number09

must be coz of the austrian camp ;-) Of course. Thanks James, at least you appreciate "my" work .. hehe

must be coz of the austrian camp ;-)

Sums it up perfectly! I agree

scored v Lillestrom (UI CUP) and in Big Al's testimonial at St. James' Park

geremi looks very good in midfield... promising debut so far

All 5000 of them are in the toon :-)

I've seen Petrov quite often when he played for Wolfsburg in the German Bundesliga - canny player, good technique - would be a good buy for you!!!

We may have plenty of options...but who scores or makes goals amongst them? That was half the problem last year, with Dyer being our top midfield scorer!!! If we're going to challenge for top 6, we have to have a midfielders who scare the bejesus out of defences, with a 15 goal plus midfielder and a bucketload of assists from all of them...I therefore think we are paper-thin on quality well, given the fact that we were rubbish last season I think players like Emre, Milner, Duff, Barton have plenty of goals in them.

I don't think Butt is too old - look at Makele at Chelski, he's doing a fantastic job there. I understand your point that our squad is thin but in midfield we have plenty of options tbh ... but when you look at the defence ...puhhh...

100% my opinion

no question to be honest - one natural goalscorer - one owen :-)

2-1 to the toon - martins, butt

Geremi - cracking shot, enough power & experience. Otherwise someone who scores regularly - Owen, despite his bad record in taking penalties.

There are defintitely worse defenders out there, that'S for sure. 3m sound Ok for a player of his calibre - is he better than hangeland? Haven't heard much of that joker to be honest

@ Swiss: How's he performing at international level for Switzerland? Is he solid?

What has he done in the last 8 years to warrant such praise? Well, you might be right but playing for Galatasaray, Inter and now us ain't that bad...

I am really surprised that some of you want Emre out. He might not have performed extraordinarily well last season but who has? He might be the only one with a magic touch (apart from Nobby perhaps) in the middle of the park. Definitely one of Europe's finest midfield maestros!

I think it would be a tragic end for someone who lifted the champions league trophy at the age of 19...

Worrying isn't it? Worrying indeed

Well Lucas, I understand your frustration but still I believe it needs some time to get the right players. As we are not playing in Europe this season it might be difficult to convince big names to come to St. James'. I think the acquisition of Rozenhal was a good piece of business, expect 2 or 3 defenders to arrive at St. James by the end of August. As I stated it in the forum before I've heard that Sebastian Proedl is in discussion with the club about a move. Would be a solid CB!

Good solid defender, captain of dortmund as far as I know... would be a good addition to the squad. Not a typical brazilian player :-)

good point! :-)

http://sport.orf.at/070713-11517/index.html Another link where he said that he'd like to play in England... but nothing concrete...

Well, he's a good friend of my best mate... so no rumour... but he said himself that some scouts of United have watched/contacted him in Canada... well, I don't know anthing else but my mate phoned me as he knows I am a toon fan... Prödl is a huge tough tackling defender, very good in the air. Well, I am not sure if he's the guy we need, definitely a promising talent and a good back up ... but more?

I've heard some rumour here in Austria - to be honest from the player himself - that Newcastle United are interested in Austrian defender Sebastian Prödl. The 6ft 3in centre back is currently playing for Austria's Under 20 Team in Canada (U20 WC), who have reached the Quarter-Final. He's 20 years old and playing for Sturm Graz. He's already played twice for the senior national team and is Austria hottest prospect (in the defence). http://www.sksturm.at/content/page.asp?id=577 (here a link)