oldtype

Actually, it's not. Clubs don't just go offering 120k for 4 years to a 29 year old just because it's a "free transfer." He's not getting better terms at any team not named Manchester City. So it's up to him whether he'd rather have the money here or UEFA cup glory with another club. Personally? I think Owen knows this is the best deal he's going to get from anywhere. What's the point going to Spurs/Everton/Villa for significantly less money? Unless Villa gets into the CL this year and offers him a contract, or Man City fails in their bids for Villa, Drogba, Zlatan, Henry, and Eto'o and needs to go for plan F, I think he's going to sign.

Gutted to lose Oba, especially right before a Spurs game, but it'll be interesting to see how Viduka-Owen or Shola-Owen will work out.

Very happy for them. I suppose I can't relate as much, not being from the area, but I once had a 20 year long FM game with them so they are very close to my heart.

awsome, I'm going to be watching then.

Damn, looks like Oba might be out.

Shola For absolute f***s sake. It's more likely we'd play Phil Neville up front. Considering Moyes was interested in Alan Smith you ought to be chuffed if he went for Shola instead mate. Would rather pay 5m for Shola than get Smith for free I know! I can't believe how offended 1878 was by the suggestion. Hopefully Smithy will be fit enough in time to join them. I was more offended by Smith if you read back through my posts. Ameobi is more amusement than anger. We haven't got the money to sign that sack of s**** Smith now thankfully. Part ex with Baines tbh. Even better, we'll let you have Shola for free if you take Smith off our hands.

it was oldtype who put his name in capitals. i thought this thread was supposed to look beyond system vs keegan, fans vs ashley and all that and simply praise the recruiting team,and that's all of them, not just the ones you back or blame, love or loathe. Keegan did some things in the window that have already been covered so deserves to be amongst the names. this is about a team and, for a couple of months at the beginning of the summer at least, keegan was part of that team. to put it more bluntly - to not include him would be as divisive as not including dennis wise's name. Look. Guys. The way I see it, if you think Keegan's name needs to be there in the thread title, it's right there for you in caps. If you don't think it has to be, it's rather easy to filter out at the same time.

Shola For absolute f***s sake. It's more likely we'd play Phil Neville up front. Considering Moyes was interested in Alan Smith you ought to be chuffed if he went for Shola instead mate. Would rather pay 5m for Shola than get Smith for free

What has that got to do with anything? A lot. I'd have thought that those with a real connection to the club and area wouldn't forgive so readily the massive f*** ups this lot presided over. Sure mate. Heil, Keegan! http://fc25.deviantart.com/images2/i/2004/08/3/a/Nazi_Smiley.gif

Xisco could be the worst signing but we will have to wait & see on that one as it may take Owen, Oba, Viduka, Shola & Andy Carroll to get knocks before Joe lets us see him play again. A loan signing we got for nothing, thats right La Liga sides loan players out free of charge. We will have paid a loan fee & paying all his wages. Aye, I'm sure the loan fee was MASSIVE. It will be more than FREE Sunderland are paying £2 million for Sissy. Okay fine, "the fact that the absolute worst signing of the summer is a loanee we got for very, very little" then. People on this thread

Xisco could be the worst signing but we will have to wait & see on that one as it may take Owen, Oba, Viduka, Shola & Andy Carroll to get knocks before Joe lets us see him play again. A loan signing we got for nothing, thats right La Liga sides loan players out free of charge. We will have paid a loan fee & paying all his wages. Aye, I'm sure the loan fee was MASSIVE.

QFT. Ridiculous. Any fucking thing I can do to stop this from turning into another Keegan fight.

I don't think Keegan really needs a whole separate thread for even more appreciation. You should of really added him into this thread as he had the "FINAL" say on first team signings, although I am not sure on Xisco & Nacho though. i'm sure if oldtype is genuinely making a thread about the recruitment team instead of being wilfully divisive then he'll include Keegan Sigh. Fine.

The fact that the absolute worst signing of the summer is a loanee we got for nothing, as opposed to Alan Smith for 6m or Duff for 5m or Boumsong for 8m is a ringing endorsement for the recruitment team if anything.

What has that got to do with anything? Obviously because only non-Geordies could be stupid enough to write anything that could be even remotely construed as an insult against the saint that is Kevin Keegan.

Well, Diatta did exactly what he was brought in to do (provide emergency cover for next to nothing)

I don't think Keegan really needs a whole separate thread for even more appreciation.

Regardless of whatever involvement they may of may not have had in the criss our club is going through, I think a thread is in order just to congratulate Dennis Wise, Tony Jimenez, and Jeff Vertre on a job well done. The scouting team, with Vertre at the head, has brought us gems like Bassong and Guthrie for next to nothing. Jimenez has worked his magic at the negotiation table, letting us hoodwink Mallorca into handing over Jonas for peanuts, and pressuring Deportivo into selling us our classiest defender since Woodgate. Wise, whatever his faults, has brought us the one true Nile Ranger, for which we will be eternally grateful. I don't know if any of these people had an influence on KK leaving or the unfortunate antics of their employer. If they did have some sort of influence, they certainly deserve some serious reckoning for their mistakes. What I do know is that at the very least they did their jobs, which is far more than I can say for some other people at the club. So , and may they continue to do their work for the club. (Except for the departed Jimenez, I suppose)

Martins + Dawson = Win + 3 goals

He'll by 31 if we decide we don't want him in two years' time and with what must have happened and his wages, there's no club that would take him without us paying a part of his wages etc.. If there's even a chance that we might not want him in two years' time, then don't sign him to a long-term deal but I'm afraid that's one thing we're going to have to do to convince him to stay because other clubs aren't as desperate as we are. About the whole 31 thing, I'm not sure which attributes he has right now are going to decline with age. His work rate is pretty unimpressive already and he's lost his pace anyway. It's not as if his footballing brain is suddenly going to atrophy once he hits 30. He's probably a good bet for 31. Maybe even a bit beyond that.

This horrendous manager who's taken points from 9 of his 11 games? He's made mistakes but considering the state we were in when he arrived I'd say he's done ok actually. 2 losses from 11. I'd have settled for that 3 months ago. 2 losses from 11 doesn't excuse some of the woeful decisions that have led to us dropping a lot of attainable points. You can swing it the other way aswell, and say 3 wins in 11. And that is far from good enough for me, given the teams we've played and the players we've got. Just my opinion like. Fair enough. We've dropped points I'd have expected us to win and we've also won points I'd not have expected. As I say, in comparison to freefall - I'd settle for what he's done so far. Each to their own though. I won't be surprised if we're in the relegation zone come the turn of the New Year. If we're four or five points clear of it, then i'll give him credit because i'd regard that as reasonably acceptable given the situation of the club. Nothing will convince me, however, that he is anything but a very poor manager. We're fortunate to have what is, imo, a quality collection of players. So Ashley put a good squad together then? We're a little light in a couple of areas, but his recruitment team certainly did, aye. I think the overall direction of the transfer window was a bit off, in that we didn't acquire for Milner and picked up Xisco instead, who it looks like we blatantly don't need. (As far as CMs go we did get Nacho, nobody could know that he'd go crock himself and take Barton along with him.) As far as the individual players that we got though? Every single one that's played has been spot on.

0 They got rid of it as for Europe in general, it's the holidays so I'll be hopeful and say 2

Contrast that with what we had under Roeder which was only a year and a half ago. The trouble with that is contrast Everton, Villa, Spurs, Pompey squads to a few years ago and they too have improved... beyond what we have. Our squad is still small, rather average and for me more significantly still unbalanced. Absolutely, 100% agree with you there but i dont want to get into why this is the case..... I wouldnt say the squad is average to be honest, we have some cracking players, we just need a spark or 2, like we were before SBR signed Bellamy and Robert. We've had 4 years in the footballing wilderness dont forget. Problem is that our squad at the moment isn't all that sustainable. Beye has a season or two left in him at most, Enrique will get sick of Kinnear giving him s*** sooner or later, Butt is pretty much done already, and Owen is leaving. I don't know what the Zog's situation is but we'll probably have to replace him with a RW and put Jonas on the left. Major question marks over some key components in the squad there. Short term I think we're solid as long as we fill up the CM position, long term, we might actually need two fullbacks, two cms, a right winger, and two strikers in the summer, which is a tall, tall order.

Yeah. I'm praying for a January bid for Wigan's Valencia. He'd give us some attacking threat on the right. Something we haven't had in a while. Plays through the middle too, doesn't he? Valencia would be perfect ...And also cost 15~20m

He's learning, but I still hate the fucking clown. Enrique deserves an apology for Kinnear's comments after his second-half performance today. If it was me I'd have told him to fuck off and started packing my bags for Spain.