Wullie

Wasn't me but it was not worthy of a new thread in the slightest.

Zenden and Pennant to start in a European Cup final. Jesus gave way to tears.

Better than... no actually I'm not saying that.

do you even know what an interview process is? how the fuck would you like it if you were the bolton chairman right now? Or a Bolton fan even, selling them out big time is Uncle Sam And on the whole bringing people with you aspect, i've always been suspicious of the kinds of managers who always seem to take the same players round with them, I can't think of a top flight club with a manager like that currently. Jose Mourinho? total cunt. case proven, prosecution rests

do you even know what an interview process is? how the fuck would you like it if you were the bolton chairman right now? Or a Bolton fan even, selling them out big time is Uncle Sam And on the whole bringing people with you aspect, i've always been suspicious of the kinds of managers who always seem to take the same players round with them, I can't think of a top flight club with a manager like that currently. Jose Mourinho?

25 games=6 goals for Kluivert Ah right, so you use 17 goals for Martins (ie, his UEFA Cup goals too), but ignore Kluivert's (not forgetting his FA Cup goals). That's fair. You must have expected an idiotic response. The record book states he played 25 games and scored 13 goals. Not bad. The 25 was in the league, with 6 goals. Got a couple in cups too, notably those big two against Spurs and Chelsea. His UEFA cup record was 5 in 6, which was excellent - however, when you consider that 4 of those 5 came across a team of peasants from an Israeli mountain village, it doesn't look quite as good. He wasn't given a fair crack of the whip due to Shearer's undroppable status but sometimes didn't do himself any favours.

I respect your opinions Nut, even if I don't agree with you much of the time, but I find that an absolutely astonishing statement to make.

Hope N'Zogbia stays. If not, it's a shame we've no other quality right winger, cos I'd pick Milner over Duff on the left every day of the week.

He raped us down the left from what I remember. And Emre and Martins tore a much better Arsenal side apart. One swallow does not make a Champions League tie... or something. But in total Henry was already a well established player before he moved to Arsenal (wasn't he France's best scorer at the WC in 1998?), he only had a couple of poor months at Juve but didn't need work at basic skills at Arsenal to make him a world star. Martins had several years of arguably good coaching at Inter and still has major flaws in his game. I am sceptical about him getting a moment of 'Heureka!' out of a sudden... Was Martins not a well established player? I'd heard of him a long time before we bought him, not bad for a 21 year old. Martins has 11 in 15 for Nigeria too, a pretty good record - an international goals record hardly tells you anything. Do you know who Henry's 3 goals in '98 were against? 1 vs South Africa, 2 vs Saudi Arabia. Don't think I'm trying to take anything away from Henry either - the man is brilliant beyond belief. It isn't about against which teams Henry scored during the world cup the point is rather that he was already a full member of the French squad at a World Cup at home where he actually got games despite his young age. He was just under 21, not that young. Stephane Guivarc'h got games in that squad too, it's nothing to shout about. I don't think Martins will ever develop into anyone as good in Henry - in fact he almost certainly won't because Henry is so good - but I don't think it's so far-fetched to say Henry was not that much better at that sort of age, although obviously Wenger's conversion of him to a striker was what really triggered his development. I totally agree that Martins is not the finished article but I also don't agree that he's not worth what we paid. Not now maybe, but in the future, I think he will be worth that and more. Wenger paid £16m purely for potential in Walcott - and I've seen little to suggest that he'll ever be worth that, but then I don't see Arsenal much and I know how good Wenger is so I think he'll probably get there. I think Martins will too - I definitely think he CAN, hopefully at NUFC. I know one thing - I'm miles more confident in him developing under Allardyce than under the clown that's been coaching him so far.

He raped us down the left from what I remember. And Emre and Martins tore a much better Arsenal side apart. One swallow does not make a Champions League tie... or something. But in total Henry was already a well established player before he moved to Arsenal (wasn't he France's best scorer at the WC in 1998?), he only had a couple of poor months at Juve but didn't need work at basic skills at Arsenal to make him a world star. Martins had several years of arguably good coaching at Inter and still has major flaws in his game. I am sceptical about him getting a moment of 'Heureka!' out of a sudden... Was Martins not a well established player? I'd heard of him a long time before we bought him, not bad for a 21 year old. Martins has 11 in 15 for Nigeria too, a pretty good record - an international goals record hardly tells you anything. Do you know who Henry's 3 goals in '98 were against? 1 vs South Africa, 2 vs Saudi Arabia. Don't think I'm trying to take anything away from Henry either - the man is brilliant beyond belief.

Why didn't he make it at Juventus then? Maybe he just wasn't suited to Italian football? Same with the likes of Souness, Francis & Rush. They were still fantastic players though. I think Thierry Henry would be suited to any football match in the world. He only made 16 appearances for Juventus, it's their loss, not Henry's. He didn't score for ten games after joining Arsenal. Some of the fuckwits on here (not you btw) would have had him flogged off long before then.

He raped us down the left from what I remember. And Emre and Martins tore a much better Arsenal side apart. One swallow does not make a Champions League tie... or something.

To be fair to Oliver, and it's not in my nature to be fair to the xenophobic wanker, a number of the nationals, particularly the Times iirc, were saying Sidwell to NUFC was signed and sealed a long time before he was.

Why didn't he make it at Juventus then?

Who turned Thierry Henry from a failing winger at Juventus into arguably the deadliest striker on the planet? Was it: a) Arsene Wenger - a failed defender, who made 13 appearances in his entire career b) Pat Rice - a good player throughout his career... at right back or c) Boro Primorac - an 18 times capped Yugoslav centre back Those are the three main coaches at Arsenal and have been throughout Henry's time there. Which one of those is it that's made him a footballing genius? The idea that "Martins was at Inter for 6 months while Crespo was there, plus they MUST have the best coaches and therefore he should be the finished article" is so ludicrous that it's not even worth a response. For what it's worth (nowt) Inter coaching staff is also made up of no-one of any note whatsoever as a striker other than Mancini whose goal record was pretty bloody average.

Benitez has brought several of his key staff with him wherever he's been. He's rubbish though, it's not like he's competing in his second European Cup final in three years tomorrow night.

Wikipedia: Berbatov, like Drogba, another player who, and I know this might come as a foreign concept to some, improved with age and experience.

Christ, now we have to listen to it.

So do I.

You're not serious?

Nicky Hunt is the dregs.

That's absolute bollocks.

Each to their own but today's topics on the SMB go back 8 pages. I can't see how I'd get any enjoyment personally, the threads go up faster than you can read them. Not trying to slag it off or anything, just how I see it.

Off the top of my head, his goal against Liverpool was all about his pace, despite Reina's error. Agger had a good five yard head start on him.

Dunno about Kaka, but the only time I've seen Inter Milan play 90 minutes since watching Football Italia as a nipper was when they played us twice, so I've no idea. The other players don't coach anyway, I'm sure you know that Nut, and even if they did - good players do not necessarily make good coaches.