TRon

I agree it's not really about one player but the midfield as a whole. The benchmark should be Spain whose midfield was head and shoulders above any other nation at the Euros. Obviously we are not going tobe able to buy so many world class midfielders, but we can compare them with what we've got and ask if our players are capable of reproducing anything close in terms of movement, passing, ball retention and invention.

Sums it all up rather nicely.

Seems to be the thing on here, how desperate we are for an attacking midfielder. Can't see what the fuss is about tbh. What's the alternative? We can take it from there.

Yeah, and sticking with Bez when Elliot was class. Even the greats have their favourites (Dyer-SBR). Barton was a grafter though and most great teams have at least one in every starting XI. KK dropped Bez for Elliott if I recall. I don't think Elliott was ever class except in our own minds.

what was said about Smith exactly? I'll say one thing about Beardsley, my favourite ever nufc player but at these talk-ins the concensus is that he comes across pretty classless at times I was quite shocked myself at the vitriol aimed at some of our players but to be fair to Beardsley (using his seemingly favourite phrase ) he was only being honest and when you're paying £35 quid a head to listen to someone, you want them to be honest. Furthermore this is a man who graced our shirt and who loves the club, a fan who is obviously unhappy like a lot of us when he sees players wearing the shirt who are not worthy of it. I personally thought some of the things he said was uncalled for though because of his close ties to the club. Some of the comments would have went back to the players without doubt. Regarding Smith, he basically said he was s**** and didn't deserve his wages nor his place in the squad. He said Big Sam shouldn't have signed him (that we were conned) and that KK will look to get him out along with others due to their lack of ability which is essential for KK. He was the but of much ridicule, quite uncalled for at times in my opinion. I say that as someone who prefers those connected to the club to put on a United front. Was a piss funny night though. This just makes me respect Keegan even more. Despite always being loyal to a fault, he knows when it's time to give up on a lost cause. Keeping Barton? How do you get rid of Barton?

what was said about Smith exactly? I'll say one thing about Beardsley, my favourite ever nufc player but at these talk-ins the concensus is that he comes across pretty classless at times I was quite shocked myself at the vitriol aimed at some of our players but to be fair to Beardsley (using his seemingly favourite phrase ) he was only being honest and when you're paying £35 quid a head to listen to someone, you want them to be honest. Furthermore this is a man who graced our shirt and who loves the club, a fan who is obviously unhappy like a lot of us when he sees players wearing the shirt who are not worthy of it. I personally thought some of the things he said was uncalled for though because of his close ties to the club. Some of the comments would have went back to the players without doubt. Regarding Smith, he basically said he was s**** and didn't deserve his wages nor his place in the squad. He said Big Sam shouldn't have signed him (that we were conned) and that KK will look to get him out along with others due to their lack of ability which is essential for KK. He was the but of much ridicule, quite uncalled for at times in my opinion. I say that as someone who prefers those connected to the club to put on a United front. Was a piss funny night though. This just makes me respect Keegan even more. Despite always being loyal to a fault, he knows when it's time to give up on a lost cause. Beardsley touched on that and so did Beresford, basically not to be fooled by KK's nice guy image and "softness", Beresford said for a month he thought KK was a complete cunt for not talking to him and dropping him. Before saying that he warned the crowd, he got a few boos for it The overriding theme from both was that when KK is a cunt, he's an honest cunt and players can deal with that and respect it, they hate nothing more than being fobbed off hence Beardsley's dislike of Souness and Dalglish, because they would lie through their teeth to save their own face, where as KK isn't like that. KK's loyalty lies with himself first, he won't lie with himself, i.e. kid himself that because Smith is a nice lad that he should be given a chance. KK sees it like this: Will he get in my XI, can he force himself into the reckoning? If not he'd rather get rid and bring in youth or an unknown to take up that place. People forget KK likes a small squad, he likes to keep his starting lineup the same every week if he can and to do that to a big squad would piss off many an established player and make his job harder, i.e. more bodies to keep happy, fobb off etc. That's why throughout his career he's snapped up unknowns and youngsters. For Guthrie read Guppy. Somone who has a bit of talent who could make the team with a bit of work, but conversley, someone who would be happy to play the squad game, to work hard to improve, someone hungry. This is why I have no issues with any of our signings, indeed if KK sees something in Guthrie I can't help but get excited and already I'm liking what I see. He's no world beater but he looks to have something about him. Hopefully that something will grow with the team and that is the kind of player I want to see, a player who progresses with the team ala Lee or Cole, which we've lacked for years having bought established players or players with big reps. Good post Coach. Your insight has been missed.

The important thing is he's a pimpin' muthafucka from da hood. Obviously.

what was said about Smith exactly? I'll say one thing about Beardsley, my favourite ever nufc player but at these talk-ins the concensus is that he comes across pretty classless at times I was quite shocked myself at the vitriol aimed at some of our players but to be fair to Beardsley (using his seemingly favourite phrase ) he was only being honest and when you're paying £35 quid a head to listen to someone, you want them to be honest. Furthermore this is a man who graced our shirt and who loves the club, a fan who is obviously unhappy like a lot of us when he sees players wearing the shirt who are not worthy of it. I personally thought some of the things he said was uncalled for though because of his close ties to the club. Some of the comments would have went back to the players without doubt. Regarding Smith, he basically said he was shite and didn't deserve his wages nor his place in the squad. He said Big Sam shouldn't have signed him (that we were conned) and that KK will look to get him out along with others due to their lack of ability which is essential for KK. He was the but of much ridicule, quite uncalled for at times in my opinion. I say that as someone who prefers those connected to the club to put on a United front. Was a piss funny night though. This just makes me respect Keegan even more. Despite always being loyal to a fault, he knows when it's time to give up on a lost cause.

It was taken down, edited and put back. I know, am aware. Yeah it's funny. 7 pages on a 17-yr old triallist and very little interest on his football attributes. Whatever they are, obviously someone at Newcastle thinks they are worth looking at.

I've no doubt both the club and KK would like to peddle Shola andSmith, but neither are going to move for the club's sake. Shola will see out his contract and Smith will want 60k a week to go anywhere. We need another club to enter "the race" for Smith to force Everton's hand.

I wonder if he's any good at football?

get a grip ffs

Bow wow wow yippy yo yippy yay :bng:

Any 20 year old in the Championship who even remotely looks like a striker will probably come with a price tag of £6m with no guarantee he could score at a higher level. That's just the way the British market is. Could get Andy Keogh for £4m, no problem. Stick a £2m bid in for Sharp from Sheff United whilst we're at it. Perfect. Or £4m could get you Shola with a better scoring record. Maybe we should wait till he moves and then buy him back. Keogh's much better though. What's your point? My point is that usually English youngsters command the sort of price tag which should get you the finished article. Never seen Keogh to be fair. If he's worth £4m and can be bought for that then I'm all for it.

That's interesting...we appear to have signed Snoop Dogg. Is he a direct replacement for Smith?

My concerns are the same as last season, i.e., the midfield lacks legs through the middle. Butt, Geremi and Barton are all a bit pedestrian especially when played in the same team. On the plus side, Jonas looks quick so we are pretty well served out wide now.

much better :clap:

Can't say I agree with this. I think that with a couple of good, first-team quality signings we'd have plenty of cause for optimism for the coming season. Obviously our preperation for the August schedule isn't very good, but realistically anything more than 3 points from those 3 games would be fantastic, so it's not as important as most years. I think we're set for keepers and in defence, assuming Collocini comes in and maybe a squad player who can play left-back. The key is what system we're playing IMO, if it's the 4-3-3 we finished last year with then one more signing would do me. In midfield we've Butt and Guthrie to fight it out for the holding role, with Barton, Milner, N'Zogbia, Geremi and Spiderman vying for the spots flanking them in the midfield three. Then up top we've Viduka, Owen, Martins and Duff (I hope to see him used as back-up to Martins, in a sort of wide striker role with a target man ala Viduka to play off). If we can sell Smith and get in someone to challenge Viduka for his spot as target man then it's not too bad by any means. Baptista, if available, would be perfect because he could play up front or fill in for Owen in the deep striker role should Owen be absent. If we're going for a 4-4-2 then we need a starting quality CM rather than a forward, and then also a 4th choice striker, but I hope that won't bethe case personally. Guthrie doesn't look physical enough to be a holding player, at least not yet. Butt, along with Geremi and Barton are either too old or too slow to be playing week in week out in the same team. Duff isn't a striker and Viduka won't play much, so there's plenty room for improvement to that squad.

In any case, I would say agree that signing a decent striker is at least as important as a creative midfielder. We have other options in midfield, we have Smith and Ameobi up front.

erm...ok

He needs to back up this words with giving KK large amount of money for transfers Its always easy to speak empty words when our squad is short on players like never before. He also "explains his short-term goal was to get it back on its feet". Arsenal's blueprint isn't a bad one to follow, especially for a club which has been spending recklessly on wages for players who weren't earning them.

Let's discuss ways in which Alan Smith might get murdered in an alternative universe. I'll start the ball rolling: a pick axe up the arse. The blow would be delivered by an 8ft alien with abnormally large biceps. Called Kev.

Well I agree with one quote and not so much with the other one.

Those "2-3 players of decent quality" gets you a mid table team at best. We'd had a bad season, but we still had one of the better squads in the league at that time and we needed to replace Shearer. Maybe instead of buying Coloccini we should have bought "2-3 defenders of decent quality" to "strengthen the squad" instead? No. Buying a load of "decent quality" players every year gets you absolutely nowhere unless you are a scouting genius or get very lucky. I'd far rather we spent the budget on 2-3 quality "trophy signings" than 6-7 players that might be a bit better than what we have and "improve the squad" but bloat the wage bill. Talking of Shearer, he was the ultimate "trophy signing" yet I don't see too many complaining about that. Buying Shearer was adding to an already strong squad. If he didn't arrive we still had Ferdinand, Beardsley and Asprilla. If we spent £17m on one player -Owen - and he was injured, who were our back up strikers?

Smith must die. That is all. Everton will probably up the offer a bit and hopefully Smith will bite his lip and accept. Otherwise he should be playing for the reserves next season. On the bench.