent season could easily see us pushing for 4th.
 
After all that, it would be interesting to see if Martinez still thinks the transfer window should have shut a month ago

The way i see it we look strong all over the park now after selling two players, one of which was never going to cement a first team place. After letting go of Hitzlsperger and mucha and neville retiring, we needed cover desperately. At first, the mad dash for 3 wigan players made that desperation look transparent. But when you look at the squad and where everyone can play, we are in a stronger position than a lot of teams in terms of quality:
 
Keepers: Howard, Joel, Springthorpe
 
Springthorpe probably wont get a game but Joel and Howard give us 2 strong keepers for the season, necessary in my opinion to create the competition needed to maintain top end performances. Joel's age also gives us a future prospect of some potential, whilst Howard is still holding his own at the tail end of his career.
 
Defenders: Coleman, Stones, Hibbert, Browning, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Alcaraz, Duffy, Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt
 
Defensively this season, I think we're going to be fine. I don't see the whole expanisve style means shipping goals ethos being applied here. Everton had one of the best defensive records last season and you don't just forget how to defend overnight. Alcaraz will prove important in terms of depth, and Stones coming through means we don't have to stress too much about the possibility of selling Heitinga. Distin isn't getting any younger but by the looks of things he can handle it for at least another season. Keeping Baines meanswe still have europes best left back.
 
Midfielders: Delofeu, Mirallas, Naismith, Gibson, Osman, Barkley, McCarthy, Barry, Pienaar, Kennedy
 
The emergence of Ross Barkley has been like a new signing anyway, Martinez faith in his maturity paying dividends so far, but the most important player we acquired was Barry IMO. He has experience that Gibson and Osman simply don't, and his all round game will add a calmness and assurance to our game. In Mccarthy, we've signed the much touted replacement for Fellaini, for a similar fee for when we took Fellaini from Liege. The key difference being Mccarthy has worked with Martinez for a few years, there is an understanding there, and he also has Premier League experience. All round he is better than Fellaini when he first arrived, and I think he will progress quicker. We could still do with selling naismith and buying a left sided winger but overall we have a stronger midfield now without Fellaini than we did with him.
 
Strikers: Jelavic, Kone, Lukaku, Vellios
 
Vellios was our young player of the year in his breakthrough season and I think he will benefit from seeing another young player in Lukaku taking his chance. I think Vellios might see a handful of games and get himself one or two goals. Obviously Jelavic is lacking in confidence but we know he is a first time finisher and a poacher. If he starts scoring again, I don't think he'll stop. But just in case, we have Kone, who notched 11 last season and again, if he can find form, will be another striker who could bag us more than we bargained for. Finally, Lukaku's 17 last season was an indication that he, like Benteke, deserves to be a first choice striker. the fact that Chelsea bought Samuel Eto'o for a year means I think mourinho didn't trust Lukaku under the pressure that is now on Chelsea to win the big prizes. He scored 17 fo West Brom, but that's West Brom. Chelsea will be expected to win the league and having also signed Atsu and Schurrle and having a plethora of attacking midfielders, I can easily see why they plumped to loan him out again. luckily, we were perfectly posied as we are a step above West brom in terms of quality and expectation, and I imagine he'll start every game he's fit enough to play in. Lukaku will bring us much needed goals and to swap that for Victor makes it even sweeter.
 
Overall, when you look at our squad, we're maybe only one or two away from actually having a squad that can compete at the very highest level.
 
Barry is a free agent at the end of this year, which means we could simply sign him straight up if he has a good season for us, the option to resign Delofeu seems plausible and so we'll only really lose Lukaku at the end fo this season. However, dependent on Chelsea and our success this season, we might even be able to prize him off them if we're clever.
 
I'm extremely happy with the signings, and I honestly think ourselves, Liverpool and Chelsea have done the best business of the window. Tottenham's massive spending offset by bale wont backfire, but it could take too long to settle the team down for them to reap the rewards this season. Arsenal have signed a fantastic player in Ozil, but not solved the defensive problems, Man City have bought well but have a new manager who I feel will do better in the champs league than the league, and Man U under Moyes are an absolute joke, but the players there should not be written off.
 
The top 7 this year will be Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, but the order is so far up in the air, I don't think we'll have an idea of where people will end up until at least February. If we can maintain our solid if uninspiring start and utilise our new look squad properly, I see no reason why we can't be in the mix.and rightfully, given that all the loan players could just leave and not return at the end of this spell, we need to maximise their input and use it to get as much from this season as we can.
 
A trophy would gaurantee us Europa League next season, whilst a consistent season could easily see us pushing for 4th.
 
After all that, it would be interesting to see if Martinez still thinks the transfer window should have shut a month ago

The way i see it we look strong all over the park now after selling two players, one of which was never going to cement a first team place. After letting go of Hitzlsperger and mucha and neville retiring, we needed cover desperately. At first, the mad dash for 3 wigan players made that desperation look transparent. But when you look at the squad and where everyone can play, we are in a stronger position than a lot of teams in terms of quality:
 
Keepers: Howard, Joel, Springthorpe
 
Springthorpe probably wont get a game but Joel and Howard give us 2 strong keepers for the season, necessary in my opinion to create the competition needed to maintain top end performances. Joel's age also gives us a future prospect of some potential, whilst Howard is still holding his own at the tail end of his career.
 
Defenders: Coleman, Stones, Hibbert, Browning, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Alcaraz, Duffy, Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt
 
Defensively this season, I think we're going to be fine. I don't see the whole expanisve style means shipping goals ethos being applied here. Everton had one of the best defensive records last season and you don't just forget how to defend overnight. Alcaraz will prove important in terms of depth, and Stones coming through means we don't have to stress too much about the possibility of selling Heitinga. Distin isn't getting any younger but by the looks of things he can handle it for at least another season. Keeping Baines meanswe still have europes best left back.
 
Midfielders: Delofeu, Mirallas, Naismith, Gibson, Osman, Barkley, McCarthy, Barry, Pienaar, Kennedy
 
The emergence of Ross Barkley has been like a new signing anyway, Martinez faith in his maturity paying dividends so far, but the most important player we acquired was Barry IMO. He has experience that Gibson and Osman simply don't, and his all round game will add a calmness and assurance to our game. In Mccarthy, we've signed the much touted replacement for Fellaini, for a similar fee for when we took Fellaini from Liege. The key difference being Mccarthy has worked with Martinez for a few years, there is an understanding there, and he also has Premier League experience. All round he is better than Fellaini when he first arrived, and I think he will progress quicker. We could still do with selling naismith and buying a left sided winger but overall we have a stronger midfield now without Fellaini than we did with him.
 
Strikers: Jelavic, Kone, Lukaku, Vellios
 
Vellios was our young player of the year in his breakthrough season and I think he will benefit from seeing another young player in Lukaku taking his chance. I think Vellios might see a handful of games and get himself one or two goals. Obviously Jelavic is lacking in confidence but we know he is a first time finisher and a poacher. If he starts scoring again, I don't think he'll stop. But just in case, we have Kone, who notched 11 last season and again, if he can find form, will be another striker who could bag us more than we bargained for. Finally, Lukaku's 17 last season was an indication that he, like Benteke, deserves to be a first choice striker. the fact that Chelsea bought Samuel Eto'o for a year means I think mourinho didn't trust Lukaku under the pressure that is now on Chelsea to win the big prizes. He scored 17 fo West Brom, but that's West Brom. Chelsea will be expected to win the league and having also signed Atsu and Schurrle and having a plethora of attacking midfielders, I can easily see why they plumped to loan him out again. luckily, we were perfectly posied as we are a step above West brom in terms of quality and expectation, and I imagine he'll start every game he's fit enough to play in. Lukaku will bring us much needed goals and to swap that for Victor makes it even sweeter.
 
Overall, when you look at our squad, we're maybe only one or two away from actually having a squad that can compete at the very highest level.
 
Barry is a free agent at the end of this year, which means we could simply sign him straight up if he has a good season for us, the option to resign Delofeu seems plausible and so we'll only really lose Lukaku at the end fo this season. However, dependent on Chelsea and our success this season, we might even be able to prize him off them if we're clever.
 
I'm extremely happy with the signings, and I honestly think ourselves, Liverpool and Chelsea have done the best business of the window. Tottenham's massive spending offset by bale wont backfire, but it could take too long to settle the team down for them to reap the rewards this season. Arsenal have signed a fantastic player in Ozil, but not solved the defensive problems, Man City have bought well but have a new manager who I feel will do better in the champs league than the league, and Man U under Moyes are an absolute joke, but the players there should not be written off.
 
The top 7 this year will be Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, but the order is so far up in the air, I don't think we'll have an idea of where people will end up until at least February. If we can maintain our solid if uninspiring start and utilise our new look squad properly, I see no reason why we can't be in the mix.and rightfully, given that all the loan players could just leave and not return at the end of this spell, we need to maximise their input and use it to get as much from this season as we can.
 
A trophy would gaurantee us Europa League next season, whilst a consistent season could easily see us pushing for 4th.
 
After all that, it would be interesting to see if Martinez still thinks the transfer window should have shut a month ago

The way i see it we look strong all over the park now after selling two players, one of which was never going to cement a first team place. After letting go of Hitzlsperger and mucha and neville retiring, we needed cover desperately. At first, the mad dash for 3 wigan players made that desperation look transparent. But when you look at the squad and where everyone can play, we are in a stronger position than a lot of teams in terms of quality:
 
Keepers: Howard, Joel, Springthorpe
 
Springthorpe probably wont get a game but Joel and Howard give us 2 strong keepers for the season, necessary in my opinion to create the competition needed to maintain top end performances. Joel's age also gives us a future prospect of some potential, whilst Howard is still holding his own at the tail end of his career.
 
Defenders: Coleman, Stones, Hibbert, Browning, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Alcaraz, Duffy, Baines, Oviedo, Garbutt
 
Defensively this season, I think we're going to be fine. I don't see the whole expanisve style means shipping goals ethos being applied here. Everton had one of the best defensive records last season and you don't just forget how to defend overnight. Alcaraz will prove important in terms of depth, and Stones coming through means we don't have to stress too much about the possibility of selling Heitinga. Distin isn't getting any younger but by the looks of things he can handle it for at least another season. Keeping Baines meanswe still have europes best left back.
 
Midfielders: Delofeu, Mirallas, Naismith, Gibson, Osman, Barkley, McCarthy, Barry, Pienaar, Kennedy
 
The emergence of Ross Barkley has been like a new signing anyway, Martinez faith in his maturity paying dividends so far, but the most important player we acquired was Barry IMO. He has experience that Gibson and Osman simply don't, and his all round game will add a calmness and assurance to our game. In Mccarthy, we've signed the much touted replacement for Fellaini, for a similar fee for when we took Fellaini from Liege. The key difference being Mccarthy has worked with Martinez for a few years, there is an understanding there, and he also has Premier League experience. All round he is better than Fellaini when he first arrived, and I think he will progress quicker. We could still do with selling naismith and buying a left sided winger but overall we have a stronger midfield now without Fellaini than we did with him.
 
Strikers: Jelavic, Kone, Lukaku, Vellios
 
Vellios was our young player of the year in his breakthrough season and I think he will benefit from seeing another young player in Lukaku taking his chance. I think Vellios might see a handful of games and get himself one or two goals. Obviously Jelavic is lacking in confidence but we know he is a first time finisher and a poacher. If he starts scoring again, I don't think he'll stop. But just in case, we have Kone, who notched 11 last season and again, if he can find form, will be another striker who could bag us more than we bargained for. Finally, Lukaku's 17 last season was an indication that he, like Benteke, deserves to be a first choice striker. the fact that Chelsea bought Samuel Eto'o for a year means I think mourinho didn't trust Lukaku under the pressure that is now on Chelsea to win the big prizes. He scored 17 fo West Brom, but that's West Brom. Chelsea will be expected to win the league and having also signed Atsu and Schurrle and having a plethora of attacking midfielders, I can easily see why they plumped to loan him out again. luckily, we were perfectly posied as we are a step above West brom in terms of quality and expectation, and I imagine he'll start every game he's fit enough to play in. Lukaku will bring us much needed goals and to swap that for Victor makes it even sweeter.
 
Overall, when you look at our squad, we're maybe only one or two away from actually having a squad that can compete at the very highest level.
 
Barry is a free agent at the end of this year, which means we could simply sign him straight up if he has a good season for us, the option to resign Delofeu seems plausible and so we'll only really lose Lukaku at the end fo this season. However, dependent on Chelsea and our success this season, we might even be able to prize him off them if we're clever.
 
I'm extremely happy with the signings, and I honestly think ourselves, Liverpool and Chelsea have done the best business of the window. Tottenham's massive spending offset by bale wont backfire, but it could take too long to settle the team down for them to reap the rewards this season. Arsenal have signed a fantastic player in Ozil, but not solved the defensive problems, Man City have bought well but have a new manager who I feel will do better in the champs league than the league, and Man U under Moyes are an absolute joke, but the players there should not be written off.
 
The top 7 this year will be Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, but the order is so far up in the air, I don't think we'll have an idea of where people will end up until at least February. If we can maintain our solid if uninspiring start and utilise our new look squad properly, I see no reason why we can't be in the mix.and rightfully, given that all the loan players could just leave and not return at the end of this spell, we need to maximise their input and use it to get as much from this season as we can.
 
A trophy would gaurantee us Europa League next season, whilst a consistent season could easily see us pushing for 4th.
 
After all that, it would be interesting to see if Martinez still thinks the transfer window should have shut a month ago

DONE DEALS - Everton confirm five deals
Everton have sold Marouane Fellaini to Manchester United for a £27.5m fee, with Victor Anichebe heading to West Brom for a fee which could rise to £6m.
Coming into Goodison are James McCarthy for £13m from Wigan and a pair of season long loan deals for Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry.
 
BBC Sport. Wow.

DONE DEALS - Everton confirm five deals
Everton have sold Marouane Fellaini to Manchester United for a £27.5m fee, with Victor Anichebe heading to West Brom for a fee which could rise to £6m.
Coming into Goodison are James McCarthy for £13m from Wigan and a pair of season long loan deals for Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry.
 
BBC Sport. Wow.

Arsenal are in for Ba. So we probably wouldnt get a sniff.
 
As for Anichebe, seriously, get him out of here. Flattered to deceive every year, injury prone, and to get 6m would be fantastic business. This deal might be part of a chain that sees Odemwingie off to Cardiff. Don't think it'll be dependant on that since they still have Vydra Long and Anelka, but I'm assuming the monetary side of it would be partly based on selling Odemwingie.

Got to be honest, i think Martinez won't play Delofeu in the league until after our first win. Martinez is using (aparting from Barkley) pretty much the same squad and set up as Moyes, albeit with a different playing style. I think once we've won a game and have got the wind at our backs we'll see a lot mroe of him.
 
I 'd be hesistant to ask a 19 year old from a different league to come in and start winning us games right from the off. and regarding the season loan and he should be getting more games angle, I honetly think starting him above other players at Everton at the start of the season would send the wrong message to the players. He's not a mercenary we've hired to come in and win us the league title, he's a young player, still developing, who needs a guiding hand and a club that will give him the chance to grow. Growth does happen in spurts, but to ask for one of those after 2 games is a bit much.
 
Let him bed in, ideally with a game like stevenage tonight where he should be miles above the opposition in terms of pace and skill, and I'm sure we'll soon see him starting games, or at least getting 20-30 mins.

Lest you forget Romey that Tan changed the strip of teh Cardiff Bluebirds from blue to red in order to bring prosperity. He also wanted to change the name to the Cardiff Dragons, and hired people who design truly awful kits
 
In saying that though, Joel Robles was on loan from Athletico at Wigan, so we would have paid Athletico something decent (perhaps a couple million euros) then Alcaraz wages would be decent as well, add that to the £6m we spent on Kone and I'd imagine so far we've already racked up at least 50-60k a week in wages and spent at least £6m if not more...and we're still looking for players now in the £5-6m bracket, which considering for the season ahead we only actually need 1 or 2 players, I mean I know we'd love half a dozen world class players but we only need 1 or 2 to have a competative squad for next season...
 
I get it would be nice to able to splash the £27m cardiff have so far, but Cardiff spent it based on what they needed for the league, they needed a quality defender, they needed a midfield general and they needed a goalscorer, so they went and got them...the trade off as there always is with new ownership are the rules and requirements they put in place...
 
I honestly don't think we're in that abd a position, and if we did have £30m to spend, would we really go and buy a big £25m signing, I prefer the £5m options myself, Distin, Heitinga, Jagielka, Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar, Baines, Jelavic, Mirallas, Gibson......all these players cost no more than £6m.....so why do we need to go spraying around money when we have been managing off what we had?
 
I'm much more for Martinez bringing in the youth and strengthening from within, with the occasional splurge on some decent talent, as I think the best players we've had (bar Felliani) have come from smaller transfers, Alderwerield can be included in that because I rate him highly and he's in that bracket...

I'd like to see a deal where we give cash (2-3mil) plus Heitinga....he gets to go back to Ajax and we get a better younger defender

I'd like to see a deal where we give cash (2-3mil) plus Heitinga....he gets to go back to Ajax and we get a better younger defender

We can't forget either that prospects are just...prospects. Not all of the youth players that have had potential reach it because it's potential, what we think they could do, not what they can actually achieve. That being said I think we have quite a few now who deserve first team shots, Duffy and Barkley being 2 of the most prominent in that pool.
 
I've said all along I can't wait til Ross is a first team regular for us, as I feel he has bags of talent and his development was slowed down hugely by that triple leg break. I'm hoping Martinez has the idea of mixing old and new, giving everyone a chance at different stages. Also given our financial situation, I think it's part of why Bill brought him here. If we can add value to our youth, and sell others on their abilities, then even if we lose some players to other teams it will be for decent money, money to reinvest in the squad.
 
After all youth doesn't have all the answers, but if we keep developing them hopefully we can have the best of both, by either selling them for a good price or by them becoming integral to our first team.

We can't forget either that prospects are just...prospects. Not all of the youth players that have had potential reach it because it's potential, what we think they could do, not what they can actually achieve. That being said I think we have quite a few now who deserve first team shots, Duffy and Barkley being 2 of the most prominent in that pool.
 
I've said all along I can't wait til Ross is a first team regular for us, as I feel he has bags of talent and his development was slowed down hugely by that triple leg break. I'm hoping Martinez has the idea of mixing old and new, giving everyone a chance at different stages. Also given our financial situation, I think it's part of why Bill brought him here. If we can add value to our youth, and sell others on their abilities, then even if we lose some players to other teams it will be for decent money, money to reinvest in the squad.
 
After all youth doesn't have all the answers, but if we keep developing them hopefully we can have the best of both, by either selling them for a good price or by them becoming integral to our first team.

We can't forget either that prospects are just...prospects. Not all of the youth players that have had potential reach it because it's potential, what we think they could do, not what they can actually achieve. That being said I think we have quite a few now who deserve first team shots, Duffy and Barkley being 2 of the most prominent in that pool.
 
I've said all along I can't wait til Ross is a first team regular for us, as I feel he has bags of talent and his development was slowed down hugely by that triple leg break. I'm hoping Martinez has the idea of mixing old and new, giving everyone a chance at different stages. Also given our financial situation, I think it's part of why Bill brought him here. If we can add value to our youth, and sell others on their abilities, then even if we lose some players to other teams it will be for decent money, money to reinvest in the squad.
 
After all youth doesn't have all the answers, but if we keep developing them hopefully we can have the best of both, by either selling them for a good price or by them becoming integral to our first team.

We can't forget either that prospects are just...prospects. Not all of the youth players that have had potential reach it because it's potential, what we think they could do, not what they can actually achieve. That being said I think we have quite a few now who deserve first team shots, Duffy and Barkley being 2 of the most prominent in that pool.
 
I've said all along I can't wait til Ross is a first team regular for us, as I feel he has bags of talent and his development was slowed down hugely by that triple leg break. I'm hoping Martinez has the idea of mixing old and new, giving everyone a chance at different stages. Also given our financial situation, I think it's part of why Bill brought him here. If we can add value to our youth, and sell others on their abilities, then even if we lose some players to other teams it will be for decent money, money to reinvest in the squad.
 
After all youth doesn't have all the answers, but if we keep developing them hopefully we can have the best of both, by either selling them for a good price or by them becoming integral to our first team.

Fair play, I'm in work too but this is the one site that seems towork without a hitch

Hopefully I'm right in saying this, but is the main reason he was available for loan because he's signed a contract for Barcelona (as in the main team) from the B team, and they've loaned him out to get him ready for the first squad?
 
If that's the case then I think this will work out in many aspects for us. Primarily, as has been stated, the philosophy link up will mean Deulofeu will fit into Martinez style straight away. However, if my question above is correct, the two biggest influences could be based on the deal itself.
 
The player coems highly rated and I'm sure Barca want to see him come on leaps and bounds, as I'm sure the player does too. The fact that if he plays more than half his games we owe no fee is an incentive for us to play him as much as possible, and at the same time I think since he knows he'll be going back to Barca next year he'll be playing out of his skin every match to get game time with them next season.
 
All things considered, I'm highly looking forward to seeing what he can do, and if it's anywhere near what's been said about him, I feel we have signed a player we desperately need in a deal that works otu amazingly well financially for us.
 
Gwlad all over.

Hopefully I'm right in saying this, but is the main reason he was available for loan because he's signed a contract for Barcelona (as in the main team) from the B team, and they've loaned him out to get him ready for the first squad?
 
If that's the case then I think this will work out in many aspects for us. Primarily, as has been stated, the philosophy link up will mean Deulofeu will fit into Martinez style straight away. However, if my question above is correct, the two biggest influences could be based on the deal itself.
 
The player coems highly rated and I'm sure Barca want to see him come on leaps and bounds, as I'm sure the player does too. The fact that if he plays more than half his games we owe no fee is an incentive for us to play him as much as possible, and at the same time I think since he knows he'll be going back to Barca next year he'll be playing out of his skin every match to get game time with them next season.
 
All things considered, I'm highly looking forward to seeing what he can do, and if it's anywhere near what's been said about him, I feel we have signed a player we desperately need in a deal that works otu amazingly well financially for us.
 
Gwlad all over.

Hopefully I'm right in saying this, but is the main reason he was available for loan because he's signed a contract for Barcelona (as in the main team) from the B team, and they've loaned him out to get him ready for the first squad?
 
If that's the case then I think this will work out in many aspects for us. Primarily, as has been stated, the philosophy link up will mean Deulofeu will fit into Martinez style straight away. However, if my question above is correct, the two biggest influences could be based on the deal itself.
 
The player coems highly rated and I'm sure Barca want to see him come on leaps and bounds, as I'm sure the player does too. The fact that if he plays more than half his games we owe no fee is an incentive for us to play him as much as possible, and at the same time I think since he knows he'll be going back to Barca next year he'll be playing out of his skin every match to get game time with them next season.
 
All things considered, I'm highly looking forward to seeing what he can do, and if it's anywhere near what's been said about him, I feel we have signed a player we desperately need in a deal that works otu amazingly well financially for us.
 
Gwlad all over.

Hopefully I'm right in saying this, but is the main reason he was available for loan because he's signed a contract for Barcelona (as in the main team) from the B team, and they've loaned him out to get him ready for the first squad?
 
If that's the case then I think this will work out in many aspects for us. Primarily, as has been stated, the philosophy link up will mean Deulofeu will fit into Martinez style straight away. However, if my question above is correct, the two biggest influences could be based on the deal itself.
 
The player coems highly rated and I'm sure Barca want to see him come on leaps and bounds, as I'm sure the player does too. The fact that if he plays more than half his games we owe no fee is an incentive for us to play him as much as possible, and at the same time I think since he knows he'll be going back to Barca next year he'll be playing out of his skin every match to get game time with them next season.
 
All things considered, I'm highly looking forward to seeing what he can do, and if it's anywhere near what's been said about him, I feel we have signed a player we desperately need in a deal that works otu amazingly well financially for us.
 
Gwlad all over.

I response to the original post, I wouldn't worry too much about Moyes and his transfer buys.
 
There is a balance between what Moyes could acheive and what he could afford. Moyes brought a player like Coleman across from Ireland, for £60,000. He had a breakthrough season, then a difficult second season, but last year went on to be our first choice right back for almost the entire season. However, what people forget about this transfer is that when we bought Coleman, we already had Neville and Hibbert, and I'm pretty sure another RB (possibly?). There wasn't a furor because the cost was so low, even still people made the point of why are we buying a right back when other positions need cover? And therein lies the key to Moyes.
 
I think this is why he has been chosen as the long term replacement, he'll buy what he needs but he'll also look a few seasons down the line. Sticking with above, we've now lost Neville to retirement and I doubt Hibbert is going to feature all that much from here on out. Coleman is now deputised by Stones, a player who cost us between 1-2 mil in January. Already it signifies that Coleman has gone from being a £60,000 potential to an actual £4-5mil player. Should he continue in that form this season, he'll probably be worth closer to 10 or 12 this time next year.
 
Moyes will look at the squad as a whole, take it all in, and way up what he needs. It makes me laugh that Man U fans think you're lacking in central midfield. Granted Scholes has gone, but given the players able to play in your central midfield are: Giggs, Anderson, Carrick, Cleverley, Kagawa, Rooney, Jones and not forgetting Fletcher. Fletcher is a player we were linked with before he Man U snapped him up, an argument for the Dithering Dave fan base to add to their already well stoked fire.
 
He does dither, but he's realistic. You won the league with 13 points to spare last season, I don't think you need a central midfielder, you just want one. Trust in Moyes and he'll get you what you need. What you want will take longer.

We won't get Honda. But he's exactly the type of player I think we need. 3 players of Honda ability, the other two being a winger and a striker, and I think we could win the league.....no I am being serious. Whoever said Jelavic is a squad striker as well, is frankly, nuts lol Jelavic scored 11 in 16 in his first half season, and he'd scored 36 in 55 before that, one reason martinez has got me excited is because I think Jelavic can get back to that form. If he does, he's well above being a squad striker. Granted he didn't have a good season last year, but he I remember hitting the post more than a few times, and havign opportunities that he would normally bury go wide. All those sorts of opportunites get put away when he's in form. I have faith in the guy.

the evidence in the past has been there for all to see. I think it was the season before last, in the preseason, he was used against Weder Bremen and a continental side we played at home, I wanna say Villareal?
 
Barkley in both games was contstantly causing trouble when he played. These games typified why he is important. Yes in the everyday slog of the premier league his age and inexperience might show with clumsiness and nervousness, but if you play around what he can provide he has immeasurable worth. At different points in those games (the reaon these friendlies stick out incidentally is because whilst there was nothing riding on these games it was against strong opposition) Barkley took on players with consumate ease, dancing through 4 bremen players and making it look like he'd done it a thousand times. He has vision, something the squad recognises (and we all should) that doesn't come naturally to most players. Most players at the top end of the spectrum have great reactions, and great reflexes, meaning they can change their mind quickly, from one move to another, one pass to the next. Players with vision, like Barkley, predict where a player will be based on where he is at that moment.
 
Look at the likes of Scholes, at times in a match he would literally have the ball for a second, make a snap decision, and ping the ball 70 yards diagonally to the winger int he far corner of the pitch. He wasn't without his faults, but that was one of his greatest strengths. Even if teams new it was in his locker, they couldn't prevent it. We have the same case with Barkley. teams are aware of how good he is, but right now he's not at a level of confidence and experience that put him in the same class as a Scholes, until he is, he will be read by players, he will be tackled and he will have to get use to that.
 
I think since the injury he's been more tentative, I'm hoping martinez can draw him out of his shell and let him grow into the player we all know he could be. It's not just noise when different people in the footballing world, from the players he's played with, to the pundits who have seen him play, all say he has the potential to be a world beater. He still does, and building a team around him isn't the worst idea. However at this moment, we just need to see him have a good pre-season and see what RM thinks. He was willing to take his time with McCarthy and make him into a good player, I'm happy to wait to see what he can do with Ross.