AyeDubbleYoo

That song is a work of genius.

You can't really expect us to compete with Everton though, surely. Anyway, we'll never know how good or bad our offer was really... or whether Everton were interested all along. Your comment is currently correct - but it shows just HOW far NUFC have fallen when Everton are a bigger attraction. Back in 1977, Gordon Lee was poached from us by them and neutrals were saying that it was because Everton were a better club...would anyone have said that during the mid-90s or even up to 4 years ago ?? Bill Shankly once said ' there are 2 teams in Liverpool - Liverpool and Liverpool reserves..' He was only half joking and the fact that we are now inferior to Everton merely illustrates how far the club have fallen....the fact that you also accept that shows, inadvertently, that you have little confidence in things changing soon - and you are correct. Course it does, but we can only operate from our current position. It will take a few years of steady progress to get anywhere near competing with Everton for players now. I'm not sure whether I believe it can be done or not, I hope it can. All I was saying is that at this point in time we can't criticise the club for missing out on a player that Everton want.

Alright UV, how the hell would you convince Beckford that Newcastle was a better move than Everton? Confident players want to prove themselves at the highest level... and players reaching their late 20s want to maximise their earnings. In general, I mean.

It will be false economy if we sell him now for a relatively small fee... we'll end up having to sign a keeper in a couple of seasons then. We're very lucky to have one experienced and two upcoming quality keepers on the books... we should keep them together.

It's the fans, it's the referee, it's the fixture list, but it's never you, is it Sam? IS IT?!

yeah but if we think that way how can we blame NUFC ? (which surely is the point of most posts) We can't blame NUFC, that's what I was saying. i know, i was being sarcy about those who'll use situations where there is no blame and still find a way. as if there wasn't enough legit stuff. D'oh, sorry, makes sense now!

From the players' point of view, I can see why they might want to leave to seek first team football. From NUFC's point of view, we should be looking to keep them both for as long as we can and see how they develop. Harper will only last for so long.

yeah but if we think that way how can we blame NUFC ? (which surely is the point of most posts) We can't blame NUFC, that's what I was saying.

Managers coming out after games and just talking about the referee. One, they're not biased, get over it. Two, your own team is to blame, not the referee.

I think it can work, but it does sacrifice your ability to have real balance and stretch teams across the pitch properly. Depends on your style I suppose. I think it's important that if a winger is playing on the 'wrong side' that he's at least confident enough on the wrong foot that he can still go down the line and get a decent cross in. Otherwise it should be very easy to defend against. I prefer wingers with correct foot though, love a team with two proper wide men.

Did he have any say in it?

As I was told by an insightful poster the other day, it's just a microcosm of the general crazy optimism that our economy was blinded by. Borrowing money to pay staff, then someone borrows even more to buy these debt-ridden companies... who's bright idea was that? It was a climate where credit was easy and cheap to get, and nobody seemed to ever ask for the money back. Amazing that new debt can be secured against something that is already crippled by existing borrowing. Man Utd's annual profit is about 100th of its outstanding debt, that's mental.

I claim this as well, loved the guy from the beginning. I was right, woo!

When Fergie retires Man Utd will be in serious, serious danger. Selling Danny Simpson can't help their cause either!

Good to hear, he certainly has as good a chance as most of our players.

Match fixing outrage!

If I was Beckford and Everton were interested, I would be very happy to finish the season and help Leeds get promoted - followed by a sweet move to the Premier League at the end of it. No reason to think we didn't do everything possible to sign him for a fee we thought was acceptable.

Oh God, training with us but not signing... isn't that what they said about Sol Campbell? Dum dum dum....

You can't really expect us to compete with Everton though, surely. Anyway, we'll never know how good or bad our offer was really... or whether Everton were interested all along.

Unlucky! I know what you mean though... I honestly don't mind as long as they don't turn out to be a waste of time. We've not exactly had a great record with a lot of well-known players in the past.

Looking forward to chilling out tonight and watching Sam's boys get a hammering. Was planning to watch the match last night, but I locked myself out of the house!

It's ridiculous if they're going to punish Neville for this but not tackle the torrents of abuse that comes from players every single week. They're both just as bad for the image of the game.

I've never played FM in my life, for the record. I know what you're saying, and we do lack movement throughout the team... especially in midfield. But it's a bit harsh to single out Smith when he normally does a large part of his job quite well. He didn't against West Brom, but their movement was too much for most of our team. We know that the 'one goes forward, the other covers' idea is great in theory but even the best players can't always execute it. And Smith and Nolan definitely aren't the best players.

I hate Sam Allardyce probably more than any other living human... what a total dickhead. The fact that he's dillusional as well as shit only adds to his punchability.

Explains why he withdrew his transfer request though, hardly committing himself to Leeds with that little gesture.