TRon

Like many other modern day whingers, such as David Bentley, he refuses to take any responsibilty for his own performances and lack of moral fibre. Hopefully we will get a decent amount for him and he can disappear up his own arse like those other French left sides players Olivier Bernard and Didier Domi who also thought they were too good to play for us. Luckily he signed a new contract last season so like Milner we should get decent money for him, otherwise he goes nowhere. Totally in our hands not his or whichever poxy club is trying to poach him.

I'd rather have Bentley or Pvlychenko. Having said that, I'd rather have all three mentioned ahead of our strikers. Why?! I'd swap Bent and Pavlyechenko for Viduka and Owen seeing as neither will be playing for us next season in any case.

Spot-on - I agree. I still think he will prove himself far from past it when he joins another club with better midfielders. Who cares what he proves at another club? He could score a hatful or break a leg. Either way i wouldn't give a flying fuck.

Excellent point wrt Mascherano being considered a flop at West Ham. Pardew was another small-minded manager who couldn't see past the cloggers.

Looks like we have finally found our level. The people who forced Keegan out accused him of being a "dreamer" because he wanted big names to galvanise the club like he did when he arrived as a player. I still can't believe some people are prepared to give Ashley the benefit of the doubt to the end of the transfer window. do you have anything to suggest this isn't just JFK's target and f*** all to do with ashley? hardly fits in with the "policy" and "transfer team" thing does it? signing someone of his age, price and wage bracket granted ashley has to take the fall for appointing such a t*** in the first place but if this is who kinnear wants then it's who he wants Who knows? It often seems like we are running two parallel systems. The "management structure" supposedly scouting for younger players who are then bought with no recourse to the manager and the manager's own targets bought from another transfer fund. It's as if Kinnear has been told we've got £5m and we are bringing in Carlos Kickaball and Julio Geordio, you have £5m have a look around and see who you fancy, here is Willie McKay's list of clients. Either way the system seems fragmented with no clear leadership or direction and no communication between the actual parties themselves (Kinnear, Ashley, Ashley's cronies, Wise etc) pretty much agree with that, have said all along though if it was a case of 5m, 6m or however much being given to JFK or Wise et al i'd go with the latter everyday as i haven't the slightest ounce of faith in JFK to choose a decent player fair enough for 4-5m you're gonna struggle to find a gtreat CM but i'd be inclinded to look lower league or abroad than for the likes of barry fucking ferguson Spot on. No doubt Wise will quietly pull the plug on this sort of deal then bring in his own players. If this is Kinnears idea of a good signing then it's probably just as well. I don't see what Ferguson offers us that Geremi doesn't.

I see Alan Oliver has been successfully head-hunted by one of the quality Sunday papers

I was thinking of next season, as I expect Owen to leave and it looks like Given wants away as well. If we are losing our better senior players I don't see much point in holding on to the worse ones. Owen and Given are quality but the likes of Given in particular are held up as examples of great Newcastle pros. If their heart isn't in it any more I feel we should sell them on and try and get younger players in who are eager to prove themselves here. oh right aye, agree what we've seen from duff, butt & smith as examples of experience they can fuck right off imo - take some gambles on young, hungry players, i'm all for it look at who makes any kind of difference in the team we have now, owen (when fit) & given aside: zog, martins, guthrie, bassong, jonas, colo & beye are alls i can think of...none of them long term experienced PL players of the likes you refer to... said experienced PL players are basically the ones dragging us back; viduka, duff, smith, butt, shola...replace those five with some young, pacy, hungry players tomorrow from any league & i'd be a lot more confident of staying up this season Shay Given is someone who is usually quoted as a senior player in the dressing room, and Michael Owen is the captain. Both are now probably looking to jump ship, and I don't have any problem with either's reasons. But what sort of message does it send to the rest of the squad, especially as they are still being held up as examples to other players who struggle to hold down a place or have to rely on manager favourites getting crocked to earn a place? They will be big losses but are not irreplaceable. Shay could be sold to the club he prefers and Harper could do a good job with Krul and Forster waiting to take their chance. Owen is leaving no matter what we do so he will need replacing regardless. Which other senior players are worth a light? Butt ( ) Geremi? Cacapa? Old guard out. Young guns in.

Now is the time for local businesses to pool together. Peter Lee and other piss takers interested parties have failed to materialise. Surely with clubs selling tuppence ha'penny now is a good time to buy in to Newcastle United for local consortiums? A pool of Freddie Shepherd, The Halls, NUSC, Sting, Greggs bakeries, The Irish Bar? The time is now IMO. Why are we dependent on Cockney mafia when we can call on our own folk?

I know you love to hark back to some past situation in every post but how is that in anyway relevant to anything? Because sometimes there isn't simply a case of there "being an alternative". I'd imagine, like with the Rooney scenario, we saw a top-class player who we could a) afford and b) might have a chance of signing, so went beyond what they'd normally do to sign them. There might be a case in this transfer window or the summer where there's another "Modric" out there who this time might sign for us, just like in 2004/5 where we wanted a big-name striker to replace Shearer long-term so went for Rooney and then later on, Owen. That sounds very Shepherd-like thinking tbf. Forget what we need, look who's available!

Yes he would be great if we could get the ball falling in the right place on the spot without any defenders in the way I agree. Funny that because he was generally superb when playing deeper as an attacking midfielder/link up player under KK - an area of the pitch that demands being able to get into the game which you're claiming he is either unable to or can't and that as a result everything has to fall into place for him. Bull s***. His runs and movement are what opens up space and opportunities for those behind him to have options. It seems that both worked well together at times this afternoon but Owen couldn't finish any off. Strikers sometimes do miss the target you know, thankfully Owen hits it more often than not hence his quite amazing record. Read the above reply. You shared the same opinion at one time before Keegangate. I did, until KK's vision showed me another side to Owen, a far better footballer than I had giving him credit for or first thought. He and Shay are undoubtedly the only genuine class we have at the club and its extremely nit picking to use a few missed shots against Owen. If he had signed a new deal, you wouldn't even be saying what you are, you're only saying it because its gonna happen anyway, him leaving, so better to make a case for getting rid now while we can get some money for him which is what this is all about with you and not his ability or prowess in front of goal nor his importance to the cause which quite frankly, isn't in doubt and you'd have to be an idiot to think that way. Are you an idiot? No, I just indulge players beyond their value if they are committed to the cause. If their hearts belong with Man City, Spurs or any other shitrag club I would prefer them to fuck off ASAP. This isn't really that hard to understand.

Shame they don't play too differently on a more regular basis. They do..I think that's the point being made.

Yes he would be great if we could get the ball falling in the right place on the spot without any defenders in the way I agree. Funny that because he was generally superb when playing deeper as an attacking midfielder/link up player under KK - an area of the pitch that demands being able to get into the game which you're claiming he is either unable to or can't and that as a result everything has to fall into place for him. Bull shit. His runs and movement are what opens up space and opportunities for those behind him to have options. It seems that both worked well together at times this afternoon but Owen couldn't finish any off. Strikers sometimes do miss the target you know, thankfully Owen hits it more often than not hence his quite amazing record. Read the above reply (from me). You shared the same opinion at one time before Keegangate.

Plus he looks absolutely sick to the stomach of being at Newcastle. Please just go and start shaving regularly again.

Yes he would be great if we could get the ball falling in the right place on the spot without any defenders in the way I agree.

this, every time Sunderland & Fulham away must have been figments of my imagination then because he was awful in both of those games when Owen was out. 2 games is all you can come up with? Those were the ones that come to mind, yes. he was shite agreed. But he's also excelled alongside Shola fucking Ameobi. Whereas Owen just doesn't seem to influence the game whatsoever without Oba That's because Oba sets a lot of his goals up and that's all Owen can really do now up top in a 4-4-2 is be in the right place (which he's obviously one of the best at). I'd be genuinely interested to know how many goals Owen has set up while he's been at NUFC. If it's more than 2-3, I'd be very surprised. Also one of the reasons why Man U wouldn't consider Owen in a month of Sundays. Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo and Berbatov even if they don't score goals provide so much pace and movement they create so many more.

Exactly how I feel. He's not shit, his legs have just gone imo. In all fairness, his legs were failing when he got released by Man U centuries ago. Fergie's probably built and dismantled two league champion sides since then while we continue to con ourselves that we have a team full of international players when most of them are shells of the players they used to be. Butt Smith Geremi Duff Carr......... You could add Cacapa and Kluivert to that list. We were also looking to sign that Brazilian crock (Edmilson?) during Fat Sam's time here. As far as Nicky Butt is concerned, there were rumours he was signed above SBR's head at the time. Bobby was building a young and dynamic side for the future so I guess he didn't want a fellow CL team's rejects at the time. Quite sad the direction we have taken since.

One thing I have noticed is that Owen is invisible when Martins is missing, whereas Martins is still effective whoever he plays alongside.

I'd rather have Bentley or Pvlychenko. Having said that, I'd rather have all three mentioned ahead of our strikers. EDIT: I meant Bent not Bentley. Thought we were talking strikers.

I have that feeling as well. Carroll doesn't look like a goal scorer, I think Joe likes him because he's big and strong. Xisco looks less physical but he looks like he might have more quality around the penalty area. Hard to tell from a couple of brief outings, but I'd like to see him in a decent side before i write him off. not just the goals but all round play Agreed. He's no Viduka but he looks a bit more polished than Carroll. I wouldn't have even minded seeing him alongside Carroll for the last 10 mins with the wingers firing a few crosses in. Comparing Xisco with Carroll is like comparing a Lada with a Reliant Kitten. Possibly. I'd like to see Xisco properly before we ship him out though. A lot of Newcastle fans thought Jon Dahl Tomasson was shit at Newcastle but he went on to win the Champions League at AC Milan.

I have that feeling as well. Carroll doesn't look like a goal scorer, I think Joe likes him because he's big and strong. Xisco looks less physical but he looks like he might have more quality around the penalty area. Hard to tell from a couple of brief outings, but I'd like to see him in a decent side before i write him off. not just the goals but all round play Agreed. He's no Viduka but he looks a bit more polished than Carroll. I wouldn't have even minded seeing him alongside Carroll for the last 10 mins with the wingers firing a few crosses in.

I have that feeling as well. Carroll doesn't look like a goal scorer, I think Joe likes him because he's big and strong. Xisco looks less physical but he looks like he might have more quality around the penalty area. Hard to tell from a couple of brief outings, but I'd like to see him in a decent side before i write him off.

It's probably true that Ashley isn't going to spend big any time soon. Is it a lack of ambition? The answer's probably yes...but the problem is, there's no one out there with ambition to buy the club and show how it should be done. There is no ambitious alternative for Newcastle United so all we are left with is moaning about our ambitious past.

The problem with Guthrie that I can see is in choosing who to play with him. He's not particularly strong in breaking down play and hes not particularly good at attacking. He's just very neat and tidy, makes few mistakes and works hard. I like him but I wouldnt know whether to play him with a big defensive midfielder or an attacking player. I think Id prefer to use Guthrie as a defensive midfielder alongside an attacking player, but I dont think he excels in that area. Pretty well summed up. I'm glad he had a better game today because he was abysmal against Liverpool. You expect a player to want to prove himself against his former club but he didn't want the ball and strolled around watching the game pass him by. I like him as a player but that performance had me worried about his desire. Guthrie or Owen? Guthrie...in the Liverpool game I was watching opposition players bomb past him while he was stood ball watching.

He must be really shit if he isn't worth a 10 min run out at 0-0 as a late sub. To be fair to the lad, he got as close as any of the other strikers to scoring today, even sitting on the bench. Well played lad

The problem with Guthrie that I can see is in choosing who to play with him. He's not particularly strong in breaking down play and hes not particularly good at attacking. He's just very neat and tidy, makes few mistakes and works hard. I like him but I wouldnt know whether to play him with a big defensive midfielder or an attacking player. I think Id prefer to use Guthrie as a defensive midfielder alongside an attacking player, but I dont think he excels in that area. Pretty well summed up. I'm glad he had a better game today because he was abysmal against Liverpool. You expect a player to want to prove himself against his former club but he didn't want the ball and strolled around watching the game pass him by. I like him as a player but that performance had me worried about his desire.