Tsunami

This. Only i see him warming up from an angle, rather than right in front of me. He is in front me; running up & down at between say a 45 to 90 degree angle to the front of me, depending upon his running position on the cinder track. OK? ......and no matter what angle I see him from he looks like he couldn't give a sh*t. If Sam can make a decent PL player out of him he will deserve a medal. Confidence will not give him pace & I really don't think it will give him courage either. The 30 minutes or so he played against Manure on his debut was deeply disappointing; he clearly wasn't a winger & ducked out of every challenge. He was unfit in that game iirc wasn't he? Newcastle do have a tendancy to throw players in at the deep end in difficult circumstances. I agree with what the lad above said in that if you are more confident you are more likely to put better tackles in and not necessarily duck out of challenges. Also, although confidence cannot add pace, it can add that extra level of sharpness as you will be more determined and that little bit more explosive. Confidence plays a huge role in how a player performs. He was fit until he got kicked over the touch line. I agree that confidence plays a major part on how a player performs but I have also seen attempts to build Luque's confidence up & when he has been put in the team he simply did not look up to it. Fair do's to Sam; he is willing to give it a fresh start. IMO it will not work. What may happen is that Sam does play him in the hope that it encourages someone to buy him. SBR seemed to get rid of a few of our deadwood by doing that.

This. Only i see him warming up from an angle, rather than right in front of me. He is in front me; running up & down at between say a 45 to 90 degree angle to the front of me, depending upon his running position on the cinder track. OK? ......and no matter what angle I see him from he looks like he couldn't give a sh*t. If Sam can make a decent PL player out of him he will deserve a medal. Confidence will not give him pace & I really don't think it will give him courage either. The 30 minutes or so he played against Manure on his debut was deeply disappointing; he clearly wasn't a winger & ducked out of every challenge.

Sam will not be able to add 5 yards of pace to Luque's game or the courage needed to compete in the PL. I have not seen any player knocked so easily off the ball as Luque & he tackles like a coward. He is a player who needs time on the ball & protection from referees; he aint going to get that in PL. I would love to see him do well but that aint going to happen either. Watching Luque warm up is soul destroying. Match after match I have watched him trot up & down the line in front of me clearing going through the motions. He has a contract until 2010! We need him out. ASAP.

I'll ask again; why are we going down this route? Viduka - free - no trial Geremi - free - no trial Ben Haim - free - no trial asked Duscher - invite him for a trial Sam knew the first 3 & was happy - he doesn't know Duscher but is willing to give him a trial - why? What does this say of the club (not questioning Sam here)? Again, if I were Duscher & was still the man I'd tell Sam to stick his trial up his arse. If Depor rated him they'd make him a decent offer. We'll get a squad player at best & one who may sit & simply pick up his cash - we do not need this anymore. Sam may see him & say not good enough. My concern is why this way of dealing is currently necessary.

Thanks, given this & putting aside all opinion I again ask why are we having to go down this route? What's going on to make this necessary.

Yeah, free transfers are always s*** and no top club would ever pick up a player on the expiration of his contract. Feel free to let me know of any top club that has brought in a bosman signing following a trial. As it happens I think Sam is doing very well. However, I am concerned about why we are continuing to shop in the bargain basement stores. Is this because Sam is struggling to break his mould, are we as a club not an attractive proposition or is there a problem with the kitty? I can name quite a few who came in without trials. Surely that's an even greater risk by your logic. Sorry, I didn't ask that. My logic was that if a player needed a trial then the manager must have doubts. If he signs without a trial then he must be sure - he may turn out to be rubbish but the manager didn't have initial doubts. I further suggested that a player willing to agree to a trial is one whose stock on the market has fallen fairly low.

Yeah, free transfers are always s*** and no top club would ever pick up a player on the expiration of his contract. Feel free to let me know of any top club that has brought in a bosman signing following a trial. As it happens I think Sam is doing very well. However, I am concerned about why we are continuing to shop in the bargain basement stores. Is this because Sam is struggling to break his mould, are we as a club not an attractive proposition or is there a problem with the kitty?

If Duscher comes in & does a fantastic job & plays regularly I'll hold my hands up & say "well done there Sam - very shrewd". If he signs & does ok I'll be left wondering why we signed him when we could & should have been looking at better. We have enough squad midfield players. I've had no problem with the free signings made before the takeover & on players we already know. It is different now; we have money (please don't say yes; but we don't know how much.....). As Vic said top clubs wouldn't consider this & for that matter nor would top players. Sam's thought process on Duscher may sound good to some but the fact that he is looking there in the first place must be open to question.

If I were the manager with millions to spend (yes millions) I wouldn't be giving a trial to anyone. Sam knows his onions & should already know in his mind whether he is good enough or not. If I were Duscher & I thought I was good enough I would be prepared to come on trial.

Just because he's free does not mean we should sign him on. FFS Sam has millions & he is giving a trial to Duscher to see if he's up to it! If Sam feels he needs to give him a trial = Sam doesn't think he's good enough If Duscher is prepared to come on trial = Duscher doesn't think he's good enough He may do ok, but we need & should only looking at better than ok.

I wasn't impressed with what I saw of him when he was on loan at the Mackems. Pace but little else (other than scoring against us).

I can understand what you're saying but I can't help being cynical about his comments tbh. He was challenged weeks ago to make that kind of statement and if he had made this statement then, I would have believed in its sincerity more than I do now. My view is that he kept quiet to evaluate his options, found there weren't any so has then made the statement. MO says he doesn't respond to rumour. If he didn't want to then, why does he want to now? The easiest way for him to clear the air and bring sincerity to this statement is for him to say that he is signing a new contract with the opt out clause removed. Until he does that, there will always be the feeling that Owen is simply waiting for a club to activate the clause. Agree. Shepherd told MO weeks ago that the big four didn't want him. He has waited until they signed strikers & thereby physically shown him that they don't want him before saying anything. Still, I'm pleased he's staying & I can't see him moving in January either (unless we turn out to be shite) given the signings that the big four (& let's face it Spurs, WH, MC have also shelled out big bucks on strikers as well further limiting "options") have made & he aint going to move abroad. Martins could well go, especially if he believes that Owen will get in the team ahead of him.

Also being reported on SSN. He can't cut the mustard at PL level & I hope he tells them to stick it & signs elsewhere. He will not deserve the dogs abuse he'll get at the SOL. He's not good enough & he's a Geordie - would you want to sign for the scum unless you had to given those credentials?

You should have asked him why he was in a good mood!

Did he have an Arsenal bib on?

I have just caught the end of an item on SSN news, the gist of which is that Martins has been in London overnight & was spotted at the Emirates. The London press are also reporting that a deal is almost done. I can't find anything else reported on this - was I dreaming or distracted (again) by my avater? If it is so then good bye & good luck. Sam go buy Gudjohnsen if you can.

Was an agent involved?

Whether or not we sign him, this is great: Deco arrived at Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 from an inexpressive Brazilian club called Corinthians Alagoano to play for Lisbon side SL Benfica, along with fellow Brazilian player Caju.Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan the player to the Portuguese Liga de Honra side FC Alverca where he played for a season. Deco performed well and was close to renewing his contract with Benfica and join the main squad. However, the Lisbon club and the player's representative did not reach an agreement, as the then manager Graeme Souness did not believe that he would develop into a player worth keeping. Subsequently Deco was traded to Oporto side S.C. Salgueiros in the 1998-99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals. His performances caught the eye of FC Porto's staff, and during the winter transfer window, he was sold to Porto. mackems.gif

Signing someone like Deco would help to attract higher calibre of players in other positions, though. They'd be more impressed with us after the transfer (if it happened) than having seen us pick up a few frees. Having said that, I do share your concerns as to whether he'd do well in England. If we have enough money to sign Deco as some kind of lost leader to get others in bring it on!

Deco has been a good player in good teams playing in leagues where you have time on the ball & diving is accepted. I believe he would struggle in our current team & would take at least a year to adapt to the Prem, if at all. He would get slaughted for his diving & he would not like the weather (yes, it is a factor). Much as I would love to see that calibre of player I'd rather we were sorting the defence out. If he comes in addition to this - great; what our line up would be is anybodys' guess. Can't se Eto'o coming, anyway; he'd be off the ACN & when we played against Mallorca he simply went missing. Great player - when he wants, I don't think he'd want to for us. I'd be far happier with up & coming players, with desire to win things as opposed to players who have seen it, done it & may no longer want it.

Albert Luque cost us 9.5M in 2005, he has made just 22 appearances, mostly in the Uefa Cup or as a sub where we have had no option but to use him. He has scored 2 goals. He has a contract until 2010 (!) & he has & is costing us a fortune in wages. He must be first out of the door. He has shown nothing, plays in a position where we can do without him (as opposed to wanting to get rid of FB's where we already struggle) & is a leech on our finances. I give up on this thread if anyone other than Luque is chosen as the number one candidate.

We need 2 new left backs. Baba must go (is he going to play in the ACN & be missing anyway). You can not defend by spending most of your time on your backside as a result of diving in 2 footed every time the ball is within 10 yards of you.

Agree. Team in Austria; no news to report; let's report something that possibly may happen. There is nothing in the interview with Mort to suggest that this is on the agenda. Lee Ryder - Jackanory.

All I'm saying is that we don't (well I don't) have the full interview or how it was said. I think the article is there to create mischief & should be disregarded. I think Roeder did understand the fans but was unable to do anything about it; as much through his own failings as through the limits put on him. He should never have accepted the job in the first place.

I'd imagine that Roeder's comments may have been written down slightly out of context & it is hardly a withering attack. It is information we already know. Methinks the article is deliberately slanted to appear to slag Sam off & to say that Roeder got stiffed. Roeder is an ex captain & manager I think he is entitled to an opinion on things. Facts are that Sam has said that any new manager of Newcastle needs time (he made reference to his building process at Bolton), Newcastle fans do generally want instant success (paradox being that we have been starved for soo long), Shearer does caste a shadow (he has recently publically stated that he wants to manage the club & it is the only club he would manage) we did have a horrendous injury list & Roeder didn't have much money, in comparison to other managers, to spend. MA will not allow Sam more than 2 years to show real progress. Roeder's "withering attack" simply fills in blank space on a newspaper. The fact that Roeder should never have been made manager in the first place & completely lost the plot last season is a completely different matter.