Yorkie

Aye, i don't disagree, Northerngimp. Whereas a few weeks ago i was all for him staying, i think i'm now gradually jumping on the 'Owen out' bandwagon*, but it still wouldn't take away the fact that he'd be an utter, utter turd to try and get himself out (IE, not sign a new contract). *Although, actually more for footballing reasons rather than the media 'mill stone' as you called it (i don't think he'll work in a 4-3-3)

Aye, the idea of Zoggy as a centre-mid sickened me from the off, and it still does. One of the many, many factors of Roeder's actual downfall itself, was the treatment of N'Zogbia; and i don't think there's any other individual factor that makes me so angry, other than that one. This'll sound a bit out there, and i'll probably get slated, but we had a young guy there who had the potential to be better than Ginola and Robert put together, imo. He was just that good in 05/06. Then to convert him into centre-mid? Gar. Pisses me off just thinking about it. Really hope Sam tries to sort him out.

Even if we do get compensation, we've still paid him £100,000 every week for the last two years. Even if we do make it back, it doesn't nullify the fact that we've offered him monstrous amounts of cash, for him to do absolutely nothing, and then bugger off. Him leaving, for me, would still be one of the most disloyal departures i'll have witnessed in my time supporting Newcastle.

That deal would equate to something less than Owen's release clause tbh. If we're going to sell him, just sell him. Hmmm ... well I guess I was thinking along the lines of Borough's supposed £6million bid for him. That added to the £3.5million would be £9.5million. However you might be right. We don't know if that £6 million Borough bid was even legit. No - it's just my opinion mate. Smith is worth no more than £4m imo. If Boro are daft enough to go out and pay £6m for him, that's there problem, because he's not worth that at all.

Spot on; the potential that Roeder's squad actually had was surprisingly high.

That deal would equate to something less than Owen's release clause tbh. If we're going to sell him, just sell him.

Owen out, Smith in. Hmm.

Could be right, Mrmo, and i reckon Emre and Barton could alternate quite comfortably. And with Butt (or a new signing) being the 'protector of defense', a three-man midfield really should work quite well.

Agreed, which is what makes him so frustrating the rest of the time when he seems to just drift through games doing nowt. Could be a motivation thing, hopefully Sam will light a fire under his arse. Yep, true. His performances have gradually deteriorated after (what i thought was) an excellent start, but they decreased rapidly when his mate Souness left. However, on top of that, i don't think he's ever been played correctly tbh. When Parker was in the team, it was all about accommodating Parker; when it should have been all about accommodating Emre. Then, when Butt was on form, Roeder felt he had to accommodate all three - then Dyer aswell. Really makes you realise what a joker the fella was when we lined up with a midfield of: Dyer --- Parker --- Butt --- Emre Four centre-mids. Emre was never made the main man by Roeder when i reckon he probably should have been.

Aye, this in a nutshell really. Fairly undeniable imo.

Suppose it was never going to happen for him. He'll probably do alright up there. Now for Pattison; someone who, i have no idea how, managed to make it into the first team over other reserves. The reserves set-up must be pretty poor!

Good news tbh. No question for me, that he is potentially one of our best players. I'm not going go on, because i'll only repeat what Shak's said. I respect his loyalty aswell tbh. If i went to Galatasaray and had what was a fairly poor couple of seasons there, including run-ins with the law and general lack of support from the supporters, and Newcastle came calling for me - i'd probably be out in a flash. It's the same for Emre (obviously just the other way round). So respect!

Isn't the Times fairly reliable n'all?

Is it Keegan? (If im wrong i'll be embarrassed)

So many options, i mean for me anyway (i ain't seen much tbf). Well, actually so few options. There were/are so many players that were awesome on their day. Probably Beckham.

No problem at all. We talk like this because we care & have opinons Nah, i spoke like that cos i was being an over-the-top dickhead. Don't think i've stopped disagreeing with you, mind.

Am I missing something? They were our players, nowt to do with Allardyce. Sorry, no - i didn't phrase it very well. All of the 'loan ends' in Sir Bobby's list, and the vast majority of players in Allardyce's list, are of equal irrelevance to the managers' respective track records. If you see what i mean. Imo, anyway.

Fair point, Ikon. I've had my two cents, i'd better be moseying on.

I''ll bet you every penny I have that Allardyce doesn't finish his time here with a better transfer record than Keegan. Aye, that's fair enough.

All of those 'loan ended's and effectively the vast majority of the people in the list that Thespence wrote out, are equally irrelevant. They simply don't count. That was the point i was making, in a nutshell really, ie - it's unfair to criticise Allardyce's track record like that.

Sorry for the over-use of profanities, Thespence. Was un-called for.

That 'loan ended' thing by .com always seemed a little bit odd to me. They were still Newcastle players.

Who ever said it was perfect? The point i am trying to make is that Allardyce's record is a damn site better than what we have (potentially at all times in the Premiership?) had... Was the fact that he said he had 'more misses than hits', proving this by writing out the entire signings list, that i had a gripe with. What good Premiership manager doesn't?

And these are the ones who got nowhere and he subsequently chucked, because he knew that they weren't good enough and weren't worth offering an addition to their one-month rolling contracts/trials (they were hardly all multi-million five year deals with huge price tags, like here at Newcastle). Can't you gather, from the fact that he's forced to sign trialists from the likes of Bishop Auckland, Communicaciones, Tivoli Gardens and Village United, that he had a pretty shite transfer budget and was merely trying these players out? Have you EVER heard of these players other than the fact that they're on the signings list? With us, atleast before Big Sam, we signed Albert Luques and Hugo Vianas for £8/9/10m, on £50k+a-week wage packets, who stayed on the agenda for three years and more! Sir Bobby's signings list would be an interesting read for you, tbh, if this is your criteria for how well a manager does in the transfer market. You haven't a clue what you're on about, mate.

Just to match you insane comment Soumess got us to Q/F of the UEFA cup. Are you having a fucking laugh? Do you even know what Bolton Wanderers used to be? Bolton Wanderers used to play my local club, Scarborough Town (who have now actually gone out of business btw) in the league. And, when Allardyce took over, they were a tiny little club with absolutely nothing going for them, heading back into the third tier of football. Sam has got them into the Top 6 of the Premiership on more than one occassion, spending practically fuck all. Bolton man! Fucking hell! Hardly the same as 'Souness got us to the quarter-finals', is it? That was Newcastle United, with a £50m budget. Christ. The simpleness of some. My "insane comment". Get a grip! On a more mature point, to carry on from my initial one, if Sam signs us one good player for every two bad players, and still gets us into the Top Six and pushing the Champions League (which is more likely with a club of our stature, than say Bolton), then i'll be pretty content!