brummie

No thanks, would rather bend over backwards until the end of the season to get " The Special One " You'd be right to want Mourinho, he's a fantastic manager, but with all the will in the world, he's not going to take the job is he?

Do you ever listen to (the now discontinued) Danny Baker and Danny Kelly podcasts? They did one about two months ago where DB started it with a fucking brilliant impression of Martin Jol.

From what I've seen of you, his one big legacy is that he got shot of the Keystone Cops defence of old and started to get you a proper one sorted out. Faye, Beye and Enrique look like solid signings. Smith and Barton look like awful ones, but surely the goodness of the first three outweighs the badness of the last two.

I know this is a massive simplification but in my book Director of Football means trouble. How many experienced or confident managers would choose to work with a DoF? How many would entertain the idea?

I think this is the press seeing Chimbonda is available then looking at who needs a RB right now. I think he's a decent player, he's just got a bit of a 'tude, which I don't think MON will like

Lerner wanted Klinsmann at first, but then changed his tune when he realised all the other interested buyers wanted MON. Ashley must have been in a very tricky situation here though - he probably backed the manager enough to give him more time, but didn't have enough belief in him to let him spend however many millions in the transfer window. Looked at from that point of view, the timing probably makes sense (although it is easy to put together a convincing argument to the contrary).

That's an interesting point. This doesn't stand up to any scrutiny other than raw figures, however observe this: Big Sam at Newcastle this season, league and cup (24 games) Won 8, Drew 6 and Lost 10 = 30 "points" MON last season, league and cup (24 games) Won 7, Drew 10 and Lost 7 = 31 "points" ie virtually identical. Obviously, this takes absolutely no account of the quality of football played and what it was like to watch - I can imagine it was poor, and I suspect it was the deciding factor in this case, and also takes no account of the assets both managers started the season with, but his results weren't actually that bad (and again, I acknowledge the flukiness of some of them).

The Krankies? morweena banks used to on "absolutely" Now she could quite probably have my body to use and abuse if she played her cards right.

Mellberg has been in Turin today sorting out his move to Juventus. Why is he leaving? Money/family/ambition? He's a free agent, and 31. His last big contract. He's been with us for 7 years and probably sees Laursen, Davies, Cahill as our CBs of the future. He's also been played out of position all season which probably doesn't help Wish him all the best, he is a top, top man, Olof.

Terry Mac is surely part man, part cockroach. That man would survive nuclear armageddon unscathed.

did you miss his stint at Real Madrid? Well teepee is danish as well as I am, and Laursen is a good defender, but he is very injury prone, and with the luck we have with injuries in Newcastle, he must be a no go. i agree with michael on this one - i think that laursen only once has played more than 20 matches in a season. and that was with ac milan, who has the best medical facility in the world of football. the following three years with them (milan, from 2001 to 2004) he played a whopping ten matches but he is definately a good player, but i'm just worried about his fittness. He's currently on a run over over 30 consecutive matches with us. He had a terrible knee injury whilst at Milan. The knee he injured with us was actually the other one. He's not going anywhere, though.

Mellberg has been in Turin today sorting out his move to Juventus.

You do right to hope not, Karj. The man is a cunt.

Top British manager? I can't believe nobody has mentioned Tommy Brown. Although the woman in disguise thing might put Ashley off.

Aye, O'Neill. You've moved from daggers through the heart to sledgehammers to the back of the head.

Why would Ashley need to "go through the proper channels" for Venables? He isn't currently in a job is he, so I wouldn't bother with that wager if I were you. I saw that on SSN after I had posted. It has, of course, thrown my wager plans into FLUX.

I love you, but that post is worth a banning. Janitor!! That is like a dagger through my heart!

"Club will go through the proper channels to appoint their man" so therefore already in a job?

Terry Venables is the name that stands out for me as 1. I can imagine Ashley (who appears to be a bit nouveau in his status as a football fan) being blown away by his interest. 2. He is available. 3. He is English. In fact, I am tempted to wager a small yet meaningful sum on money on it.

I don't see how Defoe could be labelled 'awful' by any definition, tbh.

Chimbonda is a good player, but is a Charlie Big Bollocks and would be trouble. I don't think Defoe would leave London.

Give us a kiss x

Spurs fans are unbelievably deluded. I'm a better defender than Kaboul, and I can barely stand up without there being a can of ale waiting for me once I finish the maneouvre.

I feel this is the crux of disagreement in his contract talks with us (ie length of contract).

The Pinochet thread on SMB has been comedy gold on almost every other football forum in existence.