merlin

Academies - now THERE is an interesting topic...! Back in 1997, I wanted SJH to set up an Academy in Oz.I spent a lot of time researching this and even had an interview with the Development manager for S.Australia in London to discuss this(the Academy was going to be set up in Adelaide as that was the most central point in the south of the country) Unfortunately, Sir John was suffering from health problems at the time and about to step down as Chairman so the idea never really got going because Shepherd and Fletcher had other -er - ideas about where money should be spent.. Once Freddie Fletcher confirmed that the club were not going ahead with the idea, I told a journalist friend of mine and he asked if I had any objections to him letting Alex Ferguson know ; as we weren't going to use it, I said OK. Ferguson was all in favour of it and Man U would have done this had the Sky takeover of that club gone ahead in 1998(it was over-ruled by the MMC). There were a number of reasons for choosing Oz - plenty of kids with British parents/Grandparents which would have enabled them to get work permits and also immigrants from other European countries. The absence of language problems and the ease that Australians can settle in the UK were other factors...Australia is far more similar to the UK in many ways than is the USA. When you look at what has happened since, we missed out on some good players - Harry Kewell was a young kid then, so was Mark Viduka. They are now starting to produce more good kids - Rogic has just signed for Celtic, Marco Rojas was watched by Liverpool and Juventus at the w/e and there are other emerging kids like Walker at Melbourne Heart who we may have been able to snaffle.. Strangely enough, Fat Fred DID go to Oz in 2002 to try to buy Newcastle United Jets in NSW but the owner, Constantine, did not want to sell at that time. When Ashley took over the club in 2007, I told Chris Mort about the proposal and he asked me to send him the details which I did ; whether Ashley ever saw it or did anything about it, I don't know....I expect Llambias thinks Australians don't play football but it is the fastest growing sport in the country - Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC was a sell out last w/e and Rojas scored twice in front of the Liverpool/Juventus scouts... I suppose that the club haven't even got a decent set-up in the NE, let alone Oz...they failed to qualify for the top league of Academies which even the Mackems managed. NUFC has always lagged behind other clubs in obtaining top NE talent - the last ones we had were Gazza and both young FBs, Steve Watson and Robbie Elliott... I suppose Lee Clarke also fitted the bill but he was never a top PL player as Gazza had been 10 years earler in the First Div. The club seems to think that tbey'll always be the target for youngsters in the NE, but unless you show that you really want to sign them and that their parents are satisfied that the club is going to develop and look after them, they will go elsewhere. The current regime seem happy enough to raid France for cheap quality players but they are still paying out millions for what are basically mercenaries....bringing through youngsters gives you players with at least a degree of loyalty to the club and its an area we have been sadly lacking in recent years.

I've never been impressed by this guy - he just doesn't seem to have the 90 minute determination that marks a top PL midfield player and I doubt that he'll ever make it in the top league.

Yep - totally agree Dave. The squad looks much better now and Ashley has done his bit, even though at least 2 of these signings should have arrived in July. We still need a decent striker and I wouldn't be averse to seeing either Tiote of Santon sold if it meant getting a top forward in now but I'm happy with the signings. Pardew now has no excuse for not putting a decent football team on the park now, esp when everyone is fit - it will take time for the new guys to bed in but a result at Villa is a must.

Thanks for letting us know then. There are actually sound reasons for both Tiote and Santon being possible sales - firstly, the club have spent far more than they intended to do in this window due to the dire league position and failure to strengthen last summer. Ashley will want to bring some money back in if possible and I wouldn't rule out a striker being signed if his club accept a deal towards the end of the deadline. Secondly, we have signed a LB and a RB in this window - Santon is wanted by at least 1 Italian club and if Ashley could get 8m plus, I reckon he would go. Tiote has not been a shadow of the player he could be and we have signed a good replacement in Sissoko ; we know Man U wanted him last summer but wouldn't pay the price...remember Llambias' comment about 'Purple players'....

I've lost whatever little trust I had in Pardew in the past few weeks, but f*** me how the hell would he get away with doing anything like you suggest? The circumstances are completely different to the above scenario. He is also a different person with different experience now! Is it not possible that he has learned something from that fiasco? Granted Pardew wasn't involved in what names we signed, but I'm fairly certain he knows our weaknesses, and will play the new players, moving heaven and earth for them in fact, as he knows they are the only chance we have of staying up. The circumstances are far from completely different - at West Ham, they were fighting against relegation just as we are now and it wasn't until he was pressured into playing Tevez regularly that they escaped....if you remember, Sheff Utd tried to get the Hammers relegated in their place because there was an irregularity with Tevez' registration or something and they said it was his goals that saved W Ham.... I do remember yes. 1) This was a few years ago, and Pardew will have learned from that 2) The Tevez/Mascherano transfers were dodgy, they didn't speak a word of English, and had no compatriots to help them settle in. Our new players will have a much easier time settling in. Do you know whether the new players speak English or not ? There are not just French speaking players in the side.... Also, Pardew's record at Charlton and Southampton suggests he doesn't learn from past mistakes....time will tell about that one....!

I've lost whatever little trust I had in Pardew in the past few weeks, but f*** me how the hell would he get away with doing anything like you suggest? The circumstances are completely different to the above scenario. He is also a different person with different experience now! Is it not possible that he has learned something from that fiasco? Granted Pardew wasn't involved in what names we signed, but I'm fairly certain he knows our weaknesses, and will play the new players, moving heaven and earth for them in fact, as he knows they are the only chance we have of staying up. The circumstances are far from completely different - at West Ham, they were fighting against relegation just as we are now and it wasn't until he was pressured into playing Tevez regularly that they escaped....if you remember, Sheff Utd tried to get the Hammers relegated in their place because there was an irregularity with Tevez' registration or something and they said it was his goals that saved W Ham....

Pretty much this - fantastic talent, could win a game on his own and scored some amazing goals. Was the superstar of his generation along with the likes of Bobby Moore, but Best took full advantage of his appeal to women. He was a good friend of Eric McMordie the former Boro player and they both came over to England together for trials at Man U..McMordie got homesick and went home, later signing for Boro whereas Best went back for a while but then returned to Man U and the rest is history... When Man U played Boro in a cup game, he told McMordie that if he had any more sex his 'b---s would drop off..!' The drink and pop star lifestyle ruined his career...strangely enough although he once got a hat-trick against us, he said his toughest opponent was our N.Irish RB, David Craig, who often kept him quiet at SJP. A bit like Gazza - self-destructive streak prevented him reaching his full potential. Best knew a good player though...he was the first to lobby for Peter Beardsley to be given an England place when even SBR & Co were picking Hateley....

There is no guarantee that Pardew will use the new players correctly or even, in some cases, at all. Look at his dealings with Tevez and Mascherano when West Ham brought them in.... I have little confidence in him being able to significantly improve the TEAM...with the quality the club have bought, relegation should at least be avoided and if we are anywhere near it, he should certainly go. I reckon the club are waiting to see what happens after a few games and if performances don't improve, he will go in the summer...maybe even before.

Same here. Would be a massive stepback if Colo went in the summer and we just settled with Taylor. Especially as Taylor is a ticking time bomb injury wise. It's not like when he gets injured he's down for 2-3 weeks, it's months. They'll have to get someone else in the summer when Colo goes. This - replacement for Colo is vital.

aye, 1st game of promo season? didnt he crack one aggainst Villa in the prem? He did, rasper from a similar distance IIRC. Was the game Cole broke the goal scoring record, seem to remember all the goals in that game were good even theres. Cracking atmosphere that night, seem to remember Big Ron copping a fair bit of jip. Yes, you are both right - Bracewell, despite his Mackem connections, will always have a special place for those of us who remember the promotion season of 92/93 well and our first season in the PL the following year because of those 2 goals. The Southend one was a particular memory because it was our first goal of that season, thundered in from about 25 yards, and the Villa one, a volley I believe, pulled us level with them and we went on to win 5-1 with Andy Cole getting that famous 41st goal, the best top division scoring performance by a Newcastle player since George Robledo in tne 50s. The whole ground was jumping to the Andy Cole song after the goal and, as Disco says, 'Big Fat Ron' was the target of the sung question' What's the score, Big Fat Ron..!?' Brilliant night that topped off our great first season with us getting 3 rd place in the PL. Bracewell was past his best when he came to us but still did a great job for 2 seasons - great player for Everton but that injury to his ankle caused by Whitehurst at SJP, did take the edge off the rest of his career.

Dismissed, apparently Sporting offered him to us but turned them down. I suppose Pardew/Ashley thought Shola was just a touch better...!

Story doing the rounds that we may have tried to get Van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon. Really like this kid, he's scored 19 goals in 36 games for them after joining from Holland in 2011 and looks quick and dangerous - good in the air too. We were looking at him before he moved to Portugal. There is also a possibility that W Ham are in for him - Sporting are in financial trouble and need to sell but apparently they turned down a recent bid of 15m Euros from CSKA. Can't see us matching that.......

The buys are not panic in the sense that they are players who were scouted, but they undoubedly ARE panic in the timing....does anyone seriously believe they would have bought 5 players in Jan if we hadn't been heading for relegation ?

It's neither. They've clearly shat their pants after losing to Reading. We signed two players last year, now we are looking at buying five in a month. It's panic buying and we have to hope they've got it right. This - on the button. Any sort of result at Villa will probably keep Pardew in the job until the season's end unless they have actually been sorting out a replacement but looking at what's available it would be more likely that they will be arranging someone else for summer. IF we are still in the PL.....

WE need Graham Carr pikcing our managers tbf, he's got an eye for talent and with that an eye for how a side is set up. You don't need Carr to see how poor Pardew's long-term record at other clubs has been - the 2 clowns appointed him because he knew them and they knew he could be manipulated.

Delighted for him and for Bradford...wonderful experience for the lad, arriving in the UK to join a PL club playing Euro football and ends up on loan and helping his new club get to Wembley whilst his own is fighting relegation.....fantastic if they pull it off and he gets a winners'medal because you can't see him getting one at SJP with our cup record. This must be a Guiness Book of Records entry if he gets a winners medal ? Great experience for him too and will give him a great confidence boost for when he finally gets into the NUFC first team.

Six months too late to warrant licking his arse. This - all Ashley is doing is trying to save his ar-e by avoiding relegation...something we shouldn't even have been thinking about after last season's efforts. If he's done the right thing in Summer, all this panic buying may not have been necessary. Wait until the start of next season before you start 'being grateful' for having a football club.

If this guy is any good and can deliver a decent cross with his left foot, I wouldn't be surprised to see Santon on his way....if they could get any of the Italian clubs to get anywhere near 10m I reckon they'd sell...maybe in summer.

Why ANYONE would take that waste of space seriously is beyond comprehension - he should have been kicked out of the club years ago....

Yeah, somebody should dig up everything Pardew's ever said and dissect it to a microscopic degree without any context so they can whinge on about it. Oh hang on, that's already happened. Can only assume you've missed my point, otherwise you're just having a pop for no reason. The point was that only last week Pardew was praising the fans for their patience and support and this week he's implying there's often a poisonous atmosphere that negatively affects the team. In that sense those quotes are worth digging up to have a look at. I was more commenting on the general level of insane scrutiny that every Pardew quote is subjected to. Perhaps if Pardew's quotes weren't insane themselves, people wouldn't scrutinize them as much.....

When's he going to start..?

Mira's problems began when he developed hamstring problems on Luton's plastic pitch. He was a decent forward, plenty of pace but fell foul of Jim Smith after he sided with the Magpie Group during the takeover battle...Smith was a McKeag man so he bad-mouthed Mira, esp to Bob Cass who was a big mate of Smith. Met him a couple of times, was a nice lad who wanted the club to do better, but time was against him - he was 28 by the time he joined us in 1987.

hate the attitude of fans who can't accept what they're seeing with their eyes, what on earth are you basing this on? Who can't accept it, like? What a bizarre thing to say. If I want to stay positive and support the team in the same way I've done for twenty odd years, that's my choice. Not everyone has to be reaching for the razor blades just yet. I've seen enough, even in yesterday's game, to know that we can score goals. I've also seen enough to know that a new centre half will make a massive difference to our defence. Add a new, competent striker and Hatem to our team and I think we'll put in enough performances, in spite of the manager, to get the points required to stay up. 'Shakes head in disbelief'.... Is this Llambias talking ?

Our best team is one without Pardew managing it...

I think apart from Marv not doing much second half, Perch came on in response to Le Fondre warming up as he has came off the bench and scored a few times recently. So he swapped an attacking midfielder for a defensive as they were preparing to bring on another striker and go for it. So by them going for it, if was a betting man I would bet we had more chance of hanging onto a 1 goal lead than out scoring them with Ameobi and Cisse as attacking threats, similar to what happened to 8th place WBA last week. Le Fondre is not a bad player he scored both goals in there victory over Everton this season, scored and earned a draw at Stoke, scored when they nearly drew with Man Utd, scored against Arsenal, scored twice against Crawley and once last week when they did the same to WBA. I knew it myself when I see him come on we were in trouble. I mean who hasn`t scored past our defence and who has Ameobi and Cisse scored against this season ? Again don`t take this as me saying I wouldn`t welcome a better manager but sometimes there is a reason behind peoples logic that isn`t just down to them being a crap manager. We are at home and worried about Le Fondre coming on so we remove one of our best m/f players ? Do you think KK would have done that ? No - he would have let Reading worry about us....