ohmelads

AS have quoted as little as 3M euros but I think it was Marca quoted 5M euros. Given he'll leave for nothing next summer, apparently fancies a move to England, and he's nearly 32, I don't think he'll be that expensive at all. I think this rumour's got mileage in it, Sevilla sound ready to do a deal, the player apparently wants a move to England and he suits Allardyce's profile because of his experience and versatility. He's exactly what we're looking for, if a bit short-term.

This would be a very good short-term signing. He's only got a year left on his contract and Juande Ramos (Sevilla coach) said today that "anything is possible" regarding Drago while the window is open. The Spanish press have mentioned 3 - 5M euros (roughly £2 - 3.5m). The low price reflects the fact he's 32 in November and only has a year on his contract.

No player should be undroppable, but I do see your logic. Arsenal dropped Henry and at times were better without him, but at times he made himself undroppable because of his devastating form. If Owen isn't 100% then he shouldn't play, espescially when there are perfectly good alternatives. Ideally we'd end up with a situation where Owen must fight for his place back in the team because those ahead of him are making themselves difficult to drop. I'll be a lot happier if we're wondering how to fit Owen in the team rather than seeing him walk straight back in.

Is it right to call Martins a deputy when he plays far far more often than Owen? I agree there, probably should have said "alternative". With Viduka and Owen missing tonight's game and Ameobi only playing a part, what's the news on Luque? Is he fit to start?

Maybe they just don't want to risk him because we do have a perfectly able deputy in Martins. Or is that wishful thinking?

Will be relieved if this gets sorted. Keen to see him alongside proper strikers rather than converted midfielders like Sibierski and Dyer. I think he's been crying out for a strike partner like Viduka and could have a lot more to offer when he can concentrate on his strengths and take up different positions. Everyone used to talk about what Bellamy did for Shearer, but there was a lot that Shearer did for Bellamy. It was an excellent partnership and we could be looking at the same again with Viduka/Owen or Viduka/Martins. The common denominator is unfortunately an injury prone striker, but there you are. It's worth the added wages to remove the uncertainty such a clause brings. Espescially if, as with Owen's contract, his release figure dips year on year.

I'll be amazed and disgusted if this is true, but I seriously doubt it is.

Hope he's alright, we're limping towards the start of the season it seems.

Still undecided about this. I don't think he's as bad as many are making out, but would the player be happy being brought here as a midfielder? And how would this affect our search for defenders? A year ago loads of people were saying the Duff and Martins signings wouldn't affect our defensive strengthening - but it did. £6M is not a shocking price given the prices of players like Chopra, Richardson, Reo-Coker, Parker etc. At the end of the day you're not going to get an experienced player with quite a few England caps at his peak age on the cheap. It's probably the going rate for a player who ticks those boxes.

Leeds have long had a good youth system, I'm not sure if that's still the case but I think it'd be a good move for him. He might be good enough for the Championship, it's hard to tell at the moment, but seeing as Given's got another 4 seasons (and possibly more) before he hangs up his boots then I wouldn't mind seeing Krul go to League One for now, and gradually make the step up.

If he is really care about the club who pay his ridiculous wages while he (almost) doing nothing here, why doesn't he move his so-called family to live in Newcastle instead the other way around? Been thinking this myself. It's not difficult on his wages, though they might not have wanted to make the move. I think everyone knows it's an excuse really though, he's looked like he's wanted out for ages what-with the booing going back quite a long time now. I remember him saying in one of his interviews after the Bowyer fight incident that he was terrified because people were coming up to him threatening him. The 'family' line makes it easier on the player and the club.

Left wing ideally, but while our only left back is injured I'd rather have him at LB than Huntington or Ramage.

Janitor... I'm concerned at a lack of spending. I know that we haven't spent much in defence. Of course I don't know how much we will spend, but I do know what Allardyce has been saying in recent weeks with regard to this very subject. Therefore, my concern is based on quotes (which I know) and a lack of spending thus far (which I know). So don't you think I have a fair basis for this concern? I've voiced these concerns regardless of the circumstances which have led to a lack of spending, of which none of us know. I'll give you the penny-pinching remark, perhaps I can't make that until Sept 1st, but I stand by everything else I've said in this thread. If you think they're daft that's your opinion, I'm not going to hold it against you.

I'm sure there are various factors behind the lack of money. It might be the review or the need to reduce the wage budget, we might be waiting to bring in a DoF or it might simply be because Mort is new to this industry and wants to know where he's putting Ashley's money. Truth is we don't know. You don't know and I don't know. Rather than speculate pointlessly all day about things we don't know (or "missing your points" as you call it), I've voiced my frustration over those things which I do know. You're right, I won't bother wasting my time.

Fair enough, but you've yet again completely ignored the relevant points that numerous people have made about the very recent takeover, the club's debt, the difficulty we might be having attracting players, etc. It's a waste of time looking at things on such a simplistic level, man. Ashley de-listed the club 12 days ago and alright, we might not have money in the immediate short-term while this infamous "review" is undertaken and while things are sorted out from top-to-bottom (I notice the board are backing Allardyce's backroom rebuilding plans, which won't be exactly "cheap" and which people seem to completely be ignoring while they claim he's going to be forced out.) Where is it written that you absolutely positively need to spend big, solid money to do well/build a solid foundation? Surely you can appreciate it that it might take more than 12 days (or a month or two at the most since they started buying shares/taking full control) to come in and decided what route to take a multi-million pound business. As Gemmill said, it's unfortunate that it's happened in the summer and it's perhaps "unfortunate" that the likes of Man City don't seem to be suffering the same problems, but perhaps they're not doing things the right way and we are. How many of us were calling for a massive upheaval at this football club just a few short months ago? Well we're getting it and people still aren't f****** happy because we're not doing that AND spending millions at the same time. Beggars belief and shows us up as supporters. Call it simplistic if you want but it's equally simplistic to assume more money couldn't have been provided, or to assume that we haven't signed players simply because none want to come to Newcastle. Cheap dig tbh, I suspect you know as little about circumstances behind the scenes as I do. I haven't ignored the points made about the takeover or the club's debt, I've chosen to comment on actual quotes from the manager and facts such as the minimal spending on defence which goes back years at this club and the very limited options we have less than 2 weeks before the season's opener. I didn't say we need to spend big, either. Apologies if you think a bit of healthy scepticism shows you up as a supporter. I'll be as happy as the next man if I see us signing good defenders, but making excuses for the board without knowing any of the circumstances is pointless IMO.

Penny pinching in defence again. Will this club ever learn? Looking at the defence we put out against Juventus I think it'd be an understatement to say we need some investment in that area. If you believe we're targetting freebies purely because they're the right people for the job then good for you, but I think it's because the money isn't there and we're getting whatever we can, a view backed up by practically all of Allardyce's comments over the last couple of weeks ("can't guarantee quality but ill get some numbers in", "targets are disappearing rapidly", "missed out on loads of players recently", "clubs like fulham are spending much more than us", "I need to convince the new owners to spend and quickly" etc etc etc).

We need defenders first and foremost but we do need a midfielder as well. Much rather go for Lassana Diarra for that price.

Had a good game today, definitely looks half a yard quicker. How long before his next injury though?

Very concerning comments. This could mess up our season if we don't get it sorted. We're an injury away from major problems right across the back line and the first choice full backs are average at best, terrible at worst and spend half their time in the treatment room. A few decent defensive signings would make our chances of success much greater, but I reckon we'll be seeing a lot of the kids again. We've somehow managed to have a smaller squad than last season.

Great performance given the team put out. Our kids began sitting too deep in the second half but grew and grew in confidence. Juve never looked that up for it and their final ball always let them down. Our defence looked ropey every time it was put under pressure and we were lucky not to get punished. This is something we'll have to get used to if we don't get in the defenders we need, we rode our luck at times today but at least Given was flawless. I am impressed with Rozenhal though, looks a very composed defender, doesn't flap. Worth mentioning Geremi's set-pieces, he puts it in the danger area with pace and swerve, should be a useful weapon over the season. Milner deserves a shout for another excellent display and I'm very pleased to see N'Zogbia with his confidence back, he looks like the old Zoggy.

Those were token chances. "See, I gave him 10 minutes in February and in March he started a game, he had his chances" kind of attitude. The fact Luque didn't even get reserve games shows he never had a chance in Roeder's mind and we all knew that so I'm sure the player did as well. Even when he scored the winner in Palermo, you knew that was the last you'd see of him for a good while. There's a different feeling under Sam, you get the feeling these are not 'token' chances but genuine opportunities to stake a claim.

I don't think it's Sam's fault at all, reading between the lines it's been obvious for a while the money just isn't there, not this window anyway. He said we've missed out on something like 15 targets in the last couple of weeks, I refuse to believe all of them knocked the club back because we're too small. I don't know what Ashley/Mort are playing at but it doesn't bode well. If we don't sort out the defence it's going to be a long, long season. I seem to remember saying exactly the same things this time last year - funnily enough Given has come out and said all the same things as he did a year ago about defensive recruits. Seems to be a strong feeling of deja vu. I really hope I'm wrong about Mort and he pulls his finger out, because I don't believe for one second that this is Sam's doing.

Basically I think Owen will be off next summer unless we really look like we mean business - ie top 6 minimum - regardless of the terms of the clause. If he really wants a move he can just ask for a transfer anyway, so the clause won't mean a lot other than we won't get a big price for him (again this would have happened anyway, Liverpool only got £8m for Owen due to his contract). On a sidenote, I think he'll have been pretty underwhelmed at the fact we have a smaller squad than last season and a threadbare defence yet again. Most of us fans are and one or two players have come out and said the same. Owen will be looking for ambition, and Allardyce's ambition simply hasn't been backed by his chairman/owner to date. The good news is he won't be leaving in January, if Shepherd is telling the truth about the terms of the clause.

Do they still play 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana before the match?

Luque will never be a predatory 20-a-season striker, but he's not a bad finisher and those were predatory goals. It's something he has in his locker and they were finishes worthy of any goalpoacher. If Owen scored those two we'd be saying 'typical Owen goals, right place right time cool as you like'. It's the same goal whoever scores it and personally I like to see our strikers scoring those types of goals. If Luque ever makes it as a decent player for us it'll be more in the Laurent Robert mould IMO. Luque can whip in a cross and has a very powerful shot, and can get forward and finish moves. We haven't seen much evidence of this in a toon shirt, but then we haven't seen much of Luque in a toon shirt. Luque resembles Robert in more ways than one, in that he shares some of the strengths and the weaknesses of the Frenchman. Robert lacked strength on the ball, lacked passion and lacked consistency, but he had the ability to whip crosses into the danger area and had a rocket in his left foot. Luque was never a trickster at Depor, but made his name as a left winger because of his ability to put the ball in the danger area and score from range (including dangerous free kicks) due to a very powerful left foot shot, much like Laurent. He played many games up front because of his finishing ability too. If we ever do get the best out of Luque I suspect it will be in the Robert mould, that doesn't mean to say he'll have the same impact but he could be effective if played to his strengths as Bobby did with Robert.