TRon

What opinion? Opinion by definition is weighing up the pro's and con's. Since when did bitching and whining count as 'opinion'?

Your signature suggests a lot of bitterness towards our former managers. Are you Sam-bashing because you can't bear to be disappointed by yet another Big Hope? Do you even know what hope means? You don't feel any bitterness towards Souness or Roeder? Good for you, then. Your signature suggests a lot of bitterness towards our former managers. Are you Sam-bashing because you can't bear to be disappointed by yet another Big Hope? Do you even know what hope means? You don't feel any bitterness towards Souness or Roeder? Good for you, then. Not really. I thought they were poor appointments in the first place. I am very happy with the appointment of Allardyce though and I will happily raise his flag right now. Who's your answer? Or are you good for carping only?

Your signature suggests a lot of bitterness towards our former managers. Are you Sam-bashing because you can't bear to be disappointed by yet another Big Hope? Do you even know what hope means?

Probably the two bad lads, N'Zogbia and Martins assuming Sam wants them. Both underperforming under previous tits, managers, but both have plenty of ability if chanelled right and can be motivated by the right coach. It could be the case they both want out in which case they can happily fuck off for the right fee...I'm hoping Big Sam will be able to get them to do their stuff here though.

Great observation.

From what I saw of Krul last season Shay Given should be made aware that he is fighting for his shirt with a truly great prospect. Harper shouldn't even be in the picture.

My feeling is that Luque has looked like a fish out of water in the EPL. That said, you wouldn't have fancied Ginola, Okocha or Zola to shine here but they did. Sometimes it's about having a manager who knows how to construct a team. Been a while since we've had one of those tbh.

His best partner theoretically should have been Ramage, both passionate locals, both lauded by the regional press, both immune from getting their arses smacked like N'Zogbia for thinking far too much of themselves way too soon. Both were also in the team that got steam-rollered 5-1 at home in the FA cup by Championship shite Birmingham. Maybe someone should make these lads watch a replay of that match before negotiating new contracts.

I'm sure he'll get a new contract, but he's a bit young to be talking about not getting messed about. 'The geordie Bramble' might be a bit harsh, but there is a bit of truth to it. He's still very rash and has a lot to learn. Great prospect without a doubt but that doesn't make him John Terry overnight (or Bramble for that matter). Let's keep some perspective.

Not sure Owen was too smart in leaking the £9m clause. I doubt any of the top 4 will pay that for such a fragile player any more. If they did, I suspect Sam would fancy making use of that sort of money to buy a replacement. Top marksman without a doubt, but injury prone and un-committed that he is, hardly makes him indispensable.

Bearing in mind we are talking about the Premier league I should add.

Not sure about that. He's quite small, and managers like Wenger, Mourinho and Allardyce have usually gone for the Viera type in the holding MF role. The thing about having a player like Butt (who appears to have got his s*** together very nicely after his spell at Birmingham, when he was utterly awful) in the squad is that he might not be the star performer, and he might not be the kind of player other clubs will covet, but if you get rid of him, you find it really, really hard to find a suitable replacement, and they invariably cost a lot of money. I can't really think of a small defensive MF player who costs a lot of money.

Not sure about that. He's quite small, and managers like Wenger, Mourinho and Allardyce have usually gone for the Viera type in the holding MF role.

Who cares what FF/Pearson/Butt/Oliver/Roeder/etc... think? their opinion is worthless as the current shambles of a club they have run clearly shows. N'Zogbia is clearly a wayward lad but then so was Anelka before Sam took him on. I'd be amazed if Allardyce let Zoggy go without putting up a real fight to keep him here unless the young lad's mind is already made up to leave.

Why does it surprise anyone that Zog was texting on his phone during the team talk? This is exactly the sort of contempt and disrespect that Roeder's spineless management invited. Brown-nosing Alan Oliver might have won him a few friends at the Chronicle but it counts for fuck all in the dressing room. The fact that Olly could trumpet publicly how Roeder had phoned him 3 times since being sacked says everything tbh. I am more than happy to let Big Sam decide who stays and who goes. If he can handle Anelka - Martins, N'Zogbia and the rest will be a walk in the park.

Why doesn't The Fat One do the team talks at half time while he's at it? Because by barging Roeder aside to lambast the players, he's effectively admitting that Roeder isn't capable of doing it to any effect himself.

Luque isn't a CF but he held off a defender and rose to head in a fantastic cross against Palermo. If we are going to play with two wingers then we should appreciate the fact that someone got on the end of one of their crosses rather than muse on what's going wrong when two titchy forwards watch cross after cross sail tantalisingly over their heads as Duff and Rossi were forced to yesterday.

His sick wife's in Majorca? I never realised medical treatment in Spain was so far advanced than ours.

Point after point struck unerringly home.

Actually Shepherd left yesterday morning for Majorca. Important club business no doubt, nothing to do with Spanish brothels I would imagine.

What a superb analysis. The problem with Roeder is he isn't a leader of any description. He's keeping the seat warm for Alan Shearer, so it's hardly surprising fewer and fewer are willing to bust a gut for him.

To be fair, Wwen can look crap for 89 mins, but he's a lethal finisher who can punish a team for one lapse. Martins will need to be judged after a dozen games or so, but he does need to start getting into goalscoring positions more often from the little I've seen. In his defence, Bergkamp and Crouch were shite for their respective clubs for a long while before they came good. Let's give him a chance to find his feet at least. This is a million miles from Serie A.

I doubt Martins is a bad player, it probably just needs a manager who can set a team up right to get the best of the players at his disposal. Does anyone doubt that O'Neill will get more from Villa's squad than that prick O'Nearly?

An understudy for Ameobi?

I bet he'll cost just as much as Nugent would. Is Nugent a big target man though? Nugent is being quoted at £5m and I wouldn't expect to pay more than £2m for Viduka as he's in his final year of his contract.