David Icke - Son of God

There'd be an AFC Newcastle set up within days so i'd probably follow them. If not i'd give Gateshead my support, since they're technically my local club.

Or lets just not.

I think everyone would, but it's not as simple as "Hello, Michael. Here's a new deal. Sign here please." To be honest, if your boss took you into the office, said, "OK, here's the deal. We think you're great, you are captain of the club, you are back to scoring ways. The fans are right behind you. We are knocking over 10% off your wages." would you sign the contract. Aye the previous board spent silly money to get him here, but we cannot expect him to say "Aye nae bother." Offer the lad what he wants, get him signed up and bob's you're uncle. This contract malarky is rumbling on, and has been since the end of last season. We will end up losing him for nowt if we are not careful. Your first two paragraphs are going in one direction and then the final in another. Owen will find it very, very hard to find a club who'll pay him what we are. I can't see this turning into a Liverpool situation where he fucks off for a small fee because unlike then the world isn't his oyster anymore so we shouldn't panic too much. I think progress will be made in the next few weeks and he'll sign a deal sooner rather than later.

I think everyone would, but it's not as simple as "Hello, Michael. Here's a new deal. Sign here please."

Love the first sentence. While it may technically be correct they opted not to add "because the club have decided to wait until the end of the transfer window so they can concentrate on signings rather than discussing contracts"

Jesus wept. All this reactionary bollocks over the fact we sold a player who isn't even that good? I knew this place had it's fair share of wankers but some people need to calm the fuck down. I have faith in KK. The interview he gives on the BBC site tells me that it was his decision and MA isn't as hands on as people in here want to believe. Put your conspiracy theories to bed, listen to what he's actually saying and suddenly it all makes sense. I mean for fucks sake, even Mackems over the road are brushing off his earlier comments about Milner with "He probably didn't think some daft bastard would bid £12 million".

Over £10 million?

They only set that up because Oliver needed some more sources closer to the club. Who is closer to the club than the fans. It was quite funny that it was simply used to slag off Oliver for the first few weeks

The Ronny Gill board, isn't it?

Does your mate read Rivals, by any chance?

One of the biggest/only criticisms of Keane that the Sunderland fans have is his "We'll have four new players in within the next 24 hours" followed by one solitary signing a week later. I like the way we're doing things now. Yes, it's boring but it's preferable to the dirge Baron Greenback came out with.

Shouldnt have got in over his head then should he! He hasn't. In relation to your arguement, he has! Jesus wept

Mountain out of a molehill. KK has been in football long enough to know that if you can't attract players then you can't attract players and it shouldn't effect his relationship with the board. If we fail to sign anyone else it hardly proves KK and MA are at loggerheads and I doubt it would lead to KK fucking off. The Owen thing is something which needs to be sorted out as quickly as possible and I do hold out hope that it will be but again, it's going to be harder than us just offering him a contract. If NEMO wants to go then what can we do? No doubt it wont stop people on here bemoaning the board. I've made my opinion on the Milner issue clear - snap Villa's fucking hands off.

Spot on. Everton had brought in a sum total of one player (who they had on loan last season) until this week. Now they've started to panic and have signed two players for the sake of it.

I wouldn't call that reason, but here we go: Yes, Milner signed a new contract 12 months ago. Did you read the fact that this was 12 months after it was promised to him? And that such a promise was to only give him parity with what Villa offered him, an offer we summarily pulled from under his hand as he was about to sign it? And yes, he might not have signed that contract if he didn't like it. But to me, it looks like the club played hardball for 12 months (breaching an agreement in doing so) and eventually Milner decided being fucked up the ass by a six inch cock was better than being fucked by a foot long shlong. Cut to August 2008, and by now Milner has seen Taylor get a new contract (and the figure 35k "announced" by the pres), and as brummie has said, his U-21 team-mate Agbonlahor has told him about the three contract extensions he has received in less than two seasons. And as difficult as it is to create an analogy, just think of your own workplace - if the bloke beside you is doing a similar task, as well or worse but with better renumeration, it's not about money. Cash is the measure of appreiation - especially in the situation of stratospheric salaries. 10k extra per week isn't going to impact on the material quality of his life, but it certainly shows him how much he means to NUFC... PS Just before I'm outed as a Milner fanboi - I wouldn't pick Milner in the best strength first team, but I would say he is an important part of our first team squad... Blame the old board then as they were the ones who dicked Milner about on his deal, not Ashley and co. Agbonlahor is much more important to Villa than Milner is to us because he's a much better player, so i've no idea why you're holding up his contract extensions as an example of why we should bend over and give Milner one. As i've already said he's all effort, no ability. We could buy a player on par with him with half of the £10 million fee being quoted, probably less since slow wingers with no final ball are ten a penny. The workplace analogy is pointless too, as football has never been like that. The whole Taylor situation might be galling for him but we're lacking in defenders, we're not really that lacking in wingers. Geremi, N'Zogbia, Jonas and Duff can all play on the wing and arguably offer just as much as Milner. Surely rather than hand in a transfer request he should look to improve his performances for the first team squad above the frankly average level he was performing at last season and prove his worth?

You are overlooking the fact that KK himself does not seem to be happy with the whole situation ; he hasn't exactly fallen over himself to back the way the club is being run right now, with comments about being in the dark over signings etc. You can't have it both ways - yes, we should support the manager, but if he himself is not happy, then you can hardly blame the fans for having doubts. My view is that Ashley has done a great job in clearing the club's debts, and in trying to get a lean, professional set-up in place ; where I have some doubts are in what looks to be an over-parsimonious transfer policy. I don't think he should be attempting to replicate Abramovitch, but I DO think the reins should have been loosened to the degree that KK could have most of the players he wanted IN PLACE by the time pre-season training started. I also have doubts about whether KK DOES have the final say in either Transfer Policy or Players' Contracts. Both of these areas are potential minefields for future stability at the club and I think there MUST be some truth in the rumours that KK is only at the club because of financial problems with the Soccer School in Scotland - I know from past experience that he isn't one to accept things 'Not like it said in the Brochure !' Has Keegan said several times since he came back that "Mike Ashley could be the best owner Newcastle has ever had?" Not the words of someone who is being undermined at every turn by the board, I think you'll agree. Has Keegan also said, even more recently, that he wished Ashley would tell him about WOW signings before he told Corporate Fans...?? Has he also not been downbeat on the prospect of fewer new signings arriving by deadline day..?? Not the words of a manager fulsomely praising his Chairman, I think you'll agree... Wasn't that during quite a jovial interview with the press where he was laughing and joking because it was clearly a rumour made up by some attention seeking moron on Rivals? Until Keegan comes out and says "I can't sign players because i'm not being backed by the fat fella in the Newcastle shirt" then i'm not entirely convinced by the Ashley = Bad argument. Keegan's comments probably stem from the fact deals like Warnock have been going on for weeks but Ince wont entertain the idea of selling.

What exactly do you regard as a shit job? Buying Guthrie, Coloccini, Bassong and Jonas? Negotiating £8m for Dyer, £4m for Shola and possibly £10m for Milner? Seems pretty competent work to me so far. Where did we finish last season? 12th. Where did we finish the season before? 13th. That's an improvement, bitch. No doubt you'll be fuking your mother in her arse in celebration when we finish 11th? No, it'll be your mother You're a berk if you thought it was as simple as getting a new chairman, getting a new manager and bolting up the league straight away. Need I remind you that there are 13-14 clubs who can and are aiming to finish where we want to. Needless to say I want to be top of the pile but it's not an overnight thing. It'll take another year or two before we start to reap the real rewards of Ashley's reign and see what he's really up to. We haven't spent as much as I would've liked over the past few months but bids for the likes of Modric and Woodgate, as well as signing Coloccini and Gutierrez (who's compensation package ranges between £5 m-£15 m, depending on who you listen to) show money is there. I get the feeling we've had a real issue attracting players this year with a major tournament occuring this summer. Most of our original targets were at clubs who were unwilling to let them move because they knew a good Euro 2008 would add an extra couple of million onto their fee and a bad Euro 2008 would allow them to keep 'em. Even under Robson we had real trouble during these years (need I remind you of the Miguel saga which saw us end up with Stephen 'kin Carr?) so i'm not overly worried that we haven't spent too much this year. It's not ideal but I don't really think anyone at the club is to blame.

In a thread littered with madness and mayhem, this could be the sanest post thus far... The anti-Milner brigade have, in their indignation, thrust aside reason and poured derision on the young winger. Several times throughout this thread well-reasoned posts defending Milner's actions have been ignored - usually in favour of "I'm too lazy to read what others think, but Milner is a cunt". Well, I'm with Milner, and I'd be happy to debate with anyone prepared to reason but I don't expect to... Week by week I'm more convinced that Mike Ashley just doesn't understand the nature of the business. And Skirge might be right - if Ashley sells Milner against Kegan's wishes, transfer request or not, then King Kev could very well walk. Can I point out that MILNER HANDED IN A FUCKING TRANSFER REQUEST!!! If he wants to go how is it Ashley's fault? How do we know that Milner isn't asking for a ridiculous rise? How do we know MO'N hasn't been in his ear telling him how much he could get at Villa? Personally I don't think we should be shelling out a new deal for a player who only signed one 12 months ago and is demanding a pay rise on the back of a years worth poor performances. He's got three years left on his deal and if that means we can get £10 million for a player who is all effort, no ability then i'm right behind the idea.

You are overlooking the fact that KK himself does not seem to be happy with the whole situation ; he hasn't exactly fallen over himself to back the way the club is being run right now, with comments about being in the dark over signings etc. You can't have it both ways - yes, we should support the manager, but if he himself is not happy, then you can hardly blame the fans for having doubts. My view is that Ashley has done a great job in clearing the club's debts, and in trying to get a lean, professional set-up in place ; where I have some doubts are in what looks to be an over-parsimonious transfer policy. I don't think he should be attempting to replicate Abramovitch, but I DO think the reins should have been loosened to the degree that KK could have most of the players he wanted IN PLACE by the time pre-season training started. I also have doubts about whether KK DOES have the final say in either Transfer Policy or Players' Contracts. Both of these areas are potential minefields for future stability at the club and I think there MUST be some truth in the rumours that KK is only at the club because of financial problems with the Soccer School in Scotland - I know from past experience that he isn't one to accept things 'Not like it said in the Brochure !' Has Keegan said several times since he came back that "Mike Ashley could be the best owner Newcastle has ever had?" Not the words of someone who is being undermined at every turn by the board, I think you'll agree.

What exactly do you regard as a shit job? Buying Guthrie, Coloccini, Bassong and Jonas? Negotiating £8m for Dyer, £4m for Shola and possibly £10m for Milner? Seems pretty competent work to me so far. Where did we finish last season? 12th. Where did we finish the season before? 13th. That's an improvement, bitch.

That baffles me too. How are other clubs meant to know he's handed in a transfer request without mentioning it?

I'm not fussed at all. A very average player. Anything over £6 million will probably see Ashley and Keegan getting locked up for daylight robbery.

I'd hoy Enrique in. N'Zogbia looked good in the midfield tonight and the way Arsenal are playing at the minute should mean we go to the Emirates and look for points rather than being overly conservative.

The thing that stands out from this game is that we need a midfielder who can unlock defences. If teams are going to come and sit with 10 men behind the ball we're going to need something a bit extra to help us create chances. I hope KK is working on it.

He's a good signing on loan for them. No risk. I don't expect him to do much at all mind.