Skeletor

I don't think Cacapa isn't gonna be fit enough to start the season. He's had no pre-season training at all. Given his pre-season performances I think Rozehnal will play anyway.

He has a lot to learn, I'd agree. This is why we'be brought in Cacapa (vastly experienced) and Rozenhal (noted for his calmness on the field) to aid his development. With one of thse two organising the defence it will leave Taylor to be the all-action defender he seems destined to be. We've got a fantastic young CB prospect on our hands, and a hometown boy to boot, I just don't see how he won't be made the centerpiece of our defence. Can'tt seee Taylor learning a great deal as a CB by being stranded at full-back. Rozehnal and Cacapa were not brought in solely to aid Taylors development. They've been brought in to play out right as first choice players. Like anyone could possibly know that Skeletor. There'll be competition for the spot I'm sure, and if Cacapa and Rozenhal prove in training that they're the partnership for the job then more power to them. But I don't believe for one second that Taylor won't be given the chance to prove he's worthy of being a regular first. No-one said he won't, but you talk as though Taylor is first choice by default and these defenders are only being brought in to teach him rather than compete with him. Unless he struggles I do see him being the first CB name on the teamsheet tbh. When everyone is fit I'm not sure I see it that way. Sam has gone on about the importance of experience along the back line (especially as his reason for not signing Curtis Davies) and the players he's brought in reflect that. It's also important to remember that Cacapa, Rozehnal and possibly Drago are all his signings rather than players he's inherited from a previous regime and so I believe he will favour them if only for this season. If Drago doesn't come in then I can see Taylor playing center back a lot given Cacapa's injury history.

He has a lot to learn, I'd agree. This is why we'be brought in Cacapa (vastly experienced) and Rozenhal (noted for his calmness on the field) to aid his development. With one of thse two organising the defence it will leave Taylor to be the all-action defender he seems destined to be. We've got a fantastic young CB prospect on our hands, and a hometown boy to boot, I just don't see how he won't be made the centerpiece of our defence. Can'tt seee Taylor learning a great deal as a CB by being stranded at full-back. Rozehnal and Cacapa were not brought in solely to aid Taylors development. They've been brought in to play out right as first choice players. Like anyone could possibly know that Skeletor. There'll be competition for the spot I'm sure, and if Cacapa and Rozenhal prove in training that they're the partnership for the job then more power to them. But I don't believe for one second that Taylor won't be given the chance to prove he's worthy of being a regular first. No-one said he won't, but you talk as though Taylor is first choice by default and these defenders are only being brought in to teach him rather than compete with him.

He has a lot to learn, I'd agree. This is why we'be brought in Cacapa (vastly experienced) and Rozenhal (noted for his calmness on the field) to aid his development. With one of thse two organising the defence it will leave Taylor to be the all-action defender he seems destined to be. We've got a fantastic young CB prospect on our hands, and a hometown boy to boot, I just don't see how he won't be made the centerpiece of our defence. Can'tt seee Taylor learning a great deal as a CB by being stranded at full-back. Rozehnal and Cacapa were not brought in solely to aid Taylors development. They've been brought in to play out right as first choice players.

If we sign any 2 of Enrique, Baines and Drago then Babayaro should be shipped out immediately. If we sign Baines and Enriqie then yes, absolutely, as we'll have two specialist LB's at the club that are significantly better than Baba. But if it's Drago and one of Baines or Enrique, as I suspect, then I'm not adverse to keeping him as we may need Dargo to fill in at CB at times. Id be much more comfortable with Babayaro at LB in the event of an injury crisis than Ramage/Edgar. Having said that, though, we could potentially plug in N'Zogbia there. So I'm not arsed, either way. Ship him out. He shouldn't get another penny from this club for sitting on the bench all season long again.

If we sign any 2 of Enrique, Baines and Drago then Babayaro should be shipped out immediately.

Their official site, Marca, AS, L'Equipe apparently.

How could you hate this face? http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/5985/alanoliverxb2.gif

And people doubted Big Sam's appointment. If all his deals come off, ever weak position in our team will have been strengthened for the price of one Boumsong, fan-f******-tastic. Still need a real right back though.

*Sheds all his pessimism* YAY.

Dragotunovic?

Which is where Dragotunovic comes in.

We can throw him on when we need some legs broken and want to give away silly free kicks in dangerous positions I suppose. I've always felt we needed a player like that to round off the squad.

Depends on who else is available though. Not really. £6m for Smith is still a gross waste of money.

Is it right to call Martins a deputy when he plays far far more often than Owen?

Yes.

A transfer? That doesn't sound right. Must have the wrong club tbh.

Wiki says he has... Wiki sucks! By the way dude ... I admire your patience, but I think you have to accept that some people would rather be negative about things and the more you try to convince them there is no real reason to be yet, the more they negative they get! One main thing has stood out to me regarding our pursuit of defenders. Sam says he wanted prem experienced defenders. In my opinion this has been the focus and I think we have been spending too much of our time trying to secure players who have experience in our league, which is usually very complicated as teams are likely to be less likely to want to give up good players to their rivals. They are no doubt being over priced as you only have to see what has been going on in the transfer market. In the odd occassion where they are likely to be reasonably priced, for example with defenders the top clubs don't want i.s. Man U's heinze and Silvestre they have decided not to come. I really think this has been the min problem and now we are only beginning to look at our foreign options. I think it is very likely that if we are going to be buying defenders from abroad, Sam will look for players that are not expensive but have the potential to be very good for us. Similar to the deal to bring Rozehnal in. There are absolutely no guarantees with foreign defenders so at this moment in time we cannot afford to spend £10 million on a defender from abroad I don't think. Especially, as we have no stability in the position at the moment. Lads just coolrelax it will all be fine. I am expecting at least three defenders in by this time next week, and then we will tie up another 3 players in different areas of the squad and it's showtime. I'll relax when we have a dependable, solid defence (and that includes back ups) rather than the nothing that we have right now with 2 weeks to go.

And that is the whole problem. This isn't June. The season starts in 2 weeks and our rivals are strengthening all the time whilst we're doing fuck all.

Sounds reasonable to me.

The way they've given him no money is disgraceful though regardless of all this other stuff. Didn't Sam also say he hasn't even met Ashley yet?

I think this review is going to put a dampener on any wild spending Big Sam has. It is frustrating for fans as they see Man City and West Ham spending wildly, however the basis of their squads werent there, at Newcastle we have the basis of a good squad so only tinkering is required. Tinkering being a new back line! We have no defence and once again we're trying to fix that problem on the cheap. It's the one area of the team that needs real investment and yet again it's not happening. No-one at this club ever learns from the mistakes of the past.

Ah the luxuries of having a billionaire owner eh?

he would run his nuts off every single game i dont have to much a problem with it tbh So fucking what?

After Geremi's performance and Troisi's emergence I'd say a replacement isn't really necessary for him anywhere in the midfield or up front.