fredbob

Very happy at the moment! Really desperate not to put a dampner on things but theres a lot of assumption that the players will take to keegans method in the summer as well. Im citing Roeder and Allardyce and even Souness as examples of newcastle united players records of summer training. Roeder and Allardyce especially are good examples of managers whose pre season effect haent been seen on the squad, one manager had a similar confidences boosting run the season before that got them into europe and the other was reknowned for his prep skills and fitness training etc. Just a thought.

0-0 Bolton Style

sexy football was Gullits phrase, not Keegans. And for what its worth, Keegan's teams play effective football, not "sexy football". We don't really want him to sign tossers like Arsprilla who played one good game in ten again, nor do we want him to see anybody shoot Arsprilla although in far too many bread and butter league games I'd like to have done it Not a fan of Ginola either then??

Not sure i agree with all of that, my point was that Everton are handicapped as a club by having Livepool in the same city. i think its a bit of an unrealisitc view to suggest that the tradition of the clubs has much standing in todays game, unfortunately it is an aspect of the game which seems to be phased out in order to make more room for the souless business side of the game. I like Everton as a club, i think Moyes has done a fantastic job and maybe doesnt get half the credit he deserves (credit which seems to be reseverd for the english Sam Allrdyce) but i genuinely believe that having a good history, having a good standing at present and having a good tradition count for very little in toays more moey driven game. And especially so when you have a massive world reknonwed club on your doorstep. Its David versus Goliath without the rock.

Sorry. Nah, f*** it, I'm not sorry about the point, just the somewhat forceful wording. You know what I mean I wasn't biting. Not interested in getting into a pissing contest over who is the better club. What I will say is Everton and Villa have both had the same problems, incompetent wankers running the club and little to no money invested. That's why big names "won't come here"- because we can't afford to make them an offer in the first place. Also, Liverpool being in the same city is totally irrelevant nonsense. Really?? Id of listed that as one of your biggest weaknesses as a club. No matter how well they do in the league as long as they arent doing better than Liverpool on a consistent basis they will never be the club they could and deserve to be. Size of the club is directly relevant to the type of players you sign and unformunately even if you are doing a bit better han Liverpool, in fact even if you were doing a lot better than Liverpool, you still wouldnt in my opinion have the same pulling power as liverpool would have. Its the saem with Man City, the by rights could be a big big club as well but they will never ever hav the samepuling power as Man U irrespective of how much money they have and how well they are doing. To re illustrate tht point, Newcastle have benefitted massivvely from being a one club city.

I dont mean to stoke a fire here, or open up another can of worms, but by my reckoning only the very best managers in the present have been able to train there team to be able to adapt to quickly to new formations quickly and efficiently. Its hard to find many teams without world class managers who have had any degree of success by changing there formations alot, they are simply not good enough to coach tere players to adapt to formations on a weekly basis. Is Keegan really skilled enough to a) make sure players are tacticaly aware during formations changes on a weekly basis and b) get the right plyaers in who are adaptabe and equally successful in different positions. The jurys out for me, i cant help but think he'll find a couple of fomrations and stick. My hope is that eventually we will go with the attacing 433 (not 433/451) but i can't see Keegan being able to get the quality of player to make that truly effective,so i can see him reverting back to 442 for the time being which is easier to buy for and familiar with the eventual quality gradually building up to be able to make the 433 truly effective. In his first spell here as manager we played a number of systems or formations and at Man City he even got some joy with 3-5-2. Now I'm not saying he's a tactical genius but good players in the right frame of mind can play well regardless of what system is being deployed and that's why we have Owen playing well in a deeper role, or had Howey converting from a striker to a centre-back, or Rob Lee a wide player to a central midfielder. Newcastle at our best in the 90s may have set up in 4-4-2 or whatever but the clue is in the detail, we didn't play in straight lines or banks of 4, we played fluent interchanging football not based around a system or a formation, but pass and move, confidence and belief, the philosophies of the manager. If KK lined up those players in 4-4-2 against Reading, withdrawing Martins to the right, it would work just as well providing they were in the right frame of mind, that's what confidence and direction from the dugout can achieve, happy players able to perform regardless. That's why I believe we will not stick to any one formation or system, we'll evolve and our pattern of play during a game will dictate our system or formation rather than the system or formation dictating how the players play. The opposite of Big Sam basically. Back to Owen, is he a midfielder? No he's not, it's madness. But because the team are playing well and he's in the right frame of mind he's able to play there and perform as a player. That is how KK will work it. Again good players in the right frame of mind can play all kinds of ways. This is why the Dutch are so versatile. In their youth they don't really play systems or positions on a field, they line up a certain way as a starting block, but they find their own way on the pitch during the match and by the time they reach a certain age, they've evolved into all-rounders able to play anywhere in any system. Dutch players are arguably the most successful in European football, they have graced every league, all kinds of teams, systems and formations. It's down to their ability and the frame of mind they've been brought up on in an environment that allowed them to be free as possible on the pitch. That's kind of like how KK sees it. Give players some licence, improve their technique, get them in the right frame of mind and watch them flourish, repeat it X 11 and watch that team flourish. I think you're romanticising a bit here. If you keep changin the formations then you are constantly changing the roles of certain players. Footbal has come along way from the 90's when the level of preperation and detail were no way nar the levels they are now. Players rely on specific instructions and specifics roles within the team. To say that the team maybe set out as a 442 but could end up playing a 433 deending on the "confidence" and "flow" of the team, nowadays is reckless because these things can get exploited to a completely different level. This is why i made my original post, managers like Benitez and Mourhino are world reknowned for being able to a) set up a team formationally aware and b) reknowned for being able to coach there players to quickly adapt there roles to new formations mid game on order to change the game. For me, Keegan doesnt have these skills and that is why i think he may find a couple of formtaions and stick with them if they are successful. you watch a different game to me ...in the games i watch the better teams have movement.LESS specific instructions and the manager gives the players more freedom. what the manager does tht is clever is he brings in players that are not only good on the ball but off it AND have desire. as ever ,but for different reasons,it's the players that really make the difference at the highest level The better teams or the more attacking teams? I think you're wrong by saying they have "less instrutions" You look at a team like Man U for example i genuinely do not belive that Rooney's natural game is what it is at the mo - the focal striker, it isn his natual game, but he has been instructed to play that way, he is an absolute example of someone having had the creative licene taken away for them for the good of the team and the stability of the fomration. More specific to my post, look how Chelsea under Mourihno and Benitez amdLiverpool in the CL, they are a well drilled team who only have c ouple of player with creative freedom but still have extremely specific instructions. man utd is a great example. yes it may not be rooneys natural game but he'll stil drift around more than forwards at oher clubs,does ronaldo stick out wide left ? does giggs regularly come into the middle ? due to their movement who is the "focal striker" rooney or tevez ? how often does scholes pop up alongside the forwards ? See, we're diversing a little from he essence of my point. My point was that CoachHTT said that Keegan wont stick to one rigid formation, at first i think he meant that we will constantly be chanings the formation week in week out. My post was in direct response to this, and i said that i didnt think Keegan had the skill as a manager or coach to implment an interchangeable system. Having re read it i think he means that Keegan wont play a reconginsible rigid system and keep changig that rigid system (to tactically chnge the game) but instead the team will play with a freedom that wont restrict them to that given system. Which is a fair point. And isnt really relevant to my original post. With regard to Man U example, do you think that Fergie hasnt instructed them to come deep, or change wings occasionally? See, in my opinion at this point i think we're diverging in grey areas of the players natural game and managers instructions. See in my opinion, taking Mourihno as an example and what ive read about him, every single player is given a specific role, nothing is left for chance and he ensures that there are no surprises, the managers job is done at this point and it is upto the players to use there natural ability to execture these instructions. I cant see Fergie or Wenger being too different, there footballing styles maybe different but i dont think Fergie names his team and doesnt give them specific instructions and roles, i think there is far more level f preperation and detal than you are given credit for. chelsea and liverpool are a lot more "drilled" than man utd or arsenal. i don't think they are told " go out and do what you want" but when i watch those teams mentioned,fergusons and wengers players always appear to have more freedom to roam. Which is reflective of the stlye of football that Wenger and Ferguson want to play, as oppsosed to the type of football that Mourihno an Liverpool want to play. Its all down to the managers.

but thats incredibly blinkered, he's had to do it with very limited resources, he had to turn an awful team into a decent team, and he has, maybe more. all people are saying is that if kev's given ample resources, we'll do much, much better than we have under souness, roeder or allardyce. is that hard to understand? or do you just disagree? and to answer your first question, i dont actually think the reaction will be TOO bad if we lose, even though i slag the booing c***s to high heaven, because i think people will recognise that we've turned a corner in the last few weeks I just disagree. the fundamental flaw in your point is that you are saying that if you play crap and sneak a lucky 1-0 win, its no different from an assessment of the team point of view as completely dominating a team, hitting the post 10 times, having 2 goals disallowed, going down to 10 men and also winning 1-0. Stretching a point maybe to make the point, but the scenarios are a world apart. Yeah, that's exactly what I said So because I don't cream myself over Kevin Keegan, and think he's going to do any better than a mid-table finish next year, I don't know anything? The crux of your initial argument is massivly flawed though, How can Keegans first 10 games be comparable to Allardyces last 10 games? Did Kegan have the summer with the squad, did keegan have his own signings? Were Keegans first 10 games against the same opposition as Allardyces last 10 games? Equating whats occured so far at the club down to a points tally is a litte tight if you ask me, if you cant see the whole picture ten surely you ust be extremely happy that we are doing better than last year positions wise? They are 2 completely different scenarios, what people on here are getting excited about, is that they have been able to see the gradual improvements in every single match bar a couple, and there is no reason why it cant continue in the future.

I dont mean to stoke a fire here, or open up another can of worms, but by my reckoning only the very best managers in the present have been able to train there team to be able to adapt to quickly to new formations quickly and efficiently. Its hard to find many teams without world class managers who have had any degree of success by changing there formations alot, they are simply not good enough to coach tere players to adapt to formations on a weekly basis. Is Keegan really skilled enough to a) make sure players are tacticaly aware during formations changes on a weekly basis and b) get the right plyaers in who are adaptabe and equally successful in different positions. The jurys out for me, i cant help but think he'll find a couple of fomrations and stick. My hope is that eventually we will go with the attacing 433 (not 433/451) but i can't see Keegan being able to get the quality of player to make that truly effective,so i can see him reverting back to 442 for the time being which is easier to buy for and familiar with the eventual quality gradually building up to be able to make the 433 truly effective. In his first spell here as manager we played a number of systems or formations and at Man City he even got some joy with 3-5-2. Now I'm not saying he's a tactical genius but good players in the right frame of mind can play well regardless of what system is being deployed and that's why we have Owen playing well in a deeper role, or had Howey converting from a striker to a centre-back, or Rob Lee a wide player to a central midfielder. Newcastle at our best in the 90s may have set up in 4-4-2 or whatever but the clue is in the detail, we didn't play in straight lines or banks of 4, we played fluent interchanging football not based around a system or a formation, but pass and move, confidence and belief, the philosophies of the manager. If KK lined up those players in 4-4-2 against Reading, withdrawing Martins to the right, it would work just as well providing they were in the right frame of mind, that's what confidence and direction from the dugout can achieve, happy players able to perform regardless. That's why I believe we will not stick to any one formation or system, we'll evolve and our pattern of play during a game will dictate our system or formation rather than the system or formation dictating how the players play. The opposite of Big Sam basically. Back to Owen, is he a midfielder? No he's not, it's madness. But because the team are playing well and he's in the right frame of mind he's able to play there and perform as a player. That is how KK will work it. Again good players in the right frame of mind can play all kinds of ways. This is why the Dutch are so versatile. In their youth they don't really play systems or positions on a field, they line up a certain way as a starting block, but they find their own way on the pitch during the match and by the time they reach a certain age, they've evolved into all-rounders able to play anywhere in any system. Dutch players are arguably the most successful in European football, they have graced every league, all kinds of teams, systems and formations. It's down to their ability and the frame of mind they've been brought up on in an environment that allowed them to be free as possible on the pitch. That's kind of like how KK sees it. Give players some licence, improve their technique, get them in the right frame of mind and watch them flourish, repeat it X 11 and watch that team flourish. I think you're romanticising a bit here. If you keep changin the formations then you are constantly changing the roles of certain players. Footbal has come along way from the 90's when the level of preperation and detail were no way nar the levels they are now. Players rely on specific instructions and specifics roles within the team. To say that the team maybe set out as a 442 but could end up playing a 433 deending on the "confidence" and "flow" of the team, nowadays is reckless because these things can get exploited to a completely different level. This is why i made my original post, managers like Benitez and Mourhino are world reknowned for being able to a) set up a team formationally aware and b) reknowned for being able to coach there players to quickly adapt there roles to new formations mid game on order to change the game. For me, Keegan doesnt have these skills and that is why i think he may find a couple of formtaions and stick with them if they are successful. you watch a different game to me ...in the games i watch the better teams have movement.LESS specific instructions and the manager gives the players more freedom. what the manager does tht is clever is he brings in players that are not only good on the ball but off it AND have desire. as ever ,but for different reasons,it's the players that really make the difference at the highest level The better teams or the more attacking teams? I think you're wrong by saying they have "less instrutions" You look at a team like Man U for example i genuinely do not belive that Rooney's natural game is what it is at the mo - the focal striker, it isn his natual game, but he has been instructed to play that way, he is an absolute example of someone having had the creative licene taken away for them for the good of the team and the stability of the fomration. More specific to my post, look how Chelsea under Mourihno and Benitez amdLiverpool in the CL, they are a well drilled team who only have c ouple of player with creative freedom but still have extremely specific instructions. man utd is a great example. yes it may not be rooneys natural game but he'll stil drift around more than forwards at oher clubs,does ronaldo stick out wide left ? does giggs regularly come into the middle ? due to their movement who is the "focal striker" rooney or tevez ? how often does scholes pop up alongside the forwards ? See, we're diversing a little from he essence of my point. My point was that CoachHTT said that Keegan wont stick to one rigid formation, at first i think he meant that we will constantly be chanings the formation week in week out. My post was in direct response to this, and i said that i didnt think Keegan had the skill as a manager or coach to implment an interchangeable system. Having re read it i think he means that Keegan wont play a reconginsible rigid system and keep changig that rigid system (to tactically chnge the game) but instead the team will play with a freedom that wont restrict them to that given system. Which is a fair point. And isnt really relevant to my original post. With regard to Man U example, do you think that Fergie hasnt instructed them to come deep, or change wings occasionally? See, in my opinion at this point i think we're diverging in grey areas of the players natural game and managers instructions. See in my opinion, taking Mourihno as an example and what ive read about him, every single player is given a specific role, nothing is left for chance and he ensures that there are no surprises, the managers job is done at this point and it is upto the players to use there natural ability to execture these instructions. I cant see Fergie or Wenger being too different, there footballing styles maybe different but i dont think Fergie names his team and doesnt give them specific instructions and roles, i think there is far more level f preperation and detal than you are given credit for.

I dont mean to stoke a fire here, or open up another can of worms, but by my reckoning only the very best managers in the present have been able to train there team to be able to adapt to quickly to new formations quickly and efficiently. Its hard to find many teams without world class managers who have had any degree of success by changing there formations alot, they are simply not good enough to coach tere players to adapt to formations on a weekly basis. Is Keegan really skilled enough to a) make sure players are tacticaly aware during formations changes on a weekly basis and b) get the right plyaers in who are adaptabe and equally successful in different positions. The jurys out for me, i cant help but think he'll find a couple of fomrations and stick. My hope is that eventually we will go with the attacing 433 (not 433/451) but i can't see Keegan being able to get the quality of player to make that truly effective,so i can see him reverting back to 442 for the time being which is easier to buy for and familiar with the eventual quality gradually building up to be able to make the 433 truly effective. In his first spell here as manager we played a number of systems or formations and at Man City he even got some joy with 3-5-2. Now I'm not saying he's a tactical genius but good players in the right frame of mind can play well regardless of what system is being deployed and that's why we have Owen playing well in a deeper role, or had Howey converting from a striker to a centre-back, or Rob Lee a wide player to a central midfielder. Newcastle at our best in the 90s may have set up in 4-4-2 or whatever but the clue is in the detail, we didn't play in straight lines or banks of 4, we played fluent interchanging football not based around a system or a formation, but pass and move, confidence and belief, the philosophies of the manager. If KK lined up those players in 4-4-2 against Reading, withdrawing Martins to the right, it would work just as well providing they were in the right frame of mind, that's what confidence and direction from the dugout can achieve, happy players able to perform regardless. That's why I believe we will not stick to any one formation or system, we'll evolve and our pattern of play during a game will dictate our system or formation rather than the system or formation dictating how the players play. The opposite of Big Sam basically. Back to Owen, is he a midfielder? No he's not, it's madness. But because the team are playing well and he's in the right frame of mind he's able to play there and perform as a player. That is how KK will work it. Again good players in the right frame of mind can play all kinds of ways. This is why the Dutch are so versatile. In their youth they don't really play systems or positions on a field, they line up a certain way as a starting block, but they find their own way on the pitch during the match and by the time they reach a certain age, they've evolved into all-rounders able to play anywhere in any system. Dutch players are arguably the most successful in European football, they have graced every league, all kinds of teams, systems and formations. It's down to their ability and the frame of mind they've been brought up on in an environment that allowed them to be free as possible on the pitch. That's kind of like how KK sees it. Give players some licence, improve their technique, get them in the right frame of mind and watch them flourish, repeat it X 11 and watch that team flourish. I think you're romanticising a bit here. If you keep changin the formations then you are constantly changing the roles of certain players. Footbal has come along way from the 90's when the level of preperation and detail were no way nar the levels they are now. Players rely on specific instructions and specifics roles within the team. To say that the team maybe set out as a 442 but could end up playing a 433 deending on the "confidence" and "flow" of the team, nowadays is reckless because these things can get exploited to a completely different level. This is why i made my original post, managers like Benitez and Mourhino are world reknowned for being able to a) set up a team formationally aware and b) reknowned for being able to coach there players to quickly adapt there roles to new formations mid game on order to change the game. For me, Keegan doesnt have these skills and that is why i think he may find a couple of formtaions and stick with them if they are successful. you watch a different game to me ...in the games i watch the better teams have movement.LESS specific instructions and the manager gives the players more freedom. what the manager does tht is clever is he brings in players that are not only good on the ball but off it AND have desire. as ever ,but for different reasons,it's the players that really make the difference at the highest level The better teams or the more attacking teams? I think you're wrong by saying they have "less instrutions" You look at a team like Man U for example i genuinely do not belive that Rooney's natural game is what it is at the mo - the focal striker, it isn his natual game, but he has been instructed to play that way, he is an absolute example of someone having had the creative licene taken away for them for the good of the team and the stability of the fomration. More specific to my post, look how Chelsea under Mourihno and Benitez amdLiverpool in the CL, they are a well drilled team who only have c ouple of player with creative freedom but still have extremely specific instructions.

Looks a quality player in that picture.

I dont mean to stoke a fire here, or open up another can of worms, but by my reckoning only the very best managers in the present have been able to train there team to be able to adapt to quickly to new formations quickly and efficiently. Its hard to find many teams without world class managers who have had any degree of success by changing there formations alot, they are simply not good enough to coach tere players to adapt to formations on a weekly basis. Is Keegan really skilled enough to a) make sure players are tacticaly aware during formations changes on a weekly basis and b) get the right plyaers in who are adaptabe and equally successful in different positions. The jurys out for me, i cant help but think he'll find a couple of fomrations and stick. My hope is that eventually we will go with the attacing 433 (not 433/451) but i can't see Keegan being able to get the quality of player to make that truly effective,so i can see him reverting back to 442 for the time being which is easier to buy for and familiar with the eventual quality gradually building up to be able to make the 433 truly effective. In his first spell here as manager we played a number of systems or formations and at Man City he even got some joy with 3-5-2. Now I'm not saying he's a tactical genius but good players in the right frame of mind can play well regardless of what system is being deployed and that's why we have Owen playing well in a deeper role, or had Howey converting from a striker to a centre-back, or Rob Lee a wide player to a central midfielder. Newcastle at our best in the 90s may have set up in 4-4-2 or whatever but the clue is in the detail, we didn't play in straight lines or banks of 4, we played fluent interchanging football not based around a system or a formation, but pass and move, confidence and belief, the philosophies of the manager. If KK lined up those players in 4-4-2 against Reading, withdrawing Martins to the right, it would work just as well providing they were in the right frame of mind, that's what confidence and direction from the dugout can achieve, happy players able to perform regardless. That's why I believe we will not stick to any one formation or system, we'll evolve and our pattern of play during a game will dictate our system or formation rather than the system or formation dictating how the players play. The opposite of Big Sam basically. Back to Owen, is he a midfielder? No he's not, it's madness. But because the team are playing well and he's in the right frame of mind he's able to play there and perform as a player. That is how KK will work it. Again good players in the right frame of mind can play all kinds of ways. This is why the Dutch are so versatile. In their youth they don't really play systems or positions on a field, they line up a certain way as a starting block, but they find their own way on the pitch during the match and by the time they reach a certain age, they've evolved into all-rounders able to play anywhere in any system. Dutch players are arguably the most successful in European football, they have graced every league, all kinds of teams, systems and formations. It's down to their ability and the frame of mind they've been brought up on in an environment that allowed them to be free as possible on the pitch. That's kind of like how KK sees it. Give players some licence, improve their technique, get them in the right frame of mind and watch them flourish, repeat it X 11 and watch that team flourish. I think you're romanticising a bit here. If you keep changin the formations then you are constantly changing the roles of certain players. Footbal has come along way from the 90's when the level of preperation and detail were no way nar the levels they are now. Players rely on specific instructions and specifics roles within the team. To say that the team maybe set out as a 442 but could end up playing a 433 deending on the "confidence" and "flow" of the team, nowadays is reckless because these things can get exploited to a completely different level. This is why i made my original post, managers like Benitez and Mourhino are world reknowned for being able to a) set up a team formationally aware and b) reknowned for being able to coach there players to quickly adapt there roles to new formations mid game on order to change the game. For me, Keegan doesnt have these skills and that is why i think he may find a couple of formtaions and stick with them if they are successful.

Mate, the last thing I want to do is get into a slanging match, but have you watched much football this year? Everton are currently in fifth and looking closer than anyone to breaking the big four dominance. Spurs might want to concentrate on cracking the top half of the table before they look at the big four, and until last Sunday, a lot of people here were worried about relegation. Bentley wants CL football, he's only going to get it in three places. To be fair to the misguided lad, he was on about te "mystique" of the club and not the position we are in at the moment. And just a side note, not that i agree with him much, but it would be a testament to the club if despite having massive relegation fears this season we were still able to attract big players like we have done in the past despite having a bit of a checkered history. Just a thought.

Lennon-Maybe. Pennant-f*** off! what makes you say that? he's one of the best crossers of the ball in the league imo He seems like he would be another bad boy that we dont need plus I have only ever seen him have a handful decent games and none for a long time.I would way prefer Milner than him every time or even Duff tbh i would rather play a bloke with a wooden leg than duff tbh Same with Pennant though pennant has an end product, big difference there! he has more of an end product than milner imo Aye, but is that end product gonna be effective with the likes of Owen, Martins or even Viduka (not prolific with his head)leading our front line? We dont have a beast in the box like Drogba or Shearer for Pennant to be effective. Thats why i think Lennon would be better suited because he can manouever himself ito more dfangerous positions, putting the defenders onto the back foota and making spaces for the likes of Owen and Martins to exploit.

An indication of how little faith Ramos has Lennon's ability to deliver a half decent cross once in a while. I do like Ramos' attitude to anyone who isn't performing for whatever reason. Irrespective of whether it is a leading light or a squad player, JR's reaction is the same, They won't play if they don't match up to what Ramos wants. Lennon has to improve his final ball, doing extra training, Gilberto has some weight to lose and I won't even begin to tell you why JJ has been absent for the past couple of matches. MAybe this is the reason why you havent been climibing up the league like you should be in my opinion, we had a similar approach with SA and the team changed every week for whatever statistcal reason. It's notall its cracked up to be. I think it might be a factor. Whilst Spurs were struggling when Ramos came, and it is good to see underperformers not in the side, this is a team that came 5th the previous two seasons. You were s*** this year under Jol, but you haven't done that well in the league under Ramos either. Talk of a complete overhaul this summer. Should that really be necessary 12 months on from a clubs two highest ever finishes in the premier league? Having spent £40-50m this seaon as well.....

An indication of how little faith Ramos has Lennon's ability to deliver a half decent cross once in a while. I do like Ramos' attitude to anyone who isn't performing for whatever reason. Irrespective of whether it is a leading light or a squad player, JR's reaction is the same, They won't play if they don't match up to what Ramos wants. Lennon has to improve his final ball, doing extra training, Gilberto has some weight to lose and I won't even begin to tell you why JJ has been absent for the past couple of matches. MAybe this is the reason why you havent been climibing up the league like you should be in my opinion, we had a similar approach with SA and the team changed every week for whatever statistcal reason. It's notall its cracked up to be.

I was gutted whe Keegan was appointed, im still not converted but a little ashamed all the same.

Lennon id like here, £10m sounds about right to be honest providing he's a model pro. Woldnt want to pay anymore but he's a very young gifted english player who i think could be worth a lot more in the future providing a few things go his way. In fact id love him here, i can imagine keegan being extremely encouraging of his attacking side of the game, he's a very exciting player in my opinion someone the fans could really get behind providing he's consistent. Only reservation about him is his productivity, and his attitude which i hear isnt the best. Hmmmmm....

Agree with this, theres not really much else to say except Keegan eem to be proving that there is a goodsquad o players there, it shows (to me anyway) that there didnt need to be a massive overhaul like a lot of people are saying and that we areactually a good side hat has been directionless. The summer is gonna be absolutley critical for me, i dont intend to compapre Keegan wih Roeder but we achieved a good level of success immediately after Roeder took charge which i attibute now to the honeymoon period where the players were relived to be playing under any manager but Souness. The point i am trying to make is that, in the summer the squad didnt take to Roeders methods, and despite this good run we seem to be goin on, im still wary of the team not taking to Keegans methods as well. There is absolutley no guaratuee of this happening. I think you and others do Roeder a massive disservice putting it all down to a honeymoon period. What happened to Allardyce and Keegan 's honeymoon periods? Last season's form had less to do with players not taking to a system and more to do with not having enough fit players to develop any kind of consistent system, yet we still managed to do better than this season with a mostly fit squad, an allegedly great Summer transfer window, and 2 honeymoon periods. Something of a moot point which boils down to persoal opinion in the end,but i just dont see a manager like Roeder having the skills to implement the type of football we played after Souness left, he barely recreated the next season albeit with horrendous injuries and hasnt done it in the past or even at the present. To me Roeder is and alway will be a less than average manager wont achieve anything to the same levels as, what i call avergae managers like Coppel or Jewell. i put what happenend down to the relief of not being under Souness anymore, if that doesnt imporve your performances, then i dont know what will. Alklardyce sort o had his honeymoo period early on, especially with out of chracter wins like Bolton, but he had the whole summer working with a squad and the squad were adapting to his methods on a much onger time scale than being relieved to be out of a repressive regime like the likes of Keegan have and Roeder.

It's all relative. I think the average premiership spend this Summer outside the CL teams will be 10-20m, maybe more as there's a lot more TV and new owner money about. Obviously wages will take up a chunk of this additional money, but I still think there'll be a massive hike in transfer fees (I think it would have been cheaper for us to buy in January). I'm not expecting spending anything like the £100m that's been going around in rumours, but I'd be disappointed if we didn't spend significantly more than the average mid table club as a minimum. BTW From the things Mort has said in the past I'm expecting him to make a lot of noise about not focusing solely on the transfer fee, but also taking into consideration the whole package (ie player wages). I think that's fair and IS a better way of looking at it tbh especially as nowadays quite often the player's wages over the course of his contract will far exceed the transfer fee, but I think it will mean we "spend" less than a lot of people are hoping for. Good Point - hope we do spendlots this summer hough, would really get the buzzback!

Agree with this, theres not really much else to say except Keegan eem to be proving that there is a goodsquad o players there, it shows (to me anyway) that there didnt need to be a massive overhaul like a lot of people are saying and that we areactually a good side hat has been directionless. The summer is gonna be absolutley critical for me, i dont intend to compapre Keegan wih Roeder but we achieved a good level of success immediately after Roeder took charge which i attibute now to the honeymoon period where the players were relived to be playing under any manager but Souness. The point i am trying to make is that, in the summer the squad didnt take to Roeders methods, and despite this good run we seem to be goin on, im still wary of the team not taking to Keegans methods as well. There is absolutley no guaratuee of this happening.

Id be spitting blood if he didnt get backed this summer. I think he'll get backed massively to be honest, during the manager search i alwyays got the impression that Ashley was looking not necessary the very best man for te job, but te very best man to spend his money and get the ideal outcome, hence why he courted Redknapp. He wants cavalier football Keegan does Ccavalier football, it wouldbe crazy not to back him, especially after doing one over his mates club, i just think this is a game for him, one that he;s desperate not to lose.

I know everyone thinks their club is the best but come on, get real please. It's not 1996, there is nothing special to an outsider about Newcastle United these days. I have to agree. What glamour? What mystique? This is not the mid 90s any more. Bentley would have been, what, 10 years old then? Footballers these days just want to play at the highest level. If you're not in the CL, there's a f****** huge gap to bridge. The only club outside the top four with a chance of signing him, imho, is Spurs, and that is because they are in London, which is more of a factor To be fair i think Villa have an outside chance of getting him as well, they seem to be a club definitively on the up with a good manager a good squad recognized for its english talent and a good owner also Euro qualification definitively isnt out thequestion next year as wel. Villa would be my wild card, Spurs are definitively a viable option as well, but Nufc have no chance whatsoever. Villa have no chance of getting him. From what he said earlier, he wants CL football. This is what I think will happen. Villa need a right sided midfielder. Bentley will join Liverpool. Pennant will join Villa. Or, as an outside bet, Pennant will join Newcastle and Milner will join Villa (although this latter option is thrown in only out of 'wouldnt it be funny') I personally think his primary motive is on England rahter than CL, if he was that desperate for CL unless he already knows someting then i cant see the sense in essentially limiting himself to 1 CL club Liverpool, and one London club(Spurs), i can see him looking at the english talent the Villa squad have, the direction the club is definitively going and think its a smart move for his England career. The monopoly that the top 4 have on the CL means that english players have to make there repuatation at international level in order to get a look in at CL level, rather than it being the other way round. He seems like a smart ambitiuos guy, i can see him eeing sense in the move.

pretty much correct. These things aren't automatic though, much as we would like them to be. Without backing, he's got no chance. Serious backing. ManU have spent a fortune on their team, especially their forwards. You don't see their supporters turning their noses up at chequebook management or bringing in these ready made trophy players. If anything, it only provides positive proof that this is how to do it. We keep saying NUFC are a big club, one of the biggest. Well, they have to act like one of the biggest clubs or such talk is meaningless and in the end anything else will only produce an equally meaningless team. Keegan will do the trick if he is backed. I'm more sure than I ever was. Do you think Keegan will get backed this summer? depends on your standards, and what you call backing Do you think he'll be adequatley backed then? I dont want to get into any pro Ash anti Shep debate, just interested to see if you;ve seenanything to suggest that Keegan will be backed and allowed to do his job without hinderence?

I know everyone thinks their club is the best but come on, get real please. It's not 1996, there is nothing special to an outsider about Newcastle United these days. I have to agree. What glamour? What mystique? This is not the mid 90s any more. Bentley would have been, what, 10 years old then? Footballers these days just want to play at the highest level. If you're not in the CL, there's a f****** huge gap to bridge. The only club outside the top four with a chance of signing him, imho, is Spurs, and that is because they are in London, which is more of a factor To be fair i think Villa have an outside chance of getting him as well, they seem to be a club definitively on the up with a good manager a good squad recognized for its english talent and a good owner also Euro qualification definitively isnt out thequestion next year as wel. Villa would be my wild card, Spurs are definitively a viable option as well, but Nufc have no chance whatsoever.

pretty much correct. These things aren't automatic though, much as we would like them to be. Without backing, he's got no chance. Serious backing. ManU have spent a fortune on their team, especially their forwards. You don't see their supporters turning their noses up at chequebook management or bringing in these ready made trophy players. If anything, it only provides positive proof that this is how to do it. We keep saying NUFC are a big club, one of the biggest. Well, they have to act like one of the biggest clubs or such talk is meaningless and in the end anything else will only produce an equally meaningless team. Keegan will do the trick if he is backed. I'm more sure than I ever was. Do you think Keegan will get backed this summer?