Mahogany

I''ve been hoping for a few years that Delia''s plan is ultimately to leave the club to the fans so that it can be run similarly to the Green Bay Packers. Probably unrealistic but the stated goal of running a self sustaining, debt free club would fit this well.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/829972/Live/England-Championship-2014-2015-Norwich-Birmingham Redmond easily our best player yesterday, statistically at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VVNok_FZCY Really well put together, should be even better a few episodes in.

Isn''t Bunn injured in a fairly long term sort of way? I''m pretty sure he would have left by now if not.

The money is good, but what would really really do with 9m and about a day left in the transfer window? Clubs would know we have plenty to spend and desperately need a winger so we''d end up having to pay way over the odds and probably end up with someone who isn''t an ideal fit. There''s very little chance he''s going to lose value over the next few months so why not hold on until at least the January window. By then, hopefully, Murphy will have had a few more games so we can see if he''s actually ready to start at this level and we''ll have had a good look at the new Scottish kid. Even if you don''t rate Redmond you have to admit teams adjust their game to him based on his reputation alone. He''s always being tightly marked or even doubled up on which creates room elsewhere to exploit. If everyone has their price then at this point in the window Redmond is worth what Man U paid for Zaha.

Didn''t a number of our signings sight Hughton being our manager as a reason for them signing for us? Redmond and Bassong for a start. While he needs to work on his tactics he''s clearly well liked by the players. Not sure sacking him would be good for morale. If we haven''t won a game by Christmas lets revisit this conversation for now lets give the new players some time to bed in.

An, fair enough. Nice to dream though isn''t it :)

According to Sky Keisuke Honda''s move to AC Milan is on the rocks because they won''t pay €5m for him. Surely worth a cheeky bid? http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11863/8844298/cska-moscow-in-no-rush-to-sell-ac-milan-target-keisuke-honda

Yeah Hughes looks like a great prospect, only 18 and already looks Derby''s best player, and they''ve looked pretty good since scoring. Wonder how much he would cost

We didn''t play like last season. Had the vast majority of the ball, especially before switching to 442. Sure we weren''t super attacking, but our style tonight was very much about retaining possession rather than being defensive.

Back from the match. Had probably been said already but Redmond and Fer clearly our best performers, after they went off the whole game went very flat. On the other side of the coin Whittaker and Tettey were pretty awful. Careless defensive passes seem to have been our Achilles heel this preseason, apart from that we looked pretty solid.

I wonder if there''s any chance of introducing safe standing into stadiums in the new 5-10 years? I''d rather we hold off till then if it is. It''d be much cheaper to build a new stand with that in mind, and it would help the atmosphere no end. Discounting that I think we probably could fill a 35k+ stadium. With more seats prices could be reduced; there''s plenty of money to be made beyond just selling the tickets, just ask any cinema/concert venue. The team comes first obviously, but we''re looking like a very solid Premiership team now and have very few players at an age where we''re going to need to replace them. From the next transfer window onwards I expect player sales will provide a large share of the funds to improve the squad.

Hopper was in his last year of contract with Celtic and had made it clear he had no intention of signing a new one. If they hadn''t sold him then he would''ve moved for free next year. Wanyama was contracted until 2015 and would still under under 24 at that point so Celtic would get a fee if he moved, hence the big difference in transfer fee. That said, Hooper looks like a great deal for us.

Actually patronising would fall under the cardinal sin of pride which is original and most serious of the sins.

It''s a move that might make sense from our standpoint, though I get the feeling he wants a move out of the country. We''ve obviously got around that sort of money to spend on a striker, as its not too far off what was being quoted about our bid for Quagliarella and I''d imagine they''re on similar sort of money. Personally I''d take Cisse of the two given the choice. He''s younger and proved he can score in the Premiership. Again still don''t think it''ll happen but to say we wouldn''t want him seems like madness to me.

Very much doubt this would happen but 9m would be a fair price, think that''s what Newcastle paid for him. While he didn''t have a great season he still isn''t far off a goal every other game for Newcastle. I''d hope we''d never consider getting a pay day loan company as our sponsor so that wouldn''t be a problem for us.

I really don''t think we need another cb. Alderweireld would''ve been an amazing signing, but I think it was probably a case of seeing that a great player was available and possibly interested rather than filling a need. Between Bassong, Turner, Bennett and Martin we have 4 players I''d be very comfortable to see start for us. Sure if we get the opportunity to go for another Alderweireld type player we should jump at it, but then I think that goes for every position.

I''d like to see a really good passer of the ball come in. Someone who can play that quarterback role between the defence and midfield. I don''t think we''ll be playing 442, with the quality we have in goal scoring midfielders I don''t think it would make sense. Basically I want someone between Fox and Pirlo. That and another striker and I think we''re set, barring any further sales of course.

At the start of last season we still had quite a lot of debt to pay off, weren''t at all established in the Premiership and had only had 1 season of Premiership funds under our belt. Would''ve been irresponsible to push the boat out too far. Now we have enough in reserve to take some risks. I think this was probably plan A from the moment we got promoted.

It should be an interesting league this year with all the exta money coming in from TV deals and the managerial changes. With the money we''re spending I''d expect us to be aiming for 6th-7th and anything outside the top 10 should be seen as a failure.

I would''ve said Bassong for sure until the gun incident a month or two ago. Not really the sort of example you want the captain to be setting. If he chooses to stay I''d go with Ruddy as a reward for showing loyalty to the club (along with the fact he would be a great captain). If he goes then Snodgrass. The captain should be someone who always plays if fit and I''m not sure we can say that about Martin.

Why question someone''s support of the club? Are we not allowed to support them just because we don''t have the luck to live in the fine city?

It''s on the Metro website http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/03/chelsea-hope-to-finally-sign-john-ruddy-with-new-7million-offer-3867994/? For me if he''s happy to say I wouldn''t sell him for any price. Not only is he a great keeper, it would also send out a signal to any players we might want to sign that we don''t have any ambition to progress beyond where we are at the moment. You just shouldn''t sell your best player.

I don''t trust assist stats, just because you happen to have the last touch before the guy who scores doesn''t necessarily mean you created it. Also Redmond only started about half of his 38 games while Ince started pretty much all of them. I''m not saying Redmond is as good as Ince, but those stats are a bit misleading. For me on value Redmond is the clear winner. at 2.5m Redmond is a bargain, at 8m you are paying top whack for Ince.

Thanks for that great Insight