Haven't seen this anywhere else, apologies if it is.

I read on Ceefax last night that Dunc's delays helped us to miss out on signing a new stiker, almost certainly Craig Bellamy. So, we ust be in the market for a striker, pacey little number with around six million to spend. Bellamy had agreed personal terms with 'another'club..us?

What about Burchill from Celtic, he'd only cost about 2 million.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2000

Answers

Yes, I saw this. I was a bit suprised since defense does seem Robson's concern from what he has said - but it would have substantially improved the team wouldn't it.

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2000

Yes, BR makes this point fairly forcibly in The Journal this morning - blaming DF's Agent. It says BR had brokered a "cash-plus-players deal" for Bellamy (Note - players in plural!).

BR is quoted "Had a certain situation gone better and more professionally this week we would have seen another face at SJP. Unfortunately, that move was scuppered and that's why I was so angry about the situation. We had set up a perfect deal but because our own deal got hijacked - and there's no other word for it - it fell through. At the end of the day we lost two players - we lost DF and we lost the player we were going to buy, so I am very angry. In this industry of ours there are some very good Agents who are born for it, and there are also people trying to take money off trees. It would be very interesting to find out how much money has gone out of football and into Agents hands.

Bobby said he was sad to see DF go, and claimed the pair of them had never exchanged a cross word. "I had no problem with Duncan - the only problem was that I couldn't get him on the pitch often enough. Every time we got him on the pitch he was fantastic. He's a great player, and awsome player, and if Everton can get him on the pitch more than I could, then they've got a fantastic deal. He and I never had one fight or one row. At one stage last season he and Alan Shearer were as good as any you've seen in the PL. They were as good as Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke. We've lost a very good player."

Interestingly, the report goes on to say that after missing out on long-term Bellamy BR has pledged to buy again - revealing he has a 'substantial' transfer kitty for purchases. "We've sold some players and we've bought some players but I'm not finished yet. I've got a nice war chest and I've got the OK from the Chairman that at the right time whatever money I need will be made available. I think we've bought well but we'll be buying again. We're going to try to qualify for Europe this season, and we need a bigger squad to achive that."

The point that occurs to me if there is indeed transfer money available, is why was the Bellamy deal allowed to collapse if it was so perfect?

-- Anonymous, August 19, 2000

Hmmm....I was thinking the same thing, Clarky. Somehow I doubt they really will release whatever money he needs on demand. I can't imagine that even if they'd gone ahead about bought Bellamy, they still wouldn't have gotten Dunc back to Everton eventually. It really did seem inevitable once the ball started rolling. And if it was money + players, I wonder which players? Again, if the board(or whoever controls the purse strings) was more interested in getting players off the books, surely that deal would have meant 1 or 2 leaving. Odd.

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2000

Mpenza scored a hat trick yesterday. I would have thought we could get him for 6.5 mill, after the fuss from Euro 2000 has died down.

Centre back is priority after yesterday.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000