KaKa

This is going to go on forever isn't it ... I think we honestly need to move Owen on. It is such a distraction and it always makes the club look bad. Youk now the whole Owen wants out of Newcastle because they are a mess thing the media always runs with.

I put in a very itneresting article about Barton's progress in his behaviour and the efforts he has been making but it got lost back there somewhere. Having read the article I must say I am a lot more receptive to him coming to Newcastle should we show any interest, especially bearing in mind the man we will have in charge.

el hadj diouf, 23 when he joined bolton, under sam allardyce. he is our new manager iirc. as for martins playing in the most tactically astute league, is this spin intended to make him look worse than he is? serie a is also the most static of all the strong leagues, the one in which pace and making runs is least valued and least important. it's obvious that martins' play when he arrived was more suited to serie a, ie holding a position and waiting for a change in opposition formation, rather than the premiership ie making a run in advance of a pass being made. even then there has been a massive improvement in his anticipation and movement under Roeder (though he regressed a bit end of season), so i could see an even better improvement under Allardyce. it is laughable to think he is the finished product or that his all round game can not improve. in fact he has shown in sporadic glimpses that he is capable of everything that is being asked of him - usually when something goes right for him (like a goal) his head is up and all a sudden he looks unstoppable, intelligent movement, good touch, link up play, non stop running and so on. the question is not can he do these things as he obviously can, but whether he can produce this on a consistent basis. that is sam's challenge, if he can get it right he'll have a fantastic player on his hands week in week out, rather than just for 20 minutes here and there. Great post. Two very good points made in this post. Was Martins even taught how to make runs behind defenders in Italy where such space doesn't even exist 95% of the time? How many strikers in Italy play this way? Also, it was also very clear to me that when things start going for him he became an infinitely better player, which tells me he still needs to settle into the league and as he becomes more confident the consistency will come.

Would be a shame if he went back to italy. Not sure if he will ever become the player he can in that league. If he leaves it would be interesting to see what he could become at another premiership club.

The Times says Baines is valued at £3 million!!! Outstanding value!!!

Why Joey Barton is a fine young man Peter Kay, the chief executive of Sporting Chance, on the other side of an ‘errant’ player “Uninitiated, young men will burn down the village just to feel its warmth.” African proverb Recently, Joey Barton was involved in what the newspapers called “yet another chapter in the misdemeanours of the troubled young man”. “How many more chances are we to offer him?” they asked as “experts” were brought in to fathom the Manchester City midfield player’s thought processes. One article even desecrated his whole family. I was left wondering if they were debating the life of the same young man that I had been working with for the past 20 months. I am told that this is the price one pays for being a professional footballer, castigated without recourse, labelled and condemned, your family as well. Football is a strange sport, which has a strange way of preparing young men for the pressures that being exposed to the limelight in a professional career entail. It tells those with often limited education that they are great. Their families tell them the same thing and their friends believe it because everyone else has been saying it. They are put through the academy system, after which their services are either dispensed with in a short, blunt conversation, or they are handed the club blazer, the keys to a sponsored car and a contract that will earn them thousands of pounds per week. Then, as they leave the office, they are reminded: “By the way, you’re a role model now.” Some young men receive superb mentoring from academy directors and coaches, others from their own families, or, when they embark on their professional career, from their managers. This helps them define their own moral codes. Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, for example, is a master of initiating young men into maturity. But not all managers have the experience and natural aptitude of Ferguson, while not all young men respond to this mentoring. In the world of testosterone-charged adolescents, one of the qualities needed is the will to win. That comes from an anger from within. Whether it’s tennis or tiddlywinks, winning is everything. If the role models have not been there during this time, how can we expect these young men to change patterns of behaviour that have worked for them for so long within a nanosecond of them signing professional papers? We seem to think we can sprinkle magic dust on them that enables them to think of others, do the right thing, be humble and become emotionally articulate, yet since reaching puberty they have found out that displaying any of those characteristics is deemed “weak” and, therefore, unacceptable. Sporting Chance Clinic was started by another once errant young man called Tony Adams in 2000. Three years earlier, the Arsenal captain had announced that he was an alcoholic. At first he had to fund the project from his own pocket, which he did willingly until the Professional Footballers’ Association stepped in to provide funds. The FA and FA Premier League have since started to contribute, too. Adams’s mission was to provide the programmes of treatment, the environment and the expertise that would have helped him at the time of his announcement, when nothing similar was available. The clinic is fulfilling Adams’s dream on a daily basis. It was here in the autumn of 2005 that a 23-year-old Barton embarked on a seven-day programme of behavioural management, “anger management” as the experts in the media would have it. Contrary to general belief, he has continued the work since. My relationship with Joey started then and there has not been a week that has passed since in which we haven’t “checked in” with each other, discussed our working days or chatted about some event or other, he seeking my counsel on a particular matter, or me seeking his. We have spent time at his house, at mine, on the golf course, in a restaurant or perhaps on one of the several visits he has joined me on to a school or remand centre. So I look at Joey with respect and honour him for how far he has come in 20 months. Since his week-long residential stay at Sporting Chance, Joey has matured into a man of huge quality, integrity and sensitivity. He embarked on the programme we set up for him with total commitment. He attended an open meeting of a self-help group when he did not need to because he is not an “alcoholic”. He was deeply moved by what he heard. In 20 months he has drunk alcohol only on two occasions, feeling that his career and ambitions need total commitment. He had become aware that he had choices. He had a little episode in front of the FA disciplinary committee for baring his bottom at a group of Everton fans but he accepted the fine, apologising for his behaviour and thanking the committee for a fair hearing. He was then supposedly involved in an altercation in a taxi, where he allegedly caused damage to a glass partition, but no evidence of this was found. Joey walked away from the situation. He was stone cold sober. The recent training-ground incident is a continuing legal issue. Joey is a pretty honest and straightforward man, as the Times interview in December, when he criticised England players for bringing out books after their poor showing in the World Cup, shows. He sometimes speaks without caring about the possible ramifications, although this is an area he has been looking at improving. His recent declaration that he would not pay to see City play was perhaps ill-timed, with the season-ticket deadline approaching, and his observations regarding several foreign players at the club undoubtedly produced a response. But Joey is full of pride and passion, gives his all to the team and cares deeply when they are beaten. He boils with frustration and anger when he judges that others are not committing the same energies as he to the cause. He is a human being, not a saint, and makes mistakes. He will probably carry on making mistakes, as most people do in life. But he is more aware now and awareness is integral to what we teach. However, it seems that whenever Joey “makes a mistake”, his past is relentlessly dredged up, dissected and he is again vilified. This produces an automatic reaction of self-preservation: his defences go up and the monosyllabic responses he gives basically send out the message that he does not want anyone near him. More often than not in these cases, the opposite is true and the person concerned wants to talk about how they’re feeling. On three occasions, I have witnessed him walk away from situations where he and his family have been abused. We have discussed afterwards how good it felt to do “the mature thing”. Such huge steps forward are not reported by the press. He has embarked on a relationship in which he has had to show his vulnerability – not something that he was taught to do as a young teenager At 14, he went to live with his grandmother and without her solid set of values, love and affection, I do not think that Joey would be where he is today. At 15, he was released by Everton. He grew up in Huyton, a learning ground where, if a person raises their hand to hit you, you make sure they do not get the chance – and that they do not get up in the near future. It takes a pretty strong character to turn that kind of teaching on and off like a tap and react to similar threats by walking away. For Sporting Chance, he has taken on the responsibility of being patron for The Tamsin Gulvin Fund, which supports people with problems but without the financial wherewithal to get them treated. He attends our annual fly fishing competition, even though he hates fly fishing, to raise funds for the Trust. He attends schools and remand centres with me to talk about his upbringing, the mistakes he has made and how young people can change the way they do things. We were in Cumbria delivering the last of five sessions in a day and were running late. I had to get him back to Manchester to see the Arctic Monkeys. When I said that we had to go, he refused until those in the group had had a chance to ask questions. He has taken the time to talk with several people who might be “troubled”, and then they have subsequently phoned me for support. These facts do not appear when the headlines focus on the “errant Barton”. Getting selected for England was a big day for him. I spoke to him as he was driven to Manchester to join the squad. We talked of everything he had worked for coming to fruition, how the changes in his lifestyle had contributed massively to this day, and we also talked of his fears. Through being an England squad player he tasted professionalism throughout the whole squad and the set-up. He experienced the food, the preparation, the organisation and the total desire and will to win, from everyone from the head coach to the kit man. He was with like-minded souls. Then three days later it was back to Carrington and although he respected Stuart Pearce, it was light years away from what he had just sampled. You could see the frustration in his demeanour. Joey sets extremely high standards for himself and this is one of the attributes that make him the talent he is; however, it is also his nemesis. Like any self-respecting street fighter, when he feels threatened or cornered, he resorts back to the behaviour that served him when he was young. Fists up and f*** off! Behaviour ingrained in our make-up take time and effort to change; he is doing the effort bit, he just needs time. Wherever he ends up playing next season, be it City or another Barclays Premiership club, they will be getting a man of immense personal qualities.

I know right! Also coming from the Times who Owen has a column with so it is pretty promising. Still think Big Sam will not play two littleuns upfront judging from his history at Bolton, and so if Owen remains Oba might be out.

Owen happy to bestow Allardyce a fair hearingGeorge Caulkin Michael Owen’s future may remain a matter of conjecture, but the England striker has held positive discussions with Sam Allardyce about the new manager’s plans for Newcastle United. Allardyce made speaking to the club’s record signing a priority on taking up his position at St James’ Park last week. Owen’s status on Tyneside has become uncertain after the 27-year-old’s long-awaited return from knee surgery. Mention of a £9 million release clause in his contract and reported interest from Manchester United and Liverpool recently provoked Freddy Shepherd, the Newcastle chairman, into saying that Owen should “come out and tell our fans he is happy here”. That declaration has not followed, although Owen has never expressed a desire to leave the club, having said in October: “I’m here as long as everybody wants me.” When Allardyce met members of the Newcastle squad for the first time last week, Owen was in Ireland, indulging his passion for horses. His absence was prearranged – other players, including Kieron Dyer, had also left on holiday – but it did not assist in deflecting the notion that Owen is disconnected from the club who bought him from Real Madrid for £16 million in 2005. It is a situation that Glenn Roeder’s successor wishes to address promptly. Allardyce, who is on a family break in France, briefly returned to Newcastle last Thursday, when he spoke to Owen by telephone. He detailed his desire to revamp the club’s coaching and medical structure, as well as strengthen the team after a miserable, injury-blighted season. Leighton Baines, the Wigan Athletic left back, is reputedly a target. Allardyce’s backroom staff should be strengthened with the addition of Mike Forde, the Bolton Wanderers performance director, who rejected the newly created position of general manager at the Reebok Stadium. Bolton will seek compensation for Forde, but they hope instead to appoint Frank McParland, Liverpool’s joint chief scout. Mark Taylor, Bolton’s head of sports science and medicine, is another on Allardyce’s list. With Phil Brown committing himself to Hull City yesterday, Neil McDonald, the Carlisle United manager, is the clear favourite to be appointed as Allardyce’s assistant. Owen’s response to the new manager’s plans was encouraging and he will return to preseason training on July 2 in a positive frame of mind should no club trigger the escape clause that Newcastle assented to when they beat Liverpool to his signature two years ago. Manchester United were pursuing Owen before he suffered anterior cruciate knee-ligament damage at the World Cup finals, while the notion of Liverpool resigning their former player has long held strong appeal within the Anfield boardroom. It has also been suggested that Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has expressed his admiration for both Owen and Obafemi Martins, the Nigerian. Developments are unlikely before the three imminent England appearances that Owen is anticipating. Having played for only 247 minutes since his recuperation, his match fitness is yet to be demonstrated. But the England B fixture against Albania in Burnley on Friday, the friendly against Brazil at Wembley on June 1 and the European Championship qualifying tie in Estonia on June 6 should give him every opportunity. The prospect is welcome to Steve McClaren, the England head coach. “Michael Owen and even Joe Cole are going to be like new signings and they are inspirational players,” he said yesterday. “Michael has proved that he scores goals, vital goals. He scores goals out of nothing, when the team is probably not playing well, and every successful team needs a goalscorer like that. “It’s not going to be easy for Michael; he’s been out a year. It’s just great to have him back. But let’s be patient because the it does take a while to get your timing back, although he looks very fit and very sharp.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/newcastle/article1821553.ece

How's about Tuncay Sanli? He is on a free right? I wonder who is after him at the moment.

The sad thing is that Martins was our only consistent source of gaols all season. We wentinto every game knowing that if Martins didn't score we pretty much weren't going to score any goals. So everyong watches his every move so closely and of course it is then easy to pick apart his game. You only have to see how pathetic and uninvolved Owen was in his two games back to understand and appreciate what a good achievement 17 goals in such a mess of a team was. I am happy we now have a good manager, one who has an experience of working with African players and getting the best out of them. Hope Martins stays. It's such a shame we will lose him durign the African Nations Cup though as this really won't be ideal.

I guess what we all have to ask ourselves is this ... Does a young striker who scores 17 goals in his first season at Newcastle, when he had every excuse going to fail, deserve a couple more seasons to grow and get better? Is it in our interest to give him at least two mroe seasons to see what he can become?

Wow ... I can't believe you just went there. You ought to be ahamed of yourself. Absolute nonsense. Worst comparison ever. Martins never broke into the Inter Milan team as they never committed to him as a first team player. They just brought him off the bench for the most part. Besides he is very much a premiership player as the Italian league is not a fast paced league. It is all defending and sitting deep which is not ideal fior the likes of Martins. I have to say a very twisted side of me is hoping he ends up at Arsenal just so I can hear what you have to say for yourselves when he lights up the league. But I will hope he stays over Owen and Big Sam clicks with him instead, because I know exactly what will happen. That number 9 on his back will look so much more at home. I'd be a lot more inclined to listen to the way you talk with such authority about the player if there was ANYTHING to back up your claims that he's some sort of wunderkind. You're just making ludicrous predictions about how amazing he is and how stupid we'll all feel when he proves it. Until such time that your predictions come true, you'd do well to recognise that that's all they are - predictions. In the real world where the rest of us live, Obafemi Martins looks nothing like the player you seem to think he is. Fair enough. They are just my predictions but I grew up following his career closely and I hve seen him at his confident best and I have no doubt that with a bit of guidance he could be special. Don't mean to come accross as being pushy but my faith in him is very strong. Not only does he have the ability but he has the committment too. I guess we can only wait to see what happens as you say.

Wow ... I can't believe you just went there. You ought to be ahamed of yourself. Absolute nonsense. Worst comparison ever. Martins never broke into the Inter Milan team as they never committed to him as a first team player. They just brought him off the bench for the most part. Besides he is very much a premiership player as the Italian league is not a fast paced league. It is all defending and sitting deep which is not ideal fior the likes of Martins. I have to say a very twisted side of me is hoping he ends up at Arsenal just so I can hear what you have to say for yourselves when he lights up the league. But I will hope he stays over Owen and Big Sam clicks with him instead, because I know exactly what will happen. That number 9 on his back will look so much more at home.

I just have to ask also ... do you think Mourinho and Wenger are mugs? There is a reason they have both enquired you know. Mourinho was already sniffing around in January!!!

Touch? f***! Control? s***! Movement? Bastards! Clinical finishing? Bollocks! You've listed the basic requirements to be a striker, not the things that set someone apart and make them any good. Basic requirements they might be, but he is outstanding at all of the things I have mentioned. The only thing i would agree he sometimes struggles with is his touch and control just like Drogba initially did. Not clinical? So he misses some easy chances towards the end of the season when the team was playing crap and morale in the camp was at an all time low and everyone was fighting each other and he isn't clinical? Please see his finishes againas AZ at home, as well as the deft little flick over the on rushing keeper at home (I forget who we played). If Martins is a first team player in a team that is pulling together and performing as they ought to be he will be absolutely dynamite.

If Martins is in a first team eleven and not used off the bench next season you can expect a minmum of 20 goals (15 of which will be premiership goals). This will be the absolute minimum from him, assuming no long term injuries etc. Dude ... your kid is going to be a legend at school because everyone will know who you named him after when Martins becomes the player I know he will if he remains in a first team.

Martins=Drogba tbh. Ridiculed in his first season but showed flashes just like Martins did. People said Drogba's touch was awful, they said he wasn't an intelligent player ... ya da ya da ya da. If Martins goes to Arsenal you just watch what Wenger does with him. Just as Mourinho has moulded Drogba. Martins has all the raw materials. Pace? check. Power (despite his smaller frame)? check. Workrate? check. Left foot shot? check. Right foot shot? check. Heading? check. We actually have just recruited a manager whose management brings the best out of players and people want to let him go? Wow ... It's a shame Martins ended the season so poorly because apparently everyone has forgotten how dynamic he was when he hit form. I don't think people appreciate how well he did this season considering the awful midfield he had behind him. Considering it was his first season ever as a first team striker. Considering he is still so young. Considering he isn't the biggest striker you've seen and had to adjust to the physical demands. Don't blame Martins! Blame Duff, Dyer, Sibierski, Parker and Emre.

If Martins ends up at Arsenal it will haunt us for years to come. All of you who have claimed he isn't good enough will be reminded every week just how clueless you are.

Would also mean at least one Englishman in their starting eleven which is probably an attraction also ...

If we're only selling because of the release clause, I doubt we can get player exchanges involved. BTW, his transfer fee may be low but his signing on fee and basic wage will not be. Wenger will steer clear. I'm pretty confident of that. Very good point about the wages, could be a sticking point. However, considering he will cost £10 million when he really should cost £17 million they may deem it worthwhile to pay him the wages. But I do agree with you the wages would definitely make them think long and hard about it. However, claiming Owen isn't an Arsenal player is nonsensical to me, with the runs he makes he would be lethal on that team.

Not an Arsenal player??? Look ... I know you don't want to lose him, but claiming they won't want him because he is 'not an Arsenal player' is profoundly DELUSIONAL!!!

Classic move by Wenger. Getting a top top player for a relatively small fee. While Chelsea will probably spend 20s of millions on Tevez and Man U might spend 30s of millions on Eto'o and Liverpool the sam on Villa, Arsenal get Owen for around £10 million. I could definitely see this happen. Henry does a lot of his work outside of the box so it would be a great partnership. Could you imagine Owen making the types of runs he does with the players Arsenal have threading passes through to him? Scary stuff ... The good thing about this is who we could get off of them!!! Flamini and Bendtner plus a couple of million would be brilliant business!!!

Speaking of Campbell and more experienced defenders in general, we are being linked with Hyppia today also as it looks like he will be let go by Liverpool this summer.

Distin heading for Portsmouth Chris Taylor Monday May 21, 2007 The Guardian Sylvain Distin will this week join Portsmouth from Manchester City after snubbing a return to Newcastle. The out-of-contract French defender, 30, has agreed a £40,000-a-week package with Pompey after rejecting a new deal at City. Distin, who spent eight months at St James' Park in 2002, turned down the chance to become Sam Allardyce's first signing as Newcastle's manager. Portsmouth's manager, Harry Redknapp, has been chasing Distin since the summer. Redknapp said: "I like Distin. He is a big, strong player and will be a great free transfer. People like him can command good wages because there is no transfer fee." Article continues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pompey are also close to clinching a club record £9m deal for Udinese's Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari. Redknapp added: "Peter Storrie, our chief executive, is working on that and I would love to have him here." Wolves' highly rated winger Michael Kightly is to be offered a new deal by the club. The 21-year-old has impressed since making his loan from non-League Grays permanent in January and will be given an extension to his 2½-year contract. Kightly was reportedly a target for Manchester United on the eve of signing at Molineux but Wolves' manager, Mick McCarthy, is keen to sign him up long term. McCarthy told the club's website: "Will Michael be offered a new deal? Absolutely! Kites came in the day after the play-offs and said he wants the No7 shirt for next season. I've told him that unless we sign David Beckham then it's his!"

Alonso in demand as Juve return to Serie A By Alberto Laconi Published: 21 May 2007 Relegated in disgrace 10 months ago for their part in the Italian matchfixing scandal, Juventus won promotion to Serie A on Saturday following their 5-1 victory over Arezzo. "We have shown once again that we are the strongest," their French international striker David Trezeguet said after the game. "Now let's party." Trezeguet was among a clutch of big names who decided to stay with the club despite their disgrace and a season out of Serie A and the Champions League (from which they were also banned). However, their return to Serie A meant that speculation immediately intensified in Italy as to which star names would be joining them in the summer, including several now playing in the Premiership. The Liverpool midfielders Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko are both thought to be on Juve's wanted list as well as the Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins. Others said to be attracting their attention are Ajax's coveted forward Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Vincenzo Iaquinta, who plays up front for Udinese and the Roma defender Cristian Chivu. Trezeguet was among the scorers against Arezzo, as was their captain Alessandro Del Piero who scored twice. Del Piero was another star player who stayed as did the Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Mauro Camoranesi and the Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved. Serie B is surprisingly weak and even with a nine-point penalty Juve were able to win promotion with three games to spare. They have been managed by their former player Didier Deschamps who has managed the side with dignity, never degrading the standard of the opposition but remaining ruthlessly focused on returning to Serie A straight away. The former France captain has been rewarded for practically begging to coach the side when few others wanted to know the club after they were demoted following the biggest scandal to hit Italian football. Juve were stripped of their 2005 and 2006 titles after former general manager Luciano Moggi and others were found guilty of a series of corrupt activities including securing favourable referees. Deschamps, who helped Juventus to European Cup glory in 1996, did not feel managing in Serie B was below him despite his achievements in coaching Monaco to the Champions League final in 2004. His task was made more difficult by the departures of talent such as Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who were snapped up by Internazionale) Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson (who followed manager Fabio Capello to Real) while Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta went to Barcelona. The demotion coincided with an already-planned switch to a smaller stadium, the Stadio Olimpico. Players and fans had long bemoaned the Stadio delle Alpi for its poor atmosphere, and the move meant the team could play in a more intimate stadium where the lower Serie B crowds would be less noticeable. Juve made a steady start but fresh momentum came in November when their points deduction was cut to nine on appeal. They never looked back and easily secured promotion but it is now that the real work begins."In 2008 we need to be realistic," Deschamps said recently. "It will be a complicated year. For now the scudetto is a utopia." What is clear, though, is that the club will be busy in the summer. The defence will be bulked up with Jean Alain Boumsong, who endured a nightmare spell at Newcastle United. Germany's Torsten Frings has already turned the club down though. Buffon's future is also in doubt while Trezeguet and Camoranesi could leave despite the promotion.