merlin

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!

I can't see any point in waiting for possible action after the Stevens Enquiry, I can't see anything happening soon as nothing Earth shattering has been revealed, the club must move on. The fact that adverts have been placed for some of the staff tends to suggest that people will be coming in. [/quote Its true that the ads have been placed Mick,but the fact that Allardyce wanted his 2 main backroom guys from Bolton and they haven't appeared concerns me - are they waiting to see what happens to Allardyce, or have they just decided to stay at Bolton ? Alternatively, has Ashley put the blocks on any more of Allardyce's buddies coming in case the manager is subject to some action by the FA etc and he then has to appoint a new manager that wouldn't want Sam's guys..?? Whatever, it looks like things are beginning to adopt a slowing-down procedure - as with Stock Markets, uncertainty is a killer, and it seems to me that there are a few large unanswered questions surrounding SJP.We need some decisive action from Ashley re; Club policy, who remains on board from previous administration etc.. Who knows what Mourinho said to Ben Haim about all this ? Maybe he persuaded him to sign because of niggling questions he raised about Sam & the Club's present position. Other clubs WILL use any weakness in their rivals for players in order to obtain their signature...

Said all along that Sam will have a difficult job to get good players when competing with the likes of Chelsea etc. We face a long haul to get back to where we were 5 years ago, and it won't happen quickly. Also, there are ramifications from the Stevens Enquiry which could yet return to haunt us - although the Club itself has been cleared, there may be penalties for Allardyce AND we need to know if Kenneth Shepherd still works for ProActive within the boundaries of SJP. Maybe this is why there has been no movement on Sam's requested Back-room Staff - perhaps Ashley is waiting to see what action he has to take in view of the news revelations....

'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.....'' Better not threaten Bin Laden with that one,Che...! You will die like a pig when the revolucion comes.

'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.....''

Bob Cass when he used to do highlight commentaries for Metro Radio back in the 80's - in one intro to a game at SJP round about the middle of March, he said 'the pitch looks in great condition for this time of year, but then, some people say that's due to all the manure that's been on it this season....!!' Classic, as we WERE manure at the time...

This is probably the best summing-up of the situation - can't see us being title challengers, and a UEFA Cup spot would be a real achievement this season. Would prefer to see Shepherd gone altogether ; we don't know how much power he has retained, OR how many of his retinue/hangers-on are still at the club or associated with it. My concern is that Ashley, being a low-profile operator, may allow him too much leeway in the early days, and that will impede the club's recovery..he may also have had to guarantee Shepherd's position for at least a season in order to persuade him to sell without any hassle.... Also, in playing matters, Sam WILL take time to get the team as he wants it - as we have seen with Ben Haim, it is not easy to secure good players if we are competing with Top 4 clubs ; they want success as well as dosh, and they want it NOW, not in 3 years' time... Once again I say - its a BIG job, and will take time to put right , as well as BIG money..

No way. Give someone like Ben Haim £70k, and when we do start going for the top stars, we'll be looking at Owen-style wages. To buy a player like him (quality, young and proven in the Premiership) would normally cost at least £5 million and even £45,000 a week for three years would then take the total outlay to £11.5 million. But you think we should pass up on the player for a total outlay of £10 million?... The simple fact is you have to pay players what they're worth in the market and that changes depending on the transfer fee. If another player coming in to the club can't understand that then tell him to take a hike.. Or we could simply pay Ben Haim £50,000 a week and make up the difference in signing on fee's and or bonuses (loyalty bonus ect). My main point was that IMO he's worth spending that kind of money on. This is the dilemma in which any ambitious football club finds itself in today - if you are to obtain the best players, you either have to pay over the odds to get them(including wages),or they will go to one of tne so-called Top 4 - we are now paying the price for 3 years of under-achievement and unporfessionalism. No top player will want to choose us over the top 4 unless they DEFINITELY need first-team football or we pay them more than the Top 4 would - in Chelsea's case, they can out-bid anyone if they want the player. They probably even have the resources to sign a player simply to stop any other club getting him.. As I said on another thread, Allardyce and Ashley face a really tough job to get this club to where it was in 2002 - the Top 4 will not surrender their little cartel easily, and that is why Ashley's emphasis on Academies is important as only players with a real attachement to the club will give their all in future.... Unfortunately, its a long-term project, and Sam has to produce results like now......

Surely, there is no-one on here genuinely surprised at this revelation.?? Did anyone actually believe that Owen came to NUFC with the intention of totally committing himself to the Club until he saw which way it was going , because I didn't - for goodness' sake, we haven't won a Domestic trophy for 52 years and we are perpetually grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory in every aspect of the club's operation, so a player like him wasn't going to rush into a move here unless he had a way of getting out if it all went pear-shaoed, which it DID. Agreed, his injuries were a large part of it all, but any fool could look at his past record in that respect, but it didn't stop Shepherd & Souness from putting all their eggs in the Owen basket by paying 17m for him, AND risking a huge loss for the club with the escape clause, which now looks as if it could be activated. I believe that Ashley & Allardyce have allowed this to become public so that THEY aren't tarred with the crap that will surely fly if Owen goes for 9m, ESP to Liverpool or Manure, and also to try to flush the player out and get his real intentions on the table, which is essential for future planning. In my opinion, good player though he has been(we don't yet know if he is still as good..), the Club should be actively trying to get the best possible replacement lined up - even if it means Ashley has to break his 'NO SPEND' pledge before the Financial review - this could make or break the coming season. Although its a long shot, even a bid for Huntelaar should be attempted - in view of the financial resources which will be available, it may be just worth a try and then Owen could please himself what he does - it will matter less to NUFC..

All true - the only doubt I have about Ashton is whether he will fully recover from the ankle injury ; Kewell suffered something similar, and has never regained the quality he had at Leeds(keeps getting niggles with the ankle..). Otherwise, would swap them in an instant - and NO, its NOT because 'He's English..' Ashton is a very promising CF, and probably W Hams best player before he got injured.

He deserves legend status for scoring two of the most important goals in Newcastel's history. The winner at home to Portsmouth in the 89th minute, which pretty much kept us up. And, the 2nd at Grimsby, which guaranteed Promotion (and the championship?) the following season. As said above, only regret was he never got the chance to play in the Prem for us, after his goals helped keep us up, then got us up. Absolutely agree - Ned's goals against Pompey & Grimsby were the two goals which arguably laid the foundations for at least 5-7 years of excitement and progress for NUFC - a great pity he never had the chance to play in the Prem for us, but he will always be one of my favourite players for his efforts. His spirit characterised the Promotion Season for me, amd poetic justice that he should get a Hat-trick against his old club in his last game for us - I've met him a couple of times & he's a great lad..

Totally correct.

NOT me..!!

Barton starts at NUFC with a clean sheet - Dyer came to the club with no history(at least, what most of us were aware of),but look at his behaviour since ... We have all heard about Barton's misdemeanors(apparently), but he must know this is his last REAL chance to make himself a really top player.By all accounts, he is shrewd enough to realise what a potentially huge stage he is about to step on, and if he has faith in NUFC the least fans can do is have faith in him - at least, until he really blots his copybook here. If he knuckles down under Sam's management, he could really transform the midfield, and put some fire in the team's belly - if he doesn't, he 's heading for the exit door, but he DEFINITELY deserves the chance. We have not had a competitive midfielder since Batty, and Barton has more in his locker than Batty ever had - Good Luck to the lad, but I won't hesitate to criticize if he DOES step out of line, bearing in mind that teams will set out to provoke him. It will be interesting to watch....