Scribble

So the fans alone pick the team? If we clap him Sam will play him, regardless of his form? staggering view.

This is good news, he's a good player and I'm glad he's staying. The lad had a good U21 campaign, one of their better players as usual.

The Times ran virtually the same story as quoted on page 1 but made no mention of Newcastle at all. It's just a case of a paper baselessly throwing our name at a player in order to jazz up a story - shocking eh?

Good player imo, but gets a lot of yellow and reds from what I remember, can be too aggressive. Hope we can do better.

Haven't seen this anywhere else so I'll mention it here. This morning on SSN, in their Transfer Talk round up, they mentioned that Sam is after Rigters the Dutch U21 striker (and top scorer of recent U21's Championship). What makes me doubt this one, is that they reckoned it would be for a fee of about half a million. Thought he'd be worth more than that. Edit -> got link Source: http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=474119&CPID=9&clid=4&lid=&title=Celtic+target+'to+leave'+NAC Celtic target Maceo Rigters will leave NAC Breda this summer, according to his agent. Rigters ended the recent European Under 21 Championship as top scorer as Holland retained the trophy, and skysports.com has previously revealed that both Celtic and Newcastle are following the NAC player. It is the Scottish club who have seemingly shown the stronger interest in Rigters, who has met with his current employers to discuss his current situation. Agent Ton Smit now believes the forward will leave NAC in search of a bigger stage. "That [meeting] has succeeded," Smit told BN/De Stern. "The differences of interpretation have been solved. "That's why I think that Rigters will leave NAC." However, the Dutch club have been quick to underline that Celtic must still firm up their interest in the 23-year-old. "First Celtic will have to undertake concrete action," said technical director Earnest Stewart. "After that will follow eventual negotiations."

Yeah, Yeah! Tezza you have survival skills akin to the mighty cockroach. And it's to your credit sir!

Was just about to say the saem thing Slugsy

And like that... ...he's gone.

The whole report just looks like they've 're-interpreted' what he said at the Press Conference, and tried to give it a more sensational spin. Wouldn't read too much into this at all, I was very pleased with what he said in front of the cameras. Afterall, he did say that he wanted oba and owen to stay and that "you dont want to lose your leading goalscorers" when asked about them. No point getting uptight about some rag trying to look for something negative on a positive day.

WTF!?! Bigfoot sighting in newton aycliff

That pic is fucking quality! Just spat tea everywhere Think Sam would suit that beardy thing too

ditto... im waiting for this super special email like Got my top secret email and will be grabbing a couple of tickets next wednesday

Respect for the man for resigning and not sticking out for the cash. Seemed like a nice bloke and really wanted to do well for the club. The job was too big for him as it turns out, but he does deserve some thanks for last season's results. Now Freddy get this one right (or better yet, follow Glen's example).

Could it not be down to the player seeing himself as a central midfielder rather than a winger (could well be why Roeder went for Duff) ? I am sure there were quotes in newspapers last season that he'd prefer a different role ultimately other than as a winger. He is a good player, but not good enough in the centre (well, perhaps not yet judging by this season's performances). He's out of form, and his bad injury did not really help this season. I'd definitely like him to stay, but as a winger (also think he'd be a cracking left back eventualy, if he would accept the role).

Got to agree about Dyer, he kept drifting in, making himself unavailable by standing centrally at the edge of the box. He should be dropped on his form of late. He totally unbalanced our team going forward, in the first half Butt had to cover his position and I felt sorry for Solano being left with the winger and full-back a couple of times. He was more disciplined in the second half but still drifited in, which limited Nobby's options going forward. He should have been subbed for charles and moved milner over to the right-hand side. Glen takes far too long to make subs, as the game was crying out for a change in the second half with Caroll to be brought on and someone else for Dyer. Still, most of the team played really well, and its nice being able to disagree about MoM when there are so many candidates (personally thought Butt deserved it). The centre of midfield looked solid, the back for were a good unit, and our left side worked well for two right footed players (ok milner can use his left as well but mainly right footed). Slight off game for Martins too.

Succinctly put, and a good point.

I can see where you are coming from and some of the criticism is OTT. But a lot of frustration is from not what he does but what he doesnt do. He isn't really a creative midfielder and doesnt play defence-splitting passes, he holds up play while he looks to pass (holding up play good for a striker, not so good in his position), his play can be fairly negative (side-ways passes very little going forward or spotting runs by Oba), and his captaincy is pretty uninspiring imo as he doesnt shout or gee up the players when they get sloppy or need a boost. He does tackle and cover very well and you never get less than 100% from him, but not an AM like Emre, so with him and Butt you have a solid but uninspiring centre of midfield. I think he's a good player just perhaps its a case of either him or Butt with us looking a bit insipid going forward and lacking in ideas when they both play.

Renewing, and hoping we're on the up.

Scary, but definitely true.

He'll be sending e-mails telling you he's got millions in the bank but needs you to get it out for him :winking:

Keep. Good player, works hard and looks to get the ball forward. Plays best alongside Butt in the middle.

Could be injuries have taken their toll. But he's been sloppy, weak in the air and doesnt seem to give everything for the team for a while now. Keep Nobby there, and hopefully find a buyer for Carr in the summer when we can get a young replacement.

Is this article a 'come and get me' plea to any clubs looking for a left back? Even if it is poor old Wayne voicing his melancholy, it's nicely timed for January. :winking:

I'd imagine Butt's got a good few years in him. He didnt really play a great deal of football at Old Trafford, compared with some of their players so it's not as if he's been overplayed throughout his career. He acts like a good pro and dosent really rely on pace for his game. Some people always want to move on to 'the next big thing' though.

No end of story. He was a good player when he went to Chelsea but he seems well off form at the moment. He's not what we need, we have Milner in his position in great form, a player who's constantly worked hard for us (despite really shoddy treatment), who deserves to keep his place. It's spending cash which would by far be better spent on other positions where we are actually short of personnel.