Unbelievable

How much would you class as a decent fee for Owen? And how many teams are going to offer big money for him, knowing they can wait till next summer and get him for nowt? Admittedly, the club should have tried to tie him down before it got to this stage, but I think if he doesn't sign this new deal, then we'll keep him for the season and he'll go for nothing next summer. Couldn't see us letting him go for a 'nominal' fee at this stage - we may as well get use out of him for the season. Anything over 6/7 million I would seriously consider..

Geovanni looks a good player I have to say..

King and Woodgate both fit to play.. Great save Gomes btw..

Completely agree. Surely none of our fans could expect us to offer him anything more? I think many of us would expect us to offer him less or find a replacement. I am in that camp anyway, and wouldn´t be to pleased if we are losing out on and having to sell other players because we are not offering them the wages that they want, only to then go and offer one of our most injury prone players a much improved deal that would have him amongst the Premiership absolute top earners. So you would offer him less and risk letting him go? I understand your points, just want to see what you would do. I definately would. Actually, I would sell him now for a decent fee if there were any takers and we could get an up and coming replacement. I rate Owen as being well past his best. He is now a striker that will convert a good percentages of chances, but not one who will create chances out of nowhere, which I think is what we need more than anything. It´s not like Owen is still in a class of his own. 10 million will go a long way towards a replacement who will contribute at least the same to the team as Owen does, isn´t as inury prone (i.e. you can build a team around) and does not demand excessive wages. I´m thinking the likes of Defoe, Santa Cruz, Berbatov (before his transfer to Spurs), Alves, etc here, who I all rate as on par with Michael Owen at this moment in time (Owen was better in his prime, but those days are long gone). I reckon we could get somebody in that ilk and be better of on and off the pitch. Apart from the players you have mentioned, who do you think we could get who could do better than Michael Owen? I´ve already mentioned four. Do you want me to mention another dozen or so, which I easily could, until you find one that you don´t rate so you can give me some stick? It's not about the names, it's about the fact Owen is not worthy of one of the highest wages in the Premiership, not in his current form anyway. There are at least ten better forwards/strikers in the Premiership at this time.

Completely agree. Surely none of our fans could expect us to offer him anything more? I think many of us would expect us to offer him less or find a replacement. I am in that camp anyway, and wouldn´t be to pleased if we are losing out on and having to sell other players because we are not offering them the wages that they want, only to then go and offer one of our most injury prone players a much improved deal that would have him amongst the Premiership absolute top earners. So you would offer him less and risk letting him go? I understand your points, just want to see what you would do. I definately would. Actually, I would sell him now for a decent fee if there were any takers and we could get an up and coming replacement. I rate Owen as being well past his best. He is now a striker that will convert a good percentages of chances, but not one who will create chances out of nowhere, which I think is what we need more than anything. It´s not like Owen is still in a class of his own. 10 million will go a long way towards a replacement who will contribute at least the same to the team as Owen does, isn´t as inury prone (i.e. you can build a team around) and does not demand excessive wages. I´m thinking the likes of Defoe, Santa Cruz, Berbatov (before his transfer to Spurs), Alves, etc here, who I all rate as on par with Michael Owen at this moment in time (Owen was better in his prime, but those days are long gone). I reckon we could get somebody in that ilk and be better of on and off the pitch.

Completely agree. Surely none of our fans could expect us to offer him anything more? I think many of us would expect us to offer him less or find a replacement. I am in that camp anyway, and wouldn´t be to pleased if we are losing out on and having to sell other players because we are not offering them the wages that they want, only to then go and offer one of our most injury prone players a much improved deal that would have him amongst the Premiership absolute top earners.

So why does everybody believe this, and not the reports about selling him for 2 mill? Personally, I wouldn't offer him a pay rise, because we would be paying well over what he is worth nowadays.

I'm sure the club didn't go an injury its players to enhance his chances of being started. It's called bad luck... Is it? Have you seen our strikers' injury records?

I would have thought Martins would be in there, with Viduka counting as half a good player maybe..

God, reading the names bandied about at the moment is depressing. How the mighty have fallen. Here's hoping Keegan et al have some surprise cards up their sleeves..

Feyenoord is my club in Holland, so partly gutted and partly pleased. Still, will have to look at changing my username again..

Keegan has never favoured dispensing with Milner. “He's the last player Newcastle United want to sell and I'm talking about the owner and myself,” the manager said this month. “James Milner won't be leaving here, I'm sure of that.” Did Keegan really say that?

Agreed, but I can think of much worse panic signings.. Have a soft spot for him as he is a Feyenoord legend and I've met him around where I live a few times when he was here. Such a shame he didn't move to one of the big leagues when he was in his prime. Anyway, heart says yes, but head says no. Head wins in the end, I think..

Don't tell me you've bought into that Rivals bullshit? Beg your pardon? Sorry, sounded like you're waiting for this imaginary 'wow' signing and your post was sarcastic. Apologies if that's wrong and you're genuinely stunned. Did I say "wow"? Meant to say "who?"..

Don't tell me you've bought into that Rivals bullshit? Beg your pardon?

Wow

It's decent, but it doesn't exactly excite me. A club hoping for european qualification should really have more quality in central midfield, and that's not even looking at what cover we have if one proves inconsistent due to being a youngster and the other spends parts of the season in jail or suspended.. Personally, I am more of a believer in a midfield destroyer/creator combination than two jacks of all trades but without outstanding qualities..

I thought there was supposed to be money available if the right player became available either way, so the possible sale of one player shouldn't affect our chances of getting a player in for another position, should it? Yeah there's supposed to be money available. My point was more that I think Butt needs replacing before Milner. Fair enough, but I would have thought we could try and replace Butt on top of attracting a suitable replacement for Milner. We're short in numbers as it is, and as far as I am concerned only one of our players is completely dispensable (you know who).

I thought there was supposed to be money available if the right player became available either way, so the possible sale of one player shouldn't affect our chances of getting a player in for another position, should it?

I'm not allowed to panic before the transfer window is over, so I won't..

Strange comment. It was in reply to rosstoon saying we would be better off financially even if we offered Owen a 140k/wk deal, yet he forgot about a possible incoming transfer fee and resale value of an alternative striker. You may not think these things are important, but they will be so to Ashley. For me, Owen is a good striker, yet he has proved unrealiable in terms of fitness so you can't realistically build a team around him. He is also no longer amongst the best in the business, and if we can cash on him now and replace him with a younger striker with the potential to be better we may well be better off in the long run, both on the pitch and financially.

You are forgetting the transfer fee we could get if we were to sell him now. Plus, we could get a younger player with resale value and less injury problems around whom we could build a squad for years to come.

Torres scores!

What a disgraceful attitude..

Bit of an urban myth that one I think. Must be something to do with him being tall. He was certainly no worse than any of our other centre backs, and I remember being impressed with his passing range when he played as our DM on occasion; it was certainly better than Butt's.