merlin

Lots of ideas there, some familiar, some not. I can't see a winter break doing any good unless we reduce the number of games, which is the real issue. We play a lot of high-tempo, physical and competitive football, which means that the players need a lot of recovery time and aren't able to do much fitness work in the season. So they end up both tired and unfit at the end of the season. I think Capello has more or less admitted that his long preparation period made the problem of staleness worse. He'll learn from that. Capello prefers to be remote from the players, and allows his assistant Baldini to do the more pally stuff. I've read that Baldini was troubled by his father's illness and wasn't his usual cheerful self in South Africa. Capello has to create a happy working atmosphere and again I hope he's learned that. He will also have learned that if the players are spending weeks away with one another you can't afford to have any disruptive influences. The technical development of players has been a long-standing problem. We're never going to play like Brazilians but we can aspire to be more like the Germans and the Dutch. I think our best players compare favourably with theirs, but they tend to have technical ability more spread throughout the side. Their defensive players usually look far more comfortable on the ball than ours, and that can make quite a difference when retaining the ball or taking advantage of an opportunity to support an attack. Part of their training of young players is to give them experience in different positions, and they end up good all-rounders. I do wonder whether our players specialise too early and we end up with defenders who are technically limited. Good post - In 1992, I spoke to KK at SJP just after SJH took over the club and asked him, as a former player with Hamburg, why German teams and players were often better than their English counterparts and he replied that they were more prepared, as individuals, to return for extra training in afternoons in order to improve their skills. They had a better work ethic about the game than the players in English football. There is no physical reason why Germans or Dutch players should be better than English ones but if anything, the ridiculous rewards available in the Prem has made players MORE lazy than they were before. They have a perception that they are above criticism and are isolated from the fans - also, there is a lack of decent coaching at school level, and many schools have sold off sports fields and facilities. Some teachers are also guilty of a Politically correct approach to sport which discourages individual success and encourages mediocrity. All of these things - and more - will have to be tackled before there is any improvement in the English national side.

This - Perch looked good when he played at SJP but I would need to see him in several games before passing judgment - looked better than Simpson though and may benefit from the change of club after his years at Forest. If he cost less than 1.5m, it is worth the gambke.

Capello may have faults, but not as many as his employers OR the crazy PL system. His record as a manager is beyond reproach except for the fact that he has nor managed at International level. In that respect, someone like Hiddink would have been a better choice but the FA didn't go for him when his Aussie contract was coming to an end as they should have done 4 years ago. Until the International side takes a higher priority as it does in Germany and the bling is taken out of the PL, there will be no change in England's WC record ; even Hiddink would have had a tough job getting this team to the Semis, but his performances with Holland, S Korea and Australia proved that he would have at least made a better fist of it. If Capello fluffs the changes needed to bring England up to a better standard, he should go after the Euro qualifying campaign.

The EU is a disaster for most of the countries in it unless they are a) France or Germany, or b) a country that is permanently receiving contributions from it(unlike the UK which pays approx 40m Pounds a day into the thing). Only politicians, Lawyers and multi-national firms want it. Even 51% of Germans now wish they had never abandoned the Mark for the Euro - look at the problems with Greece, Portugal & Spain... There is much more, but as this is a football site, that is what the topic should be about ; in that sense, I have no brief for Euro teams because they ARE Euro teams, but I do admire the Germans for excellent preparation of their side and for taking the necessary measures to improve things after the poor showings of 10 years ago - they also have, officially, the best-run league in Europe without over-paying under-talented players as do the PL. As for the exit of S.American sides, Brazil were not widely fancied under Dunga's management even in Brazil itself and Argentina under Maradona were an accident waiting to happen ; they only just qualified at the final fence and with the players they have that in itself is an indictment of the unpredictable egotist managing them. In 1982, Brazil were beaten by Italy after a defensive error late in the game when a draw would have taken them through - they were acknowledged as probably the best side not to win the tournament but they still went out ; that is football..... They WILL be back again and will remain the side to beat - they have too many good players and a huge footballing population and tradition not to. Their population is twice that of Germany and more than 3 times that of Argentina. The Argentines themselves will also continue to produce enough good players to remain serious challengers at World level and it is to England's shame that with almost a third more people than Argentina it has only won the WC once and rarely looked like repeating that feat.

I agree, but think Best is worse - I also don't think Lovenkrands will cut it in the Prem. Interesting that some on here defend him, yet question whether Boyd would 'do it' in the Prem. Boyd scored more goals for Rangers than Lovenkrands, so where does THAT logic come from ? Only Carroll looks to me as if he could be a threat, but even he is still very raw by Prem standards ; he WILL frighten defenders in the air, but needs a really decent striker alongside him to take advantage of this. Would keep Shola before Best...Shola even has a better scoring record in the Prem than Lovenkrands, who, lets face it, is even older... Sadly, funds do not allow big buys, and strikers are big buys if they are any good.

All of this is long overdue - Football has been living in Financial Cloud Cuckoo Land for years now and it should be a correctly managed and funded business. Nobody who follows NUFC should complain about this fiscal tightening because the clubs with the biggest support bases will be the most successful - they will attract the most inward flow of funds, both from fans and advertising. A business can only succeed if it attracts customers and sells its 'product' - if NUFC has even a modicum of success, the club cannot fail to benefit from the new rules. People like Abramovitch will either have to declare that the funds they have given to their clubs actually belong to the club, or that the funds are loans and that looks very suspect under the rules of solvency.

Ginola was part of a great side, but the fact was that the side was NOT built for long-term success. Ginola was 28 when he arrived at SJP, and by the time he was sold, he was over 30 as was Sir Les. Beardsley was 36. Dalglish was right to want to rebuild the side and he was very unlucky with the injury to Shearer at Everton in pre-season 97-98. We can all speculate, but I would bet that Tomasson would have been great alongside Big Al - he was NOT a target man, and because the club were a PLC by this time, Sir Les had to go to balance the books, which proved a disaster after Shearer's injury. Dalglish re-started the Reserves and Juniors and recruited players like Hamman. Given and Solano - yes, there were failures as well, but I still reckon it would have worked out if Shearer had not been injured. The media hated KD because he was non-committal with them and they had had it easy with KK, but the players DID like Dalglish - even a top NE journalist told me that, although he personally didn't get on with Kenny. He was fired 2 games into the 98/99 season after we hadn't even lost a match, and the so-called 'Sexy Football' of his successor got off to the worst possible start when we got hammered at home by Liverpool...... Ginola was a cracking winger at his best - I remember him tormenting Boro to distraction at SJP early in 95/96 ; that great strike at Liverpool to put us 2-1 in front in April 96 ; that thunderbolt strike at SJP which was our second in the 5-0 over Man U, and an amazing shot into Arsenal's top corner early in a game at SJP which left Seaman grasping at thin air.....great memories, but whilst he was right in some of his comments, he was wrong to blame KD totally for what happened - the club had changed, SJH had gone, and it wasn't going to be easy for any manager. There is a long way to go before anything LIKE these times return to SJP - if they EVER do, although the current financial problems in football may just help in the long run because of the great support NUFC attract.

There has been some speculation on rumours sites that Wheater may be joining NUFC from Boro, the deal to be done of Friday for 4m ; has anyone heard this and what would be your views if it went ahead? These things are often way off beam, but it would seem that either Hughton does not rate the current CDs too well or that Taylor is def going. Apparently, Wheater can also play RB, so maybe there is something in it. One thing is for certain - if Wheater joins NUFC he will win one contest straight away - ugliest player on the books and that takes some doing..! Joking aside, he is a very committed player(I use the term loosely..).

Yes, but the difference is that he usually gets PAST the FB after he's done it - and that is the object of a winger's game. The work needs to be completed by a decent cross and although SWP is not the best at that, he is far better than any we have on the books now. Good crosses pulled back from the bye-line are the most dangerous in the game for defenders to deal with.

Not talking about the prices of the players, imo SWP is simply a far greater player. Faster, better technique and greater end product. Totally agree.

Mourinho has proved himself among the greatest of the World's managers - bar NONE. This thread is pointless, he would just laugh at it if he knew because he is about to make himself one of the richest managers in the game - and deservedly so. All those accusing him of arrogance should look closer to home - is he any worse than SAF, whose constant questioning of Refs decisions/time-keeping etc is legendary ? Or Wenger's constant refusal to see incidents in which his players have been offenders ? A huge tragedy that SBR was never asked to approach him to come to SJP as his replacement.

This - Nail on head.

Unbelievable that anyone would compare NUFC to this great club - they leave us standing when it comes to trophies, ability to sign top players and world-wide renown. Maybe Athletic Bilbao are similar - very regional passionate support and win very little ; they also sell their best players...! Bilbao are a very successful club, it's just that their adherence to their principles have prevented them from continuing this success in this day and age. They have won 8 leagues and 23 cups, fourth and second best in Spain respectively, and are one of only 3 clubs to have always been at the top flight. Unfortunately, we ARE in 'this day & age'...Newcastle United have won the English League 4 times, the FA Cup 6 times and the Uefa Cup once. The difference is that it is not 'adherence to principles' which has stopped NUFC being successful in the modern age, it is more a case of not having any...!

Agree that the statement was less than reassuring, especially if we were looking for better news regarding the finances, but at least it does a job dampening down some of the more damaging speculation (even more so when you include the bizarre bonus 2nd statement). Tend to disagree. They are still keeping everyone 'guessing about monies available', and they have done the vast majority of their 'deals on the quiet' (looking at the agent centric section of the statement they will apparently continue to do their best to keep it that way too). It was still idiotic to bring up the subject of 'no funds for players from capital' etc - there was NO need whatsoever to mention it. IF they actually DO make a signing before anyone is sold, Agents and selling clubs will not believe a word they say in future.

Unbelievable that anyone would compare NUFC to this great club - they leave us standing when it comes to trophies, ability to sign top players and world-wide renown. Maybe Athletic Bilbao are similar - very regional passionate support and win very little ; they also sell their best players...!

The whole truth is that the club shouldn't have made ANY 'statement' apart from reassuring fans that there would be continuity and a more professional approach to handling the media/transfer speculation etc. They have made a rod for their own backs by talking about money which is naturally going to be seized on by the fans and media - everyone knew that there wasn't going to be a fortune available but they have made it sound worse. When Harry Catterick was in charge at Everton, they handled all their transfers in a very secretive manner - players were actually at a press conference before anyone knew anything about it ; at NUFC during the same period, we had CONSTANT speculation in the Press about this or that player, most of which never materialised on our books at all. The club seemed to think that the fans needed a constant diet of news about poss transfers which made it all worse. The club should have kept everyone guessing about monies available and done their deals on the quiet - the Press don't like it but tough - pleasing them hasn't done the club much good over the years...

In any case, talking about '5 year plans' reminds me of 2 things - firstly the Soviets after the War when they had '5 year plans' for everything including the Moskvitch.....the Russkies are still waiting for the Kremlin's challenger to VW.... Secondly, Sunderland once had a manager called Alan Brown who had the misfortune to be in charge there when NUFC were winning the Fairs Cup - Brown also had a '5 Year plan' for Mackem success by bringing through the likes of Colin Todd, Bobby Kerr and Billy Hughes etc...the Mackems got relegated and it wasn't until Bob Stokoe took over 4 years later that they won the FA Cup and got promoted. Brown wasn't there long enough to see his 5 Year Plan work because he was fired after they went down....

Whilst I would NEVER switch to following another club, I have some sympathy for those who are thinking of witholding ST money. I did this during late 80s because I wanted the Board out - in the end, they WERE forced out by SJH's takeover but also because they were in the mire financially - I chose the games I wanted to see but after they had conned us over Beardsley & Gazza(waiting to sell the players until AFTER the STs had been sold, there was no way I would give them a season's money until I saw what they were going to do with the team. The current situation is a bit different because Ashley owns the club outright whereas the McKeag board didn't ; nobody we know about is even THINKING about buying NUFC as SJH was, so there is little chance of changing things in the foreseeable future - in addition, many Prem clubs have financial problems now, and it will be interesting to see how much is spent this close season by all but the best-run clubs. Ashley has been up-front about the lack of transfer fund unless the club sells to buy so at least you know what you are going to get..... I am not in the UK any more so therefore don't have the dilemma, but I have sympathy with some of half a heed's views ; I accept that the club has to try to live within its means but a club which can get the home crowds that NUFC command should at least be able to strengthen the team to ensure that the club is not relegated next season. It's a personal decision and those who are going to be stretched for cash(as many will be after the politicians have finished playing musical chairs and feathering their own nests)over the next few years are not to be derided for thinking twice.

Now downgraded estimate to 30-32...probably not enough and also optimistic..

This, frankly - and there's no guarantee he would even get THAT. The true answer is that he will get paid until they sack him, then they have to pay off the rest - he would get nowt if he walked .... Unless things are a lot different to 'what it says in the brochure' he will be gone by Christmas as he has no chance without a transfer kitty.

Not any more - the Top 4/5 can spend big money but the rest are living on overdrafts and borrowed time. Just wait and see....

The whole situation is now in a state of flux - it is obvious that players will have to be sold to raise money to strengthen, but its hard to see how this can be done without weakening the side in other critical areas. Being realistic, the only players we would get decent fees for are ;- Jonas(poss 5m, depending on the WC) Coloccini(ditto) Carroll(poss 6m) S Taylor(poss 7-8m because he has a more proven PL record than the others) Barton would fetch a fee, but we would be lucky to get 3m for him ; Nolan, poss 3m at best. We could also sell Enrique for upwards of 5m but he is a player we REALLY need to keep. Losing the 4 I first mentioned would bring in poss 25m - around the total that we really needed to spend to ensure PL football WITHOUT losing players....as you can see, Hughton has a VERY tough task in front of him. Ideally, I would sell Krul(we have Foster), Best(yes, I know..)Simpson, R Taylor and other fringe players, but we are not going to raise more than 5-10 m doing that. We will need to sign Bosman players as I said in the Statement thread,but Ashley is unlikely to pay the wages they will demand. Fun times ahead.....

This is what I believe this statement conveys Dave. The words 'no capital outlay' mean that there will only be signings made from any monies that come IN to the club...whether this includes Sky Prem funds is open to interpretation but at first glance it appears that the only signings will be those funded by outgoing transfers OR by signing players on Bosmans. If that is the case, then Hughton should be getting in touch with Kris Boyd and Kuranyi's agents ASAP because those type of players are going to be grabbed by other clubs such as our dear friends on Wearside or the likes of Brum. Whatever the interpretation, Hughton's skills as a manager are going to be well and truly tested in the coming season - as a result of reading this statement I would revise my view of what the club can achieve over the coming season because finishing 17th is going to be a major achievement. I have no problem whatsoever about the Board's stance over Press and Agent communication etc - about time some professionalism was introduced in those fields - but it looks as though whatever talent the club feels it has on the books is going to have to keep NUFC in the Prem.... Some painful match-days ahead, methinks....

When we signed him, Shearer was just about the best CF in Europe - he is a better leader of the line than Rooney(physically stronger)and he and Lineker at their peak would have been devastating - esp with Beardsley behind them.

Whoops - missed out Peters