KaKa

I tend to agree I think they do probably have the money to make him an acceptable offer. The problem might be though is wage structure and what sort of effect that bringing in a player at a considerably higher rate than everyone else has on team morale. Everton success has largely been built around team spirit, I'm not sure Moyes will want to upset the boat. But as I said before I think this on could very well come off. The thing is though, it is not some random foreigner who they will be giving this money to, but England's Michael Owen, and therefore I'm not sure it would have as negative an impact. I have to say when you look at teams like Everton, Villa and Blackburn and what they have been able to achieve without really having any players on crazy wages it makes you appreciate our new owners viewpoint. The likes of Viduka, Smith, Emre, Duff are absolutely killing us right now in terms of wages and the aren't really worth what they are getting paid at all.

Considering Everton were in for him when he first signed for us I wouldn't be so sure they wouldn't be able to affor his wages as they were clearly willing to do so last time around. Look at Everton's team for goodness sake! How many of those guys are on massive wages would you say? I reckon they could clearly make an exception for a top player if they wanted to. I would imagine they could afford to pay Owen for sure.

Might fit into Martins' floating position, with Martins moving forward into Viduka's. Yikes! That wouldn't work in a million.

PSG's Diana cools Newcastle talk tribalfootball.com - May 16, 2008 PSG striker Amara Diane has cooled talk of a move to Newcastle United. L'Equipe says Diane has denied quotes attributed to him this week that he was excited about the prospect of joining Toon in the summer.

If he isn't a speedy out and out winger he'll probably suit our diamond midfield better. In place of Geremi maybe.

Nailed on true then. Exactly what I was thinking. mackems.gif

Think that might be the best way to go in order to get him signed. Didn't they show an interest in Emre during the January window? Not sure if they showedinterest in January but I believe Gala was Emre's first club in Turkey and he would be welcomed back with open arms I imagine. On the other hand though, having Emre here would probably make it easier to convince the player to come so a bit of a dilemma.

Seems likely judging by his age and pedigree. Appears to fit the profile of the type of players we prefer to go after nowadays. Maybe we can convince them by sending Emre back the other way along with some dosh.

Interesting ... will likely push Taylor down the pecking order as he is a better player.

Dunne, Corluka and Elano thank you very much!

Disheartened Crouch offered passage back to Portsmouth Gary Jacob and Nick Szczepanik Portsmouth were holding talks with Liverpool last night about re-signing Peter Crouch, the forward, who left Fratton Park six years ago. Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, has asked the board for funds to bring in several players in a determined attempt to build on this season's eighth-place finish in the Barclays Premier League and their appearance in the FA Cup Final, in which they will play Cardiff City tomorrow. Redknapp wants a target man to partner Jermain Defoe next season and believes that Liverpool will sell Crouch this summer as he enters the final year of his contract. Liverpool's £15million valuation has been a stumbling block, with Portsmouth willing to pay about half that. Redknapp has also considered Dean Ashton, the West Ham United forward. Crouch has frequently expressed his frustration at the rotation policy and his lack of opportunities at Anfield. Liverpool rejected an inquiry for him from Manchester City this season. The England forward left Portsmouth for Aston Villa for £5million in March 2002, two days after Redknapp took charge at Fratton Park for the first time. He scored 18 goals in 37 appearances in the league for Portsmouth, since when he has also played for Norwich City and Southampton. At 27, Crouch has played for seven clubs and has accrued transfer fees of £15.5million in his career. Redknapp has concerns about his attacking line-up for next season. Kanu, the Nigeria and former Arsenal striker, will turn 32 in August, John Utaka, also of Nigeria, has been a disappointment after an encouraging start, David Nugent remains available for transfer, and Milan Baros, the Czech Republic and former Liverpool forward, is on loan from Lyons, although Portsmouth have the option to buy him for £5million this summer. Meanwhile, Peter Storrie, the Portsmouth chief executive, denied that Redknapp is considering stepping down. “It's an unbelievable load of rubbish; complete and utter makebelieve,” Storrie said. “I can assure the fans that Harry is going absolutely nowhere. Harry is furious about this - we all are.” Kanu is expected to play up front in the Cup Final against Cardiff tomorrow, when Portsmouth's defence will be important. Cardiff will attempt to do what only one man, Chris Clark, of Plymouth Argyle, has achieved in 2008: score against Portsmouth in an FA Cup tie. The bad news? Before they can even get David James in their sights, they have to find a way past Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin. The formidable central-defensive pairing came together last summer when Distin arrived at Fratton Park on a free transfer from Manchester City. The appearance in the final vindicates his decision to move from City to what might be regarded as a smaller club. “I played for Newcastle and I didn't win anything, I played for City and I didn't win anything, either,” Distin said. “At Portsmouth, I'm going to play in a Cup Final for the first time in my career, so for me that's the most important thing. I remember when I signed here, some people didn't say too much, but I could see in their eyes, ‘Why Portsmouth?' They have the answer today.” Distin won the French League Cup in 2000, in an upset that he hopes will not be repeated tomorrow. “It was with Gueugnon, a second division club at the time, against Paris SaintGermain, who were a top-four club. A bit like Cardiff against Portsmouth or Manchester United,” he said. “We had a bit of luck, we had good footballers. We believed. For me, Cardiff are not a small side and it's going to be a tough game until the last second.” Campbell has also made a point to those who thought that his days of collecting trophies ended when he left Arsenal in 2006. “I hope I get a lot of respect for that,” he said. “I'm a fighter and I'll always keep fighting. I've won the Cup [in 2002, when Arsenal beat Chelsea], played all the games and then been in the stand for the final, been suspended - I've had it all. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3941851.ece

What could be more depressing than starting a brand new season having had so much optimism only to find Milner still out on the right? No thanks.

http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=50015.3250

Heres a tip ... why don't you sniff around a bit more.

mackems.gif

His agent has also said a top four club is in for him. The thoughts are that Wenger is interested. Guess we'll just have to settle for Nasri then.

Are you sure you don't just need to drop a deuce?

Speaking of which ... I find these reports that Fat Sam was looking to sell Martins rather startling, considering he didn't bring in anyone with any kind of attributes even closely resembling those which I have hilighted. So he was basically envisioning a strike force of Viduka and Owen with Duff and Geremi on the wings? Yikes.

Adebayors goalscoring record at Monaco was pretty horrendous so it really depends on if you see something you like in the player rather than the stats I agree. I'm just not sure he is someone we are genuinely interested in as it seems we have only been linked because we had people at the PSG vs St. Etienne game, where it is more likely we were monitoring Gomis who we have been linked with for a while now. This poor guy's probably seen the report online from whichever silly newspaper printed it and is jizzing himself over a move to Newcastle the daft sod. Then again I might be completely wrong.

I'm really not sure we are after this guy.

Club are very short of numbers up front assuming Shola goes. You have to remember that the current fourth choice striker is Smith and you'd hope we got rid of him too. Consider the players Keegan used to have up front (although the players are different in terms of attributes, they have vaguely) similar stature: Shearer = Owen Ferdinand = Viduka Asprilla = Martins Beardsley = ? Kitson = ? Huckerby = Carroll Ginola = ? Watson = Smith Just read his mini-bio, damn you Shearer for getting old. Shearer would be immense in our 4-3-3 system with Oba and Owen at his side. Love this one: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/19/19n_owen_wideweb__430x273.jpg And when have we ever played a 4-3-3 with Owen and Oba on either side of anyone? Owen wouldn't be able to play in that role. That's why Keegan plays that disjointed front 3. To play on the right or left of a front three which I consider to be a wing forward you need the ability to beat a man which Owen doesn't really have. If he could have, Allardyce would never have went 442 to accomodate him. Yeah agreed, you should explain this to Pullman.

At a guess I would say one side is definitely Everton. They love to play an attacking midfielder just behind Yakubu and usually have Cahill there but he is always injured.

Club are very short of numbers up front assuming Shola goes. You have to remember that the current fourth choice striker is Smith and you'd hope we got rid of him too. Consider the players Keegan used to have up front (although the players are different in terms of attributes, they have vaguely) similar stature: Shearer = Owen Ferdinand = Viduka Asprilla = Martins Beardsley = ? Kitson = ? Huckerby = Carroll Ginola = ? Watson = Smith Just read his mini-bio, damn you Shearer for getting old. Shearer would be immense in our 4-3-3 system with Oba and Owen at his side. Love this one: http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/19/19n_owen_wideweb__430x273.jpg And when have we ever played a 4-3-3 with Owen and Oba on either side of anyone?