Would like to see the rule they had in Serie A in the 90s where by four foreigners per squad with only 3 allowed to play a game in football. Not sure how it lies with euopean employment law or whatever but it has to be the way to develop the talent in our country. If that is a no goer then penalise unsportsmanlike behaviour and make it effective.

Think the reverse would be more effective, let teams use whoever they want in any format. Would stop man city etc buying english to line their bench.


Should get rid of all the federations from boxing and have a more natural system for who should fight who.

I would ban elements of the media that peddle myths which bear no resemblance to the facts and then are lapped up  by punters as a truth and shape an erroneus perception which is repeatedly regurgitaed in social media and internet forums.

Case in point is City buy English to line their bench. Really? Since the takeover nearly 7 years ago only 2 young  and established English have been bought by City and not used and one of them was a sicknote.

He's not even that good is he?

£8M is peanuts for an English player's buyout clause in this day and age.

He's terrible. It's a sad indictment of English football that he's a regular in the national team now.

He passes sideways only and isn't that great a tackler.

I'd call him a water carrier, but he'd probably spill it all.

Terrible? LOL.

Getting picked ahead of Milner as well who is a brilliant signing for Liverpool....

He's not even that good is he?

£8M is peanuts for an English player's buyout clause in this day and age.

He only signed his Villa contract in January. He would have been a free agent in the summer so in that context it is no bad thing. In anycase the £8 million buy-out clause was only if a CL team came in for him.

Will Delph be the most hated footballer by one set of fans since Sol Campbell?

Why on earth would he even make that statement a couple of days ago?

Hasn't he seen what has happened to Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna?

Prediction: He will sit on the bench for Manchester City for 2 seasons and then leave having played 14 times (11 times as sub).

Not sure what Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna have to do with anything. Rodwell was a sicknote and couldn't get in the Sunderland team at the end of last season. Sinclair is just shit - hardly started when he was on loan for the season at WBA even when he was fit and only started 5 league games with Villa in the half season he was there. Sagna signed as a 31 year old cover for Zabaletta and started 8 games in the league and 3 games in the CL so can't see a problem with that.

Delph is in a different league certainly to Rodwell and Sinclair and a different class completely.  Let's not forget he is ahead of Milner for England at the moment and he has not been bought to City to just sit on the bench. He is competing with Fernando (shit) and Fernandinho (excellent but not getting any younger) and is pretty certain to get a reasonable amount of game time. Milner certianly did.

Rodwell was the hottest young player in the country when he joined.

Sinclair joined on the back of a phenominal season at Swansea.

Neither were given any chance to show what they could do at Maine Road. I suspect Delph will suffer the same fate.

Rodwell hottest young player in the country when he joined? LOL.  He had great "potential" and had done for years previously but it was not fully fullfilled because he was a sick note. Mancini included him early doors when he signed for City but he then was repeatedly injured. Pelle came in and didn't fancy him inbetween injuries.

Sinclair had good seasons with Swansea and its true he wasn't given a chance. He is the ONLY player City have bought  since the takeover in 2008 that hasn't really been given a chance. He was bought for relative buttons and Mancini didn't want him. It was the cause of  a big fallout between Mancini and Marwood and this fallout was the beginning of the end for Mancini. Sinclair isn't very good tho and hence he hasnt established himself anywhere else in the last couple of years.

I agree Delph won't get to show what he can do at Maine Rd I'm optimistic about his chances at the Etihad...

Will Delph be the most hated footballer by one set of fans since Sol Campbell?

Why on earth would he even make that statement a couple of days ago?

Hasn't he seen what has happened to Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna?

Prediction: He will sit on the bench for Manchester City for 2 seasons and then leave having played 14 times (11 times as sub).

Not sure what Rodwell, Sinclair and Sagna have to do with anything. Rodwell was a sicknote and couldn't get in the Sunderland team at the end of last season. Sinclair is just shit - hardly started when he was on loan for the season at WBA even when he was fit and only started 5 league games with Villa in the half season he was there. Sagna signed as a 31 year old cover for Zabaletta and started 8 games in the league and 3 games in the CL so can't see a problem with that.

Delph is in a different league certainly to Rodwell and Sinclair and a different class completely.  Let's not forget he is ahead of Milner for England at the moment and he has not been bought to City to just sit on the bench. He is competing with Fernando (shit) and Fernandinho (excellent but not getting any younger) and is pretty certain to get a reasonable amount of game time. Milner certianly did.

Comical quite in today's Times.

Raheem Sterling was asked what attracted him to City, as he signed a contract that will earn him £180,000 per week.

Ah come on Tikay!

Yes, he'll be getting paid very handsomely, just like every quality player in the PL. But I think it's about time the stigma attached with signing for City these days was dropped. The question isn't 'why would Sterling leave Liverpool for City?', it's 'why wouldn't he leave Liverpool for City?'. He can play Champions League football every year, have a genuine chance of winning medals, and hone his skills alongside the likes of Silva, Toure and Aguero.

I'm not naïve, I'm sure he's licking his lips at earning so much money, but joining City at this moment in time means so much more than just an extra zero or 2 on your wage slip.

We had it with Nasri, where people questioned the move despite him winning bugger all at Arsenal, and then wins the double in his first season with us. We'll have it with Sterling, and probably other future signings, part and parcel of being filthy rich I guess, but if people dug a little deeper instead of towing the tired media line, they'd see just how appealing a move to Manchester is at present and beyond.

Good to have you back on UK soil btw

Don't be silly mate. City aren't a big club and have no history.....

There is an important distinction between match day pricing and season ticket pricing.

Using City as the example, as said above, match day pricing is pretty severe. It is a different story for season tickets tho. For 2015/2016 City will sell in excess of 40,000 season tickets and over 50% of seats available are in the range £299-£620 for 19 home league matches. If attending all 19 games that works out as between £16 and £33 per game  which I suggest is reasonable. Having said that, the escalation in price over the last 10 or 15 years has been pretty horrendous.

2013/2014 saw record average occupancy rates in the PL in excess of 95% and average attendances were the highest for many years. Not seen the equivalent stats for 2014/2015 but no doubt not too disimilar.

Will Sterling turn out to be another SWP?

A City legend?        

I hear it's 20% not 25% we get of the fee

It gets worse  

Upfront fee is £44million .... £5million in add-ons, so QPR will have to wait a bit for that

[If he wants to move, why not hand in the transfer request? Oh no, he wants to move AND he wants to make sure he doesn't lose out on the transfer money available.He doesn't need that extra money]

So is he sick, or is he simply avoiding going to work because he doesn't like his manager?

If he wants to move, why not hand in the transfer request?  Oh no, he wants to move AND he wants to make sure he doesn't lose out on the transfer money available.
He doesn't need that extra money.

No problem any player moving to a club for money.  No problem with a player moving to another club because they think they'll win more trophies there.  No problem with someone moving to a different club because they think it'll be an easier life there.  No problem with someone moving to a different club because their missus likes the shopping there.  No problem someone moving to a different club because they prefer the colour of the home shirt.

I do have a problem with how Sterling and his agent have tried to engineer this move. 

Isn't the bit in bold exactly the same as with Lallana last year in his protracted move to Liverpool? Did you feel so strongly then?

Man City

From last years squad, Boyata, Milner, Lampard already gone. Jovetic and Dzeko gone shorty. Possibly more as well.


City now FFP sanction free and with Barcelona withdrawing interest in Pogba it's looks like on the way in:

Pogba
Sterling
De Bruyne
Delph
and possibly more.

Cue media outrage at obscene transfer fees (Delph excluded).....

From pleno twitter:
Busted 13th for $42k. Got in aq82bdfd on 842r vs 5673

I think arb brings a lot to these threads. It sparks debate & now I don't post as much I do like reading his responses.

I just wanted to say something as it does feel like arb posts an opinion and everybody throws the "argue boy" & "troll" stuff out.

I'm an arb fanboy.

Whilst I'm not really a poster on here, I'm a regualr lurker and  also in the fanboy camp. Agree he sparks debate and surprised really with the extent of the negative reaction to his stuff on here. Of course he is a WUM, it is mild trolling but some of it is so tonge in cheek you just have to laugh IMO.

My personal favourite hate at the moment is the Barclays advert with Alan Shearer and his reminisce about his first game at St James and knowing he wanted to be a footballer.

What a crock of shit, the wooden Alan Shearer does my head in at the best of times but have to laugh at the epic timing fail - giving tickets away for another Newcastle defeat and Ashley out protest.

Dale
Merson
Campbell
Henry
Hamilton
Redknapp
Parlour

Cudicini
Pires
Carragher