Kimbo

----------------Jaaskelainen--------------- G.Neville--Woodgate--Campbell--Evra -------------------Campo------------------- -----------Essien------Scholes------------ C.Ronaldo------Drogba------Van Persie

I think Sibberdinho has got to start after all the problems he was causing them before he went off, the Martins-Sib-Dyer triangle has to stay.

We've done alright in europe away from home, i can see us getting a goal or two as long as we don't try to park the bus and play 4-5-1.

I would probably go with the same team as last time to be honest, except i'd play Edgar ahead of Carr at LB(but that's not going to happen). It's tempting to put Emre in as he's perfactly suited for euro football but i don't think he'll be fit enough to be doing all the chasing and closing down they'll have to do.

From what i've heard in the media, around the time of their singings, these guys are apparently on - Parker 55k, Emre 60k, Duff 60k, Martins 45k, Owen 80k-85k. If you were to pay Neill 60k a week then he would be taking up over £3m of our yearly budget, the guy isn't Dani Alves or Sagnol, it just wouldn't be worth it. Also fullbacks are traditionally lower earners than midfielders and forwards so we should really need to pay one that much. And i think 60k is classed as "huge earner" outside the super rich clubs, Spurs have a wage cap of something like 50k and Everton have one of about 40k.

Exactly, those players are getting paid too much and we can't afford yet another huge earner in the squad. Neill had a choice between West Ham and Liverpool and chose the Hammers because their sugar daddy threw big wages at him. There's alot of speculation around how much Owen is getting paid, the figure of 102k came from a football rich list which had Owen earning over £5m a year, so some newspaper divided that number by 52 and came up with 102k. The real number is between 80 and 90k and the rest comes from endorsements etc.

The problem with Neill is he's on something like 60k at West Ham, would you pay him that?

f*** right off man. I wouldn't take him for nowt! Nobby's doing a bloody good job there, but who knows if his legs will take another year. We need a RB but LB is a bigger priority imo. I'd keep Nobby in there for next season, we need his experiance and footballing brain out there, BUT he can't play ever game so we could do with a young right back to act as back up(an eventually take over the position). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be alot of promising young right backs about, certainly not cheap ones anyway. Maybe we could get Hoyte or Gilbert from the Arse.

This thread is mental, Davies is kept out of the U21 team by Taylor AND ANTON FERDINAND and he's bad a very average season in the championship this year, yet he's better than Taylor. Cahill is FULL of mistakes, more so than Taylor who still has the odd wobbler. Richards who never plays at centerback is being touted as a better centerback than Taylor. Seb Hines who has played 1 senior game in his life is being called better. And don't get me started on Ridgewell. MAD!

Why do you think that? Why can't we bring him on any further? He's 21 for crying out loud and has already shown a lot of potential. Bramble, on the other hand, will always be Bramble. I seriously hope i'm gonna get whooshed here, but i swear you're mixing Taylor up with Ramage. Taylor loses his man rather alot due to ball watching, and doesn't seem to be able to sort it out. That is why we have signed Gooch, and why we are playing him alongside Bramble. taylor would, should and must be number one choice CB once we get full backs worthy of the shirt, anything less and we deserve everything we get name me a better prospect, ENGLISH prospect, for his position at his age...please Curtis Davies, Micah Richards (whose natural position is centre back) right now, and David Edgar will be better by the time he reaches Taylor's age (yes, I know he is Canadian, but I dont get all this English s***). Another centre back that is better is Daniel Agger. Taylor is a good 6th to 16th placed club Premiership defender, but no more, and right now, he is only the third best centre back at the club if you look at both current ability and how the players gel together as a unit. At £7.5m+ we could buy an improvement on him. a) curtis davies has never played consistently and therefore been proven at the highest level b) micah richards is 3 years younger than him and to my knowledge has played primarily at right back and is actually considered a long term prospect for defensive midfield c) edgar has played a handfull of games and looks a good prospect agreed, but you can hardly suggest he's currently to be considered a better prospect than taylor d) agger is obviously not english, but is decent, agreed....albeit even he hasn't convinced for liverpool if you talk to their fans and this is his first full season at the club, a long way to go then.... e) who could we buy for 7.5m, at the same age, who is PROVEN to be better than him then? a) Davies consistently played well in the Premiership last season in a side that got relegated, and still plays consistently for the U21s. He also plays more U21 games than Taylor. b) Richards is versatile enough to play in many positions, but he will be a great player whereever he plays, so that makes him a better centre back. c) During his short stint at centre back, Edgar looked more composed and better in the air than Taylor ever has d) Agger has displaced Hyypia, and fans now like him afterhe had had a dissappointing start to his Liverpool career. Given Liverpool's good defensive record, he must be doing quite well. e) Age is irrelevant. Taylor is unlikely to get much better. Players do not significantly improve while at Newcastle United. I'm sure there are over 20 centre backs with more current ability than Taylor who would cost less than the bid I would accept from Chelsea. Taylor is a good player, but he is replaceable. Curtis Davies is one example of a same age player proven to be better. All just talk though, as there is no way that Chelsea are interested. Taylor is good, but not that good. Davies doesn't play more U21 games than Taylor, he has 3 caps Taylor has 14(and 3 goals). The last time Davies played he looked like Bramlbe at his worst, did you see the Spain game? It was a disaster for him. More caps perhaps, but that is because Taylor emerged a couple of years before Davies. Davies has been around for longer, Taylor has around 50 appearances for us whereas Davies has 62 for West Brom and 56 for Luton. Also he had a full season of football in the premiership, something which Taylor is only getting this season.

Why do you think that? Why can't we bring him on any further? He's 21 for crying out loud and has already shown a lot of potential. Bramble, on the other hand, will always be Bramble. I seriously hope i'm gonna get whooshed here, but i swear you're mixing Taylor up with Ramage. Taylor loses his man rather alot due to ball watching, and doesn't seem to be able to sort it out. That is why we have signed Gooch, and why we are playing him alongside Bramble. taylor would, should and must be number one choice CB once we get full backs worthy of the shirt, anything less and we deserve everything we get name me a better prospect, ENGLISH prospect, for his position at his age...please Curtis Davies, Micah Richards (whose natural position is centre back) right now, and David Edgar will be better by the time he reaches Taylor's age (yes, I know he is Canadian, but I dont get all this English s***). Another centre back that is better is Daniel Agger. Taylor is a good 6th to 16th placed club Premiership defender, but no more, and right now, he is only the third best centre back at the club if you look at both current ability and how the players gel together as a unit. At £7.5m+ we could buy an improvement on him. a) curtis davies has never played consistently and therefore been proven at the highest level b) micah richards is 3 years younger than him and to my knowledge has played primarily at right back and is actually considered a long term prospect for defensive midfield c) edgar has played a handfull of games and looks a good prospect agreed, but you can hardly suggest he's currently to be considered a better prospect than taylor d) agger is obviously not english, but is decent, agreed....albeit even he hasn't convinced for liverpool if you talk to their fans and this is his first full season at the club, a long way to go then.... e) who could we buy for 7.5m, at the same age, who is PROVEN to be better than him then? a) Davies consistently played well in the Premiership last season in a side that got relegated, and still plays consistently for the U21s. He also plays more U21 games than Taylor. b) Richards is versatile enough to play in many positions, but he will be a great player whereever he plays, so that makes him a better centre back. c) During his short stint at centre back, Edgar looked more composed and better in the air than Taylor ever has d) Agger has displaced Hyypia, and fans now like him afterhe had had a dissappointing start to his Liverpool career. Given Liverpool's good defensive record, he must be doing quite well. e) Age is irrelevant. Taylor is unlikely to get much better. Players do not significantly improve while at Newcastle United. I'm sure there are over 20 centre backs with more current ability than Taylor who would cost less than the bid I would accept from Chelsea. Taylor is a good player, but he is replaceable. Curtis Davies is one example of a same age player proven to be better. All just talk though, as there is no way that Chelsea are interested. Taylor is good, but not that good. Davies doesn't play more U21 games than Taylor, he has 3 caps Taylor has 14(and 3 goals). The last time Davies played he looked like Bramlbe at his worst, did you see the Spain game? It was a disaster for him.

Why do you think that? Why can't we bring him on any further? He's 21 for crying out loud and has already shown a lot of potential. Bramble, on the other hand, will always be Bramble. I seriously hope i'm gonna get whooshed here, but i swear you're mixing Taylor up with Ramage. Taylor loses his man rather alot due to ball watching, and doesn't seem to be able to sort it out. That is why we have signed Gooch, and why we are playing him alongside Bramble. taylor would, should and must be number one choice CB once we get full backs worthy of the shirt, anything less and we deserve everything we get name me a better prospect, ENGLISH prospect, for his position at his age...please Curtis Davies, Micah Richards (whose natural position is centre back) right now, and David Edgar will be better by the time he reaches Taylor's age (yes, I know he is Canadian, but I dont get all this English s***). Another centre back that is better is Daniel Agger. Taylor is a good 6th to 16th placed club Premiership defender, but no more, and right now, he is only the third best centre back at the club if you look at both current ability and how the players gel together as a unit. At £7.5m+ we could buy an improvement on him. Taylor keeps Davies out of the U21 team, same with Ridgewell and Cahill, why? Micah Richards never plays in the center so that's a big assumption, and Edgar is 19, Taylor was better when he was 18. I think we're seriously underrating him on here. And i'm shocked to see alot of people think Bramble is better, but i suppose it's like this every time Bramble turns a corner isn't it.

Ah right, cheers. I thought he might a WUM. I'm fairly new so i don't know who to ignore yet.

I asked him if he had anymore examples of top class managers going to small clubs... Why is that relevant? My point is that we don't go for managers with really good track records. Fookinell. well which managers are these then? seeing as we've eliminated Van Gaal as decent example You want me to list managers we haven't gone for? The fact is there were unemployed managers with far better records than the likes of Allardyce, Bruce, and Roeder who we didn't go for. Do you seriously disagree with this?

I asked him if he had anymore examples of top class managers going to small clubs... Why is that relevant? My point is that we don't go for managers with really good track records. Fookinell.

Clearly you aren't aware that we've gone for and employed top managers in fairly recent times, then. Bobby Robson is the only one with an top record. Roeder, Souness, Gullit don't have great records. Dalglish had a decent one. After Robson we went for Bruce and Allardyce, again, these guys don't have top records.

As far as i'm aware we haven't even tried to pull a top manager, so i don't know if they wouldn't come here for money.

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. a dutch manager wanting to manage a dutch team rather the mighty newcastle united who'd of thought it What? Did you read my post? I said they have a manager with a top class record and we don't, in other words a team with a budget a fraction the size of ours and a 17'000 seater stadium has shown more ambition in getting a manager. you obviously didn't read mine Good one. god this is like teaching the special kids ok then, you think him being dutch has nothing to do with him wanting/getting the job? Errrr... yes, that doesn't change the fact that we've shown zero ambition while looking for a manager. it does blow your argument out the water though. Or have you got any more amazing examples? What are you talking about? There isn't really an argument to be had here, all i'm saying is that AZ have shown ambition in going for a top manager and we haven't. Are you disagreeing with this? were you equally amazed that Shearer signed for us? I'm not explaining this anymore, if you haven't got it already you never will I'm wasn't amazed when AZ signed Van Gaal. I would just like to see us approach some top class managers when the position is open, it is the most important position in the club so why not throw big wages at a good manager, we don't mind doing it when we need a midfielder or a striker. AZ have used what they have(the country they're in) to lure a manager so why don't we use what we have(money)? Now do you understand where i'm coming from?

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. a dutch manager wanting to manage a dutch team rather the mighty newcastle united who'd of thought it What? Did you read my post? I said they have a manager with a top class record and we don't, in other words a team with a budget a fraction the size of ours and a 17'000 seater stadium has shown more ambition in getting a manager. you obviously didn't read mine Good one. god this is like teaching the special kids ok then, you think him being dutch has nothing to do with him wanting/getting the job? Errrr... yes, that doesn't change the fact that we've shown zero ambition while looking for a manager. it does blow your argument out the water though. Or have you got any more amazing examples? What are you talking about? There isn't really an argument to be had here, all i'm saying is that AZ have shown ambition in going for a top manager and we haven't. Are you disagreeing with this?

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. a dutch manager wanting to manage a dutch team rather the mighty newcastle united who'd of thought it What? Did you read my post? I said they have a manager with a top class record and we don't, in other words a team with a budget a fraction the size of ours and a 17'000 seater stadium has shown more ambition in getting a manager. you obviously didn't read mine Good one. god this is like teaching the special kids ok then, you think him being dutch has nothing to do with him wanting/getting the job? Errrr... yes, that doesn't change the fact that we've shown zero ambition while looking for a manager.

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. a dutch manager wanting to manage a dutch team rather the mighty newcastle united who'd of thought it What? Did you read my post? I said they have a manager with a top class record and we don't, in other words a team with a budget a fraction the size of ours and a 17'000 seater stadium has shown more ambition in getting a manager. you obviously didn't read mine Good one.

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't. a dutch manager wanting to manage a dutch team rather the mighty newcastle united who'd of thought it What? Did you read my post? I said they have a manager with a top class record and we don't, in other words a team with a budget a fraction the size of ours and a 17'000 seater stadium has shown more ambition in getting a manager.

No, everyone knows who the better manager is. I'm just slightly huffed that AZ can sign a manager with a top class record and can't/won't.

What are you trying to say?

If we can get past AZ then we have to be considered major underdogs, the 3 other teams to really fear(Sevilla, Benfica, and Bremen) are all in title races domestically so maybe they will only have one eye on the UEFA Cup, in fact Sevilla and Benfica are have it ALL to do in the next leg so maybe one of them won't progress.