^What he said.

£5m mortgage at £50k a week falls well under the three times salary 'rule' that used to be used to guide how much you could borrow for a mortgage, so he shouldn't have an issue.

I'm sure it'll get a mention at some point.

I think this is a big season for football, we really need some feel-good stories after the reaction to the Olympic athletes perceived attitudes compared to footballers.

Crawley going bust. That'd make me feel good.

But seriously, staying in the league will do me nicely. It's been a long eight years away for the mighty York

thought you were a Terriers fan John ?

Right so, he gets YNWA tattoed on his hand to keep the fans on side? Okay.

Oh good lord no. That, sir, is an affront

Me too, but I meant from a wider public perspective, for the first half of the season at least the Premier League as a whole and the clubs individually needs to market the bollox off their charity work. Bring back the segments on MOTD showing what players do, amongst other things.

Joe Allen to Liverpool? £15m being reported. Another example of their overspending or a genuine capture of the next generation of British midfielders? I've not really seen enough to answer that question, but I know his stats are decent in terms of passing completion.

What does this mean for their other overpriced midfielders? Who'll be leaving?

I can see Adam being shipped out (Although when he came on last night his range of passing was superb), and if we are lucky Spearing.

Apples and oranges.

Team sports v (on the whole) individual.
Massive attention all the time v fleeting attention every four years.
The most popular sport in the country by 100 miles v events that are ignored most of the time.

People seem to focus on the tens of thousands of pounds that footballers earn every week and compare that to athletes who are supposedly doing it for the love of it. A friendly interview at the high point of an athletes career v the worst incidents that are being reported about footballers.

How about comparing the tax paid by pro footballers with the £9bn+ that the people of GB will be paying for for decades?

IMO next season will be a difficult season for football simply because most of the players will be suffering from fatigue because a lot of the players will be overworked because of Euro 2012. But football needing feel good stories because the country is caught up in temporary Olympic fever? Give me a break.

I agree with the first part of your post, that's why I said the athletes perceived attitudes compared to the perception with footballers, look at the reactions to any win "what a break from the greedy overpaid footballers" etc, my point was more that the EPL need to remind people how much good footballers do in their communities more than anything.

How can you say its overspending when he hasn't even kicked a ball in a red shirt? You can make that judgement when he leaves. If he stays here for ten years then it could prove to be a bargain and a masterstroke. Ill trust Rodgers' judgement on this one, thank you, given that he knows the player as good as anybody and is not stupid in terms of spending money.

Quality young player. Love the type of player that he is.