Cronky

Indi - I'd agree that we need to get a Beardsley-type player who can link midfield and attack, but we should be doing that in addition to getting a target man who's better than Viduka, not instead of. Ashton is quite immobile, but he's one of those rare players who can create time and space for himself simply by his skill on the ball. To say that he's a 'target man and nothing else' is nonsense. He didn't have the greatest game against Trinidad, but there was one moment where the ball came at him, with pace, at about chest height, and, easy as anything, he pulled it down from the air so that it just dropped perfectly to his feet. He does that kind of thing all the time.

He'll do whatever it takes to win, and that includes accusing other clubs of things where he knows he's been guilty himself. I wouldn't say I like him, because he seems a bit scary. But I admire him. And compared with other managers, his comments on football can be quite interesting and intelligent.

I disagree, we also have a choice not to take the risk. I know it sounds crazy but I think it could be done. I know I haven't really explained myself there. I'll try make some sense for once. I rate Dean Ashton, he's a quality player, he could very well be a huge player for this club, but he's got an injury record, this makes him a risk. I don't see anyone out there, with a proven ability in the PL, who can have as big an impact in the role of CF and that we realistically could attract, than Ashton. A strong target man is just what we need, since we really can't rely on Viduka, and Ashton fits the bill completely. It's a risk and at 10 mill a huge risk, but a risk I think we must take if we want to progress. But as I said earlier, I think we are being used here to bump up his contract offer. Or we could all stop living in the past, get over this "We absolutely must have a big target-man up front" thing, stop relying on the "tactic" of booting the ball up the pitch in the general direction of some big lump and praying for a miracle that is him getting the better of the opposition's defenders considering the vast majority of premiership centre-halves can deal with that all day long, get the team playing some decent passing football and try and move away from being the one-dimensional bottom-half cloggers we seem to have become over the last few years. Dean Ashton is a big step backwards in my view. I think you're seriously under-estimating Ashton there. Yes, he plays as a target man, but his touch on the ball is absolutely superb, and he's very comfortable when the ball is played on the deck.

Things have improved, but I wouldn't say we're stable yet. I'm not yet convinced that the new managerial set up is going to work. Over the years, we've earned ourselves a bad reputation for problems behind the scenes and KK's spat over the top four won't have helped.

I'd heard that, at the time that Keegan left Man City, a lot of senior players were rather pissed off with him and weren't sorry to see him go. A lot of people assume that players like Dunne would be eager to be reunited with Keegan, but I'm wouldn't be confident of that. pissed off why? The training was boring and old-fashioned. Keegan had lost his spark and was a rather non-inspirational presence. Allegedly.

I'd heard that, at the time that Keegan left Man City, a lot of senior players were rather pissed off with him and weren't sorry to see him go. A lot of people assume that players like Dunne would be eager to be reunited with Keegan, but I'm wouldn't be confident of that.

He's a difficult player to assess. One minute, he'll do something that's very difficult, really well. Next minute, he'll make a mess of a simple situation. I wonder whether the problem is in his head, and whether he's one of the players that Capello has in mind when he talks about good in training, not so good in matches.

It's been more interesting for identifying the players who really aren't international class. Despite the two goals, Defoe doesn't look up to it. Ashley Young is as thick as two short ones. And if Capello plays Beckham ahead of Bentley, I'll totally lose faith in him.

Good way of putting it. When it comes to CL elite rejects/castoffs, we should avoid: 1) Players who's game used to be based around pace back when they were top class. 2) Players who have a track record of injury problems. I think we'd be better off paying over the odds for some of Blackburn's/Pompey's star players, assuming we could sign them. Whatever you might say about SWP, pace isn't the problem. I've not seen any evidence that he's slowed down.

This was the frustrating thing about Emre. He had the ability to do better here, but he played too much like an individual. At times he was like an eager little puppy dog, chasing around to get involved, and then he didn't have the energy to get back into position. His efforts seemed to come in bursts, and for an experienced player, he was a bit naive.

1. Richard Dunne, of realistic targets 2. Faye 3. Lua Lua 4. More chances to Lua Lua. 5. Richard Dunne 6. 4-3-3 7. N'Zogbia 8. 6th, if we strengthen the squad

Source: http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l23013a.htm Is it possible for football to be granted some kind of EU exemption? I'm not particularly advocating that. It's just that it would probably be in the interests of every EU country apart from the UK for that exemption to be made, and you can never under-estimate the power of self-interest. There is serious concern in Europe about the dominance of the Premiership.

I've always felt that Viana was SBR's worst decision. Paying big money for young players is always a bit of a gamble, but in this case it wasn't a gamble he needed to take. We already Jenas as a young player to blood into the central midfield role. At NUFC, Viana also suffered from the problem that a lot of left-footed players have - that is, they often get played wide left because of the shortage of left-footed players, regardless of whether they're actually better suited down the centre. And as others have said, he wasn't strong enough to cope with the Premiership in his normal, central position. He was a brilliant passer of the ball, but that wasn't enough.

I did as well, until I saw that footage of him gobbing at Tevez. Sneaky, nasty, calculated and no excuse whatsoever. Tevez had done nothing to get Drogba sent off. If Terry really wants to apologise, it should be over that.

I'm not blessed with inside information, but I can't see that it's difficult to believe that there's a problem between Keegan and the new set up. In the past, he's gone for big money signings of established players, and he's established a dominating position within the club. That's not the way the new regime is working. You might then ask, why he accepted the job in the first place, knowing that's how it was going to be. Well, we must all have heard the story that his business in Glasgow was losing money. If there's a problem, it's got to be sorted out now. Board and manager not working together has been the story of this club over the last few seasons, and that has to change. And finally, I can't believe that this Marcelino guy has left his club without something else in the pipeline.

Another big 4 reject who's been more interested in picking up a fat pay cheque rather then playing every week. On the plus side it would hopefully mean the end of Milner so it's not all bad. SWP is a player like Glen Johnson, who is bound to come good at some stage in his career. If he's available, let's snap him up. The problem isn't his talent, which is obvious. It's his decision-making or 'end product', as is the buzz word. In many ways, he does have more options than most players, because he can get past people in such a variety of ways. As a result, he often hangs on to the ball too long and he's hard for his team-mates to predict. With Beckham, you know exactly when he's going to deliver his cross because there's nothing else he can do.

Although it's supposed to be an apology, most of it is saying what a great guy I am, giving my all for the club. Besides, unless he deliberately missed the pen, an apology isn't appropriate.

Smith got into the England squad, so what? Okay, okay. Ashton would be a good buy because he's very skilful on the ball, and he holds it up well. Yes, he's slow, but he makes up for that by his footballing intelligence. He's like Viduka, only he's not past it.

I don't understand why so many people are turning their noses up at Ashton. He's as good a player as we can expect to land. And I mean that as praise, really. He hasn't got into the England squad for nothing.

What we need is stability and a long-term plan. Since Sir Bob left, it's like we've been stumbling from one crisis to another, and we've changed from a club that looked like it was going places to a bit of a laughing stock. We've got the chance now to begin again, and restore a bit of credibility. That may take time. You say we're not far off from fifth place, Decky, but you've also said we need at least five new signings. Even if we beat off the competition to get those players, it'll be a while before things gel.

There's been a problem about attracting players to the North-East for many years now. In the post-Hall era, we've been able to compensate by paying good wages, and being competitive at the right end of the table. Now, other clubs have got ahead of us in terms of performance on the field, and it looks like the new regime may be a bit more keen to impose a wage structure rather than break the bank for particular individuals like Owen. I'm not pessimistic about the long-term future of the club, because we have a huge ground, good support and no debts. In the short-term, we may have to be more patient. Since slipping out of the top four, it's felt like we've been a bit manic, chasing big name signings that are supposedly going to catapult us back up, rather than building a team. That attitude needs to change.

Really? They looked pretty fucking awful to me. They weren't even the best team on the day. I thought Bristol were easily the better side and were desperately unlucky to lose. Hull were a tough, physical bunch but that won't be enough for the top division.

Darren Bent I'm not convinced about, but Dean Ashton would be a definite improvement on Viduka, who struggles to get involved against good opposition. Ashton is very creative as well as strong - the only thing he lacks is pace, but with a target man, that's not an absolute necessity. I'd actually try him out in the England team. He could combine well with Rooney.

The only way this story makes sense is if we're sussing out whether we actually need to bump up his contract and get rid of the sell-on clause. If no-one's going to pay £13 million, then we're okay as things stand. It doesn't mean that we want to get rid of him.

I saw Germany playing away at Wales, and they were absolutely outstanding. If they can reach anything like that level, they'll win it.