Unbelievable

Rose tinted glasses I tell you.. A couple of bad results and all the optimism will soon fade away.. Stating facts is not looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses. Please list all the average players who have turned us down this window. I'll admit I'm naive and wrong if you can provide any evidence whatsoever. I can't provide you with evidence of actually being turned down just as much as you can't provide me with evidence that this isn't happening. If you put on your thinking hat though, it's pretty obvious that we have been in for a number of players who have gone elsewhere (Sidwell, Ben Haim, Distin, etc) and for players who have decided to stay put rather than move to us (Beye, Diarra). That's not even stating all the players we have or are reportedly (been) interested in and that haven't materialised. It's pretty obvious to me that the standard of player that we are being linked with at the moment (Quedrue, Shorey, Fanni) is not the standard that a club that has the ambition to be one of the biggest in football needs to be targetting. If you believe otherwise it's hard to argue with you not wearing rose tinted glasses; if it would have been Roeder targetting these players everybody would have been sitting here saying they weren't renewing their season tickets..

I understand what youre saying about us not knowing what Ashley has planned for the club but he's going about things in the right way. He's got rid of most of the s**** that was running the club and Shepherd is noting more than an ornament. Ashley has brought in somebody who appears to be very professional and he seems to be going about his review of the club before moving forwards, again, another good move. Mort had an opportunity to give out more information but he hasn't been here long enough to go into any sort of detail as he could find out that things are totally different to what he expected, he'd look like an arse if he said one thing and did another. I can't understand why so many people are questioning the intentions of our new owner before he's had a chance to get his feet under the table. Because they're f****** morons whose only experience of transfer windows has come on computer games. Bloody hell.. The abuse people get on here for not joining the party as yet is ridiculous.. The transfer activity we´ve seen up to this pount has been what I would have expected Allardyce to do under Shepherd´s reign, i.e. based on common sense but also quite unspectacular. Ashley's money and seeming ambition has not been a factor as yet. I don't see why people aren't allowed to discuss this without being sworn at..

Rose tinted glasses I tell you.. A couple of bad results and all the optimism will soon fade away..

Not that interested in them Gemmill. I want a defense. I would have loved us to have gone after Woodgate, may be a bit of a risk at 7M but surely well worth the gamble? I have seen the views that Baines is too small but I'd also take him; I'd love Bridge but that aint going to happen. Luke Young/ Shorey? Not sure, better than what we have but not top drawer. There's 5 players (not a trophy player in sight) & we have signed a untility man to play at RB. Of the 5 players you mentioned, you're not sure on two, one of them was unavailable, which leaves Baines and Bridge (who may or may not be available, but it seems he probably isn't). You mention yourself that Baines is viewed as too small by Allardyce (if Allardyce doesn't think he's the man for the job, that's good enough for me). So of that list we've managed to whittle it down to Bridge who it looks like Mourinho wants to keep. This transfer business is a bit harder than just reeling off a list of potentials isn't it? I would much sooner we make careful, considered decisions than draw up lists like you just have, and go for whatever's available on it even if we're not sure they're up to the task. I'm hoping we've moved on from that sort of thing. Get the f*** out of here with your 'logic' and 'reason'. WE'RE OWNED BY A BILLIONAIRE. I think you're all being a litle harsh on Tsunami. I have to say I agree with him for the most part, but approaching it from a different angle. Unlike the vast majority on here I am yet to be convinced by the plans that our new owner has with our (or should I say his) club.. So far it's only been speculation in the local media based on so called sources close to the club saying he wants us to become a major power in football and is willing to invest what it takes to get us there. The club have organised an exclusive interview with Mr Mort that was essentially a missed opportunity to clarify their position to the fans. If actions are to speak louder than words I have seen nothing too convincing in that department either. Allardyce, who most put complete faith in it seems and with whom I am personnally quite happy as well as I thought it was (!) the best we could get, was brought in by Shepherd. In the transfer department we have got a player who our two previous managers were also after (Viduka). An international defender without Premiership experience who on the looks of it looks a bit lightweight, which is worrying in my opinion. Nobody knows for certain he will be a success here. We have got a gifted midfield player with huge mentality issues (whatever happened to everybody wanting to get that sort of unprofessional behaviour out of our club a couple of years ago?) at a reasonable yet not astounding price. And we've got a decent defensive minded utility player on a free from Chelsea. Forgive me for not being overwhelmed as yet. I would even go as far as to say these are (certainly in part) transfers that I could have seen Roeder go for as well. More worryingly, we are being turned down an awful lot by players that most would have never even heard about or considered good enough up until a month ago. I share in some of the optimism around the club, but I think some need to take off their rose-tinted glasses and see what's what. Our previous owner has brought in the best manager we could have got and he has done some decent transfer business, but nothing really special so far. The new owners are yet to show their hand, and much of the optimism is as yet unfounded. This place is a lot more cheery than a couple of months ago, but there´s nothing wrong with trying to get some perspective on things..

For those who watched the European U21 championships, he was the tall, lanky central defender for Portugal. As a whole their team performance was disappointing, and I don't think Da Costa's performance was much better. Also, I don't think as is suggested earlier in this thread that he is suitable to play as a full back. I am not even convinced he is worth the reported 7M euro buyout clause at this point in time, and due to his inexperience and our need for experience in the centre back position (seeing as we already have potential in the person of Taylor) I don't think he would suit us at this point in time.. Seeing as he can stay at P$V or potentially go to Porto in his homecountry, I don't even think he would really be interested in coming to Newcastle, especially as a squad player..

I've seen quite a bit of him and never been too impressed. Alongside Alex he has done mostly well, but then again who wouldn't? When Alex was out with injury it really hurt P$V's defense and especially highlighted the inexperience in Da Costa's game.. Reports in Holland from multiple sources are saying Porto are after him as a replacement for Pepe, who has just moved to Madrid in a big money deal I believe.. It was also reported when he signed for P$V that there was a buyout clause set at 7M Euros.

Fans of SW should unite and not renew their season tickets collectively to make a stance.. Seeing as we are now "customers" of football, surely people are within their rights to discuss the "level of service provided" openly on an Internet forum..

Gets a bit touchy when people applaud Argentina at the expense of Brazil doesn't it Felipao? Anyway, Riquelme may not be better than Ronaldinho, but I'd very happily take him at our club.. Unbelievable that his future isn't clear yet..

So, anything in the Icelandic newspapers related to what our Icelandic, Italian car loving source predicted yesterday?

That's a bit s***. Actually, how can that be the case if we had Rossi for four months? By this year, I presume they mean this coming season???

I don't know the details of this new regulation, but as it's the first I've heard about it it may well be an FA thing, meaning that if Krul is loaned out to a club in Holland (Roda was in the market w couple of weeks ago), we could still possibly negotiate a callback-deal (not sure what the rules say. I guess it's to protect the club who loans a player rather than to frustrate both players and clubs who loan out players), although I can't see many loaning clubs at the highest level in Holland agreeing to such a deal and planning to let him be their first choice goalkeeper either (why would they want to take the risk to lose their GK when ours get injured?)..

No right foot? Are you sure you were awake while watching?

Excellent!

I bet you it's this one from that list, seeing as Wullie mentioned Reykjavik. They are monitoring the situation closely it seems: http://sport.is/fullfrettir.php?idnews=5935&idcat=10

Ask Wullie, he should know..

Take your pick: Iceland Newspapers Bæjarins Besta Dagbladid Vísir Dagbladid Visir Eyjafréttir (Vestmannaeyjar) Félag leiðsögumanna Fjarðarpósturinn (Hafnarfjörður) Fréttabladid Fréttavefurinn Tidis (Vesturbyggd) Iceland Review Morgunbladid The Reykjavik Grapevine (Reykjavik) Skarpur (Húsavík) Skessuhorns Sport.is (Reykjavik) Strik Vaktin (Vestmannaeyjar) Véfréttin Vefthjodviljinn Vikurfrettir

He has a good taste for cars, so he must be right! We're signing Gudjohnsen!!!

Excellent news if we can keep Owen and Oba as well. If we can't, at least we're prepared and won't be left with too few strikers at the start of the season or having to buy somebody under pressure and at an inflated price..

I'll need a very reliable source to even start contemplating that what you claim here could potentially have a slight chance of having happened in reality..

Even if they sign Drenthe? I don't think them signing Drenthe would make much of a difference to be honest. From what I've seen of him his talent lies in attacking football, if they sign him I'd imagine it would be to compete for a spot on the left wing. Reports in the Dutch media are suggesting that if Chelsea buy Drenthe of Feyenoord they will loan him back for at least 1 season. If this is the case, Bridge would obviously not move down in the pecking order. Personnaly I can't see Chelsea letting him go and if he wants to move himself he will probably prefer to stay in London, as happened earlier when we were in for him and he decided to go on loan to Fulham..

If that's the case, why did Mort come out for an interview at this point in time?

Don't you think it's high time the man who's just taken over the football club we all support, or in this case his second in command, came out and told us what his plans are with his new acquisition? I for one am very curious about his level of commitment to bringing us success or otherwise, and find it rather strange that we, as fans, haven't demanded to be informed of this earlier, before Mr Ashley got hold of our club immeadiatly. We are after all his ´customers´ and in the middle of season ticket renewal.. THIS WILL BE VERY INTERESTING. I am certain he will cover most, hopefully all, of: (1) His Role. (2) Shepherds Role. (3) Ashley's Role. (4) Ashley's 'general' aims and 'general' plans for the club (Premier League Champions / Winning Champions League - or whatever . . . ) Does he (Ashley) see us as being Englands most successful club, long term . . . or just 'competing' at the top with others. (5) Some 'specific' short-term objectives (next season). (6) Hopefully, some 'specific' (time-related) longer-term objectives. (7) Re-development / extension of the ground (Shepherds £300M plans for Conference Centres, Hotels, etc). 8 De-listing the club from the LSE (when and WHY). (9) That money (additional over NUFC earned-income) will be put in to facilitate player purchases - but NO specific figures will be given!! All of the above, and more that I cannot bring directly to mind, are things that I have wanted to know about ever since the Ashley takeover was first mooted. I would find all this very (very) interesting (cannot understand why any of us would not!) and I think that for the FIRST TIME we will actually KNOW (not newspaper speculation) some stuff about our club's likely future, by tomorrow morning!! I take it all back!! I saw it as an opportunity to put a bit more 'flesh on the bones' by providing information to combat speculation. That did not really happen - ah well - speculation continues! A real missed opportunity then by the new people in charge to start building a liaison with their customer base.. In contrast to most people I remain a little sceptic about what their plans are. When the hedge funds came in last year everybody here was understandably worried, yet now a man we know next to nothing about is in charge everybody seems happy enough.. This was a chance for him (through Mort) to take away some of the anxiety and tell us what the plans are. I think we're entitled to know. Of course, most people do not seem to care as they will just presume Mr Ashley will want the very best for us. Somehow, I don't quite believe that a business man who's made a fortune of 2 billion pounds in retailing will see us as a charity, or even a distraction. Chances are his plans with us are not altogether that much different from what the hedge funds would have done, i.e. he's here to make money and the best way to do that in sports is by buying low, investing, (winning things) and selling high. I don't quite understand the difference in level of resistance, but maybe I'm just more cynical than most.. think the insta-optimism about the lad ashley is he's paying cash for the shares and isn't having to mortgage the club in order to buy it that plus the fact his businesses (to my limited knowledge) have all been successful and he's made 1.9bn out of them don't really see where the downside is - he's not gonna take the club over with the intention of pissing away 130m+ is he? People were so sick of FFS they wanted rid no matter what. Fortunately Freddy didn't have the financial might to prevent this from happening. Assuming for a moment that after the honneymoon period our supporters will for some reason or another turn against the regime in charge, I can't see it being easy to get rid of them. In reality Ashley will not want to pi$$ away his 130 million, but neither will he not expect some return from his investment. The man has been a shareholder for Spurs IIRC, so he's not exactly driven by a love of our club or the region. He's in it for the money, and I for one would like to know what he has in mind for the future of the club.. I can't imagine any supporter wouldn't..

Don't you think it's high time the man who's just taken over the football club we all support, or in this case his second in command, came out and told us what his plans are with his new acquisition? I for one am very curious about his level of commitment to bringing us success or otherwise, and find it rather strange that we, as fans, haven't demanded to be informed of this earlier, before Mr Ashley got hold of our club immeadiatly. We are after all his ´customers´ and in the middle of season ticket renewal.. THIS WILL BE VERY INTERESTING. I am certain he will cover most, hopefully all, of: (1) His Role. (2) Shepherds Role. (3) Ashley's Role. (4) Ashley's 'general' aims and 'general' plans for the club (Premier League Champions / Winning Champions League - or whatever . . . ) Does he (Ashley) see us as being Englands most successful club, long term . . . or just 'competing' at the top with others. (5) Some 'specific' short-term objectives (next season). (6) Hopefully, some 'specific' (time-related) longer-term objectives. (7) Re-development / extension of the ground (Shepherds £300M plans for Conference Centres, Hotels, etc). 8 De-listing the club from the LSE (when and WHY). (9) That money (additional over NUFC earned-income) will be put in to facilitate player purchases - but NO specific figures will be given!! All of the above, and more that I cannot bring directly to mind, are things that I have wanted to know about ever since the Ashley takeover was first mooted. I would find all this very (very) interesting (cannot understand why any of us would not!) and I think that for the FIRST TIME we will actually KNOW (not newspaper speculation) some stuff about our club's likely future, by tomorrow morning!! I take it all back!! I saw it as an opportunity to put a bit more 'flesh on the bones' by providing information to combat speculation. That did not really happen - ah well - speculation continues! A real missed opportunity then by the new people in charge to start building a liaison with their customer base.. In contrast to most people I remain a little sceptic about what their plans are. When the hedge funds came in last year everybody here was understandably worried, yet now a man we know next to nothing about is in charge everybody seems happy enough.. This was a chance for him (through Mort) to take away some of the anxiety and tell us what the plans are. I think we're entitled to know. Of course, most people do not seem to care as they will just presume Mr Ashley will want the very best for us. Somehow, I don't quite believe that a business man who's made a fortune of 2 billion pounds in retailing will see us as a charity, or even a distraction. Chances are his plans with us are not altogether that much different from what the hedge funds would have done, i.e. he's here to make money and the best way to do that in sports is by buying low, investing, (winning things) and selling high. I don't quite understand the difference in level of resistance, but maybe I'm just more cynical than most..

Sounds a bit bitter, doesn´t he, our Glenn?

I think you get more for a win than for a draw. Chelsea must have won more than Liverpool?