KaKa

How does Ritgers look playing out wide as a wide forward at Nac Breda? Is he good in this position?

Hopefully Alou Diarra will be coming to us soon ... Diarra sows deal doubts Tue, Jun 19 2007 17:31 Portsmouth target Alou Diarra wants Newcastle to make a firm bid for him as Harry Redknapp closes on agreeing a fee for the Lyon star. The French international midfielder would reportedly prefer to move to St James' Park and has ordered his representatives to sound out Sam Allardyce. But the Toon boss, who is an admirer of Diarra, now has other priorities after completing the capture of Joey Barton and may not be able to move quickly enough. Lyon and Portsmouth are close to settling on a £5.5 million fee for Diarra, who made only a handful of appearances under Gerard Houllier last season. New Lyon coach Alain Perrin is not expected to stand in the way of Diarra's exit, having seen his club snap up Lille playmaker Mathieu Bodmer last week. http://www.eatsleepsport.com/news_details.aspx?story_id=584706&l_id=1&t_id=52

It's the Michael Owen 'I want away kit'.

Well judging by Gooch and Bramble's performances I would say it's about time we gave the skinny guys a chance wouldn't you?

Great stuff Shak! I agree with the original article completely. I also agree about the 4-3-3 formation too, it definitely suits our squad better and I do think that this formation can produce very entertaining football depending on th e players who feature in it. I believe that with better players than he had at Bolton the system will produce better football. You only have to look at pretty much all the top Spanish and Dutch teams and this is the system they use, and they play brilliant football. The players in the system clearly play a big part. Rather than Kevin Davies we will have someone like Viduka for instance and that is a huge upgrade. It is Sams first season and he will have a big job in trying to re-establish a Newcastle side that is in pretty bad shape. I would be a lot happier if in his first season he goes with what he knows has worked very well for him in his time at Bolton. This was the 4-3-3 and I would much rather have him go with that, as I would be a lot more confident about our chances of making quick progress. Shak it is also a good point you make about the wide forwards in Allardyces 4-3-3 at Bolton, as they were genuine forwards who had the ability to create opportunities from wide positions; rather than out and out wingers. It was definitely a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-5-1. I believe Martins has the ability to be utilised in the same way Anelka was at Bolton as a wide forward but Owen certainly does not fit into this system at all. I would not be adverse to Owen leaving at all. A hypothetical front three of Martins, Viduka and Diouf would certainly create a lot of goals.

Gab Marcotti sang his praises tonight on the rumour mill... Thought he would make a good number 2 CH to play alongside a stronger more agressive partner. Very quick and comfortable on the ball... guess he'd be worth £5-6mil so could be getting a bargain if all is true. If there is one thing that I certainly noticed in the Czech game against Wales it was his speed. Very fluid athlete.

----------------------Given------------------ Sagna----Rozehnal----Taylor----Baines ---------------------Poulsen----------------- -----------Barton--------------Koumas----- ----Diouf---------------------------------Defoe ----------------------Viduka----------------- If Owen, Martins, Emre and Butt move on, I think the above would work a treat.

Linked with El Hadji Diouf today in both the Journal and the Chronicle. It's looking like a strong possibility, which likely means that one of our strikers might be on their way out. Another player with a very head strong mentality (just like Barton). I think Allardyce might be targetting these types of players as he knows they won't be rattled if the fans get on them, as too many of our players have been lately (see todays article about the players having to deal with the pressure).

Actually ... thinking about it, Kanoute was probably someone we just inquired about in case we didn't manage to get Viduka.

Anyone else think that this might be in response to Viduka being away for the start of the season? Methinks so! Perhaps the thought of starting the season with Shola upfront has put the fear of God into Allardyce. Maybe this also all part of the general shift to the 4-3-3, where we will alternate between Viduka, Kanoute and Ameobi as lone strikers. In which case we can expect some more attacking midfielders coming in who will support them going forward.

British clubs scout Rigters By Gerrit van Leeuwen - Created on 16 Jun 2007 Maceo Rigters has been catching the eye of British scouts at the European Under 21 Championship in Holland. The 23-year-old striker has impressed for the hosts and scored the winner against Portugal earlier in the week. He is looking to leave NAC Breda after failing to establish himself as a regular up front in the team over the past couple of seasons. Newcastle United and Celtic have taken in both Dutch games to date, and reports suggest the in-form Rigters could be available for as little as €300,000 (£200,000). Rigters expressed his frustration at his situation with NAC and is hoping for the chance to play in his preferred position. "I have never felt much appreciation at NAC Breda in the last two seasons," Rigters told Algemeen Dagblad. "More players felt that. "I always feel that I am a centre-forward. At NAC Breda I have played just two matches in this position. "I always had to train and play on the wings. In the front of the attack I have never got a good chance." After struggling for goals at NAC last season, Rigters admits he is surprised to have started for Holland at the tournament. He added: "I was surprised to start in the first XI. It is fantastic to play in this tournament." http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=472220&CPID=9&clid=4&lid=&title=British+clubs+scout+Rigters

What's the story with this young guy? Haven't caught too much of any of the dutch games in the under 21 Euro championships but apparently we have had him watched. How has he looked? I know he's a striker but what kind of player is he, did he play as a wide striker in the dutch 4-3-3 system or as the central striker?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? This coming from a person who thinks Murphy's one of the most underrated players ever. Give me a break. Benayoun's a classy, elegant player on his day. He's not f****** Ronaldinho though. I've seen him have excellent games and dreadful games, and I have Spammer mates who say he's one of those who just doesn't turn up some days. I stand by what I said, and that's that in the grand scheme of things, on a scale of Premiership midfielders, I'd put him somewhere just above middle. Possibly around a kind of Malbranque level. Is that good enough for Liverpool and their aspirations? I don't think so. You're a pretty weird one. What do Danny Murphy or Ronaldinho have to do with anything. Stick to the topic of conversation. Is Benayoun better than all of Tottenham's midfielders? YES. Simple as that. If Darren Fletcher can make a contributiojn to Man U and SWP can make a contribution to Chelsea then I don't see why Benayoun isn't good enough for a Liverpool team with high aspirations. Danny Murphy because it was probably one of the funniest things I've read this week and shows how questionable some of your views are on certain players, and Ronaldinho because you're bigging Benayoun up to completely ridiculous proportions. Is your opinion a fact? NO. I would certainly take Lennon at 20 years of age with 5 goals and 13 assists over Benayon at 27 years of age with 5 goals and 3 assists. The point is, Liverpool don't even have a strong enough first team to compete with Utd and Chelsea. They need real quality, players who could be considered the best in the league, to bridge that gap. Benayoun is nowhere near that. Right ... let me get this straight, so because I said Benayoun was better than Tottenham's midfielders I am bigging him up to Ronaldinho's level? So what your saying then is that Ronaldinho is the only footballer who is better than your midfielders? What was that about questionable views again ... Errm, no. Look back at your posts and notice the tone of it. It was more the 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW' as if it was the most insulting, shocking, outrageous thing you've ever read. And your insistence that he's the one to magically transform the Liverpool team, which is extremely unrealistic. Why not answer the rest of the points raised? What was shocking, outrageous and insulting was you comparing Benayoun to Zenden!!! Are you for real? That definitely deserved a WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! Zenden is a turd, yes. But then again, he's 'achieved' far more than Benayoun can dream of - league titles in Holland and Spain with massive clubs like PSV and Barca, a cup final for Chelsea, a League Cup with Boro and a CL final with Liverpool. The truth is, Benayoun is the same standard (not type, or in playing style) as Zenden was when Pool signed him. Not that this is a competition, but I'm willing to bet that there are more that agree with me than agree with you. Clearly then, I'm not insane. We clearly have differing opinions of him though. It's all subjective, and we're not going to get anywhere with this. So I'll stop. It was never an argument, so no worries. Just each person expressing their opinions that's all. I won by the way ...

You've still not said who's gonna get dropped. Rotated with Keane. So again I ask, who in their right mind buys a player for rotation for upwards of £12m? hmmmm spurs? hmmmm West ham? (would have been rotated with Ashton), hmmmm Arsenal? (Reyes), hmmmmm Liverpool ?(kuyt dosent exactly start every game), hmmmm mancester united ?(saha), hmmmmm Chelsea ?(shevchenko). Spot the difference between the clubs in bold and the rest. Darren Bent would have played alongside Ashton anyway! Tevez willl clearly be leaving.

Hammer blow to the market as Upton Park spending inflates prices By MATT BARLOW Last updated at 22:25pm on 14th June 2007 The West Ham effect has put the fear of God into football. This is how it works: A player is poised to sign for a new club, let’s say Newcastle, when the Hammers move in at the last minute and offer £15,000 a week more. To avoid losing the player, Newcastle agree to match West Ham’s £75,000-aweek wage, which will cost them an extra £2.34million over the course of the player’s three-year contract. Sky-high wages: Bent rejected a £75,000 a week deal from West Ham The player did not want to move to London anyway, is happy in the north, but happily accepts the improved offer and signs for Newcastle as planned. This actually happened. The player is Mark Viduka, who moved to Tyneside from Middlesbrough on a Bosman free transfer last week. This time, Hammers missed their target but they still left their mark on another deal in a summer transfer market destined to be remembered for West Ham-led inflation. And that’s not all. Darren Bent met West Ham representatives yesterday, despite previously seeming intent on joining Tottenham to play in Europe. Eggert Magnusson dug into his Icelandic coffers, slapped a £17m deal on the table and offered to pay Bent £75,000 a week over five years. Spurs, a club renowned for their financial prudence, had two options — compete financially, shattering their pay structure, or pull out of the deal. Whatever the outcome now, with Bent last night apparently snubbing the Hammers, the episode showed the east London club’s effect on the transfer market. Magnusson dismisses claims he is driving football towards ruin with his strategy: He said: "The bottom line is that we are an ambitious club with a very sound financial base and as new owners we are determined to move forward. "As we do that we can expect criticism from others but the most important thing is delivering the true potential of this great club. "I know we are moving in the right direction as a club and I also know the fans share our ambitions for the future." If Spurs had even tried to match Bent’s expected salary at West Ham, they would then have been forced to treble Dimitar Berbatov’s salary just to keep him on a par with the new boy. Robbie Keane and Ledley King would also be examining their contracts. So Spurs, the club closest to breaking into the Big Four, can no longer compete with the wealth of Upton Park. A similar round of inflation was triggered when Roman Abramovich arrived at Chelsea four years ago. Manchester United were forced to raise the stakes if they wanted to compete for the same players but West Ham’s new money is about to load pressure on more vulnerable clubs. Can Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton compete on a pay scale where England fringe players like Bent, Scott Parker and Matthew Upson (12 caps combined) command a similar salary to Jamie Carragher (34 caps) and considerably more than Paul Robinson (36)? The deal which took Lucas Neill to Upton Park in January was a real eyebrow-raiser because it declared Magnusson’s intentions to pay decent players a basic wage of £60,000 a week, much more than Liverpool could offer. Lavish promises have been made this summer to try to lure Joey Barton, Craig Bellamy and Andrew Johnson to London’s East End. How long before Johnson asks David Moyes for a raise, explaining that the going rate for a player of his calibre has now doubled to £90,000 a week? Dean Ashton, one of West Ham’s better players, earns £25,000 a week. It is a very good wage but he is entitled to wonder why he is so far behind the Bent benchmark. There is general fear and unrest within the game. Many are shifting uncomfortably but very few are willing to go public. One leading agent, however, told Sportsmail of his fears that the West Ham effect was a symptom of a wider problem which is leading the game into meltdown. He said: "It’s 'think of a number and double it' time. Transfer fees are going up in leaps of £5m, salaries are going up in leaps of £10,000. "It’s dangerous, it’s unsustainable. People with no football knowledge and no industry acumen are sailing this ship on to the rocks." Clubs may be aware of this but eating away at them from a different direction is the fear of relegation. What is an extra £20m on the wage bill compared with the drastic losses incurred if they slip out of the Premiership? In the Championship, clubs are gambling to reach the promised land. For instance, Leicester, backed by Milan Mandaric, are offering big salaries as they aim for promotion. So, with West Ham and others prepared to pay over-inflated fees and wages to achieve their goals, it may not be long before Deloitte Touche’s prediction of Premiership wages of £200,000 a week becomes a reality. TOP 10 ALL-BRITISH TRANSFERS 1 RIO FERDINAND Leeds to Man Utd £29.1m 2 WAYNE ROONEY Everton to Man Utd £27m 3 SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS Man City to Chelsea £21m 4 MICHAEL CARRICK Tottenham to Man Utd £18.6m 5 RIO FERDINAND West Ham to Leeds £18m 6 DARREN BENT Charlton to West Ham £17m 7 DAMIEN DUFF Blackburn to Chelsea £17m 8 ALAN SHEARER Blackburn to Newcastle £15m 9 JUAN SEBASTIAN VERON Man Utd to Chelsea £15m 10 LOUIS SAHA Fulham to Man Utd £12.8m

You've still not said who's gonna get dropped. Rotated with Keane. So again I ask, who in their right mind buys a player for rotation for upwards of £12m? Berbatov is leaving man! They will realise soon enough.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? This coming from a person who thinks Murphy's one of the most underrated players ever. Give me a break. Benayoun's a classy, elegant player on his day. He's not f****** Ronaldinho though. I've seen him have excellent games and dreadful games, and I have Spammer mates who say he's one of those who just doesn't turn up some days. I stand by what I said, and that's that in the grand scheme of things, on a scale of Premiership midfielders, I'd put him somewhere just above middle. Possibly around a kind of Malbranque level. Is that good enough for Liverpool and their aspirations? I don't think so. You're a pretty weird one. What do Danny Murphy or Ronaldinho have to do with anything. Stick to the topic of conversation. Is Benayoun better than all of Tottenham's midfielders? YES. Simple as that. If Darren Fletcher can make a contributiojn to Man U and SWP can make a contribution to Chelsea then I don't see why Benayoun isn't good enough for a Liverpool team with high aspirations. Danny Murphy because it was probably one of the funniest things I've read this week and shows how questionable some of your views are on certain players, and Ronaldinho because you're bigging Benayoun up to completely ridiculous proportions. Is your opinion a fact? NO. I would certainly take Lennon at 20 years of age with 5 goals and 13 assists over Benayon at 27 years of age with 5 goals and 3 assists. The point is, Liverpool don't even have a strong enough first team to compete with Utd and Chelsea. They need real quality, players who could be considered the best in the league, to bridge that gap. Benayoun is nowhere near that. Right ... let me get this straight, so because I said Benayoun was better than Tottenham's midfielders I am bigging him up to Ronaldinho's level? So what your saying then is that Ronaldinho is the only footballer who is better than your midfielders? What was that about questionable views again ... Errm, no. Look back at your posts and notice the tone of it. It was more the 'WOOOOOOOOOOOOOW' as if it was the most insulting, shocking, outrageous thing you've ever read. And your insistence that he's the one to magically transform the Liverpool team, which is extremely unrealistic. Why not answer the rest of the points raised? What was shocking, outrageous and insulting was you comparing Benayoun to Zenden!!! Are you for real? That definitely deserved a WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? This coming from a person who thinks Murphy's one of the most underrated players ever. Give me a break. Benayoun's a classy, elegant player on his day. He's not f****** Ronaldinho though. I've seen him have excellent games and dreadful games, and I have Spammer mates who say he's one of those who just doesn't turn up some days. I stand by what I said, and that's that in the grand scheme of things, on a scale of Premiership midfielders, I'd put him somewhere just above middle. Possibly around a kind of Malbranque level. Is that good enough for Liverpool and their aspirations? I don't think so. You're a pretty weird one. What do Danny Murphy or Ronaldinho have to do with anything. Stick to the topic of conversation. Is Benayoun better than all of Tottenham's midfielders? YES. Simple as that. If Darren Fletcher can make a contributiojn to Man U and SWP can make a contribution to Chelsea then I don't see why Benayoun isn't good enough for a Liverpool team with high aspirations. Danny Murphy because it was probably one of the funniest things I've read this week and shows how questionable some of your views are on certain players, and Ronaldinho because you're bigging Benayoun up to completely ridiculous proportions. Is your opinion a fact? NO. I would certainly take Lennon at 20 years of age with 5 goals and 13 assists over Benayon at 27 years of age with 5 goals and 3 assists. The point is, Liverpool don't even have a strong enough first team to compete with Utd and Chelsea. They need real quality, players who could be considered the best in the league, to bridge that gap. Benayoun is nowhere near that. Right ... let me get this straight, so because I said Benayoun was better than Tottenham's midfielders I am bigging him up to Ronaldinho's level? So what your saying then is that Ronaldinho is the only footballer who is better than your midfielders? What was that about questionable views again ...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? i think somewhere in between the pair of your opinions is about right. He's decent, and can turn a match, however it hasn't happened that often in his career at WHU. Is he injury prone, always seems to be struggling everytime i've read match reports? Either way, £1m is insulting, he's a £4-5m player as long as he's under contract. Look at the team he's on though? He has been playing with Harewood and Zamora up front to link up with. I think he is class and has real quality. I hope he ends up at Liverpool as it will really open up some peoples eyes. I would have him over Lennon, Malbranque, Tainio, Ghaly, Jenas etc. None of their midfielders are better than him, so i found his comment a bit rich like! you do chat an awful load of s*** sometimes. Benayoun is a very inconsistant and has had 1 good premiership season at the spammers. No doubt he'll be average at Liverpool. Okay so now tell me what any one of your midfielders have achieved that makes them better than Benayoun? I'm not trying to offend you guys but I really do just rate Benayoun higher than any of your guys, none of whom are consistent either.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? This coming from a person who thinks Murphy's one of the most underrated players ever. Give me a break. Benayoun's a classy, elegant player on his day. He's not f****** Ronaldinho though. I've seen him have excellent games and dreadful games, and I have Spammer mates who say he's one of those who just doesn't turn up some days. I stand by what I said, and that's that in the grand scheme of things, on a scale of Premiership midfielders, I'd put him somewhere just above middle. Possibly around a kind of Malbranque level. Is that good enough for Liverpool and their aspirations? I don't think so. You're a pretty weird one. What do Danny Murphy or Ronaldinho have to do with anything. Stick to the topic of conversation. Is Benayoun better than all of Tottenham's midfielders? YES. Simple as that. If Darren Fletcher can make a contributiojn to Man U and SWP can make a contribution to Chelsea then I don't see why Benayoun isn't good enough for a Liverpool team with high aspirations.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play? i think somewhere in between the pair of your opinions is about right. He's decent, and can turn a match, however it hasn't happened that often in his career at WHU. Is he injury prone, always seems to be struggling everytime i've read match reports? Either way, £1m is insulting, he's a £4-5m player as long as he's under contract. Look at the team he's on though? He has been playing with Harewood and Zamora up front to link up with. I think he is class and has real quality. I hope he ends up at Liverpool as it will really open up some peoples eyes. I would have him over Lennon, Malbranque, Tainio, Ghaly, Jenas etc. None of their midfielders are better than him, so i found his comment a bit rich like!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! POSSIBLY THE MOST STUNNING POST EVER!!! Benayoun is better than any midfielder at Tottenham at the moment. FACT!!! Put him in that liverpool team and you wait and see what happens. Have you ever seen him play?

Till you realise the following ... Berbatov will join Man U as Bent is his replacement. King might be out for quite a while. Harry Kewell will be your left winger next season.

2 signings already ... I'm so not used to this. I'm not sure I quite believe it. Very pleased. We are moving along at a very healthy pace and so far we have actually made a profit transfer fee wise!

Classy move by Newcastle. Wasn't worth having this get dragged through hearing after hearing with the freakin' FA. We are getting a really good deal at £5.5 million so why not just make it £5.8 million and let's move on and focus on what is important, which is getting a team together for next season without any negative crap. Good stuff.