KaKa

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.

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.

ouch!

From what I remember Alou Diarra was actually asked back by Rafa after his first season at Lens because of how well he was doing there, but he chose to stay at Lens because they had showed so much faith in him and had helped him kickstart his career.

In regards to Maceo Rigters, you can kind of see why he hasn't been given opportunities to play as a striker in Holland. He is more of a Michael Owen as he likes to get in behind the defence and he doesn't really have the stature or hold up game to feature as a lone striker in the dutch 4-3-3 system. Would be a smart move for him to move to a team that plays a 4-4-2 where he can play alongside another striker and use his movement to get into goal scoring opportunities, which he has shown he can do to good effect. We currently have two strikers of this type in Owens and Martins, but if one leaves I wouldn't mind Rigters as a backup to one of them. I think he has a lot of promise and for the reported fee of £300,000 that would be an outrageous piece of good business.

In regards to Maceo Rigters, you can kind of see why he hasn't been given opportunities to play as a striker in Holland. He is more of a Michael Owen as he likes to get in behind the defence and he doesn't really have the stature or hold up game to feature as a lone striker in the dutch 4-3-3 system. Would be a smart move for him to move to a team that plays a 4-4-2 where he can play alongside another striker and use his movement to get into goal scoring opportunities, which he has shown he can do to good effect. We currently have two strikers of this type in Owens and Martins, but if one leaves I wouldn't mind Rigters as a backup to one of them. I think he has a lot of promise and for the reported fee of £300,000 that would be an outrageous piece of good business.

Beautiful stuff to watch.

Nope. I remember when Roeder was linked with him in January and a lot of people said he was rubbish and we shouldn't touch him. He was available for £6 million then as he hadn't signed his new contract ... would have been great value for money. Doesn't quite appear to be enough of a goalscorer (yet!) but he has an abundance of ability and always seems to create goalscoring opportunities. Would have been nice if Glen picked him up, but I imagine he'd of had to wait at least 3 more transfer windows to get him at an inflated rate. ha ha ha ha I'm pretty sure he was dithering as usual which of course meant we missed out on the player ... as usual.

Nope. I remember when Roeder was linked with him in January and a lot of people said he was rubbish and we shouldn't touch him. He was available for £6 million then as he hadn't signed his new contract ... would have been great value for money. Doesn't quite appear to be enough of a goalscorer (yet!) but he has an abundance of ability and always seems to create goalscoring opportunities.

He was a beast at Lens for two seasons and got into the french team during this period. Please get him in!

It's funny how Alan Oliver has gone from saying Owen and Martins are much better than Darren Bent a couple of days ago to now hoping NUFC make a late offer for Bent. The guy is mental for sure! I doubt Allardyce would spend so much on one player and a striker at that. Allardyce is all about value for money.

Ashley to probe Shepherd role in buy-out clauses By Jason Burt Published: 23 June 2007 Mike Ashley may use the existence of buy-out clauses in the contracts of Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins to remove Freddy Shepherd as chairman of Newcastle United. The reclusive businessman, who amassed his £1.9bn fortune through sports retailing, is expected to soon complete his £133m takeover of Newcastle and has already ordered a review of how the club is run. The review will scrutinise every aspect of the club and will also examine the future of Shepherd who still holds the role of chairman - and wants to effectively take on a chief executive's role - despite selling his shares to Ashley. However the revelation in The Independent earlier this week that Martins' representatives negotiated a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if any club bids £13m - following on from the existence of a similar clause for £9m in Owen's deal - has infuriated Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce. Ashley is also now aware of the details and is said to be unimpressed. The former Newcastle manager, Graeme Souness, - who was in charge when Owen signed for £17m - has already stated that contract negotiations with players were solely conducted by Shepherd. It means that the club would be powerless to prevent either player leaving should the clauses be triggered. Allardyce is said to be deeply concerned that Owen's heart is not in staying on Tyneside. Manchester City may become the first club to test that theory especially if, as expected, Sven Goran Eriksson becomes their manager. Newcastle, meanwhile, have tried to re-negotiate Martins' contract, offering the Nigerian, who joined last summer for £10m from Internazionale, a pay rise despite the fact that he earns £60,000-a-week. The 22-year-old is understood to have made clear that he is keen to return to Italy. Matters are complicated by the chaotic nature of Martins' life and a wrangle earlier this year as to who represents him. The striker sacked his Italian agent and is now represented by Jonathan Barnett's Stellar group. Ashley is expected to appoint a member of his staff to conduct the "thorough, objective, strategic review" which will also examine the club's business practices. The review will also consider the findings of Lord Stevens' recent report. Eight of the 17 deals his company, Quest, refused to sign off involved Newcastle or Allardyce. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/article2697814.ece

Did yuo not hear that Henry is on his way to Barcelona?

Anelka and Owen would cost around £17 million due to their clauses. That would be really sick if Wenger pulled it off.

Guys chill out! It's not a sad day. We have enjoyed watching the guy in his prime and I actually think Arsenal are doing the right thing to let him go now. Mentally he just wasn't there last season. He had already left last summer. There will be new stars emerging as has always been the case through the years. That's what it's all about. I think people writing Arsenal off need to be careful too! Wenger is no mug! When Anelka left no one could have seen Henry emrge out of nowhere like he did. Wenger will do it again especially now they are losing such a great figure head who is also their captain. Expect some new faces to come in who will surprise a few people.

Wow! Well I am happy this is all happening now. If we are going to lose someone then at least it is happening early on and we will have a lot of time to get new recruits in. The Alan Smith rumour seems a lot more feasible at the moment.

I think Sam just really wants a target man with that battling mentality. Smiths aaproach is very similar to Kevin Davies who served Sam really well at Bolton.

How reliable is Viduka though and even Owen! as far as injuries and niggles go. Smith could play with either as he has the ability to hold the ball so can partner Owen, but at the same time has good anough mobility and a bit of pace so would compliment Viudka too. He will play quite a bit I would imagine. He will also start the season up front with Owen as Viduka will be recovering from his trip to Asia.

Agent is a proper piss taker. There is no Sevilla interest he is just trying to get a bigger signing on fee or something.

Don't think you will be getting it tbh. Smith will be on his way here I believe.

Read the article (link below) where Allardyce talks about his worries about Viduka not being ready for the start of next season. This along with the fact that Viduka isn't exactly guaranteed to play a full season due to niggles here and there I believe Sam sees Alan Smith as too good a deal to pass up as an alternative to Viduka. Don't think he fancied the idea of having to rely on Ameobi, I'm not sure he trusts him that much. I would expect Ameobi to be the one moving on shortly. http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/chroniclesport/tm_method=full%26objectid=19302003%26siteid=50081-name_page.html

A key point that has to be made is also the issue of first team appearances for their clubs. How many people get picked for England without playing regularly for their clubs? Taylor is practically a first team defender already, but Huddlestone doesn't look like he will be in ahead of Jenas and Zokora anytime soon, not for the next couple of seasons anyway. This works in Taylor's favour as well. Out of sight out of mind.

Is that what he was doing? fair enough, take cole, bridge, shorey and p. nevile from the list and add Onouyou to the list. His name is Onuoha for goodness sake!