Raconteur

Looking forward to seeing how Allardyce deals with this - we're expecting him to be announced as manager in the next few days with all the positivity and so on that implies, and possibly the very first thing he has to do is have showdown talks with a player who is, from the outside, a talented but troubled reserve winger... I can see Big Sam using this as the perfect opportunity to lay down a marker and give N'Zogbia the boot, ensuring that the likes of Dyer and Carr have uneasy holidays and come back for pre-season training either motivated or asking for transfers. Just a thought

Sums it right up... Anyone else think Pearson's line-up was his resignation letter? Farce...

Especially when you factor in that Owen will be here an absolute maximum of two seasons anyway before potentially waltzing off on a free

Meh... Sure, he's quality but you can't miss what you never really had. So I have to say I'm not really fussed - especially because the only reason he wouldn't be here is because he doesn't want to be...

I would imagine if that was the case it would be all over our press - he's taken over that blonde pretty boy cunt at 'Pool as the poster child of Australian football, it would be a sensation if he came home any time soon... And since we were talking wages - Dwight Yorke was the highest paid player in our league on A$1m for the season he was here. Marko has more money to make...

Was I the only one who thought Freddy might offer Pattison a new contract for his efforts?

Freebie Sarcasm Far too subtle for this forum In all seriousness though, as much as I want Big Dukes to sign for us, the question of his wages will be important... What say you all to... for arguments sake, a two year contract at 50k per week?

Yeah, we'll have him I guess

I can't imagine any professional would be happy about a significantly poorer player starting in his position... Especially given that Pattison is wank in the middle and much worse out wide - what must the Zog think if Pearson will go to such lengths to keep him out of the side? That said, not terribly professional to storm out of the stadium...

Destiny, I reckon...

So we can consider it to be a spurious, invented link then (like most of the other bollocks about Sam's plans)? I sure hope so - Samuel is not an improvement!

scary!!!

Last match of the season, it starts in six hours and there hasn't been a post in the pre-match thread for three days... Can we all say "apathy" Squads - provided by the Beeb: Watford (from): Foster, Lee, Doyley, Avinel, Shittu, Powell, Carlisle, Stewart, Mariappa, Smith, Rinaldi, Bangura, Williamson, Mahon, Chambers, King, Henderson, Priskin, Kabba. Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Srnicek, Solano, Carr, Babayaro, Taylor, Bramble, Onyewu, Moore, Ramage, Butt, Milner, Dyer, N'Zogbia, Martins, Owen, Ameobi, Luque, Carroll.

Does all this talk of Darren Bent mean nobody believes resident Spud ITK Martin Jol, who claimed a deal to take Bent to White Hart Lane has already been agreed? I'd love us to sign Viduka, but there's talk he wants to move to Italy for family reasons - Genoa was the club mentioned if memory serves...

Clearly my crystal ball needs some polishing

Livorno fans hate Fiorentina, and as you say "il derby d'Italia" is their biggest fixture. I always thought "The derby of Italy" was Internazionale v Juventus...?

I'm of the opinion Sparky is more likely to take over than O'Neill - I can't put my finger on it but I think he's going to be real quality...

I'll second that Can the admins/mods see who voted for what? We need to out this fucker!

The OP did ask us to be realistic

This whole thing stinks on a couple of levels. For the purpose of this exercise, I am assuming the 9m fee is triggered by failure to make it into Europe Firstly, I think it explodes the myth that Freddy Shepherd does not influence/arbitrarily makes transfer policy. If Greame Souness wanted Michael Owen, then when negotiating the contract Shepherd would surely have refused to agree to the release clause. Rather, it seems Owen was Shepherd's replacement for Shearer one year early as some have suggested, and that he was prepared to sign him whatever the cost. "The cost" being not only a massively inflated fee, but also a release clause that at the time Shepherd might have felt would never be activated but still a ridiculous risk. However, as someone in this thread mentioned, this escape clause should have factored into Shepherd's thinking when Souness nearly got us relegated and was dismissed. We qualified for Europe by the skimpiest of margins (and thus could conceivably have been activated last seaosn!) Shouldn't the thought of losing Owen for 9m factored into Shepherd's thinking when replacing Souness, knowing that there was no opportunity for consolidation but that instant success was essential? And then there is the actual press release in question. Over the years we have become accustomed to Shepherd's press gaffe's, but it's difficult to see any reason or logic behind this one. Did he feel that such a crude and billigerent statement would inspire Owen's loyalty, because if so any first year public relations student could tell him that's not the best way to go about it! Looking at it logically, the only thing that makes sense to me is that things are much further advanced than we think - that Owen's advisors are speaking to the big for without the club's permission (secure in the knowledge that the fee can be activated) and Shepherd is trying to retrieve the situation by forcing Owen onto the defensive. Which, again, is not the best way to go about things when considering team harmony. It might force Owen to stay, but what is an unwilling player going to do to morale within the squad? And more importantly, what impact will it have on prospective new managers - knowing that the club's brightest star is either on his way out or staying under sufferance?

Is he the bloke who went on that icnewcastle forum and said (paraphrasing here) there was no conflict of interest with Oliver being paid by the club for writing in the match-day programme and writing for the Chron?

Who would I choose as our next manager? Fantasy candidate - Guus Hiddink Ambitious candidate - Mark Hughes Realistic candidates - Sam Allardyce or Gerard Houllier. That is all

Exactly what I thought - though it could be another Bobby-ism...

I know English isn't your first language, but seriously. I say I won't continue to debate with an idiot such as yourself and then choose to respond in a manner which forces me to respond to your stupidity simply to dumb down what I was saying into bite-sized pieces for you. Read my quote - Eriksson is below Strachan and Redknapp on my personal wishlist. I never said they were better, I said I would rather either of those be appointed as NUFC manager. Ironic that you chastise NE5 and HTL for putting words into other people's mouths then do exactly the same thing.

I compared Portugal to Scotland on the basis of "closed shop", not strength of the league. I've read in other threads where you consistently say you claim Eriksson would be perfect yet turn your nose up at Houllier. Indeed you had the audacity to say Houllier was lucky to win the UEFA Cup - but I'm sure Goethenburg's IFK weren't lucky to win, eh? I'm not continuing this debate with you - a wiser man than me once said "Never debate with an idiot; he'll drag you down to his level then beat you with experience" But please stop spamming the board with this Eriksson shite. Oliver might read it, then tell Shepherd and then we've got the third abortion of a manager in a row