TRon

Guthrie is starting to come into the game a bit more last 10 mins or so.

Martins smashes one off the crossbar!

Owen and Martins are pulling the defenders out of position, we are crying out for a midfielder to arrive in the box.

Even Bernie Slaven has grudgingly admitted he's been impressed by Bassong

Alistair Brownlie the boro commentator talking about the pace threat from the boro wingers... Jonas and the Zog right back at'cha fatso

Sounds about right.

Shearer was never going to come in as no 2 to Kinnear, JFK just used the offer to get the heat off himself. Not that i blame him, he's got a point that there is no way Shearer could be manager under the restrtictions Kinnear's working under. Shearer is waiting for new owners if and when it happens.

I'm not sure a survey by the Journal is fully representative mind. It's quite a well written paper, a lot of the charvas who hate Ashley probably don't read it.

If it's true, that's a fair price. If we are struggling to find buyers for that amount, you have to wonder what sort of people are in for the club and how much liquid assets they have at their disposal. While the value of most other businesses are are dropping by millions, billions or going to the wall, wor Mike thinks he should be able to re-coup his outlay & some. If he wants out as quick as made out in his heart felt memo then he need to realize what he paid for Newcastle was during a peak time & he is selling in a lull. He needs to treat the club like a England football top & whack the 70% off sticker on the club. If only Mike read the Financial Times instead of The News Of Screws. I'm sure my house has dropped in value, but I'd rather not run out and sell it at a loss. I can't really blame Ashley if he feels the same way. Have you stuck a 70% off sign on yours yet?

There is also the possibility that some of Keegan's transfer targets were totally the opposite the Ashley blueprint of buying young risiing stars who would appreciate in value and those are the ones that the board vetoed. I would imagine Kinnear will toe the line in this regard even if he does source his own players.

If it's true, that's a fair price. If we are struggling to find buyers for that amount, you have to wonder what sort of people are in for the club and how much liquid assets they have at their disposal.

That's fine, but then he should get on with running the club properly and make quality signings in January that will match his ambitions of bringing CL football to Newcastle. That was his aim at the start of the season after all. You're sure going to learn the hard way It isn't about who was right and who might be wrong, it's about Ashley taking a course of action and then perservering with it. His system I could buy into if he really believes in it and is committed to it. Selling the club I can buy into, as it allows someone else to pick up the slack once he's had enough. The only thing I can't buy into is keeping the club without being interested in progressing it. As it stands the club is in limbo which is the worst case scenario, that is the one situation I find unforgiveable. Either sell up or commit properly. I'm talking about your comment "running the club properly and making quality signings".......this is a choice of the owner, board, whoever owns and runs the club. He's chosen the opposite path to the last owners, who I suspect you took the path they chose, for granted. Hopefully it won't take one or two more owners for the point to sink in. I'm convinced that he never had any other ambition other than to keep the club in the premiership for as small and amount of expenditure on players as possible. He has turned the club into 2nd raters. This is your problem NE5, you are more interested in saying "I told you so" whether it applies or not. The truth of the matter is I don't think any different of the last board now than when they left. I had my say on them and it holds, my views aren't going to change with hindsight because Ashley's ownership has gone sour. What Shepherd did well he got credit for and what he did wrong he got stick for. I think you gave him too much credit and not enough stick but that's your choice. Same applies here with Ashley, and if you think you deserve a gold star for being right about the new board go ahead and give yourself a gold star, on that you probably got it right.

That's fine, but then he should get on with running the club properly and make quality signings in January that will match his ambitions of bringing CL football to Newcastle. That was his aim at the start of the season after all. You're sure going to learn the hard way It isn't about who was right and who might be wrong, it's about Ashley taking a course of action and then perservering with it. His system I could buy into if he really believes in it and is committed to it. Selling the club I can buy into, as it allows someone else to pick up the slack once he's had enough. The only thing I can't buy into is keeping the club without being interested in progressing it. As it stands the club is in limbo which is the worst case scenario, that is the one situation I find unforgiveable. Either sell up or commit properly.

That's fine, but then he should get on with running the club properly and make quality signings in January that will match his ambitions of bringing CL football to Newcastle. That was his aim at the start of the season after all.

Well they appeared to be backing KK as well to all intents and purposes. If Joe thinks he has been brought here on an interim basis and is suddenly going to have the final say on transfers he's in for a rude awakening. I have to say I'm glad about that as well. I think the transfer business has been one of the plus points of the Ashley era, other than the fact we didn't spend enough. Kind of go hand-in-hand though don't you think? I know what you're getting at btw and to some extent I agree. The signings have been generally decent squad fillers but there wasn't enough of them obviously. I can't say I trust Kinnear in the transfer market which is why I am glad he won't have a free hand tbh. I have a feeling that any players coming in will be ones we have targeted previously like Skjelbred or Larsson, possibly Warnock. If JK comes up with a decent shout I'm sure it'll be considered.

Well they appeared to be backing KK as well to all intents and purposes. If Joe thinks he has been brought here on an interim basis and is suddenly going to have the final say on transfers he's in for a rude awakening. I have to say I'm glad about that as well. I think the transfer business has been one of the plus points of the Ashley era, other than the fact we didn't spend enough.

It doesn't matter how much is offered, it'll alway be that he's asking too much. If any sale doesn't go through, then yes. He says he's desperate to get away. How desperate? If he's desperate to sell he'll cover his losses or make a small profit and get the deal done. If he wants to keep the club he needs to start running it like a proper club and invest money. On the other hand if he wants to keep the club and NOT invest, he is just bleeding the club dry and putting it's future at stake. That's really all there is to it.

Whiteside, McGrath and Bryan Robson made up Man U's midfield when Fergie first took over at Man U, and they were similar to some of the midfields we've had to watch such as Butt, Geremi and Barton. All quality players in their own right but collectively turgid and slow. As for Arsenal I was talking pre-Vierra. In fact with that one signing Arsene Wenger went a long way to transforming Arsenal from an ordinairy side into a different team altogether. It just shows how one crucial signing in the centre of the pitch can have a massive impact on a side. I would love us to sign a Viera to replace Butt, someone who bosses the midfield from box to box rather than just win the odd flash sliding tackle. In fact having watched Joey Barton since he came back in the side, I think he could play that role. He tends to sit deep these days and doesn't get up and down the pitch. But from a deep lying role he could dictate the game IMO. He could influence it far more than Butt ever will.

That I agree with, my worry is we have been phasing him out for the last 4 years and he's still here! I thought we'd finally got shot when he went to Birmingham but no, they welched on the deal! I know what you are saying Rich and in fact, I would agree that he's had a few decent games this season. But he's one of the players who is seriously affecting the way we play. Sooner or later we are going to have to be brave and followFergie and Wenger's lead...get rid of the rusty, slow veterans clogging up the midfield and get some youth and movement where it matters...in the engine room. Think Alex Ferguson when he moved on Norman Whiteside and Paul MacGrath to clear the decks for the new guard. That's what i'm talking about.

He's being ordered to sell players especially cunts like Chimbonda (what a surprise that didn't work out). All that money spent on mercenaries and they are still fighting relegation. What a disastrous job he's done.

In fairness, he's hardly saying he's going to walk straight back into the team is he? I think some of this outrage needs to be chanelled at the prospect of Butt getting another contract rather than Smith who's still 6 weeks away. I disagree massively with that as well. Anyone who thinks we can't afford to keep Nicky Butt on (especially if it's just a one year extension) is extremely, extremely deluded if you ask me. Have people learned nowt from the Gary Speed sale? Aye, his best days are behind him and his performances on the park haven't been amazing recently (though he has had some very, very good games this season), but the impact of removing someone of that type from the squad can be massively damaging. People have to stop looking at things from simply a performance/irrational perspective. There's a hell of a lot more to it than that. The prospect of losing Harper, Owen and Butt from the dressing room (for nowt) as much as from the pitch is a massive negative, IMO. By the same token, these guys like to mingle with their own so while they might get on like a house on fire amongst themselves, there can sometimes be splits in the camp between senior pros and younger/foreign players. It was similar at Liverpool and Chelsea when the foreign managers came in and started bringing overseas players in, the old guard obviously didn't like it but they were culled from the squad if they weren't of the required quality. If the likes of Butt goes and say Guthrie takes up the reigns, I think our team will start to develop. If Guthrie isn't up to it then we need to look at getting a younger replacement for Butt in any case like Shearergol suggested. Butt belongs at a club like Fulham or Sunderland at this stage of his career. You could be right, of course, as neither of us really know what goes on behind closed doors at NUFC, but as far as I recall KK was all for giving him an extension (along with Harper and Owen) which was/is good enough for me. If I was confident we could replace him with someone a bit younger and of an undoubted higher quality then I would agree that it might be time to call it a day, but I honestly think we'd just end up worse off. Hopefully he'll stick around until the new owners/manager come in and I'll be happy to bow to their judgement on him, but personally I feel he could be an important player for us for this season and beyond, although by no means an automatic starter (as he seems to be now.) I know when Souness went and Nigel Pearson took temporary charge Nicky Butt was one of the first to start pointing fingers at certain players (it didn't take much to work out Zog was one of them) and again we have leaks from the dressing room casting doubt over the same player. There does seem to be a bit of an old boys club at Newcastle and I think we suffer from it as much as benefit. If Nicky Butt's type of player is so essential it makes you wonder why Arsene Wenger isn't in for him? Don't they need a leader in midfield who can protect the back four? Will he swoop with a shock £1.5 m bid in January? or maybe not.

In fairness, he's hardly saying he's going to walk straight back into the team is he? I think some of this outrage needs to be chanelled at the prospect of Butt getting another contract rather than Smith who's still 6 weeks away. I disagree massively with that as well. Anyone who thinks we can't afford to keep Nicky Butt on (especially if it's just a one year extension) is extremely, extremely deluded if you ask me. Have people learned nowt from the Gary Speed sale? Aye, his best days are behind him and his performances on the park haven't been amazing recently (though he has had some very, very good games this season), but the impact of removing someone of that type from the squad can be massively damaging. People have to stop looking at things from simply a performance/irrational perspective. There's a hell of a lot more to it than that. The prospect of losing Harper, Owen and Butt from the dressing room (for nowt) as much as from the pitch is a massive negative, IMO. By the same token, these guys like to mingle with their own so while they might get on like a house on fire amongst themselves, there can sometimes be splits in the camp between senior pros and younger/foreign players. It was similar at Liverpool and Chelsea when the foreign managers came in and started bringing overseas players in, the old guard obviously didn't like it but they were culled from the squad if they weren't of the required quality. If the likes of Butt goes and say Guthrie takes up the reigns, I think our team will start to develop. If Guthrie isn't up to it then we need to look at getting a younger replacement for Butt in any case like Shearergol suggested. Butt belongs at a club like Fulham or Sunderland at this stage of his career.

who's fault is that? Ashley : " Role up, role up, we've got a lovely north east club here, yours for just £299m, warra bargain, only on offer, come and get your frills, tears and joys for the bargain price of under £300m, once in a lifetime oppurtunty ladies and gents" Ashley has been quick enough to tell us how much he's put into the club. He doesn't need to give an exact figure at which he would be happy to sell, if he would just come out and say he isn't prepared to sell the club at a loss I would understand.

who's fault is that? Noone's, we don't have the right to know imo. In that case why put out the word that the offers were too low?

In fairness, he's hardly saying he's going to walk straight back into the team is he? I think some of this outrage needs to be chanelled at the prospect of Butt getting another contract rather than Smith who's still 6 weeks away.