KaKa

I suppose so. There's obviously two schools of thought about MO, I'm just a natural optomist - it almost seems like some people are hoping for our players to fail so they can wallow.[/b}

Don't you dare. I'm not telling any lies here am I?

I would love for him to turn it around but here we are at the start of a brand new season and he isn't here yet again? He has never started a season succesfully with us since his first one has he? He also hasn't been involved all summer too don't forget because of other ailments, so it's not like he just got injured.

I can't help but feel that this is the nature of the player. If your saying, oh well no matter, I want him on the team anyway, give him a new deal. Then fair enough that's your opinion. However, if you are expecting things to be different with him all of a sudden, then I'm not so sure.

We could well have been relegated last season if it wasn't for Owen.

 

He certainly hasn't delivered what we expected over the 4 years, but I'd def say the trend is in the right direction - i.e. he's getting better, and less injured recently.

 

Spot on, and that's all I'm trying to say. One game out (and one where we're highly unlikely to get anything anyway) doesn't change that.

See now a lot of people have been saying this and I have been resisting comment, but there is always a chance isn't there?

Yes there is, especially if we have our match winners with us, Alas! our best one isn't available though! This is the problem. It has happened this way too often for us with Owen. We need the guy and at the moment are quite reliant on him, which is what actually sucks.

Jonas should alleviate this and hopefully with some more new attacking additions it will be alleviated further.

No Ronaldo, no Nani, no Anderson, Rooney not quite at 100%. It's a great opportunity to punch those punks square in the mouth and kick Sky in the balls, but Owen won't be playing and it is gutwrenching.

We could well have been relegated last season if it wasn't for Owen.

 

He certainly hasn't delivered what we expected over the 4 years, but I'd def say the trend is in the right direction - i.e. he's getting better, and less injured recently.

Unfortunately, one could argue we were in that position in the first place because he wasn't available for us enough to begin with.

You'd want rid of Martins too then I take it? Seeing as he started less games than Owen.

 

Dave are you kidding me?

 

I'm not talking of one season here. This isn't based on last year. Owen signed a four year deal? And in that 4 years he hasn't had a run of gamesmore than what 10 in a roe or so? And this was only last season!

 

Imagine if Blackburn had written Shearer off after one or two seasons of bad injuries, heck, imagine if we had after his crap season in 97-98 when he'd been, a) injured and b) sh*te.

I don't like this comparison at all. It disturbs me deeply.

Shearer was still young at Blackburn so they could afford to wait on him, especially as he wasn't on huge money then either.

As for Newcastle, he had already done the business for us and proved that he could come back from injuries and perform at a high level over a good period of time, without missing a lot of games.

If Owen is so confident he will be fit then he should sign a £50,000 a week deal that will be £100,000 if he played an agreed upon number of games. Why wouldn't he?

Merely pointing out the hypocrisy. In the most recent season, Owen started more league games than Martins, and that's fact. He started over 20 games in a row, and that's fact too.

 

Yet you wouldn't dream of criticising Martins for it like you do Owen.

Owen didn't start games because he was injured.

Martins didn't start games, mostly because he was at the ACN, which was out of his control, or he was benched, also out of his control.

For once this isn't even about Owen versus Martins.

It's about the wisdom in giving Owen a new contract when we could invest that money in developing our team further with younger, healthier and more reliable and therefore productive  talent.

I have no problem with Owen. Great player, great character, great professional but just not worth the money he demands considering his injuries in his time with us.

he still hasn't had a good run of fitness.

 

Utter bollocks btw, as I have proved.

 

Missing one game and people like you are straight back on the 'oh Owen's injured all the time' bandwagon. I fully expect him to start against Bolton.

More power to you brother. I admire your optimism.

I'm very optimistic myself, but even I have lost faith in Owen's fitness.

Just one game eh? We'll see I guess.

All I know is, taking all into account, he doesn't warrant a new 4 year deal on big money.

Simple as that.

You'd want rid of Martins too then I take it? Seeing as he started less games than Owen.

Dave are you kidding me?

I'm not talking of one season here. This isn't based on last year. Owen signed a four year deal? And in that 4 years he hasn't had a run of gamesmore than what 10 in a roe or so? And this was only last season!

What the heck does this have to do with Martins anyway? Besides Martins was at the ACN and was benched unfairly by Allardyce once Owen returned. How many games has Oba actually missed out due to injury? Secondly, his contract isn't anywhere near as expensive as Owens. Thirdly he is much younger and therefore is still of greater value going into the future. Owen is about to turn 29 and he is injured a hell of a lot. Seems like a heck of a waste of money to give him another, what, 4 year deal on £100,000 a week. It would be mental.

Come off it Dave.

37 league games since he came here. Its not a good record, in honesty.

 

Certainly isn't. But many of those came in an unbroken stretch up to the end of last season.

 

And about 60 of the 70+ games he has missed were because of that serious injury during the World Cup, and a broken metatarsal. That's just downright unlucky more than anything.

 

Haven't you heard though, these footballers just want to be injured and out of action so they can sit around rather than play the game they love? It's a well known fact.

You guys are jokers.

Awwww ... he's just so unlucky, so that makes everything okay. Lets just keep throwing more oney at him. Heres a brand new £100,000 a week deal. Great idea guys.

You do know these guys get paid in real money right? This isn't a video game you know. This is real mony he is getting from the club and he isn't worth it with his injury troubles and subsequent lack of appearances. The injuries aren't my fault or your fault either are they?

I would much rather let him move on now and get someone else in who doesn't have the same problems. He has been here now for the duration of his contract and he still hasn't had a good run of fitness. There is no reason he should get a new one, and a very expensive one at that!

Time has moved on, there are a lot of players out there who might not have the name "Owen" but who will be far more reliable and productive. Let him have his free move next summer and we can go for an upcoming striker. Our recruitment team are showing they know exactly what they are doing so I have every faith in them.

Why do a third of us think he'll play less than last year then?

Um ... maybe because, despite a fit return to the team at the end of last season, he has been diseased and injured throughout the off season and pre-season and is now set to miss the first game of the season too.

No point selling him now for a pittance though. Not that anyone would be interested. Just get what we can out of him this last season and start making plans for a top striker next summer.

Portsmouth selling Pedro Mendes to Rangers for £3m.

Great pickup for Rangers.

Diarra and Diop in the middle for Pompey then.

Redknapp is so ridiculous.

He's been playing Bouba Diop on the right wing since he went to 4-4-2 after the arrival of Defoe.

Probably looking to put a stop to that mess and play Thomas there instead. Why he won't just give Utakja a run there is beyond me. Yes, he's inconsistent but Diop? Nuts.

Dave, you say he only missed 9 games, which is fair enough, but like Tooj said (holla back Tooj!), he wasn't great in a lot of those games.

This is because after all these continuous injury lay offs it takes him a while to get going again so he might as well not be out there for half of the games anyway.

This was especially irritating when after injury he was thrown straight back into the team ahead of a fitter Martins, because of the Martins is such a "poor finisher" and owen never misses sitters bollocks. Well Owen missed a hell of a lot last season and part of it was due to him being so off form with all the starting and stopping.

Dave, you talk about him making 24 appearances despite the operations, but the fact is that he missed a hell of a lot of the season due to injuries yet again.

 

You didn't read it then.

Maybe I didn't get the figures right, but you were basically saying how he made a number of appearances despite the operations right?

The issue is however that he can't stay the heck out of the operating theatre!

We need another hero guys. This one is clearly broken.

I think it would be crazy to offer him a new deal at this point.

He has already started the season off injured and will be missing the very first game of the new season, which just sets things off on a bad note really. This despite the fact he hasn't been involved all pre-season! It's absolutely tragic. If it isn't a serious injury it's little things that keep him out for a good amount of games anyway.

Dave, you talk about him making 24 appearances despite the operations, but the fact is that he missed a hell of a lot of the season due to injuries yet again. He did well when he returned but we can't get blinded by that. The fact is he is unreliable and as a key member of the team he is costing us a hell of a lot of games.

It's just the same thing all over again and he will soon be turning 29, so why exactly should we be making him a new offer? I think we ought to just agree to have him one more year and let him leave on a free next summer. We can start to plan for a top class replacement next summer, starting from right now, so we aren't caught out unaware.

Don't sleep on my hunches peeps.

I can feel it!

I think we might have just signed both Valero and Trejo!

Watch this space ...

Both young and promising. Very affordable prices. Both played all season in the 4-3-1-2 last year and familiar with Jonas.

I think West Brom are only in for their defender Nunes.

Apparently the price for Burdisso was only 5 million Euros so maybe he is the replacement.

Maybe Keegan just wants some centre backs with a bit more about them. Who Knows?

If we sign Burdisso he is able to play accross the back four, while Colo can do so also, as well as fill in at DM.

Let's be patient. I'm sure there will be some more positive news shortly.

Wish Faye all the best. He was really good for us.

Stoke are going to be one of the most intimidating sides in prem history. Goodness. Do they even have a player under 6 ft 2 anymore?

Something oddly exciting about this. Surely something pretty substantial must be on the horizon now?

Burdisso coming in? Or perhaps some other centre back?

At the very least this is a sure sign that Coloccini will play this weekend right?

Maybe Keegan really wants to give Taylor a good go at this thing and pair him up with Coloccini this season, with Bassong and Cacapa as back up.

Seems ludicrous to me to buy a player many consider to be a world class central defender and shoe horn him into defensive midfield...  Buy a f***ing defensive midfielder if you want a defensive midfielder!

 

Apparently he played a whole season as a defensive midfielder for Depor previously, and still plays there occassionally.

 

Can't wait to see how things pan out. All very confusing at the moment.

 

When?? Where did you hear that?

 

He's certainly played a number of games there, but not for a full season.

 

Played at DM in 2006-2007 apparently.

 

Yes under Joaquin Caparros; they started playing him there after having man-marked Riquelme very effectively in the position, Caparros and Coloccini in the end fell out over this role.

 

During last season when Depor played Barca he played left back to man-mark Messi; Coloccini will be adding alot of versatility to the back line but he won't be playing as a defensive midfielder I wouldnt of thought.  

Cool. Well maybe it was an idea KK was thinking of if we were unable to land other targets for DM.

Personally, I think Colo and Faye could be immense at CB. If we stick with the 4-3-1-2 we could then have more of a deep playmaker in the defensive midfielder role, as Faye and Colo would be so strong at centre back. I would prefer Tiago as a deeper playmaker in the 4-3-1-2 like Pirlo does for AC Milan. Hopefully we could then get a really special attacking midfielder to play behind Oba and Owen.

Seems ludicrous to me to buy a player many consider to be a world class central defender and shoe horn him into defensive midfield...  Buy a f***ing defensive midfielder if you want a defensive midfielder!

 

Apparently he played a whole season as a defensive midfielder for Depor previously, and still plays there occassionally.

 

Can't wait to see how things pan out. All very confusing at the moment.

 

When?? Where did you hear that?

 

He's certainly played a number of games there, but not for a full season.

Played at DM in 2006-2007 apparently.

Seems ludicrous to me to buy a player many consider to be a world class central defender and shoe horn him into defensive midfield...  Buy a f***ing defensive midfielder if you want a defensive midfielder!

Apparently he played a whole season as a defensive midfielder for Depor previously, and still plays there occassionally.

Can't wait to see how things pan out. All very confusing at the moment.

Disclaimer: I am not ITK!

However a bit of juicy gossip nonetheless ...

I've heard (just from a friend in the Newcastle area so not too exciting!) that Coloccini in midfield is a very big possibility as an upgrade on Butt in the defensive midfield position. Other than doing a good job of regaining posession, he apparently distributes the ball very well from there also. Likely that another experienced centre back will be coming in to play alongside Faye/Taylor.

The 4-3-1-2 (diamond) formation will be staying, but rather than have Owen in the "hole" it will be Owen and Martins upfront with a brand new attacking midfielder to play in the "hole", one who can direct the attack and thread balls through to Owen and Martins. Modric was supposed to be the guy apparently  but Aimar, Baptista and now Tiago have all been considered since, amongst others.

Jonas will be on the left of a midfield three, and apparently he played in this position and formation for Mallorca last season and did well there.

So there ... Had a good conversation about all this yesterday and just thought I'd share, as it didn't sound too far-fetched.

With everything in place and everyone available our midfield and attack should look something like this allegedly ...

---------Martins---------Owen----------

-------------------Tiago-------------------

--------Jonas---------------Barton------

-----------------Coloccini-----------------

English bid has been made and is speculated to have come from Liverpool or Tottenham.

However, considering what Oliver said about another Mallorca coming in, it might be him.

Borja Valero is another player in the Xavi Alonso, Tiago Mendes mould so it might make sense if we are not following up interest in Tiago.

http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/futbol-club-ingles-hace-oferta/dasftb/20080813dasdaiftb_32/Tes

Dunno if he'd fancy it here, really. Not convinced by this on a number of counts.

 

Why? Sounds like he enjoyed Chelsea and only left for first-team football. He'd be as good as guaranteed it here, knows he can play in the Premier League and by all accounts is having a shitter at Juve. I can see the logic in it tbh.

Add to that the fact we've managed to agree a loan deal with Juve and our chances are really good.

He can come in this season and if he really doesn't fancy it and things don't go well, he can be allowed to return to Juve, who can then find him another club.

SSN reporting that Mark Hughes has called a press conference for 3:00 pm today.

 

Probably to address the rumours. Already said today that he's not leaving.

Hmmm ... I don't know. Seems a bit much for just addressing some rumours.