TRon

We'll find out how badly we want him if we beat Lille and Galatasaray to his signature. Who's to say it's not us who have been fucking around for weeks?

Just like there was something in the stories that Arsenal were waiting to swoop no doubt.

Douglas went as far to say we have agreed terms with him (this was a week or so ago) but it was the agent that scuppered the deal. It's probably his agent who is still trying to flog him to the other supposedly interested clubs.

Shearer: "Of course, you don’t want to lose your top players and Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan were probably Newcastle’s two best players." IIRC Shearer dropped Nolan during our relegation season and fell out with Barton who also thought Shearer was clueless along with his clueless mate Dowie. Shearer now changing tack completely and describing Nolan as one of our two best players doesn't surprise me in the least. He's as slippery as a politician and just as untrustworthy.

don't give a shit tbh. Liverpool lost to Hull 3-0 in a warm up game. I'd find that far more worrying if I was a Liverpool fan.

With Nolan gone I think Joey will be instrumental this season if he stays which is looking increasingly likely. Cabaye sounds more of a creative sort, and if we are going to go 4-3-3 then having two players like Tiote and Barton with a bit of steel about them sitting in will be important.

Let the man-crushes begin...

Wounded all those party smilies down the drain

He's a good forward, we knew that already. Same with Gameiro I'm sure. If CL clubs are competing for the same players as us we don't have much chance tbh. It's more disappointing when we lose out to players to clubs like Villa who are more in our bracket.

I think Arsenal will be better than people are expecting next season, but Spurs could easily finish above Liverpool IMO.

Swansea want Routledge so there's a chance we could negotiate some sort of deal if the respective valuations can be agreed. But why would Taylor sign a new deal then come to us 2 weeks later ,shirley thats dead in the water if he wanted to come he would have forced a move in the first place . I'm not saying it's likely to happen but there's still scope there. The clause was a bit vague, it might have been us who pulled out if we thought it was going to cost more than we thought. So Taylor then signed a better contract at Swansea.

Swansea want Routledge so there's a chance we could negotiate some sort of deal if the respective valuations can be agreed.

As I've said before, I'm glad I don't have that shite in my life. It's the derogatory opinion of people from the North East I can't abide. If you want to live your life on the moral highground, get on with it, but don't try and pretend it's a problem with us. Who the fuck do you think you are? United for Newcastle? You're an embarrassment. I've made it quite clear that its not people i find primitive, but blind hatred. To suggest I look down on people from the North-East, from what i've said is a baseless low-blow, keep on spinning if it makes you happy. Just fuck off you mackem twat

Same here. For us to fork out relatively big money on a player suggests we've done our homework, and it seems Carr, our chief scout seems to really rate him. Plus I really liked what I saw on Youtube.

Not really. They are/were both expensive Allardyce buys and neither are fit enough to attract top flight interest.

Especially when megabucks clubs like Man City and Chelsea are throwing double that at their players.

Listening to the Auclair interview is quite insightful. The only other time I listened in he reckoned Ben Arfa was coming here last summer although he did stress it wasn't a done deal. but in the end he was proven correct. If he's talking about Erdinc now there's probably good reason. I would guess we've hardened our interest and now it will come down to convincing him or his agent to see sense.

Auclair certainly seems to have pretty good knowledge of Newcastle as a club, a lot more than most English commentators at any rate. He seems to rate Cabaye and Marveaux quite highly and while he didn't talk about Erdinc much what he did say was encouraging, basically how he'd had a couple of outstanding seasons before the one just ended where he became sidelined.

While it's not good news it's quite fitting that the two areas where we should be strengthening, up front and left back, is where we have suffered injuries to players who might have been pencilled in as excuses not to buy. Ben Arfa up front and Ferguson as left back cover.

Maybe flogging Routledge has made this a goer. I'd like to think so.

Well presumably because we don't want to potentially waste a lot of money in transfer fees and wages on a player who'll end up as a reserve and who is only then going to block the progress of the promising young left back that we've already got. I know you like Shane Ferguson, but as a defender he is completely unproven. Enrique has the speed and power to stop any attacker whatever his attributes, whereas Ferguson looks like he could be knocked over by a gust of wind. In fact he's already been knocked out of our optimistic hopes he could play this role through injury in the pre-season friendlies. Thank the lucky stars I say.

What's he on? £20k a week at least is my guess. That's not peanuts for most Championship teams. He's on £8k. Not sure why you'd think a Championship free would be on £20k. I'm not privy to players contract deals so I go off what is reported in the media. If he's on £8k only maybe the lack of interest from other clubs is due to agent signing fees?

What's he on? £20k a week at least is my guess. That's not peanuts for most Championship teams.

Villa just look like a Freddie Shepherd version of us a few years ago at this time, chucking daft money at any player of repute and offering silly contracts. Shay Given on a 5 year deal is just mad. I wonder who's going to pick up the tab when Randy Lerner fucks off? Or are Villa fans already picking up the tab through the club paying back the loan?