Yorkie

It got Bolton Wanderers into Europe tbh. Good fucking enough.

Just a general statement here... Aye, he brought in a lot of shit to Bolton, yet they still finished 5th/6th/7th, qualifying for Europe twice. *Crawls back under rock*

Oh... Uncle Sam?

?

Any club who wants to pay that sort of money for that sort of player, deserves mid-table mediocrity. If Man Utd make £6m back from what they initially paid for Smith, they'll have done very, very well. Boro would be stupid enough to pay it aswell. Again, hope they rot. You'll send em down with signings like that, Billy! The defense is shite enough as it is. Good, they can have him. Not worth that money in a million years. Good, they can have him. Not worth that money in a million years. Canny club goalscoring record. I'm not keen on Bellamy returning, but i think this would have been good. I think the supporters are split when it comes to Bellamy, in love/hate, and on a footballing level, i don't think it'd take him long to win everybody back if he were to come here. His real task would be to calm the differences in the dressing room and with Shepherd, etc. It might just work out. And Riise's an excellent player, and someone we could really do with if we're going 4-3-3. Would have been a good deal.

That trio works better than Owen being in it... Even though i'm not overly keen on Bellamy returning.

What's this all about, Crumpy - seriously? (Am i gonna get whooshed?)

Van Buyten's at Munich? Didn't realise he'd left Anderlecht! Need to catch up on my Belgian footy.

Who knows?

Bobby got the Zog in that little bundle aswell.

Like i said, the chances are that Ashley doesn't have a clue how to run a football club. He probably only ever intended to keep Shepherd on as a short-term 'helper', because he's the 'expert' who knows what to do. The rollercoaster journey of shit that Magnusson and West Ham have been on/will continue on, are merely proof that you've got to be careful and not jump straight in. Only Ashley's figured out that Shepherd's a goon and isn't worth keeping on anyway.

He looked off the pace when I saw him & his record was: Played 37, sub (12) & goals 3. Yes because, as we've established, he was playing mostly from a midfield position. And he's hardly been a serial goalscorer on top of that. Except against us.

Red and white stripes you mean? Like our (N.E.E) first ever kit?

I thought he had some excellent games playing as the creative spark in a midfield three. Mourinho was widely praised for moving him there at the time. Yup... even though it wasn't his favoured position. He's a model, versatile professional. I, like the majority, would be delighted if he ever came here. Our squad has lacked true versatility for yonks.

He's already deteriorating fitness-wise and has got two years left in him (as the top class international forward that he currently is). £16m is unturndownable. Still... they've got some serious work to do now like. We should be aiming for fourth now. © O'Nut 2007

His heart wasn't in it and he was played out of position quite a bit; however that statement is largely inaccurate anyway.

I get the feeling that Ashley won't need much of an excuse to boot Shepherd; the fat guy's only there because he has a knowledge of how things are run, and Ashley doesn't have much of a clue, so needs an advisor. Shepherd's his 'expert', except he's just not an expert, so Ashley probably doesn't see the option of keeping him on worthwhile. This business with the clauses is shocking, and gives Ashley that excuse to kick him out. But this bit in bold... it makes you wonder how many fucking times Martins has to say "I love playing for Newcastle" before people get the point.

Great news if it all goes through. Yeah, i know, it's a bit ignorant of me to say "great news", having never seen the guy play, but the facts speak for themselves, as the likes of The Janitor and Ohmelads have pointed out. He's the heartbeat of the Czech defense (a solid and reliable international outfit) and featured in the team of the season in Ligue1 which, granted, isn't too special. But when you consider that he's beaten the likes of Cris, Cacapa, Beye, Taiwo, Kaboul and the rest to this post, it's promising. I'm just glad to get a defender in. Ideally, we want everybody in for July 2nd (if Sam is to keep his word, or atleast his personal ambience at the club), and we've already let three centre-backs go. The people who were concerned had a point; the people who were worried were exaggerating. Happy to get him in. We haven't had a pacy centre-back since the monster that was Jean-Alain.

Owen out and Gudjohnsen in for similar prices is good business.

Ordered.

Just shocking.

Can't believe i just read that!

Won't be disappointed to see Sam try and sort him out. He might, might just become a useful player; especially if we play Luque's preferred 4-3-3/4-5-1 style of game. Who knows, it might be better to try and salvage some sort of ability out of the guy, rather than record an inevitable £6/7m loss on him.

I don't know you picky bastard.

Decent line-up that. Plenty of opportunities to blood the youngsters. I'll be off to the Hull one.