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I gather that Dave doesn't like defensive/holding midfield players, but the guy is fantastic. Stop judging him on that West Ham match from 2006. He's a different player now. Consistently a top performer in the Premiership, Champions League and on the international stage with Argentina.

That's low if anything. Chelsea have paid 20 million for that Ramires (though hes not exclusively a DM tbf). Yaya Toure was 24 million. Even Carrick and Mikel (DMs at Man U and Chelsea respectively) were 18 million and 16 million a few years ago. Why shouldn't Mascherano be worth more?

Tbf to Ashley, the offr probaly wouldn't have been insulting a week ago before Niang was sold. There will robaly be no loan or cut price deal for the player at this point has time. The bottom line is that the price has gone up and our disposable income has not.

That would be a bit of slap in the face to Busquets it would seem. Can you really see someone who just started on the winning team in the WC final to accept a probable position on the reserve bench? Hleb would be a good replacement for Benayoun at Liverpool anyway.

Still cannot believe they can expect to treat a player this badly and then suddenly expect him to be bleeding the team's colours when they suddenly need his services. The whole thing has been handled incredibly poorly.

The world and rival clubs does not have access to press conferences and post match interviews?

Hilarious. In a world where James Milner costs £30m, this kid's going for about £6-8m and we're trying to LOAN him??? Ashley's even dumber than I gave him credit for. I just think you've got a really big chip on your shoulder, and because of that it makes discussing Newcastle difficult . This approach has seen us relegated once and will probably see us relegated again. If I've a chip on my shoulder, it's well earned. What approach? We know nothing of this deal, have the club said we bid for him? No Marseille have done all the talking. Exactly, we know what Marseille have said. Newcastle have said there's been nothing happening, when there clearly has, NUFC under Ashley have 'lie' as their default setting. This is just a ridiculous statement. Castigate Ashley as much as you want, I suppose, but not many clubs have 'inform the world of our behind the scene transfers dealings'as their default setting. It is a hardly a lie. I'm sorry where did I say we had to inform the world? But I've seen us play it down from minute one, so far as to never at one point have I seen us declare an interest if there's a ridiculous statement here, it's yours. How would releasing a media statement of any sort not be informing the world? Why should we have to inform the media outlets of any progress? I'm rather pleased our transfer strategy doesn't include releasing ridiculous statements to placate the fans. Get the player signed and then take the plaudits. The Marseille fans on that forum appear to believe that this Niang leaving will mean he is a guaranteed starter there. OMPLANETE is full of idiots, if this is the one you are talking about. Too massive to be helpful. Anyway, if the Luis Fabiano deal comes off (as it seems it will), then I think he would be a direct replacement for Niang in our systems. You're probably likely to know more about this than anyone, but what's the chances of him digging his heels in for the move? Seemingly the way he has been messed about by Deschamps, is he the kind of character to accept it and stay or will bridges be burned so to speak? The situation between him and Deschamps is tenuous, but at the end of the day, he does have a clause to leave at the end of next season and is playing at CL club. From the beginning, it wasnt really as much Ben Arfa trying to force a move as the management trying to sell him. I suppose it depends how much this has hurt HBA. The management does seem rather stronghanded, though. Taiwo was throwing up a storm about leaving for Atletico, but they denied him quite aggresively.

The Marseille fans on that forum appear to believe that this Niang leaving will mean he is a guaranteed starter there. OMPLANETE is full of idiots, if this is the one you are talking about. Too massive to be helpful. Anyway, if the Luis Fabiano deal comes off (as it seems it will), then I think he would be a direct replacement for Niang in our systems.

They've spunked £16 million a pile of s**** tbf. To think what we could get with that money Coloccini and Xisco. We've really bought better with less money under Ashley,tbf. It's his big money signings that have done us, actually.

The reasoning is quite sound, really. "Newcastle were easily the best team in the Championship last year, but they played very poorly in one specific match and therefore need buy an entirely new team."

He's just not a deep player anyway, imo. He likes the run forward with the ball into attacking areas instead of spraying it to the forwards like traditional players in that position. Also, he very slight physique would make it difficult for him to survive there in the CL or the Premiership

Hilarious. In a world where James Milner costs £30m, this kid's going for about £6-8m and we're trying to LOAN him??? Ashley's even dumber than I gave him credit for. I just think you've got a really big chip on your shoulder, and because of that it makes discussing Newcastle difficult . This approach has seen us relegated once and will probably see us relegated again. If I've a chip on my shoulder, it's well earned. What approach? We know nothing of this deal, have the club said we bid for him? No Marseille have done all the talking. Exactly, we know what Marseille have said. Newcastle have said there's been nothing happening, when there clearly has, NUFC under Ashley have 'lie' as their default setting. This is just a ridiculous statement. Castigate Ashley as much as you want, I suppose, but not many clubs have 'inform the world of our behind the scene transfers dealings'as their default setting. It is a hardly a lie.

Holding player? That's not his role at all unless he has a natural defensive player in 4-2-3-1 next to him. He has no defensive qualities. If these rumours of Onuoha going to Sunderland are true, then I am quite incensed. If it really is a loan, we should have been grovelling at Man City's feet to complete the deal.

I seriously doubt he hasn't heard of us, man. You're right about Marseille moving the goalpost. With Niang gone and Ben Arfa playing so well in the last week, we have no reason to sell the boy on the cheap. It seems like the club would prefer to keep him at this point, and will only sell him for a big money offer. If anything, you should blame Niang for being so keen on Turkey.

The whole thing with Niang seemingly off to Fenerbache has put OM back in a position of power. They'll be getting 8-10 million euro for him and also his wages off the book which gives the club the money they need to buy other players. The chances of NUFc getting him on loan are now miniscule I would think.

For achilles to rupture, something has to occur. Usually you are impactd from behind or it gives out when you push off to jump or sprint. There is no guarantee that this occurs on a different pitch at a different club. The achilles of Senderos as a Newcastle player exists completely seperatly from the achilles of Senderos as an Arsenal player.

Thank f*** we didn't go for him. It a bit ridiculous to assume he would have torn his achilles had he signed with us. He would have been training on a different pitch with different players. There i no correlation between the events.

Carvalho is a very good player if he can stay fit. That has been a massive question the last few seasons though. Interesting how Chelsea go about replacing him. They've lost quite a few of their older players this close season.

I swear on my life the thread says that Keegan is Villa manager. What the hell is happening? Have I lost my mind?

The French media are now saying that the Marseille transfer saga will be Niang to Fener, Ben Arfa to wherever (Hopefully NUFC), and Luis Fabiano to OM. From a Marseille perspective, I am finding this tiresome and really just hope for everything to be settled soon. The team looked out of sorts on Saturday and all of this movement and rumour is a large part of the problem,imo.

I hate to say it, but I feel we are the last option for OM management. They want significant money for the player and are trying to use the mutual interest between us and Ben Arfa to incite bids from other teams.

It has always been a useful part of the game. People just picked up on it in England when he was at Chelsea because that team was so dominant. He was not an original in any way, and at Chelsea Obi and Essi have taken the same position (both have also been more forward thinking than Claude).

This is nonsensical. Liverpool couldn't pull anything off because they had one striker, one good midfielder other than Mascherano and a poor defence. Javier still didi his job in a decimated team, but the positiion is not some magical elixir. The team's deficiencies in other aspects where far too much to overcome. I think this team would be better off playing some version of 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, in which case a holding player is mandatory. What's suicidal is expecting Barton and Guthrie and Gosling to provide effective cover for the defence at this level of football. If we were a ery athletic side, then I would be perfectly fine with a flat 2, but we are not and players should have fixed roles.

That's exactly the argument for bringing in a player of this ilk surely. Guthrie and Barton don't have energy and Nolan certainly doesn't have either. Someone sitting in front of the 2 central defenders is going to bring movement and energy? Have I missed something? All it's going to do is crowd out the middle of the park which will inevitably send Jonas further up the pitch which would be stupid as he's great tracking back. Same with Routledge. All it is going to do is provide protection for our slow centrebacks, allow our attacking players and fullbacks to focus more on attack, and provide an outlet for our unfit midfield.

Having a DM who sits back, holds position, cuts off supply, and distributes possession makes the game easier for every single other player on the pitch. Having a quality player in this position is essential. Most good teams have more than one capable player here. NUFC, of course, are rubbish and have none.