Howaythelads

Duff on the right, Zog on the left. Much better than what we've had so far.

Wot he said. I'll add that I'd put Geremi on the right ahead of Milner.

Such a shite goal to concede as well. Taylor should be shot.

Not only do I know nowt about the TA I also haven't the foggiest who Gareth Keenan is. So whatever this is meant to mean, I don't get it. Sorry like. A nightmare it may be but you should stick to football.

I suppose there are going to be people who didn't really want Allardyce as manager who will be quick to shout for him to be sacked early on given the lack of quality in some of the performances. There has been a definite lack of quality but sacking Allardyce this early would be daft. This isn't at all similar to the Souness situation where it was clear to some people very early on that Souness should go. I remember some apologists claiming Souness couldn't be sacked because the club would be a laughing stock for sacking someone after just a couple of months, my response was that Souness would turn us into relegation fodder and that's how we'd become a laughing stock. I wanted Souness out early because he was clearly shite but this isn't the same with Allardyce, even though he wouldn't have been my choice as manager I don't think he's crap. Yes, I'm in the group who would rather the club had gone for someone else, but the fact of the matter is that it will take time and I think he's a manager who may do the business if he's backed properly. My head isn't in the sand, I do see signs that give cause for concern, such as the messing about between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3, the selection of Smith in midfield where he's ineffective, the selection of Ameobi when I'd even select Harper as a striker ahead of the donkey. I'll be very interested to see the selection when all key players are fit. Souness flunked it when he couldn't select one of Shearer/Kluivert to partner Bellamy, instead going for an unbalanced side. Making the big decisions is an important indicator for me, so we'll see.

I was agreeing with him telling you to fuck off!

He's a dipper. It's bound to be everybody else's fault.

Agreed. Although apparently Milner can play on the left according to some.

No I wouldn't rather have Stead you brought him into it, I just showed how Owen hasn't proven to have been any better for us than Stead was for Blackburn and how much they've cost per goal. I said at the time we bought Owen that we could have spent the money better instead of putting £17 million into an injury prone player. I also said at the time that we were crazy to bid £9 milion more than our nearest and only rivals to his signature, Liverpool who bid £8 million. what liverpool bid means little,the only price that matters is that at which madrid would be willing to sell. £17mill was probably high but not by the £9mill you say (if indeed it's true that liverpool bid £8mill or bid at all). why we bid that much was to stop madrid accepting offers that came nowhere near this. the argument about wether it could have been better spent is very much a one of hindsight. Not a surprise though..... He's not a waste of money in terms of being a poor footballer, unlike players such as Luque, Boumsong, Parker and more than a few others. He hasn't justified the fee due to injuries, which is tough bad luck and is a part of football. I presume you're using hindsight in saying Luque and Boumsong were a waste of money? I presume this daft comment from you means you don't understand context. The answer you were looking for was yes, not a surprise though... Wrong again. Which is not a surprise... So you didn't use hindsight when you said Luque and Boumsong were a waste of money? I didn't know you were such a big follower of La Liga, HTL. What didn't impress you about Luque playing for Deportivo and why didn't you voice these concerns at the time? What is it with you since you turned 16, baggio? Hormones going mad, or something? You ignored the point of my post in favour of trying to argue with me for some reason. There is clearly an implication that Owen has been a waste of money. My point is that there is a difference between not getting value from a player due to injury compared to a player simply being a load of shite. Like Luque, Boumsong and Parker. That is the point I'm making and the one that you ignored. Owen is a top class player signed to replace a top class player, there is nothing wrong with trying to bring player like this to the club. Now fuck off. I can't be arsed with you so stop replying to my posts and I'll reciprocate.

Stats are complete bollocks when used to rate footballers IMO.

No I wouldn't rather have Stead you brought him into it, I just showed how Owen hasn't proven to have been any better for us than Stead was for Blackburn and how much they've cost per goal. I said at the time we bought Owen that we could have spent the money better instead of putting £17 million into an injury prone player. I also said at the time that we were crazy to bid £9 milion more than our nearest and only rivals to his signature, Liverpool who bid £8 million. what liverpool bid means little,the only price that matters is that at which madrid would be willing to sell. £17mill was probably high but not by the £9mill you say (if indeed it's true that liverpool bid £8mill or bid at all). why we bid that much was to stop madrid accepting offers that came nowhere near this. the argument about wether it could have been better spent is very much a one of hindsight. Not a surprise though..... He's not a waste of money in terms of being a poor footballer, unlike players such as Luque, Boumsong, Parker and more than a few others. He hasn't justified the fee due to injuries, which is tough bad luck and is a part of football. I presume you're using hindsight in saying Luque and Boumsong were a waste of money? I presume this daft comment from you means you don't understand context. The answer you were looking for was yes, not a surprise though... Wrong again. Which is not a surprise...

Completely agree with all of this - the defence will get better, especially imo if we settle with Beye, Rozenhal, Cacapa, and Enrique as the first choice line-up. We need to see more of Cacapa before he can be put ahead of Taylor. You are joking. Taylor is so so overrated, no wonder my Man City fan mate keeps laughing at me when he has read news about how good Taylor is. Taylor is our last choice CB in my view. I have seen him made too many mistakes with his poor positioning and decisions to know that a Lyon Captain must be at least better than him. I even dare to say that Taylor will be our next Bramble: decent game here and there, but more crap games that cost us games. Nail on head.

This is simply a feature of the transfer window system. Some players will be available early on but there will always be clubs and players (via their agents) wanting to hang on as late as possible. I think this is obvious and that everyone knows this already.

No I wouldn't rather have Stead you brought him into it, I just showed how Owen hasn't proven to have been any better for us than Stead was for Blackburn and how much they've cost per goal. I said at the time we bought Owen that we could have spent the money better instead of putting £17 million into an injury prone player. I also said at the time that we were crazy to bid £9 milion more than our nearest and only rivals to his signature, Liverpool who bid £8 million. what liverpool bid means little,the only price that matters is that at which madrid would be willing to sell. £17mill was probably high but not by the £9mill you say (if indeed it's true that liverpool bid £8mill or bid at all). why we bid that much was to stop madrid accepting offers that came nowhere near this. the argument about wether it could have been better spent is very much a one of hindsight. Not a surprise though..... He's not a waste of money in terms of being a poor footballer, unlike players such as Luque, Boumsong, Parker and more than a few others. He hasn't justified the fee due to injuries, which is tough bad luck and is a part of football. I presume you're using hindsight in saying Luque and Boumsong were a waste of money? I presume this daft comment from you means you don't understand context.

No I wouldn't rather have Stead you brought him into it, I just showed how Owen hasn't proven to have been any better for us than Stead was for Blackburn and how much they've cost per goal. I said at the time we bought Owen that we could have spent the money better instead of putting £17 million into an injury prone player. I also said at the time that we were crazy to bid £9 milion more than our nearest and only rivals to his signature, Liverpool who bid £8 million. what liverpool bid means little,the only price that matters is that at which madrid would be willing to sell. £17mill was probably high but not by the £9mill you say (if indeed it's true that liverpool bid £8mill or bid at all). why we bid that much was to stop madrid accepting offers that came nowhere near this. the argument about wether it could have been better spent is very much a one of hindsight. Not a surprise though..... He's not a waste of money in terms of being a poor footballer, unlike players such as Luque, Boumsong, Parker and more than a few others. He hasn't justified the fee due to injuries, which is tough bad luck and is a part of football.

That crossed my mind as well. Smith's signing made little sense in terms of squad building or indeed the first team. The fact we're putting him on the right wing is testament to that. But seeing Ashley turning up to games with Smith on his back does make you wonder, he seems undroppable at the moment yet he's offering the team nothing. Played better than most yesterday, like.

Lots of valid points & a good post I hate to say this but I agree. That last paragraph in particular has some very good points. Bit of a shame you hate it when you agree with me, tbh. It's a forum, people don't have to agree all the time. I'm not bothered who is making a post, I either agree or I don't. I agree with your second sentence quoted above by the way....

Not a bad idea....

Poor refuge, tbh. You know the point I made shows you to be a know-nowt. Bye for now. Why have you avoided the £45 million debt thread, HTL? Wasn't aware I had. I don't look at every thread. Do you? Depends on if I think it's of any interest or not. A thread about our great new owner paying off £45 million of debt would be a worthy read. I don't have the slightest interest in finances. I even leave my own personal finances to my wife, such is my apathy toward the subject of finances in general. If they back the manager in the transfer market I'll be happy with what they're doing. If they don't, I won't be. The rest is down to the manager and the players.

I seriously believe when clubs who are bigger than Newcastle come flashing the cash players leave, that to me is how football works & is not something that should be held against ANY board of ANY era at SJP. Beardsley with his ability was always going to leave, same with Gazza & Waddle. Do you seriously believe that they wouldnt have? Maybe not to Spurs but they would of left. It's my opinion that the reason those players left in the 80's was the same reason other players left before them, in the 60's and 70's. When players leave the club for West Ham claiming they are leaving on grounds of ambition you have to sit up and take notice. When the club finishes 5th for the first time in decades and the manager is refused money to improve the team by signing 2 players from middlesboro, ultimately leading to Lee's departure, followed closely by the majority of the players and a relegation the following season, you have to look at the Board and wonder what the hell they were doing. The mentality of the supporters from when I started going in 1968 right through to SJH arriving was one of hope that we might CHALLENGE FOR A TOP 6 SPOT, (sorry about the capitals, but I want to highlight that bit) or have a good cup run. We were a mid-table team for years. The "golden era" some go on about on here when Macdonald was the focal point of the team was actually 3 seasons in a row of finishing in 15th position. Nobody I knew ever talked about us winning the League title. Standing on the terraces match after match I never once heard anyone talking about us being good enough to challenge for the league, such was the known attitude of the Board at the time. Whenever the club looked like needing 2 or 3 players to break into that top 6, the Board would instead sell our best player or best couple of players. That's the way it was for years but it all changed with the arrival of SJH. Expectations quite rightly went up and have stayed that way. We aren't satisfied with challenging for 6th place now. That alone should tell you there is a difference now. There is a massive difference between selling Cole on the grounds that Keegan wanted to restructure the team and the sale of those players you mention from the 80's. A massive difference. Same with Woodgate, who was and generally still is, a bit of a crock. Selling Ferdinand was a definite error, but that was highlighted by the injury to Shearer. To be honest, I have nothing against any club selling a player for good money if they believe a player is past his peak and the offer is a good one. I'd have sold Shearer the season after we finished 3rd but that wouldn't have been because I have no ambition, I thought at the time and still do that it would have been a good thing for the club. This is a stark contrast to the motivation behind selling those players in the previous few decades. These are difficult judgements to make though, sometimes the wrong decision will be taken but that's not a sign of a lack of ambition. Despite being an error, the decision to sell Ferdinand was nowhere close to being made with the same motivation as that which led to sale of players from the late 60's through to the early 90's, imo.

Poor refuge, tbh. You know the point I made shows you to be a know-nowt. Bye for now. Why have you avoided the £45 million debt thread, HTL? Wasn't aware I had. I don't look at every thread. Do you?

Aye you wouldnt see us selling the likes of Cole, Sir Les & Woodgate under Hall or Shepherd. I know Kev gave it big licks about wanting & Gilly but lets be honest we cashed in on player we bought for less than £2 million. No comparison at all. Can't believe you posted that, tbh. I watched in the 80's as we sold 3 players I liked Gazza & Waddle to Spurs. I then saw us sell Beardsley to the best team in the country. Fast forward a a decade or so.... We were led to belive we were a lot stronger off the pitch & no longer a selling club but when Man Utd came knocking we sold, when Real Madrid came flashing the Euro we sold. When a bid from Spurs came in we thought that is good £££'s for a 30 year old rather than a footballing decison. You seriously believe the circumstances surrounding the sale of the players you mention is the same?

Poor refuge, tbh. You know the point I made shows you to be a know-nowt. Bye for now.

Aye you wouldnt see us selling the likes of Cole, Sir Les & Woodgate under Hall or Shepherd. I know Kev gave it big licks about wanting & Gilly but lets be honest we cashed in on player we bought for less than £2 million. No comparison at all. Can't believe you posted that, tbh.

Tbf although Petrov did outpace Taylor yesterday (and there is no shame in that) Taylor wasn't completely left for dead. Taylor is too slow, Jon. It's one of his failings and unless he becomes a better reader of the game it will stop him becoming good enough for where we want to be.