Exiled in Texas

Not his driving test as N'somnia's brother took that for him.

That's a ludicrous price for a full international who will clearly have done well if he's played 25 games and kept us up. I'll wait for confirmation (and the end of the transfer window) before praising the board but it looks a cracking deal. alternativly its a ludicrous price for a player who walked out on his previous club to secure an 11mill euro move and his current (?) club are prerpared to lose half of that to be rid ? go figure....if he does come in on a sign on permanent later deal i'd like to know how binding it is towards him AND us ? Comes down to whether you trust Hughton to be able to handle him. He's trouble, of that there's no doubt. Assuming Hughton has a say in transfers () he clearly believes he can tame him. Hopefully a positive of this circus is that the player is no longer quite so highly-rated as when he was younger and wants to prove himself in this league. Didn't the HBA/Marseille situation start when MRS said that he should leave and find a new club. Can't really blame him for not feeling wanted/appreciated and all warm n fuzzy about MRS. It's like telling your lass to sling her hook because you're about to hook up with a new one that's prettier and has bigger boobs, and then wonder why she won't stay when the new girl falls through. no its not, its like your employer saying times are tight and you may have to go then saying "hey we've got a new order. if you want to leave you'll have to put your notice in" And at that point when you already have a new job lined up.....do you say, of course I'll stay, I never wanted to leave you? or do you tell them that your off and they can kiss your ***?

That's a ludicrous price for a full international who will clearly have done well if he's played 25 games and kept us up. I'll wait for confirmation (and the end of the transfer window) before praising the board but it looks a cracking deal. alternativly its a ludicrous price for a player who walked out on his previous club to secure an 11mill euro move and his current (?) club are prerpared to lose half of that to be rid ? go figure....if he does come in on a sign on permanent later deal i'd like to know how binding it is towards him AND us ? Comes down to whether you trust Hughton to be able to handle him. He's trouble, of that there's no doubt. Assuming Hughton has a say in transfers () he clearly believes he can tame him. Hopefully a positive of this circus is that the player is no longer quite so highly-rated as when he was younger and wants to prove himself in this league. Didn't the HBA/Marseille situation start when MRS said that he should leave and find a new club. Can't really blame him for not feeling wanted/appreciated and all warm n fuzzy about MRS. It's like telling your lass to sling her hook because you're about to hook up with a new one that's prettier and has bigger boobs, and then wonder why she won't stay when the new girl falls through.

All teams are equal but some are more equal than others.

Also known as setting yourself up for a fall. Under Promise and Over Deliver. That's the smart thing to do. I most definitely wasn't being serious! LOL On this board you never know It does get a tad Bi-Polar at times

Also known as setting yourself up for a fall. Under Promise and Over Deliver. That's the smart thing to do.

Nice one Dave

I'm going to hedge my bets and get Bull Arda on the back of my shirt

Yeah!! Don't call it football.

What exactly have Marseille done wrong? Ben Arfa is their player, if other clubs are willing to buy him for a reasonable fee why would they agree to sell him to us for less? I don't think they have done anything wrong (except being cnuts to us) but as the sellers it's their perogative to try an get as much money for any asset they want to sell. The point was really that despite everyone screaming for torches and pitchforks and wanting Ashley's head on a pike, if Marseille wanted to jerk us around then they could do that. Nothing that NUFC could do to get them to accept an offer today if they thought that they "might" get more money for it tomorrow.

Love how the fact that Marseille seem to have just stalled the deal, waiting for a better deal, and its Newcastle?Ashley's fault. Ashley: OK, we agree to the terms. Let's sign the contract. Marseille: Eet eez not reddee yet, we sign tomorrow, Ok? Next day Ashley: We agreed to the terms yesterday. Let's sign the contract. Marseille: Eet eez not reddee yet, we sign tomorrow, Ok? Next day Ashley: We agreed to the terms yesterday. Let's sign the contract. Marseille: One more change and then we sign tomorrow, Ok? Next day Ashley: We agreed to the terms yesterday. Let's sign the contract. Marseille: Eet eez not reddee yet, we sign tomorrow, Ok? Next day Ashley: We agreed to the terms yesterday. Let's sign the contract. Marseille: Sorry, But Bremen offered more money. We sign the contract with them.........tomorrow.

BBQ is good, and the TexMex is good too.

Totally understand that perpective too. Should I include photos of the hot texas babes in the job offer?

Cheers mate. I just typed in soccer coaching jobs in america. And there si so many hits. Many seem to take on Level1 coaches and it seems to me to be a perfect platform for pro experience. I am really considering this for next summer now. Aye, me too, though 3 months seems to be the minimum (which is probably the maximum I'd go for - for now). Yes, 3 months is the minimum from my knowledge of the British coaches coming to US. There seems to be two main options - coming to US to work the kids summer camps. You spend 8-10 weeks coaching young-uns - week here a week there. They tend to be based in one main location and your spend a week living with a host family and then move on to the next family. I think the company pays for the ticket out to US and you get one week off during the summer to go somewhere, the rest of the time you're doing the weekly camps. I know that some other opportunities exist where coaches are brought in to coach a team or to be part of a club coaching setup. Consistency is very important, so they would want the coach to be there for the full season. That could be either both for fall/spring seasons or for the full Sep-May season. I wouldn't consider hiring a coach for a period that didn't fit with my program as I want consistency through the season.

Was poor last night - no movement, no interaction with surrounding players. Spent most of the night standing around. I've seen him play so much better and that was a terrible performance.

At least he tried to take players on.....Jonas was worthless last night (except for one cross-field run). Stood around most of the timeand did nothing. Frustrating to watch the play surge up through the middle with barton and watch him looking for the through ball, only to see Jonas standing still waiting for the give-up-sideways pass. At least Xisco was taking players on. [oh, and the "let's all have Xisco, Let's all have a Xisco chant was funny at the game on ESPN last night]

Thanks OCK, We are contracting with Challenger Sports (AKA British Soccer) to provide us with some coaches to provide skills and run our U8 academy program (leading in to U10). Academy and Club soccer is very competitive here in TX, and I wanted to understand if these Badges were levels that were gained in one weekend session, or if they were higher level of requirements. We'll be advertising the program and including the coaching qualifications and didn;t want someone to say"yeah but anyone can get that with a weekend class" Thanks....appreciate the help

Question about coaching credentials.....our local soccer association in TX is looking to hire some british coaches to run an academy program for U8s. I'm told they will have UEFA level 1 or 2. What sort of qualification is that? Basic, couple of grades up the line, suitable to coach what age group etc What does it take to get this qualification? Wondering if the qualification is all that or not (and they hope we don't know the difference)

If he was serious about playing for us he would have hopped on a plane to Newcastle and be wandering through Eldon Sq doing a bit of shopping while they finish negotiating the price. Don't see the necessary committment myself.

Could easily just be a reflection on Bristol City. Might be a lot easier to be passionate about working in premier league with Villa than working at Ashton Gate in Championship

Not football, but a rant on my beer-league ice hockey team. Hockey is supposed to be played at a high intensity fast pace.....players on the ice for about a minute and then rest for 1-2 shifts. So it pisses me off when players coast about on the ice at half pace for 2 to 2.5 mins , never look to come off the ice and have to be dragged off by the bench when his line change is done except for him and he steals the ice time from the guy behind him in the rotation.

Sounds perfectly realistic. I love how people say "the club should be run properly.....give him what he wants to get him signed" Mind boggling.

Referee training 101 - Don't do a favour to one team when you may not be able to do it each time. Stop one ball, then why not the next. Why stop their ball but not our ball etc. And as you put it....it's not their job

so if the power was in your hands who would you hire to replace him? Maybe Martin jol. For me if the manager picks the right team a result can be blamed on the players, for me hughton often selects the wrong team, ir Guthrie on the right and that will be found out this season The same Martin Jol who turned down the UEFA League finalist Fulham to stay at Ajax (2nd in Eredivise)? No seriously, who would you hire to be the manager?

OK. Who changed the poll question?? That's excellent.