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My "realistic" wishlist so far then RW/LW/CM = http://news.joins.com/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/200802/htm_2008021716201660006010-001.JPG CB/DM = http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/a/ac/250px-Rafael_Marquez_15abr2007.jpg ST = http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41727000/jpg/_41727998_petercrouch_1416pa.jpg or http://beefbagel.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/johan-elmander.jpg DM = http://www.africahit.com/news/images/articles/2007_12/3722/u1_djila.jpg AM = I don' know.. Deco? I don't think any of these players wouldn't be let go by their clubs if we payed fair market price, and I don' think any would be particularly averse to coming to us if we could promise first team footie. All could do a great job.

I honestly fear for the future of Britain if any significant portion of the population share's the perceptions of jarralad et al. As far as immigration is concerned, I'm pretty conservative and assimilationist myself, but... This = Islamic cultural invasion of Britain!?! How Why?

Rafael Marquez not getting a game? I'd love to have him here. How old is he though?

I wouldn't want us to throw a game even if it meant the Mackems winning the title.

And we'd be a laughing stock again if we go out and spend mad money on a 30 year old who's not exactly setting the world on fire at the minute. Don't get me wrong if we signed him for realistic money and wages I'd be well happy but if we spend stupid money on him and he fails to produce were going to look like bigger fools. See Michael Owen exactly one year ago he was the consensus best striker in the world. And it's not as if he's suddenly turned into Ameobi at Barcelona: he's just struggling to adapt, not playing in his natural position, and being thrown off balance by all the internal turmoil in the club. Fifteen million and 70~80k a week wages and I'd gladly carry him from Barcelona and across the English channel on my two shoulders. Turning our noses up at Henry? He's two still two years younger and despite recent troubles has a fitness record a billion times better than that of Mark Viduka, and is at least ten times the player. Viduka is still a massive threat in the Premiership. Players do not suddenly turn completely useless just because they've hit the big three-oh. Of course, all of this is immaterial and rather silly, to be honest, because there's honestly no fucking way he'd come here.

of course, the cold hard truth is probably that neither will agree to come to us.

Now, I disagree with this completely. Don't undersell Newcastle. Would Les Ferdinand or Rob Lee for example have moved on from Newcastle when they were here ? This is the club as how it should be and what Keegan certainly will demand and expect. I would be massively disappointed if we signed a player such as Bentley and he then wanted to move to Liverpool. You must - going by your username - remember when Pop Robson thought moving to West Ham was a step up ? And Gazza and Waddle went to Spurs ? And whats more, sadly, at the time, they were making a step up. It's not like I want Bentley to move, and I agree that we're a great club and one that players fall in love with. (I think that's happened to some extent with Martins and Owen, who could do better than us in the summer but won't.) That said, Bentley's already shown that his career always comes first. I've seen nothing about the lad that indicates to me that a year with us will make him want to stay with us on a long-term basis. England caps and Champions League football are far more important to him than "52,000 screaming Geordies." If we buy him this summer and if he plays anything approaching decent for us, demand for him will be through the roof. And when Sir Alex or Rafa or whoever Liverpool's manager is gets on the phone, I don't think he'll hesitate. We'll probably end up about 10 million richer, but right back where we started.

one additional thing to consider. If Bentley continues to develop at his current rate, I highly doubt he's staying with us for more than a year. The very fact that he's on the move out of Blackburn this year shows he's not much for loyalty and when Man U and Liverpool come knocking after he's lead us back to Intertoto glory, he's not going to hesitate. People turn their nose up at Deco because he's not a "long-term solution," well, unles Bentley suddenly regresses into mediocrity, I don't think he is either.

So we've got a thread on this board saying that Deco's not good enough for us (well, two actually) and another saying that Henry's not good enough for us. I just hope nobody starts a 'Ronaldinho' thread. Mackems and Spurs fans probably already having a field day as it is.

Navas isn't just homesick, he's pathologically unable to venture further than a certain distance from Seville, and literally goes completely nuts if he's forced to do so. I really don't think it's a good idea. The difference between Bentley and somebody doing the business in Italy and Spain is that Bentley has already proved that he can work in the Premiership. There are simply no gaurantees whether any player, no matter how good, will be able to adapt to a completely new league, unless you're talking about Ronaldinho quality. (Even then... cf. Schevchenko) As it stands, yes, Bentley will probably cost 2 to 3 times the price of a Spaniard of similar skill level. And that's because there's a very good reason for that.

Bentley >>>>> Deco? Blimey. I mean, yeah Bentley's younger, but we're talking about somebody who's been very good for about as season and a half now v. somebody who's been world class for most of his career. No contest. Is 15 milliion and 100,000 a week for a thirty-year old, as good as he is, overpaying? Yes. But are we going to get significant improvements over the current squad in any way other than drowning them in cash? I think we all know the answer to that question. Don't see how the comparisons to Smith/Duff hold any water. Smith was never actually that good, and even Duff was only a "pretty good" player at his peak. Deco was tearing up the Champions League and was universally recognized as one of the world's best midfielders as recently as a season ago. The only reason he's fallen down the pecking order in Barca is because of politics really, same as Ronaldinho. Him or Moutinho? I say have Ashley write a check for 30m so we can get both.

Great how he's got back on his game in the past three~four matches. Still needs to be replaced in the summer though.

I'm sure KK will make an objective decision next season based on the status of both keepers. They can both do the business so I'll be happy either way. If Given was suddenly fit again and I had to pick today, I'd say Harper based on form. One things for sure though, fuck Marlon Harewood for ruining the one constant at this football club. Shay was and hopefully will still be a legend, and his years of excellent service shouldn't be ignored just because he's turned a bit average now. Next time Harewood shows up at SJP he should be booed every time he touches the ball

he was always intended to just be emergency cover in case things got REALLY shitty, so I see it as a good thing that he's not getting a game.

On a side note, Zenit's left-back isn't half bad either... Would've thought he's worth a look if Enrique wasn't coming good for us Aadvocat really has assembled a decent squad at Zenit.

Thought he was the bloke in yellow for a moment and mumbled to myself "there is no fucking way he's a fifteen-year-old"

Oh, and last season, I made a thread titled "has Titus Bramble turned the corner" a week or so before AZ away happened. This year I did the same for Carr about a week or so before Villa away.

A teammate of his mentioned in an interview that Arshavin was given the okay to talk to us but he decided to stay at Zenit for the Champions League football next season.

45 minutes into the Brum away game, I thought Keegan had completely lost it and that we were screwed.

Actually contemplated posting about this but thought it was too random. signed for my local club used to be pretty decent so I hope he does the business for us. Although I'm not sure how signing a 31-year-old is meant to solve our lack of pace.

DC: ferdinand, king, woodgate, vidic, carvalio. MC: gerrard, fabregas, essien, ballack, scholes FW: torres, anelka, rooney, berbatov and then id say adabayor is on par with drogba Woodgate better than Terry, Berbatov better than Drogba... Now I get it, you're kingdawson in disguise aren't you?

teabag: name five strikers in this league better than Drogba, five central defenders better than Terry, and five attacking midfielders better than Lampard. See how easy that is and then we'll talk.

Let's not get too cocky, Reading have won three out of their last five and they've always given us a tough match whenever we play. They're very threatening on the counter-attack so they'll fancy all three points instead of hunkering down and going for the draw. So I think I'll be realistic and keep it at 3-0

I'd like to see Bellamy back here, could do very very well in a Keegan team. Injury-ridden and past his best. I'm afraid he would be another Damien Duff.

Is that an actual article and not an april fool's joke? (awaits the whooosh)