cosmic

Good timing if Garde joins now. Gains experience in managing an English Premiership Club and move to Arsenal when Wenger's contract ends in 2017. Assuming we offer a minimum 3.5 year contract, Ashley wins again as Gooners will have to cough up compensation to pull Garde over.

Hi, I'm in Malaysia and there are some rumours I hear around these parts about possibility of some Asian Consortium looking to buy into a Premiership club. No specific club name that I'm aware of for now but would not rule out Newcastle. They could be following example of Tony Fernandez and friends with QPR and the Thai chappies with Leicester. Don't rule out this possibility as many Asian Businessmen are cash rich and need somewhere to park their extra funds. Its also a source of pride (if done right) and great advertisement for their organizations. Recently, a Singaporean Billionaire Peter Lim just bought Valencia and apparently he is now the new savior and hero of Valencia fans. Still early days but Peter Lim seems to be enjoying the limelight, at least for now.

I heard 8 weeks yesterday but I understand liverpool sent him for some further scans or something and they showed the daage was worse than expected. Part of the grand plan to keep him till the very last day so that L'pool have no time to do a full and complete check on his injury

He looks like a beefed up & more athletic of Hughton

If a bid for 15 Million quid was put in, do you think Blackpool will take the higher moral ground and reject the transfer? Its all relative ....

After celebrating with the lads, he was seen running towards the bench and gesturing to someone before the TV showed a reply of the goal again. Was he running towards Pardew or someone else?

Not sure if this has been posted before but an old 2007 article that explains Pardew's background and his poor handling of the media resulting in West Ham bringing in a media consultant from NOTW to guide him. This has perhaps shaped his current Media personality. Sounds like a well balanced chap having come late into the game as a full time professional and may also explain his disappointment with Nile Ranger's attitude http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2006/may/07/newsstory.sport1

Does it matter now?

Alan Smith

He kind of looked lonely yesterday with just Steve Stone beside him whilst Grant had his large team of cronies and clowns

Simpson has been praised by Peter Beardsley in his 2 come back games. So looks like Perch has played his last game for a while. Not sure if this is a better choice but probably can't be much worse.

I thought Perch had a good game at centre back vs Deportivo, could be an option. Perch is not that tall and may be raped by Jones. Sol would have been great cover for this game. Really need Williamson to stay on for this game as Colo's game is not about raw physical power

No Campbell

We may have more Black power but White power is also there with Williamson, Carroll, Enrique. All powerful lads and add that to the Black power, we have a good mix of Black and White power We will certaintly need all this power when we Stoke come by next.

Stoke next with their oversized goons will not be a stroll in the park either

We'll hear more on this when the extent of Harper's injury is clear....

If he had joined us years ago instead of Porto or Chelsea, he would probably be managing in the Middle East today or returned to being a teacher. Not only have we killed many a young player's career, we have been "Waterloo" for many managers too

Graduate of Big Sam A School of Management .... http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/10/04/25/SOCCER_Hull_2nd_Nightlead.html Hull midfielder George Boateng has launched an astonishing attack on Phil Brown after the Tigers' relegation was all but confirmed on Saturday with defeat by Sunderland. Brown was placed on 'gardening leave' last month after more than three years at the KC Stadium, although he remains on the club's books and chairman Adam Pearson revealed there is still a possibility he could return. Iain Dowie stepped in but could not turn around Hull's form, and Boateng laid the blame squarely at the door of Brown. The Dutch midfielder was one of a number of players left out of the team for lengthy periods earlier this season but he traced the problems back to Boxing Day 2008, when Brown gave his half-time team talk on the pitch with Hull trailing Manchester City 4-0. The Tigers have won only seven Premier League matches since then, and Boateng said: "I was left out for so many weeks, and that doesn't just count for me, it counts for Craig Fagan, for Caleb Folan, Bernard Mendy. "There's been so many times where players were left out for non-football reasons and the best players didn't always play, which wasn't fair. It's been frustrating, I'm very angry. "If I go back to December a year and a half ago when we played Manchester City away, that's when all the problems started. The team felt disrespected that day, the team didn't feel appreciated. We were sixth in the league, we'd lost two consecutive games and we didn't feel like we deserved to be treated like that at half-time, like a bunch of kids. "Phil Brown asked me to come here. I had a year to go with Middlesbrough on better wages, I left that because Phil Brown needed an experienced Premier League midfielder. "I didn't come here for money but then six months later, to be treated that way, I felt very disrespected. It had an effect on me, it had an effect on all the players. We covered it up but it took us a long time to recover from that. "After Liverpool, Phil Brown sacked all the canteen people and we had to train for a week with no food. Those kind of things affect the team, the team doesn't feel appreciated by the manager." Dowie has managed only one win from his seven games in charge and his appointment was not popular with a proportion of the Hull support, but Boateng had nothing but praise for the 45-year-old. "When the new staff came in it gave us a bit of hope because before Iain Dowie came in we were not together, the squad were not behind Phil Brown," continued Boateng. "It was very difficult because some of the players feared Phil Brown and some of the players felt under pressure under Phil Brown. "Iain Dowie and his staff have done a tremendous job, it hurts me that we've only collected four points under them because they deserve a bit more success. "Iain Dowie hasn't taken us down, we were down before Iain Dowie because Phil Brown made essential errors that caused us to lose many games." Boateng also criticised Brown for his singing on the pitch after Hull avoided relegation last year, adding: "We survived only by luck. Do you see Alex Ferguson doing that? That's all you have to ask yourself. He's the best manager perhaps English football has ever had." Boateng's contract runs out at the end of the season and the 34-year-old is hoping to secure a deal with another Premier League club for the next campaign. He said: "I'm fit enough, my football is still up to the standard of the Premier League so I'm not going to retire. I want to play another year at least, but where? I'll think about it when I'm on holiday." Reflecting on his experiences at Hull, Boateng added: "The last 18 months has been as hard for me as the last 12 years since I've been in England. I've been put through so many adversities that sometimes I said to my wife: 'Is it still worth it?"'

I think Hughton should be pushed out to lift the trophy. All the players have been giving him credit for the turnaround and Hughton himself has been deflecting all credit to the players. It will be a nice touch, albeit unconventional, to have Hughton finally take some credit for all his hardwork.

Wasn't Gomis a target sometime ago. Seems to have dropped out of the radar. Was supposed to be another of the "next Drogba"...

CH deserves a shot. He got us back up and that in itself is a massive achievement. Big name and so called experienced managers have not achieved that much and never quite got the team spirit thing going with the exception of Sir Bobby and Keegan but that was ages ago. A stable club and a united squad will go a long way and this is what we have now. No one expects Newcastle to immediately start pushing for a European spot in our first season back so why all the pessimism about CH not being able to attract players. Do players really move because of managers? The really big superstars might see the manager as a deciding factor but these players are way out of our range now with MA around. We will only be able to attract 2nd tier proven players or up and coming players with potential and age on their side and for these players, the attraction is the name of Newcastle United Football Club and not the manager. It may also be the attraction of playing in the Premiership itself. Looking around at some of the mid sized Premier League clubs, they have attracted many class players so why can't CH and Newcastle United F.C.? We just need a great scouting system and some luck with transfers working out and then we might have a shot at a mid table position with perhaps a good Cup run and consolidate for the following season. Consolidation is not a bad word after all that has happened in recent seasons.

Isn't Reo Coker reputed to be a big time charlie? Last thing we need is to break up the team spirit ....

Probably, but if it's a choice between Simpson and bringing Beye back....... Totally agree. Sure there are better options out there but if it was a straight choice between the 2 I'd go for Beye. Bringing Beye back will simply destroy team morale. He wanted out when the going got tough and he deserves whatever he position he is in now. The main difference between this season and last season's team is Team Morale and we will be depending on this to pull us through especially if we have limited transfer funds, which is looking very likely.

Going back to the original thread....what would I do if I were MA? I'll put the club up for sale and leave this football thingy for good. I had my day in the sun and with Toon back to Premier league, I should be able to get a reasonable price. No more headache and fans' distaste and anger. Who cares who the next owner wants to appoint as manager or buy or sell which players.

Doesn't sound like it. There is still the whole of 2nd half to win the game for C**** sake