Martin Lol

I'm a massive Woodgate fan, and if he'd stayed clear of injuries he'd be up there with the very best. He's still a top class player like, but John Terry is absolutely immense His ego is ever since he became captain! A fit Woodgate should walk into the team ahead of Terry every day of the week. Terry should never have been given the captaincy when there are better players (Woodgate) being excluded because of that.

Which is why we should employ someone separate from the manager to take care of things like this, that way when the manager does leave someone will still be in place to run every other aspect of the club apart from the first team. 1 scout is a joke and just highlights that we're being run like the Worlds biggest pub team. It's a fair point, if true, but we're all so f****** negative on here, let's just think about what was said... Just maybe, the new guy they're targeting is someone whose 'contacts' are other scouts, someone who could set this thing up, so that we'll have a network or scouts. Might even be f****** Comolli!! Plus, clubs don't just have 'full-time' scouts on the books, they'll call upon a worldwide network of 'freelance' scouts i.e. we'll pay you so much to scout this league/find us a decent left-back etc. We need to get with the times!! Christ I hope not!! :lol: He's signed an improved contract so I think we're alright. When Spurs were looking for a replacement for Arnesen, with input from Arnesen (!!), SGE and SBR, it apparently came down to a straight choice between Comolli and Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo (or Monchi), the Sporting Director at Sevilla. He was keen to join the premiership with Spurs then and I can't think of a good reason for him to change his mind now. As for Sevilla, the world now knows about the obvious treasures in their midst and will look to pillage the squad, nothing new for a club that has made a reputation for itself as an astute trader and great developer, turning healthy profits on the likes of Reyes, Sergio Ramos and Julio Baptista in the past few years. Navas and Alves seem set to add to Sevilla’s shrewd work in the transfer market and training track. The man credited with much of this is sporting director, Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo, responsible for reorganising the development structures when he arrived at the club in 2000, a policy that has reportedly seen almost 20 kids introduced to the first team in five years. As for his eye in the transfer market, Baptista left for seven times the value he arrived. Alves and Maresca were unknown when they arrived but would command a kings ransom if sold today. Those that follow La Liga will know that Sevilla have been building towards this success over the past two seasons, finishing sixth on both occasions. This season, under new manager Juande Ramos, they are in fifth, three points off a Champions League qualification spot with one game in hand on fourth placed Osasuna. While its two remaining games are at home, they are against Barcelona and Real Madrid, two teams they are hoping to join in next year’s showpiece. Anyone who witnessed their methodical demolition of Boro this morning would certainly hope to see them back on the European stage sooner rather than later. http://roundballanalyst.blogspot.com/2006/05/sevilla-make-telling-mark.html Team effort Ramos sees himself as just another piece in the Sevilla puzzle. He took charge with the remit of continuing the fine job his predecessor Joaquín Caparrós had started and is quick to share praise with other members of the Sevilla staff. Nothing is left to chance. Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, or 'Monchi', heads Sevilla's visionary scouting system and oversees the club's successful youth set-up; head psychologist Miguel Ángel Gómez has played a crucial role in establishing belief among the players while club dietician Antonio Escribano ensures they are in peak condition come kick-off. President José María del Nido, meanwhile, was the man who sparked Sevilla’s revolution. http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/kind=4/newsid=514618.html I don't think anyone could convince me that Monchi's recruitment would in any way be a backwards step from the days of Roeder on his own!

A half fit Owen is better than Johnson.

Little doubt in my mind that Babel will wind up at the Emirates

Isn't it better this way? At least Spurs cast the net wide and are interested in a host of ggod players. Might miss out the majority but by chance or percentage they will get a few eventually. I would rather this way than simply just targetting a single or 2 players and risk losing all at once and resorting to panic buys like us. Totally agree. Once it's known which area is be strengthened, there may half a dozen names that could fill the space. Those players have to be checked over, contact made with their clubs, talk to their agents etc etc in the knowledge that 5 out of 6 will get left on the wayside, if things go wrong all 6 could be cast aside and the process starts again. Since we lost out for the services of Damien Duff, Spurs have been linked with Nani, Nene, Downing, Petrov, Lee Cook, a young Scot whose name I've forgotten (maybe from Hibs) and they're only the ones I heard about, little doubt there are others too. The point is a team who is not in the big 4 will rarely get their first choice, they have to build a list, and to check out everyone on the list needs a proper scouting strategy and, in Spurs' case, a DoF to enable the Head Coach to do coaching.

:clap: That is possibly the most optimistic article I have seen regarding Newcastle's future development. It will leave a big hole in the squad numbers, which weren't huge to start off with. Maybe a succession of Bosmans/last year in contract reductions/players with modest fees will be the way to fill the gaps. After a succession of 'trophy signings' it would be a major shift in strategy, but a better strategy imo all the same.

Perhaps the move to Real isn't done and dusted?

Martins' goals have 'won' us 11 points this season, but it's not really that simple. Scoring goals is what he's in the team to do, would you count every crucial save Given has made in points too? Nicky Butt, for me. Seconded.

Or he could of just wanted to play for Newcastle. It's not that hard to believe to be honest. You're right I believe, Spurs' need for Duff was greater than yours. It's a fact that Newcastle offered both Parker and Duff more in wages than Spurs were prepared to offer. In Duff's case, there was also a bigger signing on fee and Duff's agent (Pat Devlin) has his boy employed at SJP. All those things contributed to DD signing for Newcastle (so I was told at the time). Or he could of just wanted to play for Newcastle. It's not that hard to believe to be honest. May have been that as well. I've no complaints that he did, it's a short career, he does what he thinks is best for him. I'm sure Spurs will get the right person for the LW spot in time.

You're right I believe, Spurs' need for Duff was greater than yours. It's a fact that Newcastle offered both Parker and Duff more in wages than Spurs were prepared to offer. In Duff's case, there was also a bigger signing on fee and Duff's agent (Pat Devlin) has his boy employed at SJP. All those things contributed to DD signing for Newcastle (so I was told at the time).

Don't think there's much chance of him signing for Newcastle... http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/03/23/manual_095153.html&TEAMHD=soccer Tottenham are reportedly leading the race to sign Sporting Lisbon's Nani despite competition from Manchester United. However Sporting have warned Barclays Premiership clubs that it will cost £13.5million to sign him. The 20-year-old is believed to have a clause which would see him leave for £13.5million, with his club appearing reluctant to let him go for less. A Sporting spokesman told skysports.com: "The club that wants the kid have a price, ¿20million (£13.5million). Only by this money would we be disposed to let Nani leave. "We know of the interest of several English clubs for Nani, and that is normal because of his quality - but until this moment we have received no offer in writing." Nani has been compared with Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who was signed from Sporting in 2003. United have been linked with a move for the Portuguese prospect following their previous business with the club. French side Lyon have also been suggested as a possible destination. Nani is represented by Jorge Mendes, who is also the agent of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. "The decision depends on Sporting because the player has a deal," said Mendes. "But Nani is a player of enormous potential and other big clubs have asked about his situation." Manu have a close relationship with Sporting, they'll need a replacement for Giggs soon, bigger club etc etc. Inevitable Nani will go OT imo.

Which is why we should employ someone separate from the manager to take care of things like this, that way when the manager does leave someone will still be in place to run every other aspect of the club apart from the first team. 1 scout is a joke and just highlights that we're being run like the Worlds biggest pub team. I'd rather have a manager that has the enterprise (and skills) to overhaul such a setup himself, personally like, ala Big Sam. Everything at a club must be of the direction of the manager, i.e. everything must be lead by the manager. A Chelsea fan I know reckons the fall-out between Mourinho and Abramovic is very real and not fabricated or overhyped and all down to the academy and scouting, Mourinho's responsibility for those things have been removed apparently, with your man Arnesen and others now in control and he ain't happy and rightly so. If a club is to have a vision, it has to come from the manager and be directed by him, not by some middleman hired because the manager isn't quite good enough to do the overhauling himself or doesn't have such an overall vision. Even if we did appoint such a man, he'd be undermined to some extent anyway by the board who without saying it, are basically against any form of hands on approach by the manager or anyone else, which is why they dish out jobs for the boys and keep things in the family. Depressing isn't it? God they need to go like. I made a post a few months ago about overhauling the scouting setup and while I imagined it to be bad based on knowledge gained and the obvious, I honestly didn't realise things were this bad, shocking really. Things like this piss me off more than a defeat. You can't expect a manager to do it all, what Allardyce has set up at Bolton is something that can be done at a club like that as he isn't under any real presure there, he's still only scouting average European leagues for players rather than top young talent like Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and now Liverpool are. You're also banking on Freddie Shepherd employing a manager capable of setting up something like this as well as running the first team, judging by his last 2 appointments I wouldn't hold my breath. The talk of Mourinho's fall out with Abramovich over Arnasen is the first I've heard of it and sounds like bullshit, most reports have it down to the signing of Shevchenko who Mourinho didn't want. Mourinho does it all (or did depending on who you talk to), so does Fergie, Benitez and so has Wenger, and they are under far more pressure than anyone at Newcastle United will ever likely to be for the foreseeable future, so again, why can't a manager not put in place such systems here at United? Why a DOF? As for Big Sam and Bolton, the pressure may be different but the job details are the same, yet he found time to overhaul Bolton's setup. Infact he drafted the blueprint in just 2 weeks from what I remember (he once spoke at great length on the John Barnes' Football show about it), he then went to his board and they gave it the green light, he then got in the required people and a few years later... Again, I don't disagree with a DOF and you do make some really valid points, but I think you're so fixated on the idea it is like we must have a DOF. If I'm reading you wrong, let me know, but that's how it comes over as. I'm open to it like, but I'd far rather have a top manager with the enterprise to do it all himself. Alas neither is going to happen at Newcastle though :'( They may retain the ultimate decision making on signing players, but they would have significantly more scouts and better scouting networks available to them than Newcastle. The same applies to Big Sam, in your own words "he then got in the required people". The point is that SAF, Benitez, Wenger etc may retain the ultimate responsibility but have the personnel in that they trust completely. SAF has his brother, Allardyce his son, Wenger tried to recruit Comolli back to Arsenal as Director of Development before DC opted for Spurs. The only difference between that suggested position and DoF is that the final word remains with Wenger.

How on earth does FFS think players can be identified if there's just one scout? It does give the impression that signings have been made more on the strength of agents' recommendations and youtube videos put together by the agents. As agents have a vested interest in who goes here, it's not surprising that so many transfers that have been concluded have gone flat. Baggio has spoken here and before on the need for a DoF, I spoke about it again in the 'improving on a shoestring' thread. There's not many things that me and Baggio agree on but the benefits of a DoF is certainly one. But to not have a DoF and still only have one full time scout is verging on lunacy! How many miles in a year would he do looking at players??? No wonder it takes forever to sign a player when Roeder says he's scouting someone. Beggars belief tbh. The rumour mill down here suggests that as Abramovich's relationship with Mourinho has got progressively frosty, RA has turned more and more to Arnesen for his advice. Wouldn't surprise me in the least, first class wheeler dealer, Arnesen would know how to make the most of the breakdown in relations between Abramovich and Mourinho. I would agree Arnesen wasn't the reason for the fallout, he's just likely to be the beneficiary.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/article2383823.ece He's right like. I really miss Keegan being in football. Heard on the news yesterday that he's planning on running one of his "soccer circus" things in Newcastle. Good news if you've got kids. How sad has the world become if it can disillusion even Kevin Keegan. This was actually the most depressing thing I've read in a while. Especially because it's true. No satisfaction when smacked in the face with a hard dose of realism. All the more harder to take when you know it's almost certainly 100% accurate.

Michael Owen has been photoshopped on to the SJP background. Not overly enthused by it tbh.

Benitez was looking for reserve teams to play in the Football League as they do (I believe) in Spain and Holland. The problem with that is that if all Premiership clubs had their reserve teams in the FL, there would be a similar number of smaller clubs further down the food chain being thrown out into the Conference. Case of the rich clubs wanting everything and to hell with the little clubs..... imo of course. Keep it the way it is.

Peter Taylor did a similar job for Brian Clough. On the basis that 2 sets of eyes are better than one, of course that is correct, but the principle is nothing new. All you are describing is a scout. Bill Shankly did it himself, with his scouting staff. So does Alex Ferguson, and his scouting staff, nowadays, having nurtured a good percentage of the players who have played a major part in the clubs success. At the end of the day, it isn't the system that works, but the ability of the person doing the scouting, and the manager when they start to get near to the first team. If everyone employed a "DOF", could everyone be successful ? Of course not. It seems you have a good chief scout, mind, although we will see if he can find them again for another club. I think there's quite a bit more to it than that. It's not about appointing a Director of Football or a Chief Scout, or whatever you want to call them, it's about recognising the principle of specialisation and the value of having an expert doing something that they're good at rather than a jack of all trades doing a whole load of stuff they're ok at. What teams like Spurs have done is to understand that times have changed, the days of a manager and a handful of his mates running the playing side of a club are over, and rightly so. What is needed now is a team of experts, a number of people who really know what they are doing, all working together. Yeah the manager is the overall boss, but the people who he works with need to be of a higher quality, and will therefore enjoy a higher stature, than they did in the old days. It's not just Spurs, lots of clubs have a large backroom staff made up of people who have a certain amount of autonomy to do what they want, due to the club having genuine faith in their ability to do the job. We, however, are still in the stone age by comparison and that's got to change. I agree with having an expert in the field, that is obvious, but I don't really agree that it didn't happen before mate. A larger backroom staff - maybe - but it still doesn't make them BETTER. How many times did we take the piss out of Souness and his team of lackeys ? HE had confidence in his own staff, if Micheal Robinson recommended Luque to him, does that make him Souness "trusted" scout ? We know he was his mate, but surely he trusted him if this is true ? Spotting talented footballers before they hit the bit time is a gift, most people spot one or two good players at some stage, but the ones who can do it on a regular basis are worth their weight in gold. They have always been around. There was a time Burnley had possibly the top scouting network in the country, they found quite a lot of lads in the North East. They sold them though, but they must have had a scout or two with a good eye. Wouldn't disagree at all, I remember Burnley well in the early/mid 60's when they had an awesome team. Even more recently, it was only a couple of years since the Smogs fielded practically a complete team and subs made up of recruits from within 30 miles. But the ability to identify potentially quality players from the close locality and get them signed is getting harder as more and more clubs chase the same quality players. A quick look at the Chelsea Academy lads throws up half a dozen names who started out elsewhere and have been brought in, Leeds have suffered the most with Woods and Taiwo, but at least they got £15m compensation for alleged illegal approaches. Bristol Rovers got £200k for Scott Sinclair and Gillingham £50k for Ryan Bertrand. To get the players who (hopefully) will be good enough to progress through to the first team of a premiership club, I don't think there is now any doubt that the net has to be cast far and wide. To be successful the club has to have good scouts, not mates of the manager, but with youngsters a club can also bring them in for a trial, which obviously wasn't possible for Luque. Spurs have (apparently) this season had 74 youngsters in, most for trials but some, like Bale, to be given the red carpet treatment for a few days and show them around. The trials for the kids should, hopefully, give a better indication whether they have the talent to make it. But when the kids are brought down to WHL for a trial, they have very little contact with Martin Jol, most is with Comolli and Alex Inglethorpe, the Academy Head Coach. Maybe Newcastle do things on a similar line, I would guess so. If it is, I simply think it is too much of a job to put it on one man's shoulders.

I know you did, I was really just commenting on the Heinze aspect. BTW, I think you're definitely better than Joint Last Best Writer!

That's a point actually... if United get Bale in - i'd live to see us go in for Heinze. Was class in his first season and is an Argentinian internaiontal regular - speaks for itself. Been played out of the team, some would say, but he'd still be heads and shoulders above Evra if it wasn't for the injury. Has experience and the quality, and i don't think United are fussed whether or not he leaves. Would hopefully be an option. Comolli has already spoken to SAF on Heinze's situation. If SAF does increase his bid (and it's rumoured to be still a big if), it seems like Heinze would probably be headed to Spain. SAF still thinks he can get Bale for a couple of mill less than Spurs offered. Southampton will obviously say no, but if Bale refuses to go to anyone else, and is refusing to extend his contract, Southampton may have no choice. Still think Bale will wind up at Manu. Why won't kids of today listen to their parents?

Do you think Forlan could be a success in the Premiership? I'm not convinced tbh. No particular reason for saying that other than he always seemed to be a bit rushed in the premiership and much more composed in La Liga. Maybe the little less pace and more skill that La Liga offers suits his game better. I'm not disputing that he is a talented footballer but not ideally suited to the premiership imo.

Don't think Bale will be going anywhere other than to Manu. SAF offered £3m rising to £5m in the last window (which Southampton rejected), Spurs offered £5m rising to £8m (appearances) plus other possibles (winning cups etc) which could take it to £10m. That bid was accepted. Bale opted not to move, wants to join his idol Giggs, and ishappy to wait for a Manu bid that would be accepted. His parents want him to go to Spurs as they think he will be benched at Manu behind Evra and Heinze, but Bale still opted to sit tight. Things might change in the coming window but I'd be surprised tbh. Sooner or later i think he will go to Manu.

Two of the four should be getting contracts renewed without any need for halting talks, and the other two should be shipped off imo. Bramble and Sibierski being the losers. CB is the one area where Newcastle have a number of players, the majority not exactly being wonderful, so I can well understand why Bramble could be allowed to leave. Sibierski, as cover for attacking midfield/2nd striker I think can still offer something to the squad, I think he is worth an offer. Last season I would have much preferred Sibierski playing for Spurs than Rasiak.

As Newcastle's overall squad depth and numbers needs strengthening, I would have thought offering a contract relative to their current position in the squad (starter, occasional bit player etc) with a salary that reflects that position should be the way forward. If the player chooses not to accept it, fine, he goes. But unless the plans are in place to replace those players and increase the numbers in the squad, I can't really see the logic in getting shot of them on the back of what is effectively one poor result.

Nobody gets it right all the time and I never suggested for a minute that they had. Their success, however, in those days could easily be compared with Wenger, who is as successful as anyone, and even he spunked £10m on Jeffers. Wenger's a legendary manager, but nobody will ever come close to matching what Brian Clough achieved with Forest. Mainly because these days taking an absolute nothing of a club like Forest and winning championships and european cups is actually impossible. Another sad fact that we might reflect on whilst we're all sat in our armchairs watching Richard Keys salivate over some Chelsea - Man United wankfest. Cloughie was special. Top psychologist in the Wenger/Mourinho mould. Would have been interesting to see him up agains the current crop. I think Clough would have been too sharp for them tbh. Every time they turned up at WHL John Robertson looked about 2 stone overweight and McGovern never used to do anything.............. apart from leading them to another 3-0 win! We had far better players, Forest had the far better team. That was what Cloughie gave them. Sad to see them where they are now tbh.

They are in panic mode tbf. Interesting about Davenport any ideas on Hudd? How much he's on? Someone did say £9k, I don't know how accurate that is but I would guess that is fairly close. Hudd's problem is that we haven't got the perfect midfielder for him to play alongside so for the forseeable future I see him as Zokora's backup. See that's sensible money. What is he 19 - 20? I rate him quite highly, seems to have concentration problems and loves playing to the crowd, but he'll grow out of that. Btw Imo Eboue is the big Wenger find as people will discover. No, you're wrong, he was another Comolli find. That's why Spurs fans are getting more and more confident (perhaps too confident) about the future. Comolli did it once for them, he's started to do the same again for us, creating partnerships with clubs in South Africa, Nigeria and maybe one again in Ivory Coast, but not ASEC Abidjan. Perhaps even more satisfying is at least 3 of the kids he's signed for Spurs have been in direct competition with Wenger. It may all end in tears but I'm more optimistic now than I have been for years, even when Arnesen came in he offered hope but also recruited some God awful youngsters! Comolli is already delivering more. Most Spurs fans on the forums are agreed that Berbatov and Zokora would't have looked twice at Spurs if it hadn't been for Comolli's efforts.