Dan Gleebals

I agree, their squad is terrible!

Not sure they will really care about telling us/media once people are in place, which I am pretty sure they probably are or as close to be as possible.

First 10 games (as twat used to say) will prove interesting!! Blimey. 6 of the top 8, 2 newly promoted and our rivals down the road! Best get some new players in sharpish, could be on nil points come the the end of August otherwise. Personally think a tough start on paper should have a positive effect with a new manager, a lot depends on the sentence above!.

She also likes to stick her finger up her arse. Bonus

And Lee Charnley has a history of bidding way lower than market value!

Really would not read anything in to any of the non "preferred media partners" at the moment - or the preferred ones for that matter. They are all throwing shit (and rightly so) after being excluded on recent events. I think I am going to try and enjoy the summer and see what happens by the close of the transfer window before I get too excited/pissed off!

Based on comments on .cock not sure he is going anywhere this summer!? Personally like to see him stay, think with a more progressive coach and hopefully attacking support, we could see the Cisse of old again. I would offer him another 2 years on his contract and that at least preserves some value as well (albeit less and less as he gets older).

Holding the ball up should be less of a requirement now the hoof merchants have gone.

Strong speculation for a few days now, his, barton's and Shearer's comments all suggest that dialogue has/is taking place. Personally think he would be a great signing for us, he has the feeling of a player who would achieve cult status pretty quickly (not sure why) and we need players like that! Lets hope its true!

Surely there is only one answer, utter disbelief (and joy of course!). I am firmly in the camp that IF we play better football, invest in the right players and actually won something then past mistakes can be forgiven but NOT forgotten. To forget, progress would have to be sustainable and notable not just "hey, we won something, lets strip the fuck out of the club again just for £££'s". Time will tell if this really is the new "ambitious" mandate from the top and the requisite investment and transformation on the pitch can be achieved by McClaren and his team. Far too many unknowns in their at the moment and current levels of distrust in Ashley and co most likely mean it won't be believed. One can hope though and I really think this is the last time people will let any hope into the equation so this really is a massive summer for the club.

Steve Round (on being at Derby) "walking though the door - its good environment, good culture, good people". He won't be coming back here then!!

Blatantly going to get Derby or Boro in the first round of the cup and loose.

Out of interest, anyone have any idea what this Muppet would have been paid per annum?

More than underwhelmed by this but as other have said, better than Carver and potentially Pardew too. If he manages to get the team he wants and focuses on sorting both our defence and attacking style, then fair play. I don't see him as a long term solution but perhaps someone who MIGHT be able to get more out of the players we have through better coaching etc. If he is forced to keep the current coaching team then I think this is only going to end one way and that means we are in the same boat next year! He has to be allowed to bring in his own people otherwise the negative, slack and completely unprofessional standards/tactics and ethos established by Pardew and Carver will not be going anywhere.

Whoever it is, its 9 days since the end of the season and with a decision seemingly still days away, we should hurry to fook up! Pre-season starts in a month (or so) and the new person will need as much time as possible to prepare. Cannot believe they have not made a statement on Carver (which in itself is pretty worrying) or their intentions about the role. We had plenty of time to work out the what if scenarios (before the season ended) and Carver had enough time to prove he is not up to it. So, we were either looking for a championship coach or premiership coach. Cannot believe an agreed target list was not in place and they are well on to it or worse still we have confirmed Carver. We are apparently going to make our own luck now, well as thing stands their does not seem to be too much urgency!

Not sure why anyone would read anything into Lee bloody Ryder and what he says!

Good point BUT we don't have many of those players anymore that achieved 5th! Not sure he is the man to work with what we have now (bunch of shit) or really bring in what we don't have/need!

EDIT: guess most of it is practical anyway!?

Cheers, wondered if there was an exam to potentially fook up!

Anyone know when he/we would know if his pro licence is confirmed? Surely they would not appoint until then anyway IF is really is a contender?

For me the following need to go: Taylor - Always injured and bar the odd good game, not good enough Williamson - all I really need to say really Tiote - not done it for a few seasons now and a liability when in the team Gouffran - seemed ok when he got here but played out of position for so long he seems to have regressed massively, offers nothing Obertan - for his position (winger) he does not offer nearly enough, final ball often poor and does not score enough Riviere - if we can get some money back for him, get it! I would add Colo into the mix but might be worth keeping as think as backup he is worth having, certainly not as captain though For me that highlights exactly what we need. - Two new first team centre backs (we have to reduce the number of goals conceded, its ridiculous) - Two players, either wingers or attacking players with pace that can get the ball in the box, not hit the byline or box and go backwards - A midfield player who can dictate play from an attacking perspective (we have De Jong, but his injury issues make him a risk to rely on). Someone who can hit decent set plays! - A decent holding player to free Sissoko up more (keep Colback/Anita as utility/cover players) - 15 - 20 goal a season striker who can really put pressure on defenders - our current crop all like to play off the defenders and are not that good at it (Perez aside maybe). We need to pressure in the box. For me that is 7 first team players that have to come in, all I would like to see with more pace and strength. Think we need to see an additional 2-3 genuine development players added to that (Striker, CB and Mid). We then have reasonable cover and a much stronger first team. Clearly a sizeable investment required there although I suspect we could probably get c.10-15M for the players that need to go. We have the £34M, this seasons TV money profit (yet to be reported) and clearly a bigger windfall to come so no reason why we cannot net spend £50-60M IMO. Spent correctly with a decent manager and that should see us competing for 8th (possibly higher). Not sure why I wrote all that as its never going to happen mind!

Re this being more spin for the club - not so sure this time. Vieira or Man City surely would have come out now and said there is nothing in it!?

Vieira would be a very interesting appointment for me. He was one of the best players in the UK/Europe for a number of years and has been working in one of the best set up clubs now for 3 years - talk about insight! His first managerial opportunity is a big risk for him too - gets it wrong and his path to the top (assuming he can/could get there) would be harder. Cannot see an ex-player of his standing wanting to take that risk. Personally think he could ignite the kind of excitement this place needs and dare I say it, a fresh and modern outlook to the game. For me, it would only work though if he was able to bring his own team in as our current puppet show would not help him develop in anyway. That's the biggest risk, does he have the contacts that could come in and make this is a success for him and us and would the club support him in doing that? I don't know/probably not!

The biggest problem for me is the overall management structure (board and team), recruitment policy and ambition. We first needs to define our ambitions, which Ashley has now done (in theory), i.e. finally win something. To win something you need a winning formula and ours has simply failed over the last 8 years. To me, recognition of this is the most important factor, without it, nothing will change and we are in for much of the same. We need a fresh blueprint and people that are well qualified to manage that so if that means a new MD, Head of Recruitment (Carr) then so be it. The entire first team training and management structure (and the medical people) all need to go IMO. For too long mediocre standards have been accepted for too long. We have too many injuries, insane recovery periods and above all a complete lack of tactical and genuine "training" for the players. If we are sticking to the policy of buying players with potential to sell on, I have to real issue with that. However, they need to be the right players to start with and they need to develop to increase in value. For me this has been the most shocking aspect of our team for sometime now. Players look ok when they arrive and just go backwards. That really needs to change.

Completely agree - if only Ashley realised what a bit of ambition, a team and manager to match could actually create. Win or loose, the club would be a place to enjoy again and one would actually look forward to experiencing all the time. SJP in full voice every week used to be incredible and the envy of a lot of clubs, managers and players. Teams used to fear coming to SJP for that very reason. It would not take much to get that back IMO, the fans would be happier, spend more money and ashley would get more from it to (financially and less shit from the fans). We all win then and players would actually want to come and play for us again!