macphisto

See what happens now Clark has gone :parky:

Seeing that the Norwich fans are not too impressed with Roeder, it makes you think how did we end up with him? An absolute joke! By the way I do not wish the bloke any ill will but at the same time I wouldn't say good luck either as he does not deserve another managerial job in football.

True. However, there have been as few North Eastern players lately as Scottish players with any significant quality. No idea why. In their prime the likes of Beardsley, Waddle, Gazza, Robson etc would walk into most Premiership sides. Likewise, Hansen (who was a superb centre half/sweeper), Dalglish, Souness and Steve Nicol (most underrated player I have seen). Even John Wark is a step up on wat they have now. Perhaps there may be some resurgence. There certainly needs to be. There has been f*** all of any note out of either place since Alan Shearer. Of course there was the likes of John Robertson who shone up there, but generally established players up there did f*** all down here with the exception of Dalglish - at least thats the only one I can think of. The rest came down as kids. Very good point and I've thought the same thing for a long time, especially when you had Shepard going on about Geordie players and what have you. Like you say Shearer was the last great player to come from north of the M62, though if he had of stayed fit I would have put Woodgate down. Compare this to some of the players coming from the North West.

I think Sam's done a great job. I don't think Sam had too much money to play with in the summer (£75 million going on the debt) and I'm pleased he laid the foundations for a successful team by sorting out the defence. By the end of this season we should have a good back four who have a good understanding of each other and a good strike force. This just leaves the problem of midfield where we'll just have to put up with a "functional" midfield that can pass the ball and work hard but have no real creativity for this season. Some people may say why did he get Smith? But I can't think of a creative midfielder who does the business consistently for £6million, at least with Smith you know what you are going to get and covers a few positions. For the money he had, the best we could get is someone similar Emre which for me would be a bad mistake as he hasn’t done anything in his time here. So for me if Sam gets in one or two good creative midfielders in the summer, then this time next year I would not see any obvious weaknesses in the team.

Egypt was the one country in the Middle East I was referring to that would let Israeli nationals in. Pretty sure none of the rest do (possibly the UAE may do). Just thinking about it, entry into Egypt in football terms is pretty useless because they are part of the African Confederation. With regards to two passports I could get one because I was connected to the UK embassy, but I'm pretty sure anyone can if you have a business reason.

Israel could only travel to about one country in the Middle East because the rest of them do not let people enter who either have a Israeli passport or visa. I was nearly going to be going to Israel on a visit and it would have meant me having to get a new passport, as I had to keep one passport without an Israeli stamp. This was because I would not have been able to then visit other Middle Eastern countries with an Israeli stamp in it.

I trust Ashley to run the club in a professional manner which will see results on the pitch. What I like about Ashley is that he appears to be the most successful business man to take over a club. Who knows how Ambramovich made his money but we can all guess, Shinawatra at Man City, well we can guess again there, and all the American owners appear to have got some big loans to buy the clubs (Not sure about Learner at Villa) and I most certainly would not want West Ham’s owners. Actually I think the decision to buy Newcastle shows that Ashley has his head screwed on as I think it has more going for it than a lot of clubs who have been taken over. I'm actually glad that Ashley's in it for the money because I would seriously question someone who was doing it out of the "goodness of their heart". What I mean by this is that the days of Jack Walker at Blackburn when he won the league with I don't know say approximately £30million are long gone. To be successful these days you need to spend a lot more than that and I do not know how it can be justified. If I had the money Ashley has and wasn't after a return on my money I'd help the less fortunate people in the world.

Interesting in the Chronicle today that there was no quotes from Allardyce regarding the weekend. More signs that Oliver is well and truly out the picture.

Just have to agree to disagree on that one then as I reckon Beardsley could pass on so much to the youngsters/youth team in terms of helping to develop their skills. Also think Gazza, if he was working in the age group of say 10-16 could have a good impact. As I said earlier if Gazze had his head switched on he could pass on so much to the players in their late teens in a similar way that Tony Adams has done with his "football clinic". Having these two on the books would also make it easier to attract younger players from out side the area and the UK.

Just been reading this thread for the first time and I'd happily get rid of Solano as I don't think he's half as good as some people think he is. Also think he's had some friends in the press as he caused problems for Robson and Roeder last season but not much got out in contrast to some of the stories about Dyer which for me have been blown out of proportion. Related to Solano, the time I realised that Newcastle was going down the pan was when Clark and Solano returned to the club under Souness. It was all made worse with a large section of the fans applauding too. Also saw some comments about Solano going on the coaching side by a few people at the beginning of the thread, but it got me thinking about how under used Beardsley is. A far superior player than Solano and pretty much any other Newcastle player for the last 50 years. I just can't believe how he's not more involved in the game, makes you wonder if there was more to the bullying accusations of a few years back. I also don't know why we do not get Gazza as well to work with the kids. Sure he'll not be the best coach but I reckon he would give the youngsters such a lift by his sheer presence. If his head is in order he could also teach the young players about the pitfalls of being a footballer. Not saying the two above because they are Geordies, but more that we have two world class ex footballers on our door step doing nothing.

Wullie, I was just about to write the same thing, the secrecy surrounding this transfer has been really strange. This transfer together with journalists being clueless (i.e. stories ranging from signing Ronaldinho one week to being broke the next), Thompson House being left out the loop, secrecy of the takeover just sounds like "classic Ashley". By this I mean that in all the info I've read about him, the one thing that stands out is how secretive he is and it now appears to have been transferred to the Toon as well. This change of culture could be more significant to the club than anything else to happen this summer. The stuff that has been leaked in the past has been ridiculous and has only served to undermine the club as a whole. One thing to bear in mind which has already been mentioned elsewhere is that a strategy of no/little information (which I'm in favour of) could seriously come back and bite us if we go through a bad patch as the press will be waiting to have a go. The media are being made to look like clowns at the moment as they have not got a clue about what is happening and they’ll not be happy about it. I don’t think Ashely himself will be too bothered what the press say but it’s important that the fans do not get taken in by what they read when the going gets rough. One thing that would completely put a spanner in the works though is if Martins is sold as then the fans really would not know who to believe.

Can't start any posts yet so I've used this thread. Did anyone listen to Oliver on Talksport today when he was on the show that Andy Townsend does? Basically he was saying that the club is in a mess as we are overloaded up front and in goal but short of numbers in Midfield and Defence. Also said it was not like "what the brochure said" for Allardyce. Basically complaining that Allardyce has not had enough money from the new owners. Also pretty much blaming Ashley for the Dyer deal not going through and that the Smith signing had been dependent on Dyer going so we've got a problem there. Strange to contrast his pessimism with the optimism that has been on this board in the last 24 hours. I actually applaud Ashley and Allardyce for not giving Oliver the time of day but it's a risky strategy because when we go through a bad patch next season he'll not miss an opportunity to whip up the fans. I only hope that the editor of the Chronicle gets rid of him because it's becoming evident more and more how disliked he is by both the fans and now the club. Also related to journalists, I buy the Mag and always find some interesting information that is tucked away which you never hear about. In an article with Brian McNally in the “press watch” section he was saying that the prominent journalists who were campaigning for Roeder to be installed as manager had massive bets on him to get the job and that they should be ashamed of themselves. Just shows how much the fans have been taken for a ride these last few years. Also highlights the sheer audacity by the club of claiming “the Hitzfield for manager campaign” was a betting scam. I’ll let you decide who McNally was referring to!

Participating in the Intertoto Cup may have played a part in our fitness levels as the players may not have had enough rest and pre-season training would have been disrupted.

I'd probably let him go but only if we had someone else lined up to replace him as there's too muchil feeling there. On another point I don't think Dyer is as bad a player as some make out. In fact Dyer along with Robert, Bellamy and Jenas (all players who got stick from a lot of fans) must have had something about them as we did do well with them in the team under Bobby. Thinking about the list of players just mentioned, I also remember Gary Speed also seemed to get stick from the fans as well. People also go on about Dyer going missing in games and not playing on the wing under Bobby, but what about Solano who a lot of fans praise? He goes missing a lot of away games and has stormed off from the stadium when not in the first team before but I hardly hear any criticism.

Agree with what most people have said though I'd go for King at Spurs ahead of Berbatov. People are going to laugh at this but I'd go for Viduka as our best player now. Give Owen his due he scores on the big stage but his league goals are nothing special. Been on the scene for 10 years and never scored 20 league goals and his team play is nothing special.

I said in a post a few weeks back that I'd want us to be within 3-4 points of 5th place by the end of the season and it's what I would still expect if Sam gets some decent money. As a sign that things have changed and that we are finally trying to build a team I'd love to see us buy a left back for about £10 million. It's a position that has been weak for a long time and needs fixing. It would also demonstrate a "new" Newcastle if we spent serious money on a left back and got a forward (Viduka) on a free, it's always been the reverse in the past. With regards to Ashley releasing money after the strategic review takes place, I think is a smokescreen. I personally do not think the strategic review matters one bit. In an interview with John Gibson a few weeks back, John Hall said that Ashley bought the club without any due diligence being carried out. This together with the maverick nature that he has operated his other businesses makes me believe that he has some grand strategy for Newcastle and will not let anything get in the way/delay achieving it.

Well by what has been said I'd put a bid in for Lahm and see how we get on. I'm not one of these people who gets carried away with how good the Premier League is (as I think after the top 4, the rest last season were very average) but with all the money that is coming in now with TV and new owners then surely playing in England must be very appealing. The reason given by players for wanting to play in the Champions League is that they want to play against the best players, well in a few years time maybe the Premier League will be stronger than the Champions League.

Does anyone know how much it would roughly cost to get Philip Lahm from Bayern Munich?

I wouldn't want him as I don't think he's that great. The other reason is that I could see Ferguson rubbing his hands at us paying 6 million-ish for a guy who probably will not play too many games next season because I've a feeling that Ferguson will want to give Jonny Evens some games after coming back from the Mackems. In fact I'd rather go for a young player like Evens (if he is any good) and recruit an older player like Thuram or Campbell who can organise the defence and show the youngsters how to defend. For me Wes Brown is just an average player and certainly not someone who will organise the defence. Reading this thread and also the one about fullbacks for me shows that people still have the same mind set before Ashley took over. If we’ve now got his financial backing then we should be looking at much better players than have been mentioned, for example in the other thread someone mentioned Geremi as a full back. We should be aiming much higher than that in my opinion.

Well if SA gets the sort of money that has been spoken about in today's papers then I'd expect Newcastle to be challenging at least for 5th place. By challenging I mean that say a week or two before the end of the season I'd want to be within 3 points of that position. I don't think this is being too unrealistic because our league is not that great after the top three.

I don't think anyone is expecting to get their money back through TV deals or new league formats. I think it's all to do with Internet rights, I'd be amazed if matches are not broadcasted on the Internet in 5 years and this would create much more money than any TV deals. That's why you hear all this stuff about "global brand", it's about clubs positioning themselves for when matches are on the Internet. Only then would clubs make money on having all these fans in the far east and other places. Biggest thing for me is if the internet deals are negotiated on a club by club basis or by individual clubs.

I was one of the few who picked big phil in the poll the other day for the next manager. My thinking was that he would either be brilliant or a disaster, don't think they'd be an in between. Based on that I'd take the gamble.

Assuming Sam Allardyce is indeed appointed as our new manager ... 1. How much time are you willing to give him before you demand success? As long as we are making progress both on the field and behind the scenes I don't mind how long it takes. The thing with Allardyce is that he gives you some hope that he would do well by his track record. There's some logic behind his appointment, the same would be true with some other managers who have been mentioned. I would not want SGE but I could see why someone would. I would not want Shearer as manager yet but if he was I would have hope in that he could improve as he learnt his trade. With the last two managers I could not see any reason for appointing them and there was no way they were going improve. 2. What's the target you set for him? Depends on what the other clubs are doing. For example for the last two seasons I think that a good team would have displaced Arsenal in the top four. At the start of next season Arsenal's young players will be more experienced and possibly have the backing of the American guy so they should be better, Liverpool have the money from this seasons CL run together with the new owners, Man U have a good young team and resources and then you have Chelsea's millions. So I really can't see how we could get into the top 4 for the next few years. What I would want is for Sam to have built a good team here that could possibly capitalise on any blips that the top four may have. For example in the next three years Wenger and Ferguson could possibly have left there jobs which would disrupt things. Apart from the league, I would expect/demand a good cup run in the UEFA cup at some stage and by this I mean we do not get beat by a team like AZ. Also expect a run in the cups too depending on the luck of the draw. Any big games we do get to, be it semi's or finals I would expect the team to put up a fight not like the finals at the end of the 90's and EUFA blow outs. 3. If we play ugly, but get results, are you happy? If we play ugly, yet results are not good, will you still be happy? Most important thing for this club is to WIN something at any cost, not bothered at all about the type of football we play. Obviously i would like good football but at Newcastle all we've ever had is a team that either plays good football and wins nothing or the team plays bad football and wins nothing. 4. If Sam Allardyce decides to pick a fight (verbal or whatever) with someone (FA, Arsene Wenger, Roy Keane, Freddy Shepherd), will you support him? Depends. 5. Will you applaud the board if the appointment of Sam Allardyce turns out to be a good one, eventually? I don't think they have much choice, I really think that this is the time that things could really go down hill for Newcastle if things do not change. It reminds me very much of Sunderland when they finally got sick of Murray. Not saying our decline would be the same but we would decline. 6. Will you slag the board, if the appointment of Sam Allardyce turns out to be a sad tradegy? No, I could see why they would appoint him. I didn't blame them for Dalglish 7. If Sam Allardyce turns out to be a success, will you gloat that you have always wanted him to be our manager? No 8. If Sam Allardyce does not turn out to be a success, will you gloat that you have always NOT wanted him to be our manager? No, I would just be surprised that it did not. One important thing for me is that the next manager is allowed to manage without interference from above. 9. Does it matter if Allardyce's recruitments are mainly foreigners, regardless if he delivers results? I really could not give a hoot where people are from. If they are just here for the money I don't care as long as they put the work in. To be honest the only reason I would come to Newcastle would be for the money. 10. Will you be happy to trust the club's sizable (assumption) on Allardyce's hand? I think it's allardyce's biggest strength from what I've seen at bolton.

scroll down the page and have a look at poll of the day http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/ Good to see the local paper asking for views on the important issues of the day. It might be a little bit better off asking about the commitment of people who at the club now. Did make me laugh when I saw it though!

Does anyone know how is easy it is to get the setup with the South African channel, I think it's called Supersport? That seems to have loads of footy on. Also with regards to ART do you get still get the option of both arabic and English commentary?