simonsays

Craig Gardner would be no more than a sideways step in terms of ability. He has more to his game than Nolan, also is fairly young. Nolan is hardly old at 28 He turns 29 on 24th June. Oh, my mistake - he's clearly past it then Just saying, man! Sorry, not meaning to have a go, but the idea that only players who are under 25 are worth having, that seems quite common on this forum, really pisses me off. I think we'd all admit that Nolan's game is limited but he has experience and leadership qualities that are already severely lacking in our team.

Craig Gardner would be no more than a sideways step in terms of ability. He has more to his game than Nolan, also is fairly young. Nolan is hardly old at 28 He turns 29 on 24th June. Oh, my mistake - he's clearly past it then

Craig Gardner would be no more than a sideways step in terms of ability. He has more to his game than Nolan, also is fairly young. Nolan is hardly old at 28 looks like he's 35 and plays like a 40 year old though. Imagine that in 2 years time? how many 40 year old midfielders do you know of who have scored 12 goals in the premier league?

Craig Gardner would be no more than a sideways step in terms of ability. He has more to his game than Nolan, also is fairly young. Nolan is hardly old at 28

exactly, people on here are getting so excited about wonder scout Carr going and buying a dozen new Tiote's while not bothering to think about what might happen if they don't all adapt to English football as well as he has

Fits in with the rumours that we want a versatile forward who can play up front as well as wide too

Or Nolan is limited, has spat his dummy out at a new contract and wants away. Nolan wanting away must be a factor in this (if it's true). From Ashley's point of view it's probably going to take more than 4m, or whatever the fee is, to replace him and we all know that he doesn't like big spending to replace players. Anyone fancy Gardner to replace him if he goes? Axel has it in the bag, more money, much longer contract and won't have to fight for a first team place. WHam will be favs to come straight back up as well. It's a good move for Kevin Nolan, if we get back what we paid for him it can be a good move for us as well. Gardner would easily replace him on the pitch, in fact he'd be a vast improvement as he can score all types of goals and isn't just an opportunist. Problem being captaincy, yes he's a good captain, but he can be replaced and Barton is the man to do it, give him the captaincy as part of him signing a new deal. It's said Smith offers a lot to the team spirit, can't see anyone wanting him to hang around just for that, fair enough Nolan scores goals, but in terms of what else they provide on the pitch its very similar and we cannot afford passengers, I think Cabaye would have him benched after a few games and will become much more important to the balance of the team than the odd chance of a Nolan goal. I don't think Barton will be signing a new deal if Nolan leaves

There's no problem with him moving while on loan. He might mature, he might impress, he might up his value, but he might also be s****. It's definitely the best option anyway. Or more likely he won't mature and will show his attitude is s*** wherever he is playing. We will then have missed out on the chance to get rid of him and could be stuck with him for the next five years

Until we know what system Pardew is planning to use it is hard to know what sort of striker would work best. If he plans to play three attacking players who are all capable of scoring around the new striker it may be that a big, strong Target man who can bring other players into the game and contribute 10 or so goals a season might well be more effective than an put and out goal scorer

At least Ashley saved that £500k he was giving to the staff as a reward for finishing in the top 10

At present Caroll is at a similar level as Duncan Ferguson was when he was at Everton - an absolute beast in the air, better on the ground than he is given credit for and unplayable on his day. To compare Carroll with Shearer at the moment though is ridiculous.

Our policy does seem to be to hoover up players who have minimal time left on their contracts. I would be surprised to see us in for anyone who has longer than 12 months left on their current deal come the summer

Watch Messi's goals. 80% of them are defensive errors. I would, i don't think he'll ever be a starter for England he was brought through at a young age and got him noticed he doesn't look that good for me. I agree, and I think it happens a lot in England. Players potentials are often overrated if they break through at a younger age. He's got potential to be a good player, just not as good as some people are making out imo. Agreed - just because he has matured physically quicker than most other players his age, it doesn't make him worth £10m. He looks promising, but 10m quid is a joke considering you could get established (non-english) internationals for the same price

I agree. I'm not sure why everyone has to side with either Carroll or Ashley - can't we just say that they are all c**ts and should all take a portion of the blame and move on. As long as we re-invest in the summer I'll be reasonably happy.

if we hadn't been relegated would Carroll ever have got in our first team?

The rumour about chopra was on RTG at about 2 this afternoon. Hope to god It's not true

What was the name of that massive young African striker we were supposed to be interested in? Can't remember his name, but he was about 6 foot 7 and built like a brick s*it house

Im convinced we'll get sturridge in, at least on loan, as part of the transfer merry go round between us, Liverpool and chelsea

Exactly, dont see what they could offer that we shouldnt be able to at this point. We should have a clear advantage really. Bizarre. They think he is worth £35 million and apparently we don't

The reason he is so valuable to us is not just that he has the potential to be very good, but that he actually wants to stay at Newcastle. Having a player with a scrap of loyalty is very rare these days (Darren Bent). While I agree that Suarez is a very good player there is no gaurantee he will settle in England or adapt to the English style of play meaning he is much more of a gamble than Carrol would be fo an English club - it is this together with ability that determines the value of a player.

he's managed to be a squad player in a team which has been good, average and s*** for ten years. think about that

And yet you'll argue in favour of Bothroyd who has a significantly inferior goalscoring record. Weird. Perhaps Bothroyd is peaking now though, wheras Shola has been consistently average through his entire career.

Well considering he scored 10 in 11 starts last season I don't understand what this inference is based on. That division is dogshit. The likes of Ebanks-Blake and Jason Scotland have ripped it to shreds in the past. Chopra is the Drogba of that division and Kevin Nolan was it's Lampard. If Shola could keep himself fit for upwards of 40 games he'd hit 25 goals, absolutely no doubt. With Shola's fitness problems lies the difficulty in him ever achieving this, obviously. would he do it in a team that wasn't far superior to the rest of the league though? Put Shola in an average championship team and I thinki he would struggle to get more than 15 a season - even if he could stay fit.

If there were 4 or 5 players who were knackered why did he decide to play them all?