Scott flees

According to reports, Scott Parker has now joined West Ham for a fee of £7 million, giving us £500,000 profit on a player With Joey Barton, reportedly Toon bound for £5.5 million, effectively a Parker replacement, albeit one with a slightly more chequered past, it would appear to represent a decent piece of business for the club - the £1.5 million difference going some way to paying Barton's alleged 70k per week wages!

For my part, I'm fairly apathetic to Parker's departure, his excellent first season not really carrying through into last term's showing - where too often he flattered to deceive. If Barton can curb his off-field behaviour then he could prove to be a more dynamic version of our departed captain, which should help drive our midfield forward. He should also dovetail better with Nicky Butt, something Parker was never able to manage.

With reports also suggesting that Viduka and Rozehnal are also Toon bound (the former seemingly a lot closer to signing than the latter) it looks like Allardyce's overhaul of the squad is firmly under way.