Lloydie

First, I hope there's nothing in this. And the BBC piece seems much more certain about the Seol moving to Fulham than N'Zogbia. If he is going then I hope it's because his attitude stinks, because if Sam has been put in the position where the only way to raise funds for new defenders is to sell existing players then we're making a mistake. I could see Dyer going on the basis that he wants to leave, other clubs want to buy him and he's on big wages, but to sell a talented young player who wants to stay would be a mistake. On the other hand, this could just be the working out of my 'what does 4-3-3 mean for our wingers' post; the answer in this case being that we're going to have a lot less of them. ps : Fulham? Why he'd want to go there at this stage in his career is beyond me...

I'd say he could go, can't see a Championship side offering him a starting place, but if he can get one at Leeds then that could be a great learning opportunity. Like Dave said, he'll get lots of practice.

This makes no sense. Maybe Allardyce is planning to resurrect the front 5 formation? Four at the back, Geremi as token holding midfielder then Viduka, Owen, Martins, Smith, and Ameobi up front

Guardian reports rumours from the city - Ashely not happy with the results of his review, might be interested in getting out http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2138169,00.html Just like football rumours mind, could be bollocks.

See, it's gonna be a good season.

The real point is that there was no overlapping full back to knock it down to - right?

Are you an Arsenal fan?

I think you're missing the point of this thread. Look we've only got 38 games that matter next season, we can afford a few knocks. Besides it spares Sam the problem of trying to keep them happy with rotation.

But it would be good wouldn't it? And in the end even the goal difference wouldn't be worse than last year. Besides, how the hell would Sheffield score 13, sides like that get confused if they get more than two

Look if we sign defenders Sam will come over all defensive. We just need to accept that Dyer, Solano, N'Zogbia and Duff are our first choice full backs, and Taylor, Rozenhaal, Ramage and Huntington are going to do the job in the middle. That's the route to football we want to see. Just look at that lineup, now imagine you're Derby, or Villa, or the the Mackems, what the hell are you going to do? Put on your little tin hat and pray I tell you. You can't see that lot losing to Sheffield can you?

And Carroll, el il PaintBrush, or whatever the Italians are calling him. He got his first senior goal against one of the best keepers in the world - he's a big lad. We can play him at centrehalf if we need to.

See! It's gonna be brilliant.

Lets face it. We're not signing anyone else, the review of the club is going to take till 2010, Joey Barton's going to play two games then get taken to jail, there's no cash, Ashley's millions are all tied up in offshore bank accounts and nobody wants to buy Kieron Dyer. I still think it's going to be a good season, and here's why. First, the manager. Big Sam's had years of practice working with next to no money in a division where even newly promoted sides regularly outspent him; and he prospered. The lads aren't going to lack for motivation and discipline this season. Second, the forward line. Owen, Martins, Viduka, and Ameobi (yes, Ameobi, I'm a fan) are a front line most sides in this division would give their eye teeth for. Only Man Utd have a better selection of forwards, Liverpool have some talents and some misfits, Arsenal have to find out if they've got a good replacement for Henry, and without Drogba Chelsea are lacking. We may not have a contender for the golden boot, but the days of watching Martins trying to carry the fight by himself with Sibierski rushing up from midfield to support are gone. Hell, I'd even forgotten about Luque, ten million pounds of Spanish forward, bristling with intent, he could still be the best signing of two seasons ago (lets not get carried away, ed.). The midfields not bad either. Even allowing for Barton doing porridge in the near future it's pretty good. Butt, Geremi, Emre, Solano, Milner and N'Zogbia isn't a bad set of players, plenty of variety, players who can do a job on both sides of the pitch; plus of course Kieron Dyer, who'll be working out about now that the only way he's going to get out of here is by looking like a player worth buying, at least until Christmas. Finally, there's the defence; and the good news is it's no worse than last year. Moore's gone, Bramble's gone, Gooch has gone, but really who cares? They were all either injured or rubbish all the time. Now we've got no choice but to start Rozenhal and Taylor; so what if Ramage, Huntington and Edgar are going to get games, they did all right last season - they're older now, bigger, more experienced and in Geremi we've even got someone to do that whole pointing and shouting thing that's always seemed beyond our defence in previous seasons. Plus by Christmas Big Sam will have them so well drilled on set pieces that we can forget all about that whole 'corner, panic in the area, sliced clearance, GOAL' problem that's been following us around like a stray dog for the last ten years. But what I'm really looking forward to is the return of vibrant attacking football. Now the squads thin, so we need a tactic to ration our defenders, for me the only way out is to adopt a strategy of absolutely pummeling any side that comes to St James' Park in a 'we're gonna score one more than you' style. Sure against the top sides we might risk a kicking, but we'll blow away the rest. Remember Keegan playing Asprilla as a wingback? Given Dyer Rozenhal Taylor N'Zogbia Geremi Butt Milner Owen Viduka Martins Bench : Harper, Ameobi, Solano, Emre, Carr Bloody hell, I've forgotten Luque again - we are *blessed* with talent I tell you, *blessed* (As I type this my upstairs neighbour puts on Sultans of Swing, it's a sign I tell you!) There you go, it's going to be a great year, we've already beaten Juve and Celtic. I don't know what you're all worried about. :celb: :celb: :celb:

Or some rumours have appeared (lets be honest, these are rumours anyone could've made up) and then questions get asked. Everyone assumes 'no smoke without fire' and now our chairman has to sit down with our manager to explain that it's all a load of bollocks.

Keep it, top song.

I think there are a few things to be said here. First, Keegan was a great manager. But what made him a great manager was his ability to select, train and motivate players, he was at his best when he was hands on day in day out. His time at Man City was similar, and in the England job, where he couldn't get that kind of time he found himself out of his depth. I don't think Keegan wants to be a manager again though. As a director of football in the office on a regular basis, putting in structures, managing scouting and so on he might work, if it weren't for the fact that Allardyce is our manager. Allardyce is, as far as I know, the Premiership manager most involved in that kind of thing, he doesn't need a director of football, by working with such a big staff he effectively is our director of football. So I don't see a role for Keegan there either. As a board member he could be good though. There will come a time when serious footballing decisions have to be made, is the manager performing? should we sell a big name player? how much should we put in the transfer budget? etc. where the board needs to have an opinion other than the managers to go on. A board should always have the expertise to ask difficult questions of the executives who report to it, and right now ours doesn't. (didn't under Shepherd either). So bringing in a highly respected and knowledgable former manager to spend one or two days a month making sure everything is going well makes sense. I wouldn't mind seeing Keegan on the board, in fact I think it would be great. As for Shearer, I think that right now Ambassador is the best role for him. A useful face for the TV cameras, and a persuasive man when it comes to bringing in new players. If he's content to do that, then that's good news. If he wants to be a manager he can finish his badges and go prove himself somewhere else. If he turns out to be brilliant he'll always be available to manage us sooner or later.

No tre Nonsense Um probably true actually. Sports Direct looks to have been quite effectively presented to the market prior to being sold, and now the markets going sour on it. Ashley's put one past them and they won't be keen for it to happen again. So yes, could easily add a few tenths of a percent to future loan deals etc.

Bollocks. Silvestre is exactly the kind of player we need. Never wanted Barton.

Right, West Ham, Spurs and Man City in. If I was Allardyce I'd ring them all and ask which of their defenders they'll give us in exchange for Kieron. Below are the lists, who would you take and would you want,? Suggest cash + player or would just player/s do? West Ham ------------- James Collins (D) Christian Dailly (D) Calum Davenport (D) Anton Ferdinand (D) Danny Gabbidon (D) George McCartney (D) John Pantsil (D) Jonathan Spector (D) James Tompkins (D) Matthew Upson (D) Man City ----------- Michael Ball (D) Danny Mills (D) Richard Dunne (D) Kelvin Etuhu (D) Sun Jihai (D) Matthew Mills (D) Nedum Onuoha (D) Micah Richards (D) Spurs ------- Pascal Chimbonda (D) Young-Pyo Lee (D) Younes Kaboul (D) Paul Stalteri (D) Gareth Bale (D) Michael Dawson (D) Tom Huddlestone (D) Ledley King (D) Philip Ifil (D) Anthony Gardner (D) Benoit Assou-Ekotto (D) Ricardo Rocha (D) Dorian Dervitte (D)

So, its half time. Go for five, or give some of the other lads a run out? Personally I'd want to keep the players on the pitch to try and make this a thrashing for Celtic, it'd be great for confidence and morale.

a think this might be there 6th So they should be fitter than we are... Good to know.

How many games have Celtic had in their pre season so far, anyone know?

lol

It'll be a shame to see him go, so much wasted money, so much wasted potential. But it'll be good to see him go, one more permanent crock with a bad attitude out of the door. The only thing not to do is sell cheap because we've put ourselves under pressure to be rid of him. Tell him what his price is and let his Mr 10% try and find a club willing to pay it, otherwise keep him till January and tell him to play like he's in the shop window, because he is. Personally my feeling is with Dyer gone that just leaves Carr and Babayaro to go, but barring a miracle on the signings front I think we're stuck with them, at least till January.

Me Too... i wouldn't equit 'the daily mail says' to 'were in talks'. Hush, I'm dreaming of defensive solidity