Martin Lol

Can't argue with that. There is scum within every club's supporters, can't call them fans tbh. Thankfully it is a minority. Been a good day though. Ramos showed again he is a class act, Grant by leaving out Cole and Ballack showed that he isn't. Just heard Grant's post match comments, made him look a complete prat.

Don't believe for a minute that Newcastle will get relegated. That's not to say the team is better than that because in another season they could easily have gone down. But this season there is so much dross occupying the 7 places below you, it's inconceivable that 5 of those teams could get enough points to put Newcastle into the bottom 3.

not sure how to respond... zoggy is one that i think has tremendous potential and talent and i've singled him out absolutely because of that. the absolute dross that has been pulling on a black & white shirt this season should be gone this summer, and good riddance. but, it's my hope that zoggy stays and comes good under kk. but he's certainly not the finished article and if he's not careful about his attitude, mentality, work ethic, whatever you want to call it, we'll suffer for it. obviously he's been played out of position, but even HE knew he'd blown it for their 1st goal. If he's being played out of position and he drops a rickett, then imho the finger should be pointed at the man who told him to play in that position, not blame N'Zogbia for making a mistake which might be basic for a FB, but not so obvious to someone who isn't accustomed to playing at FB.

I never saw the game but I guess Taylor has had a cow of a game, he's young, it happens. I would also think that when your team loses 5-1 at home it's fair to assume that there were more players playing s*** than just Taylor. But, as you say, this is Taylor's thread and apportioning blame should be in the post match thread.

He was Clipboard Chris around the time Enic took over, so it's not a new nickname for him. I think you said in an earlier post you thought he'd be a hands on coach, not one observing from the side. That's pretty accurate although he does have a shrewd analytical mind, his dossiers on opposing teams were apparently brilliant in their detail and assessment of weaknesses and strengths. I would guess his style of play would gel nicely with KK's philosophy, Spurs have always tried to play attractive attacking football (not always succeeded mind), and Hughton was at Spurs as a player and a coach for 28 years so attacking play is pretty well burnt into his thinking.

From page 1...................... Ah, thanks. Skimmed through and didn't spot owt. Seems a good coach, but I wonder how much Keegan knows about him? Dunno, but I can say for certain that Kemsley had no say in this appointment as was suggested by someone early on in the thread. Kemsley hates Jol's guts and Hughton comes a close second. I think it's impossible for someone to be a first team coach for as long as Chris has and his strong points and weaknesses not to widely known. Maybe he's a bit conservative in his outlook but I don't think you'll ever see Hughton slumped in his chair having given up as Pearson did at a match last season. You can't win every match but Hughton won't give up trying.

From page 1......................

Central defenders need to develop a partnership just as the strikers in a 4-4-2 formation have to. As a young CB coming into the team, Taylor could have hoped to develop the partnership with an established member of the team, but he hasn't had that, he's had Bramble, Boumsong et al. Instead of learning from an experienced CB, he became the post that his defensive partner could lean on. Taylor has improved since he first came into the first team but by no means as much as if he had been partnering Scumball in the heart of defence. Not signing him and allowing him to join him to join Pompey was a pivotal moment for Taylor, Roeder and Newcastle (imho).

Make no mistake about it, CH is a top quality coach. In the days when the Pro badge wasn't a necessity, there were only 3 pro badge holders in the premiership and Chris was one. If he'd been no good at what he did, he wouldn't have been kept on by successive managers. FWIW, Arnesen rated him as good as any coach he'd known, but I think he'd gone stale at the end, it was the right time for him to go when he did. On the Spurs forums he's still got pretty well near unanimous best wishes for the future, which is remarkable bearing in mind he's moved to Newcastle. BTW, I've just had a fiver on Martin Jol being the Newcastle manager for the first match of next season. Probably a fiver down the drain but if things don't go well this season I wouldn't rule it out, there was a huge amount of respect between MJ and CH.

Because we don't bum an average player just because he's come through the youth system? Taylor should think himself lucky he's the local lad who came through the academy because that's what has stopped most getting on his back inside of the ground. So why do people rate Taylor as a prospect, but not Ramage? Because Ramage is a Champion standard defender at best, Taylor on the other hand looked a player that was rough around the edges but could turn out to be a decent player when he first came on the scene, yet here we are 100+ games later and he looks no better, in fact we've discovered that he's thick as s*** and has no sort of footballing brain at all. People still hope he's going to turn into the player they thought, that's why they don't get on his back. I think you're making too many assumptions about WHY people have the opinions they have. I don't favour players because they're from Newcastle, never have, and i'm sure alot of people that have the same views as me aren't that biased either. First and foremost when judging a young player i look at his attributes, not his performances, and i see positive things in Taylor - firstly his aerial ability, he's our biggest danger at set pieces - yes he sometimes loses his man when defending, BUT this is to be expected of a young player, he's reasonably fast(not lightening ofcourse), he's strong physically(i've seen him bully Drogba of all people out of a game), and i have seen improvement in his positioning and maturity(ie not flying into tackles as much). I think he has good potential, but i also think he's not going to fulfill it as long as our team is so unorganized and unsettled - NO young player would fulfill their potential in our current team. Funnily enough I look at attributes too, I see that Taylor isn't particularly fast, isn't as strong as you would expect for someone his size, he doesn't read the game very well and often gets caught out by strikers with a superior footballing brain, he also has little passing ability which means his best form of distribution is the big boot up field. I don't rate him any higher than the likes of Dawson who most laugh at on here. He's not particularly slow, he certainly isn't weak, reading the game is something you gain with experience, and how old are these strikers with "superior footballing brains"? 22? I never said he was weak, I said he's not as strong for someone his size, how often do you see him physically dominate and bully strikers? As for players having footballing brains, it's true that you learn from experience in this department but you're wrong in suggesting young players can't have one now, plenty of young players in the league have footballing brains. He's an average player who may improve, unless he does improve then we should be looking for better because he wouldn't get a look in in the first teams of clubs pushing for the Uefa cup. I think Taylor has suffered from a) The lack of a quality experienced CB alongside him (Scumball would have been ideal for him before he moved to Pompey) and b) I'm not convinced that Taylor has had the benefit of top class defensive coaching. For the England U21's he looks a far more imposing CB than he does for Newcastle. Wheater has had the benefit of coaching from Southgate who I always thought was underrated in his playing days. If I had the choice I would opt for Taylor, I think there is so much room for improvement there and I don't see that with Wheater.

depends who we play. someone like carroll or edgar will keep their heads up and i also notice emre always tries till the end but others such as butt and owen do look even slower when we are losing. Don't think so tbh. 3 or 4-0 to the mancs no matter who plays imho.

Bearing in mind that Carrick was happy with his money at Spurs (who are not renowned for high salaries), I think it does come under the heading of blatant s***! Sadly, I don't think that Carrick won't be leaving Man Utd any time soon, and if he did, I'd be reasonably confident that he would return to Spurs

Manu want him, i reckon Carrick to us and him to them wouldn't be too off the mark in the summer. Spurs have got first refusal on Carrick should Man Utd want to sell him, written into the contract when Spurs sold him. That's not to say Carrick would automatically agree to come back but he probably would if what was said and the manner he conducted himself with that move was anything to go by. The main sticking point would be the transfer fee if it did come down to Carrick moving, but I think the discussion is academic, I don't think Rednose is in any rush to move on Carrick.

James - Green - Hart in that order imho.

Did they go to the Boro Academy? Half of the kids there were born in and around Newcastle.

Why would Dunne leave Man City for a lesser club? There I said it. For the same reason Owen, Duff, Geremi, Martins, Smith etc did? To play regular first team football? Slight flaw in your thinking there. Exactly. That's another thing, if we continue buying CL team's rejects then we aren't going to make it in to the top four, they weren't in the team for a reason. We've run out of time, we have serious serious problems. If good players are being kept out of a team by better players who are better suited to the style of the team, it doesn't make the good players on the sidelines bad. Forest won the European Cup with a great team but not the greatest players, Brummie would probably say the same about Aston Villa in the early 80's, a great team but Peter Withe, Tony Morley etc will hardly be remembered as worldbeaters. Buying CL team's rejects isn't a problem, fashioning them into a quality team is the big problem. But it is only a problem, not an impossibility.

A realistic bid for Lennon wouldn't be turned down out of hand, would probably get accepted eventually tbh. Whether Lennon would be wanting that move at this time would be debateable. A swap involving N'Zogbia and Berbatov would be as likely as a swap involving Michael Owen and Micah Richards, Berbatov to Man Utd, Richards to the pikeys up the road or similar, they'd be wanting clubs with regular CL participation..

Diego Capel is very high on Ramos' wishlist for the summer. Can't say whether Spurs are high on DC's hopes for the summer though.

I like this! I'd rather have bridge than Shorey but the rest is good, and quite realistic. I'd also add Bentley to the list. Leave Wes Brown alone. He's not good enough YaYa Toure realistic?? Hudd is very happy and Ramos rates him highly now that he's light enough to move about a bit. Don't imagine he will be on the move anytime soon. YaYa Toure is realistic as Barcelona are having a poor season and a change at the top looks likely. We need a phsical presence in midfield and Toure/Huddlestone are both big lads that can play a bit makes a change from the Munchkins that we have got running around in midfield. Huddlestone is a very good player who has under performed this season Ramos seems to have sorted him out and he will be a class act in the future. Whilst Barca are no great shakes this season, YaYa is not doing his personal reputation any harm at all. Deco I would happily admit is a realistic target but YaYa is no more attainable than Jeremy Menez who someone mentioned as a possible target (imho). I think the summer will be very interesting if only to see how strong the backroom team of Wise, Vetere and Jimenez are. A succession of good players should bode really well for you in the future. If they struggle to produce premiership quality players, as some are suggesting, then maybe their contacts aren't as good as has been suggested. Personally, I think it will be somewhere in the middle, nearer to the first option than the second. why is Menez unobtainable? he's at the same stage as Muntari or Berbatov were at Udinese or Leverkusen, performing well in weaker leagues, loads of big clubs sniffing around but no one prepared to take the risk and pay a big sum until lesser clubs like Spurs and Pompey came in. VDV at ajax too was linked to only the biggest teams and ended up going to Hamburg. could make similar argument for Alves and he ended up at Boro. if we are prepared to pay what other sides aren't, and show ambition in the transfer market, i don't see why we can't get a player like that, or Veloso at Sporting for that matter. Although Muntari and Berbatov were playing in lesser leagues, they weren't youngsters, they are established internationals. Menez is young and talented, probably on a par with Ribery though not as consistent at the present time. It was widely reported in the media that the only thing that prevented a move to Inter was haggling over the price to be paid. You may be right and maybe he would opt to move to Newcastle, I personally think he is looking for one of the European giants to sign him and I think they will. With regard to VDV I think the circumstances were different due to his fall-out with Koeman.

If a member of your family was dying and they will thinking about making you the sole beneficiary in the will before they keeled over, I think you wouldn't be too concerned about a game of football tbh.

I like this! I'd rather have bridge than Shorey but the rest is good, and quite realistic. I'd also add Bentley to the list. Leave Wes Brown alone. He's not good enough YaYa Toure realistic?? Hudd is very happy and Ramos rates him highly now that he's light enough to move about a bit. Don't imagine he will be on the move anytime soon. YaYa Toure is realistic as Barcelona are having a poor season and a change at the top looks likely. We need a phsical presence in midfield and Toure/Huddlestone are both big lads that can play a bit makes a change from the Munchkins that we have got running around in midfield. Huddlestone is a very good player who has under performed this season Ramos seems to have sorted him out and he will be a class act in the future. Whilst Barca are no great shakes this season, YaYa is not doing his personal reputation any harm at all. Deco I would happily admit is a realistic target but YaYa is no more attainable than Jeremy Menez who someone mentioned as a possible target (imho). I think the summer will be very interesting if only to see how strong the backroom team of Wise, Vetere and Jimenez are. A succession of good players should bode really well for you in the future. If they struggle to produce premiership quality players, as some are suggesting, then maybe their contacts aren't as good as has been suggested. Personally, I think it will be somewhere in the middle, nearer to the first option than the second.

I don't think anyone would go to Fulham out of choice tbh.

Can't see why not, Jackie Milburn was born in Ashington as well and he's the epitome of the Geordie nation. Personally, I would put both Charlton and Milburn ahead of Shearer, in that order.

That's over 71%!! Surely that can't be right??..................... or is it??

Keegan has already said that Spurs never even spoke to him about Zog. There was the rumour but that was put around to get a reduced price on Gilberto. With Bale/Gilberto/Gunter/Malbranque/O'Hara all capable of playing either LB or LM, plus Rose coming through, I don't envisage Spurs making a bid. If Zog did leave SJP you could always put in a bid for Wipey who is by the revolving doors waiting for the summer. From first choice LB under Jol to 4th choice under Ramos in the space of about 4 months!