KaKa

Rubbish. Deco ain't got nothing on Laryea Kingston right? LR did confirm some weeks later that we did bid for him. Deco is a great player, but sadly these reports are wide of the mark I fear. If they weren't I'd be the first to congratulate our negotiating team. It is clear when building a global brand that one route is to get players of other nationalities and sentimental followings in other countries to raise the profile of the club and Deco fits the bill. However it is my understanding that Barca want to keep him for another year. Time will tell. I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Just messing with you. Laryea would have been a good addition for us. Regarding Deco though where would he play if Eto'o stays at Barca with Henry which is very likely. I magine there would then only be two available centre midfield spots as Henry and Eto'o would be upfront with Messi and Ronaldinho wide. Barca have just brought in Yaya and imagine he will be playing in the first team and I doubt Xavi would be dropped. Could certainly see Deco being allowed to leave this year.

Rubbish. Deco ain't got nothing on Laryea Kingston right?

More likely to sign Silvestre to be honest. Sigh ...

It's difficult for him as he's got a large chunk of humble pie lodged in his throat at the moment. I'll be expecting more from him after he's swallowed it.

Yeah, I agree but the Deco stuff certainly isn't. I wonder if this means that we have been discussing Deco with Barcelona all along and therefore what does this mean regarding Edmilson and Gudjohnsen? Was there really ever any interest I wonder?

You know how wikipedia works, right? Well Mr. Verlaine, I guess the Deco move isn't looking as ridiculous as you claimed it would be now is it! O ye of little faith! If we sign Deco I'll be expecting an apology considerign the abuse you sent my way. As alex will tell you, I fully intended to offer an apology if it happened, even though your prediction was nothing more than a fluke. Doesn't stop you from being a s*** poster, btw, which was my point earlier. It wasn't a prediction though was it. My initial thread was about Deco being worth a bid, but you went on as though it would be impossible for us to sign him, and you were rather harsh and you hurt my feelings (sob). Seriously though, this was always likely with Big Sam at the helm as he has always done this (Hierro and Campo particularly!) and considering that we can afford to pay this players wages it isn't that surprising. I would imgaine Deco would want to play in the premiership and as none of the top four seem to have space in their squads for him it is not so surprising. Sam can promise to build the team around his creative play, Owen would be an attraction as he has a top striker Deco can create chances for, Newcastle does have a history of being in Europe and Deco would be aware of this and so we are not completely unknown to him. Excellent move very happy. Don't forget Deco turns 30 this year too, which isn't that old at all.

You know how wikipedia works, right? Well Mr. Verlaine, I guess the Deco move isn't looking as ridiculous as you claimed it would be now is it! O ye of little faith! If we sign Deco I'll be expecting an apology considerign the abuse you sent my way.

Another thing ... both these players would fit into our team if they were played just behind the front two. The 3-5-2 has been mentioned a lot recently and I think it would work in a 3-5-2 lineup. For example ... -----------------------------------Given-------------------------------------- ----------------Beye-------------Taylor------------Rozehnal-------------- ----------------------Barton-------------------Diarra------------------------ ------Geremi------------------------------------------------------Bridge----- ----------------------------------Raul/Deco------------------------------------ --------------------------Owen-------------Viduka----------------------------

ha ha ha ha ha ha Whatever pal! Aren't you going to feel stupid if we signed Deco/Raul. I'm still not sure why people think this is so impossible. these guys are both 30 this year, which is old but certainly not ancient. Definitely both got a couple more seasons in them at the least. They are both the same age as Henry. Both Deco and Raul have had a lot of success and have played in enough big games to last them a lifetime, I'm not sure it would be that unexpected for them to come to a club like Newcastle for a different type of challenge as they wind down their careers. People keep saying they would have better options but I'm not sure which of the top clubs would really go for these guys. Both Barcelona and Madrid are clearly going in different directions now as they are trying to get younger. If this is indeed true I doubt it is because Ashley wants them. It will be because Sam does. He's done it before with the likes of Djorkaeff, Okocha, Hierro and Campo. With both Hierro and Campo coming from Real Madrid. All these players were great players for Sam at Bolton and certainly didn't go there for one last big payday. If Sam could pull of these moves at Bolton I'm sure he will be able to do the same at Newcastle.

The SUN !!!! The Sun is light years ahead of other tabloids like The Mirror when it comes to accuracy over rumours. Typical of Wenger to try and negotiate a better price even thougfh the release fee is iron clad. Good test of Ashley's business acumen this. Can't see him letting a valuable asset go for less than it's worth. We have to be strong about this if this is true. If they insist on paying less than we should insist on taking one of their top players off them. Problem is I can't think of any of their players that would work for us, who would actually want to come to us. Maybe Flamini? Bendtner would only hinder Carroll ... this pretty much sucks if true. Eidur would soften the blow though. Arsenal must be getting rid of one of their strikers surely? Or perhaps moving one into midfield? The top four are really going to be ridiculously tough to beat next season.

Aaah I see. Gotcha.

Fair enough. However, this doesn't apply with Riquelme though. He is an established player already. Besides every player brought in from abroad will have some element of risk. If Man U gave up on every foreigner after Veron then there would be no Ronaldo.

Me neither. Considering midfielders like Gavin Mccann, Reo Coker, Jenas and Nigel Quashie play in this league he'd play off them off the park. Didn't he also give England, who feature the best of the premiership, absolute hell in the friendly against Argentina. I recall him bossing the whole match and leaving Ledley King running around in circles chasing his tail. I think that was one of the games where King was playing in the holding role. I remember a game not long after we signed Viana where he came on at half-time, and passed England off the pitch. Remember in commentary after yet another pin-point cross-field pass, Gray turning to Tyler, "That wasn't Viana again was it?", Tyler saying, "Yes it was", to which Gray replied, "What a player". Look how that turned out! I honestly think Viana was a case of mismanagement rather than him being a poor player. Also Riquelme has proved himself at every level. Viana was very much a player who we saw potential in.

Me neither. Considering midfielders like Gavin Mccann, Reo Coker, Jenas and Nigel Quashie play in this league he'd play off them off the park. Didn't he also give England, who feature the best of the premiership, absolute hell in the friendly against Argentina. I recall him bossing the whole match and leaving Ledley King running around in circles chasing his tail. I think that was one of the games where King was playing in the holding role.

Well Owen's options are dissapearing by the second. Looks like he will be a Newcastle player for a long while. With Liverpool getting Torres and Man U opting for Tevez it looks like they have got their number 1 strikers who they will be looking to for the longterm. Can't see Owen getting a look in at either team now. In addition Arsenal it seems have gone with the youth movement and the new Brazilian, while Chelsea were never int he frame for him. If this is indeed the case I hope he knuckles down and committs himself 100% to outdoing all these strikers next season. That would be brilliant. He should have a massive chip on his shoulder right now and he should use it to his advantage.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/liverpool/article2028699.ece I'd cry if they got him, he's one of my favourite players. Very exciting and dynamic player in the Ronaldo mould who would do well in the premiership. Yeah it would be pretty depressing ...

Liverpool are apparently close to snaring him. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/liverpool/article2028699.ece

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite is one of the finest players in the world. This is quite ironic considering that you are one of the worst posters. I often wonder about people who go out of their way to comment on how awful other people's posts are. If you have a counter argument then make it. If the post irritates you so much or indeed the thread then go to a thread that is more worthy of your brilliance O great one that thou art.

Personally, if people are going to talk about "trophy signings" or signings of intent, whatever you call it, then this is a perfect example of one. The player to buy for big money is the player with his career ahead of him, which is by and large what we did under the Halls and Shepherd. Here's to Tevez, and players of that age. Not people for big fees who are past their best. Deco past his best? If we played him as an attacking midfielder in a midfield 3 he would still be awesome I think. £0 years old past his best? As for Tevez, where would we play him? We already have Owen and Martins who appear to be staying by all accounts!

Hmmm interesting ... Not sure how true this is, but if I was going to put money on it I would say Deco. The article claims it is close to happening and we have been holed up in Barcelone for days now. Barcelona have since allegedly put in a bid for fat Frank. Deco is still a big name and is at the age where he might consider a challenge like ours as he has achieved a lot at Barca and has just turned 30. Will be interesting to see what happens. I won't be losing sleep if we don't make any "world class" sigings though. i love what we have been doing so far this summer.

This is unbelievably embarrassing from Glenn. I am shocked and extremely dissapointed in him. I admired the dignified way in which he walked away without getting involved in this sort of thing. This will not help him at all. Allardyce is all about psychology. Unlike every other idiot who takes the job and comes in all excited talking about the potential of the club and how the club ought to be in the champions league every year etc. Sam knows that this is possibly the worst thing you can do at this moment in time, considering we haven't won anything in so long. The last thing the club needs is more pressure on the players and too much hyp and expectation in the fans. Whether you agree with it or not it is the best way to go about things. It should be clear from the players Sam is bringing in and the work he is doing that we will be right in the thick of things challenging for the top six and even better. We don't need him to come out and state it explicitly. If Sam came and said we were not in position to get any top players but that we were sticking with what we had then I would believe it would take 5 years. I am not buying it, Sam knows what he is doing. He's just trying to keep everyone calm as a lot of good things have been happening lately and it would be easy to get carried away. Roeder ... I'm at a loss for words. The most disgusting thing is the statement he makes about Sam being given more money. That is just stunning to me. Roeder spent £15 million on two players and expected exactly how much more? Sam hasn't even spent a third of that yet. Roeder was out of his depth. Wouldn't want him anywhere near the club after this, even as the freakin' car park attendant. He has clearly shown he doesn't have the clubs interests at heart and is only looking out for number one. What a punk.

Oh dear ... Are you saying we've agreed a fee with Wigan then? If so wouldn't that news be out in the media by now?

Sam likes his Diarra's a bit bigger. Would therefore prefer Alou instead.

Heinze to liverpool might finally mean Hyypia to us.

Well Chelsea are said to have a strong interest in Drenthe, so they would probably have him as backup to Ashley Cole. Hopefully this means Bridge will be available. They haven't turned us down straight away so there is hope. Excellent news. Why the hell has some dude copied my Habib Beye pic! JAMESMARTINSMITH quit playing around you here!