fredbob

"nothing wrong with mickey mouse...he done very well for walt disney"---ally fraser If this "professional" route can better the record of the "mickey mouse" route's 8 top 7 finishes/5 top 4 finishes in 14 years, I'll be well happy. So basically eight top 7 finishes in 14 years then?

I am very happy with the new set up and emphasis on youth, but my concern is do we have the coaches to bring the best out of the youngplayers, arsenal have a superior set of coaches and a superior scouting network to ours, i dont belive it will take that long to get a set up to match arsenals, Chelsea did it in a couple of years. My main concern though is that nufc have a history of not getting the best out of there younger players and blooding them too early, if you look at the youth that arsenal have brought in, they are usually close to being the complete level headed article on the pitch because Wenger only makes sure they play when they are ready, there arent many mistakes made by Arsenal players which are attributed to "being inexperienced" that to me is not down to the players being superior, but because the coaching is close to perfect.

I hope its a case of Keegan telling them who or what he wants, his record is second to none at our club. This is the crucial point - I am all in favour of greater professionalism at the club, as opposed to the Mickey-Mouse way of running recruitment under the previous regime, but the essential thing is to ha ve everyone pulling in the same direction ; remember the old saying 'A House divided among itself cannot stand'...... If any major differences among the parties begin to emerge, there would undoubtedly be fireworks. Thats what im worried about as well, i dont have any doubt whatsoever that Keegan will have 100% say on the first team but the grey area where both 'parties' start to clash, ie the transfers is something which is waiting to be ignited. Theonly solution i can see for this is 2 seperate budgets, then again we go down the route where the other party dont thnk that a siging of keegan isnt suitable, which may cause more friction....too many cooks etc....

Surely he cant be doing this deal? It also cant bea coincidence that this has all come out and he happens to be there.

I cant believe people are genuinely questioning Owens ability? Are these the same people who think we arent creative enough??

tony........italian ? English? Shortened version of Anthony? italian ? shortened version antonio Italian? Toni rather than english Tony?

Daily Mail *spit* a reasonably reliable source now??

Very pleased with the structure to be fair. I have absolutly no credible opinions on the personell (just like everyone else) because i have no idea what there roles entail, i think its refreshing to see a modern structure put in place for this club with definite directives. My only issue with this appointment would be if the manager was to be undermined byt Wise et al, which would be a major issue. Im praying the Keegan has the final word in this and it is all down to him at the end of the day but i agree that this is the way forward.

Amen, brother.

Wasn't Mort recently quoted (a few weeks back) as saying he wants to spend as money comes in? Not heard this to be fair, my sig was a quote from keegan which would undermine that view. I also imiagine they want to keep there kitty quiet so prices dont rise.

I think spending will be unprecedented this summer, going on what Ashley and Kelmsey has said (give me a chance with a window) and (nufc are in for exciting times) i'd say we are in for a good summer, i dont even care about getting my hopes dashed im so sure of it.

Keegan's response suggest he knows something about it, but doesnt know the exact details to be fair, i imagine that Mort put emphasis on this club being built from the ground scouting and youth wise and Keegan knew he wasnt the man to do that part of the job, (because he wouldnt know how), DOF seems like an appointment that was pre agreed before he took the job, with guartanees of no interfering. Keegans responses wasnt a shocked, "this is the first ive heard of it" response but more fo a "I dont know the exact details response".

Well said, to be fair, although i have no criticisms of this appointment i just want to know who's idea this was and what are they basing it on? First Redknap, then Wise. Who within this club has picked out Wise as a suitable appointment and why? (Providing it wasnt Keegan)

So who's done the deal? Ashley?

Is it me or are most people missing the point here? The way i see it the potential appointment of Wise has nothing to do with his coaching ability or management style, the way i read it he's gonna be the buffer between Keegan and the board, he'll be the one in the background building the club and looking at getting signings, leaving Keegan with coaching the club and sorting out match day. Nothing more nothing less. How can anyone comment aboutt his being a bad or good appointment with no precedent of Wise beinga failure in this position is beyond me, maybe Keegan is very good friends with Wise, maybe wise has a lot of contacts through his Chelsea days which Keegan would like to tap into. As long as this is Keegans appointment, then what exactly are people worrying about?

He's had an absolutely golden opportunity in a lot of games i've seen him in this season, particularly recently. Man City after half time which he toe-prodded it to the keeper, Man Utd where he was offside and the keeper stopped, Stoke away where he couldn't control a relatively simple curved pass right infront of goal, Stoke at home, in which he scored, and also against Arsenal yesterday. Those are the ones that i can remember off the top of my head. He's absolutely pointless. He can't get into the game unless the midfielders are on top form. He can't collect it and run at players. He's got no pace whatsoever. He's short so he's not much of an aerial threat. And he just seems to have lost a lot of his 'intelligence' for me, which appears to be everyone's back-up claim for him. You can call him a natural goalscorer... not anymore he ain't, not this season. Countless times yesterday when there was a move down the wing and Duff/Zog cut inside to play the ball low - into the heart of the box, Owen's plan was to 'run as fast as i can at the keeper'. Not enough; what does that achieve? So many times we were craving one of the on-rushing attackers to drop off and give the winger someone to pass to. It wasn't happening. I'd agree that we need a striker in the long-run, but we've got Viduka and Martins to come back and i can't wait to see Oba playing under Keegan (he's vital whenever he plays imo, completely unlike Owen). We need midfielders first but a striker in the summer is important. Golden oppurtunity in a lot of games? You must of seen alot more chances then i have seen. Also the bit in bold is the key bit if you ask me, Owen is an 18 yard box player and if we dont havea midfiled who will be able to dominate teams and possession we wont ever see the best of Owen, or many other players to be honest.

Well, has his price, is droppping down the pecking order a little, getting crowded out the centre of the park. Is a geordie boy and has always said he'd love to come here. Nothing in stone obviously but a hell of a lot morelikely then any other top playerin a top 4 team.

Carrick is the player who id love, would be perfect for out team, would be signing we could make as well.

We have made some horrific choices as captain, the only player who should, ever be captain is someone who's position can never be compromised. Given should be captain its between him and Faye those 2 are the only guaranteed starters in my book.

How do you work that out? LC Final

I dont understand how people write off our strikers saying they're crap or have lost it, yet the same people will say we arent creative enough and need a creative midfilder, am i the only one who sees the link ther? First and foremost we need to be able to have a centre midfiled that can dominate the team who are below us and other teams who we should be on par with, for me the most important player in a centre midfiled is the DM, its a psition we are very weak with at the mo. Get that bt sorted and the rest should follow.

To be honest im ok with losing him, how far has his stock fallen hat no one was truly bothered when he looked like he was going for us. Turn the clock back 18months(?) when Roeder was in for him 95% of the board waas gutted when he wasnt signed. Goes to show, because on his day the best teams the the world would love to have him. I dont think if he'd come we'd concede less to be honest, i personally wish we'd concentrate our efforts on boosting the mdfiled, that is where we are losign the games.

Cacapa is good enough for in my book, chances are with Faye in front of him no one will be running at him with power. Well thats the plan anyway, not sure why Roz gets so much flak to be honest, i havent been watching him closely but i think he lost a huge amount of condfidence when SA broke him and Tayl partnership up for no apparent reason. Has made a couple of mistakes, but i still think he has all the attribtures to be a quality defender, he needs to be partenered with a beast though, and Cacapa isnt a beast and Taylor doesnt know what he is yet. Personally, if Faye played DM, with Cacapa/Roz and a Taylor who commits and blocks balls like Terry, then we'd have a winning partenr ship right there, those 4 have all the attributes and blends to be huge successes.

One chance then, yeh? How many chances has he has all season, honestly speaking i cant think of many good chances he's had, could probably count the number of chances hes had on 2 hands.

Fair enough, but its not the first time ive heard it and im pretty sure it wont be the last.