ohmelads

I think they've made a mistake (again) in sacking him but his league title win is a bit deceptive. Barcelona and Valencia weren't the competition they've been in previous years and for much of this season Real Madrid were very average. He's won them the league but if you watch their performances they were average in most games. At their lowest point over christmas they were battered 3-0 by Recreativo Huleva and 2-0 by Deportivo and his job was on the line. I don't think many English people realise how big Beckham was to their recovery. Throughout the season they never looked like a title winning side and were mocked by their rivals. The title win was a bit of a fluke in all honesty but Sevilla and Barcelona threw away their chances by dropping points at crucial stages of the season.

There are lots of other strikers out there but which of them are available, want to come to us and won't cost crazy money? Look at the price Bent is touted for. I like the idea of Gudjonsen but other clubs such as Man Utd may go in for him, there's no guarantee we could get him here. Others such as Huntelaar are probably out of our reach. I don't think there are a great deal of options if Oba goes. And imagine we lose Owen too (entirely plausible). I'd rather just keep him.

I don't think Martins is that far from being able to score a ton of goals espescially for a team like Arsenal. There are some glaring weaknesses to his game which may or may not be cured, but his strengths go a long way to compensating them. He's bloody strong and even players twice his size don't push him off the ball, you won't find anyone quicker, his shooting means he can turn a game on its head and although his touch is bad he's got quick feet and can dribble a ball. Last season he was playing on his own or alongside Sibierski (who IMO was vastly overrated by many on here) and basically had the task of scoring all of our goals. For a brief while he did it and was winning us games. Put him in a better side with a proper striker partner and watch him go. I think us Newcastle fans are sick of the word 'potential' because we've heard it all before with players like Jenas, Dyer, Ameobi etc. But I don't see it as a reason to give up on Martins. We don't need the money. Ultimately it won't be our decision if Wenger triggers the release clause but personally I'd rather hang onto him. Owen is off either this summer or next and Viduka is in the twilight of his career.

Depends. If we lose Owen as well it'd be a big problem. We've already got to replace a whole defence, replacing the strike force as well would leave us with more than half a team trying to settle in. I really like Oba and want us to keep him even though £13m represents a good fee and a tidy profit. It all depends whether we have the patience to nurture his talents. Wenger probably does.

It's a laugh looking back tbh. Yeah it's worth it just for the craic. Ask everyone in 2 months and it'll have changed totaly because of players bought and sold.

1. Chelsea 2. Man Utd 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Newcastle 6. Everton 7. Spurs 8. Aston Villa 9. West Ham 10. Portsmouth 11. Blackburn 12. Bolton 13. Man City 14. Boro 15. Fulham 16. Wigan 17. Birmingham 18. Reading 19. Sunderland 20. Derby

I hope Spurs get him purely for the fact they will be paying way above his valuation. He's not a bad player and will get goals in a better team, but there's nothing about him to suggest he's worth anywhere near the prices being mentioned.

While I haven't seen much of Shorey he strikes me as very ordinary. How many people were talking about him as a potential signing before his England caps? Same goes for Luke Young and plenty of other players, they get an England cap and their price doubles or trebles but they're still the same ordinary player they always were. People like Shorey and Young go unnoticed by many then they suddenly get an England call-up because of injuries and people think they are young emerging talents. They're 26 and 28. Reading had a good season but I think they'll get second season syndrome and anyone who pays big bucks for their 'stars' is taking a big gamble.

On the issue of Europe attracting players, I'm not sure the UEFA Cup has all that much pulling power. When we were in the UEFA Cup last summer was our pulling power any greater than it is now? I agree with the notion of building season on season by the way, but I'm not sure I agree with this idea that we can finish 6th and then attract better players.

Alan Oliver alluded to this but while he can 'do a job' in midfield I think it'd be a waste of his talents. We do need another DM in my view, espescially if the money is there to get one. Butt was decent last season but rubbish the two before that, so he offers no guarantees, and age may be catching up with him. I hope and suspect Oliver is wrong on that one and he's here to play right back as I don't see Geremi as a central midfielder at all. Of course it's hard to predict these things when none of us has any idea on the formation Sam intends to play. Perhaps he has 4-3-3 in mind where Geremi plays as part of a midfield three and someone like Beye takes the right back spot, it could be anything at this stage.

He started off brilliantly there but he started to get found out as time wore on, I think partly from fatigue and partly just his natural lack of pace when up against quick wingers. I think he takes too many chances in his own half as well, you can tell it's not his natural position. I'd be happy to have Solano as backup RB though, with Geremi as first choice. I'd say we'd have that side of the field sorted and can concentrate on other areas if we get Geremi in. Carr's fitness levels are never going to change and he's not all that good anyway, he must be moved on at the first opportunity.

I agree, we don't need that much money and I doubt Ashley or Allardyce would want a budget like that to be common knowledge, two reasons why the figure may be exaggerated. It sounds like a ballpark figure anyway. To spend £50m on top of the sales of Parker and others to come would be massive indeed yet many are expecting it now saying we need a squad etc.

Just don't think we're going to spend £50m on top of sales mate. I could be wrong. Seems like anybody who questions the budget or the way it's spent is accused of wanting trophy signings immediately. Makes it easier to put down people's suggestions I suppose.

Anal Oliver suggested he has come as a replacement for Emre in central midfield but he's not a central midfielder and would be wasted there. As you say we already have Milner, Dyer and Solano for the right wing. It has to be right back. If he is here as our new first choice RB I'll be happy as I always felt he played well there. There was speculation that Allardyce wanted taller full backs but that may have just been Anal Oliver as well.

No we don't. But I do suspect that figure has been exaggerated and I'd be surprised if we spend that much.

My point is there is no evidence we do have a £50m budget for this summer. This story has come from an unnamed 'source' who could be anyone and could also be wrong. We're buying sensibly but we're not showing any signs yet of a major budget. Time will tell whether this massive budget is true.

The players we're going for would suggest the £50m figure is exaggerated. I certainly doubt anyone close to Ashley would have disclosed this figure seeing as it would drive up prices. Even if this figure is reliable, it may not necessarily mean £50m on top of sales. It may well include the anticipated sales of players such as Baba, Carr, possibly Emre, Dyer, Owen, Martins as well. That would explain two bosman signings, a release clause and a couple of cheap defenders from the French league being targeted thus far.

Arteta. Though I think Barton will produce a lot more going forward than Parker did and I think there's a lot more to come from Emre. But if we want a technical player, a creator proven in this league and not too big for us then it would be Arteta. He'd cost quite a lot, £10m+.

I suspect Shorey and Lita have gone through a purple patch. They're young, English and just had a good season, they will be vastly overpriced and a big gamble to take.

His contract with Chelsea is about to expire according to these reports. I think there's something in the Beye rumours but we'll have to wait and see. I'm well aware there is plenty of time left, hence no rush to bring in players before deciding on their squad status. We're not big enough to be bringing in players like Geremi as utility backup so I for one hope he is going to be our new first choice right back. If Geremi is our new right back I'll be happy but I'd also wonder what we have planned for Beye. If Beye is indeed coming as backup for central defence and right back then I'd fear he's coming for the wrong reasons. If he's coming as first choice central defender then I'd think we could do better. So to sign Geremi and Beye would leave me wondering what their roles are. It might be that Geremi is earmarked for a midfield position and we've given up on Alou Diarra.

I'd totally forgotten about Geremi, I've wanted us to sign him for the last couple of summers. He was originally a right winger but I always thought he looked better at right back. There are a few things I'm wondering about though. Firstly, where does Allardyce intend to play him? He's a utility player at Chelsea and he won't come here to do the same when he can get first team football elsewhere. If he does then he's here for the money - plain and simple. If he's coming here it's to play regularly and that begs the question, where? I'm assuming right back, but therefore where is Beye going to play? Will he leave Marseille where he's captain to play backup? If so then he's here for the money. Squad building isn't so easy when you don't have the pull power of the big clubs, and signing two players in their prime means someone is either going to be unhappy or here to line his wallet. I'd be happy to see him as our first-choice right back, and then forget about Beye who is 29. Instead go for a younger player as backup for Geremi, if we do have the money, someone who will be happy to wait his turn and develop into the team. I'd earmark central defence as an area for a big money signing.

If we're going to build a squad and keep the playing staff happy then we have to be realistic and invest in quality proven players for the first team and young backup who can be convinced their time will come. We can talk about semantics all day, 'expensive big names' or 'proven quality' it's all about the spin you put on it to suit your argument. I believe that in defence in particular, with several places up for grabs,we have the opportunity to bring in proven quality without disrupting the squad we should do so. There is plenty of scope for squad building by signing younger players to fill out the squad.

I think we're all sick of players coming only for the money, but if someone like Hyypia is coming as backup then he's blatantly here for a pay day. If we sign Hyypia it means we intend to play him every week and if we've got £50m I don't think that would be the most sensible signing. Once you've bought him he's your main man and anyone you sign after becomes backup. With a big transfer kitty I think we could get someone considerably younger who would give the club years of service and continuity, which is the foundation of all successful teams.

A lot of good points being made here. I don't want trophy signings, nor expensive signings necessarily, but I believe I'm looking at the bigger picture when I say that a lot of other clubs will use this window to strengthen and while I'm satisfied with the signings of Barton and Viduka, we can still do better. It's going to be difficult to attract top quality players here, we just finished 13th and we're out of Europe. But by the same token it's going to be difficult to persuade players like Hyypia to leave Liverpool in the twilight of his career for a place on our bench. Similarly it's going to be difficult to nab Marseille's captain and use him as a squad player. Man Utd or Chelsea could do that, but they won't come to Newcastle for that and if they do it will be for the wrong reasons as well. My point is that Newcastle aren't big enough yet to keep a big squad of quality players that happy. Hyypia will want to play every week otherwise why leave Liverpool? Same for Beye. We only get one shot at bringing new blood in and if we've got the money we should be going for the best we can while everyone around us is doing the same. I agree about getting some signings of decent players in first to boost a very thin squad, but if we want to lift a level while we've got the chance then we should bring in one or two of real quality, Andrade being just one example.

I appreciate that, but perhaps instead of Hyypia we could get someone experienced but still in his prime such as Andrade who said a few days ago it's time for him to find a new club? That sort of player would take us up a level and give us another 4-5 years service.