TRon

Seconded. No contest. Has to be. I wasn't at the game, but I had my own little bit of human drama. I'd avoided tuning into the latest scores by going out. I switched Grandstand on with 10 minutes of the match to go, and the score came up as 0-0. My heart sank because we needed to win. Then, as I was watching, the score changed on the screen to 1-0. Moments like that don't come round too often. I think anyone who was around pre-Keegan days won't say anything else. Everything that we have achieved since, even if it wasn't rewarded with a trophy hinged on that goal. We could have been Leeds, instead we survived and King Kev used it as a launching pad to turn us into title contenders within a couple of years.

Let me just re-iterate, using UV's benchmark of a single transfer atrget turning us down, Matt Jansen's snubbing of Fred Shepherd was a massive...absolutely monumental indictment of Shepherd's failure to sell the club. A player from the lower leagues at that. What a fucking disgrace.

It says you had to go all the way back to 1999 to find one? It's a single example, just like you are using a single example to draw your conclusions. Like for like tbf. except that we are in the worst position since winning promotion, as soon as the Halls and Shepherd have left the club. Continue to ignore this if it doesn't suit your "opinion" The Halls and Shepherd were in an even worse position early on in their reign, presiding over possible relegation to the 3rd division. Continue to ignore it if it doesn't suit your opinion.

David Kelly's as mentioned. The other goals were big in their own way but that one saved the club from oblivion. let's hope we aren't in a similar situation this season.

It says you had to go all the way back to 1999 to find one? It's a single example, just like you are using a single example to draw your conclusions. Like for like tbf.

Didn't Matt Jansen turn us down and sign for Blackburn instead under Freddie Shepherd? What does that say about Shepherd's inability to attract even mediocre players?

Not according to his dad apparently. All it would have taken was for us to have made Shearer manager. You quoted it, so I assumed you believed it: You don't think even with a £100m transfer kitty we can convince players we are a better prospect long term than Spurs? We have sunk a long way down since Ashley took over then. This £100m transfer kitty which we were supposed to dangle in front of Woody and his dad to persuade them to sign - you believe we should be presenting this sum to all our prospective transfer targets as a given then?

thanks for cutting of the bracketted part at the end of the second quote which qualified the statement, and the second part of the sentence which elaborated on what I was implying in the first quote. YOU WIN! Why do you think Woodgate chose Spurs over us, given the fact we're going to be spending £100m in the Summer? Because he thinks the managerial hierarchy is Shearer > Ramos > Keegan? I don't think it was anything to do with money. Woodgate turned us down for boro before that. Spurs were on the up with a top boss and in Europe. Is that not enough? You can speculate all you want on what he was offered but you don't know it was down to money, so all we can go on is the reason Keegan gave which seems reasonable enough to me.

No, he's just the same Mark Viduka we signed as a free agent in the summer - a fat lazy cunt who doesnt give a fuck now he's got a nice big contract. Has viduka not got the best goals per games ratio out of him, Owen and Oba though? I think KK would play him if he'd train for two consecutive days without pulling up with this or that niggle. Even though we could do with him on the pitch, I'm 100% behind KK on this one. Viduka is a grade A cunt plain and simple.

Why would you "must surely offer" a fraction of that to a manager you're going to sack? I'm afraid A doesn't follow from B here, as it pertains to debunking the 100m figure. Also the suggestion that Woodgate chose Spurs ahead of us down to wages is misleading unless you have something concrete to back it up. Spurs are the club with a wage ceiling, and Woodgate's father said he would have joined Newcastle if Shearer was boss.

N'Zogbia isn't blameless, I'm not sure Keegan trusts him to give 100%. It's a shame because I think if he hadn't been messed about and put below the pecking order behind Duff, he'd have been much happier and we'd have scored more goals.

Probably dropped around the time you stopped calling your manager "King Kev" perhaps? What makes you think we have stopped calling King Kev, King Kev?

Please God let this be true. Duff dropped and free to go on the lash Sunday night.

I think a lot will be revealed in the Summer, not just how much money Keegan is backed with but what sort of players he's targeted, from that we'll be able to understand why he couldn't attract them in January. It's been a shit season without doubt, I just hope now they've got there man the club can start moving in the right direction, we've just got to see this season out. A sensible approach, but of course there is nothing to stop those not sharing these views from getting their boots in while they can.

Same here. I really thought Sam's fitness regime would see a new Viduka but we were mugged on this one. He's on vacation until Australia come calling by the looks of it, the fat spongeing cunt.

Mine for what it's worth: 4-4-2 Harper Beye Taylor Faye Enrique Zog Geremi Barton Milner Martins Owen

I would have thought a Chairman desperate for cash would have snapped West Ham's hands off at £6m. Bean counters don't usually risk a deal falling through by upping the price on a whim, but then recognising this probably doesn't fit in with some people's agenda so best ignore it and hope no one notices.

It's a big ask to pitch a teenager into a relegation battle. Nevertheless, Carroll looks like he would relish it. I wouldn't start him yet, first we need to see Martins and Owen given a crack, but if it isn't working, get him off the bench and alongside Oba.

I would stick with Faye and Cacapa for this one. Birmingham are direct and phsyical so horses for courses.

I wasn't necessarily suggesting anyone should come up with something beginning with P which rhymed with Duff btw, I should make that clear. Anyway, he was subbed early on Saturday, I'm hoping that means he's no longer an automatic choice. With a striker who won't take shots at goal, we can't afford to also have a winger who can't deliver the ball into the penalty area.

All true enough, but if the top managers weren't willing to come, why not go for an up and coming manager from the lower leagues rather than a proven flop? Unless Freddie's football knowledge was so limited he had no knowledge of young managers rated within the game?

I don't think he lacks pride or passion. He just doesn't know what to do with the ball when someone's in the way.

What's Milner got to do with it? He makes Duff look like Ronaldo! A young Luis Figo obviously did a few step-overs, chucked in the odd cross and scored no goals.

Because Allardyce went on tv and said he was his replacement? When a player leaves you usually replace them, yet we were prepared to hang on to Dyer until we got the money we thought he was worth, in fact we signed Enrique a week before we sold Dyer, where does he fit in this imaginary buy to sell policy? So none of the deals were financially linked then? IIRC We sold Dyer, then bought Smith, then told West Ham Dyer was no longer for sale because something upset Ashley about the way West Ham had carried out their business. How does that fit in with your sell to buy argument?