KaKa

That was a dirty trick Midds! You'll pay for it too. You must reopen my thread if he signs agreed? Meanwhile I'll get in touch with my Serbian contacts to make sure it happens. *edit: You'll choke on that dollar note ChezGiven you just wait ...

Yes, yes we do. Daves not about tomake the magic happen though Stay away Dave You'll only have to open it back up when we sign him anyway

I counted only 324205 ... and they were clogged up with too much random stuff anyway. Besides I think this player deserves his own thread and a proper discussion on his abilities. We really ought to bring him in.

Don't be surprised if he comes in as our left-back. He was linked with Man City today but I will be surprised if Sam isn't snooping around him as well. Very similar to Heinze. Tough left-back who can also play as a centre-back also. The only thing is that he is 31, but he was still effective and impressive for Sevilla last season. Contract is up next summer so he won't cost a lot of money either. If Sam doesn't have an eye on him I will be dissapointed. Make it happen Sammy

The thing about Emre is it really does appear as though he just isn't up to playing in midfield in the premiership as he just doesn't deal well with the physical nature of the game. He is either going to pick up an injury or he is going to let a bad challenge on him get under his skin and then he just spends the whole game having a go at the ref or the opposition whilst not performing very well for us! A real shame because he has quality but probably best suited to Spain and Italy.

He's not a striker. All the more reason why he's likely to be the player Oliver is talking about. He can play as a second striker too.

Oliver links us with another Asian striker in his article today. Says we are not interested in Zheng Zhi but another Asian striker. Nakamura?

Barzagli? or Chivu? perhaps.

If we are transitioning to a 4-3-3 we will clearly need more options for central midfield so it is no surprise we are looking at someone like Fletcher. Allardyce also seems to prefer prem experienced players initially also, so it would make some sense. I for one am relieved that we are not just looking at defenders because I am not convinced the squad on the whole is good enough yet.

Business wise would mean a lot of fan interest from China. Football wise would be additional depth for the team which is never a bad thing. Would not play a major part unless he really came in and impressed a lot. No harm in it. What was his position again? attacking midfield/striker right?

Interesting. I know a lot of people probably won't be too enthused about this if true, but as long as we get the players in who the manager wants then I will be happy. It is then up to him to get the best out of them.

Sam heaping praise on Zoggy calling him probably the best LB at the club confirm were not in for any LBs this summer for me, and that we've got less cash (if any at all) than we all hoped for. Nah ... I think it means we will only be going after one rather than two LB's. It is also a message to Babayaro to let him know he doesn't need to rush back or anything as he won't be playing much.

"Newcastle have stepped aside to allow Sunderland to sign Baines after Allardyce discovered he had not been allowed onto a rollercoaster ride at a popular theme park due to his diminutive stature ... "

Dude how old are you? At least he is letting us know why things are not progressing as quickly as we would all like. It's good to know that we are at leastactively pursuing people and have the resources to do so. Would you rather hear the manager is out scouting players like Roeder was doing? Or hear that we are about to sign someone only to find out we aren't and have in fact brought in Sibierski and Bernard instead? Relax and find something else to do for a little bit. Any news will most likely be coming through at around 1:00pm when the evening chronicle articles come through. Dude are you retarded? Well we will at least here something. We can then decide how true it is. It's where we have heard about most of our targets initially isn't it? We shoukld at least have an update on whether or not the Baptista and Hangeland talk is "wide of the mark" or not.

Well as long as it doesn't actually look shit then there won't be a problem. Patience.

Dude how old are you? At least he is letting us know why things are not progressing as quickly as we would all like. It's good to know that we are at leastactively pursuing people and have the resources to do so. Would you rather hear the manager is out scouting players like Roeder was doing? Or hear that we are about to sign someone only to find out we aren't and have in fact brought in Sibierski and Bernard instead? Relax and find something else to do for a little bit. Any news will most likely be coming through at around 1:00pm when the evening chronicle articles come through.

Because the manager was using a friendly match to experiment with a different formation. Calm down. Goodness grief Moe-Ali calm down indeed. I doubt he will be in the first team in that position. Just how he will be used when he is brought off the bench which he should be this season as he is getting on a bit.

Allardyce regarding recent transfer targets ... http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/journalsport/tm_headline=central-issues%26method=full%26objectid=19499418%26siteid=50081-name_page.html looks like it's not just down to the owners not backing Sam. I think we'll be fine. Just have to keep working our way through the list of players we could possibly bring in. Eight new players would be great for the squad on the whole!

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/journalsport/tm_headline=carlisle-united-1-newcastle-united-1%26method=full%26objectid=19499461%26siteid=50081-name_page.html Interesting stuff. Doesn't look like Nobby will be used as a right back or right winger this season. Looks like he will be more likely to provide depth for us in the centre. Also, I think it is very likely we will be seeing a front three of Owen, Viduka and Martins this season, in a 4-3-3 that actually features three out and out strikers. Hence the fullbacks (Carr and N'Zogbia on Saturday) being encouraged to attack so as to provide the width for the team, as opposed to the two wide strikers playing out wide. Could be exciting. However we will need to upgrade the full back positions for this to really work. We will need two quality full backs who can really get up and down the pitch.

So yesterday we played a bit of 4-3-3 with Martins, Carroll and Dyer up top. Anyone who went to the game want to give us an account of how Martins did on the left hand side of the 4-3-3. Sounded like he had a good game and was a threat can anyone confirm this at all?

This is such a silly comment. It has nothing to do with what league he plays in does it! It's about the individual's attirbutes as a player. If Sam has been watching him and thinks he can play in the premiership then he has every right to bring him in especially as at £2.3 million it would not be a huge risk. Ben Haim was bought fromn the freakin' Israeli league and look at the player he turned out to be. You just cannot right of a player until you have seem them play for the team.The guy is an international player and he has champions league experience which is a lot more than what a lot of our other defenders have as far as experience goes!

Excellent point, and exactly how I feel. The Arsenal game was too intricate and over-elaborate for him which is why he struggled there. He needs to play a much more direct game. As for him talking about the weather and the long-ball stuff. This was just after he had returned to Spain and Arsenal had said they wouldn't be pursuing their interest. I believe it was more out of embarrassment/dissapointment that they didn't want him that he said these things. The fact that he now says he would only play in Spain or England and actually acknowledges Newcastle as a viable option let's you know that he didn' t really have a problem with the conditions over here.

I really doubt he is a poor player, and I'm sure he will be a similar signing to Rozehnal who has looked promising so far. Hangeland is a Denmark international and has had regular champions league football with Copenhagen so he has played on the big stage and has good experience. For £2.3 million I will be happy to see him come in. I bet people thought Ben Haim was a poor signing too when he joined Bolton ... let's give it a chance guys.

I think this week will be a good one for us guys, as far as signings go. If we don't make any siginings this week then it will be a bit worrying.

Hit the nail on the head. Put him in a 4-3-3 as an attacking midfielder and he would be really effective. Anyone who saw him play as an attacking midfielder for Brazil in the Copa America would have seen this.