Raconteur

Isn't he out of contract in the summer?

In tea leaf reading mode, this might indicate he is prepared to sign a new contract and happy to go out loan - if he thought he could play first team Premiership football he'd simply allow his contract to expire?

sack him.

 

everybody is fucking sick of his shite, players included probably.

 

sad thing is, im pretty much hoping we lose the last few games so that things come to a head, souness style and we have no choice but to let him go.

 

 

 

The question is - would that be enough? Even if we lost the last four games and didn't score a goal, would that be enough for Shepherd to sack him, or would he think "I'll give him the summer, give him a transfer fund and see how he goes"?

I fear the latter, and another August/September sacking...

Fred is doing this cause he knows the G14 boys are watching...

Come on Parky, you can flesh that out into a fully fledged conspiracy!

How about G14 are financing the legal action (as was suggested by some when we pushed the FA for compensation)

Or maybe NUFC are trying to toady up to the G14 in an attempt to gain admission, and thus be part of the Super-dooper mega-deluxe Euro League which is coming next seaosn, or the one after that, or...?

EDIT: I'm too damned slow - you already went there!

Only cried once - in 2001 (aged 25) when Australia got humiliated in Montevideo by Uraguay. After winning the home leg 1-0 we were one step away from our first World Cup appearance in my lifetime - and we were taught a lesson. Had been drinking heavily since the 5am kick-off, by full time I was smashed, tired and devastated, and the tears flowed freely...

The 1999 FA Cup final against Man Utd brought my strongest Toon related response - again drinking heavily and once again taught a lesson by the opposition I started punching walls at a mates place and was told to go outside and cool off!

Alcohol is bad, m'kay

 

i may be alone here but i dont rate lennon to highly either. his jazz hands are funny to watch but i dont realy see him do anything great, he seems to lack end product.

 

You're not alone at all - the latest in a long line of over-rated English bright young things. So very "meh"

 

I'm still not sure what Dyers best position is. At the moment he would be better played in central midfield, but I don;'t think he's a natural there nor up front. When he was younger, at Ipswich, he played a more right sided role, although not a touchline hogger.

 

If anything, we have 3 players who ALL need a partner of the type you describe. Tevez anyone ?

 

 

Surely Viduka has to be an option - forget the fact he's out of contract, he is quality, has excellent technique and is strong as an ox on the ball. Yes, I'm biased, but would you say Viduka fits the requirements you, HTL and madras have suggested?

Very interesting in theory, in fact I think he'd be a very good candidate - just two questions though

1) Do you think FFS would be prepared to pay what would be extraordinary wages for a DoF? I don't, personally

2) Would Roeder be happy to work with a superior manager at the club? I think Roeder is a very fragile character, as witnessed by the way he reacted after the AZ debacle. I think he'd be intimidated and would probably totally lose the plot...

Milan, no doubt.

Like I said in the Tuesday night CL matches thread - fuck Chelsea, fuck Liverpool and fuck Man Utd, in that order.

This wont happen till September 1st at the earliest.

Not saying you're wrong, but what are you basing that on? The transfer window and Shepherd's history of early season sackings? Wouldn't it be great if we could break that mould!

As for the article - speculation without based on any quotes. We'll see...

Personally i support whichever team i actually want to win, wether they're English or not doesn't automatically make my decision. Tonight, for example, i wanted Valencia to beat Chelsea, and Man Utd to beat Roma.

This...

I want all English teams to crash and burn in the CL.  The fact it's a fact that Liverpool or Chelski are gunna be in the final turns my stomach.

 

Come on Milan/Bayern!

And this...

And to combine the two, I'm hoping Milan/Bayern beat Man Utd, but if not I will be watching the final hoping for Man Utd to win. Fuck Chelsea, fuck Liverpool, fuck Man Utd - in that order

Been to a talk-in tonight with the 4 goalkeepers.  Krul said he would be going on loan next season.

Does that mean Pav the Geordie is staying for another year? After all, Given's "Lazarus" tag has taken a bit of a beating this year...

If you take in the fact that it's written for a general football site for general fans who may not be as aware of what's happening at St James' Park then it's a fairly decent article. But as andynufc84 says, for us as Toon fans it doesn't tell us anything we don't know (Roeder's media efforts have become increasingly defensive, we haven't gotten value for money in the transfer market, our defenders are of insufficient quality, Roeder's position is open for question - we're all painfully aware of these facts)

And koven, I don't know what you think makes it biased - I thought it was pretty generous to Roeder really. They were savage on West Ham not long ago, and Roeder deserves to be savaged too. Was very generous in describing his media efforts as "uneasy" and "prickly" when several other, less flattering adjectives could (should?) have been applied...

Thing is, for the £5m we spent on Duff we could have picked up McCarthy and Campbell/Woodgate. Might even have been able to pick up some better cover at LB as well. It's easy for me to say this with hindsight, but I didn't know how much we had to spend at the time. Roeder must have.

 

I appreciate that Zog has been poor this season, but I am of the opinion that Milner and even Dyer can "do a job" on the left better than Titus can at centre back, Ramage can at left back or Carr can anywhere.

That's what it all comes down to for me... For us as fans to debate academically is one thing, but Roeder must surely have known the constraints he was working under

I love it when this board goes into denial. No-one is even prepared to admit there is a problem. No one gives two hoots that the roots and identity of the game is being erased.....Shame on you.

Why bother calling it the Euro Champions league? The rate the Italians and Spanish are giving passports to South Americans might just as well call it Libdetores Cup or whatever....

 

Why call it the PL its just a lie....Call it the French v Russian mafia.

Hyperbole much?

For a socialist you're quite the nationalist!!!

I wouldn't even mind if we tried to make it look right....Barca bought Messi over when he was 14 I think and gave him dual natiionality....

Ironically England's cricket team have been doing this for decades with little or nothing to show for it

I think the problems are deeper Parky - you talk about Arsenal not developing English players, but you have to go further back...

Where Arsenal excel is getting the 15-18 year olds and developing them into Premiership players. But the problem is that the very best kids in this age group aren't English. I couldn't speculate as to why, but if you answer that question then you're getting to the root of the problem.

The real problem with that is that the kids who aren't the "very best" go down the pecking order, subsequently don't get the development from the very best coaches (who are naturally at the very best clubs)

Thought the .com report was pretty good too - the waffle was pretty harsh on Roeder (harsh but fair - I was just surprised because they've been playing it pretty soft lately...)

http://www.nufc.com/2006-07html/2007-04-07sheff-utd-a.html

That's why I bang on about bringing the foreigner (3) rule back and (2) outside EU. Stops the elite clubs hoovering talent up abroad and having to develop thier youth system (English players). Also it levels the playing field reg smaller clubs.

 

No problems, all you have to do is bring down the EU first!

 

The thing is the EU shouldn't be messing in sport which has its own traditions rooted in history. Bring down the EU....it will happen.

I'll not go into the wider socio-political ramifications of the EU - but since we seem to have veered in this direction I do have a question:

The Bosman ruling came about because JM Bosman wanted to leave his club after his contract expired - the EU said he (and any player) could, and then declared the foreigner rules to be illegal too?

That's why I bang on about bringing the foreigner (3) rule back and (2) outside EU. Stops the elite clubs hoovering talent up abroad and having to develop thier youth system (English players). Also it levels the playing field reg smaller clubs.

No problems, all you have to do is bring down the EU first!

I voted yes.

 

1. Good chairman.

2. North east football club

3. Big club.

4. Good manager.

Do you genuinely support Newcastle United? I know some people take the piss, saying you're a Man Utd fan - but looking at this list makes me wonder if they're right. I mean the only answers for a NUFC fan would be "yes - I want the derby rivalry and/or good for the north east" or "no - I hate the mackems, want them to fail and/or don't want to lose derbies"

But you seem to be admiring them...?   

Everton

1. Manager who has done an excellent job.

2. Respect is due to any club which, despite having a great history themselves, has to share a city with such a massively successful neighbour.

 

So tell me sir, does that apply to Birmingham City too?

Blimey.

That's about it! Where the hell did this performance come from?!?

I prefer:

 

Reporter: So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today?

Strachan: What areas? Mainly that big green one out there

 

But the man is a comedy genius

Yup - that's the winner for me too, but the "Jardel is a Big Jessie" one is a very close second

I'd have him for comedy value alone - his list of best quotes puts me in stitches!

 

Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?

 

Strachan: No, I'm just going to crumble like a wreck. I'll go home,

become an alcoholic and maybe! jump of a bridge. Umm, I think I can

take it, yeah.

 

I've resisted the urge all day, but here is the list I have - from a chain email called "The Genius of Gordon Strachan"

Reporter: Gordon, Do you think James Beattie deserves to be in the England squad?

Strachan: I don't care, I'm Scottish!

 

Reporter: "Gordon, can we have a quick word please?"

Strachan: "Velocity" [walks off]

 

Reporter: Welcome to Southampton Football Club. Do you think you are the right man to turn things around?

Strachan: No. I was asked if I thought I was the right man for the job and I said, "No, I think they should have got George Graham because I'm useless."

 

Reporter: Is that your best start to a season?

Strachan: Well I've still got a job so it's far better than the Coventry one, that's for sure.

 

Reporter: Are you getting where you want to be with this team?

Strachan: We're not doing bad. What do you expect us to be like? We were eighth in the league last year, in the cup final and we got into Europe. I don't know where you expect me to get to. Do you expect us to win the Champions League?

 

Reporter: Gordon, you must be delighted with that result?

Strachan: You're spot on! You can read me like a book.

 

Reporter: Gordon, Agustin Delgado? (after Delgado went AWOL)

Strachan: I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yoghurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Agustin Delgado.

 

Reporter: This might sound like a daft question, but you'll be happy to get your first win under your belt, won't you?

Strachan: You're right. It is a daft question. I'm not even going to bother answering that one. It is a daft question, you're spot on there.

 

Reporter: Bang, there goes your unbeaten run. Can you take it?

Strachan: No, I'm just going to crumble like a wreck. I'll go home, become an alcoholic and maybe jump off a bridge. Umm, I think I can take it, yeah.

 

Reporter: There's no negative vibes or negative feelings here?

Strachan: 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.

 

Reporter: where will Marion Pahars fit into the team line-up?

Strachan: Not telling you! It's a secret.

 

Reporter: You don't take losing lightly, do you Gordon?

Strachan: I don't take stupid comments lightly either.

 

Reporter: So, Gordon, in what areas do you think Middlesbrough were better than you today?

Strachan: What areas? Mainly that big green one out there

 

* "He [Alex Ferguson] used to play tapes of Bill Shankly talking. I remember that and a singer he liked. I don't know who it was but it was crap. He played it on the team bus too and all the boys hated it. Until one night it got chucked away. If he's still wondering who threw that tape off the bus, it was me. So maybe he was right and I'm not to be trusted."

 

* "I used to drive home from Manchester United training along the M56 and there was a left turn for Wilmslow, where I lived, and a right turn for Hale, where Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath and Bryan Robson lived. I used to say that it was left for under three pints a night and right for more than ten."

 

* "Society now is scary. It's a mess. Lack of fitness makes criminals of people."

 

* "Southampton is famous for three things - the Titanic, yachting and Matt Le Tissier."

 

* "After I left Coventry I'd pay my own way into matches and would wear big hats so no-one recognised me."

 

* "If a Frenchman goes on about seagulls, trawlers and sardines, he's called a philosopher. I'd just be called a short Scottish bum talking crap."

 

* "You have to remember that Agustin Delgado was virtually up against their youth team. I have never seen so much acne on a football pitch."

 

* ''I'm going home to get myself a Coca-Cola and a packet of crisps, sit in front of the TV and look at the league table on Teletext all night.''

 

* (After reports that the delectable Holly Valance was 'interested' in James Beattie) "She's not the only one - my missus is the same. I cannae ever sell him because the other players' wives, the manager's wife and the coach's wife will all be up in arms."

 

* "I just want to thank Mr and Mrs Beattie for what they did 25 years ago."

 

* ''Brad Friedel must have changed in a telephone box. I wouldn't be surprised if when he takes his shirt off there's a blue jersey with an 'S' underneath.''

 

* "The players have their own ideas about how the game should be won, but it won't be tolerated. I'll get less skilful players in who play the game the way I think it should be played."

 

* ''The ref said: 'If I make a mistake don't make me look an idiot.' I had a great reply lined up but it would have cost me a couple of quid.''

 

* ''If you want to kill the Indians you have to kill their chief and we didn't kill Shearer.''

 

* "I know nothing about tactics. I just get good players on the pitch who can run a bit."

 

* "It was minging" - On his side's performance at Bolton.

 

* "He's a big guy and to fall like that? My grandson wouldn't have fallen like that. I don't know how you face your mates after that. They say 'What did you contribute to the game?' and you say, 'Well, I fell like a big Jessie'" - After being asked to comment on Jardel's role in Michael Svensson's dismissal.

 

* "Football hasn't changed from day one in that if you show an ability to control and pass the ball there is a good chance you will prove to be a good team. We also looked very one-dimensional and I will have to find out why. That's all I'm saying - thanks for coming"

- The complete transcript of his post-match press conference following defeat to Man City in November.

 

 

* ''It's probably the Samaritans - they normally call around this time"

- After his mobile phone began ringing during a post-match interview.

 

 

* "You can't get near to the officials, it's easier to get to the Pope! If I'm in London next time and I get mugged, I hope the same amount of people turn up - there were six police officers, four stewards and a United Nations peace observer."

Genius indeed

Good post MJ - I especially liked the explanation of Comolli's role. I think some managers, the more hands on, might baulk at having such a system, but I certainly believe it would be of great benefit at NUFC...

Of course, you know with one post you'll have managed to turn at least half a dozen quarrelling NUFC fans into a united anti-THFC front, don't you