macca888

I am no Ashley supporter by any means but it appears that he has learned some lessons out of all this. The message coming from Llambias appeared quite telling and basically admitting that Ashley is now here to stay. We were a shambles financially, probably still are to some extent and Ashley has acted foolishly in many ways, including the financial side of things by failing to conduct due diligence when he bought the club. Like it or not, he clearly had to introduce severe measures to cut the debt and he is continually backing the club financially to keep uis going. We are still the highest earning club in the CCC by a country mile and he could have purged us more in the pre season. Instead, he is putting money in and if we get promoted, as expected, he seems to be intent on putting more money in without increasing the overall debt to unmanageable levels again. He will never be accepted but at least, he seems to be trying to put the club back on an even keel.

Van Aanholt

Did Freidel once play for us or were we just trying to sign him?

I think you have a very relevant point here. The current champions league is a mini version of a european super league organised by FIFA. If the G12 clubs, or whatever they are called now, eventually form a breakaway european league, then all most TV revenue would obviously go to them. Most european leagues would be treated as also rans and we might find ourselves with a more even local competition. The only downside is the european league clubs will have first call on any talent coming through and I can see this scenario coming closer and closer with each passing season.

Much of what people on this thread are saying is heresay. We will never know if Kinnear would have kept us up. We will never know if Shearer had been given the job earlier, whether he wouild have kept us up. It is all ancient history anyway. Someone said Hughton had a decent record when caretaker manager of Spurs but abysmal while caretaker manager of us. I am not surprised about us, to be honest. I dont think many managers could have come in to such a dysfunctional club as ours last season and got the desired results required. Suffice to say, Hughton has done well this season and if anyone deserves the credit of putting us where we are after the summer of discontent we have had, he deserves a medal as big as a frying pan. However, whether he will succeed in the PL is debatable unless he persuades Ashley to open the cheque book within reason and attract several quality players not at over inflated prices or wages, but realistic and keeps the nucleus of the squad we currently have. Signing the Eygptian lad, Zidan, would be a good start.

Shepherd's biggest problem, and for that matter, SJH too, was that they really wanted NUFC to be all Newcastle orientated, judging by their comments of a team full of geordies, run by geordies, for the geordies and this struck me personally as particularly niave, especially when you consider his comments coming from the toongate affair, especially about geordie lasses (maybe he missed the best looking lass in the UK, Cherly Tweedy). His treatment of Bobby was shameful although SBR should have been moved upstairs into an advisory role after that draw at Liverpool on the final day of the season. In April 2005, I think, I had returned from Australia with my wife to see family in Newcastle and I went into Shearers bar one afternoon to book a table for the family for dinner the following night, in the restaurant. Shepherd and Souness were there, obviously discussing club matters, near the bar. As I walked up to arrange a booking, I said good afternoon to both and whilst Souness was extremely gratious, Shepherd looked down his nose at me as though I was a cretin. (I know, some of you might think I am, but I am not, actually). I asked about booking a table and Shepherd told me the restaurant wasnt available to the likes of oprdinary fans like me. Souness looked very embarrassed but I diplomatically advised Shepherd that whilst I was living in Australia and only here on holiday, I am a past youth team NUFC player from the early 70s, a lifelong fan, both whilst in the UK and Australia, having paid my dues to the club over many years. I am also well versed in business and do not expect to be treat with such a lack of respect by the club chairman. Souness was excellent and took me away to another area of the restaurant from an extremely embarrassed chairman and arranged dinner for 10 members of my family, including wine and beer, at his expense. I was impressed with Siuness's customer service but you can stick any good reference about Freddie Shepherd up mthe black hole of calcutta that represents his backside.

With the ridiculously high state of salaries been paid throughout english football and the high transfers fees paid, just to stay with the elite, you have to wonder how long smallish town clubs like Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn, Hull and even Sunderland can survive without rich benefactors bailing them out all the time. The premiership will soon go back to the days of the 60s and 70s when first division clubs signed players from lower divisions which enabled those clubs to survive except now, it will be premiership teams hoping to sell players to the top 6 in order to survive. In all honesty, the game in England seems to be heading for a huge change with the top 4+ heading towards forming a european league with europe's elite whilst the rest will battle on forlornly in the hope of reaching those heady heights one day.

Cascarino played for Villa, Celtic and Marseille, I think

is it Tony Cascarino?

Considering the players out, I think Hughton will play for safety first and go 451, especially after the Swansea experience. If things go pear shaped, he would have the options of Best and Ranger to bring on up front. I got a sneaking feeling of a loss today but hope for a draw at least.

Ronaldo I have no serioius problems at all. Read between the lines. I was using Cole as an example of a player not past his best and still representing the country. Wayne Bridge would still be in Capello's squad for the WC if it were not for his decision to call time on his international career. This would indicate that Capello, like just about anyone else in charge of a national football team, only picks players who are NOT past their best. This is why your comment about Bridge being past his best is just plain incorrect Maybe I didnt make myself clear enough for you. Hope this helps you now.

Yes you are wrong, very very wrong because i even quoted the post myself. Read it, go on, i assume you are capable of that? Where does it say at any point he is the best or better than Cole? He merely says he is a very good LB. I will let you into a secret, the SQUAD has 23 players, LOGIC dictates you take TWO players of most positions with the extra place being a 3rd keeper. Its called having COVER. Instead of misusing the word LOGIC try googling the words TEAM & SQUAD and find out the very big difference eh? You seem to think I am incapable of using the quote function. I hope this is evidence that I can. As for my answer to Ronaldo's quote, it doesnt take einstein to work out what I was getting at. Someone who believes a player, who is apparently past his best, is the best left back in the country ahead of someone like Ashley Cole, who is currently playing for the best team in England, probably one of the best four teams in the world and is courted by the best two teams in the world whilst obviously being the favoured left back for his country, even though he is injured, really does need a reality check. Yes, I know what squads mean and the only intelligence you insult with inane comments like that are your own. If you wish to discuss the matter further, bring it to PM. I will be happy to teach you more.

Roger He quoted him being the best left back in England despite being past his best. Now, correct me if I am wrong here, but if I was picking a team for the world cup, I certainly wouldnt be picking players past their best. I call that logical. Anyway, it would appear that the people that really matter dont think he is past his best despite the lad himself ruling himself out of the squad.

Portsmouth may just be the tip of the iceberg in the UK. I think what Platini is considering is somewhat like after the horse has bolted. This should have been done years ago with salary caps, reduced transfer fees and home based players brought in. I think it is too late to save many clubs now and you only have to look at the likes of Cardiff, Hull, Wigan and others who may follow Portsmouth into anonymity.

Ronaldo So, you believe Bridge is the best left back in England, do you? Even though he is past his best. Better than Ashley Cole? As for Solano, my comment was he would be useful for the remainder of the season as a squad player. I wasnt the only one who thought so either. As for Guthrie, once he can show a semblance of consistency as a creative player who can last for 90 minutes in the premiership, I might think he would be worth keeping. The jury is most definitely out on that one. As for Bullard, I threw his name in as a possible signing if funds made available by Ashley were limited. I think everyone on here agrees that our central midfield is a weak point when it comes to creativity and it would take substantial funding to sign a top quality player for that position. If funds are limited, we may not be in a position to pick and chose and Hull go down, Bullard may become a realistic option. I dont expect you to understand logic. You have shown little understanding in the past and continue to come out with contradictoary statements which make yourself such a laughable target on here. Anyway, you do add a certain amount of amusement to the forum

My god, you are a numpty after all. So, basically, you are happy to have a player who is past his best, playing for the national team in the biggest tournament on the planet? Words fail me other than this is up there with your usual tripe.

Ok here goes: From teams that could be relegated this season Hull City - Bullard Burnley - Eagles, Fletcher Wigan - Moses, N'Zogbia Wolves - Doyle Bolton - Taylor, Klasnic, Knight Portsmouth-Prince Boateng Sunderland - Nee Fucker

anyone else think this sounded a lot like a Michael Owen transfer? I'll level with you I'm a huge fan of Robbie Keane and have been suggesting to mates and alike before we signed Owen that we tried to sign him when spurs had 47 striking options, could have probably got him for about £7-£8m at the time and got away with paying him about £40k a week. My biggest worry is we end up with Michael Owen again in the summer, and as ridiculous as that might sound, I wouldn't write it off straight away. Ronaldo..............try reading the thread next time, along with your mate, Johnny Hall, before either up your make numpties of yourselves with more ridiculous remarks.

Shorey from Villa - When we have Enrique would he come? He would rather play in the Championship and start every week rather than sit on the bench most weeks for a relegation fighting PL side. Dorrans from WBA - If WBA get promoted he wont leave, if WBA don't get promoted he wont leave to come to us, he's too good. Pennant from Zaragosa - Never in a million years, too many off the field issues, too old, past it, again why would he want to come when we have Routledge and Jonas who should walk into the side ahead of him. Plus his wage demands would be too high. Tuncay from Stoke - If we can pay him acceptable wages and not splash too much on the fee I'd love to have him. Taylor from Bolton - As above. If we sign him we can get rid of Ryan. I don't think we will be in a position to pick and choose. If WBA dont go up, if Bolton etc go down, available players listed above may become cheaper and affordable. It is all heresay anyway. With regards to McGeady, a lot will depend on how much they want for him and how much we would get for Jonas, if he were to go. We can always persuade him that Newcastle is closer to scotland than Birmingham......LOL

Unfortunately for Charlie boy, Capello has more than enough "insomniacs" in his squad already.

Chelsea will not sell him. Forget it.

Withe strike force we currently have, we need someone who can score smething like 15 goals a season in the PL next year. Fletcher doesnt fall into that category. Eagles might be useful as a winger, if we sold Jonas. I personally think Ashley will need to release substantial funds for someone like this. Not sure who but maybe someone like the russian lad at Spurs who looks quite handy.

He has done a great job under exceptionally difficult circumstances but we should remember the quality of the opposition we have faced this year against the quality of players in our squad. Most of our squad are seasoned experienced premiership players and although they have adapted well to the CCC, their experience and class difference should have seen us exactly where we are. The main thing for me is that the only team we have played this season that can come anywhere near premiership class is WBA and we have failed to beat them over 3 games. Hughton has done a great job at CCC level but much of this ios down to the experience of the players he has at his disposal rather than his tactical nouse. I think he will struggle as a manager in the PL and I think it is obvious when you see us played off the park footballing wise by the likes of Swansea. Having said that, there are about 7 or 8 teams in the PL at the moment who wouldnt worry me if we came up against them tomorrow so I can see us surviving up there, with a couple of very shrewd signings, but a better manager and keeping CH on as coach.

You guys who think we should sign Keane are living in cloud cuckoo land. Ashley will not sanction funds for a player of his age and you can bet your bottom dollar Keane will be asking for big money. Next season, if we go up, will be about survival mode as the board give the manager limited funds to strengthen the squad. I dont think many will leave, perhaps only Butt. However, I see us recruiting from the teams that have gone down or upper level CCC trams such as Swansea and WBA. If we had more than 10 million to spend, I would be very surprised and I think that a wise manager would look to supplement any permanent signing with a few loaned youngsters like Cleverely or Wilshire. Those who think Owen might come back need to pull their heads in......................................IMMEDIATELY

Hving watched the Blackburn-Bolton game, there is nothing I would fear from either of them if we go up. One thing I found hard to understand, why did Bolton not start Weiss or give Wilshire a run? These are two lads who could have provided that spark of creation they seem to lack. Blackburn looked woeful, even though they scored three but Bolton's defensive shape was shocking. I felt a bit sorry for Zat Knight because he seemed to be doing the job of two defenders. Looking at the likes of Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan, Wolves, Sunderland, Burnley, Hull, any two of these to go down with Portsmouth. I think West Ham will do enough to survive.