Raconteur

Surely more like this? http://www.midwood.net/brent/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/cartman_police.jpg

I'm sure I read somewhere he doesn't have the appropriate badges - can anyone confirm or deny? I guess the coaching badge system doesn't really mean anything anymore. And to think our appointment of Roeder helped kill that system http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=548901&cc=3436

Mine was in my car when it got stolen - long sleeved Robert 32 and everything Also in my car at the time was my club's entire kit, 16 shirts and shorts. That was a great day!

Eliot, Dickinson, Keats... Skeletor

From today's BBC Rumours page: Can't see that going down very well with Abramovich at all

I'm sure I read somewhere he doesn't have the appropriate badges - can anyone confirm or deny?

tbf marca is usually quite reliable but i agree that if the right offer comes in he will leave. Marca is worse than our tabloids. It's a daily paper dedicated to sport, that means there's even more bullshit. They got in trouble once for making up quotes from Kaka, or photo shopping him into a Real Madrid shirt, it was something like that. Probably both. They have their moments but generally they're good. The journalists are much closer to the clubs over there than what ours are, so get more accurate sources. To be honest, I always thought of Marca as a Real Madrid fanzine...

This. There isn't an Inter fan alive who would be unhappy with a ground out 1-0 win every match - and with what he already has, and Moratti's money, well... We're about to find out if Mourinho is the real deal.

This is the bit that doesn't make sense for me - because I would bet any amount of money that Hughes would one day want the Man Utd job. He was a hero there, so maybe the MUFC fanatics might forgive him being the Citeh manager too...? But the safety net Stephen927 mentioned is real - the word is out that the next Man U manager isn't going to be a novice or an assistant. All the candidates like Queiroz (and one-time candidates like Robson and Bruce) have got the word, and my hunch is that Hughes feels he needs to add to his resume. Because if it's not that, then yeah, it's fucking stupid! He's built a good squad at Blackburn, and to leave it for that nutcase? The man would need his head read!

Made poor old Colin Hendry look a right goose, did Gazza...

John Aloisi, Australia v Uruguay, November 2005. The final penalty to put us through to the World Cup for the first time in my lifetime. Just... orgasmic!

Forgive me for saying so, but isn't it a bit harsh to criticise Wise's signings? No one expected Tozer, Kadar, Zamblera and Soderberg to break into the first team immediately. Let's not forget the situation Wise, Jimenez and Vetere started the job in - managerial chaos, scouting network in tatters, bosses who wasn't up to speed with the game. It's not as simple as saying "Gee, we need a centre midfielder, we should get Diego." As I said in the Emre thread we need players who tick all the boxes: skill, fitness, desire, at a reasonable fee and wages and not hijacked by other clubs. That's a lot of boxes that need ticking...

Did you have to? God knows when I'll ever see an Aussie in a Toon top again! But to be honest, Big Marko is a luxury we can't afford at the moment, and I guess that's a good way to describe Emre too. If we're firing on all cylinders and have strength in depth throughout the squad then both Emre and Viduka could be valuable assets - even if they only turn up half of the time... But for where we are at the moment we need players who will bring all they have to every game. Maybe that's the appeal of cloggers and grafters - the trick is to find players with skill, fitness and desire. Oh, and at a reasonable price and wage too. And not let other clubs turn their heads.

See, this is where your argument falls down - and it is a reasonably sound argument made with passion that didn't deserve all of the ridicule. But nevertheless it falls down: Firstly, while you were careful enough to say "I believe", you based your hypothesis on it as if it were solid fact. Which is kinda specious... And secondly, the bold includes two very big "ifs" - conditions that were satisfied too rarely during his time on Tyneside. kirkwdavis summed it up rather nicely if you want to know why you are the only one gnashing your teeth over the departure of Belezoglu Emre:

Make them do the hard work, and then bankrupt them for damages - more cash that way

well you can argue about that too. i´m confidence that the club will be in a much better position in five years then what fat fred ever should have been able to take it, in the coming five years. I'm not talking about the past, I'm talking about now, this summer, the situation we are in as we lead into the 2008/09 season, attempting to improve on 12th position. You might notice I didn't mention NE5's views on the old board, but the new one. And if you look really closely you'll see a safety wink.

I think you'll be struggling to find many that fall into the "others" category. Hey Yorkie, this is a Spud telling you what Enrique was talking about

See, this is the bit I disagree with. I can appreciate that Ashley would like to strengthen the squad as... economically as possible, but there are going to have to be times when they push the boat out. Maybe he was worth 12m a month ago, maybe 18m today and maybe 25m after the Euros - if he's the player we need then get him. Hypothetically speaking, if push came to shove, Ashley could foot the bill himself and consider it an investment in taking that step forward. It's not that we "can't afford him" - Mike Ashley is choosing not to pay the fee... *DISCLAIMER* I'm not saying Gomis is the player we should push the boat out for. But this summer, there are going to be times when we simply have to, or else everything NE5 has said about the new board is true!

He's still got to put them away, which he surely did. But let's hope other clubs feel the same way as you - whereas our club's extended scouting tells us he is the real deal and thus the only club to go in for him seriously. And then we can all live happily ever after

Hyperbole much? One might, might, reasonably say that The Special One is one of the top five managers in the past decade. One of the best ever? Utterly ridiculous. And to suggest that Roman Abramovich's reckless and wasteful spending "made the PL instantly more attractive to foriegn viewers" is just as fanciful. The Premier League was already fantastically attractive overseas - as much as one might say Spanish and Italian football is of higher standard, the fact remains that the English version is the one fans all over the world want to see. That has been the case since before Abramovich's birth, and probably will be after his death. His biggest legacy will be the new era of hyperinflation. Want to know why Darren Bent is worth 18m? Or why Owen earns 120k p/w? - just have a look at some of the fees Abramovich has paid to other clubs, and the wages to the players.

Gordon Strachan once said "Apart from yourself, we're all quite positive round here. I'm going to whack you over the head with a big stick, down negative man, down." That said though, there is some middle ground between the naysayers and the head-in-the-clouds perspectives. One can have pride in one's club while maintaining circumspection...

Good shout. Personally I'm not convinced either Rijkaard or Mancini would be the right man for Chelsea. Lippi, or Hiddink, might be better suited for the job - I feel it's going to take someone who's been around the block a few times to a) play winning and stylish football, b) keep the enormous squad happy and c) keep the boss happy. Because it seems unless you can do all three things you're not good enough! The Atletico Madrid analogy wasn't too far off - a few more seasons of this and all they'll be able to attract are the likes of... Souness and Allardyce...

Sums it right up...

If you're referring to the incident when he was at Leeds, with Lee Bowyer, then YES, there was certainly a gnashing of teeth on a colossal scale!

Thats quite a substantial claim there. What are you basing this on? I thought Shep was banned because of the warehouse thing and that the police confirmed we got raided becasue we were victims not the perps. Its not like any of the old regime have been linked with the police dealings since. So HTT are you going to expand on what you said or just leave us hanging there ? Come on Coach - don't be wishy-washy. You've made some bold claims there...?