Greg

But they were both signed in 2001.

Neither were signed in the last decade.

I voted Krul. From a financial point of view the Bassong deal was also unreal.

We'd have to go beyond best signing of the last 50 years to get any that lead to success!

Wendy needs to sort this shit out. "You what, mate? Wendy, did you say?"

Wendy needs to sort this shit out.

Who the fuck allowed him to do a press interview with all this shit going on?

Another calendar year gone and another January transfer window open but who would you rate as our best signing of the last decade? I've narrowed it down to 10 options in the poll (9 + other), feel free to suggest others. Jonathan Woodgate Signed from Leeds United by Sir Bobby Robson in January 2003 for a fee in the region of £9 million, a classy centre back who impressed straight away, one of the best centre backs I've seen in a black and white shirt. He managed only 28 league appearances in a season and a half before he was sold to Real Madrid in August 2004 for a fee in the region of £14 million. It turned out to be an decent deal due to his almost persistent injury problems. Tim Krul Signed by Graeme Souness in July 2005, who can forget his debut performance in the UEFA Cup away at Palermo? We were later ordered to pay a €220,000 compensation fee for stealing him from Ado Den Haag. Following loan spells at Falkirk, Carlisle United and the demise of Steve Harper he soon made himself #1 for club and now country, a great piece of business. Sébastien Bassong Signed by Kevin Keegan in July 2008 following a trial as the mystery number 46 in a pre season friendly at Doncaster, much to the amusement of the travelling support. A fee in the region of £500,000 followed as well as a very good first season in English football, a shining light as we were shamefully relegated to the Championship and he fucked off as soon as he could to sign for Spurs for £8 million. A rather large profit after 1 season, he's still not really been replaced and we could do with a player of his ability right now. José Enrique Signed in August 2007 by Fat Allardyce for £6.3 million but he hardly ever played him, or at least it seemed that way. Turned out to be an excellent left full back, the first time we had had one of those for a very long time. Sulked and refused to sign a new deal after 4 years and then was sold to Liverpool for a criminally low fee in the region of £7 million. Fabricio Coloccini Signed under Kevin Keegan in August 2008 for a fee in the region of £10 million, struggled in his first season but has since grown into the key player we all love now. Is allowed to sleep with any married woman in Newcastle upon Tyne. Kevin Nolan Signed by Joe Kinnear for around £4 million during that god awful season and from then to eventual relegation at Aston Villa he was appalling and looked like an unfit, fat, waste of money. Turned it around to be a key figure on and off the pitch in helping us to gain promotion by winning the Championship and scored another 12 goals to guide us to a comfortable mid table finish in our first season back in the Premier League. Sold to West Ham in June 2011 for a fee in the region of £3.5 million. Hatem Ben Arfa Initially signed on loam by Chris Hughton, a wonder goal at Everon and then a horror injury inflicted be De Jong of Manchester City resulting in a badly broken leg. The club showed a lot of faith in him to sign him on a permanent deal. One of the most talented in the game, a joy to watch, our most exciting player since Peter Beardsley. Yohan Cabaye A snip at a fee reported to be in the region of £5 million, a lovely passer of the ball and can really create things when played further up the pitch. Starting central midfielder for France at Euro 2012, currently injured and badly missed. Demba Ba Free transfer, lots of clauses, dodgy knees, annoying entourage/agents but he aint half bad at putting the ball in the back of the net. 29 league goals in 54 games to date, that's more than Michael Owen managed in 4 years. I'm sick of typing now, god knows how HTT does those mega essays, could easily have included Papis Cisse, Jonas or even Wayne Routledge who played a key role in the second half of the Championship season to ensure promotion after he was signed during that January transfer window. Gaël Bigirimana and Vurnon Anita also signed during this period, early days at present but they both look like they could go on to excellent players for us for many years to come. Thoughts? Oh and please vote. Anyone obvious I've completely forgotten about? Fees may not be entirely accurate but are based on a mix of nufc.com and wiki.

Perch is an accident waiting to happen at rightback and Pardew thinks we missed him in midfield against Arsenal. This. Santon RB and Fergie LB. Perch in midfield. Perch on the bench more like.

I seem to recall Les Ferdinand playing with a broken big toe and a few pain killers.

If this deal has fallen through then I hope he is dropped until he commits to a new contract without a release clause, but also still within our wage structure.

They wont play him out wide, he'll get splinters in his arse from sitting on the bench mind. Tells you everything you need to know about that man that he is still happy to make this move despite Chelsea making it perfectly clear that he will be second choice behind Torres.

He hasn't been fit all season and Pardew has been right to ease him in slowly, the lad has only managed one full season of football in 5 or 6 years due to persistent injury problems.

It sounds like Chelsea have met with Ba and his representatives yet they haven't yet lodged a bid that meets the clause, and thus no bid has been accepted. We should report Chelsea to the FA/Premier League/UEFA/FIFA for tapping up and speaking to him before a fee has been agreed just to fuck them off.

Most clubs are moving towards the type of wage structure we've got now, other than those with foreign sugar daddies who will pick up the tab. The ones that don't are a ticking time bomb IMO. Maybe we could pay more, but to suggest that we just allocate £10m to Ba's wages to keep him here is just daftness of Freddy Shepherd proportions. Don't really want to go down the finances road in this thread but come on. I tend to agree but this is where football nous comes into it. To us, someone like Ba is worth 80K a week because his goals alone, will help to A) keep us in the league and B) give us a platform to aim higher up. Its about weighing up how much it would cost to replace him in terms of a fee and how much that player would then cost in wages. The obvious answer would be to keep Ba. Obviously if he's asking for 120K a week then you have to say no but I seriously doubt he wants anywhere near that. We all know how stubborn the c***s are who own and run us, to them the difference between 75K and 80K is astronomical. We failed to land several players in the summer based on margins of 1m or so apparently man. You give Ba £80k a week then Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye, Ben Arfa etc will want parity. We have a wage structure in place for a reason. And all worth it. The alternative is seeing them leave which would leave us where? The club can afford these wages, especially when we are shelling out so little in transfer fees these days. We will not pay top dollar though, because to MA these stars are just employees, like his staff at SD. Fair enough do not pay your Duffs, smiths and Owens top dollars but star players like Ba whose goals alone will bring in more revenue than it costs to keep him here?! Ashley and business economics is first rate, Ashley and football economics is well, second-rate, which is the kind of club we are under him and always will be. Are you Freddie Shepherd?

Most clubs are moving towards the type of wage structure we've got now, other than those with foreign sugar daddies who will pick up the tab. The ones that don't are a ticking time bomb IMO. Maybe we could pay more, but to suggest that we just allocate £10m to Ba's wages to keep him here is just daftness of Freddy Shepherd proportions. Don't really want to go down the finances road in this thread but come on. I tend to agree but this is where football nous comes into it. To us, someone like Ba is worth 80K a week because his goals alone, will help to A) keep us in the league and B) give us a platform to aim higher up. Its about weighing up how much it would cost to replace him in terms of a fee and how much that player would then cost in wages. The obvious answer would be to keep Ba. Obviously if he's asking for 120K a week then you have to say no but I seriously doubt he wants anywhere near that. We all know how stubborn the cunts are who own and run us, to them the difference between 75K and 80K is astronomical. We failed to land several players in the summer based on margins of 1m or so apparently man. You give Ba £80k a week then Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye, Ben Arfa etc will want parity. We have a wage structure in place for a reason.

90% completion tbh. His passing wasn't the problem, it was dwelling on the ball and being caught in possession.

He'll get sacked soon.

Up the line is usually the safest option, that's why most teams do it with throw ins in defensive positions. Simpson just didn't throw it hard / long enough or wait until players were in position for it to be safe to throw it down the line because he is thick as fuck.

Simpson has previous with throw ins away at Arsenal as well. Useless plank.

Wenger and his zip was amusing.

Ba really should have scored twice from set penises.

I wonder if Mick was at the Newport County game.

Must be the 13-0 win over Newport County.

Me as well well he just jumped from 6-1 to the summary- its a bit like a mick lowes commentary. fuck me thats 15 goals weve conceded today- and now going to suffer motd. Too depressing.