Pre-season started and...we've no new players

No new players of any note. Ok, this first leg of the pre-season tour only has 8 first teamers (and I'm including Richard Wright in that list) and 17 kids including the new lad Unal.

I would have hoped, or even expected, that our main transfer business would have been done already and new players would start the bedding in process as early as possible.

It could be they will join for the next leg of the tour, but i doubt that we'll get anyone.

Txiki's position really needs to be looked at and I don't think it looks good for him. Or, at least, it shouldn't. He's brought us bang average players in all honesty that have been overpriced and haven't produced. He's missed out on others that would have taken us to another level (Sanchez, Fabregas) and he doesn't fill me with any confidence that he'll get us any really top players.

Basically, it's come down to us waving wads of cash at clubs and players and any old fool could do that.

I don't think this week is too crucial as most of the big guns won't be playing on the tour for another 10 days...but if we go through next week with no-one, then we're dooooomed!!

This is starting to look like a retread of the last few windows since Cooky was hoofed out.  We look interested in some key players and end up signing shite at the death.

Look at who we're supposedly in for:  Sterling, Pogba and De Bruyne.  

The Sterling saga is still rumbling on and, despite the fact the lad wants to leave and has even side-stepped his own side's pre-season tour, we still seem to be going, "Uuuuumm..."  Do we want him or not?  If we do, then just grab him now before someone else pitches in and grabs him from under our noses!  If not, go and identify someone else, sharpish, before they get snatched up!  Argh!!!

Pogba, we knew was going to be a monster sum, so why fuck about?  Do we need him or not?  And if £71m is too much, why sit there and go, "Aaaaahhhh..."??  Either get him or find someone else, quick!!  Aarghh!!!!

As for Kev, that seems to have gone silent.  Do we still want him?  Why aren't we doing anything??  Has everyone gone absolutely mad???  Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!!!!!!

Now look at Cooky's record.  Everyone we were seriously interested in, aside from Kaka and Eto'o, he bagged.  Kaka didn't come because he felt he'd get more trophies where he was (which, to be fair, happened).  Eto'o didn't come because he didn't want to play for a small club.  Erm, Everton, Sam?

I don't want us to go spending stupid money on players, but at the same time all this dithering and "playing it cool" isn't getting us what we want.  It's like playing Monopoly, when you land on Leicester Square on the first lap and you think, "I'll hold off buying that for now."  But then someone else buys it and you're stuck with the crappy brown and pale blue ones at the top of the board, whilst having your money sucked out of you because the guy who bought Leicester Square instead of you, and since picked up other two yellows and built houses on the lot, is smiling because you've just thrown enough to land on Piccadilly and you owe him £850...

you're Monopoly analogy sucked me in and the bored me out.. hahaha

We didn't buy Hazard a couple of seasons back because the money looked too hot, but he would have won us back to back titles. I'm certain of that and maybe we'd have won 4 on the bounce with him and gone further in Europe which, in turn, would attract better players such as de Bruyne, Sanchez and Pogba.