Unbelievable

You could say the same for Babayaro. The fact that he was picked for the national team after no more than 135 minutes of first team action could suggest he is an awesome player or it could suggest the Dutch manager doesn't know what he's doing. I've seen enough of him as a player and MvB as a manager to know where my money is.. It's a bit like Eriksson and Walcott: his selection for the World Cup wasn't exactly based on his on the pitch performances was it? Oh, and don't start saying Walcott has potential so Babel must have too..

I didn't day that, did I? Do you believe that he is the new Henry because Marco van Basten said so?

If you're one of the people that have seen most of him, I'll produce as Exhibit A the fact that you rate Luque as good enough reason to disregard your opinion. Look at it this way.. Luque was a good player before he joined us and was never given the chance to prove himself. Babel isn't a good player to start with. What makes you think he will do OK for us? Okay... so because Karate_Kuyt doesn't rate Babel, while the likes of Wenger, van Basten and Roeder clearly do (to varying extents), we shouldn't sign him? I thought Sibierski was pure shite before we bought him, but he's done fairly well. I thought Duff was ace before we signed him and he hasn't done much of anything at all, yet. Transfers aren't an exact science, there isn't "right" or "wrong" and none of us know for sure how things will turn out, so it's ridiculous for you to be so against signing someone based on nowt but your personal opinion of the bloke. What!? So saying you wouldn't want for example Matthew Etterington here is a ridiculous thing to say because he might do well here, as highly improbable as it is? I remember when Everton signed Andy van der Meijde and we were interested or according to some fans should have been in for him I also said we shouldn't bother. Look at what he's done.. It's not because they're from the Ajax academy they're necessarily superstars.. In the case of Babel, most of their fans say bite their hands off at the quoted 5 million. That should tell you something as well..

If the Ireland manager came out and said Alan O'Brien is the new Arjen Robben (the comparison based on pace and nothing else) and fans on a foreign fan board were getting all excited at the prospect of signing him, would you tell them he's certainly going to make it at the top level or would you tell them not to bother (if it wasn't in Newcastle's interest of course to sell him)?

If you're one of the people that have seen most of him, I'll produce as Exhibit A the fact that you rate Luque as good enough reason to disregard your opinion. Look at it this way.. Luque was a good player before he joined us and was never given the chance to prove himself. Babel isn't a good player to start with. What makes you think he will do OK for us?

Oh no.. The two people on this board who've seen most of him are not impressed by him, yet everybody else is jumping with joy because the Van Basten has once likened him to Henry: a ridiculous comparision by all accounts and perfectly understandable if you look at many other strange decisions and comments MvB has made in his tenure as Holland manager..

Yep, just replied.. In case anybody reads this, what happened to the city guide for away fans on the main site? It seems to have disappeared and could be a good read for The Dutchman's first trip to a Newcastle match..

Its probably Piquionne although i prefer Babel same here, he just doesn't want to be here or leave the French league for that matter. Would prefer someone with a bit more enthusiasm than Mr Piquionne You've obviously missed Babel's quote about coming to us.. I did, care to share? The one where he says he isn't really enthusiastic about the prospect of joining us, but will wait and see what happens.. Not exactly burning with ambition.

Its probably Piquionne although i prefer Babel same here, he just doesn't want to be here or leave the French league for that matter. Would prefer someone with a bit more enthusiasm than Mr Piquionne You've obviously missed Babel's quote about coming to us..

Excellent, we may just miss out on him by the sounds of it..

So essentially he's lost his place to a Feyenoord castaway..? Just joking, I am devestated by the way Feyenoord have blown their chance to develop all the talent that was at their disposal. Incredible that we've had Van Persie, Kalou, Kuyt and Leonardo in the last couple of seasons and still haven't managed to get anywhere near the Champions League.. :-[ :'( Feel sorry for you. I think its unbelievable too. Altough I think that when Erwin Koeman was the coach at that time they would have done better. He;s a great coach imo. And we have to admit that Leonardo is a pain in the ass anyway despite he's a geat player and he will score the winning goal next sunday;) . And van Persie was an irritating man too. Now he's more a grown up player. Btw do you allready know if you'll visit the Liverpool match? It doesn't look like I'll be able to make it unfortunately. I've just been over for the past weekend and tried to push Freddie into re-scheduling but he wouldn't budge.. I can give you some tips about places to stay, see, eat and drink at if you want. Just PM me. Also, providing us and AZ progress to the next round of the Uefa Cup, are you considering gong to the Alkmaar match? I know as an Ajax fan it's probably of limits, but you can proudly wear the black and white..

So essentially he's lost his place to a Feyenoord castaway..? Just joking, I am devestated by the way Feyenoord have blown their chance to develop all the talent that was at their disposal. Incredible that we've had Van Persie, Kalou, Kuyt and Leonardo in the last couple of seasons and still haven't managed to get anywhere near the Champions League.. :-[ :'(

I don't understand where Glenn is coming from, or indeed any manager pressuring his players into not playing for their national team. When you buy a player you know his nationality, so you should take the chances of missing him sometimes into consideration. A player should be proud to represent their country. I'm sure most of you agree this should be the case for the players representing your own country, so the same should apply whether you're Japanese, Nigerian or Chilean. If a player can't be passionate about playing for their country, surely chances are they will not be passionate playing for their club..?

This time he's right Im afraid Just out of interest Dutchman, how do you rate him? I'm not a fan myself and don't understand all the hype, but you've probably seen more from him then me.. I do think Leonardo coming in means he's moved down the pecking order. Or was he behind Rosenberg anyway?

The next Darius Vassell more like..

I don´t have time to translate as I´m off to bed, but most of the reactions are in favour of this move, and that should tell its own story. They, like me, don´t think he´s good enough for this level..

Have they just got that from the forum? Newcastle insider Karate_Kuyt has confirmed... Lol.. I don´t think I´m the only person in the world who was watching that football program on Dutch tellie. I think the pundit is generally quite well informed, so we´ll have to see if there´s some truth to this story.. Please find this link to a message on an ajax forum.. http://ajax.netwerk.to/nieuws/artikel/13008_%27Bod%20van%207%20miljoen%20plus%20Luque%20voor%20Ryan%20Babel%27.php Notice the first fan reaction too.. It just happens to be in English for your convenience..

Oh dear, it's just been mentioned on Dutch television that Newcastle have launched an offer of 7 million Euros (4,5 mill pounds) plus Luque for Ryan Babel of ajax. I personally don´t rate him at all, but I thought I´d let you know. I also don´t think ajax can afford Luque´s wages..

He can put a nice spin on it as much as he likes, but considering our depleted squad and his own managerial (dis)abilities it's far from certain that we will be staying up. It could be a very costly mistake to be so arrogant as to not consider stop gaps because they might not do us any good in the long run..

Don't kid yourself. No foreign, flair player should ever touch us with a bargepole tbh. Talented player graveyard we are..

Would be nice on a free. Can't see it happening though. We will probably let him go to Rangers and pay 8 million for him in the January 2008 transfer window..

In 7 years..

He hasn't played that many matches for them in the last one and a half season tbf, partly due to injury but still I don't think he's ever been the first name on Bayern's teamsheet..

Just as bad if you ask me.. It's amazing how public opinion about Owen Hargreaves has swayed after the WC. Nobody wanted him in the squad than suddenly he's a world beater. Neither is correct in my opinion. Didn't Nicky Butt once have a blinder in a WC?

Weren't we linked with him a while back? 1,5 million seems a very reasonable price for such a huge talent and it's for one of our problem positions too..