toontownman

Probably ego boosting rumours ala Spuds fans, so they can feel a little bit warmer in their pants when the sign him, and they can make out he turned us down.

Chance of us attempting to Hijack SWP's move to Spurs? Guess it depends what we class Dyer as, as far as getting in a replacement is concerned.

Favouritism tbh.. dont see the many "why hasnt Ashley shown the money" threads being merged.

fancies a move, just hasnt requested a transfer yet.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/article2127676.ece Rags still fancy him leaving. Will need a decent replacement if so, extra stress for Allardyce coming up, he better get used to it. Good news about Viduka, although surely he needs a rest?

Depends how much he dislikes Ashley really. Selling him to Sunderland if we actually wanted him would be a nice slap in the face. Selling him to Sunderland makes no difference to selling him to any other side, its still weakening them and pushing a bigger gap between them and other teams. If he wants out he wants out and teams like Sunderland seem willing to go the extra mile and pay more than the bigger teams would, because the bigger teams could get alot better.

I Like it.

Weekly slot I hear.

Carr is never fit enough to get injured again.

Tbh....

Pretty much a lost cause now I would have thought. Would have been good when he was here before maybe.

If only he was here, he could say this move is put down to Kluivert being honourable, whilst turning down Real and Juve he wanted to do something greater for football by joining a lesser side and making them great.

Maybe there's something in that, but his performances for Brazil show he certainly isn't frightened by the big stage or big expectations. it was not easy to be in the same team with zidane, beckham and robinho, either baptista was played out of postion or did not get to play as large part as he had in seville. a good thing about baptista, if we need to get a new AM, compared to other foreign based AMs we have been linked with is that he already spent a season in england and 9 goals with arsenal was not a very bad return for a player who tried to settle into a very different league. I dont know, apparently we should get rid of players that score 17 goals in their debut season, Baptista would be torn apart here.

GoeberX or something?

Well should be fine here then!

The kind of football we were playing didnt come close to playing to Kluiverts strengths either. I wouldnt have minded us keeping him, but he has hardly gone on to greater things or regaining his past form. Kind of player that probably would have flourished alot better under the likes of Allardyce. Shocked to see his going on trial though. like 4xG says more likely to take a pay check in Quatar surely.

BBC at its finest!

Frustrated we arent in for Baines, as most. Have watched him alot the past two years and he was suprisingly defensively solid at the U21's. He is definatley improving all round. But maybe Whelan wont sell him to us, Sam doesnt fancy him or we have other options, either way I have full faith that Allardyce will get in someone better. Although past experience teaches us to believe it when we see it, Allardyce has done a great job so far with the squad reshaping, he/we both know we are not even half way there yet. We just have to be patient. Judge him after the window slams shut. I wont worry until the last day of the window.

The superstar too good for Newcastle is moving on to bigger and better things. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_wed/6912404.stm

This. Plus I actually think this will be a good year for Emre. He looked bright under Souness, but has never been fit enough to put a consistent run together, I dont think (like many others) Roeder used him in the best way. If we sell Emre thats two more players in Midfield we need. Personally would like to see what Sam can do with him and how he will utilise him, but can understand peoples frustration with him.

I think this 4-4-2 / 4-3-3 issue is a crucial one. 4-3-3 is what Sam believes in, and we do have the attacking players to play it. Trouble is Owen and Martins aren't in that category. They aren't target men, they're not wide players and they're not good at dropping into the midfield. They are specialist finishers who need to play around another striker in a 4-4-2. In a 4-3-3, Viduka or Shola could operate in the centre, and Milner, Dyer, Zoggy, Duff or Emre could go wide. My fear is that we'll end up wasting a lot of time trying to play 4-3-3 in order to fit in the big name players. I'd expect Martins would be very well suited to being a wide-man in a 4-3-3 tbh, as he's anything but a penalty box predator/finisher type. The big issue is Owen. He's our best player and seems to be suited exclusively to a 4-4-2, while the rest of our team look to be very well suited to a 4-3-3. Tough call. True, but didnt Owen play in a 4-3-3 at Real. Wasnt too shabby there. I think Owen will adapt to whatever we use. Although I think he would be the main worry like you say. Dont think its any coincidence we are linked/have been looking at Baptista, who is very similar to Gudjohnsen for what he could bring to the club. We are lacking a bit of height and brute force in midfield though, Emre, Butt and Barton have the battle factor but not the height and physical presence. Its definately an area we need to increase depth in after Defence. Im sure we will despite our recent frustrations in the market.

Ive said all year id be very happy with Baines. He isnt in the same league as Heinze or Bridge but he is eager to play for us and will come here hungry and ready to improve. I dont think he is the player the article is talking about though, he is a long way from top class at the moment, but with the right guidance and players around him will be quality.

Sinclair blew it by staying at QPR when he had the chance of going to Manure and alike, think we even tried to bid for him at one point.

What in the hell is that in the first picture?