Presumably the so called 'players' could club together and raise the money to pay him off easily. The Lamps / Roo / JT / Stevie G could form a consortium and formally take ownership of the England team and appoint Golden Balls as senior bag carrier. In other words, no change.  

It's depressing, after the raised hopes of the takeover. We don't actually need more squad players. The most pressing need is a proven, quality striker who can play back-up to Torres. Perhaps someone nearing the end of their career but who could still do a job, doesn't mind playing second-fiddle or sub for a season or two, but will grab goals - a bit like Larsson at Utd.

Depending on how Woy wants to play it, we could also do with two wide players, although I suspect he's going to play a formation with Cole & Gerrard supporting Torres, with Aquilani in the centre midfield acting more as a pivot, Lucas and Poulsen playing a deeper role. Oh yeah, we've got that Jovanovich, who played wide left for Serbia in the WC.

Much as I think he's been out of his depth for England, it's reported that SWP is available for under £10m. He's got the talent, just a propensity to be a headless chicken. Could he be tamed and turned into a footballer? I don't know but it might be worth a punt.

And there's still the enigma what is Ryan Babel, along with some very useful looking young players coming through. In fact, the Reira bust-up started after he punched youngster Dani Pacheco. Pacheco is a 19 year old Spanish attacking midfielder who won the Golden Boot at the recent European U-19's Championship. Top player who's already made his first team debut (and played all 90 mins against Rabotnicki)

What we don't need is more mediocre squad filler.

Like Carlton Cole.

I'm also a tad curious where Crouch would fit into the Liverpool set-up, given the purchase of Cole. Of course, Crouch may not end up at Liverpool, though it has become abundantly clear Spurs are trying to offload him. Crouch for Parker? Strange deal that would be. Anyway, I digress.

By buying Crouch is Woy looking to play a 'long ball' game on top of playing it through the middle vis a vis Cole. I've no idea.

Not sure about where he'd fit in either.

I'm fairly confident that Woy is going to play Torres as a lone striker, supported by Cole and Gerrard as his standard formation. Crouch would therefore be a sub to bring on if/when plan A wasn't working. But would Crouch want a splintered arse each and every week?

Then again, given Torres' injury record, he may get more gametime than expected. But that presents its own problems. He's a totally different type of player to Torres. Crouch is never going to speedily ghost past a defender onto a through-ball. The team would have to adjust their whole basis of attack. And, like you say, there's that horrible temptation to just "lump it up to the big bloke and see what happens".

He could play a Torres-Crouch partnership with either Cole wider left or Gerrard wider right in midfield (the other playing as an attacking midfielder). But that was tried by Benitez - and quickly abandoned because they didn't compliment each other. Maybe with Torres knowing the Prem more now and Crouch having a couple more years experience under him it may work. But I could never see it working as well as that most prolific similarly-statured partnership of Phillips and Quinn at Sunderland.

In short, Crouch would be a luxury for Liverpool which not only can they not really afford, but it's a position the player is unlikely to want to fill anyway.

Getting back to the supposed Crouch for Parker deal for a moment, I find it especially strange as Parker is a holding midfield player. Good tackler yes, but it's not as if we're short in that department, what with Palacios and (soon) Sandro.

I've only seen Sandro in action on You Tube (so it's bound to be flattering). But if he is a good as the action suggests then he could be one of Bollockchops' more inspired signings. Reminds me of a fearsome Viera. And more mobile too.

A bit like how Claude Makele and, latterly, Michael Essian, have made 'Fat Frank' look better than he actually is. When will England managers wake up to this fact.

Brutal, but absolutely spot on.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/7941295/Steven-Gerrard-strikes-to-preserve-Englands-grand-delusion.html

Citeh reportedly make GBP96m (yes 96m!) offer for Ibrahimovic. And that's before the transfer fee is even discussed. Mind you, the report is from The Sun.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2010/08/13/2068317/manchester-city-set-to-make-96m-move-for-barcelona-striker

Bob Bradley set to be new Villa boss after he quits his job as US Team Manager.

I guess there'll be no language barrier between him and Randy Lerner

I hope so. It could then mean Ashley Young going walkies

Bradley's a good coach, but I think he'll be out of his depth in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, the transfer merry-go-round seems set to crank into gear now that the Citeh logjam caused by their stubbornness over the Balotelli and Milner transfers looks like being freed up.

Liverpool should have around £20m to spend (after the £4.5m spent on Poulsen) and Villa £18m with Ireland also joining them (which could be a great acquisition). Villa look likely to go for Robbie Keane, whilst Liverpool are also looking at another striker, with the danger being that they sign a mediocre journeyman like Carlton 'load of crap' Cole.

Assuming the Balotelli deal goes through for GBP24m, Citeh will have spent a total of GBP142.6m on their strike force. This does not include the GBP11m spent on Bellamy (who has been omitted from the squad).

This is what the experts think...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8909409.stm

A big bias toward Chelsea there..likewise over on sky. Whats the two pundits tip 4...?

Here's mine

1. Man U 2. Arsenal 3. Chelsea 4. Liverpool

''Martin Skrtel, Liverpool defender

1 Liverpool 2 Arsenal 3 Chelsea 4 Man Utd''

He's hardly likely to tip any other team - imagine the stick he'd get from his own fans!

I say this most years, but I do think Man U will struggle this year. Giggs and Scholes are another year closer to their 50th birthdays and I doubt they'll be able to drag Utd out holes as much as they have done in the past. The lack of transfer activity is amazing, seeing as their squad looks thin. Then again, they won't have to worry about Rooney picking up an injury on England duty, since they hit on the idea of sending a double when England play (and Capello's not realised this double is about as good as football as me). And, with Ferguson at the helm, you should never write them off.

Chelsea have had a settled summer in the transfer market and Ancelotti's a steady, shrewd manager. I think most are tipping Chelsea because of a lack of challengers.

Saying that, the best squad on paper is at City (assuming they complete the high profile signings yet to conclude). The big question is whether they'll be a group of individuals putting in inconsistent displays. Or will Mancini mould them into a team. If the latter, then I can see them winning the league.

Arsenal could be darkhorses, now that they've kept Fabregas. The recruitment of Chamakh obviously strengthens the squad, but he's not the kind of prolific goalscorer that they've been crying out for.

I doubt Liverpool have the quality throughout to win the title but, if Torres stays fit, they could challenge up to a point, certainly for a top 4 place. After Benitez' safety-first approach for so long, who knows how they'll play under Hodgson? If he uses the Mascherano money wisely (and especially if a takeover is concluded with enough time to splurge on a good striker to back Torres up), I can see them doing better than many people think.

As I've said before, I think Spurs will struggle. The ECL is a tough proposition and to compete in both it and the league for the first time will be a major challenge. In addition, Redknapp's been frustrated in most of his transfer dealings this summer so far and they could do with padding out the squad more.

Other than that, I can't see any team challenging. Everton may climb a place or two, Villa need to spend the Milner money well, and should secure a UEFA place.

My top 4 would be:

1. Chelsea

2. Man City

3. Arsenal

4. Man Utd

and, for the hell of it...

5. Liverpool

6. Villa

7. Everton

8. Spurs

No suprise that Saint and i dont agree... I just got a feeling Man U will really go for it this year esp with it probably being the last season for Scholes,Giggs and Neville.  Scholes is still very much top drawer. I do agree that Arsenal could be the ones to watch this year and Liverpool will be stronger with Hodgson at the helm.. It will be very close nip and tuck all they way. I cant see Man City breaking into the top 4 this year.... they need time to gel no matter how good individually they are and they need a leader. Chelsea will always be there or there abouts but i think Man U may just squeeze it this year. With regard to the drop... look no further than Blackpool, Wolves and west brom

I think Wigan will struggle. They've lost another couple of players, not replaced with the same quality, and may well still also lose N'Zogbia and Figueroa

Wolves likely to stay up.

Of course; he's paid to be delusional. It just makes a mockery of the rest of the article when his name shows up.

FWIW my tips are:

1- Chelsea

2- Man U

3- Citeh

4- Tottenham

5- Arsenal

6- Liverpool

7- Everton

8- Sunderland

Meanwhile, 'Spurs trio miss City Clash' according to the Daily Fail. Apparently, O'Hara, Bentley and Woodgate are all out for the season opener against Citeh. Er yes? Except that of the the three aforementioned two wouldn't get into the first team, while the third will likely never play in the Premier League again. Still, there's nothing like using a headline to tart up a non-story.

I'm curious to see what team 'Arry puts out on Saturday, given we have enough depth in the squad to put out two different teams that are comparable in terms of quality.

A match fit Sandro will certainly bolster the defence when he arrives from Internacional later this month.

Can't say I disagree one iota with what Gerrard is saying here.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3270/england-national-team/2010/08/13/2069565/steven-gerrard-i-would-love-mikel-arteta-to-join-the-england

Arteta is a very good player... i saw that years ago when he played for Glasgow Rangers. Tho i must admit i am not a big fan of letting foreigners play for England, its bad enough having a clueless Italian in charge.

Spurs vs Citeh. Very worrying as it's still 0-0 at half time. Citeh are truly crock of.....

Two points lost. Joe Hart - brilliant performance. That was the difference.

Agree.