buzza

"Best of the Rest": Spurs, Arsenal, Everton, Blackburn, Villa, Newcastle, West ham, citeh?? With all the "new" money being pumped into the above clubs it should make for a more competitive league and also a place where positions will be more tightly contested due to the better quality of top ten teams...

I'll take a consistent defender over a "potential world beater" every saturday (see bramble for more detail)

It would be mighty interesting if Sam did mnanage to squeeze some effort and performances out of Luque, would certainly show what a complete showr of shiite the last two were (we already knew that didn't we)!!

aaaaarrrrrrrrggghhhhhhhhh! Did I miss our demotion?

last sentence is bang on!! We have to aim higher than bellamy, especially with the forwards we have at the club... If we sold owen I would rather have anelka or one of the dutch forwards being mentioned, we also need to tidy up our media image and we could do without his off pitch antics TBH.

I would sign wes brown, have another go at wayne bridge offering owen at the same time and with the change would pitch in a bid for Anelka who has been in great form every time I' saw bolton play last season. Would also buy a right back but not sure who??

But who would we replace him with? You don't come across goal scorers like him very easily! Like you say we should "mend" the team and the situation therefore a contract extension would be easily attained.

What we have to do is ensure that we are in the top 5 before christmas and hope that owen realises that he has a future worth holding onto here. I would be happy with 4 new defenders (whole back line) and use our existing ones as back up...

I'm all foe entertainment at home and results away aswell!! Simple strategy and with the "extra man" home support it should theoretically work...

We have Nicky Butt who was our most consistent player last season and who does this job (holding midfielder/ball winner) quite well and knows how to pass a ball... Anyway, back to the original proposition: I think that big Sam was the ONLY viable alternative we had, the only "decent" manager who would come to this club and the only manager who might just have the credentials to take us further. If we look at any other possible candidates we/they fall short on various requisites: Erikkson - A slight upgrade on Roeder TBH, Ranieri - Tinkersville, Ancellotti - ha ha ha, any other english coaches fall short and the best of the bunch is Allardice... He has obviously done well with very limited resources in the prem and was due to move up a level anyway and this is a good step up for him and also a good reality check for us...who ever thought we were going to pull in Capello, Wenger or Mourinho??? He should be looking to get us into sixth or seventh place this season at least, I don't think Tottenham, blackburn, everton are that far ahead of us??? We should get back into europe this season and look to breaking the top four next season. With a supposed 40-50 million per season to spend in the first 3-5 years we should be looking to break the strangle hold on the top four. As for the other clubs: Man utd - strong and getting stronger. Only need another great striker to partner rooney and they have a "complete" team. Chelsea- Still strong and important players will have gelled for next year. Arsenal- If henry goes they are a top six side without a doubt... Liverpool- Need new wingers and a decent forward line. I reckon Rafa will be gone soon as he is getting frustrated with the yanks.

Side burns... Facial Hair growths (popular with students) Side Backs... Dense body hair on back (popular with Greeks & Turks) Not difficult is it!

Nicky butt or Solano...

I have no problem with agents charging large amounts for attaining footballers for clubs, BUT I do have a problem when there is a lack of transparency in their dealings... If you sold an entity worth 5.5 million you would be looking to make at least 200.000 (2-3%)...

I think we have the backbone of a decent team: given, taylor, solano, barton, milner, owen, viduka But desperately need solid defenders and a few class player to take us up a level... As stated before, if Sam wants to build a decent side he NEEDS to be in UEFA next season at whatever cost. He certainly seems to be going in the right direction by wanting new defenders...I will reserve judgement until the transfer window closes and whether little mickey stays with us (goal guarantee...).

We NEED to be in Europe next season if we want to improve... Min. sixth place for me!!

England were excellent for the first 20 minutes playing high tempo premier league style football. They then ran out of steam a bit and the game turned in favour of the italians although we should have realistically have put the game out of sight by then (glaring missed chances -lite!). I really liked the italian Nº9, very good in the air good link up play and got the better of tayls the whole afternoon... Just floated into the right positions, real goalscores instinct. Milner was great first half and did a lot of work second half but didn't really get a lot of ball and england were under the cosh. Ashley young was the one that stuck out...real pace couple with skil and a good end product...sneaky bid for him?

P.S. We just need a shitt hot defence and we'd be up there and abouts...

Bobyule, that is for me the difference aswell! If you had a player like that in your team it not only guarantees you a good few "matchwinners" but it also guarantees that the team go out with more confidence knowing you have a world class striker and the opposition come out a little bit mor weary.... I would honestly say that our strike force at this moment in time looks much more potent than yours, Liverpool definitely need David Villa or Etoo to seriously challenge the big boys, and also a couple of decent wingers FFS!!

as an example see TBH transfer...He is going to pick Chelsea for the medal possibilities and europe, had we of been in the UEFA we might have been in with a shout...

It will prove hard to "build" the team next year if we don't make it to the UEFA cup at least. The best players want to be playing in Europe - Fact. If they see us make a couple of places up to 8th or something like that it's not exactly too inviting is it... Also to hold on to our "star" players (if they're still here) i.e. owen, martins, zoggy ...etc we will have to be in europe or expect transfer reqwuests / get out clauses being seen. We should realistically be looking at 5-6 th place as I can't see anyone apart from Villa, if they have an injection of cash, doing as well as us because their managers are inferior (my opinion) and they don't have a home support that can make your stadium an inhospitable place for opposing teams.

Not got the easiest of starts to be honest (first three), but we then have 5 games against the beasts, wigan, derby, hammers and everton which with new impetus and signings we should do reasonably well.... Not too bad really..

wHAT peeves me the most about this signing is the 9 million get out clause, for god's sake at least get the money you paid out back... Good read and agree mostly but think Allardice will play "his" system only away from home and think we will see a much more attacking system at St James.

sixth place...

Aye, I'm sick of his silence, talks volumes if you ask me... He must know the crack, that the whole of Newcastle is waiting for him to reassure them about playing next season. It's obvious that he's biding his time to see if the big four come up with an offer and he'll be off like a shot, otherwise he'll bite his tongue and play up to christmas with beady eyes on a move then when his fitness has been proven to the other managers and also if any of them are short of a striker for the champs league... What a mercenary wannker if you ask me! Just my opinion like...

Not that keen on Guily myself either.... Never really shone at Barcelona, who knows?