LoveItIfWeBeatU

Is he the new Luque? Xisco's record is a bit difficult to work out. According to Wikipedia: - 2004–2008 Deportivo La Coruña 44 Appearances 12 Goals 2006–2007 Loaned to UD Vecindario who (according to Wikipedia) play in Segunda División B which is the third level of the Spanish football league system. He made 27 Appearances and scored 13 Goals. 2007 - Spain U21 8 Appearances 3 Goals. According to http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1895&pn=Francisco_Jim%C3%A9nez_Tejada Season, Club, Country, Level, GP and GS 2007-08, Deportivo La Coruña, ESP, A, 24, 9 2006-07, Vecindario, ESP, B, 27 & 13 2005-06, Deportivo La Coruña, ESP, A, 10 & 1 2004-05, Deportivo La Coruña, ESP, A, 7 & 2 2004-05, Deportivo La Coruña B, ESP, B, 15 & 8 2003-04, Deportivo La Coruña B, ESP, B, 23 & 17 On paper he should at least be ahead of Carroll in the striker pecking order but he isn't. Some fans think he deserves a run in the team. The manager doesn't seem to rate him. We don't know how Xisco performs in training.

If we spend £6m and bring in another four £1.5m players of Sébastien Bassong's quality then we're laughing. I suspect in reality though we'll be crying at what the transfer window does to our club.

I still don't understand why the Arsenal rumours persist. He's no where near their usual quality and they don't like to pay big money for transfers. Maybe NUFC could ask Wenger for a "I'm not interested in N'Zogbia" quote similar to his comments on Given.

I doubt anyone blames Given for wanting to leave. Hopefully there will be a bidding war for him and NUFC will get extra cash to spend on desperately needed players. As long as any cash made isn't wasted on a Goalkeeper though. Harper with back up from Forster and Krul is good enough for now. From the choices of Tottenham, Man City or Arsenal I wouldn't be happy if he went to Tottenham. If Man City 'do a Chelsea' and buy their way into the top 4 then they would be a good option but Arsenal seems to be the safe choice. The exodus begins. If Given leaves Owen will definitely be gone in the Summer.

I wouldn't sell him through choice but if Arsenal came in for Given and he wanted to join them I wouldn't hold it against him. If Buffon is worth £30m (what Man City were supposedly willing to pay for him) then surely Given must be worth £15m?

Nufc.com I'm looking forward to the calls for him to be sacked by Liverpool.

We'll know he will get away with it when the CPS/judge refer to him as "Stevie G".

Arsene Wenger said managing Newcastle United would be an interesting challenge. It's a shame other top class managers don't think like that. Most of them would only swap like for like i.e. They've managed a big club like Man U, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Milan, etc and will now only consider managing another club of that stature.

Didn't you know? He paid Cattermole to take out Beye so he could come back into the team. Wow! Is it June 2012 already? I must have been in a coma.

The club is only not for sale in so far as no one has the money to buy it at the moment. I'm happy that Mike Ashley has removed the limbo status of the club but I'm sure he'll happily sell if a multi-billionaire comes along after the credit crunch ends. Hopefully Ashley will now spend money on new players.

I hope Sbragia's reasonable results for Sunderland are just a result of the usual new manager honeymoon period effect.

According to NUFC.com: - UK TV: none Overseas TV: C+ Sports Extra LTV Sports 1 (Cyprus) Now Sports CH633 (Hong Kong)

At the moment 6th is very achievable for a lot of clubs (as is relegation). Will we get 6th? I'd like to think so but we have a good record of throwing away opportunities. Not that I think Kinnear is amazing but it would be interesting to see where we would be now if he'd taken over as soon as Keegan left. 'What If' is a story of most Newcastle United seasons.

And then Owen would remind NUFC that he said he won't be going anywhere until the end of his contract. All the power is with Owen. Unless it suits him he won't go anywhere.

Not that they'd ever want to go there but there is no way Cisse would be able to take his friends Beye, Martins, Zoggy, Jonas and Taylor out in Sunderland without there being trouble from the locals.

Doesn't sound like he wants to leave here: - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2008/12/23/charles-n-zogbia-eyes-premier-league-top-10-72703-22536845/

There was a time when a Sunderland player who scored in a win against Newcastle wouldn't dare go out on the town in Newcastle.

Owen made it clear that he never wanted to move abroad again when he returned from Real Madrid. His options are Premiership clubs.

If Owen wants to go to a 'better' club in the Summer the only way he can do that is by attracting them by putting in lots of good performances for us for the rest of the season. By staying until Summer we don't have to worry about getting a replacement in January. We've got until Summer to try to persuade him or scout for a replacement. If he leaves in the Summer he's honoured his contract which is more than most players do. I can't believe the people who suggest stripping him of the captaincy or booing him. How would that help us? If he was considering staying he won't if he's treated like that. It also wouldn't motivate him to play well for us. We may end up not getting any money back for Owen but if his goals help keep us in the Premiership that is worth a lot of money. Any money from Owen's sale could have just ended up in Mike Ashley's bank account. It was always highly unlikely NUFC would be able to sell Owen. Owen can choose where he can go in the Summer. You'd do the same in his position. I wouldn't sign a new contract until I knew the club were staying in the Premiership. It would also be nice to have the ownership situation sorted before signing. The future at Newcastle is very clouded. Can't blame him for waiting. Owen is also taking a risk. He could get injured at some point during the rest of the season.

Newcastle always seem to get a disappointing result on Boxing Day. I stick the teletext on to check the scores and a massive wave of disappointment hits me. Hopefully not this year.

Whatever you think of the current owners it has to be said that the transfers from the last transfer window have been mainly successful. Coloccini, Guthrie, Bassong and Gutierrez have been hits. Guthrie and Bassong were cheap by our standards and we don't know how much Gutierrez cost but chances are he's a bargain too. Gonzalez is a miss due to injury and we haven't seen much of Xisco. Hopefully the recruitment will be similarly successful in January.

Sunderland players are demonstrating what they thought of Keane. A 4-1 win, a 4-0 win and a late loss to Man U by 1-0 since he's gone. They must have loved him.

Oh cheer up. I don't think he really meant it like that. I'm laughing now. Do you think that will get me a playing contract at NUFC?

Chewing gum sales are about to go through the roof in Blackburn. Sam should wear an Xbox 360 headset during the game.

Give Xisco a chance because he has a laugh with his friends? I'd rather base my opinion of Xisco on his football ability. He has barely played for us so far so there is no evidence to judge him on (unless you count him not getting a game as a reason to judge him). He likes his supercars. I know he's had a Ferrari 430 and a Lamborghini LP640 in his time at Newcastle.