toontownman

Shame, all that hard work to finish sixth, we will only get knocked out of europe by some obscure swedish side.

Arseshaving would be lovely but id be suprised if he ended up here. would rather stay put imo, like to be wrong.

Depends on the game, sure we will stick to 4-4-2 when we get the chance though.

Agreed, unless somebody is leaving. Coloccini, Faye, Taylor, Cacapa, Bassong and Edgar is more than fine.

Suprised they didnt add how Oba's dreams of one day playing for Arsenal are pulling him through.

I would settle for Baptista to kill two birds with one stone in AM and CF, if we are in for him and he wants to come. I think he can add alot to the team. If the market isnt going in our favour and players arent sold on us yet Baptista would be a decent stop gap. A left back is still a must, but its nice to have Bassong in to cover if we really need. Ideally of course I'd love a LB, AM and CF, but we shall see what happens.

He has more chance of regaining his form than Smith has finding any.

Round here, mainly due to a couple of colourful ITK types, that brighten up our days with meaningless drivel about what deals are lined up and who Spurs are going to sign. There are probably a few that are envious, your fortunes seem to be better than ours, maybe the roles in the premier league have been switched and I guess some think Spurs have been our closest rival for the 5th spot over the past few seasons, despite the fact we would have been happy to be top 8! Hatred has hit a new high this summer after every target we scout consequently comes up on the spurs list and signs too. Plus as you must know anyway, bar the media, everybody hates spurs.

Dodgy one, would be good for the younger players working alongside Alan Thompson maybe. We are turning into rehab central though.

But at least they work hard in training. People can sit back and say we should be out there beating Spurs to the signature of Modric, Arshavin or Coloccini. But they have much more too offer young talented players. Playing in Europe Living in London A Manager that has won things in England and Abroad, that is known and repected throughout Europe. A scouting and signing set up that is established and known through Europe Ambition in the transfer market (something we would or do have if the deals we want/wanted came off) Some of these young players we want to bring in might not even know who keegan is. The majority werent even 10 when he was in his Newcastle managing hey day, let alone his playing days. It is going to take time for we should have a head start with the likes of Jiminez and Vetere supposedly well linked, in Wise perhaps he needs time to gain trust, the new set up will take bedding in, before the rest of Europe and beyond will respect it. We might not have Europe this season and Keegan can sell a vision for the future, but at what stage of the transfer dealings is he involved? We will get players, they might not be our first choice. Some might get sold the vision, others might pip for another club. Being fans the rose tinted specs automatically claim the right that every player should be looking at us over the likes of Spurs, Man City, Everton, Pompey or Villa. The majority of footballers are fickle, will pick the big citys, will pick the clubs for now, where is best for their families and where they might get imediate success or a platform to a bigger move. There is nothing wrong with much of that, its just gives us a bigger deficit to make up. Whilst its frustrating, its not suprising alot of the players we are going for will end up elsewhere. We need top players to take us up a notch, finding the right ones is hard, let alone the ones that want to come and are of the right fit to go with what we have. Some people havent noticed the fact we have switched roles with Spurs and other clubs since SBR left the club, or just cant handle thinking about it.

Not every club would allow permission if they were intent on keeping the player. Pleased yes, but hardly a rarity for us to be taking people on trial, the rarity is that we actually signed him. We came close with Francesco Coco in 2005 but turned him down because we didnt think he would play enough games through injury, apparently Souness was right, he has player 31 games over 3 seasons .

because they got relegated, he wants to go, they need the money? Ask the chairman.

Happy with this. good age, price, promise and versatility.

Cant grumble at much of that. Although Bowyer was a beast against Bolton a couple of seasons ago at SJP. Scored a belter.

Feck me, there have been some big moves. keane for 20m madness. there is still hope for getting money for smith!

We know where Anal can go. Keegan seemed happy with him, he seemed to play well, 1.5m for a 22 year old French U21 defender is nothing. I dont think signing Coloccini would have a bearing (if true). We still need/want three defenders.

not sold on this one. Hope it turns out to be true, but not convinced at all. That said, if both the reported bids for Coloccini and Baptista are true they would probably just sit tight in spain until weds when we are over there.

It must be like interviewing Shola every year.. trying not to laugh? "And its how many... 20 goals your going to score this season shola.. ok, i cant do this anymore! You are the height of too muchery!"

SAVIOUR!! http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/45442/Al-be-your-shooting-star-Kev/ AL BE YOUR SHOOTING STAR, KEV ABOVE: Alan Smith 28th July 2008 By Jeremy Cross ALAN SMITH wants a regular striking role at Newcastle and the chance to show Kevin Keegan there can be life without Michael Owen and Mark Viduka. The England star failed to shine in a makeshift attack alongside Shola Ameobi as a depleted Toon side crashed to a 1-0 defeat to Championship newcomers Doncaster courtesy of Stuart Elliott’s 86th-minute goal. Smith was turned into a midfielder during his time at Manchester United and spent most of his first season at St James’s Park in a similar role following his £6m switch from Old Trafford last August. He failed to score a single goal last season, but insists he hasn’t forgotten how to find the back of net – providing Keegan gives him the chance to do so. With both Viduka and Owen battling to be fit for the new campaign and Obafemi Martins back in Nigeria mourning the death of his mother, Smith might get his wish. The ex-Leeds star said: “When I was playing for Manchester United, before I broke my leg, I was playing in central midfield. “I then missed 18 months with my injury and when Sam (Allardyce) brought me to Newcastle, he played me all over. That never really helps you. “It doesn’t allow you to become consistent and it doesn’t really allow you to become settled. “The gaffer knows where he wants to play me and if he’s going to play me up there, I’m going to have to start scoring goals. I’m going to have to start playing as a centre-forward, like I did when I was at Leeds and like I did when I first went to United. I know I can do that. “I’d enjoy an extended run at centre-forward and I think everyone knows that’s probably my best position. “It’s what’s natural to me, but if I’m going to play there and stay in the team, I’m going to have to score goals.” Keegan vowed to make some new signings in the wake of this defeat and Smith admits the pressure is on their threadbare squad to finish in the top half of the table this season. He added: “We had a lot of players missing, but hopefully they will be fit for the start of the season. “Realistically, for this football club, the top half of the table is a must. “When you look around the dressing-room, the quality is there, but football now is more and more of a squad game.”

If we could sign a juggling midget clown most of the board would be in raptures.

Dont worry, the press and reality will manage that over the course of the week.

Nice little interview that. Nothing new, but always good to have KK reinforce things!

Any more of that and it will be goodbye Sir Les, welcome Les Ferdinand V.I.P. Naughty boy.

For 2.5m i'd take Diouf here in a heartbeat, Keane building a good team there. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/7527361.stm

Unless we sell a striker or a club comes in for Ameobi and signs him... (surely there isnt anyone stupid enough) ...then I dont see us coughing up for another striker. Not that a couple deserve to be credited as strikers, but we have, Martins, Owen, Viduka, Carroll, Smith and Ameobi. Granted the first three will get injured, some more frequently than others and you could argue Carroll might go out on loan, I would be suprised if we end up with another striker. Priority will be to get the defenders we need, a creative midfielder... then if we have time, money and one of our boys leave, get another striker.