KaKa

We will play a 3-5-2 just like Allardyce did at Bolton before switching to a 4-4-2.

Rozehnal, (Taylor/Hyypia) & Beye will be the three centre backs.

The only way we might veer from this formation is if both Owens and Martins leave. In which case Sam might just get in personnel for a 4-3-3.

3-5-2 it is you heard it here first. Remember KaKa told you so when it goes down.

another unambitious signing if you ask me, that is unless he is alright with being merely a squad player. butt is a bette dcm and nobby a better rb.

 

 

Nobby a better right-back???

You keep telling yourself that.

Nobby was only applauded so much last year due to carr's wothlessness. Let's not fool ourselves Nobby was very average and didn't instill much confidence at all.

Hope we get him. I wanted him here last summer. I would be absolutely chuffed if we end June having signed Rozenhal, Geremi, Barton and Viduka for a total of £8.8m

Minus Parker who we sold for £7 million.

So would actually be £1.8 million.

Outrageously good business.

Geremi as right-wing back in the 3-5-2 ... I like it.

What a depressing thread ... news that we've got a bit of money and people want us to go splashing out on name players, many of whom we are not certain will even perform in the premiership and who will all be coming because they heard our owner is a billionaire and has money to throw around.

 

It's no wonder Freddy always went for the trophy signing. Looks like he knows us better than we know ourselves.

 

Why don't we let Allardyce bring in players who he knows are good and will get us to where we want to go. he has his techniques for scouting players and it isn't based on how high their transfer price is, so let him do his thing. What's to say Rozehnal won't be the next Vidic, or Beye the next Gallas??? 

 

Wenger has won the Premiership by buying players who were considered nobodies or cheapies but he knew their abilities and he went for them for that reason. Why not let Allardyce do the same thing. He is obviously going for players he knows and players he is confident will get the job done for us.

 

This is not a video game people. I for one am very happy to have a manger who is smart enough to know that a good player isn't necessarily one with a big name and a big price tag. I will continue looking forward to Sam bringing in players who he is confident in regardless of their name or price tag.

 

What a totally patronizing post tbh.

 

 

No offence Big Bird ... it's just that I don't think it makes sense to say that we have all this money therefore we should make a trophy signing.

If the manager identifies a player that he feels he absolutely must have and this player costs £15 million then fine let's go for it, but if this player costs £2 million then that's fine too. It doesn't make sense to me for the manager to go out of his way to sign a big player just to make a statement.

Every transfer is a gamble, even the supposed sure things (i.e. Duff) so a manager, in my opinion, should only ever go for a player who they know very well and who they know will contribute to their plan for the team. Irregardless of if this player costs £500,000 or £50 million. I think it is unfair to critisize Allardyce for buying 'Bolton players' whatever that means. These so called 'Bolton players' have been whipping our behinds for years now!

If bolton had enough money to build a full squad of these type of players rather than just a first team, they would have been in the champions league by now. I will be more than happy if Sam could build a full squad of players of the quality he has pursued so far.

What a depressing thread ... news that we've got a bit of money and people want us to go splashing out on name players, many of whom we are not certain will even perform in the premiership and who will all be coming because they heard our owner is a billionaire and has money to throw around.

It's no wonder Freddy always went for the trophy signing. Looks like he knows us better than we know ourselves.

Why don't we let Allardyce bring in players who he knows are good and will get us to where we want to go. he has his techniques for scouting players and it isn't based on how high their transfer price is, so let him do his thing. What's to say Rozehnal won't be the next Vidic, or Beye the next Gallas??? 

Wenger has won the Premiership by buying players who were considered nobodies or cheapies but he knew their abilities and he went for them for that reason. Why not let Allardyce do the same thing. He is obviously going for players he knows and players he is confident will get the job done for us.

This is not a video game people. I for one am very happy to have a manger who is smart enough to know that a good player isn't necessarily one with a big name and a big price tag. I will continue looking forward to Sam bringing in players who he is confident in regardless of their name or price tag.

Why is everyone still shitting themselves about something going wrong?

 

Cause this is newcastle united we EXPECT something to go wrong Dave come on now.

 

f****** hell not at this stage.

Bloody hell people on here need to calm down seriously.

The guy has been signed.

In my opinion Beye will play centre back for us. He will be the third of a back three with Rozenhal and Taylor. Hyypia will serve as backup and if the Gods are particularly unfavourable to us Ramage will play a backup role too.

Sam has an album out?

Why of course, he had me design the cover 

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9996/samandmikesalbumgm3.png

 

 

Quality.

Rozehnal will be playing in a 3-5-2 alongside two other centre backs so he will be fine. His mobility will be key as he will be one of the two centre backs playing on the outside and so his mobility will be vital as on counter attacks he might sometimes have to pick up the left-back/right-back. We will have a beast to play in the middle of the back three who will be more physical.

KaKa, I think you have over analysed the Chronicle article.

 

It is basically Oliver reciting his Arsenal ITKness, and mentioning that Owen has a delayed return to training (common practice for internationals), before announcing the bleeding obvious fact that we wont be signing any more strikers unless one of our current batch leave.

 

Owen will be here next season, banging in the goals that will put us in potential title race by next February.

Well I certainly wasn't stating it as fact, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss the possibility of the scenario I mentioned. That scenario was the first thing that came to mind when I read the article.

You might indeed be right though and it will be very interesting to see what happens in the next week, prior to his return to training.

With the compo deal working out at 10 million, he now owes us nothing

 

Personally this is the time he needs to come out and put the speculation to bed.

 

If he dosnt then i would be quite happy to see him go for his release clause price.

 

Happy if he stays, happy if he goes

Good point about the compo deal. Definitely would make it easier for him to leave, as you say it would remove some of the guilt he would no doubt be feeling.

Could you imagine his press conference if he did join another club though?

Reporter: "So Michael ... a message for the Newcastle fans?"

Could get pretty ugly.

Something might very well be in the works as it appears the Alan Smith story was indeed true. I think Owen might be going the other way, and if anything we will probably be receivng the £3.5 million along with Smith for little Micky.

 

That deal would equate to something less than Owen's release clause tbh. If we're going to sell him, just sell him.

Hmmm ... well I guess I was thinking along the lines of Borough's supposed £6million bid for him. That added to the £3.5million would be £9.5million.

However you might be right. We don't know if that £6 million Borough bid was even legit.

Some very interesting info in the chronicle today ...

Owen pretty much appears to have a week to manufacture a move away, as Oliver says that if he returns to training next Friday then he will pretty much be certain to stay next season. He has been given a special pardon apparently so he doesn't have to come back to training with everyone else at the start of the week.

Something fishy going on here. I think he might be close to a move which is why he has delayed his return to training. I think by next Friday he might very well be gone.

According to Mr. Oliver we are indeed interested in Alan Smith if Owen or Martins leaves! He also says that Alan Smith has already turned down Borough.

Something might very well be in the works as it appears the Alan Smith story was indeed true. I think Owen might be going the other way, and if anything we will probably be receivng the £3.5 million along with Smith for little Micky.

*A lot of this is speculation I know, but just my feelings on the situation which I think might be worth discussing. So take a deep breath before responding. Thanks.

He really needs to sort out his fitness though. The guy does get injured a lot. He also always looks like he has been seriously injured even when he hasn't, whcih is very annoying as it leaves you on tenterhooks.

We will definitely need a promising midfielder on our bench who could step in everytime Emre is hurt. Boateng for the supposed £1 million would be good.

Well so I was told this Monday and this Wednesday. I know his uncle.

If this is indeed true it might mean that Owen is going the other way.

I personally thought Alan Smith was a possibility as Mr. Oliver didn't exactly deny it last week. Instead he said something very vague ... along the lines of Newcastle being surprised by the article.

he better start performing then.

Exactly!

Heres a good little article which talks about Diarra's history. Was written while he was still at Lens.

French Focus: Alou Diarra (Lens)

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Away from the fanfare surrounding the international returns of Zinedine Zidane and co., an interesting subplot was unfolding in France Coach Raymond Domenech's squad to face the Ivory Coast in August 2005. The under-pressure tactician had been a fierce advocate of his young, Ligue 1-dominated teams back when he was struggling to replace the old guard, but he gave little indication of knowing who his best players were. Suddenly, with Zizou and Claude Makelele taking two prized midfield squad places, Domenech was forced to show his hand.

 

 

Paris Saint-Germain pair Jérôme Rothen and Vikash Dhorasoo made the cut as expected, but there was nothing at all predicatable about Lens midfielder Alou Diarra jumping the queue ahead of Benoît Pedretti and Rio Mavuba. Relatively unknown in his homeland – or anywhere else for that matter – the tall and athletic ball-winner has nonetheless had admirers from all over the continent since he began his career with Louhans-Cuiseaux in 1999-2000.

 

 

A mere three games later, the 18-year-old Diarra was scooped up out of Ligue 2 by Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. He didn't manage to get a game for Bayern in two years, but he shone for France at the World Youth Championship in 2001 and Liverpool boss Gérard Houllier brought him to Anfield on a five-year contract in 2002. Yet again, however, Diarra found himself away from the action as the Reds farmed him out on loan to Le Havre. A season later, they sent him to Bastia, and his prospects did not change when Rafael Benitez replaced Houllier in 2004. The Spaniard reaffirmed the club's faith in him as a long-term investment, but a third-straight loan deal was cobbled together with Lens.

 

 

Many players would have struggled with the enforced, nomadic lifestyle - and the feeling not so much of having been put on ice but cryogenically frozen. Diarra is not one of them, though. "Actually, my journey through so many different stages has given me lots of experience," he says. "It's helped me to be competitive, ready to rise to any challenge." It also taught him to appreciate loyalty, and when Lens fought to hold on to him at the end of the 2004-05 season, it was hard to say no. He had been a revelation at the Stade Félix-Bollaert, even captaining the side on five occasions, and after Liverpool's best attempts to lure him back fell on deaf ears, he signed a four-year deal with Les Sang et Or.

 

 

Diarra admits he had the World Cup on his mind as well: "Lens are the club that helped me become an international, so it was a logical choice. I'm definitely thinking about Germany and the France team has now become a real objective for me. I'm going to try and make myself a regular." That's quite a statement from someone who admitted to being as surprised as everyone else when Domenech called him up to his first France squad less than a year earlier: "I really didn't expect it, I thought I'd need at least a good year with my club first."

 

 

Mavuba got the nod ahead of him to face Bosnia on that occasion, but he didn't stray far from Domenech's mind and eventually made a solid debut as a substitute in the World Cup qualifier against Ireland in October 2004 – a game in which Mavuba suffered badly. By the time France travelled to Tel Aviv for another tense qualifier in March 2005, Diarra was in the first eleven and winning plaudits for his no-nonsense physical display.

 

 

"Domenech's the Coach who knows me the best, so I'm very pleased he gave me a chance," he adds, and it's true that he had been ever-present in the former Lyon boss's Under-21 side from 2001 onwards. In fact, Domenech has referred to him as "Vieira's twin" in the past, on account of his long legs and bursts of acceleration, and it is a comparison Diarra relishes. "Being likened to him isn't hard to live with at all, it's just flattering. Patrick's the best in the world in his position and I've learnt so much from just watching him in training. He's also given me good advise about controlling my anger, which is something I know I still need to improve."

 

http://www.channel4.com/sport/french_football/focus/diarraalou.html

 

A Liverpool fans take on his performance while on loan at Lens ...

Having sat up all night to watch the latest Grid Iron offering "Ordinary Bowl" XXXIX and being bored shitless, I just thought I'd have one quick shufty at the Sky TV guide before retiring.

 

Channel 4 3.30 - 5.15 Paris SG vs Lens

 

Didn't sound worth staying up for until I remembered our very own ALOU DIARRA out on loan to Lens.

 

What I can tell you is this fella is a giant. Strong in the tackle, powerful in the air, he dominated the middle of the park throughout. He is more of a defensive midfield player akin to Didi rather than a Stevie G or Alonso type of player. His distribution was faultless on the night, picking out selective short passes rather than 40 yarders a la the other two.

 

He looked like the ideal replacement or understudy to Didi. He continually won all the high balls in the middle of the park and was also a good defender of corners, where he picked up the PSG centre half. But the highlight of his ariel display was the bullet header with which he opened the scoring tonight, rolling away from his marker and bulleting one in from the back post.

 

He put in the highest amount of tackles on the night and often left his mark on the opposition. No surprise really that he eventually was booked for ONE mistimed tackle. He broke up wave after wave of PSG attacks and always found a player of his own. Looking at his game he is likely to pick up at least 10 yellows a season, due to the amount of tackles he makes in a game, but never looked like getting a red as his game does not include cynical challenges.

 

I find it strange that he has not been made part of our squad so far as wherever he has played (Le Havre, Bastia and now Lens), he has featured in the majority of games. This season for instance he has started 22 out of 25 league games.

 

I only hope that he is given an opportunity to play for us before his contract runs out, which I believe is in 2007. Sadly, I think we'll see him in a French shirt before we ever see him don the Liverpool Red. After tonight's performance it will come as no surprise to me if he is selected for his national side in the friendlies this week.

 

I have never been a big admirer of the French League, but tonight I had my eyes opened, where I watched a game played nigh on twice the pace of current Premier League games watched and our lad was still running strong at the finish.

 

Alou Diarra has a big future in the game, I can only hope he has one with us. Keep yer eye out for future Lens games or French International games, where I am sure he will feature again very soon.

 

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/article.php?id=816426

 

Sounds like a beast to me!

Cisse at Auxerre = Yes

Cisse at Liverpool = No

 

So he's been s*** in the past when he's played in the Premiership then, yes?

 

Bit unfair to judge how well a player does in the premiership by looking at their time at one club...

Especially as the said club put him out on the wing all the time. His goal scoring record whenever he has been played up top has been very good.

I hope he ends up somewhere in the premiership and he is played as a striker. It would be interesting to see how it works out.

Cisse has the technique and control of an elephant

 

And he would still score more goals than Bellamy could ever dream of scoring. If Owen leaves we need a goal scorer not someone who runs around and looks pretty doing so.

 

Cisse will score more goals if he is played upfront alongside someone with the technique and stature of Viduka.

 

 

First Koumas, now Cisse.

 

You really do rate some very shoddy players highly tbh.

 

I'd rather have him over Bellamy if we are playing 2 upfront, especially as he would be playing with Viduka upfront. Think Cisse alongside Viduka would score more than Bellamy alongside Viduka.

 

That's all I'm saying really.

 

Baggio does have a point though, if Sam intends to switch to a 4-3-3 then Bellamy would make more sense as I have always thought his ideal position is as a wide forward in a 4-3-3 if he can be convinced to play in this position he would be dynamite.

 

Only way we'll be playing 4-4-2 next season is if Owen is still here.

 

And Bellamy won't need convincing to play on the right, especially in a 4-3-3. Only reason he spat his dummy out last time was that it was plain as day that Kluivert and Shearer were absolutely abysmal up front together and everybody could see how much better we were when Bellamy was up there, including Bellers himself.

 

Under Allardyce he wouldn't have to deal with the s*** Souness put him through.

I was thinking 3-5-2 when I spoke about two upfront by the way. I'm not sure we were ever going to play a 4-4-2 under Allardyce.

Cisse has the technique and control of an elephant

 

And he would still score more goals than Bellamy could ever dream of scoring. If Owen leaves we need a goal scorer not someone who runs around and looks pretty doing so.

 

Cisse will score more goals if he is played upfront alongside someone with the technique and stature of Viduka.

 

 

First Koumas, now Cisse.

 

You really do rate some very shoddy players highly tbh.

I'd rather have him over Bellamy if we are playing 2 upfront, especially as he would be playing with Viduka upfront. Think Cisse alongside Viduka would score more than Bellamy alongside Viduka.

That's all I'm saying really.

Baggio does have a point though, if Sam intends to switch to a 4-3-3 then Bellamy would make more sense as I have always thought his ideal position is as a wide forward in a 4-3-3 if he can be convinced to play in this position he would be dynamite.

Cisse has the technique and control of an elephant

And he would still score more goals than Bellamy could ever dream of scoring. If Owen leaves we need a goal scorer not someone who runs around and looks pretty doing so.

Cisse will score more goals if he is played upfront alongside someone with the technique and stature of Viduka.

Tell him to forget about Bellamy and get Cisse in instead. Cisse will score far more goals if he is used as a centre forward, especially alongside a target man like Viduka.

It would make a lot more sense if we went for Riise and Cisse in my opinion. I would have Cisse over Bellamy.

Cisse will score more goals if he is played up front with another striker who is a target man (i.e. Viduka), and not on the wing as he was played at Liverpool.

Speaking to a PSG fan he said he can do better than us

ouch!