Gerard Houllier

[Clampy]

Here's an example. If Man City offered us £10m for Albrighton in January and we accepted it, then you could call us a selling club.

[MarkM]

No, we're not a selling club. Milner and Barry wanted to go as soon as they heard they were wanted elsewhere. Same with Yorke, as soon as he heard Man Utd wanted him, he'd already deceided to pack, as his perfomance at Everton away showed.

I'd say the only player we've sold for the money is Platt and at the time £5.5m was a hell of a lot to turn down.

As I said, its just the reason for the sell thats different

We sold because we couldnt hold onto them. Why?

Because...

1. more money
2. better chance of winning things
3. both of the above

Either way we did sell, it just depends on your definition of a 'selling club'

Man Utd lost both Ronaldo and Tevez for one or both of the reasons you stated.

A selling club to me is one who takes money for a player as soon as they're worth something.

Did selling them hurt United? you could argue that not having Ronaldo cost them the championship the following year, but where are they now?

We lose arguably are best player, get money we couldnt spend and a player that cant play!

Thats sound business sense!

I keep harking back to this but I really am getting that 86/87 feeling

[Concrete John]

No, we're not a selling club. Milner and Barry wanted to go as soon as they heard they were wanted elsewhere. Same with Yorke, as soon as he heard Man Utd wanted him, he'd already deceided to pack, as his perfomance at Everton away showed.

I'd say the only player we've sold for the money is Platt and at the time £5.5m was a hell of a lot to turn down.

As I said, its just the reason for the sell thats different

We sold because we couldnt hold onto them. Why?

Because...

1. more money
2. better chance of winning things
3. both of the above

Either way we did sell, it just depends on your definition of a 'selling club'

Well, your definition seems to be anyone who ever sells a player, so every club in the history of the game is a selling club.

No, and for this reason...

Other clubs choose when to sell and it usually benefits them.

We don't choose when to sell, we sell almost as soon as someone shows an interest and it rarely  benefit us [did Milners sale benefit us?]

Sorry, but how did Man U choose when to sell Ronaldo anymore then we did with Barry - a year after the strong pressure from Liverpool?

And no club can simply decide when to sell without a willing buyer.

[eastie]

I think we got more for milner than he was worth- every transfer is a risk but we have to hope with houlliers contacts that he has lined up some decent players to join us- far better to bring in his kind of players than risk relegation with the current ones!

[Bosco81]

The year we got relegated we actually spent quite a bit in the summer on Thompson, Cooper & Keown.

[Clampy]

I think we got more for milner than he was worth- every transfer is a risk but we have to hope with houlliers contacts that he has lined up some decent players to join us- far better to bring in his kind of players than risk relegation with the current ones!

But this what i don't understand. Why are these players we have got all of a sudden a risk for relegation? The squad's minus Milner but otherwise those group of players should be nowhere near the bottom three, it's ridiculous.

[tarzansbrother]

What about risking relegation with our current manager East19? A couple of unknown french u21s are really going to make a difference?

[eastie]

 I think the key is that when a player is sold all that money is reinvested in new players- we are about to find out !

If GED is given only £5m to spend then maybe your argument of us being a selling club will have more credence- however I fully expect that the money will be given to him to spend - if not we are in dire straits!

[Concrete John]

What about risking relegation with our current manager East19? A couple of unknown french u21s are really going to make a difference?

Lets stick to blaming him for the things he has done - as in the results since he took over - and not what we think he might do in the window.

[TonyD]

I remember when GT first arrived at VP and made the "shambles" quote.  Do you think the next manager will be more diplomatic?

[villa for life]

If we were to bring in a new manager now, you can bet your last penny that Lerner would choose a manager who has been managing in the premiership for most of the last two or three years. I think we should also consider this when buying players. Is an U19 player from France really going to help in the fight against relegation? We've already got enough "stars of the future", we need someone who is ready to make an impact from day one at the club.

[eastie]

The window hasn't began yet Tarzan so we dint know who will be coming in- maybe the young French lad is one of several signings so we cannot judge him on that till jan 31st.

As for the players clampy, houllier is trying to play a totally different style of passing football and the team o neill built played very differently to pass and move.the players he inherited are not good enough for the style houllier wants to play.

It's like allardyce taking over a team like arsenal and telling them from now on it's going to be all up and under football- teams are built to play a certain way and o neill and houllier are opposites in style!

[E I Adio]

If we were to bring in a new manager now, you can bet your last penny that Lerner would choose a manager who has been managing in the premiership for most of the last two or three years. I think we should also consider this when buying players. Is an U19 player from France really going to help in the fight against relegation? We've already got enough "stars of the future", we need someone who is ready to make an impact from day one at the club.

Why not "stars of the future" and immediate impact players? The two are not mutually exclusive.

[villa for life]

They are not, but like Gareth Bale and James Milner , i.e the kinds of players who would make an impact at such an early age our probably out of our price bracket. Maybe not, but can anyone think of an example of, say , an U21 player who had an immediate impact , especially when coming from abroad, that wasn't already a superstar?

[tarzansbrother]

Well Owen Coyle has done decent job in the few months he has been at Bolton and changed their style of football.