gazza ladra

Claudio Pizarro?

Or Duff for that matter. Luque is not going to be more useful than Duff.

1. Distin 2. Brown 3. Campbell 4. Viduka 5. Barton 6. Davies 7. Appiah 8. Speed 9. Baines 10. Nugent 11. Tuncay 12. Neil 13. Ashton 14. Boulahrouz 15. Mertesacker

At £30m, how can Shevchenko not be the worst signing? Upson has got to be in the first team as well--- or at least when he is fit.

Best appointment since Robson!

Hey, I love Bremen--- would take Klose, Klasnic, Borowski, Frings in a heart beat. (Edit: oh, and Mertesacker while you're at it) But, Borowski and Klasnic are both out for the season (I think) and, let's face it German clubs have not been doing very well in Europe for quite a while now. My final of choice would definitely be NUFC and Werder Bremen. you don't get it do you,you rate bremen therefore we want them out before we have to play them.dream final for me is nufc V Braga.........after braga lose 6 players through kevin brock style headaches that morning. I don't get it? BS. I want to see NUFC win and I want to see a good game-- preference would be to see two attacking sides go at each other. Bremen can play some exciting football, and we showed last night that we can too. There is not a team left in the tournament that we can't beat. For me, Sevilla is the biggest obstacle. Bremen, Spurs, Lens, and the others are all very beatable.

Couldn't we field that team next year? Why wait two?

Hey, I love Bremen--- would take Klose, Klasnic, Borowski, Frings in a heart beat. (Edit: oh, and Mertesacker while you're at it) But, Borowski and Klasnic are both out for the season (I think) and, let's face it German clubs have not been doing very well in Europe for quite a while now. My final of choice would definitely be NUFC and Werder Bremen.

Michael Owen.

Werder Bremen are contending in the Bundesliga, not the Premiership. AZ are second (?) in the Eredivise. Hell, Palermo are still third in Serie A. If Sevilla go out, it is between us and Spurs.

Quality defenders-- preferably at least one world-class defender (Hello, Jonathan?)-- and a creative midfielder would do the trick.

and we all know how competition has brought out the best in both N'Zogbia and Duff.

Quality defenders and a creative midfielder and we're there.

At this point English clubs have done so well we can all afford a little schadenfreude. Don't like any of them, but the club I'd love to see tank is Tottenham.

2-0 Martins and Duff

Snap their arms off! err.

Depends. Might play Duff at left back and Zog on the left wing. Might pair Zog with Parker and play Duff on the left wing. (who knows if Emre will play again) Zog wasn't that impressive and Duff has looked better recently (albeit against part-timers) Still waiting for Duff to come through.

Agree. Much better than Babel. Should definitely be a target if we are looking for strikers. If money is a consideration, we should probably be looking elsewhere first.

Don't know a lot about bookmaking... but don't they adjust the odds based on the number of bets they receive one way or the other? Odds are long if no one is betting on the team. Shorten if they receive a lot of bets.

How many black people have the required badges? How many black people are interested in coaching and management? How many imagine racism where it may not/or does not exist, and therefore don't apply for jobs or go on coaching courses because of that? Indeed how many apply for jobs full stop? John Barnes didn't have to apply for a job, Ince got himself a job, so did Kieth Curle and others. How many academies have you been to? You don't know how many black people work behind the scenes in football as coaches or how many are, as I write, doing their coaching badges. If black people pack up their boots and decied to drop out of football altogether after retiring, because they think chairman only want white managers or white coaches or because the low numbers discourage them, more fool them and do you know what, the game doesn't need people like that who are unwilling to climb walls or smash them down. Racism is a hurdle, a big one without a doubt, for any individual who has to deal with it, but not insurmountable. 30-40 years ago, black kids were being jeered at junior games by parents for being black, pelted with bananas and spat at by fellow kids on the opposition team, some of their own team-mates wouldn't even pass to them, they overcome all that to become a permanent fixture of our game, a part of our game's history and today, they are very much a part of its future, as players, managers and coaches, racism or no racism, if they have the desire, attitude and above all else, the talent, they will succeed. They may have to climb a few walls but then, when has life ever been easy, whether you happen to be black or white... I'd say based on the musings of people like Kris Kamara who have spoke in great detail about this issue a number of times now, that it isn't just racist attitudes that need to change, but the attitudes of many would-be black managers or black coaches regarding racism. Kamara thinks one day we'll see many ill-equipped, unskilled black managers in jobs not because they are talented or have earned their spurs, but simply to make up some ridiculous quota, or the result of a sympathy vote, and that would be a real shame and totaly the wrong way to go. Fair enough. Earlier in this thread I asked that very question -- how many blacks are acquiring the badges? Comparing the relative percentages of blacks who are acquiring badges versus those that are hired, would be the most telling number and would be the place to start if we want a serious discussion of the topic.

I disagree. Not the numbers in the total population, but the number of people in the game provide a better picture of the situation. It is unreasonable to think Asians would be represented, because there are so few in the game. One would expect that there would be more black coaches because there are more that are in the game and, therefore, more that are qualified. Only those three reasons. Are you positive that it is only three possible reasons? Blame? you don't even acknowledge it is a possibility. It is easier to deny it even exists and to shout down the topic. If? You just stated there are three reasons... and racism wasn't one of them. Ok, anyway, now that you allow that walls might exist (although at best they present only a small obstacle-- not as bad as portrayed. And then you have the gall to blame Crooks for not standing up and break down those walls. Just a minute ago you weren't even allowing for the possibility of racism as a cause and now you are comparing Crooks to a sledgehammer. What the f*** is up with that? Yes. But none of this is as simple or easy as you claim. For you, apparently, it is all crystal clear. I assume that is because you choose not to look at the whole picture.

No, not really. I am glad to see that you acknowledge that you should not have added the FACT the statement of opinion. I would hope that you would reconsider that opinion and reflect on how you arrived at that belief. It would be good for you.

Tried telling certain people this throughout the thread, your spot on opinion or near as damn it FACT mackems.gif is lost on certain individuals. again? Is it not a fact there are more black players in the game these days than back in the 80s? Are you stupid or thick? There are facts and there are the conclusions that are drawn from those facts. The fact that there are more players now than there were in the past does not support the other statements that you are offering as FACTS. ie. that anti-racism campaigns are proof of a lack of racism in club boardrooms that blacks are too lazy to apply for the correct badges that blacks can't be arsed to do the work that racism doesn't exist, isn't that bad, is just an excuse and on and on. I was laughing at your habit of throwing out an opinion (often a ill-considered, prejudiced one) and thinking, apparently, that it is validated by typing the word FACT in uppercase.

Tried telling certain people this throughout the thread, your spot on opinion or near as damn it FACT mackems.gif is lost on certain individuals. again?

Actually, we've been racking up points over the past couple of seasons and are ranked very highly. This is because we've been in the UEFA Cup and not the Champions League and so are facing clubs from Belgium and the like.