Parky

Honest question. Does anyone really, seriously think there is any chance Berbatov will sign for Newcastle? Given what he has said (his agent said, but there must be truth in it) about Spurs in the last couple of days? Incidentally, FWIW, I'd have thought a Charlie Big Bollocks, arsey, petulant teenager of an overpriced striker would be the last thing you need at the moment in any case. If Anelka goes to Chelski, there is a good chance Berb will go to ManU....His agent really seems to want him out of there. I think they've worked out Spurs won't be competing for a couple of years..

We can't just buy when the first sign of trouble comes, yes we need to improve the side, yes we lack quality in certain ares especially in midfield however that doesn't mean spending the twice the amount on a player which we need is the solution. It's clear they have a long term plan and they'll get the players in when the time is right, January probably isn't that time. I agree, however the first-team badly needs some quality in there and there is never a bad time to sign better players. I don't want them to throw money away, just spend £10m or so on a proven quality player that will help us out no end where it matters on the pitch. Easier said than done I know but this is what we need, now. If they're taking a rather longer term approach to things then I can wait as I support them fully, however I hope they extend that to the manager too... If we don't buy the quality when given a chance our opponents will, there is no shortage of money in the top 10 clubs atm. We need to decide and earlier the better what level we want to compete on.

He's a very good player already, to be fair. And you say "disappointed again" - when did he last disappoint? Well I don't think he's a very good player just yet, he's good don't get me wrong and has lots of potential but he's by no means the finished article. I see many similarities with our own N'Zogbia who is overhyped by some. By disappointing I don't mean in that he's played badly again, just I always feel he has a lot more to give and doesn't always produce what he can. Take the Spurs game for example, he was being doubled up on for one half then in the latter stages of the second half he just had Jenas to contend with, but rarely took him on or took advantage of things. I think he over does it at times too, tries one trick too many. However he is still young and learning. These 'bad habits' though often bed in with young players and are hard to eradicate from their game if allowed to go unchecked. I hope he goes on to become an all-rounder though because he has the potential and god knows England could do with such a player, not that you'd be bothered about that mind He had a bad game yesterday, the point is the majority of this season he's been one of Villa's most influential players. I won't lie, I haven't seen too much of them but I still think based on what I've seen Young hasn't quite done it for me. Before the likes of Wullie laugh that's not me saying he's crap... Fantastic player.

We can't just buy when the first sign of trouble comes, yes we need to improve the side, yes we lack quality in certain ares especially in midfield however that doesn't mean spending the twice the amount on a player which we need is the solution. It's clear they have a long term plan and they'll get the players in when the time is right, January probably isn't that time. I think it's also pretty obvious from Mort's comments that they think they bought well in the Summer and the results/performances haven't matched that. So why would they feel the need to splash out really big? Allardyce has plenty to prove to the chairman and owner, never mind us. ....christ I hope not. All this talk of 'back up the table' and 'winning run' shows Mort is deluded for whtever reason or SA is feeding him the little blue pills. Well better than losing to the likes of Derby and Wigan, at least. Not enough fighting talk from Mort for my liking. It'll do for now, but I agree with Chris get one or two quality in if they become available.

11th. Half the season with the relegation-bound squad O'Leary left him, though. We were the last team to be beaten across all leagues at the start of the season, had a bad run in the middle, then finished with a 9 match unbeaten run. All managers have bad runs, though. i was going to pm you this actually. can you see any similiarities with us and you last year? i.e did your fans have a period where they didnt like MON (maybe on the winless run?) or have you always been behind him. i think you underwent a similar mass change to us last year (board change, coach change, player change) and i can honestly see us doing what you have this year and kicking on next season. thoughts? Yes, there are definite similarities. We went through something last year very similar to what you are going through. Also don't forget the fact that, like us, you have also gone through a regime change - everything at the club will be changing this season, from top to bottom. That might not effect things on the pitch directly but nonetheless, the whole club will be in flux. We had quite a lot of moaning, too. Don't forget, in our piss poor patch, we were flirting with relegation spots. Anyone would moan in that situation. The argument that kept coming up, though, was that we'd moaned for years that the club was a f***** up basket case under Ellis, and that nothing - nothing - was right there, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that things didn't go exactly to plan in the first year. We also had weird tactical f*** ups, the team booed off the pitch at half time, MON's team selections which bemused everyone, but for better or worse, you just have to put your trust in the manager to get it right over time - you just have to give him that time to succeed or fail. Get shot of him now and he can justifiably say that he didn't get time. Give him time and if he still fucks up, then get rid of him, but not before. i was hoping your reply would read like that! its heartening to know you went thorugh this shit last year, and i am strongly of the opinion we stick with sam and ride it out. the similarities are uncanny, dodgy selections, tactics etc. cheers brummie One chink in that theory being that in key positons their players are better/not perpetually injured... than ours.

We can't just buy when the first sign of trouble comes, yes we need to improve the side, yes we lack quality in certain ares especially in midfield however that doesn't mean spending the twice the amount on a player which we need is the solution. It's clear they have a long term plan and they'll get the players in when the time is right, January probably isn't that time. I think it's also pretty obvious from Mort's comments that they think they bought well in the Summer and the results/performances haven't matched that. So why would they feel the need to splash out really big? Allardyce has plenty to prove to the chairman and owner, never mind us. ....christ I hope not. All this talk of 'back up the table' and 'winning run' shows Mort is deluded for whtever reason or SA is feeding him the little blue pills.

Porkpietasticaliscous.

Where are you in the N.O. league ?

Ok he's barely average. Your definition of average is different to mine then. Without getting into a pedantorama... Wenger, Mourinho, Fergy, Capello..Excellent Sven, Ramos, Benitez...Good SA, MON, Moyes, The Vampire...Average.

I've dropped the high quality def approach of late. Why? Good defs cost about 2/3 what good strikers and mids do and deliever points about as if not even more consistently. I've gone 4-5-1 because I figured shelling out on two quality strikers is a waste of time. As efficient as good midfielders are, I'm even considering 5-4-1 since defenders are so dirt cheap. My god I'm truly an idiot.

Ok he's barely average.

Going by the bibs? No, hormones.

I've dropped the high quality def approach of late.

Got Bentley as capitano.

They looked knackered on Sunday so should be for the taking.

They break with Young, Agba, Moore ie there is normally more than one with pace on the break.

they don't come much faster than martins tbh [Plural/]. what do you mean - it isnt as if carew possesses super speed..... and owen still isn't excactly slow ...keep the thinking cap on a few more mins.

And this would be based on what exactly? How could he do worse? Play Shay Given up front?, because that might just be Allardyces next brain wave Seriously to do better then Allardyce all that is required is to not think your a tactical genius and instead just use a basic formation with everyone in there best position and say "go and play". He should have picked up a thing or two about long range shooting. Aye but he would get fined for trying.

they don't come much faster than martins tbh [Plural/].

That been on your clipboard for almost three hours? mackems.gif

And this would be based on what exactly? How could he do worse? Play Shay Given up front?, because that might just be Allardyces next brain wave Seriously to do better then Allardyce all that is required is to not think your a tactical genius and instead just use a basic formation with everyone in there best position and say "go and play". He should have picked up a thing or two about long range shooting.

Home win.

Average manager. Playing counter attacking footie with fast forwards and a solid defence. Two things we haven't got. Not rocket science. Has money and I expect them to finish the season well. Good luck to him at least he isn't boring. Moyes, MON and Sammy Dice are all the same level.

What he fails to mention there is that Sven's team don't hoof the ball 50 yds upfield as soon as they win posession. They attempt to move the ball accurately and quickly to the front men to hit on the counter which is a million miles from Sam's direct football philosophy. I can't believe he has the temerity to have a little dig at Sven. What a muppet.