TRon

To be fair, the only time I was really worried about him being fit was while Oba was away at the ANC and to his credit he's stayed fit. It hasn't done us much good points-wise but that's another story.

Why do we keep showing one way loyalty to players who have never given a monkey's chuff about us in the past? Fat Fred kept trying to sign Carrick and Matt Jansen based on their north east heritage. Carrick preferred West Ham and Jansen chose Blackburn. So of course, now he's playing for Man U's first team, Carrick is suddenly going to give it all up to come 'home'.

That's what I was saying earlier. Any quality signing is dragged into the torpor rather than pulling the squad out of it. Instill a bit of belief, then make expensive additions to a club on the up. It's like they say about getting your hair cut, you should always go when it looks it's best. Is it just about instilling belief? I can't imagine Keegan has been doing anything other than trying frantically to instil belief. What you have to ask yourself is why he's making absolutely no difference to the standard of play now. "There's something rotten in the state of Denmark..." In football results are all that matter. KK can say whatever he likes to whoever he likes but it won't do much good until results start coming in to restore concious belief, i.e. in reality. I also reckon a great deal of players at our club have zero faith in one another and when there is no trust or no confidence in those around you, well, you're f***** and that's exactly what has happened to us. It runs deeper of course and other factors have played their part but those are the crux of the problems in my opinion, that and the genuine lack of ability in the ranks. Get rid of some of the "stars" and get back to basics. To sort the morale issue out, we may very well need to do the unthinkable and get rid of certain players who are seen as the mark of an "ambitious" club. We may need to say goodbye to Given, Owen and others before we can have a hope in hell of righting this ship. I agree. I love Given but the club's mediocrity has finally sunk it's teeth into him and he's now performing to that level instead of above it like he always used to. A great shame because he's been a great player for us and a great pro. Owen is finished as a top-class player and impairs us a great deal in an attacking sense, he's just not good enough simply and I'd get rid tomorrow. Thankfully I think KK will do what is necessary and won't be afraid to get rid of anyone. I think in the summer there will be a lot of coming and going and some big shocks in store for people. Fans and players alike. Do you believe its right to get rid of Owen and Given in the summer? or should we be building a team around these guys and writing off how s**** everyone has been this season? Get rid would be my vote. Shay's best days for us are behind him, he has far too many bad habits and we need a hungry fresh 'keeper with a whole career ahead of him to cultivate a persona between the sticks for himself. Shay is too died in the wool and too battle weary to become that much needed presence behind the back-four. As for Owen, his only real outstanding quality is his positional instinct which will always enable him to score goals but it will come at a huge expense to the rest of the team, most notably those behind him in midfield who will have to play a very one dimensional game to provide the kind of service that will get goals out of Owen. We need much more, we need mobility, physical presence, pace and stamina. You can't build a team around such players, you can try and accomdate them or include them from time to time but the way I look at is I'd rather see their places taken up by hungry, fresh players with something to prove and gain, players with their whole careers ahead of them. Players who can decide what kind of players they become or the success they can achieve by what they have to do rather than what they've done previously. Shay has had his time where as Owen has wasted his. Time to move on, for club and player. So let's say Given and Owen go. Who would you bring in to replace them with? what two players would you want here that we could get, that would fit in and play the style of football you would like us to play? It's too early for Krul, so I'm assuming were looking to spend big on a keeper too. Regarding a replacement for Given, not necessarily no. Someone with different qualities and a different presence between the sticks could make all the difference. Who and how much I don't know. Maybe Harper can step up and make the position his own. The same applies to Owen too. We don't have to go out and spend £16m to replace him. Again someone with different qualities and a different presence could make a huge difference. Who and how much, again I don't know. I haven't really thought that much about it. I think Harper and Given are marking time tbh. Not that either have anything to be ashamed of by the standards of some current Prem GK's but Fraser Forster and Krul look outstanding prospects to me.

The fact that he didn't mean to break his leg hardly matters. I just find it depressing when a talented player gets his leg snapped in half because a clumsy defender has his studs in the air with a player flying at him.

I was pessimistic about Saturday's match with Blackburn, but if we can get Martins alongside Owen I see a glimmer of light. Put Zog into centre midfield as well and Blackurn might be worrying about us rather than the other way round.

If someone else wants to pay him £100k a week good luck to them.

It sounds like the most probable reason but if it's true you would expect the press to have got hold of it by now.

Yes - we finished 2nd. And got us to a Cup Final...As for Dalglish, he should never been sacked when he was. Sacked after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge after he'd just laid the foundations for a very good side (Given, Hamann, Solano, Dabizas, Speed). Sure, he bought a lot of dross, although that was mainly down to the fact he had to sign players just to set up a reserve side again (Serrant, Pinas, Gudjonsson, Brady, Robinson, Coppinger, etc). Aye I fully agree. 4 of the players he signed 10 odd years ago still play top flight football. I always reckoned he would've improved us if we gave him another season or 2. His teams were awful to watch by the end. Stunted with fear and lack of flair. Him and John Barnes went on to do a shit job at Celtic after leaving us IIRC.

How can you argue that after arguing Allardyce should not have been sacked in another thread? Or are you taking the piss? He's either taking the piss or on the piss.

What a good idea. ...and replaced by Mourinho with Van Gaal as assistant manager, you forgot to add.

I'm pretty sure Geremi was playing right back when he came on as sub. Might be a pointer to Keegans thinking. But I still think he shouild replace Butt in midfield.

I think it could work. Geremi at RB would give us plenty going forward. Solano did it well last season.

Is it ok to stop reading there? I'd think a mobile target man would be the requirement.

It would add much needed height to the team for sure.

It needed saying

More than likely... although signing a player who can pick the ball up in the middle of the park, get his head up, and pick out a pass to a player bombing on ahead of him would do wonders for our side. Agreed, that would certainly be the first part of the puzzle, but when you look at Arsenal in particular they've been moulded into what they are over a number of years. Hleb, Rosicky, Fabregas, van Persie have all been brought into that ethos and have been because they are players who Wenger and his scouts have realised will be able to play that way. I just hope people aren't expecting us to get anywhere near that level, even by August, it will take a hell of a lot longer than that and even then it's questionable that it's how KK will set us up to play. Even one key midfielder can make a massive difference. Wenger bought Viera and overnight Arsenal became a different team. Obviously Vieras don't grow on trees but a player in that position is the heartbeat of the team.

yes and no. he maybe should be given a chance because what we have isn't working,more so than the stats. Well the stats equally show that Butt isn't working. not if he played in the games where geremi won aswell. keefaz point is valid about those teams we played with butt and without geremi and it's almost like the rest of the team didn't matter. tho Butt didn't play as defensive midfielder when he was alongside Geremi, more often than not Geremi sat back and gave Butt licence to go forward and not have to track back and run about as much. Since Butt has moved back to DM he's looked terrible. he's done his own thing of winning the ball but is now left having to find 40yd passes as no-one wants to take resposiblity creativly.......like when he first came. i don't think he's that much better than geremi when it comes to winning the ball, what sets them apart is that on the ball butt is s**** and geremi is comfortable. he can spot runs and pick a pass more easily which starts off attacking moves. i think there is some of the"great when he's out" creeping in here. definitely not, i was saying this earlier in the season. So was I. So was James with all his stats in hand back then FWIW.

The difference two mobile central midfielders would make can't be under-estimated. Duff hasn't been great but he's been isolated too many times when he's on the ball IMO.

you've said that so it must be true.

I concur. Not saying the defence can't be improved but it's not the real problem.

Surrounded? They were 10 yards away. What do you expect in midfield, all the Man U players should retreat to their own penalty area while Barton collects and composes himself? He'd still probably miss the fucking pass.

We should drop Beye. Not even as good as Nicky Butt. For someone who's slagging the statsmeister, quite ironic you have that newcastlestats link in your sig

He looked quite sharp when he returned but his end product has been zero. He also looks like one of those players you can count on least when it gets tough.

It's not as if he's the finished article, or without flaws, we can see that. But he's the only one of our current squad who would command a decent fee, that tells you a lot. How many good left wingers are there around if we needed a replacement in the summer?

Seriously, I don't know what that's based on. Not saying we're overflowing with creative players (everyone knows we're not) but he's so ordinary I can't believe what I'm reading from some people. He struggled to make an impact in a decent side here, couldn't wait to get away - claiming he couldn't settle in the region, then he said he was off to Greece and reckoned the pace would suit him there as English football doesn't suit players like him (or words to that effect) and now he wants to come back? He probably wouldn't even get a game with our current squad if everyone was available. It was more based on my opinion of our players, as apposed to Lua Lua. However, looking at Lua Luas attributes, he's a player that likes a trick or to beat someone or have a snap shot. None of our players are doing that atm. Thats why i'd like Oba back, he will shoot from anywhere. I don't think we need dribblers as such, just midfielders who will pass and move