[Arcane Astral Aeons]

"The cost cutting has been nothing short of criminal. I will say again - with our parachute payments and our flex down contracts we didn't need to get rid of anybody for financial reasons."

You're probably correct, we could have kept the squad from last year. The trouble is we wouldn't have been able to bring anyone in so we'd have been left with the same ageing, slow, couldn't be ar**ed squad that did so well last year, and that wouldn't have been capable of playing the way DM appears to want. We had no choice but to cut costs - our revenue has dropped by £40 to £50 million. Even after all of the cuts, and with the parachute payments, I would be very surprised if we manage to break even this year.
We aren't in the premier league any more and the days of having 3rd choice defensive midfielders starting a handful of games a season paid £30k a week are over until we get back.

Do we think the "couldn't be a***d" have left the club? Evans Yes / Chadli didn't play, but i will say Yes.
Yacob / Gmac / Myhill / GBor / McClean / Rondon / Nyom / Foster / Greg / Sturridge - I would say No
Most of these were certainly being overpaid and even with flex down they weren't VFM 
I'm happy Dave is changing the way we play, he hasn't made enough changes to the team as yet. I would like Harper, Edwards and Field to be given a chance before these old ens take the chances away.
Sell that Chinese guy who's been out on loan, (sorry I've forgot his name) that's £8 million back in the coffers.
Another bright Chinese Idea that robbed us of millions, I won't forget.

evans made it clear he wasnt staying,chadli going was a blessing in disguise(frees up a spot on the medical bench) thats all he seemed to be sitting on until(lo and behold) he was fit enough for the world cup..good riddance if you ask me.
McLean was never going to stick around pretended he cared about playing for us
Sturridge was never staying as he was only on loan(kept the medical staff busy at least)
Foster? i don`t begrudge him another shot in the prem,but him leaving left a sour taste especially after he said he would be staying
what we have now i`m fairly happy with,give them a few more games and we shall see what they are made of,Barnes i`m really impressed with
this side once they gel together could be a good championship side
can they get up promoted?...lets see
long season ahead
lets all stay confident