Rich

Chinese whispers is a tough game man, you probably heard wrong We're signing Zheng Zhiyi from Charlton? The China Captain?

EH!? Did he close his eyes whenever Gomis came close to the ball? What if Diane and Gomis got close to each other? That would be a right dilemma!

well, yes actually. anyway 5/30 is f****** atrocious, and i'm not saying for a low fee we should not think about it, but there's no way i'd be happy with a striker scoring 5 goals in 30 starts here. But we don't know the circumstances of those games. He may have been playing out wide or deep for all we know. Aye exactly. Some people don't think like that though. It's all straight lines and closed boxes.

I've been as guilty as anyone, really. I just wanted to waste some time. Just blasted out another 2,000 words! Let's get it back on track though, for those who actually want to massdebate about it. Keep Duff, sell Charlie.

At least this proves that it is actually Dave behind the mask.

It is, isn't it? From the book 'A Kestrel for a Knave' and the film 'Kes'. After a swift Google (dunno why I even bothered), Dave is right. It's a peregrine falcon called "Kes". I appreciate you trying to half the bullet with me though.

I don't think Keegan is the kind of manager who tells a player to look for a new club as they are shite. He'd wait for the first bid, inform the player of it, and then tell the player that he can't guarantee first team football etc. FWIW, every game is a fresh chance for me. If I see Duff, or Smith, or Fumaca on the team sheet, I hope they prove me wrong. There is always a way back. Why would we see Fumaca on the team sheet? Dennis Wise's fault.

Why the fuck does he call it Kes then? I thought it was short for Kestrel! Fucking hell man, it's been a while since I saw Bo' Selecta you know! Heartless bastard. Hates the disabled (can we even say that these days?) an' all you know?

Duff will still need replacing though, whether Zog stays or not, you kestrel-carrying, catheter-wearing, big-jawed bassa! (Anyone with your accent reminds me of Craiiiiig David, apologies.) I give up, anyway. Arguing for something you don't really believe in isn't much fun, even if it's just me yet again avoiding the assignment. I dunno how NE5 does it, unless he's constantly avoiding something far worse. His wife? (I hope he sees this: BANTER.) Even though the lad is quite clearly disadvantaged and has had some horrific injuries which even an advantaged person would struggle to overcome, let's put all that aside and simply say: he's not good enough to wear our number 11 shirt and should fuck off to Sunderland ASAP to battle it out with Kieron Richardson for a place on their injury bench. The little Irsh cunt. Sorted.

Off the top of my head I can tell you he's a full-back first and foremost, plays mainly left-back but is versatile. He's never stood out to me in any way shape or form when I remember seeing him for Valencia in the past.

See above, you mongazoid I'm off to start the Damien Duff fanclub. We should support footballers with down's.

In fairness, a lot of people had written Michael Owen off before his recent run of form, and the likes of Butt, Barton and Geremi were being called worse than shite by some as well. Now, I realise Geremi and Barton haven't become world-beaters or anything, but the improvement under KK has been remarkable. I'd just like to see the likes of Duff - and Milner to an extent - given the same chance that those players have, and if they don't do it, then ship them out. I suppose KK will know already whether he wants to keep them or not, like. I just don't think players turn to shite, to be honest, I think he has enough class about him to be able to be effective again, but it's going to take a lot of hard work. Like Shak has said, it wasn't so much pace he relied on as his ability to "jink", for want of a better word. I think he still knows how to beat a man but a potential combination of a lack of confidence and a lack of playing time has seen him lose his spark. I think players have come back from being worse than him, honestly, and he's not a player I have anything personal against. Seems a good pro, seems to give a toss, and like Owen before him has put the graft in to get fit again after a horrendous injury. I just don't like writing players off 100% when none of us really know what the overall craic is with them, bar what we see on the pitch. I do accept that and you're right in a way. Duff has shown absolutely nothing in his time here that makes me think he's worth hnaging onto though. That's fair enough as well, like I said I'm just exploring different avenues, trying to make people think a bit. I appreciate the reply though, it's better than divertory nonsense about N'Zogbia and agents

Ten times is a serious over-exaggeration

Brummie was actually responding to Gol's prediction that you lot would finish top six simply because you're buying a lot of players in, with what was a fairly reasonable argument. Don't think it was intended as a proper dig at Spurs, more at the argument itself. But you know, horses for courses and all that.

Aye you're right about that like, everyone was raving about Geremi in pre-season. Even Smith scored then though... so I'm not sure non-competitive games can be used as a proper basis for judging players. In competitive football, Geremi was atrocious for the most part, but given his place in the team back under the new manager started to offer something to the team. Now, he's still not good enough for many to warrant a first team slot next season (myself included) but then I don't think he's as good a player as Duff is/was. If Duff does stay, then people need to be open to giving him one last crack at the whip next term if his chance comes, that's my major point. But you know because many have made their minds up about him, he'll be villified for anything he does that isn't up to scratch, much like others have been recently. It must make it very difficult for players to perform when an atmosphere like that follows them (even if they have brought it upon themselves, to an extent.) Like I've said, I'm not waving a banner for him to stay, but I won't mind if he does. I'm just not automatically confident in the current set-up to replace these players properly, because they've done nothing to prove themselves as of yet.

Because what you were saying was factual meant that the way you said it wasn't arrogant, alrighty then. You are a Spurs fan though, so I'll say no more, I keep forgetting that it's inbuilt

Maybe for three of them, but to me Geremi had looked absolutely abysmal until recently, and I do understand he hasn't exactly been pulling up trees in open play but he's been an important part of the recent good that we've seen. I dunno, just trying to explore it from the alternative POV to "he's crap, get him out" which seems to be the easy answer these days when it comes to our players.

:frantic: Any need for the arrogance? Really?

I have to admit that this was my initial reaction to the article as well. Think he's covering his back more than anything.

In fairness, a lot of people had written Michael Owen off before his recent run of form, and the likes of Butt, Barton and Geremi were being called worse than shite by some as well. Now, I realise Geremi and Barton haven't become world-beaters or anything, but the improvement under KK has been remarkable. I'd just like to see the likes of Duff - and Milner to an extent - given the same chance that those players have, and if they don't do it, then ship them out. I suppose KK will know already whether he wants to keep them or not, like. I just don't think players turn to shite, to be honest, I think he has enough class about him to be able to be effective again, but it's going to take a lot of hard work. Like Shak has said, it wasn't so much pace he relied on as his ability to "jink", for want of a better word. I think he still knows how to beat a man but a potential combination of a lack of confidence and a lack of playing time has seen him lose his spark. I think players have come back from being worse than him, honestly, and he's not a player I have anything personal against. Seems a good pro, seems to give a toss, and like Owen before him has put the graft in to get fit again after a horrendous injury. I just don't like writing players off 100% when none of us really know what the overall craic is with them, bar what we see on the pitch.

I still think he has a part to play here, but won't shed any tears if somebody comes in for him. Like others have pointed out, the wages are a major issue. I'm just worried that we're getting to that stage again where there could be loads of outgoings and we might struggle to replace them all. Potentially: Carr, Ramage, Diatta, Ameobi, Emre, Smith and Duff could all be away by next season. I know none of them have really offered a great deal this season, but they'll still need replacing. Saying that, if we did get shot of them and replaced them with 3 defenders, 2 midfielders and 2 attackers of higher quality, I'd be absolutely thrilled.

LB I think. Aye, he's their number 3, first-choice LB. He has to play man, I miss that ripple of "go onnnnnnnnnnnn" that went around the stadium everytime he received the ball from the 'keeper when he was left-wing. Used to be our main attacking outlet, along with Milner, and they both did alright. They're the type of players we need to be keeping, while the likes of Smith need to be shipped out.

He's still my favourite player, like. I'm hoping he stays and tears it up next season. Would rather see him in the midfield ahead of any of the current three (even though that's not entirely a sensible comment, blinded by his flair) and I think he could even play the role Martins has right now if Oba was to ever succumb to injury (better than anyone else in the current squad, at least.)

Inspired by an article about him in the Journal that I've just spotted, I was wondering whether people still think Duff has a future at Newcastle. He's one of the highest earners, has suffered a career-threatening injury in his time here but prior to that was one of the best left-wingers around on his day. I wouldn't mind seeing him stay as I think he can only get better, especially under Keegan, but I get the feeling that for a lot of people he might have burnt his bridges because he hasn't reached anywhere near the form he showed at Blackburn and Chelsea. The only game I really remember thinking "I'm glad we've got him" in was the 4-2 victory over AZ last season, even though he was afforded loads of room he still put in a very good shift and looked at his most threatening. Aside from that though, it's hard to pick out many other moments where he's done anything to justify his purchase/wages. At the time he came, I, like most, was happy because I thought we were getting a very good left-winger who would improve the squad... obviously he then (wrongly) pushed N'Zogbia out of the team, didn't play well and then got injured and so his popularity took a nosedive. Is he finished? Does he care? I dunno, I still think there's some class there, but he does seem to have lost a yard of pace - which was crucial to his game and this season when he's played we haven't seen any of the mazy dribbles that he was famed for, but as far as his attitude goes, I think it's good, I think he's a proper pro who will strive to do better. What do you lot reckon? Time to go? Or give him one more shot?