merlin

So none of this is the fault of reckless borrowing by 'I-want-it-now' chavs and reckless lending by NR..!!?? AND - there is a strong feeling that the BOE wanted to let them stew in order to warn off other greedy banks, but Greedy Gordon and his stool-pigeon Darling put pressure on the BOE to lend them the money to stop it all coming out and creating pressure on over-blown house prices...after all, we can't have the REAL basis of the UK's Economy challenged, can we!!?? The BOE is NOT independent - the members of the MPC are Political appointments....... Amazing what the threat of a lost Pension will achieve..!!

Northern Rock is going to be sold off - Lloyds TSB has already made first enquiries about a bid. This Financial Credit crunch has been coming for a long time - lending money to people who can't repay it may make the Govt popular as House prices rise, but that is coming to an end faster than the Titanic sunk. House prices have already started to fall in the UK(down 6000 pounds av last month)and the rises in Interest Rates have not even begun to hit home properly yet. Lenders are raising borrowing costs independently of the BOE as they seek to cover their own higher costs of borrowing in the Market. Life is going to get a lot tougher now - Inflation is rising(cost of Oil going up steadily)so the Main Banks like the Fed, ECB & BOE have to be careful about lowering Rates too much, so anyone with a load on their Credit Card should do themselves a favour - get RID of the debt NOW.. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and people who have invested unwisely in property are going to get their fingers burnt ; property is always a decent LONG term buy, but the rises of the past 5 - 10 years are unsustainable - if you don't believe me, try Alan Greenspan ; he has just said the same thing. Its just like shares - if you've bought at the Top of the Market, you are the worst-hit when it turns(as it ALWAYS does.).

Ferdinand is definitely over-rated. Agree totally - if Woodgate had not had so many injuries, he would have been preferred to Ferdinand in the England team ; far better defender in my opinion.

Schmeichel is the best in recent years - Banks was the best I've ever seen, and tons better than Given or any other modern keeper ; keepers got less protection in Banks' day, and you had to be tough to command the box. As for reflexes, well, you've all presumably seen the save from Pele in the Mexico WC, and I've seen him do that at SJP for Stoke in league matches - the all-time British great in my opinion, but there were other good ones like Shilton etc. There isn't a really outstanding goalkeeper in any International side right now.

I always used to go to Wembley when Brazil came to play - it's an education to see these guys in action live and every time was different. Remember one visit in May 1992 when we got quite close to the pitch and the amazing close control/immediate passing of the Brazilians was magic to watch - they can even trap and control a ball coming slightly behind them by using the back of their heels....! Also, a side benefit was the female supporters - probably some of the most stunning women in the world live in Brazil....!! As for following England, I naturally want them to win, but its not like being at SJP - the best I can remember for atmosphere was against the French in early 1969(we were WC holders then), and we beat them 5-0, and also against the Scots in 1971 & 1975 - we won 3-1 and 5-1 respectively, and it was great to shut them up after all the ant-English stuff before & during the match, PLUS the fact that they relished p------g in the stadium NEXT to the toilets....they were all arguing with each other & gesticulating at each other out of bus windows on the North Circular afterwards !!

I'm sure that's exactly what the long-suffering Leeds fans are worried about......

Taylor is a young defender with some decent attributes - no more, no less. As to the rights & wrongs of the situation, if either he or his father are comparing his situation to that of Milner or N'Zogbia, then I don't think its as clear cut as that ; there is a similarity in their ages, but in my opinion, both Milner and Zog have illustrated more potential in that they both have the basic skills necessary for their positions - Taylor lacks the pace to be a really top centre-half, and this was shown up all too clearly against Mido at Boro. Yes, he has a good physique, decent temperament and can tackle - he actually looked less exposed at RB against Wigan than he sometimes does at CB, when he resorts to giving away silly fouls in dangerous positions... Some of this can be eliminated by experience etc., but you can not increase pace when a player reaches his age - IF he is being paid significantly less than the two young players mentioned, then yes, he does deserve an increase, but if you are comparing him to the central defenders we now have on the books, it is obvious to most of us that he is going to be third choice behind Roz & Capaca, and even Beye challenges him for the RB position, so it is going to be a while before he becomes a first team regular. The crux of the whole question is whether Sam rates him or not - if he doesn't, we may well see him leave - this sort of thing happens in football when a new manager comes in and I remember the furore when Lee sold Supermac to Arsenal; as long as the club/team is going in the right direction, you have to back the managers judgment - SJH allowed KK to scrap the Reserves in 1996, which is something I think I would have objected to.....

Since when did you see Ameobi get half as involved in a game as Smith does ? Even if he's having a bad one, Smith never hides and gives 100% - I can't recall Ameobi ever tackling back like Smith does consistently. All teams need players now who can play in a number of positions and even if they aren't brilliant, 100% effort is better than one flash of skill every blue moon...

Absolutely disgusting for a governing body of any sport to single out one individual from one nation. If the directive was in general to watch out for players using their arms and then show examples of many players from many countries doing it then fine but to specifically pick out an individual borders on cheating and giving one team an unfair advantage. I think this goes on with Refs all the time - I made this point after the Villa game, when Viduka got no protection from Laursen's challenges whatsoever, and some one on this site accused me of being mad..! I have no doubt that Refs SOMETIMES have an agenda, whether it is personal, or dictated from above - ask Brian Glanville(used to be Sunday Times football chief reporter) about the Lobo - Solti case involving Juventus and Derby Co back in 1973...Lobo, the ref for the second game at Derby, was approached by Solti, a 'fixer' and promised big money to give Juve a pen - he informed the Portuguese FA about it(he was Portuguese)and UEFA held a so-called Enquiry afterwards(the game finished goal-less, and Lobo even awarded Derby a pen which they missed). After Lobo gave his evidence, he was later removed from the FIFA panel of Refs for the WC in 1974,,,, and, nothing happened........allegedly......according to Brian Glanville. Draw your own conclusions.

You mean like Maric, Marcelino, Dyer, Goma etc etc...?? These all proved to be GREAT club servants, didn't they?......NOT!! And what about his alienation of Rob Lee and Shearer ? What about the fact that he was so arrogant that our best midfielder, Hamman, fell out with him and demanded a transfer..?? My comments were for the reason he was appointed, I thought that was pretty obvious tbh. He attracted big name players such as Gianfranco Zola, Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo, Gustavo Poyet, Frank Leboeuf etc. So why do you think he signed such turkeys for NUFC then.? Could it be that his Chelsea signings were arranged by a better scouting system, and that maybe he didn't bother to look at signings himself..?? OR - would there be another reason !! 'Persuasive' Players' Agents, perhaps, esp with his NUFC signings....

Are some of you that THICK...There is a difference between wanting to play games and HAVE TO play games OR ELSE I SPIT THE DUMMY...Do you think Harper has been happy not playing Do you think before you write ? He wasn't fuc*ing world class back then...There was nothing to separate Harper and Given back then from performance point of view...Harper was doing amazingly in the cup games...Maybe you weren't supporting NUFC back then so you don't know... Given is not a charity neither is Harper, but Harper is a team player....How many of you were slagging Belamy for threatening to hand in a transfer request when news were circulating about Rooney coming to NUFC ? How many were angry at Shearer when there were rumours that he will not accept being on the bench even though SBR wanted that... No one is undroppable and no one is above the NUFC...Apply this to everyone not just to whoever individual player you dislike from the squad... Correct.

I have thought for a while that the Mail in particular has it in for us, and has used every opportunity to stir rumours. Nevertheless, if it turns out that Given IS creating waves because he's not an automatic choice, I stand by what I said earlier - if he doesn't accept that ALL the squad face competition for places in the new regime. I would list him immediately. Giving way to his demands would send exactly the wrong message to the other players and we would be right back in the scenario we faced with SBR in his latter years - indiscipline in the Dressing Room a la' Dyer etc. If we want to be a top Club, no player can be bigger than Newcastle United - that's why I thought that Shearer being in on the interview for Robson's replacement(according to what seems to have happened with Allardyce the first time) was so wrong.

Wait until we play them before jumping to conclusions about the result - we have a notably bad record against teams like this and esp after they've just had a pasting..... I just hope Sam instills more professionalism into the side than we have displayed when playing similar sides in the past....!

You mean like Maric, Marcelino, Dyer, Goma etc etc...?? These all proved to be GREAT club servants, didn't they?......NOT!! And what about his alienation of Rob Lee and Shearer ? What about the fact that he was so arrogant that our best midfielder, Hamman, fell out with him and demanded a transfer..??

Really bad behaviour from Given if this is true - he has had a really good run in the side in past years, and just because he's currently out of the side, he's spitting the dummy out ; DEPLORABLE ! What gives him the right to dictate team selection ? We have now got a selection problem of the best sort in defence - presumably, Beye, Faye, Capaca , Enrique & Rozy didn't sign for Sam with the proviso that they 'MUST' be in the team.. I would recall Krul asap, and put Given on the list if he makes waves about this - really selfish attitude when we are building a good squad/team spirit.

About 20 years ago, the French decided to concentrate on developing the skills of young players and set up an Academy to do so - this was supposedly tried in England when Lilleshall was running, but it has now been closed down. The French, however, have won the WC and produced some really good players since... There are several reasons why English youngsters don't come through now, and first among them is the fact that many School playing fields have been sold off. Also, attitudes are poor in schools, ranging from over Politically-Correct views frowning on 'Winners' to lack of interest by so-called PE teachers. Many kids nowadays are unfit, preferring to sit in front of computers instead of playing games outside, and in some cases, their parents think its unsafe to allow them to.... When some child happens to show promise, they often get into the hands of 'Coaches' who want then to concentrate of the physical aspects of the game instead of developing their ball-skills, and so their talent is often coached out of them - Gazza was hauled in front of Jack Charlton once back in 84, because Colin Suggett(coach of juniors) complained that he wasn't obeying instructions and was overweight - Big Jack asked Gazza what he was doing, and Gazza burst into tears and told JC that Suggett was bollocking him for not passing the ball when he was, of course, beating defenders easily with his skill . Charlton told him he had to get his weight down in 2 weeks, BUT - he COULD keep beating defenders with skill as long as he passed the ball when he was under too much pressure. Suggett was told to lay off him a bit, and the rest is history..... I reckon there are many similar things in English football, but we never hear about them as the youngsters give up or fade into obscurity. Its no accident that most talented players come from areas of relative poverty - Brazil & Argentina spring to mind, and most decent French players are former immigrants(Rugby is the preferred game in France anyway).In Britain, there is no REAL hardship anymore, and areas like the North East & Scotland, once hot beds of talented kids, no longer produce them in any quantity.

Don't think that is true - Local Hero was being played long before Shearer signed OR Shepherd became Chairman.

Agree with most of that Mick - Man U have disappointed so far , Chelsea have looked off the pace by their standards, Arsenal are not as convincing but Liverpool look greatly-improved - Torres' signing was a bit of a gamble as to whether he would settle quickly, but he has been a revelation, and despite those who rubbished him when we failed to sign him, I wish we had Kuyt now - what an asset to a side he is with his attitiude.Those 2 will get goals and I will be surprised if Liverpool are not in the Top 3 at the end. Villa and ourselves are on a par(we probably have a bit more defensive cover, whereas they have youth & pace up front), Everton are rivals for a top 6 place as are Blackburn - Hughes has done a good job. Spurs are, as you said, more like Newcastle than we are now - up & down and giving goals away although the Fulham equaliser was lucky. Suspect all is not well there and, as we know to our cost, if there are problems OFF the field, they tend to encroach on to it as well...they may do better with a new manager... If we had a bit more in the midfield brains dept., and more pace up front, we would be knocking on the Top 4 door by the end, but I reckon 7th is probably where we'll end up.

I think like last season, we badly need a pacy midfield player or front runner. When the club sold Dyer and Nobby, they should have brought in a different player to either Faye or Merde. Apart from that, we needed more steel, more character, more leadership, and he's bought the right type of players in that respect. From this point on, more quality needed in the front players to break into the top elite again. I think we should get into the top 6 or 7. A front player would have made 4th place a possibility. That's a fair comment - reflects most of my own views.

Shepherd's gone - HISTORY. Just drop this thread immediately, because its irrelevant - we all know(or MOST of us !) that Shepherd left the club in a worse position than when he took over ; end of story. The new board face a big job in restoring our credibility ,but have made a great start as has Allardyce - and before anyone mentions that Shepherd appointed him, look back to the time he fired Robson and could have had Big Sam then - except that Shepherd had Shearer on the interviewing board according to Allardyce - now THAT'S real Chairmanship, isn't it !!?? For heaven's sake lets stop fighting the battles of the last war and concentrate on the future - it looks a good deal better than the past right now...

I think Sam acted hastily when he gave the captaincy to Geremi - it looks to me as if having that thrust on him has affected his game ; he hasn't been half as effective since. The deed is done now, but I wish it had been given to Capaca - the guy was captain of Lyon in 5 title-winning seasons and looks an inspiring player who would have led by example. To me, he is the natural choice.

I have a feeling that you might have to start eating those words - Chelsea might take a different view after yesterday, and in case you start accusing me of 'knee-jerk', I said last year that O'Neill WOULD make his detractors eat their words ; it may have escaped your attention that O'Neill wanted to sign Milner DESPITE having 2 quick young players like Young & Agbonhalor.....

I agree KK - back in 99, I thought Given went through a really bad spell and at that time, Harper should have been in the side. We have been very lucky to have 2 good keepers over the past 9 years - Given is probably better at reaction saves when the ball is hit close in, but I think Harper has the edge on commanding the area - the defenders know he will come out for a cross, whereas sometimes Shay is hesitant. Harper always looks less flustered and the only time he has really made a bad mistake was at Anfield - even then, it was a flukey bounce of the ball that wrong-footed him.. They are BOTH decent keepers and I reckon Sam will not drop Harper until he makes some bad errors - as with the defence, we need competition for places to keep players on their toes.

This game turned out just as I thought it might(a winner late on), but it shouldn't have done - the blame for this lies with the officials. The Asst flagged(presumably)Viduka offside after Owen scored early on, and the guys in the Fox studio proved he was onside and the goal should have stood. Also, a blatant handball by our sadly(NOT!)departed former CB should have been a cast-iron pen. Had either of those decisions been correctly handled, we would have won easily - Owen could have had a Hat-trick as he would probably have taken the pen. The main plus from this game is the way we plugged away despite everything going against us - something we haven't always done in past years - and we got the rewards in the end - what a relief ! The defence looked rock-solid, but will have far tougher tests than this - wait & see if we can keep the likes of Torres quiet for 90 mins - but the pairing of Capaca and Roz looks formidable and Taylor did well at RB, and almost put us ahead. The only slight questionmark remains over Zog at LB, and we need Enrique match fit ASAP. Once that happens, we should have one of the best defences in the Prem. The only real worry is keeping Owen fit - he is by far our best hope for goals, and I thought the guy was excellent today, he's starting to look sharp again. If anything happens to him we WILL struggle to score as both Martins & Viduka will not get more than 15 each - wherever they play . Altogether, I'm well-pleased with the progress being made - we WILL have bad results , inevitably, but we are definitely going in the right direction - with some luck and a good signing in Jan, we could even start thinking about trying to make top 5, but 6-8th is well within our reach.

Yes, but look who was in charge...!! Also, with Gazza gone, we had lost the 'meat' in the sandwich of the team - we signed people at the back & the front, but didn't address the loss of the 'brains'... Also, would YOU have signed Robertson..!!