believe it when i see it

Yea, i dont know much about whether this should be taken a bit more seriously as its in the guardian but still. We'll have to wait and see....

20 million for Mexes.....an expensive, if idle, thought.

Mad!

There will be lots of unsubstantiated rubbish written over the next few weeks - and I am pretty confident this is some of it.

Ashley Young would be a good buy, and I can certainly see us selling Routledge as a makeweight - but I can't see us selling Davenport without any backup and Young is clearly going to Liverpool.

What I don't get is why Routledge has dropped off the radar. When he played for Palace he was in the top 2 or 3 for assists in the league. He was the reason that Andy Johnson looked so good and consistently turns out for the England U21s.

We spend ages trying to prise him away from them. He plays excellently in the Peace Cup, then....... gets injured and is out forever due to the brilliance of Lennon.

Why not develop him into competition for Lennon to keep him sharp. As much as I admire Jol, and I really really do, I don't get the Routledge situation at all.

I suspect it's a matter of the space between his ears, his ears being closed to advice, and mouth engaging before any consequence is considered?

Taking the Davenport speculation one step further...how close is Dervitte to playing 1st team?

I would tend to agree with this. Particularly as Jol has been trying Lennon on the left recently too.

I would like to see Routledge given a chance on the right, (with Jenas as back-up) to see if he can re-discover the form he showed at Palace which prompted us to buy him in the first

He already has. Carling Cup fixture.

Would not be too bothered if we lost Routledge to get Young, a bit pleased rather, to replace a like-for-like with Lennon, whom he'll never displace, with an equally talented player who is remarkably two footed, hence both cover and an option down the left hand side.
I would, however, be loathe to lose Davenport in such a deal when he is starting to show his talent, especially with our much documented threadbaredness at centre half. I'd be much more pleased to pay a bit more and let Gardner go, as he seems, unfortunately, to be unlikely to ever overcome his injury issues.

I am not sure that we should let routledge go while lennon is injured although I have not been impressed by him and particular the way he gives the ball away.

As for davenport, that is just crazy! He is quality and not that far behind dawson.

I guess it

Young would be a great addition to our squad however I feel he is at the same level as Routledge was in the season before we go him in from C. Palace. I still don't think Routledge has settled in with us due to loans and injuries and have come to the conclusion that it's not going to happen for him. Saw him over the festive period and he looked woeful for Fulham....

Thanks for the concrete..... Is he likely to make any further appearances?

just what we need - another striker

Yes he IS. + There are many DC-youngsters better than Davenport. (Ferdinand, Davies, Ridgewell, Taylor, Tony Adams:rofl: etc.)

Wow you really have been watching a different Davenport to me this season and obviosuly dont realise the collosus Dawson is. I would rather have Lindsey Davenport play centre half for us than Calum against a top side

Do you actually watch any football or just listen to twats like Lawrenson and beleive them when they roll off thier flavour of the month?
Davenport has been very good when called upon this and last season given his limited opportunities. Manure at home last season for instance and i'd say that he's been the better of the Dav/Daws pairing in the last 2 games as well. Granted he was involved in some high profile goals against such as Bolton away and Everton at home but was extremely unluckly with both!
Davenport should be kept and Gardener offloaded.

westlondonyid - that is a bit harsh. The guy has stepped in at a moment's notice on a few occasions and done well. He played fine against Liverpool for example.

Now I'm not saying he is the best centre back in the world, and nor am I saying he's as good as Deadly or Dawson, but I'd much rather have him than Gardner in the side.

Of course we would all be wanting Deadly and Dawson to be ever-present but it just isn't going to be the case so we need cover.

Keith Burkinshaw has been praising Ashley Young very highly for quite a while now.With the former masters opinion still very much to be respected,I for one would be very enthused by the arrival of this young player at the appropriate cost.