chicago_shearer

Personally I thought he was utter s****. Can't wait to see the back of him. Nothing to do with him being foreign though. At that point in the season, everyone was utter s***. Yes, he dropped some clangers. But so did Faye and so does Taylor (frequently). Things didn't exactly pick up when he was shipped off to Lazio and we conceded 10 or 12 against Man Utd and Arsenal. I might change my mind if he looks just as bad at the European Championships, but I'd prefer we didn't have another £3 million write off. Keep him as a squad player.

He was having to adapt to a far more physical and difficult league, had a baby on the way at home and was in a truly shit team with a shit manager. Overall, he wasn't that bad and I for one would welcome giving our only player at Euro 2008 a second chance to prove himself instead of once again dumping a foreign player who doesn't instantly adjust to the Premiership. *Tin hat on*

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7430548.stm I'm glad he noticed.

http://www.footballshirtculture.com/images/stories/fsc05/celtic_08-09_away-nike-shirt.jpg Great kit from Celtic. Hoping for something similar.

Was just reading the Group A preview for my adopted team Switzerland when I noticed this: ONE FOR THE SCOUTS: 19-year-old Eren Derdiyok: scored seven in five games for the under-21s before a goal against England on his senior debut in February. Says he would love to play alongside Michael Owen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eren_Derdiyok In April 2008, he was quoted in saying he would love to play in the same team as Newcastle United striker Michael Owen sparking rumours that he could be set to move to England. 6ft 3', 7 goals in 7 games for the Swiss U-19s, 7 goals in 5 games for the U-21s

Well I had it fixed until you went and quoted it.

[flash=200,200] Class.

I checked and you're right. Do you know what they are showing instead of the opening match on the HD channels? On ESPN HD: 'Today at the Belmont Stakes' and another f***ing episode of SportsCenter. On ESPN 2 HD: Funkmaster Flex Car Wars, Road to the Omaha Super Regionals (?) and NASCAR qualifying. Funkmaster Flex Car Wars. This bloody country.

Looks like Duff will be the next out. NoTW saying the mackems are about to sign him. We can live in hope.

I don't understand that point. Turan plays for Galatasary and we sold Emre to Fenerbahce. If the two deals are even related it seems more likely that Gala held us to ransom on the Turan deal so we said sod off and sold one of their fan favourites to an arch rival.

I'd have Gelson Fernandes. Great player who we should try and poach if Sven goes.

journalists don't name sources as a rule. if they had to, they'd never receive information in the first place. a journalist isnt going to say 'newcastle are close to signing david bentley, sources suggest. the blackburn man will arrive on tyneside tomorrow to discuss terms. sheila the club secretary told me all this, hope she doesnt get sacked for leaking confidential info" i bet those little snippets of s**** you read in the people or daily sport are literally just made up on the spot, but from the others they probably have a real source somewhere down the line. think of the kind of ITK s**** that goes round the pubs, taxis and forums, and multiply it by 100, and you have the kind of stuff Journos get. i'm sure most of it is bollocks and most of it never reaches print, whereas other stuff does. But as a journalist the real reason you wouldn't credit Sheila the Club Secretary is because you know full well that she isn't a legitimate source. How many of these insiders a) exist and b) have any credible knowledge of what is going on? I would bet that half of them are agents or middle men, calling journalists because a story linking their client with Newcastle helps his negotiations on contract talks or something similar. Rumours aren't supposed to be the basis of journalism. Compare the number of times you see business or political journalists relying on "unnamed sources" in order to print something. Not that often...and when they do, they are usually pretty damn sure of the source because their job is on the line. They report fact - things that have happened. If sports journalists did that they wouldn't sell papers, so they lie instead. I've got no problem with having some fun in the summer with the wild gossip about transfers, but some of it is disgraceful. The Martins to Arsenal stories for example...they don't have a source. We know this, they know this, they know that we know this, but they get away with printing their own wishful thinking and getting obscene salaries for doing so. If they actually printed fact (as in "my mate Steve reckons we should sign Obafemi Martins and his mate in the club shop agreed") then they would be out of a job.

I agree with what you're saying. But sport journalism in the UK seem to think they can throw around unnamed sources and informants like every transfer rumour or takeover is Watergate. It isn't journalism, but I can't see it stopping until someone decides to call their bluff and sue one of the papers.

Bye Emre. Thanks for that free kick against the mackems. Shame you never played. Now we might want to seriously turn our attention to getting some midfielders in. Because at the moment we are down to two dull as dishwater, talent deficient grandads (Geremi & Butt) and one felon.

That sums up his career at Newcastle well. I wouldn't sell him for the sake of it, but he obviously isn't worth whatever he's getting paid if you consider his horrendous injury record. If Fener are offering decent money I'd sell.

An FA Cup will do me thanks. But to answer your question, no...signings like Diane (if he's coming) aren't the height of my ambition. But this is a squad signing. When you have a small squad not every signing has to be astounding. Just a bit more depth and quality in one position for a reasonable amount of money. The big names and big money can be spent elsewhere (a creative midfielder hopefully). If and when we are in a position to challenge the top 4, we can have a summer like Chelsea. But until then we have to be realistic.

It's working for Pompey. And nobody is suggesting this is a hallmark first team signing. Small squad, decent deal, decent player.

Depends. If he's playing well enough to force out Drogba, Arouna Kone and Kalou then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Geremi wouldn't be that much of a loss (if he's still at the club in 2 years), Beye would be getting on, and it doesn't look like Martins' international career is going that well to be banking on playing for Nigeria in 2010 (www.nufc.com). Double cross that bridge when we get there I suppose, but I wouldn't be worried at the moment.

Diane didn't even make the Ivory Coast's Cup of Nations squad in January so I don't see what the problem is.

Is Rozehnal first choice for the Czech Republic this summer?

Looks like he has pace & height, two things we lack. Might not be the next Drogba, but at £2.8 mil and reasonable wages he might be the next Benjani and that would be good enough for me

But I'd add Viduka to the departures unless he takes a pay cut.

Subside Sports is the best IMO. Good selection, no problems with them at all. I've also bought from Kitbag, but I wouldn't recommend them.

Every damn fixture in HD. If only they could fix the commentary.

Thank god