Raconteur

And he has supposedly said he will, the sticking point is apparently the length of the contract. You can't blame the man for aiming to win a three year contract over a two year one. It's brinkmanship between Ashley and Barton (ie separate from the fans) and in this case Barton is holding good cards

My next choice as manager in hopefully 5+ years +1 I've always been a fan of Jigsaw, and everything I've read about his management career has been positive

But what's the worst case for him? He criticises Ashley until his contract expires (saying the things many of us think, mind) and then gets a free transfer where he might get something close to his current wages. He can't lose - the fans will back him for speaking the truth publically, the players know whT he's saying is correct and the manager can't drop one of his top three players. Is Ashley going to pay out Barton's contract because Mike's feelings are hurt? Not a chance

I'd love to see Wearside and RiverWear respond to that, because they conveniently ignore that point when they talk about money being available in the summer...

That's valid - he's playing a high risk game, but there's two factors in his favour: his reputation and his wages. The former means the top teams won't touch him, and the latter rules out most of the middle-lower clubs.

Guthrie is definitely out - see Pardew's comments earlier in the thread

He learnt his trade from the very, very best. Aye. The very fact he was Sir Bobby's assistant is reason enough for me. Not just that he worked under Bobby, I'm reasonably sure he gave Carver a lot of credit for the team they built. Can someone confirm or deny that?

Just like we will pay £6mill for a 30-year old. Other areas of the team need strengthening more than CM as well. Tiote's new contract will put the kibosh on that - although BoloEmre's point is also valid...

Aye, that's what I was sort of getting at. I can only dream of what would have happened had Ronaldinho kept his head screwed on. One of the most salient things of Ronaldinho's game is that he wasn't a smart player *at all*, he always tried to play his way out of trouble and constantly ran into blind alleys, but was so ridiculously talented that he'd get away with it time after time and leave me with my jaw on the floor. In his peak he was also a great athlete, which people don't seem to remember. Watching Ronaldinho reminded of everything I've read about Garrincha - a supremely talented footballer who played for the buzz of beating his man, sitting his opponent on his arse. Similarly, both could have been regarded as the greatest ever if they had even a fraction of the dedication and discipline of other lesser-talented but ultimately more successful players... Watching Messi dance through defences is the most beautiful sight in football today, but it doesn't provide that certain... childlike joy that the Dinho or (vids of) the Angel with bent legs did

I don't think it's fair to criticize him for coming out and saying the British press have twisted his words - because they took a snippet and ran the quote out of context. The full Q & A tells the whole story, but the British version reads like "I want to leave." As for "waiting for a miracle", well, that's why it is incumbent on Ashley to strengthen quickly and wisely. Unfortunately, what we all fear is a bid from Milan or Man USA before[\I] the squad is strengthened - at which time Jose will be off. It's no good signing decent players in the last week of August - if we want to satisfy the likes of Enrique and Barton we need to have at least two quality players fronting ip for the first day of pre-season training...

If you think he was "one of the best LB's ever", that's one thing, and while I think very differently I'm not going to argue that point. But THE best (in the past twenty years) was Maldini. I don't even see how it can be debated otherwise - for me LB is the easiest position to pick because there's only one genuine candidate

I'm finding it impossible to pick an XI, but there's an awful lot to like about that one (although it's hard to comment on billtray's first selection) I hate to come all (poster) Ronaldo, but anyone who puts Roberto Carlos in needs to be committed to a high dependency psychiatric ward. THE ONLY left back worthy of consideration in the past twenty years is Maldini. Ashley fucking Cole, too. Jesus Christ...

What are you confused about? Are you suggesting that "Lancashire derby" has any sort of currency?

Any talk about "best ever" is going to degenerate into a cyber pub brawl, but that list is pretty decent and any argument is likely to be about which tier what player belongs too. I read some complaining about Dalglish's absence - for me the only omission that jumps to my mind would be Gullit, and that could be because his name is a dirty word around here...

Shocking what injuries did to him, but one of the best ever.

Not a chance - most of our clubs are insolvent and crowds are generally very poor. This Tinkler character is trying to build up his fanbase with wild dreams that will come to nothing. Most of the "big" imports we have had have been 35+, offered not very much and taken the positions of young players. Romario, Benito Carbone, Juninho, Sibon - they really have given our league very little. Even the relatively successful ones, like Yorke or Fowler only look good because the standard of our league is generally very poor... The key is to bring back quality Australian players before they turn 33; the problems are that we can't compete financially and that it drags the player down to the level of those around him ( eg Culina who came back at 28 and ruined him as a player) Can you imagine Michael fucking Owen in Australia? 10% of his NUFC salary and probably even less effort than he demonstrated on Tyneside. Pass.

I think if Airey wasn't injured Kuqi might not be here... And I say that knowing Airey isn't a target man, but he's yet another injured striker. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't draft that Campbell boy from the U-16's in after he scored the other day

Well, it's taken me a week to read through the 250+ pages this transfer generated. I voted "split" when the thread title still read "transfer request" and after a week of reading every post and most of the links, I'm still split on blame for Ashley and Carroll. As many have said, it's a rum business where we are the real (and only) losers... Someone said 20 odd pages ago that this thread (with its outrage, fanciful theories and depression) helped get over the sense of loss. I agree - it's been cathartic, and I've exhausted my most volatile emotions. Now all I wish for is Mike Ashley to fuck off out of our club and for Andy Carroll to have a serious training ground fight with Gerrard... PS That Glenn Roeder quote was comedy gold!

Reply #1. Thread over

Newcastle first, Anyone But England second. Anyone If the poll had been Newcastle and your country the I would probably have voted either option two or three, probably leaning toward the latter...

I guess when I read the comments my first thought was "Why?" On the one hand, he's a Pool fan talking up his good mate to a Pool website with a Pool audience. On the other hand, he's the captain of a club that has just received the massive blow of losing a once-in-a-generation player. Could it be that this situation has totally disillusioned him and he now thinks of NUFC as a small-time club like the one we bought him from? Let's face it - he's been here long enough to know what the Toon fans are like, and he's certainly not your typical thick footballer. It's easy to say it was stupid/disgraceful, but old Negative Nancy me reckons Nolan has suddenly realised that he is sailing a ship that has been holed beneath the waterline...

Exactly what I was thinking!

Eh? People spout this every time an injured played is signed by a club, what do they think a medical is? A fitness test out on the pitch? More that I didn't think it customary to have a medical for a short term loan - in combination with already being injured it struck me as odd. I've been told, though, haven't I?

Physic room says "Knee injury - no return date"

Medical when he's injured and it's only a four month loan seems a bit odd, doesn't it?