Raconteur

Except it perpetuates myths - like the myth that we peddled Chopra when the fact was that the lad ran out of patience waiting for a chance in the first team! I'm sure every one of us would rather see Chopra here instead of Rossi but at the end of the day that was Chopra's decision...

Methinks after Clarky's comments then probably not - he's hardly going to criticise Chelsea if there's business to be done...

Thank god for that!! Hang about, it's just this kind of sensible decision making that we need at NUFC!! Shearer for manager!! I like your logic shearer is quite clearly the fans choice i would love him to finally make the players realise what it means to play for newcastle united because i believe that he is the only person who truely understands that in reality! He most certainly is not "quite clearly the fans choice" - he is the choice of a few fans who think he will be some magical panacea to all our problems. Other fans are terrified of Shepherd's dream appointment for a variety of reasons such as: inexperience, fear his legacy will be tarnished by the poison chalice that is the NUFC hotseat, a suspicion that his man management skills leave much to be desired, (such as his suspected role in Bobby's removal, and his support of Souness) that he will, despite claims to the contrary, toady to the chairman in order to save the club embarrassment etc (as apparently he does on BBC, keeping to the party line*) * going on the reports of others as I don't get BBC coverage... But then I'm becoming a naysayer - I know what I don't want but don't have any positive answers these days

RIP osci basci

I was thinking something similar - especially when I read about our "much-vaunted football institute programs" :roll: If they're so fantastic why did Kewell, Troisi, Cahill, Neill et al all head overseas as boys :mad:

To be fair, Milner's cross for the Spanish prick's goal against Palermo was from the left, and neither Duff nor the Zog are doing much, so fair do's really...

Maybe Lee Clark isn't so shit after all Roeder out, Clark in

I don't know why, but when I read this post I imagined the head of the English FA criticising Real Madrid for not playing Beckham!

Parker couldn't hold a candle to Batty, and I have to say Duffer, even at his best, is no Ginola...

You've mentioned Kisnorbo quite a few times - he's simply not good enough my friend!!! I also think you're overstating the qualities of Vinnie Grella too, after all, we've already got a sideways passing central midfielder in Parker... As much as it hurts to say, there's not much real quality in the Aussie squad - if we needed a midfielder then Jason Culina could be an option, Lucas Neill of course is a rock, while Josh Kennedy would be a good addition to the Toon squad if only as a target man. (This of course does not include Cahill and Bresciano who would be beyond our reach...) That said, the Aussie I really want to see in black and white is Marko Viduka - and not many else want to see that!

Quoted for truth

Trying to be positive after that dross is a bit difficult, but let's see what we can come up with: 1) Whether you love Shola or hate him, he was a passenger today, so it's a positive that he's now off for the operation and we can wait six months to renew the "love him/hate him" debates 2) Duff being subbed - thought it was great to see Duff dragged, I was afraid he was one of Roeder's "sacred cows' as he's been turning in rubbish shifts since he arrived, so it was positive to see him being punished by being substituted 3) Dyer - again, love him or loathe him, he added real spark to our team, running with real pace and purpose. Rusty, admittedly, but injected real drive to our team 4) A clean sheet - we're down in the mire, so the ability to keep a clean sheet (admittedly a lucky one against a powder-puff attack) should hopefully give us some confidence that we can build on. 5) Martins is coming back soon - our biggest problem is scoring goals, so I'm looking forward to the possibility of playing Oba with Dyer on his shoulder. 6) One for all the Luque lovers - Duff and the Zog turning more shite performances will surely see your hero being given a chance on the left. Me, I fucking despise Luque, but right now I'd rather see the Spanish wastrel than the Irish one...

Le Sib - a shirker? Or more that he's foreign?

If you're planning to drop Carr, Babayaro, Zoggy and Parker, then surely Duff has to be axed too? You've even got O'Brien on the bench... No place for Pattison either?

Remember the ones with the willies are the boys! xx how will i know? Some mates travelling to Thailand gave me the following advice - ALWAYS look for an Adam's Apple

I hope we get Rossi permanently if the deal involve those 3 players. That's about as likely as Newcastle signing Cannavaro, which you also suggested in another thread. Are you sure you're supporting the right club?!?

Why stop there - why not get Grosso, Nesta and Zambrotta too? :roll:

Quality of journalism highlighted in italics - was closer to £3.5 m :roll:

Here's hoping Luque starts - and is dragged for "disciplinary reasons" just like John Beresford was by KK all those years ago. Then someone who really should be getting a chance, like Troisi or Carroll can come on...

That's the problem - we've been producing the odd performance, unfortunately we're not producing any results... Besides, equal top in the world's best league versus... us. (That said, giving who is posting this, my irony detector is flashing )

I might have a bash HTL "Do you think they had to give £200m to the managers to buy players." Well, as that money was generated by the club, primarily through the fans (via tickets, TV subscriptions, merchandise et al) then the options were to cream that cash off, accumulate it in the bank or spend it on the club - either players or infrastructure. So in a sense YES, they were obliged to spend that money on players, pay off the debt on the stadium and develop training and corporate factilities. Are you suggesting that as shareholders they should simply pocket all profits (as has been suggested was done in the old days?) "How exactly does that stop Newcastle supporters appearing as wankers to outsiders by not being happy with a Board that funds it's managers to that extent?" Only the ignorant would suggest we are angry with Freddy for spending so heavily on players - we are angry that despite this investment we are still failing to reach achievable goals. We have seen a succession of managers who have failed to bring success - the media and outsiders would probably latch onto this fact as a flaw in our supporters, but those campaigning for Shepherd's removal feel that the malaise runs deeper than flawed players and managers, that something deeper is holding us back, and large sections of the Newcastle support group feel that "something" is the board, embodied by Mr. Fred Shepherd Esq

Pretty sure he meant Andy (sorry, Andrew) Cole...

Have you heard the cliche "Lies, damned lies and statistics"? Some players can't be judged on stats - in particular I'm talking about Marko Viduka. His style of target man with technique would not only have brought a few goals for himself, but created many more chances for his team mates. Of course, then the problem is that you need midfielders coming forward to take advantage of those opportunities... Oh, and that sometimes he doesn't turn up - but that's better than Luque who never turns up...

I think 4-5-1 is a certainty - limited options up front, away game, likely to get pummelled. If Sibierski is fit he could play up front by himself to some effect, but the thought of Milner or Duff (or even that Spanish prick) leading the line by themselves is truly horrible... I anticipate something like --------------Harper---------------- Carr---Bramble---Moore---Baba ---------------Butt------------------ Solano---Parker---Zoggy---Duff ---------------Milner--------------- = a raping by the Sicilians! I'd also love to see Troisi or Finnigan sit on the bench - we might need them in the coming months... EDIT: I've just seen in another thread that Sibierski has been declared fit - Le Sib up front, Milner on the right and Nobby on the bench... Makes it look slightly better - still likely to get bent over with no lube

I'll stick my hand up - at the time I was pleased with Roeder's appointment. At first I hoped we would sign a world class manager - all hope of that was knocked on the head with Shepherd's "betting scam" reaction to the Hitzfeld proposal. I saw that as the moment the promised "world class appointment, quality candidates lining up" was a sham. At that point, I was impressed by Roeder's caretaker stewardship - in my defence after the shambles of Souness it was probably an overreation to seeing us charging up the table after the doom and gloom of the previous administration. I saw Roeder as a cool wise head and a steadying influence. I underestimated the infulence of Craig and Shearer. I chose to believe that his previous experiences management had extenuating circumstances, and even believed that his health issues would have made him a stronger character. Even well into the summer I defended Roeder's transfer strategy (as I saw it) as prudent, conservative and designed to make sure he got the right players. It wasn't until the last week of the window I started to lose faith - I finally came to realise that whenever he opened his mouth about targets he was trying to placate the fans by offering them empty promises. This continued into the season - just about every press release was either spin of a complete distortion of the facts. Think about the statements he has made - Luque has trained well and will be part of the squad, Carr is in the form of his life, Bramble has the ability etc. All rubbish. So now I have turned 180 degrees - from wearing a Roeder ass-kisser badge over summer to now accepting he is simply not good enough. If that makes me fickle in the eyes of some - I'd prefer to think of it as accepting I made a poor judgement and adjusting my opinion accordingly