ohmelads

First I've seen of him today. I have heard a few people saying he lacks clever running off the ball but I thought his runs were pretty dangerous today and he was involved in every attack. Played the offside trap well to get through one on one, decent effort just flashed wide of the post. Earned the free-kick which hit the bar and made a nuisance of himself all game, not to mention the goal. This may not have been Ferguson's first XI but it was a strong team and it was at Old Trafford. I won't judge him off one game but it takes a confident striker to go to Old Trafford and put in that kind of performance. I don't believe we should be stockpiling average strikers but if there's an opportunity to get a bargain, a player who can score goals for us in the Championship, help push for promotion and gel with the team, it'll benefit him and us if we get promotion. At worse he may turn out to be backup at Premiership level but it won't have been a massive amount wasted. The thing about this signing which I would quite like is it is unlike Newcastle to buy an in-form English player from the lower leagues. Admittedly he is 26 but Bellamy, Carrick and plenty others have gone from the lower leagues to excel at a higher level.

In a nutshell.

We could do without this cup, espescially if we end up meeting a Premier League side and getting spanked. Drawing the mackems with this team just doesn't bear thinking about. I find it impossible not to want us to win but we should put a weakened team out for the replay. Promotion is what this season is all about - we're not going to win this cup so it's just going to give us fatigue and injuries. I was surprised how strong today's lineup was to be honest - wasn't it the league cup where Ameobi got crocked?

N'Zogbia definitely has an attitude problem but I think a lot of people underrate him. I might be wrong but I can see his career panning out a bit like Benayoun at Liverpool, who showed flashes of raw talent without setting the world alight, before eventually finding his feet at Liverpool in his late 20s. Zog's not the best positionally but he has a lot of raw talent. He needs to find a club that can accommodate and play to his strengths and minimise his weaknesses. He has a very good touch, balance, pace and dribbling and has shown he can strike a football well. To top it all off he rarely ever gets injured. Like Benayoun, I can see him getting a bigger move further down the line, I really can. He needs to sort out his attitude but he has the ability.

Spot on. If you're going to get rid of someone and replace him, why sack him and then mess around for ages with a caretaker, losing a transfer window while you try and repair the situation? How is that more professional? They have acted quickly and decisively and brought in a manager with pedigree who has his best years ahead of him, with a transfer window to bring his men in and time to acclimatise them for next season. Sure there might be a transition period, but they hardly looked a well drilled outfit under Hughes did they? I seem to remember Chelsea were criticised after they pulled a similar stunt with Ranieri. They only went and won the league for the following two seasons - a young manager with pedigree, one with his best years ahead of him. Mark's mates in the press keep pointing at the two defeats thing but we're not daft - drawing against weaker teams is not good. Failing to beat teams like Hull is not good, whatever way you spin it. I don't think Man City's form has improved much since he took over at the club. He's been there 15 months, spent a quarter of a billion and I don't see any significant signs of progress. He's got to admit he's just not done a very good job.

We're best off getting rid for whatever we can. He's easily the most overrated player in our squad and besides, he is never fit. If he's on, say, 50 grand a week, that's over 2 million a year in wages we'd be saving. Not to mention the intangible benefits, like removing another leech from the club and a problem player from the dressing room. Not sure who'll have him, though.

I think the rebuilding job over summer, if we got promoted, would be so big that any players we can tie down on the cheap will free up money for other areas of the squad. If we can get him cheap, or even free, it's one less problem. Not just from the financial point of view, but he's settled at the club and if we buy someone else they're a gamble, need time to settle in etc etc. If we went up we would simply have to invest in a striker, a creative midfielder, a winger, we basically need a bigger goal threat and those players don't come cheap. Adding a right back to that list is an unwelcome headache. Simpson is pretty limited and the Premier League would be a big step up, but I think it's a case of beggars can't be choosers.

And this is my point. Of course at the moment he shouldn't be going, but say he was scoring regularly in the next 20-25 games. Surely he must be at the very least a serious consideration? Well let's have that debate when he actually starts playing and scoring regularly. It's a long time since he did that.

We can only go off his track record. In a relegation battle he quipped we could reach the top 6, and sold first team players. So I imagine he is feeling pretty complacent with our league position and will look to sell if any half-decent offers come in for his players. Hughton won't complain - how can he? He just feels privileged to have the job and won't ask awkward questions. The gaps in the squad will be filled by more loan signings, in the hope we can limp our way to promotion on the cheap. I'd love to be proven wrong, but he's been at the helm long enough, failed to learn his lesson time and time again, that I think we know what to expect.

You only have to look at how the England squad has done without him. His only hope of going to the world cup is an injury to Berbatov and then maybe he can forge a partnership with Rooney in the league. At the moment he's not even getting league games let alone goals. He has a lot of convincing to do, he has to be playing and scoring regularly. A few goals against Wolfsburg and this debate has opened up again, it's absurd. It's years since he proved his form and fitness. Going to the world cup with excuses ready about match fitness is not something I imagine Capello will accept. He's looking to build a winning team and to date has not considered Owen a part of that. It'll take regular football and regular goals to convince him otherwise, not cameo appearances and a few goals in Europe.

All teams who go up have momentum, because they have just pissed on their own league. And most of them go straight back down. There is a big gulf in class between the Premier League and the Championship. Nolan and Ameobi looked piss poor in the Premier League and dominate here, that tells its own story. We may be top and winning plenty of games but we are scraping a lot of wins against poor opposition. We were relegated with the same squad plus 40m of players. We haven't signed anyone bar Pancrate and loans so it's a much weaker squad than the one which went down. Take out the loan signings and the squad is threadbare again. We need to improve the first team and we need backup - in short we need to invest to stay up. We would struggle to beat the likes of Hull and Wolves with this squad, we'd certainly struggle to rack up 40 points.

Even when he was banging them in for us he didn't get a look in under Capello. I think Capello sees through him. If he doesn't score he gives you nothing and if we're going to beat the Brazils and the Italys we can't afford to be carrying people. If he's going to make it to the world cup he needs to be playing and scoring regularly. So far this season that looks unlikely. As many predicted he has been a peripheral figure at Man Utd and looks like he was brought in to spread the load and provide an option off the bench. Then there's the issue of his fitness - Capello only wants fully fit players. Owen needs regular games to get in the England squad but regular games tend to leave him crocked.

The fact he went there in the first place would make me have serious doubts about his hunger. He dropped three divisions for nothing but the money. We have our best defensive record in donkey's years, a settled back four for the first time in absolutely ages. What we need is cover in case of injury. Not a big name who will expect regular games and possibly a first team salary to go with it.

The media don't know either, they just throw figures around. That's why they made such a big deal when Riise's payslip was leaked to the papers.

After his farcical move to Notts County we should steer well clear. He made it obvious that he's looking for a final payday and although he left after one game, I think we'd be mugs to take him on. We do have an issue with only two centre backs, and Kniz will be back at Blackburn soon, but I'd rather go for someone else or get another loan signing in. We have an excellent defence in this division, a settled defence for the first time in years. Can you really see Campbell sitting content on the bench for 10 games on the trot? That's assuming he even stays fit for that long.

We've been crying out for pace, width and balance to the midfield. In other words, we've been crying out for a right winger. He's certainly done enough to deserve a start in the next game, and Nolan's suspension removes a selection dilemma for Hughton. Guthrie and Smith in the middle, Pancrate and Gutierrez on the wings.

these days i find arsenal the least hateable of the big teams and for that reason i'd like to see them do well. i thought this year they genuinely could challenge and they still can but as usual doubts are creeping in and they don't have the expererience in their squad. not many in their squad have gone the distance before. i think wenger's not far off getting it absolutely right, they always seem to be a player away from greatness. they've lost the balance they had when the likes of vieira, petit, bergkamp and henry had plenty experience under their belt. i think wenger is aware of the situation, let's not forget that he has signed Arshavin and Vermaelen, both excellent signings and both players with plenty of experience. i think he has tried to address the situation but the problem is they also lost Toure and Adebayor so it's not really progress is it? if they can keep their best young players, they should be very strong in a couple of years but in the meantime they need another Arshavin/Vermaelen type of signing, an experienced player in his peak years.

They would not have handed him a contract if there were plans to sign a winger in January, would they? Right wing was the last remaining first team spot. Do you honestly believe they will invest money in signings without selling first? When was the last time we did that?

You just have to look at everyone assosciated with the clubs he has managed and ask if they would have him back.

Good read that.

That signing only adds more evidence that there is no transfer kitty and Llambias was just running his mouth again. Right wing was one of our biggest priorities, arguably the biggest and it's been filled by an out of contract player turned down by Sheff Utd. It may have been opportunism but it seems more likely we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. That's that spot sealed for the rest of the season. Looking at the rest of the squad, there's nowhere where you can see them spending a million without selling first. If there was anywhere to spend that money it was right wing and they haven't done it. There's nothing in the kitty. Signing a good Championship winger, or a young up and coming winger would have been in keeping with the policy Llambias said he's operating. His exact words were 16 - 22 year olds I believe. The only reason I and anybody else greets this signing as good news is because, let's face it, we had no faith in the club to strengthen the squad at all and he just might turn out to be a handy option. There's been absolutely nowt to cheer about for a long time and noone takes Llambias, Ashley et al seriously any more. I wonder how our Arsenal scouting system is coming along.

Good to get another body in, so long as he's actually capable of coming in without letting the team down. More evidence that there's nowt in the transfer kitty for January though.

Which interviews are you referring to? His interviews have been as clear as mud and give absolutely nothing away at a time when the fans and perhaps most importantly the players want some idea of the club's direction. Communication is crucial in the club's current state. We've been in limbo for 18 months, the club was recently taken off the market with no real explanation. The stadium name has been changed with the excuse of 'showcasing the brand' while keeping the name, despite tagging 'stadium' the end. No explanation for this, nor any explanation as to where the increased revenue would go if we found a sponsor. We lost players in the summer who grew disillusioned and it's his job to come out and reassure people that short- and long-term plans are in place. At worst his interviews are outright lying and at best they fail to inform anyone of anything. For example he said he'd back Hughton if he wanted a player for a million and in the same breath said he'd prefer if Hughton came to him for loan signings, while saying he is looking at the list Hughton has given him already. It's unconvincing bollocks and if it carries on there'll be more players looking for the exits.

Didn't he say his career was almost over when he got injured with us years ago? He sounds a bit melodramatic, but you never know, it happens to some players. The cynic in me reckons he's on a big salary there and knows City won't want him in a couple of years, meaning a massive salary cut to play elsewhere.

Article about this whole subject on the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/8366434.stm I think a lot will depend on the clubs like ourselves and Chelsea, I really do. If fans stand in the way of it and do something tangible like protests and ultimately boycotts, it'll make other clubs and owners think twice. If we lie down and take it, other clubs will follow suit and use us as a precedent. This is the first time the issue has really got people talking because this is the first time the biggest, most famous and oldest stadiums are under threat. Bear in mind it took someone who treats his own fans with contempt - Mike Ashley - to try something like this. Chelsea quickly tried to get in on the back of it - that was opportunism on their part. The timing was certainly no coincidence. It's by no means a foregone conclusion that this is the new trend in football. People are quick to assume it'll go the same way as shirt sponsors but so far there's little evidence of it. Businessmen will try and make it happen, but they're dependent on their fans. Those who have changed name are currently in a very small minority - remember that. What's happening to us right now is not the norm even though some people will try to tell you it is. Just look around at famous British and European stadiums and not one has ever sold its name. Anfield. Old Trafford. Bernabeu. Mestalla. Camp Nou. Olimpico. Velodrome. San Siro. And you look at us now: sportsdirect.com@StJames'ParkStadium? We shouldn't let people try and con us that this is normal, because take a look around and it f*cking well isn't. I think it's a decent article from the beeb but there is far too much reference to what works in American sport. I couldn't really care what the Americans get up to, they name their teams after wild animals for f*ck sake. It's a different nation with different ideas on capitalism and a very different sport culture to our own. Looking at Europe, where there is a football culture more akin to our own, there is almost no precedent for changing the names of old and famous stadiums to brand names. Are we following a trend, or are we the catalyst? I think a lot of clubs will wait and see what happens with ourselves and Chelsea before upsetting their own fans.