TRon

The SUN !!!! The Sun is light years ahead of other tabloids like The Mirror when it comes to accuracy over rumours. Typical of Wenger to try and negotiate a better price even thougfh the release fee is iron clad. Good test of Ashley's business acumen this. Can't see him letting a valuable asset go for less than it's worth. We have to be strong about this if this is true. If they insist on paying less than we should insist on taking one of their top players off them... If they insist on paying less, then we should insist they fuck off.

The SUN !!!! The Sun is light years ahead of other tabloids like The Mirror when it comes to accuracy over rumours. Typical of Wenger to try and negotiate a better price even thougfh the release fee is iron clad. Good test of Ashley's business acumen this. Can't see him letting a valuable asset go for less than it's worth.

So he's touting Owen's services.

If the Gudjonsen rumours have any truth in them I'd be slightly concerned about the lack of pace up front because that would probably mean that Martins is on his way out.

The agent can only be acting on his behalf. If he's acting out of his own interest only I'd think Owen would have distanced himself pretty quickly.

Wonder why his agent was allowed to publicise the £9m release clause then?

Wanna bet? Sheffield Utd, Wimbledon of old, Watford...these are just a couple of teams that come to mind that wouldn't have entertained the thought of a Djorkieff or Okocha in their line up, let alone how to utilise them. Just out of interest, are you looking forward to Little Sammy Lee introducing more cultured, passing football or do you want him to try and follow Big Sam's footsteps?

Aye I'm basically happy as long as I see solid foundations being built and a club moving in the right direction. I think I'll defer the "I'll judge him on what I see on the pitch" stuff until he's had a while at the club too. There's a lot more than what's on the pitch needs sorting at NUFC and as long as we see progress in other areas, the progress on the pitch will follow. I get the feeling that those saying Sam MUST succeed immediately are secretly dreading that given time he will succeed. In Roeder's case that's definitely the case.

Bridge might be a realistic signing. No player of quality likes playing seconnd fiddle, which is the case at Chelsea - to Ashley Cole. Might be worth keeping an eye on this one.

It's not hard to see now why so many of the Newcastle squad had lost respect for Roeder by the end. When Alan Oliver trumpeted at the end of the 05-06 season that Shepeherd would never give Allardyce the manager's job, and what a fantastic job Roeder was doing, I doubt Roeder could have seen the tables being turned so far on their head. Allardyce's appointment after Freddy's about-turn must be a bitter slap in the face for Roeder but he couldn't have handled it much worse tbh. If you don't have the authority to command respect as a manager, the worst thing you can do is start sniping at those who do. Not just pathetic, but embarassing for all concerned at Newcastle.

it doesn't help when they are as thick as pig $hit as well.

Thanks, the Chelsea forum link was very instructive. As a midfielder on loan for boro, he looked top notch. Sounds like he can do a pretty decent job at RB as well. Another Big Sam Special by the looks of it.

Yes Kenny Dalglish was crap wasn't he? I mean he only managed to win the league with two different clubs! The fact is that you have had decent players, decent managers and a Chairman who has backed them with millions, the real reason that your club is a mess, is the fickle supporters who turn on the manager and the board the minute anything goes wrong. The Chairman then caves in and appoints yet another manager who then starts to dismantle everything that the previous manager did! The end result is continual failure. We have had decent players yes, but the appointment of managers has been a joke since Robson left, further compounded by backing these plebs blindly with the club's money. You'll find out just what a difference picking the right manager makes when Sammy Lee makes a pig's ear of the manager's job at Bolton.

Still not sure which position he's been signed for. I saw him at boro where he was playing midfield and he looked impressive. On Century Legends, both Supermac and Slaven insisted that he couldn't defend and the general opinon seemed to be that he is a right-sided midfielder which puts him in direct competition with Milner and Solano rather than Carr.

We aren't currently in a position to sign world class players - we are struggling to hold onto the one or two we've got. Let's just make some progress next season then we'll be able to lure the top stars.

Well I welcomed Geremi as a good player to use at either right back or defensive midfield but I'm pretty sure you said he wouldn't be much use in either position. Where do you see him playing then? I wouldn't have him anywhere as a starter, good squad player though. He can play either of those positions up to a point, but I see him first and foremost as a right winger. Dyer can't cross to save his life, Solano's getting on and Milner might well suffer fatigue given the amount of games he's played, so he'll be useful cover there. cover for Milner? Are you serious? Well, he's primarily a right winger and has played most of his Premiership games there. Are you asking whether I'd start him ahead of Milner? Possibly, depends how Milner starts the season. No I asked whether you saw him as cover for Milner if he suffered from 'fatigue' as you put it. Don't get me wong, I like Milner, but I would be seriously amazed if we were putting so much effort into signing cover for a tired Milner.

Well I welcomed Geremi as a good player to use at either right back or defensive midfield but I'm pretty sure you said he wouldn't be much use in either position. Where do you see him playing then? I wouldn't have him anywhere as a starter, good squad player though. He can play either of those positions up to a point, but I see him first and foremost as a right winger. Dyer can't cross to save his life, Solano's getting on and Milner might well suffer fatigue given the amount of games he's played, so he'll be useful cover there. cover for Milner? Are you serious?

how many players currently at SJP wouls have us as their top choice..........possibly steven taylor,all the rest given the choice between us or manu,chelsea etc wouldn't be here. the only way owen is any different is that he is probably good enough to go to one of those. except they won't pay £9m at this moment. On the plus side, this gives Sam a window of opportunity to seal some great players here if we get off to a good start.

Well I welcomed Geremi as a good player to use at either right back or defensive midfield but I'm pretty sure you said he wouldn't be much use in either position. Where do you see him playing then?

Very much like the Owen situation when we signed him. Would rather be somewhere else - a bit like Owen now really - but with lack of options might end up here on the rebound.

I would never knock Wenger on taking a chance with a relatively unknown player whether it works out or not. It's what he does best and Arsenal's bank balance probably reflects this. As far as Martins is concerned it's good news for me. Juve might come in, but if they don't I'm quite relishing the prospect of Owens, Martins and Viduka as a front line.

My tenner was going on 2-1 with Owen and Viduka being on the scoreheet but I just realised that Viduka probably won't even be playing which messes up the balance of the team a bit. Still think we'll win though , if Gudjohnssen arrives my tenner's still good, if Ameobi's next to Owen it's worth a calculated flutter.

Sadly this is typical of the Anti-Dyer lobby. Foam-flecked hatred which makes you wonder whether they can't present reasonable arguments for their case. arguments have been put, they've just been ignored 'cause you can't read them in rose tinted spectacles again though; his shooting is appalling, his crossing is appalling, his passing is appalling, his tackling is appalling, his positional sense is non-existent, his dribbling is only OK but is largely directionless, he has no isea how to utilise his pace in a game of professional football, he can't even spell "football brain", HE REFUSED TO PLAY FOR THE CLUB & BOBBY ROBSON that's it summed up in a nutshell and i haven't even mentioned his off the field exploits, numerous chances to turn it around, injury record, fighting on the pitch and so on....oh yes i have so there you have it friend, foam-flecked indeed but in no way untrue his shooting is appalling, No it isn't, he has scored some absolute blinders - not everyone can hit a dead ball like Shearer but that doesn't make their shooting 'appalling'. his crossing is appalling, He isn't a conventional winger though, he usually cuts in from wide and plays the ball low, something which Arsenal have done under Wenger for years, his passing is appalling, Is that why he used to play so many great one-twos with Solano when we finished 3rd under Robson? his tackling is appalling, He's no centre back it's true. his positional sense is non-existent, Must be why so many of our goals on the counter revolve around this fast breaking midfielder then. Stupid idiot doesn't realise he's in the wrong place obviously. his dribbling is only OK but is largely directionless, he has no isea how to utilise his pace in a game of professional football, not obvious to many, but dribbling at pace makes picking out team mates that much more difficult. He could always stop and take a look around for a bit I suppose. he can't even spell "football brain", HE REFUSED TO PLAY FOR THE CLUB & BOBBY ROBSON well at least he didn't stub a cigar into his eye. Look on the positives. ok i'll put aside the vitriol for a second and answer your points regarding shooting i'll side with "Jonny Sack" and question where these great goals he's scored are? as the guy "khyberpss" says he opts to pass more often than shoot which begs the question why if he has such a good shot? the goals i remember him scoring, in fact, are basically all side footed "passed shots" such as arsenal away where he showed great composure well above his usual level - he is basically the new jigsaw people are quoting 7 goals last season like it's some big fucken deal - a top class midfielder is expected to get double figures fact passing - one-two aren't really an example that someone is a good passer of the ball, they're an example in this instance that he's playing with an intelligent player such as solano who as i recall it used to force dyer into the space with the types of balls he'd play back to him, dyer himself has no range of passing whatsoever beyond about 10 feet....how many times does he set off on the counter with purpose only for the move to fall apart due to the quality of his pass? a lot is answer as for his crossing how many goals do we get from his cut backs? could be wrong again but i'm sure his assists figures are also embarrasingly low for someone who gets in consistenly good positions positional sense works in many ways and i'd argue that goals on the counter attack are generally (football wide) down to moving the ball fast rather then someone having good positional sense...it's a strength dyer does have, the ability to use his burst of pace and set us on the way, however as moves develop how many times do they collapse as a result of his inability to pass/cross accurately or explout the space i take your point about dribbling at pace being hard but then he's not paid to do easy s*** is he? football is littered with the dead careers of people who could run fast and had tricks but ultimately were not good enough (why this doesn't apply to dyer is beyond me)....as for utilisiation of pace i liken him to keith gillespie in that if they had it upstairs they'd know when to be hanging on the shoulder of a full back to develop holes on the pitch, dyer has utterly no idea if you ask me as for the cigar stubbing out what's the supposed to prove? we have signed a player who made some mistakes? big deal, he never made any of them here and if we're sitting looking at joey barton in 7 years time when he's spent 50% of his life injured and never fulfilled his potential while being paid all the money in the world i'll be saying the same about him too he's had enough chances and enough excuses made for him, time to say goodbye I am not really interested in getting into a deep-heated debate about the need to get Dyer out of Newcastle. All I will say is this; managers tend to look at the bigger picture. For example, Alan Shearer I'm sure everyone will agree, is a much better centre forward that Dyer. But you wouldn't want two Alan Shearers as your 1st choice strikers. Most top managers will look at their players and assess what they bring to their squad. I am happy to let Sam Allardyce do that, and if he wants to get rid of Dyer, I will back him. If he feels that he adds something extra and he wants to make use of it, then he will probably have a good reason for it. Some fans won't see it but a manager who makes decisions to be popular with vocal critics, just like a Chairman who makes trophy signings wouldn't get my respect anyway.

You wouldn't expect Bolton fans to be happy that Sam is taking his staff with him, but at the end of the day they are there because of Sam in the first place. Sammy Lee can stick a bluetooth next to his lug but that's about as close as he'll come to emulating Allardyce's achievements at the Reebok. I'm going to put a tenner on us bringing back all 3 points from there on opening day next season.

Sadly this is typical of the Anti-Dyer lobby. Foam-flecked hatred which makes you wonder whether they can't present reasonable arguments for their case. arguments have been put, they've just been ignored 'cause you can't read them in rose tinted spectacles again though; his shooting is appalling, his crossing is appalling, his passing is appalling, his tackling is appalling, his positional sense is non-existent, his dribbling is only OK but is largely directionless, he has no isea how to utilise his pace in a game of professional football, he can't even spell "football brain", HE REFUSED TO PLAY FOR THE CLUB & BOBBY ROBSON that's it summed up in a nutshell and i haven't even mentioned his off the field exploits, numerous chances to turn it around, injury record, fighting on the pitch and so on....oh yes i have so there you have it friend, foam-flecked indeed but in no way untrue his shooting is appalling, No it isn't, he has scored some absolute blinders - not everyone can hit a dead ball like Shearer but that doesn't make their shooting 'appalling'. his crossing is appalling, He isn't a conventional winger though, he usually cuts in from wide and plays the ball low, something which Arsenal have done under Wenger for years, his passing is appalling, Is that why he used to play so many great one-twos with Solano when we finished 3rd under Robson? his tackling is appalling, He's no centre back it's true. his positional sense is non-existent, Must be why so many of our goals on the counter revolve around this fast breaking midfielder then. Stupid idiot doesn't realise he's in the wrong place obviously. his dribbling is only OK but is largely directionless, he has no isea how to utilise his pace in a game of professional football, not obvious to many, but dribbling at pace makes picking out team mates that much more difficult. He could always stop and take a look around for a bit I suppose. he can't even spell "football brain", HE REFUSED TO PLAY FOR THE CLUB & BOBBY ROBSON well at least he didn't stub a cigar into his eye. Look on the positives.