Shak

Maybe he is, I didn't follow his PSG days, but for Man Utd he was brilliant at left back. It was my understanding that he's excellent in both positions, though I'd have thought Man Utd fans were happier with him on the left. Have to ask one of them I suppose. S'pose if he's equally as comfortable in both positions, LB would be preferential for us. NSG dont you meen suppose not s'pose Can use either. Shouldn't you have used a question mark at the end of your post? Could have spelled mean right and all, if he's going to criticise spelling.

Agree, I'd like to see us bring in a young, promising DM who can compete with Butt though. Wouldn't feel comfortable with Emre or Barton even filling in that role. Get in Deco and a qulaity LB and CB and with a bit of luck we'll have an outside chance of Top 4 next season IMO.

Type: drogba "sometimes i dive" into youtube You do realise who you're talking to, right?

Anyone with any objections to Deco being here needs a slap in he face if we're being honest. Type of player that really makes a team tick, a playmaker that we've needed for fucking years. Be interesting to see what sort of system we'd employ if Deco came in, but you can imagine it'd include a 3-man midfield. Deco, Barton and a real proper powerhouse DM is the type of midfield that we could only dream about a year ago.

Two best players in the Premieship last season were also two of the worst divers. I know it's not ideal, but it's the way the game has gone these days. Nice guys finish last in big business, which is what football has become sadly.

Heinze is more of a CB isn't he? Always thought that was his preferred position as well myself. I'd be more comfortable with him at LB though, bring in Marquez to play alongside Taylor.

Pottymouths back! Unbelievable Jeff. ? Not seen you post in a while Been on holiday. You're the only person who noticed, so thanks. Why? You're one of the worst posters on the board. An 11 year old school child in the summer would make better reading than half of the s*** you post, like "OMGZZZ I'm so drunk i'm so gonna tell everyone on the forumz bout it". Mega entertaining. And you'd know of my previous post history because? I'm now just wondering which previously banned member you are, Thompers? Well i'd quickly get as many posts in before Dave comes along. Where is Dave anyway? :D

the old "they'd do the same so let's go there too" ...we've been round this debate already... Personally i'd be disgusted if we won a game thanks to a diving scumbag of our own. People who condone it have no right to complain when we fall victim to it. Signing someone like Deco would be a sure way to see that happen on a regular basis http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5885/decko6tpde4.gif Agreed, lets sign Scott Parker back instead because he's a proper player who gets stuck in... Exactly. The little bit of skill that sets up the dive is about ten times better than anything anyone on our team has produced for years.

Can see what Vic is saying as it wouldn't seem to indicate we're heading in the right direction if we're finishing below Boro, but the thought of a trophy, even if it is just the Carling Cup, would be too tempting. Never saw the need for the Carling Cup at all honestly. Teams complain about too many fixtures, get rid of this and you're sorted. Fine to win while it's there though, I suppose.

We tried with Cordone. That's that (sp?) settled then.

No need. The keeper knows.

Yorkie, what's the problem with keeping Duff now though? I was very negative towards him last season due to the N'Zogbia situation, but with Big Sam in charge I feel we'll see a fairer battle. What exactly has Duff done wrong in his time here, other than perform badly? Always worked hard and tried, even if he didn't look up to much. He was bad, yeah, but so was everyone last year. Duff's proven in the Premiership and, like all of our players, I'm hoping the better management will bring better performances.

Aye, not a bad lad. Riquelme is alright and all.

No reason whatsoever not to keep Duff tbh, can play in a few positions and in good form is a useful player. Solid professional as well and not one who's gonna sulk if he's not making the first team based on merit. NE5, agree with what you say except for the timing of the Duff signing. Like I say, I'm happy for Duff to be here now, but at the time that money could have been spent elsewhere, namely the defence. I'd expect he was Roeder's signing though, to be fair.

People always talk about how a player should always give 100% regardless of how happy he is as the club pay his wages, but in this day and age it's the responsibility of the club to keep it's players happy as well. They know that if they're not wanted here, they'll find someone else that's happy to have them. It's obvious the last regime didn't do a good job making N'Zogbia feel wanted at all, and we could lose what was definitely our best prospect a year ago for a pittance.

Keep them both, they'll provide good competition. The key difference is that now you feel it will be a fairer battle and the better man will play, whereas last season you always felt Duff was first choice when fit regardless. I'm excited about them both tbh, because Duff at his best would be the type of winger that Allardyce would love, direct and pacey.

Have to keep it clean for the main site, that fuckin Duff... (I actually see potential for a Duff revival under Allardyce as it happens, so I'll be slowly changing my tune from here on in)

Beaten me to it. I've had a cold all weekend, could probably work tomorrow but taking a sickie to watch this more or less. Has it all Messi, the vision, touch and precision to put the ball where it needs to be but also the ability to beat men with such ease. Already showed he plays well in the big games as well so far. Really struggling to find good reason why he won't eventually be as good as you know who. Edit: Just now spotted Hans Gruber is 2J, awesome.

Made a right mess of posting this on the main site, this will go smoother I hope. =================================== Howay The Zog It’s been a crazy summer at Newcastle so far. New manager, new owner, four summer signings already and more rumoured to be on the way. It’s been chaotic to say the least. Who’s coming in? How much do we have to spend? Will Owen stay? Will Martins stay? Who will be the new captain? There are a thousand new questions that have been thrown up by the events of the last month or so, all of which we are eager to find out the answer to. However, one of the most important questions that we entered the summer with, before all the changes, is still yet to have any light shed on it. The question being, what does the future hold for Charles N’Zogbia at Newcastle United? N’Zogbia officially became a Newcastle player in September of 2004 for a fee in the region of 250k, but only after an arduous legal battle with former club Le Harve. After making a few appearances in his first season, showing glimpses of quality without every really impressing to a huge extent, it would be the 2005-2006 season that would see why Bobby Robson had fought so hard to secure the services of the young Frenchman. N’Zogbia was arguably our best player that season. He notched six goals, our 4th highest scorer that year, and led our assists rankings. His combination of pace, trickery, powerful left foot, great upper body strength for his age and composure beyond his years saw him quickly become a firm favourite amongst the fans, with his emergence being seen as a bright spot in an otherwise very gloomy season. Last season proved to be significantly less fruitful for ‘The Zog’, as he found himself in competition with new arrival Damien Duff for the left wing position. Injury problems plagued him also, and his rare appearances last season produced some very languid performances. By the time the season ended, he had fallen completely out of favour with Roeder and those who took charge after Roeder’s departure, walking out on the team after being named as a substitute for the final game of the season at Watford. All signs seemed to point to an inevitable exit during the summer. So far, though, he has remained at St. James’ Park, and should he remain here throughout the summer then I believe retaining his services will ultimately prove just as crucial as any new signing we could possibly make. The treatment the lad recieved from the previous regime was, quite frankly, a disgrace. At times he carried the team in the 2005-2006 season, and what was his reward? We go out and buy Damien Duff to take his place, while all the other players who had so badly underperformed the previous season got to keep their spots on the team. Some could argue that you need competition for places, but you don’t go about creating great competition for the left wing spot before you have at least one player capable of performing adequately in the other positions on the team, which we didn’t. Roeder’s reasoning was that N’Zogbia was young and would need to be protected, a truly laughable and hypocritical arguement when you consider that James Milner, at a mere 5 months older than N’Zogbia, played more games for the team than anyone else last year. Closer to the truth of the matter, I suspect, is that Shepherd and/or Roeder saw a chance to get a big name, Premiership winning player in Damien Duff for a relatively small fee, and pounced on it without giving any thought to whether he was actually what we needed or not. Once Duff was here, things were always looking bleak for N’Zogbia. Regardless of his form (which, it turned out, was completely wretched), Duff was always going to start when he was fit. He was one of Roeder’s two big signings and, as with any manager, was always going to get favourable treatment as a result. Word is that N’Zogbia developed a poor attitude and distanced himself from his teammates last season, and it was plain for all to see that when he did get on the pitch his heart simply wasn’t in it. While you could certainly argue that we should expect a better attitude from our players with the wages they are paid, I do think it is a tad unrealistic for us to expect N’Zogbia to have just put his head down and gotten on with it last year. He’s a youngster playing his trade in a foreign country, he’s been completely unfairly kicked out of the team for an underperforming “trophy signing”, his apparent father-figure in Boumsong had left the club, the team are going nowhere and are being horribly mis-managed at every level. Add to that the rumours that Arsenal, famed for developing young talent and with a number of French players and coaches there, are alleged to be looking at him. Can you really blame the lad for his attitude? Personally, I’d be eager to leave as fast as possible as well. Since Allardyce’s appointment, we’ve heard nothing that I can recall regarding N’Zogbia. This can only be good news in my opinion. My hope is that Allardyce has sat him down and told him he’ll get a completely clean slate and will have just as much opportunity of getting a first team spot as any. It’s what a good manager would do, and this is why Glenn Roeder never did it. Good managers know when it’s worth accomodating a player despite some problem they might have off-field, due to what they bring during the game. Robson knew it with Bellamy. How easy would it have been for Ferguson to sell Cristiano Ronaldo last summer after the World Cup? Had it been a journeyman squad player you can bet Fergie would have shown him the door, but not Ronaldo. Special players should get special treatment, if you want to go anywhere that is. I believe that N’Zogbia can become a special player for us, if we can rekindle the spark he had two seasons ago. If we get a fully focused, committed N’Zogbia back this season then I believe we have a player who can be one of the first names on our teamsheet for years to come, one who can shine at the very highest levels in football. He has everything you need to be a truly top modern winger. Bags of pace combined with a very powerful running style. He has a couple of tricks in his locker, can cross the ball with great bend and speed, and can crack a fair rocket of a shot with his left peg. He’s someone who I believe can also consistently produce goals from midfield, as his composure in front of goal is top class. His goal at Blackburn and goal at home to Portsmouth are prime examples of this , as he displayed composure far beyond his years on both. For the first time in some years, I have complete faith in our manager once again, and I believe N’Zogbia will be here come the start of the season. So here’s to Sam, and here’s to The Zog. Roll on August.

If the player would have had an open goal had he not been fouled then the ref's only got one choice. Not the ref's fault, obviously, he has no choice. If it's one of those split second things where the keeper makes a genuine attempt then I think yellow would be fairer. Odds are they'll score the penalty, and even if they don't it's not as severe a disadvantage as losing a man and a goal. I'd suggest penalty-goals, but that'd be gay.

Always feel it's unfair to get a man sent off and a penalty against you, unless it's a malicious foul. Game was over after five minutes.

Funny penalty and celebration from Blanco.

Blatantly thompers.

Why not? All the Spanish papers are saying Barca will probably sell Marquez once they get Gabi Milito. Atletico Madrid are the only club linked with Marquez, but they don't exactly blow us out of the water. Marquez got his Spanish passport last November so he'd have no problems playing over here. AS are claiming that Atletico would want Barca to seriously lower their price or even accept a loan deal. They're looking for a ball playing centre back and Marquez is said to be good friends with their coach. But I think if we were to offer something like £8m Barca would definitely listen. Andrade just went for £6.7M and although Depor are really skint, Marquez is about to become 4th choice at the Nou Camp while Andrade was the star player at Depor. To say we would never have a chance is to suggest that someone like Milan would come and snap him up, yet for the moment I only see Atletico putting their name forward. Yorkie tends to generally be sceptical of our chances of signing anyone tbh. I won't deny that tbh. Well i dunno, i don't think sceptical's the word. Too realistic maybe. I'm probably not ambitious enough. I'd go along with that. You're pushing it with Marquez if you ask me though, think we'd have a shot at him. Team with big potential that he knows he could be a cornerstone for (if he speaks English, he's a very good shout for captain) that can match his wages. Obviously there's a chance one of the elite clubs will be after him, but it's possible they won't.

What are you on about? If Allardyce were to play weak sides in either of the competitions, i'd rather he did it in the FA Cup, as apposed to the Carling Cup. If that makes sense. However, he probably won't do so in either. I don't see how the FA Cup is that much more difficult to win tbh. It's obviously a bit easier as the Big 4 will be fielding weaker teams early on, but in terms of going all the way we've almost just as good a chance in the FA Cup imo. Answered your own question. The top four have the FA Cup sewn up for a long time now, i reckon. Carling Cup has become a lot harder to win these days though, only Arsenal really treat it as completely 2nd rate anymore. Obviously it's easier to win, but I'd be fucking livid if we put out a weakened team in the FA Cup.