Rich

So, to anyone who still knows, were both the fans and the players still behind the manager? i.e. Was it not like with Allardyce here? Is this solely a decision made by Shinawatra?

He's going, according to BBC Sport... Let's get Dunne in, after we've all finished laughing at them.

Parky. No more needs to be said.

I'm hardly Milner's biggest fan (we all know that's Jon's position), but I'm not sure if I've disagreed with anything on here more, ever. Flabbergasted - that's the word.

It did get fucking caned at Upton Park like, but it's still my favourite chant ever. Pogo/shoes off are both a bit wank, "the Corner" is the worst of them though, and I sit there.

Dunno if it's been mentioned, but Inside Sport just showed the Daily Express, which is reporting that Sven has told "friends" that he's off in the summer.

People do realise that for Chelsea to win it they're probably going to have to beat us, right? Insanity!

Would be fantastic, but I fear it's another case of us being a pawn in someone elses game of chess.

Only upset because it's them cunts, to be brutally honest about it. Didn't know much about him, so not too arsed otherwise. At least we know there's going to be some money flying around.

No man, I agree with his inclusion, but he's called Sagna, not Sanga. He's your fucking player

Sagna... but I tend to agree. All seems fair enough, but I suppose the inclusion of Gerrard will raise a few eyebrows.

Would be upwards of 70,000 if all sides were done, you can't forget the corner bits either. At the minute we have only one done in that way, obviously. 60,000 would be achieved by doing the Gallowgate and connecting it up to the Milburn.

Simple.

Eh? One person picked him for the "team of the season", I put him in the "team of the season (outside the top four)" that Ankdh suggested.

I'm in Hull as well, so this could be bang on for me now and again if I was just going home for the game and not the whole weekend. Could probably be useful a few games a season to me for the next two years, as I'll be driving up and down then too.

Anyone else get the feeling that this is a sort of Rooney scenario all over again?

Surprised to read this from you, if I'm honest, but I wholeheartedly agree with it. Parky is a romanticist though, I suppose, so I can't be too hard on him for wanting a maestro in our team. It's a nice thought, but I'm not sure if Modric is the man for the job, or if there's any role for such a player in the Premiership anyway, especially for us at the current time. A playmaker is more somebody you build the team around, I don't see why Keegan would do that so soon after finding a winning formula. With your love of the beautiful game and your enthusiasm for a lot of individual players, I thought you'd love the idea of a "number 10" at the Toon. Wasn't a dig at all.

Crouch can do the job Martins is currently doing for us? That's a new one!

Direct replacement for Geremi in my book. Unless Barton gets sent down. He prefers playing on the left, though. I was thinking he goes in for Barton on that side, and Joey moves to where Geremi has been playing. Unless he goes down, as you said. I can't see him coming in and taking Owen's current role and I can't really see him playing in a 4-4-2 either.

Surprised to read this from you, if I'm honest, but I wholeheartedly agree with it. Parky is a romanticist though, I suppose, so I can't be too hard on him for wanting a maestro in our team. It's a nice thought, but I'm not sure if Modric is the man for the job, or if there's any role for such a player in the Premiership anyway, especially for us at the current time. A playmaker is more somebody you build the team around, I don't see why Keegan would do that so soon after finding a winning formula.

Just realised I've asked that same question in the Modric thread and people have started answering. Is that him spread over 3 threads now?

"Semi-denial" because I don't believe we need a playmaker On the second part, I was saying it because my original comment was all to do with us not utilising a playmaker while Sam Allardyce was manager, that's where the "wishful thinking" bit you picked up on originally came from. You got your wires crossed with your response today, which is why I began with "dear me." To get this moving on from tit-for-tat though, if Modric does come, I'd be extremely interested to see what it would mean for the current formation. I do not believe that he is a classic "number 10" from what I've been reading about him since these stories reared their heads again. If you ask me, the top three is working very well, and could be even better if Viduka was replaced by someone like Kenwyne Jones (who I just noticed while browsing has 10 assists this season to go with his 4 goals - not bad for a Mackem player) or someone better - Berbatov would do nicely (wink). Does Modric come in and play where Barton is for us now, but with more of Geremi's role, with Joey switching to the right (provided he's not in clink)?

James Johnson Campbell Laursen Lescott Young Elano Bentley Petrov Yakubu Santa Cruz Could move onto a team outside the top-10 with that selection, though...

Give me optimism over pessimism every time. I haven't got my hopes up over this, but will obviously be very intrigued if it comes off. I've seen Modric play about 3 times, though, so the only thing that will excite me is his reputation, the price and the fact that we're looking at his apparent calibre of player this summer. Wonder where he would play should he sign. Where Barton does now?