riskier though don't you think as Slimani is unproven in the Prem. Spend the difference on Sakho for example and I would then agree.

Parrot

Mr Cadbury's Parrot says "Hello"

All would be grand if he only wanted to play for us. He doesn't and he won't.

God I hope not,will be massively underwhelmed.

I don't wish to be too controversial here, but I think that we are suffering from being a bit stuck in the middle. We don't have the reputation to attract the marquee signings; and we have a thirst that only marquee signings will quench. We need to watch that we don't end up being a Charlton - shooting for Europe and ending up with League One.

It seems that there are three transfer strategy / ways to go forward.

1./ We need a marquee signing to push on to the next level, to Europe and beyond, accepting that if it doesn't work out we will have shot our £50 million (or whatever it is) load and will not have the funds to do anything about it.

2./ We need to sign some quality, but untested players from outside the Premiership. Accepting that if they don't settle then we will have to deal with it, but if they do work out then we will have a little goldmine to reinvest.

3./ We need to rely on retaining our team, picking up good deals and gradually bringing in the youngsters.

It seems that other teams like Stoke and West Ham have done well with option 2. Whereas, Benteke and Berahino signings were not primarily marquee signings at all. Getting Benteke and Berahino at £45 million a pair would have been fantastic business, but we do not seem to be in the market to pay full value, which is why we are not in the market for them.

The one thing that we must do is to find a strategy and follow it through.

The biggest transfer faux-pas over the last year or so, was not failing to pay another £5 million for Benteke - it was signing Bamford and Adebeyor. As far as I am concerned, all we did was help Chelsea and Spurs out and in both cases we used up the 10-15 minutes per game Premiership experience that might have meant that we had our own Berahino in the making on our hands. This signalled to me that we had given up on 3./ which would have been a great shame.

So I am not going to moan that we have not delivered Benteke, or Berahino. But I am slightly concerned that I don't know what our strategy is and I will be quite fed up if we take some youngster from the big 4 on loan without trying out our youngsters.

DP
I'd like us to follow a 1 and 3 strategy. A good striker to allow Wickham to develop. Plus home grown talent. Benteke Wickham Kaikai Campbell would be a great striker squad.
Lapado loan to Ipswich until January, sell Campbell and bring Lapado in.

Parrot

Mr Cadbury's Parrot says "Hello"

Yes, those last few posts rather sum it up. Do we go for a marquee signing plus youth; or do we go for mid-table players across the whole team. Or are we past caring. There is no right answer.

If we are going to try for marquee signings then we should accept that we are going to get left on tenterhooks until players like Benteke and Berahino (who have the capability to play for the top sides) wait to see what other opportunities come their way. This is not the fault of CPFC, or something negative about Benteke or Berahino's desire - it is a symptom of where we are in our development.

I also want there to be space in the 25 for some of our youngsters. Growing youngsters and taking punts from lower leagues has always seemed to feel like what we are about - players like Vince Hilaire, Richard Shaw, Wayne Routledge and Wilf have been interspersed through my days supporting Palace.

So I hope that Benteke or Berahino comes in, although I hope we don't break the bank to get them. I hope that Palace have a plan B. I hope that plan B doesn't involve bringing in a failed Big 4 youngster in place of our homegrown talent.

By the way, I think Campbell is in the last year of his Contract (I don't think he has been offered a new one). So he is much more likely to go for a free next year than be sold this year.