Thetownend.com

Not all will agree but for me if we can keep him and ferry return to his previous form than that is just as important as any new signing.

Good news if it happens.

http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~2378040,00.html

Chuffed about that.
OK, he wasn't great last year, but then again nobody was. He got better toward the end of the season and was brilliant the season before.

Could easily play at a higher level, arguably the Championship, so to keep him here is a great bit of business.

agreed

Excellent news.

Hope he signs. Ferry, Ritchie, Caddis and Dougie in the middle should be more than enough to overpower most teams in this division.

Brilliant. Absolutely chuffed about this.  :clap:

Great news if it happens! JD is a vital part to our team. Not quite captain material IMO, but we need him patrolling the centre of the park, especially in League Two

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Given how rarely we saw him last season, Ferry could be a great 'new signing' for us if he stays and shows some of the form we know he's capable of.

Douglas and Ferry will destroy L2

A midfield of Caddis Douglas Ferry and Ritchie will be absolutely mint in League Two. Lightweight or not, there's a ridiculous amount of quality there that will overcome most brutes in L2.

I don't think Ferry failed to show what he's capable of last season, because he was played so rarely. Whenever he played he looked the same as ever and was the most committed player on the pitch.

Ferry is the sort of player, di Canio will love because he always gives his all. I have a sneaking suspicion he'll be captain. Although he seems quieter on the pitch than off it, his work ethic, especially if he was captain, could set an example for the others and leave less room for passengers.

I was actually delighted when he came to us in League 1 when he left Leeds. But staying with us in League 2 is brilliant for us.

He could play in The Championship easily.

Hope this happens.

Best news of the summer so far if he stays.

Great player.

I will be made up if he signs. Obviously massively disapointed that he had a stinker last season, but he's quality - and in L2 that midfield mentioned will be one of the best in the league.

Set faces to stunned!

I'm not believing it until he signs :)

Ditto - let's hope it is next week

Adver speculating that it is a 2 year deal. It would be good to have someone like Douglas get a few hundred appearances under their belt for Swindon - become a proper legend, see his career out here and maybe move into coaching.

this is excellent news. Dougie is the only player i would be gutted about losing of those that are out of contract.

as others have stated, Ferry, Dougie, Caddis and ritchie in midfiled next season. League 2 wont know whats hit them

Absolutely.  Was just thinking the same myself.  (Let's hope Dougie is thinking along the same lines himself.)

Great news and fair play to him,got a lot of stick as captain last year and could easily have fucked off in a tantrum.
As good a midfielder as anyone out of the Championship in my opinion,lets hope he stays and helps take us up.

Hope he does sign on next year, is a massive player for us and i struggle to see many better midfielders than him in the division. Got to play to his strengths and keep him as the holding player though and not try and get the goals from him like at the end of last season.

He aint signed yet

2 year deal then, finally we see some loyalty from someone.  :beers:

Fantastic news, he will be ace in league 2.

He needs to start chiping in with some goals. His lacking in that department was a major pain in the arse last season.
If we are going to have a go at getting out of the league we need goals from all over the park.

I like this

He's not signed yet. Need to take the armband off him too if he does. Cracking player to have in this division though

See this is where i disagree with you for once mate.He has never been much of a goalscorer and i think last season when he had a shit defence behind him he had to drop alot deeper to protect them but he was also being asked to score goals which took away alot of what we know he is best at.The season before it wasn't an issue and we saw the best out of him.I honestly think if we just ask him to play the role we know he is best at that we will see the old douglas back.

this over and over and over again. spot on

Next season all the players are getting an armband

[url width=761 height=483]http://onesixthscaleking.com/shop/images/Italian%20Fascist%20Arm%20Band.jpg[/url]

Something to do with Real Ale Reg?

Its a good point and if he played in front of a holding player in midfield i reckon he would score more regular,fact is most of last season he was playing miles to deep and almost like a defender most of the time,does a lot of donkey work like blocking and generally just trying to disrupt the opposition.

Yep Old Fasces....the Roman birch bundle and axe symbol of authority.

Why would we want to play a defensive/holding midfielder in front of a defensive/holding midfielder so he can chip in with some goals?

Dougie is the best only defensive/holding midfielder we've had at the club for over a decade, so why would we try to find another seemingly rare player, so he can play out of position? Personally, I couldn't care less if Dougie didn't score again. He's there to sit in front of defence, break up play and be a disruption. That's something he does, with the exception of portions of last season, with aplomb.

Wasn't saying we SHOULD play him there,just making the point that if he played in a more forward role he would score more.........he hardly got over the halfway line last season,that said he was my player of the season by miles.
Would like him do that role with our defence pushed forward..........not camped in our own box,we need him doing the donkey work on the halfway line not on the edge of our18 yard line all match.

Would be almost like a new signing if we can keep JD here. He's very good at this level. If PDC can get the team playing with passion and belief again then he's going to be a big asset.

I know what you mean and don't think I was getting at you, I was merely saying I don't want him getting forward and trying to score. I want him somewhere in the first third to disrupt anything coming at us.

I'm thinking if he his with ferry in middle then we can afford him to be play maker and let si go on his mazy runs. Agree about being like a new signing with the re-building of the squad. Really looking forward to this season now the fixtures are out.

Well Barry that is where i slightly disagree,personally would love to get two centre halfs to do that in our third,fact is last year he was busy breaking up the play of attackers most of the time along with the defence,i want to see him camped in midfield breaking up the oppositions midfield.
Know you wasn't having a go :)just feel in his first season with us he was more influential upfield a tad more.
All being said what great news if he stays :nod:

Another thing we need is the normal 4-4-2 we did play and no silly shit like last year. He is better when he had wide men to switch it to.

What formation does Harry Redknapp prefer?

Just asking because Di Canio is likely to be heavily influenced by him.

To be fair i think he plays a few different formations but on the whole he has always liked his wingers.

I like wingers

I suspect that di Canio's formation might favour right wingers.

Badum-tish!

He deffo is best as a holding midfielder,i appreciate that. 1 goal from centre mid in 2 seasons is still not good enough imo(even for a holding midfielder)  He got away with it in his first season as we had paynter and austin banging them in plus ward jpm etc chipping in too. If other players are going to score the goals then fine,but last year his lack of goals did not help us.

Scoring goals isn't about Douglas' game is it. Similarly other midfielders that play a role close to his: last season Wilshire scored 1 goal, Essien 3, Carrick 0, De Jong 1, all low figures- but pivotal parts/ engines of the team (Maybe not Carrick!)

Exactly, look at Makelele, arguably one of the best holding midfielders in recent years and Mascherano and Jon Obi Mikel as well. I see Dougie like a lower league Makelele.

i dont want to go on as it may wrongly make me look anti douglas which i'm not.
i expect him to be a real force in league 2 but i hope there are goals to enhance it.

Nah, Dougie is white and has got hair ;)

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12874_6994247,00.html

Do it Dougie,DO IT!

Makelele is widely regarded as one of the best holding midfield players of his generation. he didn't score a career goal until he was about 30 and that was a penalty which he needed the rebound to score after it was saved. To be fair to him though, he did score an absolute screamer the season later.

You've just made this up havent you?

Eh, what do you mean?

Anyway, It would be absolute class if Dougie stayed. What with Bodin hopefully staying as well, those are some serious demonstrations of loyalty from the Club and the individuals concerned.

makelele scored his first pro goal when he was 18 and had 14 by the time he was 30.

I see. Thank you. I have to say my knowledge of Claude Makelele is somewhat lacking.

I think towards the end of the season he did start getting forward more, rattled the bar with best strike ive ever seen live. Then scored a worldy in the next game. Maybe next season he will chip in with 5-10 goals. But if he doesnt, it wont matter cos thats not his game anyway.

i'm more excited about dougie signing than any other so far. he'll seriously run L2 from midfield next season

It was definitely his first Chelsea goal :)

Having a deep holding midfielder like the top players mentioned above does depend on how the team is set up.Look how those sides set up.

You dont need one in a 4,4,2. Infact you can't afford one in that formation.
If we go 1 up front,4,3,3, 4,5,1 diamond-whatever, then fine it fits in there.

4,3,3,4,5,1 - I don't think we have a big enough squad to play that formation

could have done with that line up last season.

in all seriousness,douglas didn't play as deep during the play off season as last year.
dunno how di canio will set us up. the 4,3,3- 4,5,1 is very popular at the moment.
i'd prefer us to go 4,4,2 and just win the individual battles in games.thta should be good enough(if our personel are better,which i think they will be)

But in a 442 the 2 central mids can play different roles. Douglas and Ferry are both good at breaking up play, but Dougie is more likely to look for a pass and Ferry is more likely to go on a run. They are almost a perfect match in many ways.

Lets face it - without that big fucking gypsy anyhting looks good. Ferry and Dougie sounds a good match

Sounds a good match? We know for a fact it's a good match.

With Di Canio having done his badges in Italy he might lean towards 4-1-3-2 which is pretty dominant in Italy at the moment - bar Udinese. So he might well go narrow and not really use the wings.

I think Di Canio will go with a 4231 possibly. with Ferry/Dougie/Smith as the 2 and Ritchie/Caddis/Bodin plus new faces battling for the 3, although it all depends on the striking options bought in as it wouldn't suit Benyon at all (although I'm starting to think nothing suits Benyon).

On a unrelated point, would like to see us bring in Zebroski from Torquay if we're going with wingers in a 451 or 4231. Swindon lad, and him one side and Ritchie t'other would be mint.

"its in its actually in"

True Gritt, I liked it.

Swindon lad....he used to play for Poxford but he's alright now? 

tbf he did miss a penalty for them in the Play Off semi final shoot out in their first season back where they belonged, so he has contributed to in his way.

A lot of Italians do favour the narrow formations, it worked well for Norwich with a diamond midfield and Wilson tried it but didnt have the right players. I guess next week we'll see a few faces come in and based on their positions we'll know what sort of way he is going to go.

I remember Ferry had a great game as the holding player away at charlton last year, maybe him and dougie in front of the back four with attacking full backs is the way to go, then have three more creative midfielders further forward behind the one forward

I don't like to see Ferry too deep, as his runs with the ball towards the opposition box cause a lot of problems. He uses the ball very intelligently higher up the pitch, just can't shoot.

Fantastic news! (If he signs it)

Its scary how good Dougie could be in the league if this is true.

The fact that he is settled in the area and is clearly happy to sacrifice more money in a higher standard league shows a great deal of commitment to our cause.

More like a lack of ambition by the player

How you look at it depends I suppose on whether you are a glass half empty/glass half full kind of person.

Or if you prefer, cynical wanker/not a cynical wanker.

Some people are never, ever fucking happy  ::)

I can see this point of view. To stay here he's probably got to lose the captaincy and drop a few quid. Is that because he feels partly responsible for the shit we're in or because he can live a comfprtable life.

Footballers are constantly berated for their greed and now we've got one that appears not to put money first, he gets slated for a lack of ambition.

It's also a massive negative for a player to show a lack of ambition if it benefits you apparently. ::) Some people don't half scrape the barrel to find something they can be a negative twat about.

He aint signed yet!

Who says the deal means he's going to be seriously out of pocket? Maybe it's a creative contract like Notts County, and presumably Crawley, used? Play x games and get half your monthly salary?!

And another thing. Define 'ambition'. Chasing those pound signs is one way of looking at it.

Another way would be finding somewhere where you are really happy, you've got a really nice life style for you and your family (and let's face it, he's not getting paid peanuts) where you're all settled, you've got your kids in a nice school, you see them regularly because your not having to stay away during the week...etc etc. And you're highly valued by your employers. Doesn't sound too bad to me.

It is very refreshing indeed to come accross someone who is not motivated solely by money but appreciates there are other things in life.

Spot on. Money is one element of life but is significantly overtaken by other values and football does tend to be overshadowed by the money element. There are several players over the years who have shunned bigger deals to stay at a club.

Maybe this is seen as lacking ambition, I don't know but one thing is fact he could play higher and I'm sure he's not short of offers.

Suggesting a player lacks ambition because he wants to stay at OUR club?

Fuck right off, "Swindon fan"

if he stays he will be on significantly less than he was, i'm sure.not that he will be on peanuts either.
i think it will be a combination of reasons why he'd stay-settled in the area,no hassle of looking for another club,decent wage,loyalty.
it doesn't really matter anyway, as long as he gives 100% when wearing the shirt.

If he was in his early 20's then i would probably agree that was somewhat lacking ambition but he is 30 (i think).  He is approaching the stage of his career where regular football, stabilty and the financial security of a 2 year deal are probably more appealing than taking a punt in a higher league.

We've seen two outstanding examples of loyalty this week in the Club pulling out the stops to keep two key individuals in Douglas and Bodin and those individuals clearly wanting to stay.

Yes, I know they've still got to actually sign on the dotted line but I'll be very surprised if that doesn't happen. I think most of us have quite a jaded view of football and footballers and things like this restore your faith a little bit. Yes, the game is still loaded with greedy, mercenary bastards (players and clubs alike) but it's nice to know there are still a few exceptions.

Dougie was quite committed at Leeds too... Sticking with them despite being linked with moves elsewhere.

He's briefly played in the top flight, he's not going to return now. He's played for his nation... He seemingly wants to play for Di Canio and is a much liked player who's happily settled in the area with his family.

Good on him (if he signs the deal!)

Dougie could easily be a first team starter for at least a 3rd of the teams in the championship, so if a club like Barnsley came in with an offer and he rejected it, then in some respects he would be classifed as a person with a lack of ambition.

On the other hand, Dougie may believe that Swindon are a championship side in the making, and that sticking with them for the next 2-3 years may be the best option for his career - aka Nolan moving from Newcastle to West Ham.

Nolan going to west ham has nothing to do with their believed potential, and everything to do with the fact he bums allardyce

I think we should only sign players that are too ambitious to sign for us.

Correct.  Still, a very strange move for me.  Perhaps he just felt like moving south for a while?

Also no one actually knows who if anyone has came in for him. Say he had clubs in league 1 after him but they are not likely to be making a promotion push next season has come in for him and offered slightly more money? Is it really worth moving on.

Maybe the reported 55 grand a week had something to do with it.Being purely cynical of course.

I get the impression that he'd have stayed up here if he was offered the right terms.

To be honest, I don't know much about it but he was immensely popular with the fans.

Exactly. At this stage in his career he's played (or will do if he stays) at all levels bar the Premiership. What's another season in League 1 over a season in League 2? It's not like dropping to League 2 will hamper his international call ups - they've been and gone.

If he could easily get into Championship teams as a regular player he wouldn't be with us. I'm not slagging Douglas off as I think he is a really good player, but people suggesting he is easily Championship quality, especially after last season, are over-egging his ability.

He made 14 apps for Blackburn in the Prem. It's not much but I'd take that :)

Hadn't seen it was that much, shit the bed, in the champ too.  Won't be too long till players in L1 are bringing home 20...

If Douglas wants to stay then fair enough, you'd hope it would be a mass feeling of guilt for playing a part in our relegation. If he has had to take a pay cut then it was bloody well deserved anyway.

Take the armband off him and make it clear to him he needs to pull his finger out of his arse. Last season he was shite and it makes me wonder if our midfield linchpin the previous season was infact Simon Ferry all along?

Douglas bottled the fight last season, he cant do the same this season otherwise he'll be a waste.

Plus, all in all - on the back of the last season would Douglas really have many offers coming in? but then as we managed to offload Prutton & Rose then I guess anything is possible.

I will believe this when it is confirmed. Hope he does stay based solely on him recovering his form from the play off season. If not then he will I fear get found out in this league. But we do need someone in midfield.... :headhurts:

Douglas on Twitter: "3 more sleeps and its back too sort the future out"

Poor grammar aside, hopefully this is good news

That doesn't sound like a done deal to me ....

why?

sorting his future out could be him coming in to sign his contract.

TWITTER-Douglas: Signed contract, future sorted

I'm wondering if the twitter sycophants might creep him out a bit.

had to google sycophants. nice word ;)

Yes ... but with whom?

Can't have anyone relaxing just yet. Keep up the fretting, lads.

Douglas off to Brentford!?

Where's that come from?

Tweet from @swindonweb - "Farewell to Jonathan Douglas, off to Brentford, good luck!!"

Can't find it anywhere else though?

What a shitty move that'd be! Yeah they're in League One, but come on.....

Brentford. BRENTFORD. Nooooooooooo. Makes sense if he is settled. Its commutable from this area.

Thought we were a bit previous in announcing he'd stay (assuming this news is true of course)

Brentford?!

Please.

If Doughlas goes we're gonna need some massive new signings (and I don't mean Ben Burgess's weight). Plenty of hot air from the club but little evidence of attacting this sort of player.

Oh i don't know... that 30 year old Namibian fella with zero English football experience we have on trial could be a perfect replacement

Mark O'Donnell just said on Facebook that Douglas will not be signing a new contract with STFC.

Oh dear.

Its true just been on bbc wilts!!  :smugfu:  :bye:

Fucking hell, you're a barrel of laughs aren't you....Change the fucking record

And he might not be.

Which might suggest why they have him on trial to have a butchers at him first, innit.

Fuck you.

Shame. It had gone awfully quiet.

That's the clearout most wanted.

I honestly don't know what to expect this season. Over to you Paolo Di Canio!

Very very dissapointing.

Yeah, cheers guys, nice one, thanks...no really thanks.

YAWN

Wasn't one of the supposed advantages to Di Canio's appointment that we would be able to attract a better class of player to the club than would otherwise be the case in League 2?  So far, I have seen no evidence of this what ever.

Not out & out panic yet, but I thought the squad would at least be taking shape by the end of June...and we're nowhere near that right now.  Things need to improve during the next 2 weeks or so.  It's been a very average start.

So far today i have stubbed my toe on the door frame, stood on a plug and now Douglas fucks off. Great.

Which seems to have been forgotten

Indeed. Worrying times. In recent years it feels like we have been let down a lot on transfers, and that isn't helping with my patience now!

The clear-out hasn't been forgotten.  It's the absence of a decent clear-in that's causing most of the concern.  And then one of the only players we did want to hold on to clears off to a club that typically gets half the gates we do to better his career...just grates a little.

 Clearout yes, but that doesn't mean everyone. He was below par in a struggling team last season. For me he is still the best central midfielder we have had in a long long while. He was too good and probably too expensive for league 2. So not a big surprise.

Indeed

Gents

The players aren't even back in for training yet, the meltdown is WAY too immature.

I'm a tad concerned myself and my hand is hovering over the panic button but it is way too early to push it yet.

Why do we always announce these things and then make ourselves look stupid, im getting my flaming torch and pitch fork out the attic

Adver just tweeted that he is off to Brentford.

If he's going to brentford, then i'll be pissed off, made all the noises of sorting out the mess that he was captain of, and then fucks off, utter cunt. I should have known better than to believe the mongy looking fuckwit. My optimism of a few weeks back is waning, they'd better start pulling some players out of their arse soon.

And good fucking players, not Leon fucking knight, and yes I am pissed off.

Adver running with it.

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/news/9109357.Douglas_to_join_Brentford/

See you next season Doughie  :bye:


[url width=450 height=287]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OcrVemXZwpk/TTRDNJavczI/AAAAAAAAAaE/swqDJi-SkO4/s1600/goonies_sloth.jpg[/url]

With you sutton

Feeling exactly like this tbh.

Not bothered if he goes to be honest.  Whilst he was a great player for us in our promtion year, last year he was very under par and did nothing to unite the team as captain.  At least it'll be another one of the clique gang gone

this will also hopefully now teach us to disregard as page filling drivel, any adver article containing the words:
may
could probably
set to
definitely
might
etc etc

Nice one System that cheered me up a tad, now lets go and get the cat out of that tree...

well put

Should free up some wages tho.

And we can use them for???

Lap dancers

pole dancers

If he likes a drink then Brentford is perfect, fucking pubs everywhere!

Who honestly thought Dougie would stay? Listening to PDC's interviews you got the impression he wasn't that keen on him anyway and basically said Dugies attitude had to improve if he wanted to play for him next season.

Personally i think PDC has something better in the pipeline lined up tbh

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - we shall see

You are of course right.

My expectation for the season is promotion. So far (it looks like) we have got in a couple of good hard workers, a 'one for the future' a couple of trialist and a trial serial fuck up.

The club may just be keeping its cards close to the chest. I wouldn't call it a meltdown, but a rising concern.

Also it is possible that the team won't be complete until the transfer window slams shut. Fair enough, not a problem. Just that after last seasons noises about being under prepared after Wembley, we don't want to be in the same position again. Which means assembling the aquad quicker.

Pah, the realities of division 4 recruitment are biting hard I guess.

Now you're talking. Make the Robinettes redundant and employ lapdancers in each stand (well not the North stand obviously). They might need to increase leg room though!

Bang on

another shit, bottling, spineless cunt who wasnt up for the fight out the door.

cant complain.

The comments on thisis are more balanced than some on here.

Anyway, for all we know he was making demands like wanting to be captain and stuff. It had crossed my mind when Di Canio spoke about the captaincy being up for grabs recently. In which case, toodle doo.

Just guessing of course.

Bit of a trek from the cotswolds where he is settled!

If he doesnt want to be at Swindon, then as far as im concerned i dont want him here, good riddance.

onwards and hopefully upwards

What a great f*cking day.

Dougie leaving and that twat joining.
Will some one get f*cking control of this club.

We need some good news and quick.

It was mostly Wray who was saying how confident he was that Douglas would sign. PDC I think was yet to meet him, and had made it clear in his statements that Douglas was welcome to stay if he knuckled down.

I am disappointed that he is going, but Timlin and Ferry should be good enough, and there is still time to get more in.

We need a team of grafters this season, no room for passengers.

My biggest worry is that Ferry/Caddis/Ritchie also now become unsettled and hand in transfer requests.

What. The. Fuck?

So one player is leaving and another is here on trial?

It's the end of the world, sack the board, we'll be in the conference soon, etc, etc, etc....

I have to be honest, I am a bit disappointed after todays news.

Knight promising on Twitter his attitude has changed is not good enough for me.  He'll have to prove himself.

Brentford I guess was Dougie's decision as its commutable from the Cotswolds and he won't need to uproot family. Seems a strange choice though

Can't believe anyone is surprised by this news. I would have been astonished if he stayed? Loyalty? fuck that, it's non-existent, especially when a team is relegated. The only reason he would have stayed would have been because he's settled in the cotswolds. He can stay there at brentford, but good luck on the M4, son.

And let's not forget that however good he was, and I thought he was the midfield player we'd been missing for years, he played a huge part in what happened in the dressing room last season.

Shame, but if he ain't interested, jog on.

I think some people need reminding that Knight is only coming on trial.

And some should also watch Di Canio's interview about them on world, he;s very mindful the guy is a bit of a tool.

I'm sorry you don't agree. but thats the way I feel today. The huge optimism of a couple of weeks ago is just draining away. I am very uninspired by the transfer activity so far, and todays news just pisses me right off.

I personally think he actually could have wanted to stay more than the club did - if they were that fussed they would have surely taken up the option of the extension clause?

Who knows, but I can't see Brentford achieving more than mid table next year!

Onwards and upwards  :bye:

My take is that the clause was too expensive to take up (given the wage cap).

I think we all need a proper blow your socks off signing to cheer us all up. There was no point extending the season ticket deadline (to 4th July) if they didn't have something lined up (thinly veiled challenge to the club).

How's this for an overreaction?   ::)


http://twitter.com/DeclanTaylor87/status/85640451134210048

I'm sure that was the case but if he was that crucial to the cause they would have found a way round it.

If he was that set on leaving then he wouldn't have publicly stated on so many occasions he was keen to stay?

Here! here!

I don't think it's any exageration to say that this news is worse than a thousand Hiroshimas.

Because Douglas is leaving? The bloke was fantastic the season before last, but very average last season.

We've still got plenty of time to bring a few more players in and although they may not be 'names' I don't think that's an issue.

Most of the successful players we've had here have been virtual unknowns to most of us before they arrived.

Relax, have a drink and don't have a heart attack!

I'm still guessing he wanted the captaincy, and was told no (or not yes)

Di Canio was talking about the captaincy recently as though the matter was recently discussed.

Keep calm and carry on.....

HOW THE HELL CAN I DO THAT?? MY WHOLE WORLD IS FALLING APART HERE!!!!

He wasnt crucial to the cause though.

Far from it, he was fucking rubbish last season and will be no loss.

I'm not actually that pissed off douglas is going, just the way he's been portrayed as saying he'd show some balls and get us back up, and I'm not actually bothered about Leon knight, everyone deserves a last chance, the main thing that is pissing me off is all this crap in interviews and headlines be spouted not coming to pass, I've spent far too many summers of crap to want to go through another one, SOME GOOD NEWS PLEASE WOULD BE WELCOME!

Exactly - which is why I'm saying I think it was more the club almost than his decision to leave....hence the fact he wasn't crucial

Wasnt he our biggest earner? That will at least be a fair whack off the budget.

How about a Twitter campaign to persuade him to stay?!

Hows about this?

[url width=426 height=600]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b4ft3Mod7AE/TCmoeCsPT2I/AAAAAAAAAq4/DnacR-Zv7sI/s1600/keep-calm-and-carry-on.jpg[/url]

Yes he was crap last season but so was everyone, the year before he was player of the season and was quality

He would have been a massive asset in league 2 with his head screwed on right. But He has gone so we draw a line and move on, im more bothered about who we replace him with now.

It's only disappointing in the sense that the club, media and player suggested he would remain at the club.

He was seemingly just as responsible as the others for our plight.

My only concern is that we were told that Di Canio would bring a mix of Football League experience and Johnny Foreigners.

So far our FL experience is Devera (he has plenty) and maybe Leon Knight who has a track record of goals but also plenty of negatives.

Not panicking as the week is young.

Boo urns!

Wish I could be a fly on the wall wherever gazzza is now

I must admit, I'm a bit pissed off that Douglas has gone. I thought he might just have had the bottle to put right what he had a large part in causing last season.

However, thats another big earner off the books, and it might just be the case that some of the deals that have been stalling or haven't come off have been because we didn't know whether Douglas would be staying next season, and therefore, didn't know what the wage budget was.

I'm hoping that this'll clear the way for us to dip a little further into our pockets and sign a few decent players.

Although I admit, I'm stupidly optimistic sometimes.

A fly on a padded wall hopefully

i guess he wouldn't take the drop from his huge wage of the last 2 years.
Couldn't give a shit really,he is overated by most, is replaceable and probably for a player that will score a few goals too.
fuck him.....

What a shit day this has been.

Not only have we lost Douglas, our 6ft plus young striker from Brazil has turned into Leon Fucking Knight on loan.

The optimism of the last couple of weeks has gone, the new signings (assuming we can get anyone to sign) are becoming even more important by the day.

When did Leon Knights trial turn into a loan?

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/8993396.Douglas_sorry_for_Town_s_relegation/ (http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/8993396.Douglas_sorry_for_Town_s_relegation/)

Sticking to his word eh

I'm getting slightly concerned, I know we needed a clear out but that is 1 player out of all the out of contract that has signed - and that is becasue he didn't get a better offer.

But Dougie to Brentford is a surprise, surely you would think staying at stfc being the midfield lynchpin getting promotion back to L1 would be a better season than mid-table with brentford (no offence to Brentford...fuck it yes there is)

Do you honestly think if Dougie played well last season we wouldn't have been relegated?

The reason we we're so shit last season and got relegated was because we lacked at the back and up front, not the midfield.

Douglas has been the best midfielder we've had here in years. Before he came here we were crying out for someone that does what he does.

I'm pissed off with Dougie because I really thought that he and Ferry could be a fantastic central midfield next season.

But I'm more pissed off with Knight. We have not had a proper strikeforce since when, Easter last year? We keep being told that we are looking to bring in a striker by deadline day, and then it doesn't matter if we don't because the loan market is open. And it hasn't happened. Now we have some real optimism about the place, and we are going to bring in some decent strikers. And what do we get, the little shit himself. He must have been more hated inch for inch and pound for pound that any other player I can think of over the last few years.

Yes he's had a tough time, and everyone deserves a second chance, and God knows how Rushden have effectively forced him to go abroad for the last three years, but I don't want him playing fro Swindon. I was at Brighton, I saw him clock the mighty David Duke, and I don't want him wearing the red and white.

I'm sorry for caring and yes, the world ain't going to come to an end, but I am fucked off about both Dougie and Knight.

Uwe Rösler must be a smug german now!

So playing for Swindon in L2 is better than playing for Brentford in L1? You'd rather play at morecambe than sheffield united?

Get a grip.

he's joined brentford because it's a higher standard of football and because he can still live in cotswolds and commute, pretty simple.

Douglas is a seasoned pro, and knew to not to burn his bridges.

He's gone to Brentford for more money. That and maybe because he didn't like the way Di Canio criticised him publicly.

Totally gutted if i'm honest.

I honestly never felt he'd stay after all his pals left and I don't expect the comments around the captaincy in recent days helped the situation.

Yes, we wanted a bit of a clearout, but not the full starting 11?  On paper I see no improvement in ability or experience in any the players that has been brought in and am getting bored of the stories about players falling through.  The likelihood of us attracting someone who we are likely to get excited about are diminishing by the day.
 
I'm totally and utterly pissed off at the moment.  Quite frankly, I'm expecting news of further departures.  Caddis and Ritchie will be next.

DOOMED.

WE'RE DOOMED.

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH.

Clever

Those gutted about Dougie leaving - give me one good reason, from his point of view, why he would want to stay at a relegated club in which his pals have left and he's likely to be stripped of the captaincy? Why on earth could you be pissed off with him or the club? So he said a few weeks back he was gonna stay, that was before a better situation came along... we've had this chat so many times, but imagine you got offered a better job, you'd turn it down would you? No.

Those mortified by us not bringing in the same quality of players we're releasing... have a word with yourselves. We've dropped a division?! There is a salary cap...

Those worried we only have a 5-a-side team, since when did the season start in July?

Yes we might be shit this season, time will tell, but to be so angry at this stage when a) we haven't even finished our transfer dealings and b) haven't kicked a ball yet... just seems odd to me.

Why the anger? not having a go, just interested to know why?

I was aiming more for sarcastic.

We better get a move on though. The transfer window closes in 2 days.

Oh wait!!!

Juddie, i'm gutted that Douglas is leaving because I happen to find him to be a fantastic player. Regardless of what happened last season he was still the sort of player that this club was crying out for before he came. He lost a few fans last season because of his and the teams performances and as captain didn't perform as well as he could have.

However with a fresh start I honestly believed he could have recaptured the form of two seasons ago. It's a shame that it won't be for us.

From his point of view I've voiced my opinion on why I think he left a few posts up.

I seem to do this alot but the following links are why people may just be getting pissed off lately

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/9103751.Getting_a_Brazilian/?ref=mr

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/9108464.Brazilian_striker_negotiations_stall/?ref=mr

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/9103848.Di_Canio_believes_he_can_get_the_most_out_of_Douglas/

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/leagueone/news_articles/9109357.Douglas_to_join_Brentford/?ref=mr

Also

Jeremy Wray thinks Swindon fans will be "very excited" over one of Di Canio's signings

What i am saying is when will the club shut the fuck up? It's like they are pandering to the fans crying out for news and just blurting any old shit out

To be fair DRS, people would be freaking out even more if they said nothing at all.

Well he should be at home in Brentford at least- a pub on each corner!

mrverve.
Fair dos. I agree with you he's a fantastic player and I'm gutted he's gone because he was my favourite player in recent years, I just found it odd people were so gutted he was going yet slated Knight at the same time. Hopefully his wages free up some considerable money for use elsewhere.
Lot of activity to come.

DRS
Do we know the brazilian isn't signing? Did di Canio know Douglas was leaving when he said that?

Things change every day, always have and always will. And if the club say nothing they always get hammered for being quiet. We'll sign some targets and we'll lose others. That's just the way it is.

I'm becoming more and more worried every day.

Jeremy Wray has promised alot but delivered fuck all so far.

Jeremy Wray has promised alot but delivered fuck all so far.
[/quote]

Worry is the situation is still the same in August. Lot of transfer dealings to be done yet fella.

A lot of players are still on holiday.

For all we know there are contracts already drawn up waiting for signatures.

You're being far too level headed and reasonable, we want and demand to moan without being bought down to earth. I'm off to put some Smiths on to get my mood back to black ;)

Google tells me the Italian pre-season start almost 2 weeks after ours, can't be nothered to check the others.

Don't worry, i'll be the first on the bandwagon calling for heads if we start poorly! Just seems a bit nonsensical for everyone to be so down when there is still six weeks to go and we haven't seen the fellas kick a ball yet.

Very disappointing news, best midfielder here in years. Good luck to the bloke.

That's sort of my point though.I know that and others no that BUT it's the club who are saying he will have his squad in place by pre season not us.

I would honestly prefer the club to come out and say look we are not saying anything until a deal is in place which funny enough the only person who seems to have said that is the agent Phil Spencer who is getting the most shit.

I do not give a fuck if it takes us til August the 1st to get all our players but won't jump on other fans backs because they are pissed off with being promised exiting signings and proven goalscorers and being delivered with leon knight and a 32yr old 3rd division italian league player.

Was I jumping on fans' backs. I was asking why people were pissed off and you've told me why you're pissed off, and so did mrverve!

We're debating, isn't that what this forum is for?!

I'm just bathing in the glow from the meltdown

To answer Juddie, I'm not pissed off at departures (even Douglas), i just have very little faith in adequate replacements coming in... i haven't seen anything to suggest we'll have a squad capable of challenging for the top 3.

Nah i was just quoting you but numerous people have jumped on fans backs today on here.

That's fair enough, only time will tell. none of us know if devara/Smith/comazzithehotstepper are any good and won't until the new season.

Its the wrong time to be buying footballers at the moment.

Wait a bit until the season is closer, and all those free agents start to shit themselves because they may not get a club.

Number one rule: Whatever the Adver say, the exact opposite of that is true.

Well, apart from Di Canio anyway.

Is it the club saying this, or the Adver saying the club is saying this ?

people like @McFly dont exactly help either with their 'man on the inside'

"...bonkers exciting news to be issued by the club in the next 48 hrs etc etc..."

claims...

Yeah triseros. It's all your fault you cunt.

Another gutless fuck who can't stand up and try to make amends.  Even worse as he was captain.

I normally give past players a good reception, but most of the lot that have just left will get stick.

Gutless worms.

Anyone would think we'd lost Pele,not a misfiring centre mid who was fucking rubbish last season.
 As long as Di canio doesn't keep fucking off to Italy there is no need to panic yet.
Plenty of time for players to come in.
All f em could fuck off and it wouldn't matter. Players who got us relegated to the basement league are of no real loss.

I'm dissapointed he hasn't decided to stay with us after all the talk in the past few weeks suggested otherwise. He would be a very good player in L2. But to be honest in saying that last season he was poor. As a captain he was also poor. We've probably got a big earner off the wage bill. At the end of the day he's is better than L2 and to be quite honest the way some of our fans are he probably sees moving on as a better option. I'd imagine he's had plenty of tweets today calling him a cunt. I'm sure those same people loved him yesterday. That's how pathetic some of our fans are.

I wish him luck for next season anyway. We're having the clear out which doesn't bother me but what worries me is that clear outs can sometimes mean disasters the following season where teams take plenty of time to gel.

No, but a player of Douglas supposed calibre should have still been able to stand out in a shit side (see Scott Parker at West Ham)

He didnt, partly because he isnt as good as most thing and secondly because he doesnt have the balls for a fight.

Do I care he's going - no a single bit. I've said from May I'd gut the whole squad. The only disappointing thing was the fact Douglas said he wanted to stay and has completely gone back on his own words. Now obviously this was before his new contract was offered and I can understand him not wanting to burn his bridges with us - but state you will stay when you wont. He could have at least put some sort of spin on it.

We're not going to replace Douglas with anyone who is better than him. Not in League 2 anyway.

well that cant be said about Pericard, Aob, Prutton, Rose

Do we really need to though? I mean Ferry is good for L2, Timlin is alright.

Better to have Douglas than not though? No.

Simon Ferry will do nicely as a replacement.

Hell, even Timlin did a better job last season.

Who said I wanted them to stay?

Depends what Douglas IMO. Sure he's a good player and we know he is but last season his heart wasn't in it. Maybe we'd have seen the same again this season? Who knows?

What we do know now is that he isn't going to be here so at the end of the day it doesn't really matter either way.

never said you did was just saying that they can be replaced with better players, unlike douglas

that will depend on how we spend the money....

Yeah, I'm not too fussed about those going, Douglas would run riot in League 2. Last season's performance doesn't change that.

Can't see it tbh. You never know.

we all assumed he would do the same last season but failed on all levels. he obviously wanted to leave so it was out of the clubs hands

with pruts and douglas gone ferry can now step up

Who's gonna get the goals from midfield now?

Ritchie

Dougie would have been a good asset in league two but if he doesn't want to play for us, then I don't want him here.

The squad is looking a bit thin but there is plenty of time for new players to be brought in, when do they go to Italy?

Not saying we'll get a player of Dougie's quality, we wouldn't in L2 anyway, but if it gets two/three players that do a job...

We need a player that can do more than just a job though. If we want to get out of League Two we need players that are proven in higher leagues not run of the mill League 2 players 'that know the league'.

Douglas was crap last season, along aside his 'mate' Prutton, so no great loss especially as captain, where his record was...crap.

And how do you know we won't get a midfielder proven in a higher league?

I don't know, I'm hopeful but I just think it's unlikely.

Well then, aren't you jumping the gun a bit?

I would have liked him to stay, but him going doesn't mean we can't still have the strongest midfield in the league.

I'm not jumping the gun I'm just merely giving my opinion on whether or not the team is stronger with or without Douglas at this stage. How's that jumping the gun?

Because you're acting as though he is irreplaceable and the money can't be used elsewhere. Let's just wait to see who comes in shall we?

Really? Have a look at the squads that have won promotion out of league 2 over the years, don't think you'll find many players that were 'proven' in higher leagues.

League 2 squads are usually made up of league 2 players. We've already got a few players that have played at a higher level (Caddis, Ritchie, Timlin, Ferry) I don't think we need the whole team to be league 1/Championship quality.

Most definitely this....

I seriously don't understand why everyone's so down about Dougs leaving, he's a good player, I would've loved him to stay, but we all knew that if any league 1 club came sniffing he'd go straight away, so surely its hardly a shock.

Good fucking riddance. Frees up a decent wage. I'm nowhere near panic mode. in fact, I'm actually quite happy with where we are. I wanted the players cleared out and they have been. I'm not too arsed so far by the lack of signings. I'd happilly see some of the youngsters given a run. As for Knight he's a cunt but he's only on trial. Even if he behaves and scores a shitload I can't see us giving him a 3 year contract.
My glass is half full.

Well i am the opposite.
Yes the squad had to be trimmed,Douglas now gone has really fucked me off.....Wray has a lot to learn already,Two weeks ago we had a signing to get the fans imagination......Leon fucking Night really gets my imagination going.
Last week he tells us that he was almost certain that Douglas was staying....heres a tip,dont say nought until you know in future.
My glass is fucking empty tonight.

Shame he went, but life goes on. I'm disappointed he's left, but at that same time not going to get overly annoyed about it and won't care in a few days.

Dougie is was a proper defensive midfielder, but Ferry is a more complete player and out of the 2 I'd be more disappointed at losing Fezza. I think Ferry can easily play the Dougie role if we need a deep lying central mid, so hopefully we don't miss him.

[Grumpy Alert]

 :badmood:

For those that say good riddance, remember that thought for next season when our (non-tackling) central midfield pairing of Timlin & Ferry are being over-run.

I just hope that this kid Smith from York can add a bit of bite, because if he doesn't we could be in a bit of trouble.

I think too many people have forgotten what it was like before Douglas, when we were crying out for someone who would get stuck in.


As many have posted here, it's the fact that the club keep on with the "exciting signing imminent", "he's going to stay" shite when in reality they have fuck all agreement with these players.


[/Grumpy Alert]


Mind you, all will be forgiven if we smash the shit out of the Scum on Aug 21st   :D

Now the dust has settled and reality has kicked in if we are being honest we were just hoping that we would see players like douglas,jp and the others maybe return to the form of the previous seasons.

If we are being honest it was the form of the players who we let go last summer that probably allowed douglas to have a fantastic season and once they went we really saw a few of their true colours.

Lets remember alot of these players had all been released from elsewhere before we took them on yet no one came in for them last summer while our other players were wanted.

Fuck the lot of the cunts

Well i was hoping he would stay on account of the new chairman saying he was almost certain he would be DRS.
But the last line of your post makes a lot of sense in fairness.

Maybe the new chairman was repeating what he'd heard from the player and his agent?

Which just shows he is still naive benny.The board for all the good stuff they do need to realise the way they communicate through the press is the main outlet and that not all fans are understanding.

The press conference that wasn't (Timlin signed) made them look a tad foolish.

Spot on, if you don't have any actual news then say nothing.

Don't pander to the fans desire for info & announce random shit before the deals are done.

Wray has assured us that the squad will be complete before they go to Italy, but after the last couple of weeks does anyone actually believe him now?

Ferry and Timlin will put in alot more tackles than Douglas and Prutton did last season.

Ferry and Timlin have more fight in them. Infact I'd go as far as to say they should have been our central midfield pairing of choice last season.

I don't know if anyone really believed him in the first place.  We all know, or should do by now, that deals fall through all the time, offers come in, and players become available at the last minute.  Having a "deadline" for the squad to be complete is never going to be completely adhered to.

Douglas deserved his place in the team. But your general opinion on him i agree with

i'd agree with your first point, but the second one i think is with too much hindsight. neither were earth shattering when they were given a go, mainly because we had (wilson decided) to play prutton and/or douglas in place of them

in theory it works well, but i think we need a steve lomas figure in there

Douglas was awful last season.

I think he deserved his place at the start of the season the back of the previous season but by December I thought Ferry and/or Timlin should have at least had more of a chance in a 'well they couldnt do any fucking worse' sort of way.

Did they both play away at Charlton?

But would he... 2009-10 well playing team high flying he was fantastic, 2010-11 poorly playing team scrapping for results he was anonymous. I would have been concerned that in D4 he would not have been man enough!

But we will never know - if all the stuff coming out from the Adver that he wanted to stay, contract agreed with Agent etc is true then thats what upsets me - but life goes on, not a player whose career I will follow after this but hey ho.

I agree that Douglas last season was rubbish but so were the rest of the players. It doesn't change the fact that he is a better player than Ferry or Timlin. I'm sorry but he would get ahead of them every day of the week.

Bangkok, I hope to God your right and we replace him adequately, hopefully Smith can slot in and do what Douglas did. Neither Ferry or Timlin (both players I like) are similar to Douglas, they are very different to him. DV, they don't get stuck in as much as Douglas.

Some people on here have short memories, Douglas was the sort of player this club has needed for years. We were always crying out for a tough tackling midfield player, when he came it was a real coup for us. Leeds fans still rate him highly.

Didn't someone on here moan when we signed Smith that he was a tough tacking midfielder who picked up bookings....

So Douglas 'was' good. But he is on the downward spiral. Who is to say that he would have been good in the minimum timeframe that we could get back to L1 and challenge for Champs. Jonathan Smith on the other hands is a box to box combative player who is on the up.

I'm happy he's gone. I'm happy that they've all gone!

Yes, naivety. Exactly. Which is why I see little need to chastise him for it.

I agree with your 2nd sentence. Perhaps he should've learned already from the Robinson saga, but I guess he just wanted to make a good impression on the fans. I've no problem with it. He was told it looked like he was going to stay, he wanted to give the fans the good news - most of us were pretty happy with that - then Dougie (perhaps) went back on his word. We move on.

I hope no-one is complaining about Smith.  Often the relative unknowns are the ones who come good - Cox, Parkin, Austin, Sabin (I jest, but I did love him).  On the other hand, some "bigger" names just don't work out - I remember being vaguely excited when we signed Nalis, and then Nalis Mark II (Prutton).  Lets wait and see...

Well what can I say that hasnt already been said..

Stfc is quite a yucky place these days isnt it.

Yes. Also worth bearing in mind that Timlin excelled at Southend the last time he was playing league 2 football so anyone who wants a proven L2 centre mid there you go.

On the Douglas issue, I never kidded myself that if offered L1 football that wasn't miles away from where he lived he would ever stay. As others have expressed, the way both he and the club led us on into thinking he would stay up until he suddenly was gone leaves a sour taste though.

What Alan Sheehan wrote on Twitter

sheezdogg Alan Sheehan
Wanna say good luck to my buddy @dougieno4 on his move. Gonna miss him and the family.
9 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Sounds like Douglas is moving after all. (house)

I'm not sure it does leave a sour taste.  These things happen all the time - say anything to pacify the local press.  If you stay, you were always going to stay and you get lauded for declaring your loyalty.  If you leave, you leave - and your reputation with the fans you leave behind doesn't matter.  We've seen this enough times by now to know that until something is signed (and we see a scarf raised above a head) that nothing should be believed or taken for granted.  

If Douglas was the player we have been crying out for, for years, why was he part of one of the worst seasons in our clubs history?  Stats, and performances, would suggest he was not exactly what we needed and that other less liked midfielders had probably done a better job in the past.  He was going backwards, literally, as the season wore on.

I think he's still a good player, and the last couple of games he did come out of his malaise and start playing well.

Through the middle of the season he looked depressed in his football. Apparently he is a bit moody and grumpy.

An up shot of this could be that Dave Lucas also leaves, because he is past it. We need a number 1 goalkeeper very badly.

He was also part of a team that came the closest to getting us into the of 2nd tier of English football in 10 years.

But lets just concentrate on last season. All his fault.

Is it just me or do we seem to have more than our fair share of last minute letdowns?  Personally I'd rather be moaning about no news than news that subsequently doesn't happen!

Perhaps we just notice our own more than those that happen to others?  In my experience most football fans feel that everything bad happens to their club.

Yes I will concentrate on last season because it consisted of a lot of games and opportunity to turn his performances around.  He didn't, he got worse.  Parkin played pretty well for us, I wouldn't take him back now because that was in the past.  Douglas' record with us seems fairly consistent with his time at Leeds who were happy to be rid.  He played his part in 2009/10, he didn't in 2010/11 which is a considerably more relevant pointer to his potential form next season.  I can see why he would not have received an offer to good to refuse here.  He did get an offer it seems, just not good enough and I can't blame the club for that.

If he had stayed, I'd have been happy, he's gone and I just think thats life and we'll all move on.  His leaving will not leave a hole, it could have done a year ago.

He played his final year at Leeds as a full back and was offered a contract but didn't want to stay because he wanted to play CM. I know a few Leeds fans who would have him back even now. IMO he would get into a Championship side no problem.

Yes

Because that's exactly what is being said, isn't it?

Murphy's law

It's psychological

Some people are implying that as captain he played a big part in the team getting relegated, yes. Maybe not Robert T.

Robert T please forgive me for putting words into your mouth.  ::)

So long as you keep it to your words......

He was on a free, but yet no championship team wanted him, no team from the upper echelons of League One wanted him, he ended up at Brentford of all places.

Says it all really, who'd have thought that Dougie would be turning out for Brentford and Cuthbert at Orient next season, didnt picture that a couple of years ago....

 :girlgiggle:  :beers:

But instead he's going to Brentford.

Shame for him no Championship side took a punt on him.

Thats to do with the family I presume. Didn't want to up root maybe.

Class player, going to be sorely missed.

Some of the bitter remarks are hilarious.

No shit sherlock.

He was captain, he played a mahoosive part in such gutlessness.

I disagree.

I'm not bitter, I'm abivelant.

How so

We had one of the most costly squads in the league, of which he was captain, and we went down without a fight.

Of course he played a massive part.

What?

He played a part not a massive part. Look at the players he had in front and behind him. There lied the problem.

Yeah, maybe, I never thought of that.

But Brentford though, its the last place I thought he'd end up....

I agree Arch. Could do much better than that.

Quite surprised Wilson didn't go for him to be honest.

Of course Douglas played a huge part in our relegation.

How many games did he play last season? He's probably the only player who wasn't in and out the side all season. Has to have played the most games I would have thought?

Even more so he couldn't even stand out in a piss poor side.

Perhaps he needs Simon Ferry to make him look good?

Only Cuthbert started more games.

Incidentally, of the ten outfield players who made the most appearances last season, only Ritchie and Caddis are left at the club.

As someone who was keen for a major overhaul but identified those two as about the only ones who performed consistently I'm satisfied with the summer so far.

Have to agree with London Red up to a point. I am not worried about who has left the club - it would have been nice if Douglas stayed but isn't the end of the earth that he has gone.

I am a bit concerned about the lack of progress with signings though. It would be nice to think there are some quality out of contract players turning up here on 1st July, but nothing seems to suggest that yet.

Like di canios comment at the bottom of the article

Yeah that made me laugh as well.... I almost expected him to add a dramatic "he's dead to me"

He said that before the commazzi interview.

He said in in the context of: "We've got a new signing and you wanna talk about Douglas?"

He's right though, isn't he?

Whether you rated Douglas or not, he's fucked off. Let's concentrate on the players that are still here.

Oh yeah, no debating that uncle fester

Too true.

Bring on more signings :)

Don't Uncle Fester me, you fat lipped cunt.