Shak

Looks to me like he means that our fans, expectations and chairman are a lot harder to deal with, for one reason or another. Blackburn is an easier job than Newcastle or City, no doubt. Expectations aren't high, big money isn't dished out therefore vast improvements on the pitch aren't demanded to the same extent. But if Hughes has real ambition he'll take the City job IMO, because he knows that there's more he can do at City than he ever could at Blackburn. It'll be harder, for sure, but he'll believe he can do it, as any manager worth his balls would.

What else could possibly define a poor decision? As I said, in football there's always an element of risk with any signing. Duff has worked out badly, but so do thousands of player purchases every single year throughout the world. It's the nature of the beast. Sitting back 2 years after the event and saying something was a poor decision and we should never have done it is hindsight at its best. If you were saying Duff was a bad signing at the time then you have a case, but not everyone was at all.

I'll agree with UV in principle here. You can't look back and say decisions were poor ones simply because they haven't worked out. In football there's always an element of risk with every signing, things may not work out for one reason or another. That said, plenty of people said the Duff signing was a stupid one at the time. I do remember myself and Wullie going to war in a few threads to defend The Zog.

Solano's goal against Everton a couple of years ago got nowhere near enough love at the time. Lovely build up play, ball finally makes its way out to Nobby. Dummies past a defender then bends one with the outside of the boot into the far corner. Cambiasso's goal in the last world cup was immense.

Crouch may not have that pace and physical presence, can't deny that. But what you lose by not having the pace and power, you're gaining in close control. The bigger, more physically impressive target men we could go for aren't likely to have the touch and technique that Crouch has. Given that Martins figures to be his strike partner, Crouch could be the way to go. Martins has enough pace and physicality about him to pressure the opposition, but recieving the ball to feet with his back to goal certainly isn't his strong point. If we're going to play the ball on the deck then we need someone who can link the play nicely to allow Martins to do what he does best.

Can he not offer something height wise when he starts, no? Very good first touch, quick feet, good awareness of his teammates runs, handful in the air due to his sheer size. All useful talents in a target man, which is what we need. Not a great finisher but he'll chip in with goals here and there. Again, not world class or anything but I think he'd be a solid signing.

And calling him 4th choice at Liverpool is harsh. Just can't get a game because they play one up top with Gerrard just off. Kuyt, Babel, Voronin and the others all play primarily as wide men really, which Crouch isn't suited to. If they switched to a flat 4-4-2 he'd be playing up front with Torres, IMO. Better than Kuyt for me.

Agreed. x2 x3 Why? Ridiculous just quoting Dave's preference. Why don't you want him? Wages? Style of play? Why do you think he will not fit in with Owen and Martins up front? Does he not score enough goals? Is £8m too expensive? No Pace. Can't drift deep. No tricks. One dimensional. Don't want to pay silly money. Don't want to give Liverpool a way of ditching their 4th choice striker. £8m is hardly silly money for a guy who's proved he can be a real handful against some of the best defenses in the Premiership.

Agreed. x2 x3 Why? Ridiculous just quoting Dave's preference. Why don't you want him? Wages? Style of play? Why do you think he will not fit in with Owen and Martins up front? Does he not score enough goals? Is £8m too expensive? It's because he looks gammy, innit. Crouch wouldn't be absolutely ideal, but he certainly fits the mold of the type of player we need to bring in to lead the line. Ideally we'd bring in a guy with a bit more of a physical presence, and more mobile. But at least with Crouch we know we'd be getting a guy who's proven in the Premiership and who seems keen to play as much football as he can. His ability generally gets overlooked due to his ungainly appearance, but he's actually a very tidy player with the ball at his feet, and would be very useful as a focal point in a pass and move type of game. Be quite happy with him, all things considered.

We need 3 or 4 players who will come in and really improve us, get them and I think we could be a pretty useful team and would expect us to be finishing in the top half. There's some very good players at the club, we just lack a few very key components in putting together a good team that will bring out the best in them. A centre-back that organises the defence, a main playmaker in midfield and a frontman who we can play the ball into feet to and will give us a bit of a physical presence up front. Three key components in any good side, and we have none of them, barring Viduka maybe when he's fit and in the mood. Get those three players and we're a whole new animal. Not an easy task though.

What has this thread done to warrant being a sticky?

Oh dear ... another ITK wannabe. SWP and Chris Eagles is it? Yeah, yeah believe it when I see it pal. I reckon you've missed the point of his post entirely. Or maybe I have. I know who my money's on though.

Didn't require much encouragement as I recall.

I'd agree with this, Marcelino FTW. You're not serious? Hard to say, I have been drinking heavily. Seriously though, I'm not sure I would be able to see the value in carrying on the relationship if the two sides are on a completely wavelength. My gut instinct though is that the problems are minor and that both sides will work things out and find a common direction to take. How that works out in the long term is anyone's guess but it's surely the best course of action to take for now, as long as the problems aren't absolutely critical. Don't back out now man. Sorry, it just dawned on me that I might not be online for another few days after tonight so thought it best to not leave on such a hysterical note.

I'd agree with this, Marcelino FTW. You're not serious? Hard to say, I have been drinking heavily. Seriously though, I'm not sure I would be able to see the value in carrying on the relationship if the two sides are on a completely wavelength. My gut instinct though is that the problems are minor and that both sides will work things out and find a common direction to take. How that works out in the long term is anyone's guess but it's surely the best course of action to take for now, as long as the problems aren't absolutely critical.

I'd agree with this, Marcelino FTW.

Concerned, mostly about the working relationships within the club. I'm not really arsed about how we did last season. It's how we intend to move forward that's important, and if Keegan isn't on the same page as the rest of the staff then it can only end in tears.

Spurs battered them in the final tbh.

You were going so well too.

I'd assume that if Keegan were to leave, someone else will be brought in. A reasonable assumption I think. I don't doubt that his heart is in the right place, but the man isn't infallible. He may think he's trying to steer the club in what he thinks is the right direction, but who's to say that he's right? Loving the club doesn't make him automatically the all-knowing oracle of NUFC. The rest of your post is just living in a fantasy land tbh. He's more capable than the others, after all he is the manager here. Who is to say Ashley et al are right? Again it all boils down to trust. I trust KK, and they should too otherwise they've made a grave error in appointing him. If it doesn't work, you can't really complain if you've done everything to make it work, the manager is to blame then. And as the manager, KK demands everyone pulling in his direction, not the other way around. That's why you appoint managers, to lead the club. If that's me living in fantasy land, then I'm sorry but what do you want me to say? I think expecting everyone to bend to Keegan's whims, especially when they've gone to the trouble of appointing all these new guys for various roles, is the living in fantasy land part. Ideally it's what I would want too, one man in charge of it all. But it doesn't appear to be the setup we're going for, so we're going to have to get used to it and find the guys that'll make it work. If, and again I stress the if, there are problems with Keegan within the new setup then I think there's certainly something to be said for finding someone who can work within the structure we're going for. I'd rather the club backed down from the new set-up and go with whatever the manager has in mind, if it does come to that, rather than try and find someone else willing to work under the new setup. I don't think it will though, I think the two will find a happy medium and co-exist. It serves both their interests to do so, most of all the club's. I'm inclined to believe you're right, both sides have too much to lose from a split at this point. So I expect some sort of compromise to be reached, if there even is a problem in the first place of course. Can only hope all these rumours are bullshit though, as if Keegan is pulling in a different direction to the rest of them then it doesn't bode well for the future.

Not even that, doesn't officially open until July 1st. So it isn't even open yet and people are speculating that KK is dragging his heels and therefore potentially f***ing up our chance to sign all these promising youngsters we seem to be linked with but haven't signed yet in the few days since the season ended... You couldn't make it up Commonplace for deals to be agreed well before that, but they only become official on July 1st. Suspect you were well aware of this though already, no?

I'd assume that if Keegan were to leave, someone else will be brought in. A reasonable assumption I think. I don't doubt that his heart is in the right place, but the man isn't infallible. He may think he's trying to steer the club in what he thinks is the right direction, but who's to say that he's right? Loving the club doesn't make him automatically the all-knowing oracle of NUFC. The rest of your post is just living in a fantasy land tbh. He's more capable than the others, after all he is the manager here. Who is to say Ashley et al are right? Again it all boils down to trust. I trust KK, and they should too otherwise they've made a grave error in appointing him. If it doesn't work, you can't really complain if you've done everything to make it work, the manager is to blame then. And as the manager, KK demands everyone pulling in his direction, not the other way around. That's why you appoint managers, to lead the club. If that's me living in fantasy land, then I'm sorry but what do you want me to say? I think expecting everyone to bend to Keegan's whims, especially when they've gone to the trouble of appointing all these new guys for various roles, is the living in fantasy land part. Ideally it's what I would want too, one man in charge of it all. But it doesn't appear to be the setup we're going for, so we're going to have to get used to it and find the guys that'll make it work. If, and again I stress the if, there are problems with Keegan within the new setup then I think there's certainly something to be said for finding someone who can work within the structure we're going for.

I'd assume that if Keegan were to leave, someone else will be brought in. A reasonable assumption I think. I don't doubt that his heart is in the right place, but the man isn't infallible. He may think he's trying to steer the club in what he thinks is the right direction, but who's to say that he's right? Loving the club doesn't make him automatically the all-knowing oracle of NUFC. The rest of your post is just living in a fantasy land tbh.

But what chance does he have of turning us around if he's pulling in a different direction to everyone else behind the scenes at the club? None, IYAM. As for being the only man at the club capable of turning us around, how do you mean? The others have all been there less than a year, hardly enough time to judge them is it?

Hypothetical situation here, I've heard nowt and never do. But say what Baggio is saying were actually true, that Keegan was in fact being difficult about the new setup and was struggling to co-exist with Wise & co regarding what direction our transfer policy should take. Then say that they also believe this Marcelino to be a really top manager in the making, a guy they believe they can build well into the future with and see as their ideal manager. What would people want the board to do? Try and find a happy medium, look to co-exist and give the fans a couple of years of stability with KK in charge, allow him bring his own men in and play a bit of good football and maybe challenging for a UEFA Cup spot or have a good cup run perhaps at the very best? Then move to replace him at a more stable time, at which point there may not be an ideal option for them to replace him with, and maybe not a good core of young players to work with. Or take the plunge and piss everyone off and make the move that you believe is in the best interests of the club, knowing the shitstorm it will cause but really believing it's for the best? I would want the club to have the balls to take the hard choice, as upsetting as it would be to see KK be the casualty that gets caught in the middle.