Delima

I think it is a bit of lame reasoning to use the bacgrounds of all current premiership managers to justify starting-from-bottom theory. After all this simply proves that you can start from bottom and you are still not good enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/17/craig-george-burley-scotland-thick Honestly, the thick people should be Craig Burley. A manager's job is to manage. If you couldn't get the best out of the players - perhaps you are not a very good manager.

What's wrong with this stance ? How is this closed-minded ? Vast amount of people voted against any name change of the stadium. NUSC as a "democratic" institution heed to this request and adopt this as their position. Seem very open-minded, logical and fair to me.

How is this snidey ? NUSC trying to win the trust of the fans and trying to takeover the club would only naturally advertise their cause, and promote themselves including how are they different from rival bidders (which include Barry Moat). Very fair play. And NUSC is not making up lies or whatever.

Do you mean Heinze is a rubbish left back nowadays ? I have not got a clue how is Heinze performing in Marseille. He was a brilliant left back because he could express fully his lion heart and aggression without too much defensive responsibility (as compared to centre back). He is still decent defensively but simply not cut out for top level centre back defending.

Heinze is a rubbish centre back - can never understand why Real Madrid and Argentina love to play him there. A top left back nonetheless.

to the detriment of the rest of the domestic leagues in those countries. That is the trade off one has to pay. And it is something I am willing to pay, of course I am only speaking on behalf of me. I am not a fan of all these small-country-mentality. Due to the inherent small size, small countries have to be extraordinary to be successful. Otherwise the best way forward, the best way to improve general standard is to enlarge the football pool by joining a few countries.

I voted no. But I think they should seriously entertain the idea of a nordic league recently aired, where the strongest teams from Netherland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland play in their own league. Then they will be able to improve the general standard of football in the highest tier due to a larger pool of competition.

I am in

Peasepud - you are doing a very fine job as the spokeperson of NUST. At this moment I am not financially able to contribute to this, but in the near future (half a year) I would. I just have 1 concern in my mind - it has been raised by others. I think the 1 member 1 vote policy regardless of investment size is fundamentally unfair - and would eventually put wealthier fans off.

Looking at current successful managers in the Premiership - and profile them : Alex Ferguson - not a captain Arsene Wenger - not a captain Carlo Ancelotti - captain Rafa Benitez - not a captain It seems like leadership quality as a player is not the most important thing. I did not witness the playing careers of any of them - so wouldn't know how they were like when they were players. I would have imagined that, as in any trade, a hardworker and a keen learner stands a higher chance to suceed. In this regard, I have to point to Giggs and Lampard.

I will try to state only the not-so-obvious : Arsenal - Denilson, Alex Song Aston Villa - Fabian Delph Bolton Wanderers - Mark Davies Chelsea - Miroslav Stoch Everton - Jack Rodwell, Dan Gosling Liverpool - Emiliano Insúa Manchester United - Adem Ljajić, Anderson, Nani, Joshua King, Davide Petrucci, Ravel Morrison, Gabriel Obertan Portsmouth - Kevin Prince Boateng Sunderland - Jordan Henderson, Lee Cattermole Tottenham Hotspur - Adel Taarabt West Ham United - Jack Collison, James Tomkins Stop laughing.

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Sam's track record, mainly. Yes he did sign some useless high earners and play some dire football, but he wasn't given time to rectify the situation. The same excuse can be applied to Roeder and Kinnear, but Sam is different. Sam has substantial managerial ideas, justified by his undisputable success in Bolton. And I also agree to many of Sam's ideas. Many mock Sam's big backroom staff group, many mock Sam's percentage football etc - but Sam has proven that these work in Bolton. Sam comes from the smaller Bolton to the bigger Newcastle. Bigger names, bigger betting chip, bigger expectations. I expect Sam to stumble, learn and be an eventual success. Newcastle was the perfect club for Sam (from sam's perspective not instant-success-craving Newcastle fan's perspective). There is no guaranttee that Sam would indeed succeed. But all the ingredients are there. If we couldn't trust Sam to get it right, who could we (whom we can attract) ? Sure, everyone wants an Arsene Wenger, Josep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho. But you have to accept that these candidates are not in our league. Alex Ferguson and Bobby Robson (of Newcastle United) didn't succeed immediately. But they were proven candidates with substantial managerial ideas/ability and the board stuck with them and reaped subsequent results. I qualify success for Newcastle united as consistent top 8 finishing, great success as consistent top 4 finishing.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2009/nov/05/boltonwanderers-premierleague Honestly, I still think Sam Allardyce would have been a great success in Newcastle United should he was afforded proper time. Bolton are fucked. The quicker they dispense with Gary Megson the better. Megson is just not good enough. Bolton and Newcastle's loss - Blackburn's gain.

:colo: Just to make it clear - I was ROFL at Ronaldo's wit . I agree with him that Drogba is better than Torres.

:colo:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/nov/03/michael-turner-adam-pearson-hull What an incredible piece of business Sunderland have done !!?

I am selecting best players on individual basis, not whether they will play well together. And the formation I am selecting is my personal favourite - regardless of the popularity of this formation in actual football industry ! Pepe Reina John Terry, Nemanja Vidic, Thomas Vermaelen, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Cesc Fabregas, Andreas Arshavin Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba Now a team that I think would work fantastically Pepe Reina Glenn Johnson, Nemanja Vidic, Thomas Vermaelen, Ashley Cole Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Cesc Fabregas, Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres, Andreas Arshavin

Village Idiot The Guardian has a very enjoyable column named "The Knowledge", in which all these trivial/interesting football questions are asked and answered either by The Guardian researchers or the readers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/theknowledge http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/28/footballers-pseudonyms-outside-agents Email your question to [email protected] Good luck !

:colo:

Think some stupid people need to read my posts again, before they write about me thinking Ridgewell is better than Cahill.

Is trophy and glory REALLY that important ? I fully understand that the purpose of a competition is to WIN, to win at all cost within the rules. There is only one champion in a competition, but football is just not football. Football embodies the many romanticsms of the vox populi, there can be many winners in football. What's the point of winning, if the soul of the club is betrayed ? What is the point of winning, if all other aspects of the club is neglected ? What does Newcastle United mean to us ? What do people positively associate Newcastle United with ? I want to be a proud Newcastle United supporter. Like a proud Athletic Bilbao supporter, like a proud Arsenal supporter, like a proud Wigan supporter, like a proud Boro supporter, like a proud Stoke supporter, like a proud Barcelona supporter, like a proud Manchester United supporter. Some of these clubs are more successful than the others. But all these clubs are punching above their weight, the supporters of these clubs have something truely meaningful to be proud of. Medals sure will help, but I prefer an owner that can give the club supporters something to be trully proud of. Actually, I prefer the club to be fully owned by fans.

Liam Ridgewell was every bit as good as if not better than Gary Cahill. Ridgewell is also a captain material. Bruce of Birmingham signed him - that's how highly rated Ridgewell was. Hindsight is a good thing but £5M seemed quite a good deal when Cahill was sold. Can't believe that Cahill is compared to Lescott, Jagielka and Upson. Appreciate that I am always wrong about players - but I think Cahill still has someway to go.

I disagree. Always gets into goal-scoring position. Intelligent player. Just need to sharpen his shooting. Heitinga as CB - recipe for disaster !?