KaKa

What was even funnirer was Andy Gray's reaction to Jonas. He couldn't quite believe it. He was trying to figure out who the guy was. Just because we didn't spend a bunch of money on him, it complpetely caught everyone off guard. Special mention for Guthrie too. Huge calming presence for us. His awareness and footballing brain are top notch.

Zoggy at left back wasn't as much of a problem today, because of how well Jonas tracks back to assist him. I hear what your saying about extremes, but Jonas' debut today was phenomenal. To play like that your first game in the prem and away to Man U was nuts.

Yeah, okay. I'm sure you would have been as mellow as you are now if you had won 3 - 0. Go read my previous posts, I knew this would happen. Your midfield was parting like the red sea. You lot are in a hell of a mess right now. The window is fast closing now, so it's going to be a lot of hardwork getting in players now if you aren't already close to tying them up. f***ing hell, did you ejaculate when Mido scored? Do you think the 'doom and gloom' story you've just painted, has any effect on me?. Im pretty sure we'll bring in a few new faces AND im pretty sure we'll improve on this s*** result. It's all about getting the balance right. Ramos tried a system today that in hindsight was wrong. Lennon should not have played, Bale should, berbatov should have started, Bentley should have played on the right. Woodgate was very good but he was more or less defending on his own. Don't be mad at me buddy. I'm stating facts here. Cold, hard facts. The same ones I've been stating all summer. A lot of people on here claimed it was sour grapes and so I am happy they have been made to look quite silly. We're talking about Boro here! You didn't even compete hardly. All talk all the time. Can't do the business on the field though. You've started the season off terribly. Fact. Just like last year. Boro! If you can't take the heat then roll out son! Mad at you? i dont get mad at people who get excited and claim they've been proven right, after the opening game of the season. Facts? Ok lets look at facts for a minute. Our best defence, when available is.. Hutton------------woody-------------king---------------bale how many of them started?? 1 Im pretty sure any team would have struggled without 3 of the 4 first x1 defenders. Not to mention Berbatov not starting. So why didn't he start King and Bale then? Seems to me like you've got a dodgy manager, which is yet another problem you need to fix then. Berbatov doesn't want to play for you, thats why he didn't start. Should have sorted this all out ages ago, and just sold him. Now Man U are looking at Santa Cruz, if they gethim instead, Berba will be even worse. Good luck. Not looking good.

Yeah, okay. I'm sure you would have been as mellow as you are now if you had won 3 - 0. Go read my previous posts, I knew this would happen. Your midfield was parting like the red sea. You lot are in a hell of a mess right now. The window is fast closing now, so it's going to be a lot of hardwork getting in players now if you aren't already close to tying them up. f***ing hell, did you ejaculate when Mido scored? Do you think the 'doom and gloom' story you've just painted, has any effect on me?. Im pretty sure we'll bring in a few new faces AND im pretty sure we'll improve on this s*** result. It's all about getting the balance right. Ramos tried a system today that in hindsight was wrong. Lennon should not have played, Bale should, berbatov should have started, Bentley should have played on the right. Woodgate was very good but he was more or less defending on his own. So basically your manager's s*** and you still need to sign the same players you needed at the start of the summer? Ramos still "trying systems" at this stage? He must be shite. Huge implications that Man U might opt for Santa Cruz instead! Oh dear. Berba will just love that! DISASTER!!!

Yeah, okay. I'm sure you would have been as mellow as you are now if you had won 3 - 0. Go read my previous posts, I knew this would happen. Your midfield was parting like the red sea. You lot are in a hell of a mess right now. The window is fast closing now, so it's going to be a lot of hardwork getting in players now if you aren't already close to tying them up. f***ing hell, did you ejaculate when Mido scored? Do you think the 'doom and gloom' story you've just painted, has any effect on me?. Im pretty sure we'll bring in a few new faces AND im pretty sure we'll improve on this s*** result. It's all about getting the balance right. Ramos tried a system today that in hindsight was wrong. Lennon should not have played, Bale should, berbatov should have started, Bentley should have played on the right. Woodgate was very good but he was more or less defending on his own. Don't be mad at me buddy. I'm stating facts here. Cold, hard facts. The same ones I've been stating all summer. A lot of people on here claimed it was sour grapes and so I am happy they have been made to look quite silly. We're talking about Boro here! You didn't even compete hardly. All talk all the time. Can't do the business on the field though. You've started the season off terribly. Fact. Just like last year. Boro! If you can't take the heat then roll out son!

Yeah, okay. I'm sure you would have been as mellow as you are now if you had won 3 - 0. Go read my previous posts, I knew this would happen. Your midfield was parting like the red sea. You lot are in a hell of a mess right now. The window is fast closing now, so it's going to be a lot of hardwork getting in players now if you aren't already close to tying them up.

he moved to Real on a free so I`d imagine his wages are not far off Owen`s too Don't be daft. He was brought in as a squad player. His wages will not be high. Robinho is on £30,000 a week for goodness sake.

How can I begin to express the immense joy I feel right now? Whenever I tried to say how Tottenham was soft a lot of people said it was sour grapes. Same old mess from a soft and gutless team. Where are all the Tottenham groupies now? Not writing them off completely but it is going to take a hell of a lot more work than those idiots think it will.

Begging for a nice fat Omelette on your face tbh ...

I can't believe think Saviola can't play in the hole and think the extent of his game is palying on the shoulder. He is ridiculous running at people and loves to play the little through balls and one twos. He has a lot more to his game than just playing on the shoulder of defenders. What we will need alongside a front three of Martins, Owen and Saviola will be a really hard working midfield. Jonas ticks that box and Barton also. If we could get a really top DM to play with both Jonas and Barton that would be sick.

bit of both would be nice i think, you dont wanna only have one way of playing imo Owen's good in the air and has a knack of getting on the end of crosses despite his size. Martins has a great leap too. I just don't know why anyone would turn their noses up at a footballer like Saviola just because he's not that tall. Agreed. At the end of the day we still have Viduka as an alternative if we need to change things. However, keeping it on the deck and having a forward three of Martins, Owen and Saviola would be immense. Martins power, pace and athleticism, Owen's smarts, positioning and finishing and Saviola's dribbling, passingg and finishing. In games where the ball isn't quite sticking upfront enough and we are struggling physically, then just bring on Viduka. Sorted.

Great move. Only 26 years old and is ridiculously experienced. If we were after Aimar then Saviola would be a great alternative. Like Dave said, would be excellent in the hole, just behind Owen and Martins, in our 4-3-1-2. Best of all is that if Owen is out, with Saviola we wouldn't really miss him as much. He is as good a finisher for sure.

Likely to be Nicky Butt, but your'e right should be Habib.

---------------Given----------------- Beye---Taylor---Colo---Warnock ----Barton---Tiago---Jonas------- ---------------Owen----------------- --------Viduka----Martins---------- Assuming we land Tiago and Warnock of course. I think this would really allow us to have a quality passing midfielder, in Tiago, dictate our play from the back, as a holding playmaker like Pirlo. Tiago will also be very well supported defensively by Barton and Jonas who definitely do their bit defensively, similarly to Seedorf and Gattuso. It's the AC Milan model really. In the meantime, while both Barton and Viduka get their lives together, Guthrie could fill in nicely in Bartons spot, while Smith (sigh) can try to figure out this striking thing in place of Viduka, or just stay out of Martins and Owen's way.

Weren't there reports in france a while back saying we'd signed him or somthing. That's correct. He has been very promising lately, and is exactly what we need. A young, tall, technical targetman with pace. with a goal to games record almost identical to Shola Think somebody's been watching to many tube clips, don't you? What's that supposed to mean? Have watched Chamakh several times since last year, and the reason why his scoring record is poor is because he holds up the play so players like Gouffran, Wendel and Cavenaghi can score. You can compare Newcastle's attacking style to Bordeaux's, and it is quite similar. Pacey players like Gouffran and Wendel (Owen and Martins in our team) need a player who can hold the ball. Chamakh is used to play the same role Viduka plays for us, and that's the reason why I think he could be a great buy for us. Yeah, I've heard similarly good things about Chamakh, apparently gets a lot of assists. More of a setup guy than an out and out goalscorer. I'm afraid it will only ever be likely if we move on both Ameobi and Smith.

Don't you dare. I'm not telling any lies here am I? I would love for him to turn it around but here we are at the start of a brand new season and he isn't here yet again? He has never started a season succesfully with us since his first one has he? He also hasn't been involved all summer too don't forget because of other ailments, so it's not like he just got injured. I can't help but feel that this is the nature of the player. If your saying, oh well no matter, I want him on the team anyway, give him a new deal. Then fair enough that's your opinion. However, if you are expecting things to be different with him all of a sudden, then I'm not so sure.

Spot on, and that's all I'm trying to say. One game out (and one where we're highly unlikely to get anything anyway) doesn't change that. See now a lot of people have been saying this and I have been resisting comment, but there is always a chance isn't there? Yes there is, especially if we have our match winners with us, Alas! our best one isn't available though! This is the problem. It has happened this way too often for us with Owen. We need the guy and at the moment are quite reliant on him, which is what actually sucks. Jonas should alleviate this and hopefully with some more new attacking additions it will be alleviated further. No Ronaldo, no Nani, no Anderson, Rooney not quite at 100%. It's a great opportunity to punch those punks square in the mouth and kick Sky in the balls, but Owen won't be playing and it is gutwrenching.

Unfortunately, one could argue we were in that position in the first place because he wasn't available for us enough to begin with.

Dave are you kidding me? I'm not talking of one season here. This isn't based on last year. Owen signed a four year deal? And in that 4 years he hasn't had a run of gamesmore than what 10 in a roe or so? And this was only last season! Imagine if Blackburn had written Shearer off after one or two seasons of bad injuries, heck, imagine if we had after his crap season in 97-98 when he'd been, a) injured and b) sh*te. I don't like this comparison at all. It disturbs me deeply. Shearer was still young at Blackburn so they could afford to wait on him, especially as he wasn't on huge money then either. As for Newcastle, he had already done the business for us and proved that he could come back from injuries and perform at a high level over a good period of time, without missing a lot of games. If Owen is so confident he will be fit then he should sign a £50,000 a week deal that will be £100,000 if he played an agreed upon number of games. Why wouldn't he?

Owen didn't start games because he was injured. Martins didn't start games, mostly because he was at the ACN, which was out of his control, or he was benched, also out of his control. For once this isn't even about Owen versus Martins. It's about the wisdom in giving Owen a new contract when we could invest that money in developing our team further with younger, healthier and more reliable and therefore productive talent. I have no problem with Owen. Great player, great character, great professional but just not worth the money he demands considering his injuries in his time with us.

Utter bollocks btw, as I have proved. Missing one game and people like you are straight back on the 'oh Owen's injured all the time' bandwagon. I fully expect him to start against Bolton. More power to you brother. I admire your optimism. I'm very optimistic myself, but even I have lost faith in Owen's fitness. Just one game eh? We'll see I guess. All I know is, taking all into account, he doesn't warrant a new 4 year deal on big money. Simple as that.

Dave are you kidding me? I'm not talking of one season here. This isn't based on last year. Owen signed a four year deal? And in that 4 years he hasn't had a run of gamesmore than what 10 in a roe or so? And this was only last season! What the heck does this have to do with Martins anyway? Besides Martins was at the ACN and was benched unfairly by Allardyce once Owen returned. How many games has Oba actually missed out due to injury? Secondly, his contract isn't anywhere near as expensive as Owens. Thirdly he is much younger and therefore is still of greater value going into the future. Owen is about to turn 29 and he is injured a hell of a lot. Seems like a heck of a waste of money to give him another, what, 4 year deal on £100,000 a week. It would be mental. Come off it Dave.

Certainly isn't. But many of those came in an unbroken stretch up to the end of last season. And about 60 of the 70+ games he has missed were because of that serious injury during the World Cup, and a broken metatarsal. That's just downright unlucky more than anything. Haven't you heard though, these footballers just want to be injured and out of action so they can sit around rather than play the game they love? It's a well known fact. You guys are jokers. Awwww ... he's just so unlucky, so that makes everything okay. Lets just keep throwing more oney at him. Heres a brand new £100,000 a week deal. Great idea guys. You do know these guys get paid in real money right? This isn't a video game you know. This is real mony he is getting from the club and he isn't worth it with his injury troubles and subsequent lack of appearances. The injuries aren't my fault or your fault either are they? I would much rather let him move on now and get someone else in who doesn't have the same problems. He has been here now for the duration of his contract and he still hasn't had a good run of fitness. There is no reason he should get a new one, and a very expensive one at that! Time has moved on, there are a lot of players out there who might not have the name "Owen" but who will be far more reliable and productive. Let him have his free move next summer and we can go for an upcoming striker. Our recruitment team are showing they know exactly what they are doing so I have every faith in them.

Um ... maybe because, despite a fit return to the team at the end of last season, he has been diseased and injured throughout the off season and pre-season and is now set to miss the first game of the season too. No point selling him now for a pittance though. Not that anyone would be interested. Just get what we can out of him this last season and start making plans for a top striker next summer.

Great pickup for Rangers. Diarra and Diop in the middle for Pompey then.