James

If England don't qualify, I'll be supporting Czech Republic because of Rozehnal.

Am I wrong, or did Ashley not buy 100% of the club? Not just a controlling interest? You're not wrong, but the Sun isn't wrong either. MA bought a controlling interest in June then acquired enough extras to compulsorily purchase the rest. 100% cost £133m iirc. Plus he paid off £80m in debt, and paid a bit more on transfer fees. He's in for the long haul, and Mort said so the last time this story came out, so don't get your hopes up. A lot of journalists seem to be Spurs fans, and are clearly jeaslous of what we've got, and clearly want to unsettle a perceived rival prior to the NUFC vs Spurs game.

For me, the best England team would be: Foster Neville Richards Ferdinand Cole Beckham Gerrard Barry Rooney Owen Smith Foster is the best English goalkeeper, but has been unlucky when it comes to injuries and being at Manchester United. He'd start at any club that wasn't Manyoo or Chelsea. Don't know why people have it in for Neville, he is still the best ever English right back, great defensively, second best English crosser, and a good leader. Would be the captain in this team. Yes, Richards has been very good at right back, but isn't as complete as Neville, and plays at centre back for his club. He is good enough to play as centre half for England. The problem with the Terry Ferdinand partnership is that both prefer to play as sweeper, and Ferdinand is inevitably made to be the charger due to his pace. Ferdinand makes more mistakes as a charger though, so the partnership doesn't work. Despite the mistakes, Ferdinand has the pace and the ability on the ball required for international level, whereas Terry does not, plus Terry's attitude is a lot more questionable than Ferdinand's. Although there is good competition from Bridge, Cole has never let England down despite being off-form for the past 18 months. Thus he should be starting. 442 doesn't suit England. Although Cole is a good player on form, our midfield never has any shape. Plus we can never find the perfect balance in the other areas. We certainly need three out and out midfielders. The first choice is Gerrard and Lampard. Gerrard has a better engine and better technique, and can link up well with team mates in a variety of roles, whereas Lampard relies on the team being built around him. Thus Gerrard is the obvious choice. Now, before choosing the other midfielders, and deciding on a formation, the strikers need to be considered. To win matches, you have to score goals - a simple point that shouldn't need to be pointed out. The only English player who can guarantee a regular stream of goals is Michael Owen, so he must start. Owen needs someone alongside him to help him out, and Rooney's deep style of play is going to severely hampen Owen's contribution. Did Gary Lineker prosper alongside the brilliance of Peter Beardsley? No, he prospered alongside the hard physical work of donkey Steve Bull. Owen needs the same sort of player alongside him and at the moment, Heskey or Smith are the only options. No team can leave out the brilliance of Rooney though, although there is clearly no place for him up front. The best option is therefore to use him in a free role. Let him use his own intelligence and brilliance to find the spaces on the pitch, and cause real damage. When defending, he can plug the midfield, albeit a bit clumsily. At times though, he may go missing when we have our backs against the wall. Thus, Smith is the better option to Heskey in that he'll play for 90 minutes with some real heart, helping out the defence when needed. The remainding two midfielders are now important though, given that there is a reliance on Rooney and Smith helping out. Any possibility of a flair winger is out of the question, we need players who can graft, but whom can also provide that bit of quality. People forget that Beckham has a great engine, and can cover a good amount of ground. His fixture schedule isn't overworked either these days, so he is unlikely to burn out in the major tournaments. Add the excellent passes and set pieces, Beckham is the obvious option. Finally, Hargreaves or Barry are needed to plug the gaps that other players may leave. I'm going to go for Barry, as he has showed a good understanding with Gerrard, and would provide the forward six with their only left footer.

Nooooooooo! Guess who has been announced as injured, and therefore going to miss NUFC vs Spurs. Paul Robinson. DAMNIT!

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8742_2805525,00.html

Where are all the extensive backroom staff going to go if the new manager doesn't want them?

Would people welcome Sammy Lee here?

http://www.bwfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/General/0,,1004~1145252,00.html

Doubt it. He was probably persuaded at the time that if he didn't want to leave after two summers, it would be because he wanted to stay, and Owen probably agreed. Great to see Mort and Allardyce offerring some support to the player though.

Geremi has not been s****. He does an important job, its just not a glamorous one, and you are too young to understand that. Patronising cunt. James, 22. Kev, 14.

Geremi has not been shite. He does an important job, its just not a glamorous one, and you are too young to understand that.

Former physio Paul Ferris apparently.

France in March.

Him as well, but the difference between him and Geremi is that a lot of Newcastle fans rate Cacapa, while a significant contingent of NUFC fans seem to be undervaluing Geremi's performances already.

Geremi is the most underrated player at NUFC in my opinion.

Nice to see that unlike with the old regimes, we are pursuing future transfer deals while the transfer window is shut, rather than waiting until the last minute to do everything.

He's broken down. The AA should have him up and running in no time, but Allardyce is furious as he thinks Owen should be using the RAC.

Terry, Ashley Cole, Gerrard and Torres would be quitesome distance away from that team in my opinion.

This is turning into an endless downward spiral. The only people that can stop it are Newcastle United. Get some proper support from the management backing his injury record, and get some popular Newcastle players to weigh in with some decent support. Then ban Owen from talking to the media. Even if Owen talks at length about Newcastle, the only thing the public sees is the England angle. That can only stop if the press no longer have Owen as a source.

Brilliant. So some of the fucking thick shits that follow this club have got their message across and the lad will probably end up leaving. Can't wait. All because NUFC fans are too precious to accept a bloke wanting to play for his country. Re the booing - he did the cupping his ear thing when he scored didn't he? Nice to feel you have to do that to your own fans. Agreed. Makes me feel angry towards the brainless 10% at St. James' Park.

The fact that English speakers have failed to refute the points I've made would suggest that they agree to some extent with my understanding. You are taking things too literally, and you are not getting the bigger picture. If you go around throwing stones, you are going to get some thrown back, especially as you seem to live in a glass house.

When Owen said... ,"I've been able to play 90 minutes for a long time, but obviously it's glued into people's heads that I'm still injured." I believe he was referring to being 'Match Fit' and thus beign able to complete 90 minutes based on fitness, not any potential niggles he may have been carrying - which may or may not have turned out be anything more than a niggle and thus went away. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the hernia, and needed surgery. He still only missed two matches due to it though! (Arsenal & Man Cty away) At that time it was before an England game,he wanted to hit back those who thought he couldn't finish a game for England. At that time,he didn't mention the pain;but now,he mentions that.Why?He wants to fool people into believing England are not at fault for his injury. No it wasn't - it was after the Wigan match - where he played his first full 90 minutes, having been brought on as sub against Villa and Boro, then taken off after 80-odd minutes against Barnsley. He was basically saying that he wasn't surprised at finishing the match, as he's been fit enough to complete 90 minutes for a while - More a suggestion that he could have started against Villa and/or Boro, and finished the game against Barnsley! The groin didn't start becoming a problem until against Derby and West Ham, when Allardyce took him off in each game as a precaution. While he may have played through England games carrying it, he also tried to play on for us through at least two games. True.It was after the Wigan game,but also before he went to England. Derby and West Ham were after England you numpty. Like I said, complete twaddle, you really don't have a clue, you are talking out of your backside, and you are making it all up as you go along. You pathetic guy is too light in the head,and your reading comprehension must be so poor.It's completely irrelevant about the Derby and West Ham games.I'm giving you Owen's two versions about his fitness at the beginning of September.Fully fit?Or an injury being aggravated?He said both. a) Owen never said anything about an injury being aggravated. b) A player can be fit to play and still carry an injury. c) You say the Derby and West Ham games are irrelevant. Not so. It was just as much a risk playing in those games as it was to play in the earlier England games. a) Please read Owen's words 5 times and rack your brains to try to understand what he means."I know the manager here said I did it in the last international matches but I was playing in pain even before them." b) Yeah,Marcellino should have played carrying his finger injury.But as for Owen,he played,then the injury got aggravated.Big Sam said he did it at England.But Owen said it started at Newcastle.Ok? c) He did take risks in Derby and West Ham games.But it's completely irrelevant with what I am telling you which is about his two versions about his fitness. a) Of course injuries get worse over time, but the fact he came through two international games unscathed and playing well suggests he didn't aggravate the injury. He may have come back and reported increased pain but that was natural. The injury was aggravated at Derby after he had a fall, and was further aggravated after another fall at West Ham. That was the first time it was clear he was unlikely to get through 90 mins without treatment, so we checked him in. b) Of course, both Allardyce and Owen could have lied about the pain to the public. They have no incentive to tell the truth when all it is going to do is cause press panic. You don't know the full facts, so dont make unfounded accusations. c) They are completely relevant, as it was clear to anyone that saw it that he aggravated the injury in two falls during both of those games. If the injury was aggravated during England, he would have been having the surgery the moment he got back so that he a decent recuperation before the next se of England matches. Thats the last I try to argue with you though, as from what I have seen, your reading and writing standards are clearly below my light headed comprehension skills so I dont expect you to understand. I was talking about what Owen said to let you know what he said is untrustable.But all you did is try to mislead and divert the topic and talk about loads of irrelevant things.I find it a shame to have argued with someone who seems to be a dyslexic. Before you go around calling people dyslexic, may I point out that the word 'untrustable' doesn't exist.

He had a good goalscoring run while he was in the team, and has remained proffessional and hard working under adverse conditions. Continuation of this seasons bad form, will lead to a massive drop though.

Was in the bibbed team in training today - usually the starting 11 Fwiw so was Barry, Lampard wasn't This report comes direct from f365 if anyone's interested Thought not Newcastle have been doing the same under Allardyce.

I have no recollection of him as a player and I'm about 10 years older than you. I was referering to no recollection of any mention of him in the record books as being anything more than just a good player.