KaKa

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

I think Martins might struggle on the occassions when he is out wide and he needs to deliver a telling pass or cross.

He would have to play there if he came back I imagine. Allardyce used Diouf (who was an out and out striker) and Anelka in the wide positions of a front three and Bellamy's skills suit that position. If he really wants to come back to Newcastle as the papers claim then he would have to be open to playing in that position I imagine.

I honestly believe Bellamy is on his way back to Newcastle with Owen going the other way and here's why ... I don't believe Allardyce is going to turn his back on his 4-3-3 formation which brought him all the success he had at Bolton, and Bellamy rather than Owen is far better suited to this formation. I could definitely see Allardyce wanting to use Bellamy on the right side of a 4-3-3 which is probably Bellamy's ideal position for the skills he has, rather than as an out-and-out striker. Bellamy could create a lot of opportunities from this position while still being a legitimate goal threat. The link to Tuncay Sanli is an interesting one also because he plays on the left side of a front three in a 4-3-3 for Fenerbache, and he too has the ability to create opportunities from this position whilst being a legit goal threat too, he also does a good job of running directly at people with pace and causing them problems like Bellamy does. I could easily see Allardyce prefering something similar to the following to any 4-4-2 formation featuring either Owen or Martins beside Viduka. I imagine Martins will be gone also. --------------------------------Given--------------------------- Solano----------Ben Haim----------Taylor----------Baines --------------------------------Butt----------------------------- ------------------Barton-------------------Emre--------------- -----Bellamy------------------------------------------Sanli----- -------------------------------Viduka-----------------------------

Owen and Martins make this formation almost impossible to play. Everytime I see people's formations with Martins and Owen as wide forwards in a 4-3-3 it makes me cringe, as they are not the type of players who can play in that role.

If Liverpool offered Cisse, Hyypia and £5 million for Owen who would have that?

Cue the headlines on Sky Sports tomorrow ... "Joey demands loyalty payments in cash wrangle with Man City" After all the positive spin by Newcastle on his move it makes the club look a bit silly. If this drags on and gets too ugly it's not impossible for the new owner to pull the plug on this and ask Allardyce to go for someone else as we can clearly afford to. Joey needs to be very careful.

Really dissapointing all of this. He has just agreed a move to a new club on a new lucrative deal and everything has been looking a bit more positive for him, but he decides to get involved in what appears to be a very petty argument. More negative headlines which he really doesn't need.

What is tedious is you stalking me ... I just found it embarrassing that people were trying to imply that only Newcastle and Birmingham were after him and therefore he wasn't that good, when hardly anyone has seen enough of him and none of us could ever really know which clubs were chasing him. That site clearly shows that there might indeed be much better clubs who are also interested. I am surprised you needed me to spell that all out for you, as it was fairly obvious really. Then again you are clearly an idiot.

So much for just Newcastle and Birmingham chasing him ... I wonder if some of you pessimists change your tone now. Real Madrid Watching Tuncay Şanli Closely Real Madrid will send scouts to watch the Turkish derby encounter between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe this weekend to monitor talented midfielder Tuncay Şanli. The Spanish giants may be embroiled in a battle for the title with FC Barcelona, but that has not stopped them laying the groundwork for next season. Şanli has been on Madrid's radar throughout this season as the 25-year-old has continued to impress for Fenerbahçe and Turkey since moving from Sakaryaspor five years ago. With his contract expiring at the end of the season after he rejected a new deal, Madrid could be ready to make their move and snap him up on a free. Villarreal and Olympiacos are also said to be monitoring the situation, but the Bernabéu-based outfit would, undoubtedly, have the upper hand in any negotiations. After being instrumental in helping Fenerbahçe win the Turkish Super League this season, the club were desperate to tie Şanli to a new contract, but could well admit defeat if Madrid come in for him. Şanli can operate on the left wing, as an attacking midfielder or even as a forward and that versatility has attracted the Spanish outfit as they look to send José Antonio Reyes back to Arsenal in the summer. http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=305896

Barton's demand for City loyalty money delays deal By Andy Hunter Published: 09 June 2007 Joey Barton's proposed transfer to Newcastle has been delayed by his demands for a £300,000 "loyalty payment" from Manchester City. The England international agreed in principle to join Newcastle in a five-year deal worth £60,000-a-week on Tuesday, having also requested permission to speak to West Ham United when both clubs triggered the £5.5m release clause in his City contract. However, his St James' Park contract remains unsigned because of a dispute over his departure from City and his current employers are adamant the midfielder will not be sold until he backs down. Barton, who has been suspended on full pay for the past six weeks following a training ground incident that left team-mate Ousmane Dabo requiring hospital treatment, insists he is entitled to the payment from City as he never handed in a transfer request. For their part, the club contest he lost his entitlement to any loyalty money when he requested permission to speak to Newcastle and West Ham once his release clause was activated. There is also a ground-swell of opinion within City that Barton has received ample support from the club throughout his chequered career - they paid for the 24-year-old to receive anger-management lessons from the Sporting Chance Clinic last year, for example - and that a £300,000 payment on their part would, according to a source, "go beyond the pale when he has exercised his right to speak to other clubs and is on the cusp of a contract said to be worth £16m". Sam Allardyce had hoped to make Barton, who is currently on police bail over his alleged training ground fight with Dabo, his first signing as Newcastle manager but remains confident the impasse can be broken over the weekend and that the midfielder will follow Mark Viduka into St James'. Thaksin Shinawatra's proposed £90m takeover of City, meanwhile, is edging closer towards a successful resolution with the former Thai prime minister reportedly on the brink of tabling an official offer to chairman John Wardle. A senior source close to Thaksin moved to reassure supporters over the current delays last night, when he told The Independent: "The deal is absolutely on course and could go through at any time. Next week is looking the strongest possibility. Fans should not be dismayed that it's taking a long time. It was in the public domain long before it should have been and these deals take time. As it is, from start to finish it will be quicker than most takeovers." The same source also revealed that no firm offers have been made to a potential replacement for Stuart Pearce as manager since the first-choice candidate, Claudio Ranieri, elected to join Juventus this week, with the Thais anxious to avoid an awkward repeat. "[There will be] no serious talk on that until the paperwork for the takeover is signed and sealed," the source said yesterday. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/article2636194.ece

Do you need three pictures of Allardyce in your avatar thingy? Whats that got to do with punctuation? Do you need three pictures of Allardyce in your avatar thingy? Whats that got to do with punctuation? I dunno ... what does Penny's boat have to do with Newcastle or football? For fucks sake. Here man, stop making thread titles appear as if they've been done by an over-excited autistic foreigner. Okay I will ... as soon as you stop making avatar thingys appear as though they've been done by a horny geek that wants to bum Allardyce.

Do you need three pictures of Allardyce in your avatar thingy? Whats that got to do with punctuation? Do you need three pictures of Allardyce in your avatar thingy? Whats that got to do with punctuation? I dunno ... what does Penny's boat have to do with Newcastle or football?

Seems like we were battling West Ham for Viduka, Pompey had quite a free run for Campbell, no real interest in Ben Haim etc... I agree though, he is just a good player and won't come over here as the turkish Ronaldinho It wouldn't be a bad bit of business if Owen left and he was replaced by Sanli. Would be very shrewd. Martins, Viduka, Sanli and Shola is still pretty sexy, and we would have an extra £9 million or so in the kitty.

Do you need three pictures of Allardyce in your avatar thingy?

Nihat? Sanli is the one who scored the hat-trick against Man U in the champions league a few years back. He has always been at Fenerbache. edit: Damn I was slow on that one

Shola should be sweating right now ...

Very believable in my opinion. He is good, he is versatile and he is free and he would definitely feel comfortable coming to us with his fellow countryman here already.

Fellow Turk innit! He's been in Sam's ear mate. Told him about his pal Tuncay innit.

With Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi at his disposal, Sam Allardyce, the Newcastle manager, has a formidable striking quartet, but the club are also monitoring Tuncay Sanli, a 25-year-old forward, who is comfortable on the left wing and is out of contract at Fenerbahçe. Sanli is also attracting the interest of Birmingham City. Tal Ben Haim, the centre half, is also available for no fee and Allardyce will step up his pursuit of the Bolton Wanderers player once the administrative details of Joey Barton’s £5.5 million transfer from Manchester City have been attended to. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/middlesbrough/article1907109.ece Woohoo! Emre's been doing some good work it seems! Another free signing if we pull this off! What a squad we would have and it seems it will almost cost us nothing!

Mark Hughes really is a prick. What an absolutely selfish human being. This is a huge tournament and it would have been a great stage to see Bentley on and could only have done him good in his bid to show how valuable he could be to the first team. England had an outstanding team and it would have been really exciting to see them win as I though they were the favourites. This stunt just starts things off on a bad note and they've essentially lost their best player. I really dislike Hughes and I am so happy he never came close to getting the Newcastle job. Can you imgaine if he was in charge and he pulled Milner and Taylor out! Bentley will regret not going and I think it will affect his chances for the first team. If Ashley Young or Milner come back as the player of the tournament and England win, everyone will be pushing for them to get in the first team. Hope this backfires big time. Hughes is mental.

I certainly hope that's not the way Allardyce is thinking. If he thinks Brown is better he should go for Brown.. Going for an inferior player just to save a million or so is ridiculous, especially now.. Um no ... I was thinking more along the lines that Sam thinks they are both of a similar level.

Optimistic nut ... What a bizarrely innappropriate name.

It would be unbelievably funny I must say! Nowt more than a breeding ground for Man U. To be fair though they could replace him with Bent and they would still be alright, but it would just be such a blow mentally though, as it once again re-inforces the fact that they are very much a selling club. No doubt Chimbonda will be off to Chelsea next. How depressing for them. It's funny though because with all the links to Bent and the fact that Keane penned a new contract I had a feeling Bent was being lined up to replace Berbatov. Turns out this might indeed be the case! Tee hee ...