merlin

Yep. The difference Capello has made is that he's finally turned a squad of talented players into a cohesive team. And you still get pundits complaining about the selection when Defoe doesn't start, despite us being the top goalscorers in qualifying. Mental. This - Capello has crushed the pathetic WAG mentality that was allowed to flourish under Sven and continued under his lightweight successor ; Beckham & Co are not in charge now, Capello is and he has obviously made that very clear from the off...the players are having to perform both individually and collectively, otherwise he drops them. Whilst its far too early to even dream about winning the WC, at least the team should prove far less of an embarrassment and look less sterile than in previous tournaments over the past 12 years.

Hiddink is one of the best managers around, if not THE best - would not have turned his nose up at NUFC after KK left in 97(had he been available)because the club were serious competition to Man U then... However, wouldn't touch the club with a barge-pole now unless it was taken over by a fabulously-wealthy owner who guaranteed him a decent budget AND a free hand. This guy would have us in contention for the Prem title within 2 years of taking over in those circumstances provided we were a Prem club by then ; even with a rich owner, I doubt if he would take the job if we were in the CCC because his time is getting short in management now.

Without a shadow of a doubt. Last season (purely in terms of personnel and 'on paper-ness') we had a top half squad, undoubtedly in my opinion. Can't agree with this - the tables do not lie and even if KK had stayed, we would have been around 12th or worse without additions(which is why he went, or partly why). Teams of true quality do NOT get relegated....

I know what you mean about Ferdinand ; although he was 10 times better than anything we have up front now, he DID quite often fluff one-on-ones with the keeper. Perhaps the most costly miss was when Asprilla put him through against Man U at SJP in that fatal game in March 96 when we lost 0-1 after outplaying them for most of the game. As far as I can remember, it was late in the first half and they were hanging on desperately after we had played them off the park and the score was 0-0 - if he had scored then, I reckon they would have folded and we may have won the title that season...as it was, he was psyched out of it by Schmeichel and the rest is history... He was excellent in the air though and had a great temperament - could hit a ball really well sometimes too(remember his goal at Everton..!??). He probably stayed at QPR too long(KK wanted to sign him months before we did).

Totally agree - wing positions are very poor, and no creativity(which is why we went down last season). The midfield is OK at this level, with plenty of bite(Smith),movement(Barton and Nolan), but we WILL struggle to create decent chances unless they arrive courtesy of mistakes by defenders(more likely at this level)or by crosses from full-backs. We badly need a creative midfielder behind the front players and we would look moderate against most Prem sides in the Top 8, never mind top 5...

This - we haven't even started yet and people should wait until Christmas before thinking we are going to walk straight out of this league. Lots can(and will)go wrong before next May. Unless some decent loan signings are arranged the squad will prove too small when injuries/suspensions kick in.

Yes, no 'Hand of God' seemed to be assisting HIM yesterday....! Well-stuffed by Brazil and at home too - couldn't happen to a nicer manager..!

Yes, this did seem to happen, but the facts are totally different in this case - the player you are talking about had been at the club nearly 3 years by then and had given good service ; he was probably the ONLY member of the team to really TRY during the 74 Cup Final and the club weren't exactly making a huge effort tp keep him because they were getting a big profit on him - they paid 25,000 for him when he signed, and got 170,000 when he left for Merseyside. Xisco will cost the club a massive loss when he eventually goes and he has never looked like an International class striker(or even a Prem Lge one come to that).

You can bet your mortgage that if Man U are not banned, Chelsea will appeal on the grounds of victimisation and the ban will be overturned ; on the other hand, you can bet your mortgage that FIFA/UEFA will NOT want to take on Man U in a court case if they ARE banned - this will be a damp squib, both clubs will pay a derisory fine after an appeal and things will go on as before..... All this is simply Platini whingeing because French clubs are involved, although he IS right that English clubs spend too much money on foreign talent instead of developing more of their own.

This is close to the mark.

Of course you do, he wasn't even that great. Agreed - very moderate in first half(although worked hard), better in second ; has promise, but even more raw than Carroll - will be 2 years before he becomes a real threat ; and only then if he continues to develop. I saw Gazza make his debut at 17 and he was light years better than Ranger or any other young player. He DID have the ability to play at the top regularly, but Big Jack brought him through slowly, and that was the right way - NOT being thrown in for regular first team football.

Pretty sure Watson was 16 when he made his debut. Correct.

This - and I'm not convinced about some of them(Lua Lua for example). As Hansen said once - you win nothing with a team of kids.

Oh behave will ya. Snap - talk about hype....

Far too soon to be making those sort of comments as the squad is very small - got away with it against Leicester because a) Harper made a blinding save from Howard's header, plus 2 other good saves, all before we scored ; had any of these chances, plus a bad miss by Leicester, been converted, we would have lost. The team is getting by on the strength of the midfield at this level - Smith is winning many balls, but will do so at the expense of yellow cards ; Nolan, Guthrie and Barton make enough decent runs to keep a good deal of possession when Smith wins it but Ranger is still(naturally) far from the finished article up front and unless we make a couple of signings we will struggle for goals from front players although Ameobi can get his share at this level. Enrique was defensively excellent(and that his his main job, NOT acting as a winger because we are so light in that dept) - as has been said, he made one bad pass near the end which could have been costly, but was otherwise one of the mainstays. We face a difficult away game at the weekend against Cardiff and unless some signings are made we could struggle to score down there, but certainly for now, the team have ground out the results and all credit to both them and the coaching staff for showing great attitiude in the first month of the season. Nonsense. It'd take a disaster for us not to get promoted with this team. With a full side out yesterday it would have been 3 or 4 but we still won with a depleted side, against one of the better teams in the league. Teams can't score against us and we're always liable to get one at the other end. It'd be nice to see Harper break Van Der Sar's record for consecutive clean sheets in the league. Still makes me laugh how people were panicking after Orient. People obssess about beating Sunderland's crowds at this level but we should go after their 105 points total. We'll see how much 'nonsense' this is after we start to get a few bad results - and we WILL ; even KK's promotion side(who would have beaten this lot out of sight)went several games in Jan/Feb 93 without a win and we don't even know whether some of the current squad will be sold today... You are really tempting fate by saying 'teams can't score against us..' Leicester missed a sitter last night, and Harper made as good a save as Given has ever made when he stopped Howard scoring..what happens if Taylor or Enrique get injured/suspended, etc.? Have you ever seen a promotion season before ? Did you not see how we blew promotion in the play-offs against the Mackems ? We shall see......

Far too soon to be making those sort of comments as the squad is very small - got away with it against Leicester because a) Harper made a blinding save from Howard's header, plus 2 other good saves, all before we scored ; had any of these chances, plus a bad miss by Leicester, been converted, we would have lost. The team is getting by on the strength of the midfield at this level - Smith is winning many balls, but will do so at the expense of yellow cards ; Nolan, Guthrie and Barton make enough decent runs to keep a good deal of possession when Smith wins it but Ranger is still(naturally) far from the finished article up front and unless we make a couple of signings we will struggle for goals from front players although Ameobi can get his share at this level. Enrique was defensively excellent(and that his his main job, NOT acting as a winger because we are so light in that dept) - as has been said, he made one bad pass near the end which could have been costly, but was otherwise one of the mainstays. We face a difficult away game at the weekend against Cardiff and unless some signings are made we could struggle to score down there, but certainly for now, the team have ground out the results and all credit to both them and the coaching staff for showing great attitiude in the first month of the season.

NO - Gordon Brown has wrecked it well enough without NUFC completing the job....

As I have said before, unless Moat has decent back-up funds to sign some much-needed players, he is next to useless - it doesn't matter if Shearer or anyone else is manager, they cannot prevent injuries/suspensions and as soon as they happen, the team will start to fail because the squad is not strong enough. Also, IF there is another consortium interested, why have they allowed things to drag on as long, knowing that the Transfer Window will soon close and that they will face the same problems as Moat? Seems to me that no-one with decent funds wants to touch the club with a barge-pole at the price Ashley is wanting/overdraft as it is, so it is now looking as if Ashley will drag this out until at least Christmas ; no sensible buyer would want to take it on before that because THEY would start getting the flak if the team starts struggling....also, IF the team is still doing OK by Christmas, Ashley, being the chancer he is, will be tempted to try to hang on until the end of season in the hope that promotion is obtained and he can get more money for the club. Its not looking good right now.

Apart from his ability, Enrique seems to have a great attitude - either that, or he should go into politics after football..! In fact, he is just saying it like it is - no club in Spain gets the support NUFC does apart from the Big Two ; no club in England does apart from the so-called Top 4 and even that is not as consistent apart from Man U. No doubt in my mind that this boy could - and should - play at the top level and would be seen as an excellent LB in a better team ; he is already outstanding in this one and the fact that he is prepared to do the business after what must have been a terrible let-down shows that he has all the attributes to be a real success. Even if he is sold, I won't change my mind about his ability and to be honest, he deserves to be taken to a better side far more than so-called established Internationals like Coloccini & Jonas.

Used to, and had a ST for many years ; not now, live in Oz...

This is also true - the club will find it VERY difficult to make progress if it is always beholden to the goodwill of the Bank to progress ; unless it has a wealthy owner who RUNS IT PROPERLY, then every step forward will mean another back - if the manager/coaches manage to build a decent young side, the top Prem teams will be in like a shot for the best young players and the Bank, wanting to see progress on lowering the debts, will put pressure on for sales to be made. That is the reality of life in football now, esp if you are not in the Prem ; unless the club is owned by a person who can decide whether or not sales/purchases are made, there is a great danger of becoming just another CCC club. Blaming the banks is pointless - they are NOT a charity, they are there to make money and football clubs are NOT a safe source of steady return. Only clubs like Man U(because of their position as top generators of cash in football),Man City(because of their owner's wealth), Chelsea(until Abramovitch tires of it)and Arsenal(because of their status and sensible management PLUS the fact that mega-rich people would fall over themselves to buy it if it was available) , will be sure of being able to keep their players ; even Liverpool are looking more vulnerable because of their debt.... Whisper it quietly, but even the Mackems are safer from being forced to sell any decent players they develop than is NUFC at this time - and even if Moat gets the club, UNLESS he is joined on the board by some guys with REAL money.

This - quite true.

Good points - but I also think that Benitez may be spitting the dummy out a bit because the board have stopped him spending big money this season ; as we know only too well, any disaffection between board and manager soon transfers itself to the players, as does complacency once they realize that there isn't going to be the competition for places that they thought there would be....

You what? You know Dave, the Pompey takeover that is still yet to be completed and the Birmingham takeover that should be done by November not tyo mention the brum one has been on/off for at least a year or two already ...and ours hasn't..!? No that's the point. Someone said theres has happened quickly. Edit - Hang on that someone was you lol Some of you guys are missing the basic point here - that is, that we have actually SEEN the Hong Kong guy who is buying Brum - you tell me just WHERE we have had ANY proof that investors other than Moat have been seriously interested in NUFC... Do any of you really believe that a club like Everton, for example, would be taking as long to sell as Newcastle, even if they had been relegated..or Man City..?...or Villa..? None of these clubs have got the volume of support that Newcastle have, or have had as recent success in Prem placings etc. Its this that makes me suspicious as to whether the club is seriously on the market, or if there are hidden in-depth problems.

You what? You know Dave, the Pompey takeover that is still yet to be completed and the Birmingham takeover that should be done by November not tyo mention the brum one has been on/off for at least a year or two already ...and ours hasn't..!?