Colos Short and Curlies

Pav, send Krul on loan so he can get regular football. need three keepers on the books

God the designers were busy for the white, yellow and black ones

He's made F365 Mediawatch as well

Re-read Shepherd's comments yesterday where he says that "This information is coming from people close to the player because it hasn't come from the club." As far as I can see, the only "information" that has been leaked to the paper is £9m being the value of the min release clause. I was going off the video when he was asked and he says no and doesnt look like hes lying. What information was he referring to? A story about the 9m buy-out clause? If its agent led, that is in no way evidence that there is one, just another means of straining the relationship. Owen knows he morally has to stay or most people will regard him as a c***. As much as these boys are selfish multi-millionaires, some are still concerned with reputation. I work with/for people like Fred on a daily basis. They can lie through their teeth and make it look like its gospel. And he only said he can't leave for £9m, the clause may be £10m, it may be £5m. I'd be amazed if there isn't some clause in there allowing Owen to leave for £xm if conditions a,b,c aren't met

Koeman apparently fancies the Fulham job (according to the Mirror)

Aye, spot on unfortunately. This get-out clause is an absolute disgrace though, and is evidence if any more was needed of Shepherd's incompetence. As soon as Owen and his agent started asking for a get-out clause at that sort of reduced price, alarm bells should have been ringing, and Shepherd should have kicked the pair of them out and told Owen to go and rot in Madrid's reserves. We'll still have some utter cretins on here blind to his incompetence though because "we were worse than this pre-1992". The Fat Man SHOULD have said that, but he is the same as sime fans (we're a massive club, BOUND to get into Europe, etc), and he was deseprate, because he had to prove his 'member of the Geordie nation' tag and provide an annual sacrifice to appease the fans. Aye, it was definitely an ego signing. From a business point of view inserting a "sell player on at a huge loss" clause was.....well....just beyond any level of stupidity we've previously seen from Shepherd. The bizarre thing (if you like) is that as far as the acocunts go we won't be making a loss on Owen at all if he goes for £9m, infact we make a small profit. Expect that to go in the annual report

Frog on the Tyne is all fine all fine After Houllieer inspires us to the league/cup double

Personally I don't see next season as one to get into the top 4. Both ourselves nd Spurs (and Villa even perhaps) need to build a team and squad that comfortably reaches top 6 and is not a double figures gap from the top 4. The season after next could be interesting though as I expect Wenger to leave Arsenal next summer and they may struggle for a year or two when his replacement comes in. Thats the window of opportunity for me, and one that somebody will take advantage of. The next question is then can they consolidate it or do an Everton?

If we have to let him talk to interested parties at £9m then every interested club will bid £9m and then MO will choose his destination. If the clause is £9m, thats all we will get for him Oops, already said!

One thing I've noticed in his many interviews this week is the phrase 'I can't claim to speak for all the fans' He knows we think he's a joke, and doesn't care

Darren Bent. Reckon he is going to have a Les Ferdinand 95-96 season for someone next year. It would improve the team replacing Owen with Bent, no matter how better Owen may be individually

Precisely, and doesn't that prove the point that different people measure it by different things, and that they relate most to things they've seen? I've seen with my own eyes my club win the League and the European Cup. Does it bother me that it was before 1992? Nope. Is it lessened by the fact it was before 1992? Nope. A 20 yr old Villa fan would have a different outlook entirely, probably, but that's not really surprising. Tbh I think we are saying the same thing in different ways!

Wow you've found another loser that bases it on stadium size and the amount of times you filled the stadium . One guy on their actually describes Newcastle as a "giant" club with only one person on their questioning him mackems.gif. Say something enough times and loud enough it becomes fact. Fact!

Why's that then? Why, say, is 1991 any more than one year less relevant? If you take it that way, then Liverpool are a bit of a nothing club too, as they haven't won the "new" league. That's the problem with the entire "big club" argument, everyone has their own criteria, everyone has their own time limitations, everyone has their own interpretation. Personally, i just want my club to be successful. Champions League formation, Premier League Branding, Sky money, Bosman. Completely different playing field compared to the 80s and back. And yes, since the Premier Eague inception Liverpool are a very successful cup team, less successful as a league team - which is a better measue of consistent quality (imo) And personally I don't care what we may have won in the 60s, I'm only bothered about what my team have done in my life time. I'm sure some Liverpool fans (especially those under 30) would swap their 70's or 80's record with Man Uniteds 90's record purely as they would have been around/old enough to appreciate it

Not entirely sure that the big four is "press created". Since the Premier League began in 1992, English clubs have won 66 trophies, using the widest definition of the word (so including Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Champions League, UEFA Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and European Supercup). Of those 66 trophies: Manchester United have won 20. Arsenal have won 14. Chelsea have won 11. Liverpool have won 11. Everone else combined have won 10, as follows: Aston Villa 2 (League Cups) Blackburn Rovers 2 (Premier League, League Cup) Everton 2 (FA Cup, Community Shield) Leicester City 2 (League Cups) Middlesborough 1 (League Cup) Tottenham Hotspurs 1 (League Cup) so if people want to talk about "bigness" by virtue of what they win, nobody outside the big four has a leg to stand on. Also, if we're using this criteria, the second tier of English football consists of Blackburn, Everton, Villa and Leicester. That's assuming you accept the day Sky got the rights as the day football was invented, of course. Modern day football. Its a different game since the 90's. Whilst I agree that pre 92 records have a great deal of bearing on a clubs status and history, the post 92 records are what defines the game today

How do I change my username?

No, you've got it wrong. Owen's people can't talk to SSN because they are currently held in Alan Olivers queue, its a busy day today with representatives of all of the managers in the world wanting to tell AO that they haven't spoken to NUFC, but would be interested in doing so. They'll be on later this evening

Lets just hope that Man U are winning with 1 minute to go and a Sheffield United player hits a dodgy back pass which allows Wigan to win, sending West Ham down on goals scored

Thing is, we now have a chance to come out of a very embarrasing 2-3 year period for the club and to take the club in a new direction. If losing Owen and making a loss, combined with taking a hit on Luque, Bramble, Carr etc lets the club move forward with a clean slate and gives us greater room for transfer activity then take the hit and move on. There are other 15-20 goal a season strikers available for less than we are paying for Owen (in terms of fee and wages)

ITK's are saying that Spurs will announce next week (when the Premiership season has ended) that Bent will be joining when the window opens. £8/9m is what they're saying. How accurate that is we'll find out next week. Why would they wait till next week though? You can sign a player whenever you want, the transfer just gets finalised in the next window. I'd have thought something like this would be in all the papers now if it was signed sealed and awaiting delivery

Solid back 3 you have there... Don't forget the 2 wingers (one getting on a bit, one in huff) supporting them! Feeling in a sadistic mood this week, fancied a laugh on Sunday

If we sell Owen for £9mil and remove £100k per week from the wage bill and Luque goes on Loan saving £20-40k per week (depending on the arrangement), and then we get in Darren Bent for £8-10m on £30k per week its a good deal for the club. I'd even cosider someone like Anelka (being quick, has a footballing brain and knows where the goal is) for the right price as a replacement. Fit Owen = 20 goals a season Fit Bent = 15 goals a season (12 this season in a relegated team) Would Owen be fit for long enough to get 20 goals though? Darren Bent - the next Les Ferdinand!

Harper Gooch, Ramage, Bramble Solano Zoggy Parker, Butt Milner Owen, Martins Why not try something new!

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_2116476,00.html Staying at PSV

You seriously think Liverpool didn't get any luck in winning the Chmpions League?