Memphis

Can't see it being Mertesacker. I suspect it might be Barzagli, but he'd probably cost a few million more, so unless this is an introductory offer, it's not him. Bridge is crocked, so it won't be him. Isn't Baines a bit short for Sam? Don't think it's him or Shorey - 7 million is way too much for Shorey or Baines in any regard. Taiwo would be a good shout and a great signing - although I can't see him coming here in all honesty. Seems like Heinze then. Would be a class signing.

For whatever it's worth, I think a large part of the lack of success for football here in the States is the inability to quantify exactly what is going on. We have an extraordinary obsession with stats over here - in American football, it's about rushing yards, passing yards, touchdowns, interceptions, quarterback ratings, etc. In baseball, it's batting average, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, etc. All of those "team" sports have easy ways for fans and presenters alike to break down a player's contribution statistically. Thus, most of our television/radio coverage relies on statistics and numbers. We are inundated with highlights shows about all the major sports here, but presenters haven't a clue about how to present a football highlights package. And since it can't be distilled into a highlights package or a brief article in a paper, it is easily ignored. Obviously it is far more difficult to quantify an individual's performance in football. Michael Essien is a phenomenal footballer, but how many goals has he scored? How many assists does he have? What is his ACTIM player rating? Does any of that matter in his evaluation as a key player for Chelsea? There is far more subtext in football than the typical American fan wants to see. They are willing to sit through a 1-0 baseball game, which I find horribly boring, because they take note of all the "little plays" in the game. For whatever reason, be it statistical or xenophobic, they simply don't want to do that same thing for football. A 1-0 or 0-0 football match is always "boring" to them, no matter how much may have happened in the 90 minutes. Those of us who try to explain otherwise are largely ignored.

Just bear in mind Bolton didn't win a single friendly last season (losses to Recreativo, AZ Alkmaar, Sevilla, Derby, Burnley; draw with Rangers) and they did just fine. Sam tends to use friendlies in a much more experimental way than many managers. If we draw or somehow lose this match, there shouldn't be any panic.

Don't know if anyone read Football 365's Mediawatch today, but it included this little tidbit: Just about sums it up really.

I corrected it later in the thread - but here it is again: 1. ManUtd 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Newcastle 6. Tottenham 7. Everton 8. Aston Villa 9. West Ham 10. Portsmouth 11. Blackburn 12. Fulham 13. Bolton 14. Birmingham 15. Man City 16. Derby 17. Reading 18. smoggies 19. Wigan 20. Sheffield United 21. mackems Hopefully it's sorted now. Apologies for the oversight. Although in fairness knocking off the James Brown would be nice.

Well, judging by the quotes, it's clearly Babayaro.

For whatever it's worth, the datestamp on the video indicates the interview was taped 27 June, so whatever the reason for the long delay, the signing did indeed take place on Wednesday.

No Bolton either? Too devastated by the loss of Big Sam to even compete, I'm afraid. 1. ManUtd 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Newcastle 6. Tottenham 7. Everton 8. Aston Villa 9. West Ham 10. Portsmouth 11. Blackburn 12. Fulham 13. Bolton 14. Birmingham 15. Man City 16. Derby 17. Reading 18. smoggies 19. Wigan 20. Sheffield United 21. mackems There we go.

1. ManUtd 2. Chelsea 3. Liverpool 4. Arsenal 5. Newcastle 6. Tottenham 7. Everton 8. Aston Villa 9. West Ham 10. Portsmouth 11. Blackburn 12. Fulham 13. Reading 14. Birmingham 15. Man City 16. Derby 17. Reading 18. smoggies 19. Wigan 20. Sheffield United 21. mackems

Would much rather him go to Italy if he must go. Losing a 17-goal-scoring 22 year old international to a club we're presumably trying to eventually overtake (thank you Mr Ashley) due to a very regrettable and frankly idiotically low buyout clause is not in the club's best interests, no matter what some on here would have you believe. There would be tremendous pressure on Sam to replace him with a top drawer forward - the sort of player that may not be likely to come to our club at this time. Hope it's not true, suspect it is.

Since my SN begins with M, I'll try an M team: ----------------------------Molina--------------------------------- Miguel------------Milito------------Mertesacker-------Maldini -----Mascherano-------Makelele---------------Mancini------- ------------------------------Messi-------------------------------- -------------------Martins-----------Makaay--------------------- Subs: Marquez Mutu Montella Morientes Miccoli

Has anyone heard from Pavel Zika about this? "It was 50-50 between Newcastle and Sevilla, but once David found out about the Rod Stewart show - a definite agreement has been reached. David goes to Newcastle."

Henry interview in L'Equipe... http://lequipe.fr/Football/breves2007/20070623_004734Dev.html (''I must still pass the medical Monday. Yes, I chose Barcelona. I will sign there for the four next seasons (...) for the football they play, its history, its stage. For Frank Rijkaard who I grew up with...'') ("The fact that Arsène Wenger will not renew his contract...was another element very important to take into account.") Henry says that last bit as if it were stone cold fact. Wenger leaving will hurt Arsenal far more than Henry leaving. And certainly, while the prospect of CL football would appeal to Oba or Owen, the uncertainty of the manager's future will make their potential decision more difficult.

Any truth to the £13 buyout in Baba's contract? Not that anyone would activate it, mind...

They recently changed that name to the Sommet Center for obvious reasons. Virtually every major arena or stadium in America has corporate sponsorship. It's just become part and parcel of the American sporting experience, along with luxury suites, corporate seating and higher ticket prices. Although I suppose higher ticket prices are an epidemic throughout the world, really. It's actually worse than it sounds, though - individual seating areas, stands, terraces, etc. are often corporately sponsored within the arena or ground as well. The lure of tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars has been hard to resist for most teams, regardless of the sport. The unfortunate thing is that most of the corporately-sponsored grounds for football in the USA are quite nice. 20-30 thousand seats, proper stands, good atmosphere. Much better than the giant American football stadiums that had been used in the past. Shame about the names.

http://www.cdnn.info/industry/i041218/amelia_earhart_250301.jpg I think my aviator is better.

Just a word of advice from Mark Twain - "Never argue with an idiot; he'll drag you down to his level, then beat you with experience."

Memphis, Tennessee, USA

If that's the worst problem I had to deal with as a Newcastle fan, I'd be overjoyed.

That BBC link is only a portion of the news conference - a larger bit is available via Sky Sports. There's a link at the beginning of this story: http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=466779&CPID=8&clid=4&lid=2&title=Allardyce+targets+Owen+stay It must be said the video quality is much better as well.

Hot tip: I'm told reliably that this year's final has every chance of being played in Athens.

I'd like a PM as well. Thank you.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/?page_id=7934 Wonder how long it will be before he moves?