Philinsuffolk

I am either very naive or you are very cynical!!

BlueBoy, you know I try and be reasonable so with that in mind a note of caution on a few things in your message above; Firstly, telling us to take the cash & plus player and be happy about it - like you're doing us a favour, is a little out of line. You know the drill, we have indicated a value and regardless of whether its a fair offer or not, please don't patronise us - you're almost saying "there you go little boys, take your money, a player and off you go to play in mid-table". I'd like to think the memory of City fans isn't THAT short in terms of what you have achieved/not achieved over the course of many years!! Next, am I right in thinking you're calling Lescott an "average" centre back and Dunne "decent" (decent presumably meaning better than average) - if so, your manager is making quite a mistake and you should maybe pop him an email to point this out! Finally, obviously take your point about increased salary opportunity, but do take offence at the reference to him going to a "better company" - unless richer means better?

Blueboy/CityBlue55, its a website forum and as such in my mind you're welcome. The simple fact of the Lescott matter, is that its like so much of football these days - its like a big panto, that everyone (myself included at times) lap up. Remember the Ronaldo "will he or won't he go to Real Madrid" last summer, what a comlete bore that was. Same now with Lescott - he's a good player and for that reason I'd love him to stay. However, I actually want him to go (and have done for about 3 weeks now) because the money on offer is good and the whole story is so damn boring that I can't stand readind about it anymore. If we cling onto him this time, then the links are going to start in the press again from about November and go on through part of January until you get him. I am really glad that our game this week was postponed (through our game in a European competition, not your friendly though!) as the bile that would have come out would have been ridiculous. Now write that cheque for £20m and lets all move on.

If I was City I would increase my offer by just £1m or so - they can clearly see that the mood has dramatically changed since the weekend game. We would probably take £19m now if only to move on. Hopefully they will offer more like £20m or even the £22m that has been mooted, but can't see it going that high now. Indeed, if Everton wish to sell, maybe the club should tuen around and say you can have the player for £22m - so agree that figure and be done.

I happen to believe there will be signings this week. No, I don't know anything, I just happen to trust what Moyes says.

It was a (very) bad day at the office. The fact is that the Lescott situation IS impacting on too many people. He has to go, we need to get in about 5 players (I believe we will) and they need to get to work on puttig things right. I just hope we don't start ripping hell out of them and each other at this stage - with the Europa League qualifier and then Burnley away in the coming week we will then know whether today's game was a blip or something more. Not good enough. But no need to panic either.

I have been saying for a while that we should sell (I take no satisfaction in this whatsoever). If he does go, lets keep in mind that it will be good money (assuming its £18m or more) that we get - the likelihood being that no other premiership side would offer that amount for him. He has been a good player for us, its just business. Take the money and retain the unity.

If there is a lot of booing it will be us the fans that will be making it more likely that he will be sold. Our manager wants to keep him, so back the manager, back the player. Can anyone honestly blame the player for wanting to double his salary? Be honest with yourselves. Continue to back Lescott, if nothing else we retain the moral high ground.

Like comments from Patto, but on this one - what actual evidence is there that we can't 'compete' with Stoke, Hull, Wolves, Sunderland? Last time I checked we finished significantly above 3 of them in the table last season and were in a division above one of them. We have 2 weeks of a transfer window to go - so lets see who has got what at that stage in terms of players (though fair play to Steve Bruce, he has made what I suspect are good signings for Sunderland). One point that may be interesting (to some!) is that the 4 clubs mentioned already have new grounds and thus aren't scrambling to find the money to move or develop their ground. How does the comparison stack up about competing if you think of West Ham and Portsmouth for instance?

So, a new season is once again, upon us. In a little over a fortnight the summer transfer window will close and then we will know what squad we have for at least the first half of the season. I don't suggest you forget the challenges we are facing bringing in additional players, but just set that aside for a moment. On Saturday we go out and as ever its 11 v 11. Playing Arsenal at home is a tough start but they won't fancy it much either. Lets pick up a decent tally in the first 6 games and go from there. Look forward to the game or two during the season when we hammer at the opposition goal only to find we can't grab the winner only for it to arrive in the last minute of injury time, cue pandomonium. Take the hard earned point away from home when we're not quite at out best. We have a great set of players that are talented and that have good honest commitment and team spirit. We have some good young players that are coming through and are being developed in the right way. We have a superb coaching staff and a manager that, frankly, is superb. Forget talking about Moyes in terms of being a top football manager, the guy is a fantastic leader of men. People follow leaders. We have a ground that we love (and should cherish whilst we can) and we have superb support. We are a good side and a great club. Don't you ever forget that. So, when Saturday comes, enjoy the rituals you have, whisper a quiet little encouragement for the season and then mentally take yourself into battle with the boys. Aim for the moon, because even if you miss you will land amongst the stars. Unleash hell Blues. Unleash hell...

In fairness, that is precisely what they should do. Its a club/board decision whether to sell or not. Its up to our Board to decide how much notice they take of the manager - and in fairness to them they have backed him all the way so far. We don't need to get too wound up about this, City are entitled to bid and keep bidding, we're entitled to answer however we want and journalists have newspapers to sell. Sell him. Good player & professional for us, but its now a distraction. Sell him and genuinely reinvest the money in the squad.

I agree - and although they are a silent majority, there will be more people that agree than you would probably think.

Hi, there are various topics on here at present that either start out negatively or over the course of times/aaditional comments become negative. I understand this, we are days away from the opening game and a week away from our qualifying game for Europe. We are also of course 3 weeks from the end of the transfer window and Lescott has handed in a transfer request. But. Is life really so bad? As of yet we haven't lost any of the squad that finished 5th (yet again) and reached the FA Cup Final, beating good opposition on the way. It is likely that we will bring players in (and none of us can honstly know who at this stage, take your pick from any number of random rumours or some names we haven't had mentioned yet). We have Yak, Arteta and Jags due back. And, frankly, we are a club that earn a huge load of respect just now - more so than we have had for a long time. Football fans respect the way our club is being run. Sure, we could have more money and any number of other requests. I am not suggesting people stop posting negative or critical comments whatsover (who the hell would anyone be to suggest such things) - the internet and website forums are exactly for such discussions. But I just wanted to put my hand up and say that I do beleive there are a good number of our fans that think where we are as a club is very positive. And for the season ahead, bring it on...

The Blue Boy Always happy to try and give a balanced view (I hope). You do have a great chance of getting some success and silverware, as long as the owners are good to their word and allow it to build up. However, one partuclar phrase you use maybe needs consideration. You talk about them making City "the biggest club". A club is, I am sure you will see, different to a team. You may go and win titles etc over the coming few years but ask someone in 5 or 10 years who the biggest CLUBS in the world are and they will say (in whatever order) - Real Madrid, Man United, AC Milan, Liverpool, Barcelona etc. Heritage and history. In many respects City are a fantastic club (as are Everton) but biggest club? That would take the best part of 30 years to achieve. But who cares about biggest. Good luck to all you City fans, but please don't lose what you have - great humour, supporting a side through thick and thin and not forgetting where you came from.

There could be something in this, it certainly isn't a far fetched possibility.

In response to CTID - With the aim of some balance happy to acknowledge that you do make some fair points. The game of football in this country certainly does need someone to break the "big 4" - if only so the league table looks a little different each year. But you then apply it to your club rather than just in general. However, the starting premise about the "big 4" is that Chelsea are only there consistently because they bought their place at that top table. They were doing well before Roman and probably would have finished in the top 4 in a given year or 2 here and there, but they wouldn't have been recognised as a member of the "big 4" without the money. City are now doing likewise - so what will happen, will it in time (if it works out for you) become a "big 5" - how big can 5 clubs be in one country? There are only 4 CL places (ie if you finish 4th for the next 3 seasons do Arsenal for instance cease being a member of the "big 4"?). You started well, but then made the wrong argument - your point that City deserve it more than others is incorrect. On what basis do you deserve it? Without the money, your club has failed to do anything of real note. When it did have money it spent it badly with Malcolm Allison going around like Arthur Daley (Steve Daley anyone?). As MarcoPaulo says earlier, if you have achieved more with limited funds then maybe you can claim you deserve a chance to get to the next level. Do I think Everton "deserve" anything? Nope, we need to work hard with whatever resources we have and see what rewards we get. Let us keep in mind here that you are a club that has a new stadium with a large capacity that you did not have to pay for. Trust me, I worked in sport and I know the deal that you got after the Commonwealth Games. So whilst other clubs need to find millions for a new stadium you didn't in the same way. How many free dinners do you want? Next - I agree with you, if a player does want to leave then its probably only a matter of time. However, as stated by others, this isn't blatent with Lescott at this stage. Do I think he wants to leave? Yes. Do I think its blatant? No. The fact is its all just a big game being played isn't it? City have lots of cash. It stands to reason that clubs will try to get as much cash out of you as possible. Is Lescott worth £22m? Nope. Will City pay £22m? Probably. Fine, keep offering and at some stage you will get the player. If City ever feel its not good business then they will change to another target. I'd respect Hughes if he does back out if he feels the player isn't worth more money - it will indicate that he's not willing to panic - I just get the feeling he feels under a lot of pressure. I wish you well for the new season, I really do. But I have to be honest, I pity City fans a little. Your club has sytematically failed you throughout your history (which City fans have taken with good humour and grace) and now when you may (?) get success, its because you've bought it. It can't quite feel as good can it? Many Everton fans would disagree with me, but if you offered me your owner and his money to buy Everton instead I wouldn't want it. I'd love us to have £30m a summer to spend, not a penny more or a penny less. Blimey, I feel better having had a bit of a rant!

As frustrating as it is, the transfer market for this summer isn't in full swing yet. So many sides have still got a lot to do and we just happen to be one of those clubs. Too much panic and not enough understanding of the complexities...

Riquelme

Would love to but alas don't get to enough games to comment well enough. Like all of us give every spare moment I can to seeing or discusing the Blues, but not the same as stepping into Goodison throughout the season.

Whilst obviously hypothetical, its an interesting & good question. Personally, I think that given the opportunity Moyes would take the City job. The point about DM's career is that he is fiercely ambitious and as a club we have benefitted from that (combined with his talent). However, if you listen to him really carefully, he does make clear that he has personal ambitions of challenging himself. He wants to test himself at the highest level and fair play to him for that. If you look at the 'Sky 4' it is hard to see him getting any of those jobs in the coming 2 years (obviously there is one of those that he has too much class to go near even in the unlikely event of there ever being an offer). So, how does he test himself at the next level? The botom line is that without a takeover he can't go to the next level with us. I would love to think he is our manager for years to come, but I suspect the time is approaching..

A plea - if someone decides to help these guys out can you please represent our club well with well considered comments.

In my opinion we will accept the bid. And (cue Phil getting shot down) I think we should accept at such a figure.

All, according to a post on NSNO there is a new name in the frame - a left sided midfielder from Bucharest for £3m. Probably nothing, but its so random that could be something..

How can the club be blamed for rumours? Newpapers are there to sell as many newpapers as possible and football stories sell the red-top papers more than anything else. Then you get websites where fans play the "who should we get?" game - have you seen football-rumours.co site? It is utter nonsense but ultimately people start to beleive it because they want to. How many sides have made many signings yet? Wigan sold Valencia tonight so presumably they will now start to bring in a few players with the money they have got. Others will do likewise. Maybe clubs play the waiting game so to avoid having a £50k a week player on their books through the period when training hasn't started. Transfers are complex due to the sheer amount of people making money in the game. Maybe Jacobsen wanted a guaranteed first team place - he is almost certain to start for Blackburn. Frustrating waiting, I know. But these are multi-millin pound deals trying to be done. My job involves me working to achieve a multi-million pound deal and mine is going to take over 2 years to deliver a signed contract!

That's a big assumption about Owen - its not a case of it must be Doyle or Owen.