fredbob

How muich of a dick would we look though, when he doesnt come.

Not necessarily. Whether Redknapp or Hughes are considered of the 'blown socks off' standard depends on how highly they are rated by the board, whom at the moment have a very questionable level of football knowledge. nah sorry i'm not having that, if it turns out to be one of them he was lying Really, if Redknapp or Hughes are appointed, it means that the board thinks he was the best possible man for the job, and therefore given what must therefore be assumed to be limited football knowledge, Mort's socks blew off when he received the call touting whoever. Another absolutely correct observation, ignored by those who form a different "opinion" based on nothing other than seeing what they want to see. Well you are ignoring things as well, such as Oliver describing the agents client as being a "top manager", and also one who didnt have morts number. It may of been viable that Oliver may belive that Hughes and Redknapp are top managers, and they may of "knocked the boards socks off" but it isnt under any circumstances viable that the representatives of Hughes or Redknap wont have Morts number especially given the links between redknapp and ashley Precisely.

Im not being funny but you'd have to have a pretty limited knowledge of football to have your "socks blown off" by the likes of Hughes and Redknapp offering there serives to us,team which are witin 8 points of us.

Not necessarily. Whether Redknapp or Hughes are considered of the 'blown socks off' standard depends on how highly they are rated by the board, whom at the moment have a very questionable level of football knowledge. nah sorry i'm not having that, if it turns out to be one of them he was lying Really, if Redknapp or Hughes are appointed, it means that the board thinks he was the best possible man for the job, and therefore given what must therefore be assumed to be limited football knowledge, Mort's socks blew off when he received the call touting whoever. Another absolutely correct observation, ignored by those who form a different "opinion" based on nothing other than seeing what they want to see. Well you are ignoring things as well, such as Oliver describing the agents client as being a "top manager", and also one who didnt have morts number. It may of been viable that Oliver may belive that Hughes and Redknapp are top managers, and they may of "knocked the boards socks off" but it isnt under any circumstances viable that the representatives of Hughes or Redknap wont have Morts number

I don't know how to respond here. Are you clear on the concept of journalism? You do realize that it isn't supposed to be made up? So, you are saying that Oliver has to tell his readers who his sources are mackems.gif Fantastic. Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. This isn't Watergate. Nobodies lives are at stake, and I doubt anyone's job is either (probably because he MADE IT UP). I at least want to know the agent's name, if not the person he spoke to. Especially if we end up appointing Harry Redknapp. sorry, but in the real world, journalists don't name their sources. For obvious reasons. Backing NE5 on this one, no journo is going to hand over his source, no matter what line of feild he's in. Stupid to think he should or would, i know the guy is dumb, but he's not thick as fuk. To be fair, it would madness to oust his "source", that insider would soon become an outsider if people knew who he was, knowone wants a mole unless its tactical.

The first thing they said last night was that club sources stated that we're after an experienced British manager and we'd be going through the proper channels, that then changed to "Sky Sports News Understands" and then a few hours later it changed altogether to say that NUFC sources were now saying that "nationaility did not come into it." The safe money is still on Redknapp, Hughes or Shearer - but the majority of fans want foreign, and as has been stated, most want Mourinho. But just recently SSNhave just said that (in response to a fans email for Jose) we are looking for a British manager who's already employed, ruling out Jose. Man, im so confused and excited, its this decision which shapes the future of this club for the coming years, it'd be mad of them to rule out anyone. Harry would be so uninspiring but if he produced good football onthe pitch then i could quite easily support him. Kelmsey wanted Harry, i imagine Ashley will rate him the same. Harry said he turned down what he considers a big job (Spurs), i think he'll of turned them down becuase of Comolli. We wont have that problem. It'd would be nice to see the board actively seeking bigger options though, even if they didnt get them.

Where has it been said that nationality wont be an issue? SSN have implies that we're actually looking for a Brit manager who's already in a job. Why?

the thoughts in germany are that klinsmann got the best out of an already set up coaching set up and wasn't that astute himself. (the current german manager whose name i cant remember being the brains behind it) Joachim Lowe is the guy you're on about, someone i actually like the look of, seems to have made Germany a great force again, plays good football as well. He's someone who's gone under the radar to be fair. I actually thought it was Hughes dead cert, but i heard 'Arry as links with Ashley, its something that i could deal with to be honest, not exactly inspiring, but he always brings good football wherever he'sbeen. My worry if that i dont see him being a good long term choice who could help us break into the top 4. That is a mntrous challenge and its gonna require someone big and extremely talented to get us there.

So let me get this right, (a) Redknapp and Hughes are 2 "top managers which would blow Morts socks off" (b) the agent of these "top managers" needed to ring the local hack to get Mort's number to let him know that they are interested in the job?? Is that basically the drift of it? What a frustrating load of bollocks. or as NE5 would say mackems.gif

This has got Mark Hughes written all over it if you ask me. Redknapps quotes suggest he would be interested, whther he has the brass bollocks and confidence to except this challenge is another question, especially as he has one of the safest jobs in England. I think he's primarily interested because of £££££££. He's one of the lowest paid managers in the prem. For me it'll be Mark Hughes who'll get the job, i think he has a massive reputation in the game of football both as a former player and now as a up and coming young manager. He'll be well respected inthe football game and this alone will get him to the front of the cue, he's at a club with meagre resources and low potential which is punching well above its weight and still not getting the support it deserves, his transfer record has been excellent so far and for me that just adds to his reputation. From a business and practical sense, this appointment would actually make the most sense, but its not overly ambitious which is extrmely worrying for me.

Anyone not good enough for England wont come to us, i can feel it in my funny bone.

all fingers points to ONE man Chuck Norris?

Mark hughes morel likely than Redknapp inmy opinion. Might like the bigger resources, highly rated etc. I'll pray for Hitzfeld or Mourihno. But wont be surprised if its someone more low key. The thing that im clinging onto at the mo, is that the 2 big clubs we're competing with (ie simialr situations to us) Spuds and Man city have gone for foreginer with good reps and so i imagine Mort will look to go the same way.

good typing with your fingers crossed in hope Yeh precisely, everthing that Mort has said so far has made perfect sense so far. Saying that they were gonna be british didnt make sense to me, hope that all this nationality doesnt matter stuff is really true, it would be suicidal if they drained the talent pool before even lookng, wouldnt of made sense at all, said it earlier. The possibilities are endless, im salivating at the potential options, surely Mort and Ashley will know what the fans are after. I think they know it wouldnt make sense going for a British manager, if they arent good enough for the england job then what chance do they have at our club. Ive noticed Scolari hasnt been mentioned too much.

I wanna knowwhats gone on from this afternoon (talk of diarra signing) and now. Somethings not right.

The maddest thing about all this is that SA was talking about Diarra this afternoon, whats gone on between now and this afternoon? Surely his future wont of been decided within the space of a few hours?

Im not sure i buy this "it wont be foreign" it doesnt sit right with me, i might be being overly optimistic or just grasping at straws but it doesnt sit right that something which will only just of been discussed at board level will already have been leaked to the press so soon. Im praying that the board hasnt made this decision and ruled out a massive pool of talent on the basis of nationality. That would be so short sighted and wouldnt fit right with anything that mort has been sayin over the past 6 months. With the criteria bandied around the press so far i can only think of Hughes who would fit in or Mclaren. Venables seems too far off the radar to be an option. Coleman??

Is it a fair assessment to compare ourselves with teams in higher positions whose players are in form? Then say catergorically say that the difference in the side is the quality of players. I suppose to get an objective view on it all to truly asses the difference in quality, we should be comparing the squads and trying to decide which team would win if both teams were on top form. Tactics and formations aside. With both teams on form with their respective squads i would say: Man City would beat nufc Nufc would beat Blackburn Nufc would beat West ham nufc would beat Everton nufc would possibly beat Portsmouth. Thats my personal view, *putting on tin hat*

That old chesnut. To compete for the top 6 (Liverpool are 5th btw) we need to start spending big. And that doesn't mean we want to show the kind of ambition that Everton or Blackburn show (they spend conservatively) They don't have enough quality in depth to sustain any kind of challenge hence they yo yo. I'm not in the remotest interested what these two mickey mouse outfits do or don't do. Man City and Pompey who both spent big in the summer along with Spurs who have spent big for two summers (the sale of Carrick makes the net figure look smaller) are the group we need to be in and that includes Liverpool now if Man C hold onto 4th which wouldn't surprise me. To catch up to this group regarding squad depth and and 3/4 high quality players we will have to spend big money. Idiots amongst us and lets face it in they aren't in the minority will point to money being spent on Luque, Owen, Martins, Smith etc It means nothing if the players don't produce, they have to be replaced with players who are better and will deliver. If you like spending wrong recently (particularly on semi and perma crocks) means the money doesn't actually appear on the pitch, this is the reality and there is no hiding from. So on three levels we are playing catch up: Squad depth, 3/4 top tier players, 3/4 good squad players to cover. This is going to cost money and big money. What guarantuee is there that any of these big money signings will improve the squad if the signings laready made by allardyce havent improved the squad? Surely you cant say that the players we signed werent an improvment on what we had last year. Dont get me wrong, i definitely think that the team needs investment, but as it stands, Allrdyce hasnt shown to me that he has the ability or coaching methods to make the new signings work. Which for me is a bigger worry. I also think £100m is pretty steep in 6months, because if £100m is spent in 6months, and Allardyce doesnt get us into a top4 or5 position how do yout think that would bode with the fans? Do you think it would be justifiable and sensible to give him the rope to hang himself so early into his nufc career. It's not steep. It's ambitious. Only if you're naive enough to believe that flexing your financial muscles is the only way (or the key way) to implement ambition. Do you not think that it is a bit naive to try and achieve this clubs ambitions in 6 months, which is essentially what you're implying? Its basically giving the club a rope to hang itself with. We won't achieve any of our long term goals in 6 months. What we will do if we have a significant and targetted spend is be able to compete. That's all. We're ten points away from a good position. We are punching well below our weight in term of quality of our squad and havent strung together 2 or 3 consecutive decent performances. In my opinion saying that £x million will make us competitive again is a bit naive and pretty short sighted. My point is that if Allardyce had squeazed a drop of talent out of the squad he's inherited and put together, id be more confident to hand over a fat wedge for him to take us further. He hasnt so far, so by that logic wont do if he is given the wonga. Which leads us back to square one. What in the name of the good lord are you babbling about? Lets spend £200m and get us looking to achieve our ambitions in one go.

That old chesnut. To compete for the top 6 (Liverpool are 5th btw) we need to start spending big. And that doesn't mean we want to show the kind of ambition that Everton or Blackburn show (they spend conservatively) They don't have enough quality in depth to sustain any kind of challenge hence they yo yo. I'm not in the remotest interested what these two mickey mouse outfits do or don't do. Man City and Pompey who both spent big in the summer along with Spurs who have spent big for two summers (the sale of Carrick makes the net figure look smaller) are the group we need to be in and that includes Liverpool now if Man C hold onto 4th which wouldn't surprise me. To catch up to this group regarding squad depth and and 3/4 high quality players we will have to spend big money. Idiots amongst us and lets face it in they aren't in the minority will point to money being spent on Luque, Owen, Martins, Smith etc It means nothing if the players don't produce, they have to be replaced with players who are better and will deliver. If you like spending wrong recently (particularly on semi and perma crocks) means the money doesn't actually appear on the pitch, this is the reality and there is no hiding from. So on three levels we are playing catch up: Squad depth, 3/4 top tier players, 3/4 good squad players to cover. This is going to cost money and big money. What guarantuee is there that any of these big money signings will improve the squad if the signings laready made by allardyce havent improved the squad? Surely you cant say that the players we signed werent an improvment on what we had last year. Dont get me wrong, i definitely think that the team needs investment, but as it stands, Allrdyce hasnt shown to me that he has the ability or coaching methods to make the new signings work. Which for me is a bigger worry. I also think £100m is pretty steep in 6months, because if £100m is spent in 6months, and Allardyce doesnt get us into a top4 or5 position how do yout think that would bode with the fans? Do you think it would be justifiable and sensible to give him the rope to hang himself so early into his nufc career. It's not steep. It's ambitious. Only if you're naive enough to believe that flexing your financial muscles is the only way (or the key way) to implement ambition. Do you not think that it is a bit naive to try and achieve this clubs ambitions in 6 months, which is essentially what you're implying? Its basically giving the club a rope to hang itself with. We won't achieve any of our long term goals in 6 months. What we will do if we have a significant and targetted spend is be able to compete. That's all. We're ten points away from a good position. We are punching well below our weight in term of quality of our squad and havent strung together 2 or 3 consecutive decent performances. In my opinion saying that £x million will make us competitive again is a bit naive and pretty short sighted. My point is that if Allardyce had squeazed a drop of talent out of the squad he's inherited and put together, id be more confident to hand over a fat wedge for him to take us further. He hasnt so far, so by that logic wont do if he is given the wonga. Which leads us back to square one.

That old chesnut. To compete for the top 6 (Liverpool are 5th btw) we need to start spending big. And that doesn't mean we want to show the kind of ambition that Everton or Blackburn show (they spend conservatively) They don't have enough quality in depth to sustain any kind of challenge hence they yo yo. I'm not in the remotest interested what these two mickey mouse outfits do or don't do. Man City and Pompey who both spent big in the summer along with Spurs who have spent big for two summers (the sale of Carrick makes the net figure look smaller) are the group we need to be in and that includes Liverpool now if Man C hold onto 4th which wouldn't surprise me. To catch up to this group regarding squad depth and and 3/4 high quality players we will have to spend big money. Idiots amongst us and lets face it in they aren't in the minority will point to money being spent on Luque, Owen, Martins, Smith etc It means nothing if the players don't produce, they have to be replaced with players who are better and will deliver. If you like spending wrong recently (particularly on semi and perma crocks) means the money doesn't actually appear on the pitch, this is the reality and there is no hiding from. So on three levels we are playing catch up: Squad depth, 3/4 top tier players, 3/4 good squad players to cover. This is going to cost money and big money. What guarantuee is there that any of these big money signings will improve the squad if the signings laready made by allardyce havent improved the squad? Surely you cant say that the players we signed werent an improvment on what we had last year. Dont get me wrong, i definitely think that the team needs investment, but as it stands, Allrdyce hasnt shown to me that he has the ability or coaching methods to make the new signings work. Which for me is a bigger worry. I also think £100m is pretty steep in 6months, because if £100m is spent in 6months, and Allardyce doesnt get us into a top4 or5 position how do yout think that would bode with the fans? Do you think it would be justifiable and sensible to give him the rope to hang himself so early into his nufc career. It's not steep. It's ambitious. Only if you're naive enough to believe that flexing your financial muscles is the only way (or the key way) to implement ambition. Do you not think that it is a bit naive to try and achieve this clubs ambitions in 6 months, which is essentially what you're implying? Its basically giving the club a rope to hang itself with.

Depends how Geremi and Zog truly rate the club. Cant see him going to Tottenham. Can really see this coming off to be honest.

That old chesnut. To compete for the top 6 (Liverpool are 5th btw) we need to start spending big. And that doesn't mean we want to show the kind of ambition that Everton or Blackburn show (they spend conservatively) They don't have enough quality in depth to sustain any kind of challenge hence they yo yo. I'm not in the remotest interested what these two mickey mouse outfits do or don't do. Man City and Pompey who both spent big in the summer along with Spurs who have spent big for two summers (the sale of Carrick makes the net figure look smaller) are the group we need to be in and that includes Liverpool now if Man C hold onto 4th which wouldn't surprise me. To catch up to this group regarding squad depth and and 3/4 high quality players we will have to spend big money. Idiots amongst us and lets face it in they aren't in the minority will point to money being spent on Luque, Owen, Martins, Smith etc It means nothing if the players don't produce, they have to be replaced with players who are better and will deliver. If you like spending wrong recently (particularly on semi and perma crocks) means the money doesn't actually appear on the pitch, this is the reality and there is no hiding from. So on three levels we are playing catch up: Squad depth, 3/4 top tier players, 3/4 good squad players to cover. This is going to cost money and big money. What guarantuee is there that any of these big money signings will improve the squad if the signings laready made by allardyce havent improved the squad? Surely you cant say that the players we signed werent an improvment on what we had last year. Dont get me wrong, i definitely think that the team needs investment, but as it stands, Allrdyce hasnt shown to me that he has the ability or coaching methods to make the new signings work. Which for me is a bigger worry. I also think £100m is pretty steep in 6months, because if £100m is spent in 6months, and Allardyce doesnt get us into a top4 or5 position how do yout think that would bode with the fans? Do you think it would be justifiable and sensible to give him the rope to hang himself so early into his nufc career.

Do people generally agree that Allardyce isnt getting the best out of his players then?

Starting to worry about the number of defenders we are being linked with and have. roz,tay,caca,faye,brown,haim,'gelron(?)'laursen. not saying they are all definitive but it shows the direction we're looking to.