TRon

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.

Hits unerringly close to the truth there really. Lampard's effectivenesss will drop 80% outside the Premier I think.

I hope this is true because he's a quality player IMO.

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.

The only realistic suggestions so far are Given and Viduka. None of the others are guaranteed starters including Taylor.

the doubt about Owens and Martins future is there in any case. That's precisely WHY we are looking at other options.

Can't say I'd be too disappointed at all. Depends on whether Allardyce is getting big money, I suppose. I suspect he won't as it happens, not this summer. So that trio would be fine by me. Even big money wouldn't necessarily improve our current strike force (replace Bellamy with Owen from that front 3). If we can keep them together not many defences will relish facing them IMO.

Sam Allardyce was the man I wanted here after Robson was forced out. The two subsequent appointments of Souness and Roeder were a disgrace and a damning indictment of Shepherd's judgement. This time though IMO he has got it right for the short term at least. Yes Allardyce plays direct and functional football, but it's not as basic as some teams who play this style. There's room for flair players in the right areas, i.e. attacking positions. Also Sam is very clear-mionded in what he wants from his teams and that is worth it's weight in gold itself. The forward thinking wrt sports science, staff expertise in various areas, all these point to a thinker and tactician the likes of which he haven't had here in recent memory. I have no doubt that he will get us into Europe pretty quickly and we will make significant progress next season. The real test will come when he is spending big money to compete at the highest level. When we get there we will look at it then.

and you are entitled to your opinion as a 'fan'. A manager has to weigh up the pro's and not just the cons though. Which is why no manager so far has shared your opinion I would guess.

He can definitely shoot, I was in the west stand when he volleyed the winner against Leeds at home 2-1 from about 20 yds. SBR was the manager and we went into that game with only Ameobi and Dyer up front against a high flying Leeds at the time. He can tackle as well, but he's no centre back I agree. If we are looking to play him as a centre back or defensive midfielder you might have a point. Is that where you would be looking to deploy him?

No, in fact it's complete sh1te, fuelled by hatred. The only valid point you make is wrt his fitness which I agreed with.

Derby just payed £3.5m for Earnshaw. Transfer fees have gone through the roof recently and wages will go in tandem. Dyer's injury record is the main concern, other than that we should have no problem getting our money back should we want to sell. I am pretty sure that Allardyce will want to keep him here unless we get a daft offer, because he is still a very dangerous player who attacks defences at speed.