Carlos Valderrama

Suffered a serious injury while at Derby. Not sure if he has ever fully regained the edge. Worth a look though. Bit of a primadonna if rumours are to be believed. Could be the sort of player that Lambert could tame.

I expect between 10 & 15m to be spent on players this summer. An additional reason, whuch has come to me in hindsight reading my first post back is that if we go for lower league players who could step up, should the worst happen (relegation) then they would be more likely to stick around and help us get back. Parachute payments should ensure that we could keep them. I think that is the biggest problem of our last time up. When we went down a good half a dozen couldnt wait to get out soon enough.

Forgot to add that a percentage of the wages for this lot will be raised from selling/releasing the following... Matt Gill Owain Tudor Jones Aaron Wilbraham Anthony MacNamee Oli Johnson Jens Berthel Askou Cody MacDonald Plus possible loan fees received for... Korey Smith Tom Adeyemi Chris Martin (?) Declan Rudd Dont think we will be paying vast wages in the Premier League. I expect the board will use a certain level of intelligence and utilise a performance based pay/bonus system.

Here are some of my suggestions... Lansbury - £3m Did well on loan for us, couldnt force his way into our first team so is unlikely to figure for Arsenal. Wenger will probably spend in the summer so thats another reason why I have included him. Elliot Bennett - £2m + MacNamee Really good pacy winger, think Lambert will go back for him. Craig Mackail Smith - £3m Same reason as Bennett. Billy Jones - £3m Can play CB, RB & DM. Too good to go down to league 1 with Preston. Seems a sensible lad and might fancy his chances with us as opposed to bench warming for a higher Prem side. Shane Long - £3m First choice striker target for me. Would be an excellent foil for Holt. Our own Lidl version of the Carroll/Suarez partnership. Out of contract the following summer hence the low price. Adam Lallana - £2m Left sided I believe. Cover, alternative option to Surman. All of the above I believe tick the hungry box with what Lambert looks for in a player. Yes all lower league and stepping up, yes I know they lack the Prem experience we need. I just have my doubts that experienced Prem players will take us seriously, dont want journeymen. I also expect defence and midfield will be bolstered by 2 or 3 from Germany/Scandinavia. And maybe Pacheco on loan again.

I think Cody Mac has a lot to offer and stands a chance of making it. maybe give him a half season on loan in the champ to see if he can step up then maybe give him his shot in the prem.

''From the Unibind Premier to the Premier League''. 10/12 years ago he was a tyre fitter playing for Workington. and his career hasn''t always gone to plan. His shot at the big time with Forest went sour and he dropped down to league 2 with Shrewsbury. So for Cody Mac to spend a season down there with Gillingham is no bad thing. Jas, your comment was one of the worst I have seen on here in a while. And really the sort of stupid thing I didn''t expect someone like you to say. Perhaps you aren''t as sharp as i thought.....

[quote user="jas the barclay king"][quote user="Joanna Grey"]Cody scores the goal that could secure the Gill''s place in the L2 play-offs. Just how good is the lad?[/quote]not that good or he wouldnt be in league 2[/quote] Did you really just judge a player based on what league he is playing in. Did the message on the back of Grant Holts shirt escape you today!!!!

Or legal!!!!

[quote user="6088m canary"]On a side note Carlos V (el Pibe), i reckon Fox should be getting his barnet grown out into the Valdie afro....El Pibe is up there with I.Crook as the best passing midfielder i have ever witnessed. An absolute legend and is still adored in Colombia. [/quote] The kid is probably my favourite player of all time. Went on holiday to Orlando quite a few years back and the hotel I was staying in was offering tickets and bus to watch Tampa Bay Mutiny (who he played for at the time). I still kick myself to this day that I didnt go. Love the comparison Chippy...If Valderrama had the hair then chippy certainly had the nose!!!!

I dont think we would even be discussing the rights and wrongs of this had the FA acted back when they found out instead of delaying it until now. Poor from the FA, harsh for QPR as they may have fought a little harder had this 10 points been deducted sooner. However rules are rules. When West Ham did this there was no set precedent, now there is and QPR have blatently broken them.

I dont think we can blame Ashton for anything. Or Earnshaw, Etuhu or anyone else who was transferred out in that period. I think the real blame should lay with Neil Doncaster. Just about every transfer in and out seemed a total cock up i.e. last minute, too expensive, too public, not public enough etc etc. We wont get any of this fanny with McNally at the helm.

Nicky Mynard would be a decent shout if he is over his injuries. What about Michael Johnson on loan from Manchester City. Just over a series of injuries and unlikely to get into the first team there. Dickson Etuhu back from Fulham could be an option. I think though that Lambert will look for hungry Championship players who could step up. Morison is one, Lallana from saints, Bullard is class and too good for championship. Nicky Bailey, Julio Arca and Marvin Emnes from Middlesborough. I also think there will be a couple from Germany, Holland or one of the Scandinavian countries. Dont want any africans though. Cup of nations next year and we couldnt afford to lose someone for that length of time.

Elliot Bennett is a good shout. Would love to see Shane Long here, perfect alongside holt. Thats 7.5m gone as Reading have slapped a reported £5m price tag on Long. The other £2.5m will have to be shared between a DM (Olofinjana - £1m), RB cover, central defender. Then I would look at 2 or 3 good youngsters on loan. Lansbury would be a decent shout for a season as would Pacheco. Final one should be a defensive player who can maybe play a couple of positions at the back.

Shane Long would be a definate for me as would Lewis McGugan...

The tweet that made me laugh yesterday was Lansbury ''now sitting somewhere nice by the river waiting for Zak aka Keith Lemon''. Lansbury is quite comical.

Good shout for Koumas and he can play in the Hoolahan role. Massive fan of Shane Long, think he would be the perfect partner for Holt. Although Jackson impressed me against Forest. Clearly the more minutes the boy plays the better he is getting.

Sorry, looked for the existing thread and couldnt find it. Watched the City v Forest game last night on the Sky+ and must say how impressed I was with Lewis McGugan. If we are promoted I think he should be a must purchase. Would be absolutely perfect on the right hand side of the diamond.

Loved Burleys sweatshirt with PUNCH written right in the middle. Yes please George....

Very nervous. Just hoping the strikers can step up if Holt doesnt make it.

Love it. Delia is an anchor around our neck. We will never achieve anything under Delia. Delia wont sell. We are the delia haters. Who can possibly argue that the last 10/12 seasons havent been some of the highlights of our history. The playoff final and the run to get there. Winning the Championship. A season in the prem, and making a decent stab of it post christmas. OK the 3 years of Grant, Gunn & Roeder werent the best. But the mini revival under Roeder was actually exciting for a bit. And sometimes you need to get knocked down to get you back on course!! Our season in the old 3rd division. Terrible blow for the club on paper. But for the fans watching, exhilerating, exciting and ultimately rewarding. This season, absolute seat of the pants excitement every week. I look at other clubs around like Plymouth, Palace, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday etc etc. and I realise, that I wouldnt swap my club or our current situation for anything....

I thought Lansbury was poor, very ineffective. frustrating as we know what he can be capable of!! I thought Swansea were very good first half. Second half we had them pretty much hemmed in their half and just lacked a real goal threat. Thought Korey Smith did well when he came on. On another day, with a smudge of luck on our side we could quite easily have snatched at least a point if not all 3. Think the early double save and brilliant free kick knocked the wind out of our sails. Overall not the best, but certainy not the worst performance. I think some people are blinkered by a scoreline. They see 3-0 and think we were rubbish. The first 2 goals were both top drawer, the 3rd when we had 10 men forward was a sucker punch. The score flattered Swansea IMO.

I was there for that one. Quality match, we played well. If memory serves me correctly Zema Abbey got injured quite badly sshortly after and our season stuttered after that. And Marc Libbra didnt score another goal? I might be wrong...

All I hope for is a quality sportswear manufacturer. My 1st choice would be Canterbury closely followed by anyone of the big 5 sportswear brands, puma, nike, adidas, umbro or reebok. One of my fondest kit memories was when Ipswich had their kit made by punch. My brother in law is a binner and every time he wore his shirt I used to rabbit punch him right on the punch logo. Irritating little berk!!

I have got my tickets. 3 generations of Valderrama at tomorrow''s game...

Is anyone else finding this really hard? Wasnt this the famous Loan City FC...