Raconteur

I totally agree. However, what if Keegan wasnt delighted with one of these players. For example, not many people know much about Xisco. What if he turned out to be shite and Keegan didnt want him? Theres no doubt that signings soo far have been impressive. BUT Keegan and no-one else should have final say on who comes in and who goes out Is the situation at our club really that extraordinary? Picture the following scenario at almost any club. Manager: Well, it's deadline day, we need a striker. What have you got for me? Chief Scout: Well, here's four strikers, the two with ticks Tony can make happen with a phone call. I've got vids of all of them, match highlights and TV interviews. <Minutes later> Manager: Okay, that one. What's his name again? Chief Scout: Xisco Manager: Gee, that's a funny name. We'll have to come up with something else...

No, this has actually come from an official statement from KK's union representative. Not strictly true - that statement from the LMA talking head was issued to deny the rumours that had been published as fact. What was not answered is exactly how tenable Keegan's position is, and whether his relations with the board can be repaired, but that discussions will continue. Crumpy's initial point remains largely unaddressed. Reports suggest if Kegan's dumped he get's 8m, if he quits he owes the club (wtf?). If that's true, and the stories of Keegan's Circus debt are true (two tabloid sized ifs) then he can't walk so Ashley's holding all the aces. Will it come down to Ashley saying "Here's a million, on yer bike"?

Complete with the option of interventionist chairman who buys players for you

subject to due diligence If Mike Ashley thought Freddy had some skeletons in the closet I can't imagine what Thaskin left for Abu Dubai United-Citeh! Of course, they'll just write a cheque, but it would be fascinating to see the books...

My first thought too - you wouldn't read about it! That said, the sooner Thaskin is out and the Dubai mob in the better. Thaskin might take the cake as the dodgiest football manager in history...

Define "decent" striker though? David Healy for 1.5m? Owen and his agent aren't going to be impressed by that tactic unless it is another genuine world class striker... I'm with toonlass - get this sorted. Ashley's determination to gain the best terms for the club is admirable, but hardball only gets you so far - and if he is offered any sort of pay cut, he would be bonkers not to say "I'll wait until January and see what I can get elsewhere thanks" No he won't. He'll find it very easy actually. This time next year he'll be free. All those millions that a club will save on transfer fees will be available to stick straight on his wages, and that's exactly what they'll do to tempt him. The top four won't be in for him but there'll still be plenty of interest from other clubs. The advantage they have over us is that they can sit back for a season and see what he does in order to judge his worth. This also applies in reverse - if we lose Owen over a million or two, and then have to spend 20m replacing him and matching the 4-6m per annum wages Owen is supposedly on... EDIT: That is a very significant advantage other clubs have, and the crux of our problems - exactly how to value Owen's future worth

See, it's obvious that Keegan says what serves the purpose of the moment. Everton was sniffing around Smith - suddenly Smith is a fantastic part of the dressingroom, would never sell him. Same goes for Milner - the last player I'd sell. Blah blah blah. So why do we believe these quotes? Once again, Keegan is just saying what needs to be said. It's equivocal enough that he can back out of it if the signings don't come and it makes him look like the one calling the shots. Gloating, for those so inclined, can wait until Tuesday.

What's done is done - but I stand by my comments from 20-odd pages ago: If Milner is not adequately replaced we as fans have every reason to feel dudded. So while 12m might sound a lot now, if we don't sign anyone (and I don't expect us to, do you?) then we may as well have given him away...

Absolutely. Should. Yes. Does everyone agree that if Milner is sold and not replaced then we as fans have every right to feel dudded? No because the right player might not be available. If it was that easy to sign quality we would have been doing it all summer. That's valid. My position is that the situation is of the club's own making, that their attitude to Milner's contract has forced a situation whereby it may be necessary to replace him at short notice in what has indeed been a sluggish transfer window. And even if you're in the "flog him off camp" selling him first and even running the risk of not replacing him is madness. No matter how shit you might think he is, his departure leaves a hole in the first team squad - and before long there are kneejerkers cursing Lua Lua for giving the ball away in the box...

Absolutely. Should. Yes. Does everyone agree that if Milner is sold and not replaced then we as fans have every right to feel dudded?

Kuwait questioned our admission? It took more than a decade before they let us in - and now we're in, we're a threat to the established order of Saudi Arabia, Korea and Japan, and the smaller nations just get their slim chance further reduced. Added to which a 2018 World Cup bid will see us on a collision course with China. Don't think we're welcome in Asia... And we don't do ourselves and favours either. Did you watch SBS World Sport tonight? Some FFA official talking about an Island team which could lead to A-League qualification into Oceania as well as Asian continental competition and thus two bites at qualification to the World Club Championship. The commentary went on to talk about this Island team being a trade off for votes in Australia's 2018 World Cup bid. Shameless. You're right about every league other than Spain, Italy and England export their best players, but it comes down to where the bar is - David Carney left for Sheffield United for God's sake. Look through that list of internationals in the first post - why are players like Beauchamp in Denmark and Burns in Romania? Personally, the standard isn't there - it would take me an hour get to a Victory game, but I'd rather watch a local team in the depths of the Victorian leagues. I can watch ex-Socceroo Adrian Cervinski play every weekend if I felt so inclined

There's blame o go around in this affair - but from the player's perspective he doesn't play for Shepherd or Ashley, he's contracted to the club. And yes, after being shafted by Freddy he may well have hoped that Ashley would be more accomodating... Kaka makes a very good point - Mike Ashley's method of doing business is unique in football. He can be hard-nosed and bloody-minded, which has its positives. But it can also have its negatives - and I think when coupled with a footballing naivety that sometimes borders on child-like then we're in for a rollercoaster ride! Also, I'm pretty sure I agreed with what Kaka said much earlier in this thread, suggesting Ashley wouldn't let us get bent over on Milner's fee I guess you and I rate what Milner offers to the club differently, but we can both agree that if Milner is sold and replaced with a player of equal or greater ability with no loss to the bottom line, then there can be no complaints. *Outrageous "joke" alert* Unless Milner goes on to win 50 caps

I wouldn't call that reason, but here we go: Yes, Milner signed a new contract 12 months ago. Did you read the fact that this was 12 months after it was promised to him? And that such a promise was to only give him parity with what Villa offered him, an offer we summarily pulled from under his hand as he was about to sign it? And yes, he might not have signed that contract if he didn't like it. But to me, it looks like the club played hardball for 12 months (breaching an agreement in doing so) and eventually Milner decided being fucked up the ass by a six inch cock was better than being fucked by a foot long shlong. Cut to August 2008, and by now Milner has seen Taylor get a new contract (and the figure 35k "announced" by the pres), and as brummie has said, his U-21 team-mate Agbonlahor has told him about the three contract extensions he has received in less than two seasons. And as difficult as it is to create an analogy, just think of your own workplace - if the bloke beside you is doing a similar task, as well or worse but with better renumeration, it's not about money. Cash is the measure of appreiation - especially in the situation of stratospheric salaries. 10k extra per week isn't going to impact on the material quality of his life, but it certainly shows him how much he means to NUFC... PS Just before I'm outed as a Milner fanboi - I wouldn't pick Milner in the best strength first team, but I would say he is an important part of our first team squad...

Not quite the mood I was hoping to forment, but be that as it may The game has several structural problem that inhibit it's development, and some are permanent obstacles. League may be dying (hallelujah!) but that doesn't change the fact that there will never be enough money here to keep players, that there is an active media campaign to subvert football, that we are geographically isolated, mistrusted by our new Asian partners and despised by Oceania on whom we turned our backs. It's all very well to rally the fans to lead the movement towards a brighter future for Australian football, but the league needs to think very carefully about the future. Today's announcement of two new clubs is potentially great news, but talk of an Oceania team next is outrageous. Wellington is offensive enough* but an Island team ahead of any of three areas in Melbourne or a second WA team is simply not on. * Personal opinion but having a club from another nation, affiliated with a different association benefits our game in no way shape or form. Better for NZ to have their own serious league and include the island nations in some way. This not only dovetails nicely with NZ's "national outlook" of liberalism and fair go that we used to be known for while allowing them to take ownership of developing football in Oceania as a whole.

They've done some head-scratchingly thick things since taking over (Done some great things too, it must be said)

In a thread littered with madness and mayhem, this could be the sanest post thus far... The anti-Milner brigade have, in their indignation, thrust aside reason and poured derision on the young winger. Several times throughout this thread well-reasoned posts defending Milner's actions have been ignored - usually in favour of "I'm too lazy to read what others think, but Milner is a cunt". Well, I'm with Milner, and I'd be happy to debate with anyone prepared to reason but I don't expect to... Week by week I'm more convinced that Mike Ashley just doesn't understand the nature of the business. And Skirge might be right - if Ashley sells Milner against Kegan's wishes, transfer request or not, then King Kev could very well walk.

I can just see KK being dragged into the ball-boys room by Llambias to be told the board was going to sell Milner. A single naked lightbulb swinging, the smell of liniment, and a boyish 57 year old being told by a London suit he was losing one of his players

Keegan also said something about Jonas returning the best beep test result he'd ever seen. That's a pretty big call...

The second part is true, if we offer something and you reject it, then fair enough, no deal. What I'm saying is, whatever happened between Milner and Newcastle (and I suspect it is about wages), he's clearly more determined to leave as he was prepared to put in a request and lose his "loyalty" bonus (what a joke that concept is) whereas Barry, for all his desire to join Liverpool, wasn't prepared to put in the request. That's an excellent point - and something that should be kept in mind if the official "transfer fee" is released. We won't have to hand a few million to Milner, so whereas yesterday we might have demanded 10m, today's developments mean a fee of, say, 7m is essentially the same result...

I can see Mike Ashley bending Villa over here. Milner isn't leaving for a cut-price fee, don't worry about that. Personally I think Ashley will refuse to sell until a replacement has been signed - and if someone suitable isn't found then young Jimmy will stay. Ashley might be inexperienced, but I think his he can be bloody-minded when he feels wronged...

Ex-Toon "star" Michael Bridges played for a few months last season on loan at Sydney FC - and scored a few goals too. So yeah, Championship at very best... David Carney left Sydney for Sheffield United which was unanimously considered a step up... Wellington are supposed to be a dark horse this season - do Kiwis generally care about them?

Cheers - it's not listed in the SBS website's fixtures. Maybe Les is too busy with South Melbourne these days to keep an eye on things

I've been meaning to do this for a long time, and finally I've overcome procrastination. For those who care, I present the General Australian Football Thread. Viduka might not play for Australia anymore, but N-O has many Australian fans, and there may even be the odd Ockerphile amongst the general community. To kick things off, I offer the recently announced Australia squad to play Holland and Uzbekhistan: Michael BEAUCHAMP (Aalborg, Denmark), Mark BRESCIANO (Palermo, Italy), Jacob BURNS (Unirea Valahorum, Romania), David CARNEY (Sheffield United, England), Scott CHIPPERFIELD (FC Basel, Switzerland), Chris COYNE (Colchester United, England), Ante COVIC (Newcastle Jets, Australia), Jason CULINA (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Bruce DJITE (Genclerbirligi, Turkey), Brett EMERTON (Blackburn Rovers, England), Richard GARCIA (Hull City, England), Vince GRELLA (Blackburn Rovers, England), Brett HOLMAN (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands), Brad JONES (Middlesbrough, England), Josh KENNEDY (Karlsruher SC, Germany), Harry KEWELL (Galatasaray SK, Turkey), Scott McDONALD (Celtic, Scotland), Mark MILLIGAN (uncontracted), Lucas NEILL (West Ham United, England), Jade NORTH (Newcastle Jets), Michael PETKOVIC (Sivasspor, Turkey), Mark SCHWARZER (Fulham, England), Matthew SPIRANOVIC (FC Nurnberg, Germany) Shane STEFANUTTO (Lyn Oslo, Norway), Mile STERJOVSKI (Derby County, England), Carl VALERI (Grosseto, Italy) Luke WILKSHIRE (Dynamo Moscow, Russia) I'm sure more than a few names are familiar to British and European fans. Bresciano is being courted by Rangers and someone else - I believe he is one of the few Socceroos worthy of playing for Newcastle. (Bresciano or Culina would fit right into our first team, and Kennedy has replaced Viduka in the national side... Would add to the new "luxurious hair" trend too :colo:) For a more domestic flavour, the upcoming round of A-League features: Melbourne Victory v Newcastle United Jets Sydney FC v Perth Glory Queensland Roar v Central Coast Mariners You'd think home wins all, but the Mariners will give Queensland a good shake. If this thread lives it will soon become apparent I hold a long-standing "fan grudge" against Frank Farina. Nothing against the Roar. But since they chose to hire him as coach, I hope they fail miserably. Ex-Newcastle star () Craig Moore still plays for (and captains) the Roar in between suspensions (after months of me saying he WOULD NOT sign for the Roar - may as well establish my ITK credentials at the start too ) The Wellington v Adelaide match doesn't seem to be listed for this weekend. Depending on the results of the first poll I might clicks a few links to find out why and post them here Same goes with line-ups, match reports, whatever. If there's enough interest I can cut and paste regularly, but I'm not going to be the only one to bump my own thread!

Buonanotte is FM-tastic - sign him up

Up to three over-23 players. In the case of Australia we took Archie Thompson, David Carney and Jade North - none of whom would start for a full strangth international. We were coached by the U-21 manager Graham "Souness" Arnold instead of the national manager Pim Verbeek. A unified GB Olympic team is a curious beast and the debate has been rumbling since London won the 2012 Olympics - haven't Scotland already said they won't participate? In fact, I'm sure Blatter has already opened his gob when he said if there was a unified GB Team then FIFA would review the unique status the "Home Nations" have within the FIFA hierarchy... (But that was years ago - failing memory and no links means take from that what you will )