Cronky

Well, exactly. Of course players are going to look at what their other options are in January.

Will a lawyer let you stick to your principles when there is a wad full of cash being waved in front of you/them or will they pressure you to settle ? The lawyers work for Keegan. It's his decision ultimately whether to continue or settle. I think that's a good point. We can't assume that Keegan necessarily has a strong case here. Successful people often have a lot of pride, and sometimes pursue court actions whem they're on quite flimsy ground, legally speaking, because they hate to be beaten. I also imagine that winning your case at a Premiership tribunal may be a different matter from winning in the High Court, where stricter legal conditions are likely to apply. If Keegan's case rests on him not giving his consent to transfers, I just wonder how he's going to demonstrate that. He's in the position of having to prove a negative - ie that something didn't happen - which is a notoriously difficult job.

It could be difficult for Keegan to prove that a player was signed without his consent. Unless his signature is required, it may be a matter of one person's word against the other's. In Xisco's case, he actually met the player beforehand, so his grounds there may be a bit flimsy. That only leaves Gonzalez, who of course was a loan signing.

Isnt this statement, their "climbdown" as you call it, evidence of them admitting their mistakes ? It doesn't really sound like that. They seemed to want Ashley to admit the error of his ways. I wasn't meaning it literally when I suggested that NUSC should admit their mistakes. I don't want or expect either party to start grovelling. I just thought it was a bit of a cheek that they should be expecting that of Ashley. I agree completely that neither party is going to come out grovelling. Its a start though and someone had to start the process of calling for some kind of truce. I guess we should be thankful someone has. Be good if Mike came out now and said something positive. The worse thing now would be for him to stay silent and for resentment to start growing again. God knows none of us want that Yes, I'd welcome something from Ashley, but I'm not surprised he's hesitant. He won't want to risk re-awakening the protests, albeit ones which will be on a more minor scale. I also think that part of the package for Ashley was the whole craic of putting on the replica shirt and drinking with the fans at nightclubs etc I suspect that dream has gone, and some of the motivation may have disappeared as a result. This was an accident that was bound to happen, because Chairmen or owners are bound to disappoint the fans at some stage - to a greater or lesser extent. They can't mingle like they're one of the lads, and Ashley has to come to terms with that.

Unfortunately, it's not the job of lawyers to expose the truth - only to help their clients win.

Isnt this statement, their "climbdown" as you call it, evidence of them admitting their mistakes ? It doesn't really sound like that. They seemed to want Ashley to admit the error of his ways. I wasn't meaning it literally when I suggested that NUSC should admit their mistakes. I don't want or expect either party to start grovelling. I just thought it was a bit of a cheek that they should be expecting that of Ashley.

What commitment? All the money he has put in he wants back with no net gain (and allowing for ST/TV money a net loss) to the club. I honestly can't believe you think theres anyway forward for him without a massive change of tack. Well we don't know how much he's asking for the club, but I've no problem with him getting the full market value. In his statement, he'd cleared the debts and he was prepared to write off £20 million a year. That's what I mean by his commitment. Everyone will have their own opinion how genuine that was, but personally I think he was on the level and was in it for the long haul. What's more, I think he had a good long-term strategy for the club. On this issue of the £20 million, which a lot of people instantly think will be devoted to transfer fees - that's a contribution to the entire running cost of the club, including wages etc A lot of the sponsor money had already been spent in advance.

this looks like their most reasoned and professional piece of publicity so i dont know why youd say that. as for a climbdown, what do you expect them to do? they cant change the reality of the situation that Ashley can't or won't sell so have to make do with what we have. had they came out and said they were going to up the protests and wanted him out you would still say they were a 'tin pot' organisation. Well as I said, I'm happy to read this, but you really want an organisation that's going to think through its views and reactions in a calm way. They encouraged the hysterical over-reaction that caused Ashley to seek a buyer in the first place, and things could change in just the same kind of impulsive, badly informed way in the future if something happens that doesn't please them. I'd like Ashley to renew his commitment, but I hope he continues to have nothing to do with this bunch of idiots. They're the ones who should be admitting their mistakes. The NUSC wasnt even formed when Ashley made his statement so Im not sure how you can come out with that? Point taken, but the organisation was founded by True Faith, the Mag and Nufc.com, who were the loudest voices in the fools chorus that drove Ashley out.

It seems to be designed to create a few welcome paydays for the smaller clubs in Eastern Europe. All very well, but it just makes it look even more second-rate compared to the Champions League. Personally, I'm not bothered whether we qualify for it or not.

Although it was obvious over the last fortnight that something was brewing, overall I'm surprised about this. They're going through a difficult time at the moment, but overall I don't think Keane has done a bad job. My feeling is that there's something in his character - a lack of willingness to accept the ups and downs and hassles - that in the end has made him unsuited to management. It looks like the minute the upward momentum has stalled, he loses motivation.

£20 million for a player who will turn 31 this month? Now that's a radical change of policy.

I meant it as a joke, but... now you remind me, the issue of Zoggy and friendship does seem to arise more often than with other players. He certainly looks a bit like Billy No-Mates out there on the pitch. And on the issue of whether Ronaldo really produces against the top teams (argument from earlier in the thread), I was interested to see the following from Gabriele Marcotti today - My colleague Oliver Kay cogently outlined why Cristiano Ronaldo deserves the Ballon d'Or. Among the counter-arguments that he sifts through is the charge that Ronaldo's a flat-track bully. So I checked. Since the summer of 2005 - when, I think we can all agree, he kicked it up a notch - he has faced Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal 21 times in all competitions, scoring four goals. Hardly a sterling return. And, actually, United performed marginally better against the rest of the "big four" WITHOUT Ronaldo than WITH him in that period. What does it prove? Not much, they're only numbers. Use them any way you like.

Ah Mr Bellamy, we should never have parted.

It's worth pointing out that Ashley has been in charge for just over a year, and there has been a lot of upheaval in that time. We've all got our opinions on how things have gone, and why, but it's actually still early days in the lifetime of a football club.

There are clear hazards in this DOF system, and ideally you'd want a DOF and Manager who had already worked together and who knew and trusted one another. It does involve a high level of co-operation and a willingness to compromise. Having said all that, I'd still like to see us give it another go - mainly because I think Wise has actually done a good job, and it'd be a shame to lose him. Bassong, Coloccini, Jonas, Guthrie plus some promising youngsters - all at reasonable prices. I also think we need a long-term plan. Throwing money at big name signings isn't an option - partly because we don't have the finance but also because there's too big a gap to the big four, who are bound to attract the better players at the moment. We need a good, world-wide scouting system and a good Academy to develop players, and that needs a lot of attention, particularly in the early stages. It's like asking the first-team manager to do two jobs. I think it could work a lot better second time around, although I admit there are risks. I don't think Keegan was ever really committed to the system and in the end he was looking for a way out.

Both Jonas and Duff have been wandering around, and it's been one of the better features of our play. You need a bit of flexibility and unpredictability. I like 4-3-3 as a formation, because it does offer a bit more flexibility, but that tends to mean that the three in the middle are central midfield players so that there's a bit of defensive strength. Last season, if I remember right, it was Butt, Geremi and Barton. Given that our wide players are one of our stronger points, it'd be a pity to leave them out. You could push them into the attacking positions, but then you wonder who's going to get the goals. I'd like to see it given a go, but you can understand that Kinnear doesn't want to take too many chances in our current position. I suspect he's a 4-4-2 man anyway.

Well they're different players who offer a different package to the side. But the best striking combination that I've seen recently has been Shola and Martins, and it's the combination that counts.

this looks like their most reasoned and professional piece of publicity so i dont know why youd say that. as for a climbdown, what do you expect them to do? they cant change the reality of the situation that Ashley can't or won't sell so have to make do with what we have. had they came out and said they were going to up the protests and wanted him out you would still say they were a 'tin pot' organisation. Well as I said, I'm happy to read this, but you really want an organisation that's going to think through its views and reactions in a calm way. They encouraged the hysterical over-reaction that caused Ashley to seek a buyer in the first place, and things could change in just the same kind of impulsive, badly informed way in the future if something happens that doesn't please them. I'd like Ashley to renew his commitment, but I hope he continues to have nothing to do with this bunch of idiots. They're the ones who should be admitting their mistakes.

If this is true, this is quite a climbdown. I'm happy to hear about it, but NUSC come across from all this as a tin pot organisation that really doesn't have a clue what it's doing.

Benitez ruled that out unequivocally last night. If he goes at all, he'll go to one of the aspiring clubs in the North / Midlands area - Man City, Villa or Everton. If the big four were interested, he'd have left two years ago. Whatever the formation, he's a specialist goal-poacher and it's only worth including a player like that if you can be assured that he's going to finish nearly every chance that comes his way. That just isn't the case with Owen, mainly because he's still extremely weak on his left foot. Plus, of course, he can't sprint away from defenders like he used to.

Surely if that's going to happen you put Bassong at left back, given that he's left footed Well there are various ways of juggling things around, but I'd keep Bassong and Coloccini as centre backs, as they're our best combination. Taylor would be there to add his heading ability for defensive set pieces.

I thought the Chelsea - Arsenal game was fantastic. I wish the big four monopoly would end, but I have to say they produce great entertainment. It was interesting that Arsenal kept on attacking after they went ahead, despite Andy Gray endlessly spouting the conventional wisdom about 'shutting up shop'. They looked likely to add to their lead, whereas Chelsea became more and more ragged. I've often thought that this idea of funnelling back into defence to protect a lead is an over-rated tactic. Often, you see teams surrendering the initiative, and being unable to retain any possession, because they end up just clearing the ball to the opposition. I do wonder whether attack is a better option than caution, if only teams had the nerve to keep believing in it.

Those long, flat throws terrify me. Colo isn't the best in the air, so I'd put Taylor in at RB as reinforcement and switch Beye to the left just for this game. Providing we snuff out their aerial threat, we should win comfortably.

As you say, he managed to get a few goals in the 433 through being able to make runs into the box unmarked, on to the end of chances. However, I don't think the creative side of his play was any better then, than now in a 442. The trouble is, his close control and passing isn't that good. That's why he's been dropped from the England squad and the big four haven't been interested.

Pure speculation, as they say.