steve_69

So, on that basis anyone who is over 27 is shite and past it. Nice One! Owen is still as good as he was at Real Madrid and Duff is still as good as he was at Chelsea. In order to recreate the form they showed they need to be FULLY FIT and be utilised and managed properly. FFS, anyone plays a few bad games for us (despite how fit they are) and they're labelled as shite. And which expert on the subject was it that told you Mourinho let Duff go easily? I suppose Alan Shearer is you next door neighnour is he? Why the fuck else would he leave the League Champions? It's not like he was earning a pittance there.

The reason Duff wanted to leave Chelsea was because he wanted regular first team football. He loves the game, is still passionate about it, and wants to play as much as he can - so much so that he left the best team in the land (at the time) to get it. For that reason alone he is exactly the kind of player I want at Newcastle United. The fact that on his day he is one of the best in the world at what he does. Granted we haven't seen the best of him yet but we will. I also think he'll fit perfectly into a 4-3-3, will create plenty of goals and will probably score a few as well. ..................Given Beye.....Faye....Roz.....Enrique ......Barton..Butt...Emre ......Martins..Viduka..Duff

I'm pretty sure Brett Emerton was signed by someone else as well.

I have every faith in Big Sam. Once he has signed the players to fit into his favoured 4-3-3, and Duff is back from injury we will start flexing our muscle. He is frustrating the hell out of everyone at the moment (including me) but i believe there's method to his madness. I'd have been happy with Moyes, O'Neill or Hughes in the summer if we hadn't gone for Allardyce.

Tbh i reckon Viduka and Owen could be awesome together if we played 4-4-2 with wingers and a creative CM. But i doubt we'll ever see it happen.

Playing to his strengths in a 4-4-2 formation.

Yawn! 12 games FFS

Why is it mental? Why should Allardyce compromise the potential success of this football club on one player? If he doesn't fit get rid. If Wenger went to manage a new club full of players with no pace would you expect him to adapt his style to suit them, or replace them with pacey players who fit his tried and tested way of playing? Just because it's Michael Owen makes no difference. He's just another player.

I think one of the main problems so far is that BS has felt obliged to play Owen given his stature in the game, but he isn't necessarily the best option for his preferred formation. Allardyce favoured a 4-3-3 at Bolton and it worked to good effect, but he bought players that fit that formation. He's come to a club with playing staff geared towards a 4-4-2 formation, and i think this is the reason for a lot of the chopping and changing with team selections. I think it would be a good move to sell Owen if we are going to persevere with Sam at the helm, because i don't think we'll see the best of him in a 4-3-3. I can also see Milner being sold at some point because I think he's another one who doesn't suit Sam's favoured setup. The signing of Arshavin would make sense given that he is a right sided winger/striker, and i think he could be the perfect player to fit into a front three of Duff/N'Zogbia, Viduka/Martins, Arshavin with Barton/Geremi, Butt and Emre behind them. As for Crouch, i really rate him as a player but i can't see where he'd fit in

Lukas Podolski Riquelme Beckham

It depends how well he adapts to his new left back position.

At the point we were 0-3 down Allardyce had to change things around. I'm sure more of us would've accepted the defeat if, at that point, he'd brought on Martins, taken off a midfielder and tried to rescue something from a disastrous situation. His reluctance to move away from his tried and tested way of doing things even when things are going down the shitter worries me, although i am pleased that the Chairman has given his backing. Sacking a manager 9 games into his tenure is crazy

I reckon he might leave Barton on the bench and replace his with Emre. Smith to start up front with Owen, with Viduka to come on after about 60 minutes if fit ......................................Harper Beye....................Faye...............Rozenhal.....................Enrique Milner..................Geremi...........Emre....................N'Zogbia ..................................Owen....Smith

I'll go for .................................Harper Faye...............Cacapa......Rozenhal................Taylor Carr........Babayaro...Geremi...Enrique........Emre .................................Smith Fuck Knows!

Why shouldn't the winners of the main domestic cup be awarded a Champions League spot? There's a lot more prestige to winning the FA Cup than there is to coming 4th in the League. FA Cup CHAMPIONS or 4th placed runner up They could always award the Champions League spot to the 4th placed team if one of the top three win the FA Cup

The argument that he should have just ignored it and got on with it is pretty unrealistic. When it's just a group of team mates having a bit of banter then maybe you could laugh it off but when it's stadiums full of hate-fueled opposing fans screaming homophobic insults at you twice a week, and members of the public yelling gay slurs at you when you're with your family i think it's pretty ridiculous to suggest that the guy should just toughen up.

I reckon the form of Luque and Milner this pre-season have probably made big Sam realise that Dyer is expendable. Both have impressed, creating chances and scoring goals, and with N'Zogbia, Duff, Geremi, Barton, Emre and Solano as his other midfield options it's not as if we'll be left short. £80,000 a week off the wage bill, a spare bed in the treatment table and £5m to put towards defenders. Sell, sell, sell!

Campbell, Heinze, Gareth Barry, Micah Richards, Wes Brown, Mellberg, Luke Young, Baines, Shorey, Volz That's about all i can think of (that i would like us to sign).

I don't think Konchesky is too bad. He's certainly not in the same league as Bridge. If it was a straight fight between us and West Ham though i'm still pretty confident he'd choose us.

I don't think they're looking to replace Phil Neville or Nuno Valente at the moment are they?

I know i've posted this before but i don't really think we would face a lot of competition for his signing. Aside from teams like Manchester City, West Ham, Sunderland and perhaps Villa i can't see anyone else going for him. The top 5 all have quality left backs already with the possible excption of Arsenal, but they're not the kind of team to spend £8m on a full back. Spuds have signed Bale, Liverpool have Riise and possibly Heinze, ManUre have Evra and Silvestre. Even West Ham and Villa have decent left backs but they seem to be making offers for everyone at the moment so i wouldn't rule them out. If Bridge is available i'm sure we'll get him.

................Given Geremi....Taylor....Rozenhal....Edgar .......Barton....Butt©....Emre .......Dyer....Viduka....Martins or ........................Given Geremi....Taylor........Rozenhal....Edgar Milner....Barton.......Butt©....N'Zogbia ................Owen......Viduka

So far Big Sam has: Told FFS it's his way or nothing Done what the last 2 managers should have done in getting rid of Titus Bramble Brought a new, proven modern era of management to the club Brought in 4 quality signings without breaking the bank Acted quickly in the transfer market so as not to lose out to other clubs Sought to rid the club of it's injury epidemic Yep, he's crap alright! What on earth did Roeder hope to achieve? Muppet!

3-5-2 and 5-3-2 are the same formation, it just depends if you see the wing backs as defenders or midfielders. Dyer IMO is the perfect wind back. He's quick and he has incredible stamina which are both essential attributes, and he can also score goals. Interestingly the same can be said of Leighton Baines, a player we have been heavily linked with. I don't buy into the idea that Sam is buying players who can specifically fit into this formation. I think he is targeting players who offer the versatility to fit into a number of different formations. We already know that he plans to play different systems for home and away games, 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 respectively, but he's also the kind of manager who will change the system during a match if he doesn't feel things are going well. This requires players who are quick to adjust and who are comfortable playing in more than one position.

A proper attacking midfielder. The kind that runs at defenders, dribbles round people and generally gets the crowd on their feet. We haven't had one since Robert and i think that's one of the major things missing from the last couple of seasons. A player who can create something from nothing. Nene, Sneijder, Tevez, Riquelme all fit the bill. Alternatively i'd like us to splash out on Philippe Lahm or Christian Chivu. Lahm is still young and is already one of the most highly rated left backs in Europe. Doubt he'd leave regular Champions league football to come and play for us though. I remember seeing Chivu playing for Romania against England in the European Championships when Keegan was England manager. He was 18 and was playing left back at the time, and was probably the tournament's outstanding player . He's Roma's captain now and now plays CB alongside Mexes but i assume he can still play left back.