Zero

Zarate doesn't worth more than 8m. Spend the money on Gomis first. He is a useful squad player but shouldn't be our main target this summer.

The news of departure of Smith is even better than the signing of Ronaldinho.

To be honest we need both of them. Wouldn't mind a 30m double swoop

I do think he can be the left back understudy for Enrique and save us some money this summer.

I think the answer is simple --- he doesn't look like a star.

Birmingham is the best example of how board changes can ruin a club.

So now which team qualifies through fair play?

to be honest 7m is a very tricky price, which makes the rumour sounds real.

Bernard again. Good riddence.

Errr....is that we still have a chance of making Intertoto if we got 2 yellow cards less than Man City?

Have a try on Carroll and Gomis then.

For the best of Newcastle, we should buy a top-quality CB and let Faye play as a midfielder. Faye is actually a top quality defensive midfielder but, unfortunately, just a decent CB.

tbh I think Smith is a bigger flop than Luque.

I would rather bet on a gem recognized by Wenger than pay Zoggy + 6m for a player that's proved to be very bad in positioning and regarded as a weakness in Arsenal's squad. Diaby is a good player but his positioning is really bad. It's like you can only play him in a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 formation, on a free role like Geremi. It would be a disaster to put him into Butt's role. Zoggy + 6m for an upgraded Geremi? Doesn't worth it tbh. I would rather have Bendtner or even Merida. We need either a top class defensive midfielder to replace Butt, or a top class creative midfielder like van der Vaart to lead the midfield. Diaby is neither one of them.

That should be Merida. Wo don't need Diaby.

Ignoring Paul Robinson, they have got Woody and King in defense, Alan Hutton as well, and they signed Modric who can solved the midfield problem, together with Jenas, Steed and Lennon. If Berbatov stays they would still have top class attacking options in the front... To be fair the only weakness I can think of is they still lack a great winger, and some of their players are injury prone. Apart from that Spurs does have the strongest squad among the rivals.

Everton, Villa, Spurs, Man City are our main rivals. Portsmouth and Blackburn will likely to fall apart. Man City would not be a problem if Thaksin hires a mediocore manager. Villa has a great squad, Everton is as solid as ever while Spurs are likely to challenge the Big 4 if Berbatov stays. We would need quite a lot of luck to got a UEFA spot tbh.

Considering Harewood has somewhat finished Given's career, I wouldn't mind Taylor did similar things to the hammers.

159%? That's really crazy

Sneijder?

Now Barton does look like a bargain.

It probably means spurs are planning to sell Lennon. In a 442 formation Modric should be playing at right midfielder instead of centre.

It wouldn't be the problem of money, as what ppl mentioned before, if we just lose out our first target by just 1.2m then Ashley/Wise should go to hell. Probably it's the player who reject us, not the club. And, to be fair, if he has consulted Viduka or Kranjcar about the performance of Newcastle/Tottenham for these few years, and the future prospect, it isn't that strange to choose them over us. Ramos has already make significant progress by winning the league cup, having the chance to play UEFA next season. while KK just have a great run in premiership, and no UEFA next season. Sad but understandable. And it's time to give him a career ending tackle, Butt/Barton.

He is simply playing like a professional, never deserves the booing imo.

To be honest it is a non-contest for Beye. Would be a much harder choice for the 2nd best player of the season. Owen for me.