Cronky

For the wide positions, we've got Milner, Duff, Zoggy and Gutierrez, not to mention Lua Lua coming up through the ranks, who I think needs to be given more experience. Somebody's got to go, or be moved to another position. Milner did well at Villa down the middle. He can beat a man on both sides, and has a good shot on him, so you can see the logic. Somehow I just think that lack of outright pace is going to limit how far he's going to be able to go in his career, no matter how hard he works.

I don't mind clubs spending money, but it really should be money that they've generated for themselves. Whether that's through commercial activities, gate money or TV doesn't matter. If clubs are all self-financing, it ensures that there's some scope for competition, even if you don't have complete equality. When you get a mega-rich billionaire who's prepared to dip into what is effectively a bottomless pit of money from outside the game, it distorts the whole picture and only inflates transfer fees and wages to a dangerous degree. I know Ashley has pumped in some money, but it was to clear a debt and safeguard his original investment. He's quite right to insist that, hereon in, the club should only spend from its income.

It's hard to look beyond the three promoted clubs. As a long shot, Blackburn could implode. There seems to be a lot of players with itchy feet.

There's some sense in there, but it's also a bit naive. Example - “If an agent does a good job for me then I will pay him - but I don’t deal with players’ agents or agents employed by other clubs.” Ummm... His comments are also a bit personal. He over-steps the mark between criticism and abuse.

I'm not convinced that we were actually after Aimar at all. Going by the press stories, he agreed to join Benfica on the same day that his agent was in Newcastle negotiating personal terms. That doesn't sound that likely. Hypothetically of course, if an agent was trying to get more money from the club that his player was wanting to join, it might not be a bad idea to put about a story that he was about to sign for someone else.

It's a bit of a scattergun rant, where everything is at fault except Simon Jordan. We all know that money brings muck with it, and he needs to come up with some practical ideas to focus on. Where he does have a point is this business of big clubs raiding smaller clubs for their 16 - 18 year olds, after the smaller club has done all the work of nurturing the player along. The compensation that the smaller clubs get is inadequate. I doubt whether you could ban the practice, because that would infringe employment law, but the amount of compensation should be a deterrent. £700,000 for Bostock is no risk at all. I know we've taken advantage of this ourselves, with N'Zogbia and Zamblera, and if everyone's doing it, one single club isn't going to stop. It needs collective action.

Duff has struggled for fitness over the last two seasons, and that can affect a player's confidence. If he's got that sorted out, then we'll have a very good player who can really worry defences.

I'd much rather believe that we wanted him and couldn't get him. Turning him down would have been crazy.

I think that's a good analysis. We've lacked the ability to move the ball forward with pace and control for the last few seasons, and ended up either hoofing the ball long or making aimless passes that are designed to retain possession rather than threaten the opposition. I actually think that, with Gutierrez and Guthrie, and the attempted signing of Modric, that Keegan is trying to address that problem. I'd agree about another good CB and a target man. Taylor hasn't developed as well as I'd hoped, and Viduka just looks too slow now. Carroll may step up to the mark, but that's a risk. He's not exactly quick either.

A really good centre back. That's the most important position in any team. A DM who can pass the ball. eg Torsten Frings.

I just hope this means we've got someone better / just as good lined up.

Exactly. Unless he's asking for silly money, it's daft to turn this down.

Frings was one player I picked out from the EC that could really do a job for us. Yes please.

My impression was that neither Allardyce nor Keegan seemed to have complete confidence in Enrique. I'm not quite sure why exactly. But I get the feeling that Keegan is actually looking for somebody for the first team, not someone as cover.

I doubt whether City's pursuit of Ronaldinho was a cynical exercise in boosting season ticket sales. It very much looked like an owner's fantasy, on the false reasoning that one great individual is going to transform a side. Ronaldinho always seemed reluctant to go to Manchester, so I reckon City have had a lucky escape. Throwing money at an unwilling player isn't a sensible route to go down.

I don't know De Jong, but a DM who's better on the ball than Butt would make a big difference to us. Hopefully, that's what Keegan is looking at here.

I never liked David Batty. He could have been a much better player, but he lacked initiative and real leadership. I always felt he concentrated on not making a mistake rather than making something happen. Often looked good, actually produced little. I don't dislike players for playing shit if they ARE shit.

There's a blog by Luke Edwards on the ic Newcastle website which I do rather agree with. Basically, I fear for this lad if he doesn't get off to a good start. There's such a lot of scepticism about him that it might not take much for the crowd to be on his case and potentially ruin his confidence. Hopefully we'll give the lad a chance.

I don't have any strong opinions on Anton Ferdinand, but by golly Sunday is most certainly the first day of the week. It arises from the time when everyone used to work Saturdays, and Sunday was the only day of R and R. (ie when there was no such thing as a 'weekend'.)

He's not as bad as some people say, but there again he'd have to be quadraplegic to be as bad as some people say. He put in a few decent stints as a target man, and he is actually quite a good passer of the ball. Since his injury though, there's a real problem with his pace. He was never quick to start off with, and now he gets beaten to the ball quite regularly. Once in possession, he can use the ball quite well though. If the team as a whole improves, I think we'll see some better performances from Smith. I'd keep him for another season.

A good centre back. John Terry would do.

I think we're a bit top heavy with players who, even if they aren't old, aren't improving any more - Viduka, Duff, Smith, Owen, Butt, Geremi. I'm all for looking to the long-term now and getting young players in, even if it means another season in mid-table. It's not as though we can compete for the established top quality at this time anyway.

I understand it's as a player. Ince cannot win with this one. Even if Fowler gets in the team, people will say it's because he's a personal friend of the manager.

If Man U wanted him and were willing to pay his current wages, he'd be off like a shot. Same for most players. Our board seem pretty confident that Owen wouldn't be able to get the same money anywhere else.

Sorted.