Ronnie Whelan

Bellingham and Enzo are two outstanding players so it would be a dream come true if we got them both. Possibly, the two standout midfielders of the next decade. Very un-FSG to be spending 200 odd million, so if true, there must be serious investment coming in.

Can you imagine if Portugal beat them through a Ronaldo dive in a semi final or the rag Tory papers in the lead up to an England-Argentina final going on about the Falklands only to lose to a spot of Argie cheating. Would be hillarious to see - even if I would feel bad for the folk on here who do care about England and I wouldn't mind a Southgate Bank Holiday every year in the days before Christmas. Have to admit to being delighted for Hendo as well. Think Bellingham is going to come here. He seems very close to Trent and Hendo. Just a gut feeling I have.

Haha not sure Marie Le Pen would agree with them being French though. Good for us England going far.

Trent is getting a break and that's okay with me. Don't know how Foden who is a brilliant player can't get on. Before the game, you would think listening to the England fans, that they were playing the Dog and Duck - arrogant twats. Sorry for Wales in that I'd have liked them to do well. Having said that, the Iranian team are a pretty gutsy bunch so I've a big soft spot for them now. Hope they do well, even if the regime will claim it as their victory.

Ecuador had it easy today to be fair, but they could be a dangerous team for many. England presume that they will win the group but I reckon Ecuador could do them - actually wouldn't be shocked if they won that group so England could end up avoiding them. Hard to know how to feel about Iran - on the one hand they could be used as a symbol of the regime, on the other the players undoubtedly share the views of the protestors for the most part. Personally, it's better for us if England go far. Hendo and Trent won't see too many minutes so let them come back fucked.

It's highly unlikely our next owners, if we have new owners, or part investors will be decent people. The FSG crew are ruthless bastards, but they just aren't murdering scum like the Saudis or slightly less horrible bastards like the dickheads at City or PSG. In short, they are just about ethical enough for me to accept them, but John et al isn't a bastion of decency. I'd be happy enough with another FSG but who is willing to spend enough to ensure we can compete for trophies over the coming years without only doing so because of Jurgen.

Agree with that Docker. FSG have their faults, but we really could be owned by far worse and for that reason, this announcement is exciting and terrifying. I've always said that FSG would be ideal owners for a properly governed footballing landscape. They are seriously astute people who generally appoint the right people and learn from their mistakes. They would have been terrific for us in the 90s and early 00s. We are a much better run club on and off the pitch under their watch. The problem is that it isn't a properly governed landscape and with Newcastle owned by the Saudis, it will get worse. Their model is utterly dependant on Jurgen being an incredible manager and nearly getting every decision right. They aren't going to spend what is needed because at heart they think safe and they know that Jurgen will nearly always get them top 4, which is their primary goal. In the coming years, that is only going to get harder. I think the owner of City's cousin tried to buy us a few years ago, so wonder if it is him coming in.

Not shocked at all if they are planning on selling. They have made smart decisions by getting good people in and the best manager of his generation in Jurgen to turn the club around at a comparably small net spend. They will make a killing out of selling us - problem is it will be getting middle Eastern or Chinese buyers. They look at the landscape and are shrewd enough to know that for us to remain as one of the best teams in the world they will need to spend big or at least the financial numbers that would scare the shit out of them. The super league not happening would have really pissed them off plus financial fair play being pissed on by the likes of City makes it hard for their model to be sustainable without Jurgen continuing to work his magic here.

Chances are we would have had to beat Real at some point to win this so in some ways it's better early on. Nothing is easy at this level but if we get through, we could get lucky with draws. PSG or Bayern will be gone which is good. Fingers crossed City play PSG or Bayern next round.

Problem is Docker that Newcastle and City will be part of the establishment, if they aren't behind the scenes already. Nothing will be done about them. They help the product grow and help a lot of people make money. As if Middle England cares if they beat us to the title - truth being told we are public enemy number 1 with United in second place. They don't care if they pip Arsenal to it. They're too busy worrying about regional rivalries becuase they aren't likely to ever win or challenge for a title. The media is a joke here. Newcastle are going to be made out to be some kind of Robin Hood crew fighting the odds. They did the same with City. Sky and BT will be wanking off to Newcastle buying world class players because as I said, it helps the product.

Fucking hate City. Crazy to say, but after decades of despising United, those knobheads have made me nearly dislike them more than United and that's in a few years. They'll overtake the Red Mancs soon as my most hated team. With the Red Mancs, there is a grudging respect there - I mean I do respect Pep and a lot of their team like De Bruyne in a football context, but what a horrible club. I know Newcastle will be the same - met a few of their fans recently and they will be insufferable. With Arsenal, there is old Arsenal and new Arsenal within their fanbase. Old Arsenal was generally sound. I lived in London for a while and they were mostly sound lads. Londoners from tough areas. Claude would be typical enough of the type you would come across. New Arsenal is mostly from the home counties and/or gentrified. Like all fan bases, they type the most horrible shit from the comfort of their home, or sing horrible chants from the safety of the pack. That's why I wouldn't judge Arsenal fans as being radically different to most fanbases these days. People wanted City to win against us, because we are a footballing dynasty. It would be the same with United. Take it as a compliment that people don't currently give a fuck about City winning things. All in all, don't care about other clubs but give me Arsenal winning any day of the week. Arteta has done a very good job. They have built a fine team and bought well. Good luck to them.

Great result. Konate is just a brilliant player. Loves defending and breathes confidence around him. Nunez is a real terror for defenders. Love watching him. He's entertaining as anything. Mo was like old Mo today. We just need to win our next two games and sit back and relax. The world cup is a blessing. Top 4 is realistic again - if we lost today it would be hard to see us getting it. Chelsea and United dropping points is magical. Pity about Newcastle - hopefully they draw with Chelsea next weekend and both drop points.

Bellingham is the dream player, but as you say unless we get another midfielder, it is not the right deal. Mad thing to say, but wouldn't it be classic us that we sell a few players to fund him and then get an injury crisis - let's say we sell Kev as part of gathering the cash for him and Ali is out for 4 months and then we are left with some random Bundesliga 2 goalkeeper. Love what I've seen of Fernandez. I love South American players in general and this kid looks the business. Fucking love Barella, but can't help but think that he wouldn't do well here - think he would be brilliant at one of the London clubs. Like the look of Caicedo, but is he a world class talent or a lad in brilliant form. Rice is a really fine player. I haven't thought of him because I just presumed he will go to Chelsea. If there is a chance and Bellingham was unattainable, I'd be very interested in him. Really like De Jong but he can fuck off if he thinks he becomes the biggest earner at the club. He needs to be humble and come here to reset his career. A potentially brilliant signing though. Laimer has impressed me a lot when I have seem him, but cautious over getting a lad with his injury record. Could Neves be another unheralded player that is top class for us - I rate him and he is a good age profile. Tielemans looked great a few years ago, but there is real talent there. I would definitely fancy Jurgen to get the most out of him. So many options out there for us. What is key is getting that age profile right down. Anyhow, what we know is that this summer has to be a big one, but if FSG have any cop on, the summer needs to start in January, even if it means paying a premium. I've said before that they might have faults, but they are very astute business people. They have got away with balancing the books nicely because of Jurgen's genius. The team needs funding and if that is managed well over the next twelve months, their business will continue to thrive and we can chase trophies in the coming years, which is what we have to be doing. If they don't fund over the next two windows, my gut is that they are looking at selling us on because it would be a bat shit crazy decision to let a massive club that is at the height of appeal around the world fall back into the pack and with Newcastle, a rejuvenated United, Arsenal, Spurs, a free spending Chelsea and City, not hard to see how that happens very fast.

I would love us to do the SKD in the future. Imagine if it was like the main stand. Would be pretty incredible With the Kop, I'm actually not too bothered if it is dwarfed a bit by the other stands. It's still a focal point and unique.

Really like this lad. He's got all the tools to be world class. Someone mentioned Drogba and while that's a huge ceiling, I think he has it in his locker to scare the shite out of nearly every defender in the league.

Amazing keeper Docker. Best keeper in the league since Schmeicheal imo.

Two of my best mates are twins and had a dad who was big into the Lodge so they used to go as kids. One an Evertonian and the other a boss Red. Their dad wasn't the nicest to be fair and he definitely had a chip on his shoulder about most of us being Catholic and he used to make little comments about it, but when it came to the football you saw his human side. He was a bluenose like my dad but I've memories of him being delighted when we won in Europe, just like my own dad.

Spot on there. They could easily give us the money required. They are billionaires. They got the club (their business) into a position of strength, so it would be ridiculous to let it slide back into mediocrity. They aren't stupid people so unless they are planning to sell up in the next 12-18 months, it doesn't make sense. I can't help but feel that the European Super League not happening was a gigantic kick in the arse for them but they'll be waiting to see the new plans for the Champions League. I think with Bellingham, you are buying a lad who could potentially be at a club for 12-15 years. That type of player generally pays for himself on the pitch and off it. To be fair, Sancho hasn't been the roaring success he was tipped to be, so no guarantees. Others have made good points though. That Argentinian midfielder at Benfica, Valverde who might be the odd one out if Bellingham goes to Real, that amazing lad at Donetsk and many more might be the shrewder targets if FSG are willing to spend a certain amount. Better to get two really good players than one Bellingham in that case.

Fair point Captain, but I don't see this lad just being a good player. We took a punt in that market years ago with Hendo and he became a very good player for us over time - not lately obviously. Gini was maybe somewhere between good and very good before he signed for us and again that came off big time. Fabinho was really good in France, but was far less talked about than Keita. One of those interesting signings that came off to the point at one stage Fabinho would be in or around a world eleven imo. Bellingham gets to Gerrard, Keane or Vieira levels of midfield brilliance for me. No one touches Souness because I'm an old timer.

You know what, that is a good point. If we have more than that, get Bellingham and another but we need more than him. Being honest, you would trust Jurgen to buy two 30 million midfielders and them to be world class within 12 months. Possibly right there Red. Problem is others will and that is when we get left behind, regardless of Jurgen. The Red Mancs or Chelsea will offer him the sun, moon and stars and eventually Newcaslte come on the scene too, so even if City bag Bellingham, those three are in with the chance of bagging the next Bellingham or equivalent standout player. He pays for himself. As I said, great player and seems to be a great lad. Will probably bring in a shitload in terms of marketing in the coming years so as someone like Mo becomes less marketable, he could be that player - I hate that shit btw but from a financial point of view it is a no brainer.

Thing about Bellingham is, he is more that a terrific young player, he seems to be a great lad from what you hear. Even FSG should see that he is a shrewd signing. His value will only go up so if in five years time, he fancied a challenge, Real or whoever will be interested. If we get top 4, there is no excuse barring him wanting to play for Real or City that we can't have a huge chance of getting him.

That young Dortmund striker looks the business and on a free would be even better. Just hope a few very savvy signings like him don't give a positive pr spin for FSG to take the eyes of not making a real go at signing the likes of Caicedo and Bellingham. This is our biggest summer in years and they need to deliver with big funds. If they don't, I could see Jurgen moving on someone like Mo and gathering a few quid from the likes of Curtis Jones to get a few really good players in and you know what, you would back him turning water into wine any day of the week. The world cup will give him even more time to think about some of those potentially brilliant lads out there that might fly under the radar like the Georgian lad before he went to Napoli. They are out there. I've said it before the real issues will be when he moves on. Pep is brilliant. Ancelloti is brilliant. Jurgen is the best in the world. I can see a lot of good things FSG have done, but their model gets top 4 every five years when Jurgen leaves because City, Newcastle, United andChelsea will always spend huge amounts and Arsenal and Spurs have the London attraction and currently really good players and very good managers.

Don't know where to start with that game. On another day we could have had three or four, yet we were awful with little or no cohesion and being honest and it kills me to say this, but our spirit looks shot to shit right now. Big players in Virgil and Fabinbo (especially Fab) who look like a fifth of the players they were. Whether Mo is getting shit service or not, he looks a shadow of the player he was. Yeah he looked class against City, but too often he hasn't delivered this season. There are many others. I want to give them the benefit that they can turn it around because those lads deserve that belief from us, but I can't help but think we need a serious overhaul rather than a gradual one and with our shrewd owners that concerns the shit out of us. FSG do some things very well, but giving us the 200 million we need to get us back to being brilliant is very unlikely to happen. Two years ago, you felt that we would be okay the following season when we got everyone back. Now, I just think thank God we have Jurgen. In an ideal world, we sign Caicedo in January and get lads back in the coming months. The world cup is a blessing for us, as all the others will have players going far in the tournament and we will have fuck all.

Keane is in one of those moods that no one is safe. Scholes, Rio, Rashford, Antony.

Don't disagree with a lot of that Joey. Probably the one thing Haaland has over him is composure, which is an element of technical ability and he is bloody world class at it. With Nunez, he is playing at one of the biggest clubs in the world, so it is a more pressured environment than City. To be fair to him, he is doing everything at 100 miles an hour and with serious enthusiasm. He's desperate to make an impact and be a success. Anyhow, I'm convinced he'll be a huge success here. I like the lad.