James

Someones gone and totally edited out my Wikipedia entry. They are now saying that it is up on the Liege website that Gooch isn't coming here as they've accepted a bid from Marseille only... Hopefully just some Marseille kid who cant accept the truth.

I hear that we now have a centre back who is better than all of Spurs centre backs put together.

Oguchi Onyewu. Has done absolutely nothing during his time at the club.

He's got the No. 6 shirt, so if he doesn't get it, can someone change it for me please. Thanks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/6310085.stm

I've just edited his Wikipedia entry, so the transfer is definitely happenning.

Other clubs mess things up. The longer they hold onto a player they want to keep, the more rash the bid is going to be when nearing the closing of the transfer window.

Given that you got the Souness sacked a few hours before it happenned, and also told us that the player was gavranic last week an hour or so before the news broke, I'm pretty confident that you are right.

Although Martins can use his right, he likes to dribble on his left. A Martins Babel strike force would seem slightly unbalanced to me, and I cant see us buying Babel to play left wing!

According to Football365.com a group of Napoli fans are about to move to bring Ronaldinho to their club. They intend to agree terms with the striker, raise £2m and place the money on Ronaldinho signing for Napoli at 67-1 odds. They will then take a loan out to pay the full £100m+ buyout clause, and then use the money from the bet winnings to pay off the loan.

Sounds like Roeder has heard on the grapevine that Babel is looking for a move to England, and with Arsenal not making a move, he has decided to have a go, as it will probably be our only opportunity to sign him if he is meant to be that good.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_headline=shola-on-course-for-early-return%26method=full%26objectid=18545628%26siteid=50081-name_page.html I have a weird mental image of Glenn Roeder, Freddy Shepherd and the academy boys running with Big Bird around St. James' Park while The Jackson 5 sing 'ABC' from the touchlines.

Blatently a post by GHoeberX

He's signed for Marseille? http://soccertimes.com/americans/2007/jan26.htm

If we think he's worth £1.5m it would be pretty bloody stupid to cough up almost twice that much, no doubt you'd then slag the Board of paying over the top in transfer fees. Is this the way you run your personal finances? You think something is worth £15 but instead you offer to pay £27 for it just because you've got the cash? If so, you're a mug. I've got a digital camera that I reckon is worth about £150 on the secondhand market, but just for you I'll let it go for £270. What do you reckon? Do we have a deal? Footballers aren't digital cameras. Footballers are all unique, while digital cameras are mass produced in factories so there are many identical items available all over the place. Also, digital cameras are only as good as the person who uses it. The same does not apply for a footballer. As there is no possible comparison, only the owner of the player's playing registration can know the true value. Not Shepherd.

Good chance that all Deportivo players are damaged goods. Wouldn't touch any with a barge pole.

Was against Luton though. I think a Liverpool poster once said on here that he is a bit of a liability, but that may just be in Liverpool standards. You have to worry that a couple of years ago (Warnock was 24), Benitez prefered Traore.

Papers this morning are saying that Pearce will manage the U21s during the summer World Cup, but that before then, Nigel Pearson will be in charge in a caretaker capacity. Pearce will then depart in favour of a long-term successor. May be a worry that we could lose Pearson if the FA and McClaren like the look of him. Even worse, Shepherd might think that he could make a good manager to succeed Roeder.

It's Big Four media saturation. Unless you can get your kid going to matches, all he is going to see is Manyoo, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. I'm sure if Martins got as much airtime as Fabregas he'd be just as popular. To save local football, you need to get rid of the Sky contract and make clubs sell their own live matches, and you need to change Match of the Day so that the first 45 minutes is a roundup of your local team with analysis from local pundits, followed by 45 minutes showing the highlights of the other big games of the day. It's not going to happen though as most clubs make more money from television than they do from supporters. We are probably one of the few exceptions.

Listen mate, at the end of the day, you know very little about this club. People like me and HTL attempt to wise you up but you don't listen or want to listen. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you give me very little choice. Newcastle United does not have a divine right to be one of the top clubs in the country. There are numerous other clubs who were above us for decades - that should not have been. That could just as easily happen again if we really did have a shite board. Look down the road at Sunderland if you don't believe me. That is, if you know where Sunderland is or know anything about them and their potential too. Take these comments on board if you like, or don't if you don't want to, but if you wish to remain largely ignorant of the reality of our situation and the progress we have made under this board, that is your choice. Do you then believe that Shepherd should be unblamed for as long as we reamain in the top flight? Although it is a blessing to have had top flight football year-in, year-out for the past 15 years, I don't want to see the club rest on its laurels, I want it to see it constantly try to improve itself. Everything seems a bit complacent right now, and complacency brings decline, and that is a worry for me. My criticism of Shepherd is not with the purpose of necessarily ousting him. You need people to point out his faults, otherwise he could get really complacent. Ideally, until the day a billionaire Geordie comes along, I am happy just pointing out that Shepherd has done this and that wrong, in the hope that Shepherd can acknowledge these faults and try to improve on his own performance.

Aliadiere

Explain? I think there are already enough explanations from myself in the rest of the thread.

As I pointed out to you yesterday, why would a man name a player that he was 48 hours away from signing, have the move vetoed by either his board or the selling club and then come out with "It has come to light that this player is rubbish and is no better than what we've got." He wouldn't because it makes him look like a fucking idiot. So I think we can safely say that you're wrong about that one and that the reason we didn't get him is because some kind soul saved Roeder's arse by pointing out that he was shit. I just can't see Roeder being that stupid though. And given his proffesionalism, that was what he perceived as the best recovery option, although it has turned into a PR disaster. It's all conjecture though, none of us really know what is going on, although I can see further than any of the six options I mentioned in the post you quoted.

I really don't believe that Roeder would be so stupid. That kind of comment would inevitably backfire if he knew it wasn't true. This has Shepherd's fingerprints all over it. I don't expect the club to buy players, but I do expect honesty. don't think Shepherd has been honest to either fans or manager. Well I'll tell you what, IF Shepherd has lied to Roeder and told him there was plenty cash and has now pulled the rug out from under him, then the onus is on Roeder to either go public with it or walk out. Sorry, but no manager is going to stand for that and nor should they. So unless I see one of the above happening then I very much doubt that Shepherd lied to him. Lose out on a large wage and probably one of the few chances of top flight management he will get. Not to mention that such a move would inevitably let down the fans and the players in the long run. If I was in that situation, I would go public, and if Shepherd sacked me, I would then have a hefty pay cheque, and no-one would believe Shepherd again. However, I'm not sure roeder would do the same. As I say, it's rolling contract so there will be no hefty payout. It is a 2 year contract actually. Either way, I don't care, if what you two think is true, then he needs to grow some balls and take a stand. If he ends up on the dole then so be it. As things stand he's being made a mug of in front of all of the fans and media, and if he was any sort of bloke he'd be raising hell. I know I fucking would. I know I would too. But it doesn't happen. Remember Souness? He just gave up after Shepherd wouldn't spend in January, and he just waited for the sack and a big payoff.

Here are the facts: Roeder has drawn up a list of big-name targets, and had to rip it up after discovering that there is no transfer kitty. Roeder was hopeful on signing a top international defender on loan within 48 hours. 24 hours later, he names the player and states that he has changed his mind. Of the latter, and I said this yesterday, I don't believe that Roeder has changed his mind. Either Kiev didn't want to sell, or the board vetoed the move. For me, this means one of the following: 1) Roeder has come up with this imaginary transfer kitty, and has only just found out that that imaginary kitty is non-existant. 2) Roeder was told that he had £X to spend, but Shepherd had lied to him. 3) Roeder was told that he had £X to spend, but Shepherd has changed his mind, deciding to sack Roeder and replace him with someone else. 4) Roeder was told that he had £X to spend, which we do, but he is only allowed to sign players Shepherd approves of. 5) Roeder was told he had £X to spend, but the Halls have vetoed our transfers as part of their dispute with Shepherd over the takeovers. 6) Signings are subject to gettin Luque of the wage bill, and Roeder has been unable to do that.