madras

teasy...how can i put this ? are you a simple minded mong ?.....no that would be wrong. i'm sorry! ,i'll put it this way. ashley wont get his £129mill back unless he has backed the shares some more cos he bcaked them at a bookies...he didn't buy the shares as such. Do you understand spread betting?! There is very little chance he would have closed down his position in the wake of those losses. The problem with associating the word 'bet' with this is that people think it's a bet with a fixed date that ends when a certain event occurs. The type of bet Ashley had on meant that every time the HBOS price moved one way or the other he won / lost an agreed amount. He has had this open since last year (who is to know how long before that as well) and these losses are an accumulation of the losses throughout that period. As stated, these will have narrowed somewhat, in fact at least 20% following on from last week's HBOS recovery. He would not have needed to place another bet, just keep the same one open as he has for a good few months. Balances will probably be paid on a daily, weekly or monthly basis so he will have lost the amount stated / gained but it will still only appear like a paper loss until the bet is closed and the final figure is realised. I think you should have maybe done a little research before the simple minded mong comment, rather backfired. in reply no. 80 on march 26 i say

it does make sense but wouldn't it also make sense to have 2 forwards who done that and gave us an extra midfielder. as yet it's a work in progress. keegans making the best of what he's got but i'm sure the las couple of weeks have gave him some new ideas.

:clap:

Thought id quote this cos maybe the only time i'll agree with NE5 , spot on and unarguable imo you should try it more often, as I'm usually right. Don't let this fact cloud your opinions though !!!!! i'll bet even f*** the press doesn't think you're "usually right"

with us being safish i'd guess carroll would come in or go 4-4-2 or as you suggest even smiff.

teasy...how can i put this ? are you a simple minded mong ?.....no that would be wrong. i'm sorry! ,i'll put it this way. ashley wont get his £129mill back unless he has backed the shares some more cos he bcaked them at a bookies...he didn't buy the shares as such.

submit ? as in "submit" posts or "give in" ?

If we could play Spurs every week we'd be champions!Roll on the next area we play in that ends in Ham.-Birmingham,Fulham and Tottenham,we're coming West Ham"!!!! what a spot that is!

it would be typical newcastle to get into europe this way

but with only 3 in midfield and maybe 4 against him and 2 full backs pushing on you need more than "good on the ball and works a bit"....does his stuff on the ball make him worth a place in a 3 man midfield ?...not in my opinion Perhaps not immediately, not with where his head is at and how Keegan is asking the lads in midfield to play (they've all picked up a good deal recently, too, although they couldn't have got much worse.) I do think he could become a real player in that sort of role and if he leaves I don't think he'll regret it, I think he'd probably prosper somewhere like Spurs. Suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree here. i'd like to think so. as i've said the lad has talent with the ball at his feet,maybe the work and positioning thing is down to huffiness and childish arrogance (lats call it "jenasness")and keegan can get him round. wasn't so long ago i was saying get n'zogbia in for barton for the midfiled 3....see how a few weeks can change things ?

Dont think he;d be as disciplined in geting back as barton or geremi would be to be honest. If we are to play with 3 exclusive forwards then our 18 yards box needs cprotecting without exception, he didntreally povide too much defensive protection when he has played in CM in the past. For me, Zog is exclusively a left winger. Who asked you!? (Only joking!) I just like N'Zogbia to be honest, I think he's a cut above more or less everything else in our squad and he's still got time on his side. I do think he's done his best work on the left-wing, as you've said, but I wouldn't write him off completely as being able to play more centrally. He wasn't as bad at left-back as I expected him to be and was still a standout player towards the start of the season (he's still the first choice LB for France U21's), I honestly think he gets a rough ride on here because he's a bit of a moody b******. People have been quick to forget just how important he has been at times here, for such a young player as well - same goes for Milner at times. i'm one who lauded him early on but haven't been impressed the last 2 years.

but with only 3 in midfield and maybe 4 against him and 2 full backs pushing on you need more than "good on the ball and works a bit"....does his stuff on the ball make him worth a place in a 3 man midfield ?...not in my opinion

tracking back can be taught ....doing it well can't. i dont think he'll get it or do it willingly.(unfortunatly)

right then bit by bit watch how much ronaldo makes moves into the middle,yes you'll not see him throgh the middle from a goal kick but is he on the right or left ? ronaldo will switch side to side and roony tevz switch forward/deep and both pull wide. of course ferguson sends them out with a formation (did i say he didn't ?) but thir fluidity (like ours as the entertainers) means the players are clever footballers,moving,dragging the oppos away,moving into space. the comparison i'm trying to draw is man utd (defensivly solid,scholes through the middel ,then flux)and most other teams who if you listen to the radio you know whos got the ball purely by where it is ie until recently "newcastle attack on the right" meant it was milner..now it's not (i know milners out but you know what i mean) The last paragraph is what I'd hope for too from us, that's what I was trying to say. But this formation is still fairly rigid at the moment, Geremi sticks to the right, Barton sticks towards the left and Butt sits behind them two. Martins is the only one all over the place and Owen is working right up the centre (as I think Dave said earlier), Viduka is the fulcrum - but even he's been moving around far more than he had been under Allardyce. All signs are positive really, and I apologise for the tangent, as we should all just be enjoying this tonight - think I was just after a bit of a joust really, for whatever reason. If we play anything like Man Utd next season, then it should be brilliant to watch. I think I'd actually prefer to see us give this whacky formation a proper crack ahead of a "4-4-2 with two wingers who can cross, etc." in the modern Premiership, the flexibility it potentially offers is brilliant. Of course it won't work all the time though. basically i should have said nufc circa the entertainers...movement and all that. thats what i want and i think it would work in todays (rigid) game.

of course you can teach it...but the best and the ones who make it do it instinctivly and out of desire. re owen....your right he was always thought of that way....by people who didnt watch him.he's always worked even at liverpool. does he go chasing about like david kelly/bellamy ....no! never has and it would be pointless for him to do so....does he read the game better and intercept more than those....i reckon he does. oh and if you think the defensive responsibility (for midfielders)is mainly harrying and pressurising the ball then we're f*****.

right then bit by bit watch how much ronaldo makes moves into the middle,yes you'll not see him throgh the middle from a goal kick but is he on the right or left ? ronaldo will switch side to side and roony tevz switch forward/deep and both pull wide. of course ferguson sends them out with a formation (did i say he didn't ?) but thir fluidity (like ours as the entertainers) means the players are clever footballers,moving,dragging the oppos away,moving into space. the comparison i'm trying to draw is man utd (defensivly solid,scholes through the middle ,then flux)and most other teams who if you listen to the radio you know whos got the ball purely by where it is ie until recently "newcastle attack on the right" meant it was milner..now it's not (i know milners out but you know what i mean)

do you know how we entered the fairs cup ?

i don't think he has the discipline required defensivly. lots of covering and taking up defensive positions involved where as n'zog,skillful as he is on the ball,his off the ball work is poor. In fairness, I did say he would grow into the position. I wouldn't expect him to be performing to his best immediately. The tracking back and closing down stuff is not hard to learn, it's basically just harrying like Barton/Geremi do - although it would theoretically be far more effective from N'Zogbia because of the pace he would be doing it at. We're still desperate for pace in the middle of the park and it would seem daft to lose a player who has the potential to be very useful either as a left winger or as one of the midfield three. it's not something you learn,its instinctive and a desire thing. i think n'zogbia could grow into a centre attacking mid of a diamond or behind a front two. the lads got talent and skill (but to me he has no footy nouse)

Man Utd don't even have a formation beyond midfield iyam. Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani et al just play where they want. Apparently it works fairly well for them... They do usually start out in set positions I think, and the changes usually occur when they aren't getting any joy, but that's the sort of thing that we need to be looking at doing ourselves. Like you've said, it helps that they're f****** brilliant. nah..man utd are fluid throughout the game rergardless of if it's working or not. Being fluid and not having a formation are entirely different things, they certainly don't "play where they want", like. The shape only really changes when they're chasing the game or after a goal, the "fluidity" is merely the movement off the ball more than anything when attacking, isn't it? i'm still disagreeing with you. think of the mauling up here, they had six forward players who'd pop up all over. Well you're wrong again, then oh i see..you've forgot or werent there.(cos they did). their movement,flexibility,mobility and fluidity has been fantastic since christmas. when tevez plays does rooney play alongside him ? no he floats about as does ronaldo, as does anderson/nani. does tevez stay up front..no he'll drop deep and one of the others will push on a bit.

got no plates on it...thats why

Nah, was even more obscure then. Pretty sure we got in that year because Malaga withdrew from it, and Spain didn't have anyone else who entered, so it went down to the next league with the highest UEFA Cup co-efficient, which was England, so we got in even though Aston Villa were our entrant. Aye, just Googled it, we were in the Fair Play draw that season and didn't get drawn, and you're right about Malaga withdrawing (f****** good memory!), but it was still to do with our Fair Play rating that we got the invite if the Northern Echo was right at the time: Have some of that, Madras. I am justifiably chastised.

Man Utd don't even have a formation beyond midfield iyam. Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani et al just play where they want. Apparently it works fairly well for them... They do usually start out in set positions I think, and the changes usually occur when they aren't getting any joy, but that's the sort of thing that we need to be looking at doing ourselves. Like you've said, it helps that they're f****** brilliant. nah..man utd are fluid throughout the game rergardless of if it's working or not. Being fluid and not having a formation are entirely different things, they certainly don't "play where they want", like. The shape only really changes when they're chasing the game or after a goal, the "fluidity" is merely the movement off the ball more than anything when attacking, isn't it? i'm still disagreeing with you. think of the mauling up here, they had six forward players who'd pop up all over.

i dont think england has had a team go through via the fair play lottery thingy.

don't think so...we were just the highest finishing team who entered.

at that time i always thought if we are 1 down with twenty mins left against anyone we'd win.