James

http://home.skysports.com/transferarticle.aspx?hlid=443938 From what I've seen of this player, he is quick, agile, and has one great leap on him so he might be better than what we've got, however I'm concerned about the fact that a few years back he was unable to settle at the Riverside stadium when he played for Boro.

I think this is all one setup. Roeder doesn't intend to have new players playing at home against Villa on their debut as Gemmill (who was at the match) will criticise these players, and anyone's argument otherwise is invalid as Gemmill was at the match. Such posts on a forum would demoralise these players. Instead, Roeder intends to blood them away at Fulham when Taylor27 is at the match, and as Taylor27 is more likely to post nice stuff on a players debut, it will be a permanent morale boost for the player, especially as Gemmill isn't able to comment as he isn't at the match.

All wikipedia says is that he was in Holland's U21 World Cup winning squad, is a left back, is 23, plays for Utrecht and is Surinam born. Surinam players are generally more physical than the average Dutchman, so physicality issues may not be a worry.

Utrecht Left Back Braafheid had originally verbally agreed to join Twente, though nothing has been signed yet, and the Dutch press claim we have made a move.

According to todays Mail, Spurs still owe Derby money for Tom Huddlestone, and Derby are on the verge of embarking on legal action that will result in Spurs having a transfer embargo placed on them until the dispute is resolved.

I suspect Kiev never wanted to let him go, so Roeder is now trying to save his own face by saying that he didn't want the bloke anyway.

We could do with a defender who possesses all the physical attributes to be hones, and Gooch would fit that bill.

Dyer: Quick, get Ramage as faraway from the ball as possible. Or Dyer: It's a bomb.

It's Wayne Bridge, its official. Official Load of Bollocks was brought to you courtesy of Taylor27 ©

Evidence that Shepherd should just sack the Roeder and manage the team himself.

How many managers do you think have this ability. Unless the manager really knows his stuff, and is willing to watch every single step his keeper makes when the opposition is in his own half, then the goalkeeping coach is more likely to have the better judgement. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing that Bob Wilson was in charge of the majority of the goalkeeping decisions when he worked for Wenger.

Just a thought, but what do club managers actually know about goalkeeping? Most managers were outfield players, and the reality is that managers probably only look at the obvious things that take place during game such as a save, a goal, and a caught or missed cross. However during other spells of the game, they are undoubtedly oblivious of the goalkeepers performance. In a situation where defenders are preventing the opposition from having decent chances on goal, or in a situation where the goalkeeper makes himself look good with some spectacular saves which mask his other flaws, the goalkeeper is likely to come out as overrated, and is thus, without fans and manager realising, potentially the one to blame when things go wrong. Given that goalkeepers are not imperative with the tactical dynamics of the rest of the team (assuming he can distribute the ball), surely it would be better if a goalkeeping coach, gets to pick the goalkeeper for each game, and also buys/sells the goalkeepers for his club, as the goalkeeping coach must be the best qualified to judge a keepers performance over 90 minutes.

I think that because Paul Robinson is McClaren's England No. 1, and because he's bigged up by Spurs fans, he finds himself under much more scrutiny. I'm sure a lot less people notice poor things that the likes of Roy Carroll do, and thus there are probably worse keepers than Robinson, it is just that these goalkeepers do not catch the attention of the average football fan.

Of players that start when fit: Carroll El Karkouri Mackay Shittu Diawara Smith Faye Quashie Reid Priskin Henderson

So he was better ten years before, and there had been another manager less than five years before him who was better. That would kind of contradict the idea of him being a legendary Newcastle manager. Like Gemmill said, he was great, but in reality he is just a small drop in the ocean of our club history.

.cock are describing Sir Bobby as the 'legendary Newcastle manager' Is he really seen that way? Or is it more of a case of him being a legendary manager who has managed Newcastle United?

As shown with Duff, Rossi, Sibierski, Bernard and to some extent Martins, Roeder always keeps his cards very close to his chest. The transfer of Duff came as a pleasant suprise. No-one knew he was available so cheaply, and a move to Spurs seemed very far off while roeder moved in quickly and quietly. Perhaps Roeder can do the same again.

Actually he's gone to Livorno on loan.

Kuffour?

I don't fully understand people saying that the likes of Young are "insanely expensive", £30M for Shevchenko at his age is what I would consider "insane". Here's why (for Young): a) The lad has proven himself to be a perfectly good Premiership player already in a very poor Watford team. b) Unlike Shevchenko, Young's value should increase if he stays relatively on-form (much like Martins for us, even if he just does fairly well here.) I'd like to see Milner's value now after this season, and N'Zogbia/Taylor are probably worth a pretty penny - even Ramage/Hunty/Edgar will have added some value to themselves by just even playing at the top level. Granted, you get the Viana situation where a player turns out to never get a game, despite having obvious talent, and then his value dwindles. c) Villa could potentially get 10 top-class years out of him, maybe even more. You won't get that when you pay £10M for a 27/28 year old. It's a long-term investment. The only way to make huge gains on young players these days is to make your own. d) Young was Watford's best player... so it's like Man Utd selling Rooney or Ronaldo, or Chelsea selling Terry. By selling Young they are practically waving goodbye to the Premiership, so obviously he commands a big fee. This is much the same for the likes of Barnes and Bale in the Championship... it's not like these lads are barely getting a game, they are extremely valuable to their teams and so the price goes up. We paid £10m for Martins because he was out of the first team picture at the San Siro, imagine his price-tag the summer previous? e) He's English. You'll say it won't make any odds, but having top-class English players in an English team is a massive boon and clubs like to be represented at international level. If a player does well for England then it reflects well on his club and increases the club's reputation as somewhere players will want to play. It's all relative here. Obviously buying a young, English player is expensive when you compare it to other countries, but it's a reflection of the market on a whole in this country. I personally feel that this "insane" price thing is another bandwagon that everyone seems to be jumping on without giving it any proper thought. It's the market these days, folks, it's not completely illogical that Southampton want £10m for their most promising star or that Ashley Young is going for £9.5m. What would people prefer? That we spend massive money on the likes of Luque and Boumsong at a later stage of their careers? I'd rather we went the young, English route that Sir Bobby seemed keen on taking us than do things the Souness way. Obviously there's a balance, and Roeder has demonstrated this so far (he's done well in terms of the ages of players he has bought, I think.) If the club has the money, then I would like to see the likes of Young/Davies/Bale/Barnes brought in here and slowly integrated into the first team (or thrust in, which will probably be the more likely scenario.) I'm not sure that they'll do too much worse than some of our more senior players, anyway. The argument is pretty decent in supporting the costly transfer of a 20 year old Englishman playing in the Premiership, but doesn't really explain why a club should pay £10m for Bale who has shown more potential than ability, and is completely unproven at playing at the top level. It is one big jump from Championship to Premiership football, and as a defender, Bale is yet to even set the Championship alight.

What?!... Babayaro is an absolutely awful defender! Depends whether you class ability on set piece skills and long shots, in which case Bale is better, or whether you class ability on defensive skills, in which case Babayaro is better. Doesn't necessarily mean Bale wont be better, but from what I've seen in the flesh, he has a hell of a lot to learn. There is still a very strong posibility that he's going to be convertedt to a left-winger rather than a left back when he develops. Definitely something we dont need.

Personally, from my own experience of living down here in Southampton for almost three years, I'd have to say that this £10m bid has Portsmouth written all over it.

Kieron Dyer was away being interrogated by Jack Bauer, who was trying to find out just exactly what Dyer had done to Kim. The interrogation didn't last too long, but it took Dyer quite a while to recover.

Ian Harte looks great on youtube.

Could be Portsmouth actually. Southampton always like to keep their dealings with Portsmouth quiet until the last minute for obvious reasons.