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The "Pulling power" argument was used against Roeder and Souness and they got big name signings e.g. Owen, Duff, Martins, etc. for most players the money usually has the final say those players who come for footballing reasons i.e to play at the highest level, battle for trophies or be part of a world beating side then the top 4 takes them in any league. The scraps and rare finds really are any ones fair game and we have as much chance as the everton's, man city's and villa's of this world.

Wasn't Mort recently quoted (a few weeks back) as saying he wants to spend as money comes in? sky money and season ticket sales would offer a fair chunk even if the ashley isnt willing to put more of his own money in + current players moving on.

always a bad example to use as it is totally different club to club but Man city are a perfect example of where I want us to go in the summer they too had little to offer any "big players" out of the capital not in europe ropey couple of seasons under old management. However still managed to get some great players in and I for one can say now i knew fuck all about then when they first arrived may be much down to svens much better contacts but I have some small hope thats how the board want to do it here. The worst case we go out there looking to spend 30+ on one player and rely on him to carry the squad 3-5 additions would do me nicely with carr, shola and viduka moving on possibly even Owen if he still has ichy feet.

Not putting anything past the toon the board are going to be out of excuses come the summer. Sky money comming in = instant cash got the manager in they want will have most if not all the backroom staff in they want the manager, scouts and staff will have had nearly half a season to look at the squad see who they want out and see who they like out there. Summer is a bigger window more players moving. if the board dont put in 30-50m into the pot for transfers then we need to seriously worry when will the board will ever put hard cash into squad development. using this as some simple logic i cannot see how we will not have some heavy summer spending.

Also seemed to be alot of support for coleman as some sort of role with the club. I am not saying that the two are exactly the same but both have done relatively well and still young maybe a good compromise that the board was aiming for. Lots of experience from the manager and then a dynamic up and comming manager to take a key role at the club i.e shearer mold. I am neither for or against this but can see it being a good thing as I dont want kev in on his own in the deep end with his history of cracking under pressure.

I assume Kev came with the assumption there was money to spend, he didn't have the time to get in who he wanted already commented on the difficulty of it all. i would like him to assess who he likes and doesn't in the current squad and take it from there. Can see it being a man city type big spend but can see a few leaving so I would imagine we will still be putting up with a relatively small squad still. predicition 50m then minus any out goings.

What's your point? I think Shepherd and Roeder would have been more of a turn off than anything else to be honest. Its ironic that one of the reasons for woodgate wanting to leave could be the lack of ambition, lack of fan attendance, the nasty support players do get when people turn up ala Downing. An Huth signed and disappeared on a roller coaster of injuries not exactly the picture was looking for when he signed.

Any fee mentioned? £12m i think i heard. Yakubu money gone then

suppose it will be lua lua in midfield for saturday then

Its the chance you take doing something so drastic as bringing back KK, but could Hughes turn this around? Could Houillier? Anything above that quality just isn't going to happen, and for me Hughes is the best British candidate, and Houillier the best realistic foreign candidate for me, yet i think both would struggle, and both don't play the football Ashley is possibly looking for. KK/AS combo is probably the safest option, two men that love the club, love attacking football and would strive to achieve happiness for the fans. With money they could possibly be a real force, a few heads that have dropped would certainly pick back up, ie Owen, Given, Taylor, and the likes of Barton would be rejuvenated with such characters looking after him. Im not sure how the players would react to anyone else right now, i just know the madness of the whole situation would sweep them up and they couldn't do anything else but buzz from the appointments as like it or not, the majority of the City (not just NUFC fans) want this to happen. I have deep reservations on whether football has changed too much for KK, if Shearer has enough talent and whether we can get both men in, as for me one or the other is pointless. I would personally like Rijkaard I dont know how likely any candidate is as with many money talks and if ashley can put across a winning vision, package and transfer kitty I think we have a good shout for everyone. As many who dont want KK have pointed out he has been out of the mix for a while, left in bad circumstances and really looked ready for a permanent break after the england mess. I like you probably just have this blind faith that if anyone is going to do it KK can. Shearer does come across as the ideal package to go along side him been in the game due to his press work and has still connections with the club (is he still an official club ambassador?) Is a local lad who loves this club but we may never find out as I dont know how much of a gambler ashley is well shit he did buy us so he must love a gamble

aye I know what you mean we were the entertainers back in the KK days and it would be great to have it back, back to the issue I am sitting on the fence I want KK to come back and kick ass but I feel that down about the toon at the min i think he will come in and leave with a wimper.

I take it you didn't read it then? Well written minus the circus theme all the way through fav line -"Then there are the occasions when he has to take a custard pie square in the face — usually from Sir Alex Ferguson. But the ups and downs, all of that drama and seesawing entertainment in the circus, is what grips this city"

Money helps. We've got money. Funny how no-one ever says that about Mourinho though isn't it? Yes, he spent millions on the Porto side which won the Champions League, Keegan's great when everything's going smoothly but when it starts getting tough what does he do? Resign. is he resigns it just shows he has the integrity to walk instead of waiting with his begging bowl and a prefilled out P45 waiting for his compo

Been friends for a while supposedly and remembering that he has been in the game alot longer than Ashley and has just went through a manager change you cannot blame him for giving advice and Ashley taking some notice.

we will never know but possibly Ashley is in favour of the debate that raged around the england post and possibly wanted to go for a British manager, maybe he wanted someone that knew the prem and had been doing well. I think it is best to see it as a thing that has been and gone and concentrate on getting the best he can now that he probably knows a current prem manager will not come (hughes has publically said no and the everton chairman has said moyes is not available) still doesn't rule out us getting mclaren or jol in but you just have to hope and pray.

Only positive I take from that is the number of candidates bit lilke in business you have a list of targets and the only one that has gone public for now has been harry not to say that other clubs and managers have remained quite in their talks.

Chimbonda, eh? Woo-fucking-hoo. Street party. Yeah FFS, whats wrong with Beye? Errm ANC he disappears remember

Chimbonda, eh? Woo-fucking-hoo. Street party. Would you rather have Carr in the team while Beye is away?

I really dont feel over joyed about this as with everyone else I thought the up heaval midseason would point more towards a massive switch. I hope he does get 20-30 million this window or raids portsmouth I have liked the club for a couple of season and certainly they have been going from strenght to strength in the prem in terms of results (although that adds to the question why the fuck come to us). If we have to have him then everyone back him and see what he can do.

Good post. I'm not sure how anyone who's sat through the absolute shite that Allardyce has served up this season can think of it as a step backwards, I expect him to turn us into an entertaining team and have a fair bit of money to spend in the process, he's got my support. If you ever want to break the cycle I suppose it has to start with the fans no point saying they will be a failure before they have had a game in charge I mean that in a general sense not just this potential appointment.

Well for the last few years this and the take over is all we have had so I suppose we should be thankful of something look at the likes of Wigan and Derby no offence to them but their highlights of the season in excitment terms are doing a double over us to put another nail in the coffin

The pressure was clearly getting to him; add in the ££££££££ and a big ego who thinks he's a great manager and I can believe he's just there thinking 'fuck it, I can afford a smile'. Too true Dave unfortunately with the club being run in silence we will probably never know the ins and outs unless he does a biography and even then its one sided. This being said the club has taken another media bashing because of this as its all "poor sam" "he needed more time" " he would have gotten it right"

And Diarra... And African players like Martins. Look there are 2 clubs with 'goodish' managers Ashley can impose himself on financially..Pompey and Burn. Two managers who are perhaps thinking they have reached the limit of their budgets, add into the mix the personal rigmarole about horse racing, lads beers, banter and the media are hoping it is 'Arry cause it is an easy story and they don't really want us to ever be successful. Let's wait and see who is announced as manager before we get on this train. I was trying to put it in a way that made me not seem like i was "clutching at strawers" good work Parky!

Right about what? Sorry i don't understand, i'm on go slow today. If he feels he was in the right, and was treated unfairly, he might just laugh it off. Surely Dave any manager in the prem wants to be a winner I doubt if he was truely on board he would want to see his time here as a failure so I dont see how he can come across so happy, calm possibly even relieved except the nice wadge of cash passed to him to take a big break and come back. I havent seen a media article yet that has looked at his time here and said it was average at best with little on field improvements and at best a rollercoaster type set of results. I know we all want to win the prem every season so we want too much but SA is not totally of blame in all this.

I must have turned paranoid like you because I honestly thought I saw a little smurk on his face he is probably planning on going to buy a nice big apology present to himself. Or he is a true pro that wouldnt bad mouth his old employer yada yada yada... Respect to him for (£5m) not bad mouthing (£5m) his previous employers, it must of (£5m) took a lot of inner-strength (£5m) to do that, i don't think i could (£5m) of if i got sacked. I dont particularly hate the guy I would love to do a mediocre job overall at a place for less than a year and walk away with my contract paid up np questions asked. I probably can see him going to the likes of Boro, Wigan or one of the newly promoted teams that may come up and doing well. He just didnt have it here and thats fine. As we have both said the money will be helping him sleep at night.