Raconteur

Winner He's been terrible today - not just his set pieces, but his general play is below par. However, we don't have a whole lot of choice really, other than pray he can hold it together and do enough to keep Malouda from doing any real damage...

Duff on

A golden moment - can't believe he had the gall to whinge about it either!

I think Owen has exerted more effort in the first five minutes than in the whole of his prior Newcaste career. I guess we should credit the "Shearer effect" rather than question Owen's professionalism

Sure, but the above article reads like a 12-year-olds blog and not the widely-read and respected thoughts of two adults...

Wasn't there a rumour that Madrid passed up the opportunity to sign the Dinho because his visage wasn't... marketable enough?

I loved their fair, balanced and unbiased reporting of Wise's departure Too gutless to justify such a position, of course...

Based on.......... Owen being behind the strikers = more space for him, simple as that. Helpful when you have a big lad to hold it up for you, but both Lovenkrands & Martins are good enough at moving with the ball to be able to find owen in space themselves. Based on observation really - those (very) few games where the much vaunted 4-3-3 was used involved Viduka holding up the ball with back to goal, Martins coming in from out wide and Owen linking midfield and attack. Discounting Viduka, the only way such a system could be employed this season would be with Stroller, Carroll or even Smith as the "target" man - in which case the lack of quality would see the ball exiting the final third faster than it arrived (and considering it would likely be lumped forward from the back, that's pretty fast!) 4-4-2 is much more appropriate given the resources available to Shearer - I hesitate to anticipate his team, but I would expect Owen-Martins or, disturbingly Owen-Ameobi, and probably Duff and Jonas on the wing. Personally, I think the best (only good?) thing Houghton ever did was "drop" Owen for the Arsenal game...

As much as I have defended Wise and the DOF system, I agree entirely with this - the rights and wrongs of it are now as relevant whether signing Asprilla cost us the title in 96... Forward march, united - all the way from Ashley to the ball-boys, with management, players and fans in between.

Well well well, it appears we have been cursed by a Chinaman, for we live in interesting times... Wise's dismissal is a huge backflip for Ashley, and paints a clear picture that he was willing to concede anything in order to get Shearer onside. I've no doubt that if Shearer told Ashley he wanted a blowjob from Llambias as a sweetener, then Ashley would have pushed Derek to his knees. Here's hoping it works - I for one won't be considering what happens next season until after these eight games . And frankly I think that's how Ashley feels right now too. He's placed his bet, let's see where the chips fall in May.

What bothers me more than the ridiculous nature of the story is that nufc.com is running it as a serious story - and not rubbishing it. See, from where I'm sitting, it's a rubbish story, and that nufc.com is giving it credence makes me think they've gone over to the "scare the Geordies, Ashley is Satan" side of the media...

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Okocha's name Augustine "Jay-Jay" Okocha? So listing him twice is a bit like putting Pele and Edison Arantes do Nascimento on the same list as different people?

"Perhaps it's just be the angle"

The problem with that is that it would instead be the club owners, the FA, and of course SKY who would be raking in the billions of dollars punters like you and me pour into the game through tickets, merchandise and TV subscriptions - unless of course you think ticket prices, merchandise and TV subscriptions would also be set, according to some fixed income:profit ratio? Players are paid so much because so much money is available - indeed it could be argued that they are merely taking a share of the revenue they raise. After all, who would pay Rupert Murdoch any money if it were not for the players? hows that again ? the FA and sky would get the same monewy as now and the clubs would be on the same deal as now but it means they'd be able to run on a sustainable budget. Not so - SKY are the middlemen in that they fleece the punters and shovel (chunks of) the cash at the clubs. This gives the bigger clubs the ability to offer bigger wages (and forces the not so big clubs to gamble financially to stop the bigger clubs from getting away). If SKY didn't charge so much, they wouldn't be able to offer the FA/clubs so much for the broadcasting rights, and thus with less income they wouldn't have the capacity to offer the wages they do. Obviously the likes of Chel$ki and Man Shitty are exceptions because their ability to offer stupid wages is not limited by their income. But for clubs that do not have a sugar daddy the theory stands - the ability of clubs to offer stupid wages is determined by their ability to raise income. But Chel$ki didn't start the trend, they were following Man Yoo and Arsenal - clubs who (at the time) spent within their means, rewarding their players very well without risking meltdown. If their ability to offer premium wages was curtailed, then they could only have made bigger profits as their wages expenditure would have been lower. It is the not the players of Leeds, Fiorentina and now apparently Valencia who get their sums spectacularly wrong - it's the directors who calculate those sums. Nor was it the players that Chel$ki and now Man Shitty sign who are shifting the paradigm and escalating wages. Or, more simply - the players are workers, and workers are entitled to share in the profits they generate. If the profits are vast, then the wages should be proportionally vast...

The problem with that is that it would instead be the club owners, the FA, and of course SKY who would be raking in the billions of dollars punters like you and me pour into the game through tickets, merchandise and TV subscriptions - unless of course you think ticket prices, merchandise and TV subscriptions would also be set, according to some fixed income:profit ratio? Players are paid so much because so much money is available - indeed it could be argued that they are merely taking a share of the revenue they raise. After all, who would pay Rupert Murdoch any money if it were not for the players?

If you've just come back from 6 months in SA perhaps you could tell us about the safety situation - I was on the understanding Jo'burg was the #1 murder capital in the world...?

Considering Llambias was talking up Bassong as our signing of the season, I really can't see them turning around and selling the lad short on a contract - even their harshest critics must see the difference between lying/niavety and how ridiculous that situation would be...? Conversely, selling a player to Arsenal is the ultimate vindication of the "Arsenal model"

As difficult as it is to defend Sepp "Motormouth" Blatter, he only became FIFA President in 1998. Yes, he was blathering on before he was top dog, but he wasn't granted the kind of forum that gives his ramblings "credence" until after 1998... And as for UEFA, Johansson was much more circumspect than current incumbent Platini who beat the Swede in 2007.

Typical English pretentiousness and pomposity... * A more rational "nationality-based" explanation might be that as a teenager he was so fantastically ahead of every other player around him that he was never taught the importance of hard work. He's like the smart kid who coasts through the early years of school and when it starts getting difficult he realises he doesn't know how to work hard and thus fails to reach his potential... * That's irony, btw

My thoughts exactly. I found myself hoping he'd launch himself at Vidic - knowing Smithy would get lamped...

Someone that actually wants to sign for us? Yes. Don't say that - Shola was happy to sign on too

In a simple and entirely hypothetical scenario - perhaps the agent of Ebondo was contacted, and Wise was told he'd be available for 2-4m, so Wise told Ashley that he was a viable target. But then his club demanded 6m, thus making a seemingly attainable target unattainable? Entirely hypothetical, with made-up figures, but plausible nonetheless...?

I'm sure I remember Mike Ashley (or Mort) saying something something along those lines right at the beginning. I remember thinking it sounded like something an English traditionalist (ie IT DOESN'T WORK IN ENGLAND!!!!1!1!!1!!1) would be offended by, but struck me as progressive and offering continuity. Personally I think Wise choosing to leave is the only way to break the impasse - MA & DL would definitely prefer he stayed in order to show faith in their system and their man - and pig-headedness to be sure. Of course, there will be a section of the support who would be on the back of the new ED(F), simply because it's not the English way

Kudos to indi for showing this... shemozzle to be exactly that - a stitch up. Although I personally thought he was a bit generous with the coloured text. Lying is one thing, and we've heard lies a-plenty this season, but it's hypocrisy that really pisses me off. Not a stitch up indeed - fuck off...

howay man get some fucking perspective If you say so...