Minhosa

That Miller is a dirty little cunt.

You still feel we've got another couple of gears if we need them.

Free Kick Cleared.

Foul on Viduka, 45 yards out, near the byeline

30 mins mate

Braver man than me. And me..........................

Miller has a pop at Beye. Dirty little mackem.

Great ball from Viduka to Beye.

Next goal is still vital imo. If they get it, they'll push on for a draw. If we do, it could be a cricket score.

Owen in loads of space. Wasted crossing opportunity from Oba.

Paul McShocker has had a proper mare here; 1. Smashed Owen for little Mickey to score two minutes later. 2. Own Goal that should have stood. 3. Should have been booked. 4. Just blatantly handballed. All that in 23 minutes. Fucking Hell.

Ian Harte = Yes please.

Nicky Butt has had a terrific start here. Running the show.

Lets just see what happens in the summer before judging him. He's done nothing wrong, investment wise, in my opinion. Some people almost seem to be willing the new board to fail.

FACT:Arseanl have always been a genuine big hitter. They have not won anything since moving & have not broke there transfer record since moving either, so I am not sure how you can write they genuine big hitters since the move. You telling me they were a big hitter under Bruce Rioch, with crowds of less than 30k? Financially, they've not been able to compete with Man Utd etc and hence the reason for the stadium move. Now they are a top four club in more ways than one. They weren't before imo. I am telling you Arsenal have always been a big club in the Premier League or pre-premier league. Bruce Rioch/Arsenal managed to sign Dennis Bergkamp from Inter. Bruce Rioch showed Wegner the way in signing talented players (Henry & Vieria) who didnt settle in Italy . They still cant compete with Man Utd. They are flying higher in the attendance league & turnover league but on the sporting side they havent won anything since the move. Also why does Keegan have to follow a Wegner type buying policy dont you trust him to go out & spend the cash? Keegan has just as good as eye for players than Wegner. Are you telling me that Wengers success in the transfer market is down to Bruce Rioch, his predecessor? ;D They have competed against Man Utd far better than we have over the last 5 years and have done bloody well this year when you think of the investment Man Utd made last summer in comparison. BTW, on the big hitter thing. The ground move has ensured that they can compete better than they've ever been able to before, due to greater turnover etc. Now they are a big hitter imo, before they were punching above their weight and that was mainly thanks to Wenger and his ability to spot a player, bed him into the first team and flog on for a profit. I dare say, they wouldn't have to sell now - before they probably did. I've never said Keegan needs to follow Wenger in terms of who he buys - I do trust Keegan to buy well. I did comment about setting the club up for sustainable success though.

FACT:Arseanl have always been a genuine big hitter. They have not won anything since moving & have not broke there transfer record since moving either, so I am not sure how you can write they genuine big hitters since the move. You telling me they were a big hitter under Bruce Rioch, with crowds of less than 30k? Financially, they've not been able to compete with Man Utd etc and hence the reason for the stadium move. Now they are a top four club in more ways than one. They weren't before imo.

It may be that we can have the best of both worlds. A heavy investment program over the summer, of say £80m, would give everyone an immediate lift and would almost guarantee us a minimum of a top 8 finish. If we spend that cash mainly on players younger than 26 and then invest further in the scouting system and improving the youth teams and reserves (with promising young kids) then we'd have gone a long way to sorting ourselves out in the short term. Next the academy.

Just read 'Stephen Caldwell' 45 mins - Goal for Burnley. Is that the same Caldwell that played for us?

Agree with that. The only thing I'm not sure about is Viduka. I wasn't a big fan before and, whilst he can be absolute quality, I'm not sure he's been worth the £3m in wages (based on £60k per week) he has cost us. Especially given he'll have no residual value when his time is up. Fwiw, I still feel we need a big clear out in the summer, even though Keegan keeps going on about the small squad, with the likes of Duff, Emre (who I've given up on, despite backing him since day 1), Viduka, Carr etc all easily replaced for less wages. When you think (between that lot) the weekly wage is an astonishing £230k based on; Duff - £65k Emre - £65k Viduka - £60k Carr - £40k We could get two serious 'world stars' in for that much who may still have some value left should we flog them. Combined, I'd be surprised if that lot got us £10m. When you think of the revenue costs, in wages, and the depreciation in value since we bought them, it's a hell of a loss. This re-emphasis's the need for investment in quality youth/young players imo, as you've pointed out Baggio.

The timing and nature of the managerial change was a risky gamble -- but happily it seems to have paid off. Thats it basically, it was a gamble, made me nervous but its paid off. Not sure if luck should get the credit or Mort, maybe a bit of both. Without wanting to muddy the waters, given I've shown my support for Mort throughout this thread, it was an Ashley appointment - wasn't it? I think most see them as a double act tbh. Fair enough. I suppose thats the way it should be tbf. It was just the KK quotes about speaking to the Owner etc when he joined.

To those talking about buying Lennon, he's just got another assist. A cross for Berbatov to head in Vs Wigan. Thats five in 25 starts btw.

The timing and nature of the managerial change was a risky gamble -- but happily it seems to have paid off. Thats it basically, it was a gamble, made me nervous but its paid off. Not sure if luck should get the credit or Mort, maybe a bit of both. Without wanting to muddy the waters, given I've shown my support for Mort throughout this thread, it was an Ashley appointment - wasn't it?

Certainly not Chelsea at least. Their billionaire can beat up our billionaire. Liverpool possibly. Man U ... Sorry, no. 07 Revenue was £168m. Ours was £86m. Since Abramovic, yes. Man u - yes but we nearly beat them in 1996 and who knows what would have been if we had. With the 3rd biggest crowd and ground in the country, we can certainly beat Liverpool and Arsenal. With the 3rd biggest ground and support in the country we should act like it. And believe like it. We all say that nobody knows how big Newcastle should be, so why not believe in it ? I don't accept this, our aim should be if they can do it then we certainly can, and we could too. But we won't if we don't believe its possible and take the risks now and again. So then, you've answered you're own question about Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea in that we can't compete over a sustained period with two of them. The third, Liverpool, could potentially be one of the clubs we look to overthrow in the top four. Give me the choice between the Arsenal approach of the last 10 years (with the support of Wenger etc) and the Liverpool approach, if I owned a football club I'd base my strategy on the Arsenal model. Of course we should have aspirations to challenge the top four and eventually break into but don't forget where we were when Ashley took us over. If thats not justification for a change of strategy and a chance to plan I don't know what is.

Fair enough riches, but people like Arsene Wenger don't come along very often do they ? Setting one club as an example due to making an appointment of someone so exceptional isn't really being realistic about it. In fact, if we are to beat Arsenal we have to find somene better than Wenger. Don't you think if it was so easy, numerous other clubs would also be doing it ? I can't agree with you about bringing in "big name buys" [ie do you mean a big name player past it or a big name player with plenty of career time left] because - and this is where we started - ignoring the current and short term is extremely stupid, especially if you are in trouble. There is no such thing as a bad time to get the right manager [we've just probably and hopefully proved this] and there is no bad time to bring in a quality footballer either. The Wengers of the this world aren't common, agreed. However, the principals of the approach are sound in my opinion. The structure would be more sustainable and could prove beneficial to a few parties;- a) Mike Ashley, who would probably be reluctant to spend £50m of his own cash on 'big name players' each summer/january. b) The fans. Imagine how our fans would've taken to the likes of Ashley Cole, Vieira and Anelka as young kids. c) Keegan, if he can buy his 'big name' stars to supplement the other good work being done by Wise and Mort team(s) behind the scenes. d) Keegans replacement. This approach would allow for succession planning more than most. The downside being, as you've rightly pointed out, top Managers don't come along very often. However, even if it all falls down and we appoint another Souness the structure won't fall apart over night. Arsenal have proved it can work with an unknown/unproven Manager (as Wenger was at the time, well relatively unknown). I can see the argument that everyone would be doing it, if it was easy but most clubs whose owners are a little bit remote (Man Utd, Arsenal, Villa etc) seem to be doing similar things whereas the hands on Owners/Chairman (See Birmingham, Man City etc) seem to be dabbling more in proven players. so what do you think of manu, Liverpool and Chelseas approach ? Don't they work either, in fact, over the years, the vast majority of teams are successful because they follow this route, rather than Arsenals ? If its the route you have to take, then you must take it. Its small time thinking to try and avoid expenditure. Has anyone in this thread yet - apart from me - attempted to see Morts comments for what they are ? How exactly does he think Newcastle will be successful, what exactly does he mean, if he doesn't want to "appease" the fans ? I seriously think he should take his blinkers off and see that he is chairman of a club filling the ground ie "appeasing the fans" because of his predecessors, not because of anything he has done since he came in. I don't think they have actually tried to avoid expenditure though, have they? The revenue costs (due to the wages of Viduka, Barton, Smith etc) would have been significantly increased in summer. And, at a time when the new Board were half way through due diligence this has to be commended imo. I thought KK had been quoted as saying he had the money to buy Woodgate and/or others should he want it in January? The reason I quoted Arsenals approach was because I think it's more sustainable than having an Abromovich or A.N Other wealthy owner throwing cash at problems. The planned approach may set us up for medium/long term sustained success and, so long as thats the case, I'll not be getting an inferiority complex because we haven't spent as much on a Henry or Deco as Man Utd or whoever.

They've been lucky to keep it down to two as well.