LateRegistration

well you'd have to assume that the end date for Togo in the ANC is the end date for teams getting knocked out of the first round. GeJon, the clubs pay the wages for all the players going to the ANC. They know what they are letting themselves in for when signing them and should have made the right preparations. However clubs have the assurance that their rivals are missing players too, but this incident derails the whole balance of the European leagues. Putting the players on leave would give them a chance to regain some mental composure, and protect the players from any possible controversy that some people could definitely go looking for. Don't agree with any of that. What about players that don't get picked? Teams that get knocked out early? etc Teams sign these players with the knowledge that they MAY be unavailable during this period. The fact that other teams may also have players unavailable can make the signing more acceptable but its not set in stone that they will also be unavailable. What next ban all African players representing European teams during the month of Jan so fucking Phil Brown won't moan?! As far as "regaining some mental composure", thats for each player to decide if they require any time off on leave unless they are considered not "medically fit" to do their job, which isn't for you to decide and each case would be dealt on an individual basis.

Slightly off topic of this thread but with the sale of the club up in the air and frankly nee fucker having a clue if/when it will occur it looks like we have to face the possibilty of being stuck with Fat Mike. The majority concensus seems to be agreed that Shearer is the best realistic option in our current state, however he is unlikely to be installed even in the short-term by the Ashley administration. With this comes the prospect of Chris Hughton and Calderwood remaining in charge for the foreseeable future. Bearing this in mind would people rather see Joe Kinnear return in the short-term or remain with Hughton/Calderwood? In 2 minds about this as seeing Joe reinstalled would indicate the sale of the club is going nowhere and we could well be stuck with him for the season (health permitting). Whereas having the Hughton/Calderwood combo still gives us the hope that we could be taken over at anytime and Shearer installed. However as bad as Joe was he was still better than the Hughton/Calderwood combo (taking away the West Brom result) and if the sale isn't going to happen he may well be the better (and only!) option, as Shearer isn't going to be installed and no manager will come into a club in absolute limbo. In summary Kinnear or Hughton/Calderwood? Views? And to those saying neither please give realistic alternatives in the scenario of no-sale in the near future.

The loss of Emre will have no negative effect on the team, he's either injured or ineffective so getting rid of him is a plus as far as I'm concerned. He may have been all that, he is/was also our best midfielder in terms of natural ability.. When has he ever shwon that natural ability? Certainly not in his set-pieces. He may have taken some shitty corners, he has also taken some of our best free kicks in recent years. Can't think of many tbh, the winner in 3-2 against mackems was aboslutely brilliant but apart from that none stick out. Not that it matters anyway as we'd only get 10 or so games out of him so all this talk is redundant. His goal against Reading to win it for us 3-2 was pretty magical as well. Yes it was, not a free kick though.

The loss of Emre will have no negative effect on the team, he's either injured or ineffective so getting rid of him is a plus as far as I'm concerned. He may have been all that, he is/was also our best midfielder in terms of natural ability.. When has he ever shwon that natural ability? Certainly not in his set-pieces. He may have taken some shitty corners, he has also taken some of our best free kicks in recent years. Can't think of many tbh, the winner in 3-2 against mackems was aboslutely brilliant but apart from that none stick out. Not that it matters anyway as we'd only get 10 or so games out of him so all this talk is redundant.

Yep, I'm at uni down here at the moment and should hopefully be working down here come August.

Some of the overreactions on here are class. Its not like these people demanded no alcohol, halal food and cheap tickets. This was offered to all in the area around villa park, with there majority being muslim. I am a muslim of Asian descent, who was born and raised in Newcastle and regularly attends games at SJP as well as the odd away game. There is a fair number of regular asian muslim attenders at SJP that I know about. Most muslims will not mind being in the presence of alcohol (some even drink) and as far as food is concerned halal food would be nice of course but isn't obviously gonna make a difference to whether people attend (don't normally go to a football match for a 3-course meal or owt) and obviously can eat things like chips, chocolates, soups and hot drinks anyway. Although not specifically to do with muslims at Keegans 1st match against Bolton, Asian businessmen/women and families were given invites to attend a pre-match meal and view a few presentations by Chris Mort and Peter Beardsley. I attended this with a relative who was given a few invites. Even Mike Ashley himself came up into the box before the match kicked off (incidently with a pint of beer in hand from the bar) and had a chat with a few of us. This was obviously done to try and attract a few more Asians to SJP on matchdays.

Who can still qualify for Europe? BBC Sport runs through who can qualify for Europe and how as the 2007-08 season nears its conclusion. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE The top four teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League. 606: DEBATE Who do you think will qualify for Europe? If a top-four team wins the Champions League, there are no extra places for English clubs. If a team wins the Champions League but finishes outside the top four, they will qualify for next season's Champions League, at the expense of the fourth-placed Premier League team. UEFA CUP English clubs are offered three places in the Uefa Cup - for the FA Cup winners, the Carling Cup winners and the fifth-placed team in the Premier League. Tottenham have qualified for the Uefa Cup by winning the Carling Cup. Should a team finishing in the top four in the Premier League win the FA Cup (still technically possible in Portsmouth), the Uefa Cup place would go to the team finishing sixth in the league. If Cardiff City win the FA Cup then, as it stands, they are not allowed to qualify for the Uefa Cup because they are registered with the Football Association of Wales and would not be put forward as one of England's representatives. In that instance, the FA Cup runners-up would take their place in the Uefa Cup - although the Football Association are reviewing their rules. FA to review Cardiff's Uefa case As mentioned aboved, if a team wins the Champions League but finishes outside the top four, then a Uefa Cup place will go to the fourth-placed team. If Portsmouth win the FA Cup and finish fifth in the Premier League, the sixth-placed team in the league would enter the Uefa Cup, not the FA Cup runners-up. ADDITIONAL PLACES Intertoto Cup: England can gain an additional Uefa Cup place by entering a team into and winning the Intertoto Cup. Uefa Fair Play League: In order to be eligible for one of the three places available via the Fair Play League, an association must score an average of over eight. The top association gets a Uefa Cup place, while all other associations with an average of over eight (there are currently eight) are placed into a ballot. England are currently top of the Fair Play League. If they win the Uefa Cup place, it is given to the team placed highest in the Premier League Fair Play League that has not qualified by other means. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7292892.stm Simple indeed.

I think we can tbh. Not referring to this story in particular or any details. Just the fact that we've stories about offers for the club and prospective bids pretty much from the time he took control of the club suggesting that maybe he is willing to listen if the right offer came up. No smoke without fire, that type of thing.

Bit worried about why these stories keep coming up time and time again. Don't think we can put it all down to the media wanting to unsettle the club, although obviously they need no encouragement.

He was fucking awful man

...

fuck off

From which club? WHU? corinthians i think All wrong he is on an 18 month loan from Media Sports Investments group run by that Iranian businessman kia koorbchian (sp). Apparently some sources say that this loan is costing Liverpool £17-18m.

Did Allardyce get Bolton relegated? Who are the good managers who have failed? And, why did they fail? Dagliesh and Robson for a start would be good managers who failed to win anyhting and were eventually sacked. EvenGullit and Souness came with a track record of winning trophies at other clubs. Fact is if were are all as inpatient as a large portion of the fans at St James' today we'll never get what we want. We desperately need stability and to give time to Sam to get it right and I for one don't expect anything from this season other than not to get relegated, this season is all about transition and if we're in the same position this time next season then we can even start contemplating a change in manager. Anything before that is simply madness. This is where all level-headed individuals who can see the bigger picture and beyond some poor performances and results need to stand up and be counted.

Today might feature quite highly on a lot of peoples list.

I thought you said you wouldn't be back?

In english..?

I think you must be looking in the mirror when you made those last.... er...silly...comments. The vast majority aren't bigots eh ? Of course it isnt the majority who drape themselves in the irish tricolour is it ? Oh no. (Bollocks its not) Its not the majority who sing religously offensive crap ? (Bollocks its not) When Celtic come to town or on the ol' telly, do you plug in the iPod, bump up the volume, and close your eyes ? And that (in a mirror-image way, seeing as we began with mirror-related comments) goes for the other bunch too. Certainly. But it doesnt get away from the fact that IT WAS AN ASSAULT BY A CELTIC FAN ON AN OPPOSITION PLAYER Jesus how ***** clear does it have to be ? ? ? One pillock that should have been seen by the CELEBRATING Stewarts. No effort made to stop him. Therefore Celtic must take full blame. They employ the stewarts. Therefore THEY are responsible. FFS thats 3 times now, it is stewards not stewarts.

you're wrong about Taylor. agree, lots of people on here are saying Taylor isnt very good He will eventually brake into englands starting 11 within 2-3 seasons also he is young and doesnt make many mistakes anymore anyone actually watching Taylor play, on and off the ball, can see that he has removed a lot of the problems he caused himself in the past, even as recently as the start of last season. he's a first team starter for me, shoudl have been captain as well, above Geremi, who can't even be given the excuse of being new to the PL for soem of his dismal showings so far. Come on...Taylor is OK but captain...Please he is JUST A KID you know... Better - in my opinion - than the current captain. and in fact, the best option for captain we had apart from Lil' Mikey. Don't agree. I said at the moment Faye is a better central defender but don't get me wrong I rate Taylor and IF he keeps on developing he has the potential to become our top centre-back for years to come. Not there yet though.

Its called building a squad. 2 million in todays market isn't a great deal and we are getting a premiership experienced player who as you've outlined can operate at centre-back and central midfield. Anyways at the moment i'd say he is better than taylor, edgar and ramage (who is out for most the season anyways), making him at least our 3rd best centreback.

TBH I think you're on a hiding to nothing here. You're trying to compare players who patently are nothing like each other. Shearer as a physical 'centre forward' style striker in his heyday had few equals in the world, let alone in England. Berba is very much in the Bergkamp or Sheringham style, much more technical and far less physical, but you can't say he's in the top 3 in Europe at what he does . He has the capability to be world class but I don't see an excellent second half of one season justifying comparison with a striker (of a different style) who maintained his very best form for about 5/6 years which in itself is an achievement. Similarly, Berba is no more similar to Beardsley as he is Shearer, Beardsley was more in keeping with Robbie Keane than Berbatov and significantly better than Keane too. This pretty much sums it up.

eh?

I think with our squad being so depleted and severely lacking in depth I think our approach to transfers should be that of Spurs when Martin Jol initially took over (actually that former french national coach took over 1st, can't remember his name). Their 'revolving door' approach where they signed lots of decent, cheaply priced players for all positions building up quite a tidy squad, fair enough finishing in 9th place but with clear progress being made If players didn't make it they were then shipped out e.g. davenport, davies, mendes, etc. This policy actually suits allardyce as if you look at his transfers at bolton he signed lots of players, many not managing a 1st team appearance. We only need to look at ourselves and Souness's spending of 43.5m on expensive players instead of building a squad i.e. luque 9.5m, owen - 16m, boumsong - 8m, parker 5.5m and emre 4.5m, when they inevitably got injured or didn't perform we simply didn't have the players and still don't as roeder basically failed to get players in over the 2 transfer windows he was in charge. We're also paying these players ridiculous wages to convince them to play here and in owen's case inserting a series of daft clauses that will probably fuck us over. Once we've built a squad of players (perhaps even qualifying for europe via the league), then we can look to add the big money signings, the andrade's , miguel's and gattuso's (plus we may even be able to convince them to come here without putting ridiculous transfer clauses in their contracts). Again this is effectively what spurs started to do as of last summer adding berbatov and this summer bale and probably bent on big money.

Agree we don't know how he'll be as a coach. People were saying that speed will make a good coach too based purely on his playing career.