Mick

It's even worse if he's doing it to his family, the biggest tit is the one holding the camera.

I would like to think Heinze is also a target for Allardyce, it would be a bit of a gamble because of his form since injury but I'd take the chance on him, I'd rather him than Riise.

Very refreshing hearing common sense from our manager, it's been a long time since we've heard any.

We actually played quite well tonight, with a bit of luck the injuries will turn out to be niggles and nothing more. Things don't look as bad as some were suggesting, we're not far off being a usefull team this season, yes we need defenders but we have the makings of a good season ahead of us if we can get the right people in. A bonus for me was the way Geremi played and Trotski looked comfortable on the ball. Carr was crap at times, especially in the second half, he's going to be a massive liability if we're using him in the Premiership. I'm not sure how good or bad Celtic are but they put up a good fight in as much as the game was more like a league game than a friendly, the players who didn't get injured will be fitter for playing at that pace.

It looks like Kevs Dads back on.

When did Port Vale, Plymouth or Hull finish above us? Oxford finished 1 place above us and they did that for one season, hardly a long period. Swindon did it randomly twice, so not really a long period again. You're getting closer to "long periods" with Oldham who managed it 3 times. You've mentioned Watford, in 1983 Watford finished above every team in the league except for Liverpool, does whatever you're going to say applies to us also apply to all of those other teams/clubs? I can't be bothered looking at the others as I'm sure some will have finished higher on the very rare occasion.

In 1991 we were in the old 2nd Division, the teams listed below were all in the 1st (top) division. why was this ? Why was the share issue aborted ? Why was there so little interest the club couldn't even sell 2.5m worth of shares ? shot yourself in the foot, predictably. Why were Leeds, Chelsea and Liverpool getting higher gates than we were, at the time you mention, but don't now ? You are getting into that area where you are going to claim that Newcastle United needed the sky TV money to exist in the premiership, and get above the likes of Oxford, Southampton, Swindon, Oldham, Ipswich, Port Vale, Hull, Watford, Plymouth, Barnsley, Brighton, QPR, Millwall, Charlton, Luton, Norwich, Bristol City, Millwall, Notts County, Bristol Rovers etc were ALL above us in the league during the period when we were in the old 2nd division ? You're a bigger joke than ever, for making such a pathetic, and stupid claim. If you aren't then please tell us how this was the case anyway ? What is the point of you ? Getting into a debate with you reminds me of http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6017/wheelvd4.gif I've left the question you've asked at the top in the original post, I've answered it by showing the other teams who are considered to have been reasonably big clubs at that time, I've shown how our attendances stood up to them and I've shown some of the bigger clubs at this time who were also doing reasonably well at that time. I could have cherry picked and shown quite a few teams who were playing in the top division and had worse crowds than we did, I could have cherry picked like you do and use the shittest teams as an example, I haven't. One club was in the top 8 in 1991 and the 4th division last season, last season that averaged 1,000 less than they had then, I don’t think that’s because they feel the club they support is almost as good as the one who played in the top division, times have changed. You asked the question, it's tough if you don't like the answer, I'll leave it up to others as to which one looks stupid. Like I’ve said in the past, our crowds have always been some of the best in the country and all clubs attendances have improved since those times with a few exceptions.

Don't worry Dave, I think it was just a random comment.

I'm not really concerned about what Shola does in his spare time, it's what he does on the field that counts.

I'm not sure I'm fine with the transitional season but if that's what it takes to move forward then we'll have to live with it, we've just finished our third transitional season so if it takes another to start to get things right then I'll go along with it. I still don't think things as bad as 12 months ago anyway because we've shifted some shite and look as if we've improved on them. The squad's thin, nobody could seriously say it wasn't, it's just not as bad as some are saying when you stand back and look at what we've got. I've already said that our defence is no worse than what we went into last season with, our forward line is much better with the addition of Viduka and the return to fitness of Owen, even if he has picked up a knock, this time last year it was debateable if he would even kick a ball before the season end. Some may say that Shola is shite, he's better than Sibierski, we already had Shola but lost him for a long time, that shouldn't happen this season although I've no doubt some will hope it does.

I'm sure you know how to use e-mail, lets know how you get on. Get to f***. I wouldn't put my name to an email like that, but I'd genuinely like to see the response. It looks like it's over to Skirge.

It was the poll option that went totally against everything in your post.

I'm sure you know how to use e-mail, lets know how you get on.

I think I was panicking this time last year and had a good right to do so, we were probably still watching Kuyt while he was playing in friendlies for Liverpool.

He says before pressing "Too bloody right, we know nowt about him & I'm getting nervous."

You're obviously on some sort of commission from ticket sales.

How come the season we bought Owen something appears in our accounts as a £17 million overdraft? Do we know that we were given £10 million by the FA? I'm sure that figure was claimed to be way OTT.

If that's the case and they haven't moved then I really can't see what else we could have done, I'd be more worried if we were after players who were moving and losing out, I'm sure that has happened but not 10 or 15 players. Of the players who have moved I'd probably look at 3 or 4 as being worth bringing in, I don't include Henry in that because we wouldn't have had a chance.

I wonder what they'd vote as the best sale? I wouldn't be surprised if that also involved the same two clubs.

Exactly, that last article I posted also contained numbers of players we've tried to get, it mentions 10 to 15, I think I've only seen about 30 players moving with Premiership experience and most of them have been players we shouldn't be looking at, you wouldn't mention them and quality in the same breath.

Another article regarding transfers: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2134672,00.html Allardyce admits struggle to attract quality to Tyneside Michael Walker Thursday July 26, 2007 The Guardian Sam Allardyce joked yesterday that he was born a pessimist but, behind the smile, realism is shaping the new Newcastle United manager's thoughts. With Kieron Dyer expected to leave this week, providing West Ham offer a sum in excess of £5m, Allardyce will have some fresh money to spend, but doing so in an increasingly tough transfer market is the cause for a reduction in optimism at St James' Park. "I'm confident I'll get the number of players we need, " Allardyce said, "but I'm not sure about the quality." This was the first day of the post-Freddy Shepherd era and Allardyce's tone was matched by Shepherd's successor as chairman, Chris Mort. Mort said of transfer dealings: "We will not be throwing silly amounts of money around but Sam and I are definitely in agreement that we need more signings before the start of the season. We have said throughout that the squad needs to be strengthened, particularly in defence. We are talking about a few specific targets. We want players with Premiership experience." None of yesterday's words were gung-ho. Allardyce referred to targeting "10 to 15 players in the last couple of weeks" but he has been unable to sign any. Partly, he explained, that is due to Newcastle being out of European competition but Allardyce also made the broader point about inflation: "A £1m player five years ago is now a £5m player." However, after expressing "sadness" at Shepherd's departure, Allardyce added of the delay in making signings: "The changeover has been the biggest problem we've had, of course. It's been very quick considering what's involved in a takeover but there's new people in, the old out and moving around the whole business and structure. Trying to get to where you want to get can be a little bit difficult sometimes and I understand that because you've got to find everything out about the new business, but you can get frustrated because it moves slower than you'd like. "It's Chris Mort I deal with now in the main but he hasn't had that much experience in football terms, so one would hope that now we'll get even quicker. I can't move any quicker than I am doing, but the problem is that there's lots of players we've targeted and spoken to that have now been taken by other clubs, so the pot of high quality has reduced." Dyer, 28, is one of the few players with England caps and lengthy Premier League experience not subject to inflation but he is available for purchase. In much the same way that Graeme Souness preceded Jermaine Jenas's sale to Tottenham two years ago - Souness produced the "goldfish bowl" exit strategy - Allardyce talked yesterday of Dyer's "family situation". Dyer has two young children based in his native Ipswich and wishes to be closer to them. This has caused him to be unsettled on Tyneside after eight years at Newcastle. A move to West Ham would solve the personal problem and simultaneously give Newcastle some spending power. "I think there's a possibility he might leave due to family reasons," Allardyce said. "It is obviously a shame but when something like this crops up, it might be that the only way to resolve it is to allow him to leave. If and when the offers come in, we will have to consider them." Allardyce said Newcastle had received no official offer for Dyer but Alan Curbishley, West Ham's manager, said after lastnight's 3-2 friendly defeat at MK Dons: "I'm looking in all areas and it's not often that a club says a player is available. You normally phone up and get told that people are not available, so it's very difficult. But anything can still happen."

We didn't have a chance with Ben Haim once Chelsea showed an interest, it doesn't matter how long transfers were being dragged out unless we could have got him before Chelsea became involved. Mort has said in an interview that he had OK'd at least two of the players we've brought in so I can't see why he wouldn't have done the same with Ben Haim considering it didn't involve a fee.

Looking at the players who have moved doesn't make me feel that we've lost out on much so far considering we keep hearing about the players having Premiership experience. I would be surprised if the best players have already moved who are going to move.

No idea what it was used for but it does look like it, it was shown in the accounts as an overdraft, it wasn't on the books the year before. Our interest payments also went up considerably that year from memory.