oldtype

They deserve to be in the top flight solely because they' let me score tickets whenever I'm in London on a weekend and just want to see footy of any kind. I've lost count of the number of times I've told friends traveling to the UK for the first time who want to watch a Prem match to "just get some Fulham tickets." I'd root for them to stay up but that would probably dramatically increase our chance of going down so.. Yeah, too bad.

Oba's unpredictabilty alone makes his inclusion worthwhile. He's a player who can be shit for 89 minutes and then pick a goal out of nowhere. Exactly what we need for our bland, workmanlike team.

Agree with what you say but I think Roeder would have alright given time if he had been given a) a transfer pot when it was obvious that he needed one and b) a DoF to have bought the players. Roeder's ability was getting the players he had to play, not deciding who should be bought to be added to the squad. It's all water under the bridge now but I wish him well. TBH, I can't see Keegan's appointment being any more successful than Roeder's. Actually I think Roeder's transfer market ability is a lot stronger than his tactics/motivation. He wasn't that bad with us considering that he had a small kitty. He got Martins, Sibi, last-minute hijacked Duff off Spurs (didn't turn out to be a good idea but still, loved it at the time), and managed to sell Boumsong and Faye for decent money. He seems to have made plenty of keen buys at Norwich as well. The man's got a lot of connections in English football and seems to have a decent idea of how to do business. (Stop and count to ten if you're thinking of a Dirk Kuyt joke.) Tactically we all know he's nothing special and his motivational skills seem to work for some players (Oba, Milner) but also fail miserably for others (Carr, Parker, Zog) If anything he'd make an excellent DoF. btw, Martin Jol you sounded eerily like a Newcastle fan in that post.

Honestly would like Norwich to come up. Wouldn't mind seeing Roeder, Clarkie, and Pattison again just as long as they're not managing/playing for us.

Tbf oldtype, how many strong Asian leagues are there? I reckon the Japanese one is the strongest, and then you have the middle-eastern leagues (Al-ahli etc.) and the Korean league. What other leagues are there? The Chinese league is w*** and most of the leagues in South-east Asia are of the same low quality. Trust me, there are many knowledgable football folk in and around Asia who will receive the clubs with open arms. And with regards to the Australian league, it's really not a priority seeing as Rubgy and Aussie Rules are more popular. But, we all have a different perspective anyway. For someone like me who's gonna be heading back after university/couple yrs of work, then I like this idea because it'll give me a bigger chance of getting to see us play competitively without having to visit England/Europe. So as a fan, I welcome this idea. The Japanese League is very strong, probably on par with some of the mid-tier European Leagues. They have a solid two-tiered(J-League and J2-League) system in place and most teams seem to have solid youth development programs. Matches for the most popular teams usually sell out. Clubs like Urawa Reds (who were in the Club WC this year) are legendary for their amazing support. The Korean League actually usually has stronger teams (they consistently beat the Japanese in continental competition) but the institutions are a lot weaker. The league is three tiered (K-League, N-League, and K3-League) and while a promotion system was instituted two years back, no lower tier club has actually successfully promoted itself to the top flight yet. (They don't have the required stadia, can't handle matchday expenses etc.) Youth development is also pretty suspect, although to be fair youth athletes in Korea are usually developed at schools like they are in America. Attendances for most top-flight teams is pretty weak (less than ten thousand for most.) Although about three~four teams get 10,000~20,000 and the derby match between the league's two best supported teams usually draws 50,000+. Of course, our international matches usually sell out no matter what and draw by far the most fervent support that I have seen at any sporting event period, so the interest in football is certainly there. I know very little about the A-League but I've heard that it's doing quite well. Similarly I have no idea what the middle eastern leagues are actually like but they will always maintain a pretty high standard of football just by using their oil dollars to bring in top players. Statistically I think team's form the Saudi Arabian league have the best record of any country in Asia for continental club competitions.

Twice the player, 5 times the potential, even at £15m its low when you think about Downing for £10m. Downing is worth no more than £5m, even with him being English and at a rival club, true worth is more like £3m. £15m for the Zog then starts to make sense if we could get Downing for £3m. Under current market price Downing is worth about 5. Apply the "Young, English" multiplier, and he's a fair deal for 10. Would be stunned if Southgate let him go for anything less. Here's a simple rule of thumb. If ANYONE is under 24 and has five or more England caps, he'll not go for anything under 10 mil. That's the world we live in. Zog is worth about 7~8, but he's not English so that's about what we'll get Not saying that I agree with the inflation on English players, that's just the reality.

Sticking a right back who's never played there before in his life in the midfield, Dropping Zog, Duff up front, Shola starting, Carr starting, ALAN SMITH IN THE MIDFIELD CHRIST ON A BIKE. Big Sam, is that you?

Geremi is an odd one, we seem to play better as a team when he plays, even when he doesn't play very well. Perhaps he's using his vaunted language skills to translate for everyone on the pitch?

Given Beye Faye Cacapa Enrique Milner Geremi Barton N'Zogbia Owen Martins Geremi is the least of all evils really. Smith and Butt are useless and Emre is never going to come on and have a good game for 90 minutes. Best used as an impact sub.

Honestly? The last time he was really good this season was Boro away. Everything since that has been slightly above average~poor Good player, but attitude problems will plague him as long as he stays with us. Wouldn't sell though considering our likely complete inability to buy anyone better.

Was a great player last year, but like everyone, inexplicably turned into s*** once he put on a Toon shirt. To be fair, it probably has something to do with the fact that he's been in and out of prison. Still, just our luck eh?

Glen Roeder is welcome to him.

All we need is for West Ham to pull off a winner and this'll have been a good day. ...Aside from our own game, of course

Something tells me these thread will become far more important than our actual match threads in the coming weeks. Come on you useless Spammers put Brum away please..

Actually we're pretty well sorted in the bruiser department. Fat Sam saw to that. It's actual football players we're lacking in

Well, this game is sorted. So howay West Ham.

What was his alternative? An overweight, unfit Aussie? An overweight, unfit Aussie that scores goals. Really indefensible team selection today, and failure to bring in Viduka or Emre after we got hit for the second goal and started getting played off the pitch

too much quality for us, pure and simple. Some of the decisions from Keegan today have been really difficult to defend

OWENNNN!!!! Header again, but I don't really care.

4 bad passes in 90 seconds from Carr... Uh oh

utterly shocking lineup not playing Faye or Enrique, but I suppose that's the best Keegan could come up with given fitness issues. He's not stupid and he's the one watching the lads in training so I'll trust him for now. Really, really don't think we're winning this though now.

You follow the toon mate you cant be classed as glory hunter. Watching & supporting this lot is not fun, it is painful being Newcastle United fan as there is more pain involved doing this than their is getting on down to your local S & M night. We need a new term for foreign toon fans. "Agony hunters" or something to that effect.

Speaking from the perspective of a Far East "Glory Hunter," I don't want this either. Our domestic leagues are having a hard enough time as it is trying to interest people who just want to watch the Premiership on the telly. What happens when the Premiership now actually comes in for a weekend every year, steals our stadia from our hometown clubs, and start a media circus which will no doubt leave any interest in the domestic league swept up in the dust. I love Newcastle United and the Premier League too, but who do they think they are, saying that they'll just barge in and hold competetive games here with no regard for what we think. It's not like American football which basically isn't played outside of the US, these foreign countries have leageus and tems of their own. And if the Prem thinks that we're goign to drop everything and open up our stadia for them whenever they decide to waltz, in, they are sadly mistaken. We aren't beggars ffs. The Japanese FA has already issued a condemnation of the proposal, and I'd be highly disappointed if the Korean FA didn't soon follow. So English fans don't want it, and foreign fans don't want it. The only ones who want it are the walnut-for-brains glory hunters who follow Man U/Arsenal but would be hard pressed to name a single player from any other Prem team, and the club owners who seek to make money off those unfortunate souls. Bad idea.

Superb midfield? You're having a laugh there. On the evidence of hte last three games, we don't have one. Mate who's a Villa fan thinks you have the best midfield outside the top 4. Perhaps he's just thick. Haven't seen any Villa games recently so I really can't comment.

Do you think Arsene might be kicking himself a bit? Didn't Bentley ask to leave ... in fact from what I remember he pretty much demanded it! Besides is he really better than any of the players in their first team right now? better than Rosicky and Walcott who also play wide midfield roles Agreed. He's also a much more effective player than Hleb. To sum up, Arsenal have a s*** midfield Better than Rosicky or Hleb!?! Rosicky has always been world class and Hleb has had a phenomenaly good season. Bentley is excellent but he's not as good as either of them. Honestly wasn't much between them last season IIRC. Just a matter of one progressing while one stagnates.