[Archived] Nicko's Thread

[John]

Who is the Fulham fitness coach?

[philipl]

Who is the Fulham fitness coach?

Blacikburn Rovers' fitness coach a week later apparently.

[duffbear]

Nicko in your opinon does David Bentley want to go to spurs?

And if he does do you think his attitude may have changed with it looking like they will lose Berbatov and Keane?

After all it is all very well having Bentley putting in the crosses but if spurs have no strikers it is a bit pointless really

[nicko]

Nicko in your opinon does David Bentley want to go to spurs?

And if he does do you think his attitude may have changed with it looking like they will lose Berbatov and Keane?

After all it is all very well having Bentley putting in the crosses but if spurs have no strikers it is a bit pointless really

I'm not arguing with any of that...if I was Bentley I would be happy if this one dragged for a while to get a better idea of who Spurs have left.

[Commondore]

Yes AC Milan, have come with 55m + Pirlo bid for the axe. They hope to replace twice world-footballer Kaka with the silky-smooth South African

Pirlo, the old Souey-target!

[nicko]

Pirlo, the old Souey-target!

Souey thought he could sneak him out...no harm with ambition.

Pirlo was loaned out three times in his Inter career and Souey thought he could bring him over.

Reasonable judge.

[Plastic Head]

What is happening at Villa is MoN and Randy Lerner, two of the really nice guys in the EPL have failed to get their acts together- if they did I'd back Villa to win the EPL in 08/9, Lerner is THAT rich.

His estimated wealth last year was £750M. As far as I know much of his wealth is from investments in MBNA and other debt related companies.

Therefore that amount may have considerably reduced in the last 12 months.

I can tell you from personal experiance that MBNA have a massive amount of debt they are unable to collect and will almost give it away to anyone who's interested.

To get Villa to Championsip material would take £200-£300M.....would he really risk that amount?

[philipl]

To give you an idea of how clever, Randy is, he 100% exited MBNA more than two years ago and all the wealth hounds are wrong by a multiple.... on the low side.

[Dunnfc]

Is everybody excited as i am now?

We could be signing players with money its a miracle.

[Tom 1]

Villa - a little team? Especially with Randy's dosh? You dont know the half of it Tom. We get this every single summer.

Don't worry mate i can imagine entirely. Thing is though Villa might be a big team but it means nothing...cause those 4 are bigger, and if they want someone from us, they'll get it.

[92er]

I'm still unhappy at the prospects of Fowler and Andrews signing for us-I guess I am writing this partly because Nicko mentioned about how quiet it had gone about them.

Fowler has a lot to prove in terms of attitude, fitness etc that he is worth taking on. It could well be that we do need an extra striker for the subs bench next year, but I would need a lot of convincing that Fowler is THE man who fits the bill.

Most people have argued against Andrews and, again, I cannot see any merit in that signing.

It will be interesting to see how well the guy from Chile does in his first year. He certainly gets a lot of compliments from his supporter. I found the contribution from one person claiming to know the North of England, describing the poor weather, the "ugly" football etc interesting as well.

Recently I read an article in the Daily Telegraph about how poor football clubs were at helping their new players settle into a different culture-and this included some of the top clubs in Europe. Again, I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

[roverfanuk]

SkySports News have just announced that MK Dons have transfer listed Keith Andrews? Any idea how this might effect Rovers Nicko?

Surely if we wanted him they wouldnt need to transfer list him?

[Mr Creosote]

SkySports News have just announced that MK Dons have transfer listed Keith Andrews? Any idea how this might effect Rovers Nicko?

Surely if we wanted him they wouldnt need to transfer list him?

Talksport confirm this but state that no offer has been made.

That t** Ian Abrahams reckons Rovers will be in with a £1m bid in Monday.

[bats]

Nicko, wasn't the Villanueva article released too early because now other clubs can come in and offer a better deal than ours because they know he is available. Shouldn't it have waited!

[Sandiway Blue]

Nicko, wasn't the Villanueva article released too early because now other clubs can come in and offer a better deal than ours because they know he is available. Shouldn't it have waited!

I am sure Nicko said earlier on in the thread that the story was leaking out anyway from other sources.

[American]

I feel a bit sorry for Chimbonda. He comes from a very poor background in an island that is a dot on the map, goes to France as a kid and ends up in places like Le Havre and Bastia. He takes a chance at Wigan, is so good they give him a new contract and they BOTH agree he can go to Tottenham. Wigan then do the dirty by saying he is pushing for a move...and he gets away. He seems to have gone a bit large in London, but he was a terrific player at Wigan and could be so again. Remember, it was Spurs who signed Hutton for his place in the team which would annoy anyone.

So the story about him turning in a transfer request directly after the last game of the season were incorrect?

[nicko]

Nicko, wasn't the Villanueva article released too early because now other clubs can come in and offer a better deal than ours because they know he is available. Shouldn't it have waited!

No, last time I checked Rovers weren't paying my wages...

So the story about him turning in a transfer request directly after the last game of the season were incorrect?

Pascal had met Wigan during the week and been told he could go at the right price. Spurs bid for him and he wanted to see the manager who blanked him for a couple of days.

He was told by the club to ask for a transfer - and handed it over after the game because he was peeved.

I know that is how it worked because I was pretty close to the story and the excellent book Northern Soul confirms those details.

It suited Wigan to give him a bad name, both sides dug their heels in and it was nasty for a while...but he got his move and Wigan made about £5 million on a player within a year!

[Dave S]

Nicko

As has already been mentioned Talksport expect Andrews to sign for Rovers. He is not in todays MKD friendly.

Is there a possiblility that Rovers will anounce several new signings on Monday?

Also Chris Eagles is playing for Manc today, so not a dingle yet.

[m4xypp]

I am sure Nicko said earlier on in the thread that the story was leaking out anyway from other sources.

nicko's contributions to this forum must by now have shown you that ther is only one group of people out of the loop in the world of football, and thats us the fans.

i doubt very much nicko is th only person in europe to know of this lads availability. the only diffenrence being he chooses to share that information with us.

[Zulu]

And don't forget Robbie Fowler. I will have a little smile on my face when I see him in a Rovers strip on Monday...

Not as big as my smile, Nicko!

[nicko]

Nicko

As has already been mentioned Talksport expect Andrews to sign for Rovers. He is not in todays MKD friendly.

Is there a possiblility that Rovers will anounce several new signings on Monday?

Also Chris Eagles is playing for Manc today, so not a dingle yet.

Andrews has not played - and thinks he is going to Rovers. However it's not a done deal yet. I suspect he is just avoiding injury and will move somewhere very shortly.

Rovers will announce the signings when they happen, both Castillo and Villanueva need work permits so that will be delayed for a few days yet...at least.

Eagles played and scored. He was told he could go back and speak to Burnley - his agent is currently doing so. Burnley are ok with that, although I would have thought he should have come off the Man U trip when he was told he could...

I'm sure a few gags will be inserted about that one.

[John]

Nicko, any interesting stories for tomorrow?

[nicko]

A few sagas rather than anything new...

Decent Villa line - a couple of new names.

NO clues on that. Not even remotely Rovers-related.

[FeedTheHare]

A few sagas rather than anything new...

Decent Villa line - a couple of new names.

NO clues on that. Not even remotely Rovers-related.

Any chance of a PM clue even? I'm starved.

Thank you for all of the other updates though, Nicko. Much appriciated.

[herbergeehh]

Any idea what role Andrews is supposed to play, will he be a squad player in midfield? Can he play in other positions? Vogel is here, David Dunn, Mokoena and Reid - and Ince seems to fancy bringing in both the two South Americans as well. I have no knowledge of him at all, but from his goalscoring record, he's not replacing Mokoena as the defensive cover?