TRon

He hasn't looked 'immense' to me so far. Nice and tidy passes, mostly sideways, and strolling around the centre of the pitch at a leisurley pace from what I've seen. I think he could have been a bit more direct, so aye I agree. Wouldn't write him off though until we see how good he is at running at people. Arshavin did this in the UEFA Cup Final, it makes a big difference. Well I was expecting to see him running at people more than he has so far, but he has played very safe so far. I do get the feeling he's an intelligent player though - plenty of football nous as madras would put it - so there may be more to come.

He hasn't looked 'immense' to me so far. Nice and tidy passes, mostly sideways, and strolling around the centre of the pitch at a leisurley pace from what I've seen. Kranjcar has looked the better player if you ask me. Yeah. He seems to drive the attack more, whereas Modric spins around in pretty circles, too deep to make much impact. Looks very graceful though.

Egg his crib. Use eggs which look suspiciously like bricks. That should do it.

He hasn't looked 'immense' to me so far. Nice and tidy passes, mostly sideways, and strolling around the centre of the pitch at a leisurley pace from what I've seen.

I saw the Youtube video which showed he could go past a man and had some strength on the ball, but it was a Youtube compilation so you take it with a pinch of salt. I did notice a lack of goals on that clip, but it's since become clear that he's scored 20 goals in 60 games for Galatasaray which shows he knows is way to the net. Having watched the Euro game against Switzerland, he looked pretty good for reasons I've already said. I'm assuming Alex20 has seen more of him, maybey that's what he's basing his opinion of over-rated on?

Or possibly Benny realises there's something seriously wrong with Pennant's head. There's obviously something wrong with Pennant despite his ability. Similar to Barton you have to ask whether he is that good a player you would want to take on the baggage, and the answer is probably no.

He got the ball in basically the last chance of the game with his countries hopes of going any further in the competition riding on what he did with it. Yet he was calm enough and confident enough (at 21) to take it on and get into a shooting position, and strike the ball very well (looked to be heading to the side of the goal to me as well). Was it the best goal of all time?, no. Would it have gone in without the deflection?, quite possibly. Should it be downplayed either way? no. The way I see it he played well despite being hindered by the conditions and scored an extremely important goal for his country, simple as that. He definitely impressed me. Well said. I'd agree really, in a lot of ways he was better than I expected - I didn't think he'd be as good tracking back. While watching the game it did cross my mind that we might tie up the deal quickly like Lazio did before other clubs started sniffing for Rozenhal. I wouldn't be too happy if the Euros alerts other clubs or ends up inflating Arda's price.

I read them as potentially ditching Barton and vetoing transfers due to age. Maybe you need to re-read it. Maybe I do, perhaps you could help me by explaining what the bits I've bolded mean? Try reading the bits you didn't bold.

I read them as potentially ditching Barton and vetoing transfers due to age. Maybe you need to re-read it.

Or whether or not he's been guaranteed the Newcastle job when Keegan finishes. I doubt he's been guaranteed it, but you couldn't blame him for sniffing an opportunity if it becomes available sooner than expected.

What I'd say in his favour is that Ashley seems to have appointed some pretty useful staff in Keegan as manager so far, Vetere as talent-spotter. Wise and Jiinez I don't really know much about, but in answer to your question, how many club owners have football credentials in the first place?

The stakes were just as high in this game, it was a game both teams had to win. He looked pretty good to me. Vetere and co have obviously done their homework. I just wonder whether Ashley's negotiator's have done theirs?

Well it's not last season any more. Who will pay his wages and the required transfer fee this season?

I like Arda alot. Loads of energy, good feet and a willingness to track back and put his foot in. But then you could say that about Milner.

The League Cup would be nice, but fairly meaningless long term. Champions League is crucial in that it allows you to match the big boys for spending power due to extra revenue and status. CL every time for me.

Well his debut in a big tournament will be against Spain so i guess that Sweden wont have alot of the ball. And Wilhelmsson will be out for about 5 weeks and Sebastian is the natural choice to replace him on the right side of midfield. Unless they put Källström in the middle with D. Andersson and Anders Svensson out on the right, but i cant imagine that he will do that, Wilhelmsson looked like he was playing on the left yesterday. Isn't he left footed?

Barton showing his mercenary side like he did when we had to pay his signing on fee to release him from City. He might get sunk by the Dabo case though - Pearce and several City players are going to testify and considering City wanted rid following the incident, I don't think many will be speaking in his favour. 30k a week might not sound so bad when he goes down and the prospect of the sack is looming.

Wilhelmsson went off with what looked like a torn hamstring last night - looks a good winger btw. I don't know if he plays in a similar position but that might mean Larsson is more likely to start next match. Would have preferred him to stay out of the spotlight tbh.

It all sounded so good until we got to the bit about Smith staying. The prospect of a season on the bench should be hammered home to the twat.

when they've played in the CL i'll start listening, til then they can f*** right off at least they are a lot closer to achieving that target than us right now.... sadly You'd think so wouldn't you? But then we thought that last season and yet we hammered them, and they struggled to finish any higher than us in the league.

I'm not.

Circumstances did Tomasson in, wasn't really his fault. Had Shearer not gotten the injury at Goodison then JDT would have played just off Shearer, and had looked very good in that role in a few pre-season games. In the end though he was asked to be our out and out striker, which he's not suited to at all, hence his flop. Was a shame really, he and a pre-injury Shearer could have been very, very good together. I agree, we never really saw Tomasson at his best because one single injury blew Plan A out of the window. Plan B was obviously: "Shit! This wasn't supposed to have happened!!"

Jon Dahl Tomasson is the best one. Great before AND after Newcastle. Didn't just die, but had a bloody resurrection.

Spain's fluid football today was as good as I've seen from an international team for a long time. All their players held the ball well under pressure, passed and moved intelligently, and the threat up front from Villa and Torres can be summed up best by pointing out Torres was the less dangerous. There might be a question mark about their defence but they were something else going forward.

Do you think that based on this one euro 2008 game or is it that you have seen him play alot and if you have please say why you think that because I have no idea on this guy. Looks to be quite tall and unlike Crouch, has some physical power as well. Decent looking shot - wouldn't be surprised to see him making a name for himself in the future. Aye, and his performances against England were top notch also. Do you know which club he plays for James?