KaKa

Very interesting idea. Would be dirt cheap as he fell out of the Barcelona rotation due to injuries and is unsettled, but when fit he is very similar to Campo. Big, physical DM with good ability on the ball and good use of the ball. Would be a typical Sam signing.

Don't worry you will be able to console yourself with Harry Kewell and Marlon Harewood. NAILED ON!!!

£60,000 is a lot but when you take into account the fact that we would be getting him on a free then maybe it's not too bad.

Glen Johnson really does seem to get a bad rap, but he does have potential. He is very good going forward but not the best defender. We probably need someone a bit more solid defensively considering the overall state of our defence.

I really like Flamini too. He is more of an energizer bunny type of defensive mid that harries the opposition all game. I see him as a bit of a Hargreaves clone, also just as versatile. I would love Flamini and he would be very affordable too. However, Allardyce does tend to prefer having his defensive midfielders big and strong so I'm not sure if he would consider someone like Flamini.

The boy is special. Allegedly available for £8 million too. I'm really still baffled about how Monaco managed to snag him for £3.5million last year.

Might very well be the best in the league. Not sure I can think of anyone who is better.

I'm happy someone else brought this up as I have been thinking the same thing. Nicky Butt was good for us last season but he really shouldn't be a first team choice next season I don't think. We need more power and presence in that position for sure. I'm hoping this is one of the areas Sam addresses after he has got the defence sorted. I dream of Yaya Toure ...

Wow ... can't believe you would turn down £11 million. Chelsea are obviously getting desperate and want a right-back they are sure will be effective in the premiership. They haven't really had a decent right back since Mourinho joined as Ferreira never really panned out. I cannot for the life of me understand what the hell the point of Arnesen is then. You mean to tell me that between Arnesen and Mourinho they cannot scout a decent right-back outside of the premiership who they know will be good enough in the English league? What the hell is the point of all their scouts then? All these guys are a bunch of phoneys! £11 million on a right back ... that's more than what Berbatov and Martins cost. Absolutely crazy.

What a surprise ... all the teams with Turkish players (Tuncay, Emre and Tugay) just happen to be after him. Yep, certainly looks like desperate agent talk to me.

If Bent doesn't end up at Tottenham after all of the ITK claims they have been making it would be unreal. They would officially rank as the most delusional fans ever!

So dissapointed in Ben Haim if true. He will never play at Chelsea. Mourinho never rotates his defenders unless they are injured. Good luck to him. It looks like it will come down to either Ben Haim or Rozenhal then.

If an excuse aint broken, don't fix it! I beg to differ. It is broken as it's been used so damn much. Please fix it!

Was gonna post more or less the exact same thing but didnt want to hijack the thread. Anyone who cant see that Jenas has improved as a player since joining us is massively deluded. still massively overrated though which i think is the problem ie. the constant England call ups despite him never concievably(sp?) going to play, etc. But other then Gerrard and Lamplard there's not really another English centre midfielder like him who is able to score goals and do hes fair share defensively. Name another midfielder who is energetic and scores a decent amount of goals? I love Gareth Barry in the centre of midfield. Not only do i prefer him to Jenas in this position, but I actually prefer him to Lampard!!! I'm a big Barry fan. I can't for the life of me understand who though the should be a left back with the skill set he has. I hope O'neill keeps him in midfield all of next season. Then I will be proved right!

http://football.guardian.co.uk/rumourmill/index/0,,2101018,00.html I have always had a major regard for Danny Murphy and cannot for the life of me understand why Spurs do not use him. Cos he's always injured? Plus, he's past it. I'd rather have Speed. That and: 1) He's s**** 2) Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone, Tainio and possibly Ghaly >>>>>>>>> Murphy 3) He's s**** 4) He's s**** and finally.................. HE'S s**** No way will I accept that Murphy is s*** as you say. He is just one of those guys that has to know he is playing every week in order to be effective. If he comes off the bench or only gets the odd appearance here and there then yeah he does tend to look poor. You only have to look at the performances he put in at Charlton. People where calling for him to be back in the England squad! It's a shame this has all been forgotten because of what has happened at Spurs. Ok its very simple. If Allardyce is planning a 4-4-2 formation for the forthcomming season then Murphy is probably the worst signing you can make. 4-5-1 and you MAY have got yourself a useful player. I agree and I said this in my very first post. This is the key thing about Murphy I've always thought that in a 4-3-3 system playing as an attacking midfielder he is really productive and a very good player. He can create and score goals in this position. Some of the things he did at Charlton in the 4-3-3 were awesome. In a 4-2-2 without as much freedom he certainly isn't the same player. Murphy is so underrated it's untrue.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/rumourmill/index/0,,2101018,00.html I have always had a major regard for Danny Murphy and cannot for the life of me understand why Spurs do not use him. Cos he's always injured? Plus, he's past it. I'd rather have Speed. That and: 1) He's s**** 2) Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone, Tainio and possibly Ghaly >>>>>>>>> Murphy 3) He's s**** 4) He's s**** and finally.................. HE'S s**** No way will I accept that Murphy is shit as you say. He is just one of those guys that has to know he is playing every week in order to be effective. If he comes off the bench or only gets the odd appearance here and there then yeah he does tend to look poor. You only have to look at the performances he put in at Charlton. People where calling for him to be back in the England squad! It's a shame this has all been forgotten because of what has happened at Spurs.

harsh.

Whats that all about?.... I chose to ignore that ... hopefully it's some sort of inside joke that has nothing to do with his footballing abilities (gulp!)

I prefer my suggestion ... take him off their hands, along with £5 million annd give them Dyer.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/rumourmill/index/0,,2101018,00.html I have always had a major regard for Danny Murphy and cannot for the life of me understand why Spurs do not use him. I absolutely love his vision and range of passing. I do think he is a lot more effective in a 4-3-3 as he was at Charlton with Curbs, and so I guess he doesn't really suit Tottenham's setup. This looks very much like an Allardyce signing and I wouldn't be surprised in the least as he would fit well into a 4-3-3 as mentioned. Just turned 30 so Sam will be thinking he could get a lot out of him still. If Barton is our Nolan then I guess Murphy would be our Speed? Murphy and £5 million for Kieron Dyer and everyone goes home happy.

Nah ... committed.

He's a defensive midfielder. Used to play for the Zagreb team which featured Zigic as well. Maybe he will be our Campo?

This is absolutely shocking journalism. Cheap, tacky, lazy and absolutely worthless stuff. This guy gets paid to write this? What a cushy gig.

Not surprised to hear about the 3-5-2 system being considered. Allardyce absolutely loves having three central midfielders, and this system allows him to have three central midfielders as well as two strikers up top. With Owen in the team we will absolutely need two strikers up top because Owen cannot play as a lone striker in the 4-3-3 (because Allardyce prefers his lone striker to be more physical) and neither can he play as a wide striker either (because he has no creative skills on the ball whatsoever). The 3-5-2 will allow Owen to play off a target man while still allowing for three central midfielders. With Ben Haim likely to arrive and with Taylor also likely to start it makes sense as to why we are also after Rosenhal who is a first team international and also costs £3 million or so. He would be a fairly expensive signing to keep on the bench, so I imagine these three would indeed play at the back together. Here's the thing about the 3-5-2 though ... where does it leave the likes of Milner and N'Zogbia? and even Duff? Would they be able to play out wide in this formation? As it has an enormous amount of defensive responsibility. I bet Sam would find it much easier if we just got rid of Owen and played his tried and tested 4-3-3, as Owen is the only player who does not fit this formation. No surprise he is more than happy to talk openly about his clause.

Serious moves Sam Allardyce’s first forays into the transfer market hint at a shift away from trophy signingsJonathan Northcroft Newcastle United have not won anything in 38 years and no domestic honour since the FA Cup in 1955. Their last league title was clinched in the same month that the television was invented – April 1927. None of this has stopped the stream of trophies flowing into St James’ Park. Obafemi Martins was the one for 2006 and Michael Owen for 2005. We are talking, of course, about trophy signings – not cold, hard, bankable silverware. On Thursday, Sam Allardyce made Mark Viduka his first acquisition since succeeding Glenn Roeder. There was a certain inevitability about the transfer: new Newcastle manager ergo new high profile striker arrives. And yet the Viduka deal may have been misleading because Allardyce’s next bit of business was to activate the release clause in Joey Barton’s contract at Manchester City by faxing a £5.5m offer for the mid-fielder. He then persuaded Barton to choose Newcastle over West Ham, who also made a £5.5m bid. Allardyce’s next moves were to negotiate with his old club, Bolton, over Tal Ben Haim, and register an interest in Charlton’s Luke Young. Ben Haim – tired of waiting for Chelsea – may join Newcastle within the next few days. Barton, Ben Haim and Young are hardly the flair player signings that usually pepper a summer at St James’ Park and even buying Viduka is as much about adding physical solidity to Newcastle’s ranks, particularly up front where they are short, as it is about bringing to the club exotic skill. His transfer activity suggests Allardyce might be the first Newcastle manager in more than a decade to prioritise team building over romance; he arrived, like Kevin Keegan, in a helicopter but no one has ever doubted Big Sam is grounded. Underlying his tendency of acquiring elderly, but still useful, foreign superstars at Bolton was a belief that when spending has to be rationed a manager is better investing in proven ability than potential. Sir Bobby Robson paid £23.5m for Hugo Viana, Carl Cort and Titus Bramble on the basis of the latter. That Bramble – freed by Allardyce – was able to find another Premier League club to take him (Wigan) was a transfer more miraculous than when Socrates agreed a short-term move to Garforth Town. The glitch for Allardyce is that Barton’s switch cannot be sealed until he resolves a dispute with Manchester City over his extraordinary demand he should be paid a “loyalty bonus” of £300,000. Barton argues he is entitled to the sum because he did not make a transfer request; City say he did effectively ask to leave when he asked permission to talk to Newcastle and West Ham. It comes down to semantics but City believe they are on very solid ground and even Barton’s advisors are said to be keen he drops the matter. A source at City indicated last night that Alistair Mackintosh, the club’s chief executive, and John Wardle, its chairman, are willing to “dig in” and not only block Barton’s transfer to Newcastle but see the player in court if necessary. Barton’s lawyers must be busy people: on police bail until July 11 while an alleged assault on a teammate, Ousmane Dabo, is investigated, he was also spoken to by the constabulary following a row with a taxi driver in Liverpool in March. “City are not going to budge. We think we’re on solid ground with our fans who got sick of Joey a long time ago and are now saying why should their club be asked to pay for one of its best players to leave,” said the source. One means of breaking the impasse might be if Newcastle paid the £300,000 but they are already committed to paying Barton £16m over five years, having agreed to triple the player’s City salary. West Ham offered Barton even more money to move to Upton Park and could reenter the scene should Barton’s move to the northeast break down. Alan Curbishley has already paid £7m to bring Scott Parker back to London and is in the bidding for Darren Bent, who will leave relegated Charlton. Liverpool, Tottenham and Valencia are also rumoured to be interested in the 23-year-old even though Charlton’s asking price is £15m. Bent would also command Barton wages of £60,000 per week plus bonuses. The amount middle-ranking clubs are willing to invest in middle-ranking players such as Bent, Barton, Parker and Andy Johnson – offered £90,000 per week by West Ham to leave Everton – demonstrates the goldrush that is taking place. Granted an opportunity by the league’s new £2.7bn television deal, clubs outside the Premiership’s Big Four are determined to break the oligarchy. Everton bidding as much as £4m for Phil Jagielka, Aston Villa £7m for Nigel Reo-Coker and Portsmouth spending £7m on Sulley Muntari are further examples of the trend. Takeover fever is also raising the market’s temperature. Villa are still flush following Randy Lerner’s purchase and West Ham following the arrival of new Icelandic owners. Should Thaksin Shinawatra be able to push through his attempt to buy City, the billionaire former Thai prime minister would ensure there would be serious money available to revamp the squad. For their part, Newcastle have a rich new owner, the sports tycoon Mike Ashley who has just paid Freddy Shepherd £37.6m for his shares in the club. Shepherd, who has retained his £500,000 per year post as chairman, pointed out last week that Newcastle had spent £104m in five years with him in charge as if that, in itself, was a sign of his prowess. They reached no cup finals in that period, had four managers, and in the past three seasons had league finishes of 14th, 7th, and 13th. At least Allardyce seems to realise that what St James’ Park needs is not the gesture of spending but joy of silverware. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article1909844.ece