toontownman

Giving Taylor the Armband would be even more foolish than it was giving it to Parker. Its the last thing he needs, not to mention the extra abusive amunition it gives to those polishing their specially bought weapons. If Owen had even an ounce of interest in staying here I would consider him, but from what we have, its Butt, Solano or Given. Out of them Solano for me, whilst he might be the least disciplined he is the loudest on the pitch. I still hope we will bring someone new in for that job, but we shall see.

you will come home with your face and shirt looking more like the mackems then ours. Provided they find someone that can punch to hit you for them of course. My mate went to see us Vs the scum a few years back, thought it would be fine sitting in the Sunderland end, as they were the only tickets he could get. Of course he didnt wear his strip, but when Dabizas scored he almost couldnt control himself, was just about to jump up when someone a few rows in front with the same idea beat him too it, well he got half way up in the air before a fist had beat him to it!

Yeah, get them every manager in the studio and have the panel grill them one by one, followed by unedited questions from the fans. Lets cut out the middle man.

5/6m tops would be as much as Id want to pay, even thats too much really. Just shows how good a deal Everton got in Lescott, who Id rate as a better player, although few would have warmed to us scouting him this time last year. Myself included.

Unlikely. Can see him being "better than John Terry" wearing a spurs shirt next season.

Hard to keep deals in the quiet these days. In this case PSG and Rozehnals agent were more than happy to make it public so they would drive up the transfer fee and interest. The best way is to set the standard and walk away from the deal if they make it public. But I guess Big Sam doesnt want to be losing any more of his targets If he can. Mad how long this thread is! its the stupid part of the year where the majority of fans could care less whether its Gerrard or Ron Jeremys they are so crazed for signings.

When you have that kind of money, you can get away with anything! No chance Owen will want to work under Sven again. Didnt Sven get taped slagging Owen off and saying Owen had told him he didnt want to be at Newcastle and only came for the money? Some tabloid scam. I guess if I was a Man City fan I couldnt complain about getting Sven, but on the other hand I would be pretty dissapointed, considering the names already mentioned. Sven has been out of the club circuit a while, he should be fine with having money to spend though. The main reason I wouldnt have wanted him here though would have been his lack of Passion. Whilst City fans have had their fill of touchline passion from Pearce and his daugters beanie, having slimy sven sit there and do nothing when they are losing will soon boil piss. Whilst the likes of Spectrum and a couple of my man city supporting mates are decent fans, a large preportion of the support is as fickle as they come. The abuse Danny Mills got 15/20 minutes into the game for firing the ball out of play when two of our players were down injured was insane. They booed him for the rest of the game because he did it twice. He didnt even play bad! Then there was the Joey Barton affair the season before last where he was the most hated man in Manchester, booed and jeered at every time he had the ball, until he set up their first goal and they loved him again. After he scored later on I swear they were denying there was ever a previous problem! The majority of teams have an increasingly impatient and fickle set of fans though. Ours is getting no different.

Speeds was always touted as becoming a coach (and a good one) by SBR, Shearer, other managers and people within and around the club. Lots of stories have eminated from that. Cant remember anyone being so complimentary about Ferdinand though. Never heard anyone banging on about him in the press other than himself. Doesnt come across as someone that will set the coaching world alight to me, just from what I have seen from him talking. But only people that have spent time with him would be able to comment properly, and im certainly not one of those.

They have gone to great lengths to make Joey Barton feel at home.

Anal is Palpatine to Taylors Anekin.

Allardyce had given Milner, Taylor and probably Krul an extra couple of weeks off anyways. Taylor shouldnt miss too much, he is young and fitness isnt a problem, so will get back on the horse pretty quickly.

Worst one was the dark blue speckled shirt, with the orange and green stripe. Looked like some charva had been drinking alcho pops and chundered everywhere.

I reckon the stripes will be light blue and dark blue (rather than white). Welcome to the Ricoh Arena! Dont know where people think the stripes are coming from, has it been mentioned there are stripes on it? Would be novel, but sure it will be plain like normal.

Yet the Dutch, I could see half of them playing for Holland or doing well at a higher level or rather adapting further on in their development. That's why foreign players succeed in different leagues because their minds are tuned to deal with all kinds of different situations and of course, having the technical ability, makes it all that more easier. What was I saying about making the ball do all the work?! BTW I can't see any of them having a very good career for England, not even our own Taylor, despite a few of them having the talent. Carson is probably the one who could get a regular game at that level in a few years time but the rest I'm not so sure, more is the pitty. The fact the press and public dont hype them up and then rip them apart a year later when they arent "European" and "World Player of the Year" helps too. We also have the tendacy of going OTT with they hyping to begin with. Its like at Newcastle we have been waiting so long we are just completey anxious and impatient, and its getting worse.

Nottingham.. not that far from derby is it? The teams wont be the season after next either!

Irvine is a top coach, major reason Moyes and Everton have done so well the past few years. I agree we arent recruiting bad guys, we are building a basis now, then we will build on that. Obviously good quality local coaches are an asset, but its like SJH's Geordie dream. To move on to the highest levels we should be looking to add the best variety of coaches to our system, regardless of where they are from. Of course they have to be talented/experienced enough to know and adapt to the English game, but I think Foreign coaches would add alot to us, different cultures, styles, contacts and would surely be a big pull for players abroad. Like with perspective managers, the club has gone a bit too xenophobic and maybe misses out a bit as a result. Id see this as the next step for the academy, along with any upgrades of facility. This could very well change with Ashley and Allardyce at the helm though, fingers crossed.

Good read, almost home page article worthy.

I thought he was more the overlord aswell, although he has talked about being out there working with the youngsters. I think we still have the tendancy of being loyal to local coaches at the club or people with links. Which isnt a bad things as local parents would want their kids in the hands of people they know and have a good local reputation. Arguably on the other hand that shouldnt matter, as ideally, when looking at where your son should go Newcastle should be the only club in the N.E. parents want their kids to go to. Local spirit is all well and good, but we need to make the step up from respected academy coaches to world class. Easier said than done of course but thats what we should be gradually aiming for. Joe Joyce and certainly Ashley and SA will still only just be settling in and working out where to go from here. God i can really talk shit. Too much coffee, and boredom at work.

certainly not lacking options in midfield and upfront. God only knows what kind of formation we will play to accomodate everyone. Although I guess you would hope we would be playing the best formation to win matches, with the players fitting into that. should probably keep this to another thread though.. oops.

Waxwork, they gave up waiting for a response at whether he would come to do the shoot amidst claims he was going to do one somewhere else.

I look forward to the new players eventually coming through, or being bought. Man City have brought through some good players aswel havent they, for example the defender that played for the U21's (sorry not even goin to try and spell his name) to be honest ive never heard of him, or seem him in the highlights when he played against italy, and abit of tonights game, but he went off.... City had a great academy scarily when Keegan was incharge, Asa Harford did alot of really sound work, that has seen the current crop of players come through aswell as SWP's (albeit Notts Forest can take most of the credit for him).

They are still a big name and rightly so. The two games against Leeds will be good watching next season. Like Leeds both produce a great amount of young and talented players. Its a good move for Lennon, he can be start of something special there, whilst winding down his career.

Well we have tried to overhaul the Academy in the past and just last year we shook it up and appointed Joe Joyce. Its obviously going to take time before we see it bear any fruit. Its not as easy as just going out and bringing the best talent here. There is great competition and we have been hindered by our scouting, that has been particularly poor across the board, but im sure this is something that is changing. Sam will have his say now he is here as well. Joe Joyce is very well qualified and experienced, we have a great basis to build upon and now hopefully we have the money to go out and push our academy to an even higher level. The academy is not something im worried about, its been and is being addressed and by the end of the summer should be more than moving in the right direction.

Got a soft spot for Forest, so good news as far as im concerned, love to see them back in the top flight.. ....give it say three years maybe they can resign Jenas! Although that would probably mean they are still in league one.

Wishful thinking about Taylor, he has a long long journey before breaking into the england squad. If he is advancing though it wouldnt suprise me to see him called up for a meaningless friendly within the next year, should one or two others be injured, his versatility certainly wont harm his chances. Hopefully King can shake his emerging Woodgate injury syndrome, as he is a quality player. Dawson looks solid and always looked like a talent at forest, its a shame we decided against bidding for him in the end, the move to spurs has been a good fit. Like Taylor, Dawson is still a way off, has the advantage of already being in the England squad though, but Spurs fans should be confident the coaching set up they have will see him advance to use and improve on what he has. Hopefully Allardyce will appoint staff that can do the same with our young-uns. As for the rest of the current full side Id say Wes Brown needs a change of club if he is interested in pushing for an England place, sitting on the bench at Manure will obviously make him a starter for McLaren but wont last forever. Upson has the world to prove and I dont think he can do it. Woodgate should be good, bar a relapse on the injury front. Campbell wont be around much longer. Carragher looks useless in the centre for England, despite being as good as most for Liverpool. Lescott should be given a go the next chance we have, especially if he continues his first season in the premiership. Terry and Ferdinand will be the staple for the forseeable future. hopefully the likes of Taylor, Dawson and certainly Lescott will be there in the future.