chicago_shearer

In my fantasy team!

Where in NC mate? I was in the Hibernian in Cary this morning and they had it on.

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/spain/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=international_feed/07/08/11/SOCCER_Spa-Villarreal_Riquelme.html&TEAMHD=spain Riquelme to return to Villarreal.

I'm going to hold on subscribing to Setanta Broadband for now. For tomorrow I'll be at an "Irish" pub with Setanta. What annoys me is that no home cable providers either down here or up in the Midwest subscribe to Setanta (they do, however, offer a channel exclusively for Howard Stern.) You are forced to switch to DirectTV or Dish Network.

That sort of proves the point about continental rotation. If there are just about as many in UEFA as the other continental associations combined, how is it fair to rotate? It's not as if Trinidad or Panama will be competing for CONCACAF's turn any time soon is it? Personally, I'd be more than happy with an open contest for 2018. England, USA, Australia, China and whoever else. That would be best for the sport. I would prefer England because that would be the best balance of world class facilities and atmosphere. But I wouldn't be complaining too much if they gave it to the US, provided they host the final at Soldier Field.

Theyve signed J-Lloyd Samuel and Gavin McCann. Thats probably the most well known signings... Oh actually theyve sign Mikel Alonso (Xavi Alonsos older bro) Wilhelmsson & Braaten were probably Bolton's best signings - two quality wingers who could have caused trouble....but their international clearence hasn't come through in time.

I don't understand why we need one. Given first choice, Harper second, put Forster on the bench. If Harper gets injured, recall Krul. I don't know that many clubs have (or need) 3 experienced keepers in the squad.

A positive encouraging article about Newcastle in a national paper. Hell freezes & pigs fly. I really like what Chris Mort has to say. Quiet, professional and business like. Also very interesting to hear him all but confirm that the Northern Rock money was spent up front. That would explain the 50 mil spending that summer. At least it isn't all debt.

Permanent even rotation would mean that the US would be huge favourites for every Concacaf World Cup - so the US basically gets 1 every 20 years (with an outside chance of Canada or Mexico) while France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Portugal, Poland, and however many smaller nations with facilities or joint bids each battle for the UEFA spot. Is it so Eurocentric to just do a straight bidding contest? It seems to work for the IOC. Germany 2006 is the new benchmark in terms of fan attendance, atmosphere, security, infrastructure and organization. FIFA should encourage bids from any country that can match or better Germany's effort and take it from there. I don't think it will necessarily favour Europe, but it is certainly more fair than shutting the door on many countries that are capable of putting on a good tournament.

Do own goals count? If so, I hope it's Gary Speed. If not, Solano v. Bolton.

Rotation is such an unfair system. I've no idea why Uefa would have agreed to it seeing as there are any number of countries in Europe that could host a tournament and only three or four realistic options (at most) in the other confederations. Concacaf essentially means America, Canada or Mexico capable of putting together a bid.

I don't know how long the club have been with PremiumTV, but it seems like forever. It is time for a change. The fact that we have basically the same poxy website as Macclesfield Town is not only embarassing but probably also a financial handicap given the functionality of Man U's website, or Tottenham, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton etc.

Strangely enough, I'm fairly certain my grandad was the one who raised and named that auricula.

West Ham are annoying cockney mackems who are developing an obsession with buying present and ex-Newcastle players. But I don't see how there could be any truth in this story, especially given the bad blood over the Dyer saga. The Chronicle's editor should just do journalism a favour and sack Oliver!

I would love to know who the "NUFC insider" is. A disgruntled local journalist with an axe to grind? Or just a London journo's imagination? A presswatch is a really good idea, but an even better idea would be for the club's website to cut ties with PremiumTV and establish their own independent website with a proper press office. Junk like this or the Keegan DoF story or the constant Martins wish thinking from Arsenal suppoprters at the tabloids deserve a rapid, official denial. Every time. You can't ignore this tabloid rubbish or let a story grow. These tabloids can do minimal damage if the club is prepared to be as persistant as they are. I hope the club's strategic review includes public relations, because they could do a lot more.

I don't think Bolton will be dramatically worse than everyone is making out. They will definitely finish top half, maybe pushing for Europe. If they drop a few places in the table it will be because other sides (Us, Everton, Blackburn, West Ham) have improved their squads to a greater extent than they have. It's still a good team, and a draw away would be a strong result.

Enrique is a Spanish U-21 left-back with no Premiership experience that we've just paid over 6 million for. Young English players are always more expensive. I guarantee whoever ends up signing him (probably Villa) will pay around that.

If Fulham would let him go for something like 4 million, I'd take him. Good player.

I don't see anything wrong with it. He probably does enjoy being at the club and would rather have his 9 or 10 games a year than 30 or 40 at a smaller club. He might lack ambition, but Harper is never going to be first choice at Barcelona. The best he could hope for would be the No. 1 at Derby or Sunderland. Or in the Championship. And let's face it, receiving a very large yearly salary for training a few hours each week and then sitting on a bench for 90 min on Saturday afternoon isn't bad. I could very easily see myself being content with that. He'll have retired in about 4 years time and he'll look back on his career. It'll take him 30 seconds. The house(s) and car(s) it provided for him will last a lot longer. He did his bit, and he can be proud that he played for a Premiership team and in Europe. Not many players manage that. You could say the same about Given though. Yes, he plays more. So what? A goalkeeper of his quality could be at a club that wins trophies. And definitely at a club in the Champions League. I just wouldn't knock loyalty, because it is a very rare quality these days.

I don't see anything wrong with it. He probably does enjoy being at the club and would rather have his 9 or 10 games a year than 30 or 40 at a smaller club. He might lack ambition, but Harper is never going to be first choice at Barcelona. The best he could hope for would be the No. 1 at Derby or Sunderland. Or in the Championship. And let's face it, receiving a very large yearly salary for training a few hours each week and then sitting on a bench for 90 min on Saturday afternoon isn't bad. I could very easily see myself being content with that.

Satisfied and very pleased. We've filled all the "needs" (two centre-halves, a left back and two new central midfielders). It would be nice to have another right-back and possibly one more central defender, but I'm content.

Does anyone know where to find some hi-res or wallpaper quality photos from the match? I'm trying to find one of Smith's goal specifically.

I can't believe anyone could blame the club over this. All Dyer had to do was show a little maturity, stay out of trouble, shut his mouth and honour his contract. Especially after the money & time that were spent on his rehabilitation. In other words, he could have acted like a professional. He could afford a car, a train or a chartered fucking fighter jet every day to travel down to Sussex and see his kids. Or he could have moved them up to a massive mansion. Does anyone really have any sympathy with his little sob story? "Family problems", if they exist at all, are not the fault or concern of the club. If they offered to arrange a transfer for Dyer, Ashley & Mort have the right to dictate the transfer fee. At any time. Dyer cannot reveal his personal problems in late July and then expect to leave the next weekend for the cheapest possible price. If the board want 8 million, West Ham or Tottenham can pay 8 million. If that doesn't happen, Dyer has the option of picking himself up and dedicating himself to his job at Newcastle. But since he seems to behave like a self obsessed teenager, I don't see that happening.

I'll be very disappointed but not surprised if this was all just hype for his agent in order to get him a better deal from Sevilla.

Van Der Vaart. But only because there would then be pictures of his missus at SJP. http://www.sylvievdvaart.nl/gfx/cover30.jpg