KaKa

How does it look like Oliver was right?

Looks like Martins is being made available for the right price.

Dontcha think?

From .couk

 

SAM Allardyce says that Newcastle United have received no offer for striker Obafemi Martins and insists that the Nigerian will remain a Magpies player.

 

The 22-year-old hitman started the season in emphatic fashion, his brace helping rip apart Bolton Wanderers in the opening day 3-1 win at the Reebok Stadium.

 

There had been speculation linking Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United with a move for the former Inter ace in recent days, but Big Sam insists the club is yet to receive any approach for Martins.

 

"There has been speculation about Obafemi Martins every week since I have been at Newcastle and he is still here," said the 52-year-old gaffer.

 

"I've had no contact from any football club either in this country or any other country regarding wanting to activate the clause in his contract.

 

"From that point of view he is still a Newcastle United player.

 

"The only way he wouldn't be a Newcastle United player is if someone activates that clause and nobody has."

 

 

 

You get the feeling he's begging for someone to activate the clause when you read it 

Well I'll be ... looks like Oliver was right!

Talk about making someone available! Looks like there have been enquiries but no one wants to pay the £13 million which activates his clause.

We'll probably end up flogging him for £11 million!

Whatever ... we'd better have someone lined up to come in. I get the feeling there might be plans push Alan Smith further forward in a 4-3-3 if Oba goes.

Nugent has looked woeful. The hype around him was insane. I remember people wanting him instead of Martins!

I had never seen too much of him until the under 21 tournament and he was completely shown up by Lita who looked a far better player. Nugent didn't convince me at all.

Chopra and Keane must be having a right old giggle.

Best avatar, ever. That kid in the red reminds me of someone.

 

As for Yakubu to Everton... they are looking more and more interesting by the transfer.

 

Here's hoping 'Boro splash it on someone utterly toss.

It's Roeder giving his half time team talk at AZ Alkmaar last season.

Osman is doing well on the left, but they could even play Arteta there and slot Pienaar in on the right.

When Baines and Jagielka are fit they will have a back four of Jagielka, Yobo, Lescott and Baines.

I think they are ahead of us at the moment for sure. Hats off to Moyes. The man persevered and he is finally getting some money out of the owners.

Big Sam on SSN saying that no approach has been made, and unless the clause is activated then he remains a Toon player.

That's a weird one!

So Sam doesn't say something along the lines of Newcastle not wanting to lose the player, but instead says no approach has been made and then goes on to remind everyone that should his clause be met then ... hey presto!

Looks like we might be open to letting him leave afterall.

Wow ... that's expensive, but he would slot into that Everton quite brilliantly and so it might well be worth it. Arteta, Johnson, Yakubu, Cahill and Fernandes. Very nice collection of players.

I don't understand the whole notion that 4-3-3 means ugly football! Isn't this what Barcelona play?!

The issue is whether our players can learn to be in the right positions and to make the right runs at the right times, and all importantly to try to keep the ball on the floor rather than resort to playing the long ball.

Now, judging by what has come out so far about the players doing tactical training and even being given homework, as well as reviewing video of previous games together, I am more than happy to wait to see how the 4-3-3 develops and eventually plays out. If Sam feels the players can adapt to the system with a bit of coaching and direction then more power to him.

In conclusion 4-3-3 does not equal ugly football, bad/unwilling footballers do!!!

Redknapp to replace Jol stinks of Souness replacing Robson. Both mid-table managers.

Hmmm ... not so sure about that. Of all the premiership managers, I think I would least like them to get Harry Redknapp. Very underated manager I think, also has an eye for a decent player.

I can't believe they've allowed themselves to get into so much of a mess ... I can't stop laughing 

MJ is always on here telling us how well his club is run and was a particular pain when we suffered through the Souness and Roeder years. What goes around comes around. Tottenham are all over the papers, they've taken over from us, what a mess!!!

All I need is a link to Souness and I might just keel over! 

And maybe even Paul Jewell!!! or David Pleat!!!

:lol:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article2303025.ece

Sorry, I'm having way too much fun with this ... I apologize.

From Ramos to Mark Hughes!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article2303091.ece

Martins, Anelka is bad news, despite how big sam is perceived with these kind of players, i think he is still a player who is a problem!

How is Martins bad news?Not his fault people wanna shoot him!

Still didnt answer my question hows Martins bad news?

 

Read his post s l o w l y.

Yeah, think commas.

Spurs are in a mess ... actually referred to as the new old Newcastle! Not good!

Martyr does best to carry on regardless at Spite Hart Lane

 

Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Correspondent

 

Call it the Newcastle United Syndrome when you sack a manager a few games into the campaign, normally after letting him blow the transfer budget on players that his successor does not fancy. It became almost an annual ritual on Tyneside and we have seen how far it has got Newcastle in terms of trophies.

 

It is a ludicrous way to run any business, but it is preferable to the strategy that Tottenham Hotspur have adopted where they have tried to oust their manager and failed. Martin Jol limps on, knowing that influential members of the board would replace him if they could. That should do wonders for his authority in the dressing-room and his chances of delivering their coveted qualification for the Champions League.

 

Whether it is right to replace Jol is contentious, but the timing stinks, whichever way you look at it. If Spurs had such little faith in their manager that it took only two defeats to push him halfway to the exit, they should have found the courage to face up to it long before the second half of August.

 

It might have looked like brilliant leadership in June. Jol is a decent guy who has done a good job at Spurs, but there are reasons to believe that he has has reached his own limits. Dismissing him on the back of a fifth-place finish and an appearance in the last eight of the Uefa Cup would have looked brutal, but, if Daniel Levy, the chairman, and his fellow directors were convinced that a better manager was out there, they could have acted boldly and decisively.

 

 

Tottenham could pay after jumping the gun on Ramos

The many Spurs fans who like Jol’s style might have questioned the decision, but at least the board would not have looked, as it does now — running around like a headless cockerel. As it stands, the club have turned Jol into a martyr, which may prove even more divisive.

 

Had they acted in June, Spurs would not have needed to approach Juande Ramos just days before the start of the Spanish season. They would not have been forced into ludicrous claims that the club secretary and Paul Kemsley, the vice-chairman, happened to be in the same hotel as Ramos by coincidence.

 

Ramos is now said to be twitching as to whether he should abandon a club who are in the Champions League for one who aspire to join the elite, but require a brilliant manager, their very own Arsène Wenger, to smash through the glass ceiling. A high-class manager might pull it off, but, despite Levy’s claims, a top-four finish is not to be expected just because he has bought Darren Bent for £16.5 million.

 

It leaves Jol to soldier on with an even more hangdog expression than normal. Never mind that the whispers he talked about at the weekend have turned into back-page headlines.

 

He must be thick-skinned, or just desperate to work, to have put his name to yesterday’s statement given the events of the past few days. He has been briefed against from within and it is hard to see how he can look some of the hierarchy in the eye. It is particularly hard to see how he will continue to work with Daniel Comolli, the sporting director, with whom he already had a strained relationship. It could be argued that Jol has been a sacking waiting to happen from the day that Frank Arnesen was lured away to Chelsea and replaced by Comolli. Jol not always had much say in which players were purchased, something that was well known in the dressing-room and therefore bound to erode the manager’s authority.

 

As Jol has come under increasing strain, his relationship with some of his squad has become distant and increasingly fractious. That has weakened his position, but if three points from three games could get you the sack, Sir Alex Ferguson would be looking for a job. Jol was on the brink because at least one person upstairs wanted his own man in charge and saw an opportunity. There are parallels with Claudio Ranieri’s ousting at Chelsea a few years ago, because, like Jol, the Italian was popular among fans and media. Like Jol, people sympathised with the way he was treated by a club who announced his departure in a series of clumsy leaks.

 

It was badly handled, but replacing Ranieri with José Mourinho was the best day’s work that Chelsea did. The nightmare for Comolli and Levy is that, as it stands, they do not appear to have a Mourinho up their sleeves.

 

The decision-makers calling the shots in the corridors at White Hart Lane

 

Daniel Levy, age 45 Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur and managing director of ENIC Group

 

Levy, a lifelong Tottenham supporter, is the only Premier League chairman who has a first-class honours degree from Cambridge University — in economics. He replaced Sir Alan Sugar as chairman at White Hart Lane in February 2001. About 60 per cent of Tottenham shares are owned by ENIC International, a leisure group controlled by the families of Levy and Joe Lewis, the billionaire currency trader who is based in the Bahamas. According to the Tottenham website, Levy has particular experience in corporate finance and retail management.

 

Paul Kemsley, age 39 Vice-chairman of Tottenham and chief executive of Rock Investments

 

Kemsley is a millionaire who has made most of his fortune from property. The carpet in his London office is navy blue and white — Tottenham’s colours — and there are signed shirts on the walls. Kemsley is a friend of Sugar and has been on the BBC programme The Apprentice with the former Spurs chairman. Rock Investments has a £500 million portfolio of properties.

 

Damien Comolli, age 35 Sporting director

 

Comolli replaced Frank Arnesen at White Hart Lane after the Dane controversially moved to Chelsea two years ago. The 35-year-old made his name as a scout for Arsenal, where he has been credited as discovering Kolo Touré among others, before becoming the sporting director of Saint-Etienne in 2004. His brief at Tottenham was to find the stars of tomorrow but signings such as Didier Zokora, Benoit Assou-Ekottu and Ricardo Rocha have failed to make an impact.

 

KAVEH SOLHEKOL

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/tottenham/article2303092.ece

I disagree, part of the point is getting players used to playing in different systems and in a different way, against the sort of teams and systems they would not encounter in the premiership. Ideally the under 21 manager should specialise in preparing players for the styles and approaches foreign teams bring. that means when they reach the senior squad, they aren't totally out of their depth and don't know how to cope with the fact that even poor foreign teams have better technique than our "stars" and can keep possession better and pass rings around us. we've saw under sven and mcclaren that we still haven't learned to adapt.

The things you mention are things that they should be taught at their clubs. I think the general coaching of youngsters needs to be improved from as young an age as possible. These players are with their national teams for such short periods that it woul dbe impossible to learn all of the stuff you are talking about.

As a non-English man, I must say I think England's future looks bright. I really think the players coming through look promising. I'm not sure if the foreigners ruining future English talent malarchy is valid.

As for Pearce, he might not be tactically great, but maybe at this age it is more important that these players learn to approach playing for their country the right way. They can get their tactical knowledge from their clubs. You only have to look at the current 1st team to realise that talent alone isn't enough. Those guys just lack the right mental strength and approach.

Derbyshire seems to be some player.

 

Impressed every time I've seen him.

Interesting comment. Doesn't really stand out unless he's scoring goals. Certainly looks a good goalscorer. More a poacher, Owen type of striker.

This just doesn't make sense thinking about it ...

Fergusons strikers are struggling to score at the moment so he needs a guaranteed finisher. If he has a choice between Owen and Martins surely he goes for Owen right? As good a player as Martins is, i'm not sure he is the finisher they need.

Owen is different to the other types of strikers they have, as he is a poacher and finisher, and he comes at a cheaper price. Also, when everyone else in the Man U squad is fit he can be rotated which will probably help avoid his repetitive injuries.

They need someone in the box and depending on what happens on Wednesday against Germany, I think they might bid for Owen rather than Martins.

I wouldn't be too worried or concerned as long as there is a plan in place to move for a replacement quickly as we would be netting £13 million.

However, we haven't exactly been quick in tying up deals this summer so it would be a worry for me.

Tell you what is really frustrating though ... Sam it appears, definitely wants to play the 4-3-3 and because Owen was injured throughout our pre-season we never got a chance to see if he could function in this setup. If we knew for sure that he could be productive as a 4-3-3 wide striker, then selling Martins wouldn't be that much of a disaster as we could easily replace him with Diouf, and not even necessarily Anelka. If we were confident Owen could score regularly in a 4-3-3 I wouold be more than happy with an Owen, Viduka and Diouf front line.

Problem is of course no one knows what Owen's role is going to be and it is making things more complex than it would have been.

I can't believe we could end up keeping Owen and losing Martins ... I would be distraught!

If this happens we absolutely have to go for Anelka.

Wow ... Diouf it is then.

Alan Oliver is going to love this ...

I wish they would just take Owen instead for goodness sake!

Owen is a luxury in modern day football and it's a fact. Good player but it is shocking how little he gives to the team outside of being a goal poacher, albeit a darn good one.

More evidence that Allardyce is a strong believer in the 4-3-3. Is it likely he will sacrifice his beliefs all for the sake of one man? If so is this the right thing to do?

I think Owen will try to be adapted into the 4-3-3 as a wide striker and if it doesn't work he will probably be gone.

Diouf isn't that bad a guy. He had his problems but he has worked his way through them. Right now he is just a bit eccentric on and off the pitch.

You only have to look at how well he gets on with his teammates and the Bolton supporters to know that. I would be happy to have him in our team, he is one of those that would be a fan favourite too. He is one of those players you love when he is on your team, but hate when he isn't.

If you guys want creativity he is definitely a player that makes things happen in the attacking third. If Martins/Owens leaves he would make sense to me, otherwise, there really wouldn't be any where we could fit him into so it should be interesting to see how it works out.

I would imagine that if he has been made available then Sam would definitely be interested. If Sam is determined to play the 4-3-3 then he would be a key addition as his skills set suit the system more than any of our current smaller, quicker strikers.

I thinkk I know what's going on ...

Basically, all of the foreigners who have been trying to buy the club from Shepherd and his clan all of these years are now trying it on again. They didn't have a chance because Shepherd was anti aliens and was holding out for the "Geordie Abramovich" and so now he's gone, they're trying to get the club off Mike Ashley who doesn't see himself as the Geordie defender of the universe.

I don't expect MA to budge though. Especially not at such an awkward time.

I think it'd be worth trying

 

------Geremi------

Barton------Emre

 

for home games at least, it'll give us a lot of options in midfield. Might be worth bringing in Butt or Smith for Emre away from home, where he seems to go missing more often than not. For the time being, with both Barton and Emre out I'd be looking to get Enrique in asap and use Zog through the middle to give us some much needed drive. Don't know what option to vote for though!

Agree completely. I think we could still use the 4-3-3 at home but with Barton and Emre in the midfield three. This would make a massive differnce I think. Also, when our new fullbakcs (enrique and Belleti hopefully!) are up to speed this will also offer additional width and attacking play, as both are good at getting forward.