Raconteur

That was the asking price. It's not rocket science mate. An asking price we won't pay.. Skirge, i'll simplify this for you. We bid, they accepted, we were about to tie up the deal when they raised the amount they wanted. I don't think it's a case of penny pinching, it's a matter of principal. To be perfectly frank, I find that attitude bewildering, utterly head-shaking. Ooooh, the nasty Spaniard didn't play fair. So what? Do we want him, or not? It's not like we can go and buy another Colocinni somewhere else. We might buy someone similar, but (for instance) Burdisso for 6m pounds or Colicinni for 11m and a bumming, I'll take Coloccini. And before we say "That nasty Spaniard, he screwed us in the past", well, maybe someone at the club should have thought of that when considering a bid and factored it into the formulation of said bid? And as I said in the poll thread - in the current market he's still a good buy at the newer, inflated price let alone the bargain original quote.

Solid post *mischevious mode on* Wouldn't it be fair to say then that Coloccini is worth 10m to us? See, the Depor president's behaviour has been poor - but so was his judgement in naming the (supposed) figure of 8m. Depor have admitted to sounding out replacements, and who is to say that when they were quoted ridiculous prices they realised they were stooging themselves by only asking for 8m from us? Under this scenario, the question becomes "If Coloccini is worth 10m, should we pay it" - and if we insist on walking away with the final bid standing at 8m then we are cutting our nose off to spite our face. Just because the seller is a fool does not mean his product is not worth market value - and if he foolishly names a price below market value but later realises his mistake, does that make us foolish or wise if we walked away because we couldn't get a "bargain"?

We blatantly tapped him up, told him we'd give him a signing on fee to at least match him buying out his contract and offered him a good wage. most probably true....but in very best man utd style "prove it" the good thing is,if true and the coloccini agents repaorts....we have been doing stuff away from the medias gaze for the past few months. i wonder what else there is ? What nobody has said that the negotiations regarding Sideshow Fab could be described as tapping up. After all, the agent has said publically that NUFC have negotiated both the proposed transfer fee and personal terms with the agent, not Deportivo. Is it not illegal to approach players without the prior approval of the club? Similarly, the scenario The Gorilla proposed is (imo) almost certainly close to the truth. Which, again, would be illegal, but simply impossible to police...

Man Utd Daylight Chelsea Arsenal More Daylight Liverpool

One might (facetiously) suggest that Jonas Guiterrez was a 10+m "rated" player who we not only managed to sign without anyone knowing anything, but also managing not to pay said 10m+

You need to forward that to Trey Parker and Matt Stone...

"Hi Kettle, I'm Pot. You're black." Or shud tht b...

I think Osama himself could pass that "fit and proper person" test after Thaskin...

Egg-fucking-zackly

You're a fucking riot, you are. Three lines in that quote - one was irony, one was sarcasm and the other a challenge to your integrity. None of those are personal attacks. A personal attack can be arranged, if you so wish? Hark, a queue is forming...

Just saw that - was wondering whether Allardyce had a psychiatry degree to go with the rest of his scientific methods? Poor form to say that in the press, probably poor form to say it in private too. And he's the type of arsehole who'd stand up and say "I told you so" if it happened (God forbid) But on the lighter side, just imagine if Freddy and Big Sam set up shop on a Spanish island paradise, luring proper players like Barton, Smith and Duff Which begs the question - Souness as ass manager? mackems.gif

That's the thing with the new FIFA regulations - they're open to abuse. I remember in the late 90's reading a World Soccer article describing the situation in Spain where players could buy their contracts out. The Spanish FA found that clubs would "loan" players the cash necessary to buy out their contract. And no matter how hard you try to contain such a situation, determined clubs will find a way... If memory serves correctly, a player can only move clubs like this if he is more than two years into his (current?) contract, or three if under a certain age. How many of our players fall into that category? This is exactly why Keegan wants Mickey Owen signed up and tied down. Anyway, fantastic news to have made our first summer signing - and kudos to the procurement team for their professional and most satisfactory result

Personally I'm finding the present silent summer much better than Roeder's summer of "pole position" and such nonsense...

Yep, I'm with you

He's more likely to play for Melbourne Victory in 2009/10 after both NUFC and Viduka fail to exercise the option to renew. I can't see him playing for NUFC past this season, World Cup or otherwise. And frankly, I really can't see him playing for Australia again unless we're desperate. You'll notice Pim Verbeek hasn't asked publicly him to come back or even announce his intentions - I've heard at a few removes that Pim doesn't rate big Dukes and will stick with the likes of Scotty Mac, Josh K and Bruce Djite... (but that's a different argument)

Now, I'm all for strong sanctions against Barton, but such a policy would impact seriously on our competitiveness. Are there 11 "gentlemen" footballers - dispersed over a reasonable tactical formation, who would be both willing and worthy to wear the black and white? Eleven choirboys compete in the Church League, not the Premier League. Clearly, lines have to be drawn somewhere, which I guess it was this debate is about - the club has to decide where that line between expediency and a moral stand is, did Barton's behaviour cross that line and if so how should he be punished... Liberals might say the answer is education, maybe taking teenager players aside at their clubs as part of their schooling/football training, and educating them re alcohol & drugs, the media, women etc... I'm sure they already do something similar - but consider this: A 15-year-old Academy player has already been idolised by family, friends and schoolmates for ten years because they're damned good players. Does anyone think there is a 15-year-old trainee in the Premier League who is still a virgin or never had a drink? Even at this early age, regardless of whether they've grown up in wealth or poverty, their personality has been moulded simply because people treat them differently based on no more than their football ability. Society is always going to hold footballers up as role models, whether the players like it or not. They're watched and admired by millions. Tough break that such a gift comes with such a burden. But it comes with the territory...

You're not even trying anymore - who is going to believe you really think Taylor is the worst defender in the league, or that Cacapa can become the next Vidic. Go to your room, silly boy

Chelsea I just think this is over the top. It's so simple. Shola and Smith are crap, so sell. Carroll is young and doesn't seem all that so loan. Then by 1 or 2 more strikers. The problem with Viduka and why we all notice his injury record is because we depend on him, because those who play in his place are awful (see above). We clearly need to keep Viduka because when he's fit, he scores a few, and his contribution to our attacking play is immense. Physically slow but mentally so much quicker than loads of defenders in the league, clearly got a goo dthing going on with Martins and Owen. Fair enough, he's on fat wages, but there are so many players at our club who are on huge money and should go before him: Smith, Duff, Barton, I presume Cacapa gets a lot of money, Smith, Smith, Smith, Smith. Everyone agrees we should get rid of Smith, Duff and most agree on Barton (including me). But Viduka has to go as well IMO, of course unlike the aforementioned useless twats I would want a replacement for him guarenteed first. The fact that Chelsea are the only other club you can think of that would pay a backup player that kind of money should tell you how f***ing insane it is that we're paying Viduka £65,000 per week. IMO the only way we should keep him for another season is if we can't get a suitable replacement (or if we can't get rid of him of course). But there's a difference between a backup player and a squad player - and I'm sure many people would be happy to put Viduka in the latter, even if he is on big wages. Look around the Prem - what sort of wages are being paid to strikers who don't start every week? What are Crouch, D Bent, Ashton et al earning? And what would you be happy with them getting if they signed for the Toon? You seem to be suggesting 65k for an ageing backup striker is unreasonable, I suggest 65k for uniquely gifted squad player passing his prime is the going rate these days...

Not really, they all earn 100k+ and they all play for the Big Four. Which is why the next bracket of players are on such ridiculous wages - look at Pompey and West Ham and what they had to pay to lure good (but not great) players. It's why Owen is on 100-120k pw and Viduka 60-80k pw (depending who you believe) If Viduka is on 60k pw, then I'd say that's almost the market rate for what he is - a classy veteran striker with bags of experience, goals and sheer quality. Yes, he has a dubious injury record and a reputation for turning up when he feels like it. But if he could stay injury free and commit every week we wouldn't be having this discussion, because he'd be earning 120k pw and playing for someone else

Yorkie, I think you're missing a few points attendant to Ince being a "big-name". The fact that he has played, very well mind you, for Man U, Internazionale and Liverpool means that he might have picked up a thing or two from those managerial maestros he played under, and how successful clubs are run... And Dave, as for egos - this is a man who called himself "The Guv'nor" at a club managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. I don't think he's got any problems with big egos

Makes sense - I was just surprised that both yourself and Dave seemed to think appointing Ince was a bigger risk than Hughes. Personally, I think Hughes was more of a Hail Mary compared to which Ince is almost a safe bet, but I guess time will tell...

Much greater risk this one IMO. Indeed. Hughes was proving himself at an international level when he got the Blackburn job, Ince on the other hand has experience only in the lowest league. Is that sarcasm delivered too subtly, or do you genuinely believe that Hughes' spell with Wales is better preparation for EPL management than Ince's apprenticeship in the lower leagues? Personally, I feel in the lower leagues the practice is similar to the EPL, just that the scale is different, whereas international management involves limited contact with the players which limits just about everything else (ie training, tactics, building relationships in the squad etc) I think Ince will make a very good manager - and he shares one important distinction with Hughes: both played overseas at the very highest level, exposing them to the methods and philosophies of the best leagues in Europe, which can only be beneficial to the English game...

That's about how I view it too - a top two, then Arsenal, then Liverpool. Personally I think Everton and Villa are closer to Spuds and Citeh than you have suggested, and that much (potentially) more out of reach. If Ashley has a master plan than doesn't include investment in "ready-to-star" players then negativity will become the norm, because mid-table would be a best-case scenario leading into the season. Which is why we should read NE5's warnings, negative though they may be, because they contain kernels of truth... It appears a Chinese person has cursed us, for we certainly live in interesting times

Weird how people always forget Tigana and Gullit. They're not English, so obviously they don't count

That's valid - and I'm sure all sorts of PC types are wetting themselves with the prospect of the first black manager in the EPL too. To tell you the truth though, I didn't even consider it - I read your comments and thought "Oh yeah, he's black. That matters to some people." Surely after Roeder, Southgate, Grant and potentially Ince the LMA and EPL need to admit that the coaching badge system is a farce. It would be impossible to object to any unqualified manager in the future - they would be rightly ridiculed.