merlin

That wasn't me quoting myself, I was quoting Shepherd who was complaining that HE couldnt run the club, HE not THEM. He also said that HE wasn't prepared to put up with it. Are you calling him a liar? If Allardyce is successful, who will you credit ? If he isn't, who will you blame ? Why don't you answer ? Are you stupid, can you read mackems.gif the answer to both are ashley. Correct - because Ashley will give Allardyce a free rein(within reason)to run the team as he wishes, and that INCLUDES recruitment /disposal of players which was a privilege NOT granted at ALL TIMES to his managers by Shepherd ; note I said ALL times....! I doubt that Ashley would enforce a player on Allardyce simply because HE thought it was an eye-catching deal, but that remains to be seen - what is NOT in doubt is that Ashley is going to have a more professional approach and personal gain is not a major issue with him - he's got more than enough already.

Regarding the signature of Pele in the 70's - of COURSE we would have been delighted..we signed Supermac in 71 for what was then a record 180,000 pounds and to be honest, I wondered where the money had come from! Go forward 25 years and Shearer arrives for a record 15m, and the whole place goes berserk - quite rightly as he was probably in the top 3 CFs in the world at the time, but this time , I DIDN'T wonder where the money had come from because we were a top 3 side, earning millions from off-field activities and we knew we'd get it back. The difference with a deal like the pie-in-the-sky piece in the NOTW is that we WOULDN'T get the money back - even if Ashley used the guy as a promotional tool for shirts etc I doubt whether it would make commercial sense simply because we are currently a run-of-the-mill side - it would be different if we had just won, say, the Prem & FA Cup because it would look as if we were going places & neutrals around the world would be swept up in all the Ronaldinho mania & buy the stuff. There are also other issues - regardless of his great talent, the guy is not going to get any better as he gets older AND he doesn't have the loyalty that a player like Shearer did because of his local connections so the chances are that it wouldn't be a long stay and you would need at least 5 years to try to even attempt to make economic sense of the transfer. At this point in time, there is almost NO WAY this guy would sign for us - another year or two, who knows, but would you want him then..? Better in my view to take a chance on an up & coming player like Huntelaar for less than half the cost - less injury-prone(younger),no problem with climate etc(remember Mira's hamstrings..!?) Pele in 1970 would have been brilliant - we had just won the Fairs Cup , he had just been part of Brazil's best-ever side and there wasn't as much difference between top div clubs in England as there is now. However, he was then 29 and had had loads of injuries - it wouldn't have lasted long, but boy, what a player he was ! If you watch some of his flashes of genius(the shot from well within his own half during the 70 WC game with the Czechs)and his outrageous dummy against the Uruguay goalkeeper in the same tournament, which would have been the goal of all time had his shot gone in)just show why he was a really great player AND he gave no problems off the field - my all-time choice as best forward in the world. All nice dreams, but we have reality to face, and a hard slog to get back to even the top 5 - luxury players are not going to do that for us..

Brazil will ALWAYS be the most consistent WC winners and the most entertaining National side - its in their blood. May have down spells , but like the Terminator - 'they'll be back!....'

Shepherd is Chairman in name - for NOW... Probably given the position as an agreement with Ashley to sell his shares quickly without a battle in order to salve ego - will be astonished if he is still there after Season's end. His son's expulsion indicates how much power Shepherd actually has now...

Until we show consistent ambition by results & performances, we are not going to attract the top players - I've said this before, but it continues to amaze me that people think the best players are going to fall over themselves to come to SJP at this point in time. We have, over the past 3 years, become a mid-table side AT BEST - all caused by bad Direction & bad management ; nothing more, nothing less. No Bad Fairy has suddenly put a curse on us and swept us into the underworld - it has all been self-created. The fans are NOT to blame for this(other than being too easily conned by the people running the club), and there is no reason why they shouldn't have had high expectations - IN THE PAST.. We now have to face a period of regaining the club's self-respect and this will take time - it would be a help if we had a good crop of youngsters coming through whose loyalties are with the club, but we haven't enough. That being the case, Sam has to get the best he can obtain in the circumstances, and I believe he is doing that - does anyone seriously doubt that Gudjohnsen would be hesitating about joining us if we were in the CL..?? The fans have to give Sam & the team time, but I defend them totally from accusations of fickleness etc. How can ANYONE who purports to be a NUFC fan accuse his fellow-supporters of that ? They had EVERY right to complain about things in the past because they have consistently been the most loyal & supportive of all the well-supported Clubs WITHOUT seeing any success on the field - all these complaints about the fans are from people who are ; 1 Too easily-satisfied 2.Have a Boys Own vision of misplaced Gang-loyalty. People pay BIG money for Season Tickets , Merchandise etc and when they see themselves being exploited they have every right to complain - they ARE the customer, and you can bet your last penny that Ashley, of all people, will be well aware of THAT... It will all take time, but given a couple more decent signings, a place in the Top 6 IS achieveable.

With the story about Tevez & Manure, it seems to me that only Huntelaar falls into the 'shock the football world' category - Ronaldinho & Eto look unbuyable at this time... Unless Fergie is going to replace Rooney with Tevez...!!! Of course, it could be a defender.....

Agree, Guiness - will be difficult to prise him away from Chelsea but would be a great signing, even at 8m ; LB is our No 1 problem position now, and we cannot have Babayaro there next season ; opposition managers would target him as a weakness in every game. I suspect that if we get Bridge it will be because Mourinhno suspects his long-term fitness will not hold up, but his signing would give Sam time to work on Edgar...

Half-right - you need BOTH, but the team takes precedence ; anyone who doubts that should look at Sheffield Weds & what happened when they put ground before team... Personally, I wouldn't care if Ashley had to move to get a much bigger stadium once things start rolling & success arrives - we lost hugely when the Leazes Park project was downed, and even if it meant going over the river(which would concentrate the Council's minds hugely.!!)we should consider it if it means keeping up with Man U, Liverpool etc.

The appointment of Allardyce has given me more hope for the success of the team than any since SBR. The bonus is that Shepherd's power has been stripped from him, and that Sam will be give a real chance to put his thorough methods into action, together with some signings which look 100% improvement than those of the past few years - certainly in value for money. It now looks as if the Club will have a totally professional approach both on & off the field - something that was even lacking in KKs/SBRs day(KK would not allow any training except 5-a-side, SBR allowed too much licence to players), and once Ashley is satisfied things are going OK, we can expect to see one or two really exciting signings. However, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will NUFC be, even with Ashley's money..

I agree with you 100% - it will sour the whole takeover joy for me if this overrated , overpaid, spoilt and petulant trouble-maker remains at SJP - UNLESS Sam plays him in the Reserves....

I wish people would stop saying that - Shepherd only ever denied a clause allowing Owen to leave after 12 months - he actually confirmed that there were 'clauses' in his contract, like most other top players - even commenting that Shearer had clauses in his. Though obviously he has never said what these clauses were for. No-one (Shepherd, the managers, or Owen himself) has ever denied the existence of a figure/european qualification fee specific release clause. These are just weasel words - you are not a Lawyer, by any chance....!! Why not just say that he HAS an escape clause of we fail to qualify for European football ? The reason is, that its STILL an escape clause - if it walks like an elephant, trumpets, is greay & has big ears, it IS an elephant....!!! True or false? Just a one word answer pls, PM - I mean......

Nobody has tried to argue about the wasted money theme of this article. Mainly because its utterly futile to argue about such a completely flimsy concept. "Why are people getting there backs up"? Because the article is full of complete bollocks and bias, if you can't see that then you haven't read it.. The article ISN'T bollocks at all - most of these players have been a complete waste of space, AND - much worse - an insult to the supporters with either their attitude or lack of talent. You have to question the reasons why some were signed in the first place - the phrase 'accommodating Agents' comes to mind.... The only really good player on the list is Hamann - and he WAS good ; problem was that he fell out with Gullit , and as the writer says, found out most of the others were'nt good(although when he left, he stated that 'the Board was average, so the club was average' - take your pick. Sorry, but 'shooting the messenger'doesn't cover up the shambolic way the club made sigmings in the past - hopefully, that is mostly behind us now....

These clauses - denied by the Chairman when asked at the time of Owen's signing - remind me of Blair's recent sell-out to the EU at his last fling there last week - he denies he's given anything away, then you find out later that he's done EXACTLY that, but its too late to do anything about it(except emigrate, in the case of the EU thing..!!). We all knew these things would come back to haunt us, and if BOTH of these opt-outs happen, it makes it a much harder job for Allardyce to put together a team capable of achieveing UEFA Cup football slot next season. I wouldn't mind much if Martins went provided Owen stays, as I think Owen would do really well beside Viduka, but if BOTH go, we've got a problem. Even a front 2 of Viduka/Smith, ir Viduka/Gudjohnsen(slightly better)would not br full of goals, so we would need midfieldersto score at least 20 between them to make an impact...

I agree that these clubs are fawned over way too much as if they're untouchable. We were up there with them once, just 4 years ago. And perhaps regarding Arsenal's current situation and our takeover, there's a chance to gain major ground on them in the foreseeable future. But try convincing any foreign player of that and you'd have trouble. Arsenal are far more famous internationally, compete in the Champions League and even have a bigger stadium than us now, on top of just finishing ten league places above us. They can talk to him about medals, cup finals, Champions League games in the Nou Camp, all we can sell him is a vision. This is all true - we are POTENTIALLY a bigger club than Arsenal, even Liverpool perhaps, but ONLY potentially ; we will never be able to compete with these clubs for the majority of really top players UNTIL we start winning things, and challenging the Top 4 on a regular basis. We do have a chance with Gudjohnsen because he has played for Sam before and knows that NUFC COULD be a major force in the Premiership because of our fan base & stadium, and I for one have always wanted us to sign him since he was at Bolton - he's class, and would be a great asset just behind the front 2.... would also rather have a front 2 of Viduka & Owen than Viduka & Martins, so wouldn't be unhappy if Martins went, esp if we got 13m for him(!?). Saviola might be OK feeding off Viduka if Owen is also going, though I would prefer Huntelaar even though he's very much a long shot for us as the current Top4 have a much better chance of getting him(see first paragraph....!!). As for Edmilson, a decent defensive midfielder, but if true about his Op, he would be no use to us for 6 months - maybe they're trying to line him up for Jan.?? Having said all that, it could be just speculation from the Golden Pen of one Anal Oliver..... time will tell !

WHAT!? - How old are you....??

that's the question isn't it? for example how have owens wages been paid for 2 years? the first injury he got (broken foot) was for us against spurs so we'd have got nothing for that other than our own insurance (if that even applies at club level which i doubt) so his wages will have been paid for a year, in fact just less than a year dunno something fishy there if you ask me - does it include the clubs own insurance for owens wages or just from the fa? too vague to be trusted Spot on mate - I saw, on another site, a comment stating 'far be it from me to question the veracity of a report from Anal...' this sums up the whole story.As the writer of this posting went on to say, there were huge question-marks over the whole future of International Football if this compensation went through as demanded because some of the poorer Federations would be bankrupted if landed with a similar penalty... Doesn't it strike anyone as strange that , suddenly, when it has been announced that Shepherd is staying at NUFC(a fact that I still doubt in the longer term), his Number 1 fan in the Media World suddenly comes out with this ingratiating piece of clap when so far, NONE of the more respected broadsheets have mentioned it - esp as it could have far-reaching implications for the whole game..!?? I will believe it when I see it confirmed by more respected Journos than Oliver....

Dyer should have been gone 3 years ago - no further comment necessary.

Totally agree with this quote - if Shepherd is retained it will be a major disappointment to most fans, and you have to question Ashley's reasoning for doing so. For goodness' sake, what on EARTH has Shepherd to offer NUFC ?? A history of incredibly-bad appointments, nepotism(allegedly)over-paying himself grossly, making remarks totally unsuited to a Chairman of a large Premiership Club, and, worst of all if Souness is to be believed, the signing of players who have either been poor contributors to the side or have clauses within their contracts which have cost the club a fortune and made it a laughing-stock.. ANY decent business-person with any sort of Football-knowledge would be more useful in the short-term than Shepherd - can anyone suggest WHY he is useful !! The over-riding suspicion is that he struck a deal with Ashley to be retained as Chairman for a few months to salvage his ego, and although I can understand Ashley wanting the Deal done ASAP, I am still surprised he has gone along with it, and this WILL rebound on him if any new embarrassments occur under Fred's tenure...

You CANNOT be serious ! This is the man who caused some fans to lose their seats after a Club promise that they would retain them for 10 years after purchasing a Bond - also, he was SORRY that Gullit resigned, and wanted Captain Lager as manager. A more charmless and ruthless individual would be hard to find. Was behind a furious row with Dalglish after going behind his back to Press in order to scupper Gillespie's transfer to Boro for 3.5m. We do NOT - repeat - NOT - want Fletcher back at SJP

Whether these clauses DO get Shepherd the sack or not, he deserves it simply for putting them in to the players'contracts - if the players insisted on them , it only shows how poorly they rated NUFC under the Chairmanship of Shepherd - Shearer wouldn't have got such a clause from KK or SJH, unless it applied to relegation - something that was unthinkable at the time, whereas it was obvious that NUFC under Souness & Roeder would always find it difficult to achieve Euro Football - esp with Shepherd doing the deals....

He is getting involved in too much controversy - we need this like a hole in the head and it reminds me of Tino Asprilla...AND Dyer..AND Bramble.. Best if we take Juve's money and replace him with K V Huntelaar(OR Bent..)

If Smith arrives, it means either Owen or Martins are on the way out, although Smith could also be played behind the front 2(or in a slightly withdrawn role behind Viduka in away games). I feel he will be more competitive than either Ameobi or Martins(Owen too, come to that)and maybe Sam DOES have him in mind more for away games(more competitive bite etc). However, he is NOT a true replacement for Owen(he's never going to get 15-20 goals a season), and I still remember how severe his leg-break was ; hopefully, this is now OK, but had it been his ankle, I would have had considerable reservations about his signing... Not a bad price, though, and to date, the only disappointment has been losing Ben Haim.. It's looking good unless we have to start replacing Owen - where do you start ? Huntelaar would be my choice, but we would be way down the list of his preferred clubs. Still feel Martins will end up at Juve...

Can't really argue with any of that mate. One point I would make is that looking at the fixtures, up until mid-Novemeber every game we play is winnable. That suggests to me that if Sam can get a few decent defenders in, and Owen starts scoring we could be in a very decent position come January. Cannot see a billionaire businessman like Ashley, allowing his 'strategic review' to drag on very long. He will be as aware as we are of the need to strengthen the playing staff as soon as possible (ie, this summer) a fact that is VERY likely to be confirmed by part of his review that covers the playing staff, and he is most unlikely to in any way devalue his £133M investment by artificially and unnecessarily restricting his manager from doing what is required - ASAP. The review will cover all aspects of the workings of the club, not just the playing staff, and its objective will be to improve everything, not restrict it by itself, 'dragging it on' and preventing early implementation of some of its inevitable findings (re the playing staff). Ashley will also be as aware as we are, of the problems of trying to recruit in the short January (mid-season) window, and I am sure his business sense (and common sense) will lead him to try and avoid the January window as much as is possible. He now owns the club, so the review will (I'm sure, even if not 'announced' or picked up by the papers where WE get our information from) be well under way, already. He will be aiming to take the club private in mid-July (as already stated) and I am sure that he will have advised his manager of his level of funding to be available to him, prior to then, actually releasing the funds by mid-July, if not earlier. This guy has not purchased our club to pussyfoot around and/or 'do the wrong thing' - he has (I am certain) purchased Newcastle United FC to "get it right" and one way he can do that is by doing things at the right time. He will not regard 'doing things quickly' as "rushing things" - he has the (oft talked about) 'people' to do things speedily and accurately. He is here to win things with us, and to me that means he is not going to hang around in trying to achieve that. Agree with that - the 'review' will be all done/dusted by end of July in my opinion. How long will it take for any sound business person to see what the glaring problems have been at SJP..? I expect big changes in SOME areas of the Club's day-to-day running, and a much tougher approach to Agents etc. Cannot see a guy like Ashley taking much crap from some of these shysters , and we will probably end up with a new Chief executive who will have a very hands-on role at the club. Cannot see Shepherd being there long for a number of reasons, not least of which are his health problems and his diminishing power to influence major decisions at the Club. The only way I can see a major transfer spend in Jan is if we have managed to cling on to the top 4 teams and both manager & Owner feel there is a good chance of Champs League -otherwise it will be next close season before the big spend happens..

The problem is not just one of myopic managers, unable to see the faults. The main problem is that all TOP managers know you have to get a team right at the back before you start on the rest - Fergie , Clough, Wenger,Shankly,et al ALL strengthened their back lines first. Clough was a CF, and a very good one, but his teams were always built from the back - he even slept overnight in his car outside Roy McFarlands's house in Liverpool so he could sign him before Shanks did..! When you have that situation, we are always going to be in competition with the top sides like Man U etc whenever a top defender is available, so we nearly always lose out... In addition to this, the fans are also to blame -'we want attacking football etc. etc' and 'we don't want people like George Graham at any price' . Graham won six trophies with Arsenal, and they were criticized for winning 1-0 very often - winning 1-0 gets you trophies, money, and the means to attract better players because you are successful ; attacking football is nice if you are Brazil 1970, but if you haven't got that sort of talent, it will often cost you results IF its over-done. SJP is the place for entertaining, Away grounds are for getting results - its up to the other team to entertain their fans, not us. You can stick the 'Entertainers' tag where you like as long as Sam gets results over the next season ; he will know that, and so will Ashley. We will be able to compete for the BEST players once we start winning things.....

'Avowed Pacifist' ?? Reminds me of the old saying ;'If you're not a Socialist at 18 you've got no heart - if you're still one at 28, you've got no brain.....'' and if you still believe that saying at 38 you've probably got neither Which is why the Soviet Unon was such a resounding success, I suppose, and why Castro's Cuba still has 50s US Cars in its streets.. - Oh and yes - Why the UK , under a supposedly Socialist Govt has now got a huge Trade deficit, over-burdened Public Sector with massive Pension Liability etc ; something for you to consider as your taxes rise & rise.....enjoy!