Martin Lol

Are you joking?? I'll go Owen only if the offer is something like this: Brown+Heinze+5m=Owen=15m Yes, actually he's already explained he was joking. FFS. Are you his lawyer or what? No, just solicits for me on at the weekends. :lol: BTW, it's a joke.................. even if it is a poor one!

He has an Arsenal background. He can't tie his shoelaces up, let alone clean someone else's boots! :lol:

I was told it was a straight £7m with no extras and that's what Spurs reported to the Stock Exchange. Newcastle reported to the Stock Exchange that the fee was £7m rising to £9m. TBH, Newcastle's declaration is more specific and would seem to be more likely. But I'm still told that it was £7m and nothing more will be paid. That's as accurate as I can be.

Better than what you've got. Would he be a Bosman?

Not even close to value for Owen. I know but Fergie's first bid for Carrick was Wes Brown + £3m!! Sorry mate, didn't realize you were joking. No probs. Carrick's deal was £14.4m rising to £18.6m depending on extras. So far we've had £15.8m. Other payments include PL title during the life of the initial contract (which we should get this year), getting to a domestic final (we get paid out next month) and reaching the CL final, which hopefully we will get this year too. I'm told that Levy would have been satisfied with getting £17.3m in total, looks like we may get the lot this year.

The idea scares the shit out of me, but he is being linked to Spurs as well. I don't like being reminded that it was Comolli who brought him to England in the first place either. Personally, whilst I can appreciate his talent, I can't stand the bloke or his attitude.

Not even close to value for Owen. I know but Fergie's first bid for Carrick was Wes Brown + £3m!!

Word! My only reservation about Sidwell is that he and Harper have played together in the centre of MF since they were about 9 with the scum kids. They know each other's game back to front and inside out and maybe 2 less than brilliant midfielders know each other so well they make a formidable MF partnership. There's no doubt that Sidwell is far better than Harper, but it's probably also fair to say that Sidwell looks a lot better when Harper is playing rather than when Harper isn't.

Would explain why there is the talk of Fergie wanting Owen. I sense a Saha + £2m = Owen offer coming in the summer!

top top quality!!! <You should know better tbh.>

Getting players into the squad isn't Jol's responsibility, that's down to Comolli. Jol will say what position needs attention and whether the player would be for the squad or accepted first teamer, but it's rare for him to have a direct say by naming a specific player. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, far from it, but he could think quicker on his feet and there are some board members who would like progress to be quicker than it currently is. Sometimes, directors want instant success more than the fans!

I admire your optimism but I can't imagine a worse scenario for Arsenal than Dein leaving. He was the driving force behind Arsenal progressing to the level they are now, he knows that in the long term the Emirates will be the catalyst for future progress but at the moment it is the cause for £260m debt with interest payments of £15m pa. It's that debt and interest which is shackling the ongoing progress in the club and then on the horizon came Kroenke. He is the person who could reactivate the progress by injecting transfer funds without worrying about how the interest payments will be made. Dein recognised that and wanted the buyout to go ahead. But the Fiszmans and Carrs, not forgetting the good Lady Bracewell-whatsit have buried their heads in the sand, the latter two because they still cling to the prestige of owning Arsenal while Fiszman thinks he will get more for his retirement in Switzerland by selling later, not sooner. The simple fact is that Arsenal was more or less run by two people, Dein and Fiszman who hadn't spoken to each other for years, Dein running the football side and Fiszman the rest. The footballing brain has now gone,the man who kept things going in Arsenal's favour in the PL, FA and Uefa, Wenger is already the number 1 target for the FA when McLaren gets the old heave ho, and the club will probably be sold to Kroenke when the club is running into disrepair. I can't see, in your words, " the club will move on, and get over it. " without the intervention of Kroenke's dollars. Signing Wenger was the best decision Arsenal ever made. Getting rid of Dein is undoubtedly the worst. But unless Wenger goes, will there be any difference on the pitch? Theyll continue to qualify for the CL, their youngsters will continue to improve into world class players, theyll continue to snap up the next batch of ridiculously talented youngsters, and so on. As long as Wenger and his scouting network remain at Arsenal for the next half decade or so, theyre secure. They can already afford to release players like Henry and Gilberto if they really want to because they have decent enough replacements already playing for the B side or rotated in the first team. When Real were chasing Wenger 2 years ago, it was reputedly a personal plea from Dein not to go that kept Wenger in N London. Wenger only has contact with Dein on footballing matters, no-one else. His contact with Fiszman was only relating to the Emirates. Wenger has never broken a contract in his life but has only one more year to run on his contract. It will give a good insight to the future whether he starts talking about a new contract.

Gets the team playing a good attacking game (most of the time), not bad tactically but far from the quickest in making adjustments during a game. Has his pre-game plan and sticks with it. Second leg against just one example. 2-0 down after 8 minutes, need 4 goals to progress. First substitution on the hour and Defoe brought on with 20 minutes to go. If that had been Mourinho in charge, Defoe would have been on before the 15 minute mark. Fair enough, he has his failings, but like I say, how high are Spurs's expectations all of a sudden? Who do you think you could feasibly get that would improve things enough to justify the change? It has to be remembered that Spurs were rubbish not so long ago and are still improving - they're not an established top 5/6 team who are starting to stagnate under the management like you could say we were when SBR was fired. Seems a silly idea to think about removing him now, if you ask me. (Which I'm well aware you didn't ) Spurs' aims/expectations are high because of 3 reasons. Firstly, as you say, Spurs were rubbish and the change in mood started when Arnesen moved in and changed just about everything within 12 months. Since then, we have been progressing steadily, still not an established top 5/6 as you quite rightly say, but the general trend is upwards, it's a club still going forward, not in decline. Secondly, when Arnesen left, he gave one of the reasons as not being able to compete with the very best in Europe, the players he wanted wouldn't move to WHL. Comolli has shown with Berbatov (Man Utd) and Zokora (Arsenal) he can get established players to join and in Dervite, Pekhart, Taarabt, Olsen amongst others, he is still able to secure quality youngsters as well as he did when he was with Arsenal. Some board members feel the quality of the players has rapidly improved, the ability of the coach to make the most of it should similarly improve. Other board members think Jol should get more time as he does have the ability to grow. Levy at the moment is sitting on the fence and the third reason is the cause of that indecision. There's little doubt that Levy will sell up sooner rather than later and he wants to maximise the value of the club, not necessarily maximise its successes on the pitch. That's why the plans for the redevelopment of WHL (or less likely a new stadium) should be announced in the next 7/8 months. The new academy, which is awaiting planning permission, is costing £33m. Personally, I think Levy will be gone within 2 years and that's why there is the haste to progress further which could see Jol become a casualty. As I've said elsewhere, Comolli knows the coaches he would be comfortable working with so it really is up to the boad to decide what to do next. If Spurs fail to qualify for Europe, Jol will be gone imho, if we make the Uefa, then I think he will have one more year. Apologies for drifting off topic, but I have stayed true to the question you asked!

I admire your optimism but I can't imagine a worse scenario for Arsenal than Dein leaving. He was the driving force behind Arsenal progressing to the level they are now, he knows that in the long term the Emirates will be the catalyst for future progress but at the moment it is the cause for £260m debt with interest payments of £15m pa. It's that debt and interest which is shackling the ongoing progress in the club and then on the horizon came Kroenke. He is the person who could reactivate the progress by injecting transfer funds without worrying about how the interest payments will be made. Dein recognised that and wanted the buyout to go ahead. But the Fiszmans and Carrs, not forgetting the good Lady Bracewell-whatsit have buried their heads in the sand, the latter two because they still cling to the prestige of owning Arsenal while Fiszman thinks he will get more for his retirement in Switzerland by selling later, not sooner. The simple fact is that Arsenal was more or less run by two people, Dein and Fiszman who hadn't spoken to each other for years, Dein running the football side and Fiszman the rest. The footballing brain has now gone,the man who kept things going in Arsenal's favour in the PL, FA and Uefa, Wenger is already the number 1 target for the FA when McLaren gets the old heave ho, and the club will probably be sold to Kroenke when the club is running into disrepair. I can't see, in your words, " the club will move on, and get over it. " without the intervention of Kroenke's dollars. Signing Wenger was the best decision Arsenal ever made. Getting rid of Dein is undoubtedly the worst.

I declare a day of celebration!!! :lol: Wonder if he's looking for a job with his son's in-laws?

Gets the team playing a good attacking game (most of the time), not bad tactically but far from the quickest in making adjustments during a game. Has his pre-game plan and sticks with it. Second leg against just one example. 2-0 down after 8 minutes, need 4 goals to progress. First substitution on the hour and Defoe brought on with 20 minutes to go. If that had been Mourinho in charge, Defoe would have been on before the 15 minute mark. We did have Christian Gross, I don't think I could stand going through that again! When Jol was being courted by Ajax, Ramos was lined up to be Jol's replacement. Also Ramos and Comolli are still in regular contact and spent about half an hour deep in conversation after the second leg at WHL but whether he would move on now is questionable. Claude Puel is more a name being mentioned regularly although one director would have 'Arry tomorrow. All better options than Roeder though tbh.

It's also getting more public as well. Charles N'Zogbia's row with Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder means he could be heading out of Tyneside at the end of the season. And that news will alert Tottenham who want a quality player to play on the left side of their their midfield. Spurs have also been looking at QPR winger Lee Cook, who would cost just over £2million but N'Zogbia has proved he can thrive in the Premiership and will be heading to White Hart Lane if the two clubs can agree terms. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=449265&in_page_id=1779 The Mail are well informed on Spurs matters (Spurs did offer £2.2m for Cook but it got turned down) and I know Comolli is an admirer of Zoggy, but so is Wenger, and that's who will eventually sign him (imo).

I've voted for over £20m as well. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if you were proved right, FFS must know that there isn't a million miles to travel to get get from where you are now to looking at top 6 and better. Better manager, more depth to the squad (which includes some current ist choice players becoming squad players). FFS has the first bit in his hands, the second could well be resolved by £20m+ net additional spending. The problem is that most other clubs with similar aspirations could be spending similar figures. I'm told that Spurs are making £35m available for the forthcoming window. Whether it gets spent is debateable, finding the players is one thing, getting them to sign ahead of the competition is another. No doubt in my mind they can afford it though.

Setanta also 'won' one of the PL packages. That was because Uefa (or EU, can't remember who) said Sky couldn't have a monopoly on live games so Sky released one of the packages.

From the list Big Sam Mark Hughes Steve Coppell..................... in that order. Amazed at the number of people putting up my namesake tbh. Yes, he does have attributes but there are a fair few downsides as well. Word is he is far from secure which would only get worse if Spurs fail to finish in the top 7. Personally, I think he'll get one more year at this level of achievement, no more.

You're right.

But if the latest rumours are to be believed, MG Pedersen could soon be on his way to Old Trafford as a replacement for Giggs, I think he is good enough for that. Not certain where that would leave Gareth Bale in Fergie's thinking, out of the reckoning?? Would be nice to think so.

It's something I could see happening, a way of Roeder getting shipped out of the hot seat without actually having to be fired. He doesn't have the credentials to be a DOF though and would be a flop in that role IMHO. Sacked or shunted sideways? Suppose it depends how FFS would repay loyalty. I totally agree with your thoughts on GR's likely success as a DoF, doesn't have have the attributes that would be needed, Pleat is better qualified. Moving Roeder to a position of DoF very much would be a 'jobs for the boys' appointment.

Me too. Surprised Lennon's got 3 votes, not done anything like enough to justify them tbh.

a lot of older folk did that, from what I can tell. why was this the case. ive heard many say that the geordie/mackem rivalry dates back hundreds of years. this is hardly the case if 50 years ago it would have been deemed acceptable to follow both teams. this certainly wouldnt have happened in Glasgow or Liverpool It wasn't a case of supporting both teams, just watching them. When it was the days of one week home, next week away, I went to WHL to watch Spurs win (hopefully) then Highbury to see the scum lose (hopefully). What was different in those days was that with no motorways and my old Ford Popular having 3 gears and a top speed of 40mph, it was a bloody pain to go to away matches! As soon as the transport problems disappeared and cars got better, going to other clubs' grounds died out as well. It was then supporting your team home and away.