TRon

Just seems strange that a) Ashley's best mate is a Spurs fan b) They keep beating us to the punch to our major target signings c) Dennis Wise is ex-Spurs d) Our scouts and coaching team all have ex-Spurs connections. e) Spurs have suddenly become a more viable economic prospect than us for a player we wanted to sign. I wonder if these are the questions Keegan wil ask of Ashley?

I agree with pretty much all of this. I think that the first time round, KK ran the club from top to bottom, he set out everything. And he's looking to do exactly the same again. I also agree that Ashley will be a fool to take him on. I think he [and his mouthpiece] have had ideas of their own on how to run the club [which have been basically naive, shite, and led to our failure to land 2 major transfers] but KK is seeking to correct this. It is absolutely essential that he is in on transfer dealings, he has to get the player and ask him to his face why he wants to play for the club and judge his character. This is the strength of Keegan. Some managers say they do it their way or else, but he actually means it. And my guess is that he will win, at least I hope so. When he has walked away in the past, its down to his basic honesty and also the fact that he has been let down ie when he walked away from here the decision of SJH to float the club changed the whole setup and he stuck to his guns. When he walked away from England for admitting he had done his best, he was tainted by the southern journos as being a quitter, when the same tossers slate McLaren, Hoddle and Eriksson for hanging onto their jobs. I know what sort of person I would prefer. The other side of the coin, is that if Ashley has a certain idea of running the club, which is different to Keegans, then for my money its Ashley who can bugger off. I have my own ideas about how the place I work should be run, which differ from my bosses. Chances are though they won't be buggering off. And the bit about Mort & Ashley costing us two transfers is bollocks. I don't agree, I think you are talking bollocks. For my money, Kevin Keegan knows more about how to run a successful football club than Mike Ashley and Chris Mort. In that case he needs to stump up £100m of his own cash then to finance the signings he wants.

Darren Bent or Cruz would be good signings IMO. I still hesitate about Crouch because for someone who's 7ft tall he still looks weak and I'm not sure he's fantastic in the air either.

The way True Faith are getting ready to hold Ashley and co to account you'd think it was their money about to be splurged on new signings. "Oi! Ashley! SPEND £100m on players right now you tight cunt! We DEMAND you make your bank account accessible to all season ticket holders as this club belongs to US!"

If Ashley has no money in the bank how come we bid for Modric? Did someone make it all up?

It seems the players weren't too impressed by Keegans words either. No one likes to hear their manager publicly telling the world his team are a million miles away from Chelsea and that we haven't got a hope of finishing in the top four in the next three years. It might be true but you don't have to moan about it in public.

Seems like there could be some truth in this going by the reports in the papers. Makes absolute sense to me. I'm a Keegan man, but buying big names past their sell by dates isn't a wise course.

I bet KK wishes Fat Fred was still Chairman. Shepherd should buy Ashley out and back Keegan with at least £100m I say. Come on Fat Fred!!

That's how I saw it as well.

Clever stuff on Stoke's part to scupper the deal. Don't play Shola when fit, tell him he won't figure next season, make it clear he can fuck right off, save yourselves £3m.

Where's the ambition? The Woodgate and Modric bids have shown it, as have the sacking of Allardyce and the appointing of Keegan himself. It's not unusual for managers to use the press to leverage pressure on Chairmen to spend the cash, but Keegan hasn't done the club any favours here. All he's done is given the likes of Martin Samuels the chance to stick the boot in at the slightest hint of opportunity and create an uncertain atmosphere about the club. Whatever is going on behind the scenes, I think we should be showing a united front, which sad to say, KK is not projecting right now.

It was great management of the situation from those running the club at the time. fantastic, our best player gone and left with 2 donkeys up front The chairman was best pals with one donkey and had to back the other donkey to hilt because he'd appointed him manager.

What has Avram Grant done to deserve a trophy in this country? He's a caretaker who looks like an undertaker. I don't like useless kids who inherit daddy's fortunes, and I don't like ordinairy managers who inherit a winning team. The thought of this shuffling zombie getting a trophy cheaply while the likes of King Kev are still doing it the hard way makes my blood boil. Man U for the double!

It was great management of the situation from those running the club at the time.

I'm off to get a bowl of sugar puffs

Maybe Sunderland will step in with a rival bid and start a bidding war!

Just to put the record straight, Sidwell would give his right arm to come here so this story is absolute shite. So is Sidwell, so he can stop day dreaming about ever pulling on a Newcastle shirt.

They'd be pretty rock solid IMO.

Edgar is an inexperienced kid who has still to fill out. In this match I would have expected Taylor to be the dominant defender who would be responsible for keeping Ashton quiet. From what I've seen so far, Taylor needs a big dominant defender to do that, while he plays the secondary role.

Yep, turned Edgar inside out for the goal Taylor has to take his share of the blame for the goal, he didn't even jump with Zamora for the header and let him have an easy flick on to Ashton. We're desperate for some leadership in the heart of defence. Exactly. Edgar could hardly be blamed for getting turned once the ball had bounced for Ashton who then produced a nice piece of skill to score. Fucking hell Getting turned requires skill from the attacking player so credit goes to him if he can do it. Getting beat in the air just requires a centre half who can be dominated.

first touch great second (the one which bounced off his shin)not so good. to be fair his control when the ball is coming over his shoulder so to speak is exceptional. his control when the ball is trundling towards him leaves a lot to be desired. also take a close look in that he's gets lucky bounces and such...todays second touch that wasn't deliberate and tho extra non-deliberate touch in his goal at spuds. They're not lucky bounces, he just recovers from them quickly. aye but i call it lucky if you hit the ball when you don't mean to and profit from it He's lucky that he's quick as well. A bit lucky that his first touch sometimes works, and that he can score goals with a hard shot, and a delicate touch sometimes. Also with his head. Fucking flukey cunt if you ask me.

Yep, turned Edgar inside out for the goal Taylor has to take his share of the blame for the goal, he didn't even jump with Zamora for the header and let him have an easy flick on to Ashton. We're desperate for some leadership in the heart of defence. Exactly. Edgar could hardly be blamed for getting turned once the ball had bounced for Ashton who then produced a nice piece of skill to score.

Mar first touch great second (the one which bounced off his shin)not so good. to be fair his control when the ball is coming over his shoulder so to speak is exceptional. his control when the ball is trundling towards him leaves a lot to be desired. also take a close look in that he's gets lucky bounces and such...todays second touch that wasn't deliberate and tho extra non-deliberate touch in his goal at spuds. Fortuitous i suppose. The previous touches make up for it though, as do the finishes. He took Tainio to f****** Alaska* at Spurs. *© Johnnypd tainio dived in because of martins unintentional touch Martins keeps getting these fortuitous gash first touches, and he keeps stroking the ball into the net through sheer luck. What a lucky bastard he is, and he's not that quick either really.

Looked pretty weak today without Faye alongside. Dean Ashton ran riot pretty much as he liked tonight.

Went from possibly beloved to cunt over the course of two days. Record? Who think hes a cunt? On reflection I think he's a cunt to be fair. And as Billytray has pointed out he is pretty ugly so we may well have dodged a bullet here.