James

From the report on .co.uk 'That joy was short-lived and the Magpies were back on level terms within 60 seconds, Kazenga LuaLua firing a goal of the season contender with an unstoppable 25-yard strike beyond Adam Bartlett's despairing dive.' Adam Bartlett used to be a NUFC academy player didn't he? Who were they playing? Blyth Spartans. So in summary, our reserves are good enough to beat a Conference Northteam on penalties.

KaKa is confident. That is our first major setback. He's probably not going to come now

That's the way reporters work around here. They bug everyone except the Pope. Once they actually followed Modric to church and started bombarding him with questions regarding his transfer. at least they ask him.....over here they make it up while sat in the pub Has anyone else seen the kerfuffle on Football365 about the Sun's European Football Expert? no.......do tell http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8750_3459051,00.html

That's the way reporters work around here. They bug everyone except the Pope. Once they actually followed Modric to church and started bombarding him with questions regarding his transfer. at least they ask him.....over here they make it up while sat in the pub Has anyone else seen the kerfuffle on Football365 about the Sun's European Football Expert?

4 months 7 days.

Yeah 23,000 euros a week is probably well below the going rate for a player of his reputation. People seem very sure if they are dragging out Silvio Maric to give interviews.

Can of worms I know, but there are so many people around the clubs transfers these days that we don't know what is what, and I doubt Keegan would have had the time to fully check Modric out. This could have been a job for SuperScout (Vetere), while perhaps Enrique was a job by SuperAgent (Jiminez).

Here is a question worth asking: It's all true. There is a geniune interest, and we've made overtures. Who is behind this signing?

Can you imaging Mr Fallows trying to prove his worth to KK? KK "So what do you do then Dave?" DF "Oh, er, i watch videos, yeah, like this you see?" KK "Yeah i think i do...and people have the nerve to call Terry useless" DF "Don't worry, my wages are paid for by the nash, please don't sack me!" Even though we have immediately appointed a replacement?

http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=43659.0 Demonstrates how smoothly the new board operates in the transfer market.

Just looking at both Kranjcar's and Modric's wiki's, both spent three years at Dinamo, Modric played 2 more games and scored 7 more goals, although Kranjcar broke into the Croatia team slightly earlier intohis development and has a better goal ratio at international level.

I haven't seen him myself, but the Croatians seem to rate him higher than the likes of Kranjcar, Eduardo and Corluka.

Probably in Euros I'd say.

Well this one has returned with a vengeance.

Good move if true to make our overtures now, as it: a) Shows a genuine interest ahead of other clubs, allowing us to gain favour with the player b) Gets everything tied up before the Euros, an area we've messed up in the past by waiting and circumstances changing (I reckon Shepherd had his fingers burnt by Gui'varch) Isn't Modric Viduka's cousin?

If he needs a lift, ill drop him off at St James next time i go home Not from Newcastle are you?? From Liverpool but work and live in north shields, as thats where my wife is from. So every game is like an away match with the travelling, apart from when we play at SJP I thought all games not played at SJP were away games?

1 reserve outing.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2254282,00.html

We only need to worry about a Duff scenario if the manager mistakenly buys someone worse than Enrique and is then stubborn enough to keep players in the team because itis the manager's signing. I think Keegan has better judgement, and I don't think he's too insecure to admit to the occassional bad signing.

Another thing worth noting is that the 7 subs rule for next season means that there is a place for a full back on the bench, whereas before having 1xGK, 1xCB, 1xDM, 1xAM and 1xCF was normally the best option if there wasn't much versatility in the first XI.

I simply don't think it's necassary. Enrique could very well be excellent if we just stick with him. The team's hardly going to drastically improve if we sign a better left-back. Everything he needs to improve, he needs to learn in my opinion. Grosso is someone he could learn from, or otherwise, he should compete with someone like Taiwo, so that when one turns out better than the other, we can have no qualms about letting the other go, by which point Kadar might be ready.

No, like I said, we shouldn't put sentimentality ahead of having better players. Only assessment needed would be an estimated comparison of quality both when the player joins, and when the player reaches the end of his contract. Those are the only two important things.

Better players in other leagues that would come here for less money I reckon.

Although I like Enrique, if we can get a better left back who would expect to play most games, I wouldn't complain. Football is dog eat dog. Niceness and sentimentality costs league places.