Fatwax

Just got back from the match. Bassong (or number 46 as we all affectionately knew him as) was ok, didn't panic on the ball and looked fairly calm. I'd hardly call him prolific though. Based on this match I reckon he might be worth a punt. Guthrie wasn't as good as he was coming on at Hartlepool but made some fairly nice passes of the ball. A lot of justified banter gets thrown towards Shola, but at least he attempted to have a bit of a go today in his own bumbling way. Alan Smith is a fucking disgrace. As a mag behind me said, he's got no instinct. For the Krul fans, he made one or two half decent saves. Overall we played pretty poor, but half lpatches in their half and stringing passes together. Our lack of goal threat and poor crosses from Duff and Geremi all afternoon highlighted our need for ammunition for the strikers.

Any man that can keep Mark Viduka playing about 5-6 games in a row should recieve and OBE. Keegan is old school, he's in great shape aswell and leads by example. Allardyce talked a good talk, but if he can't keep up with the lads how is he meant to push them further?

You seem to know alot about this girl around the bike sheds..

Guthries a CM mate. And Beye isn't playing due to calf strain or something I think. Looking forward to seeing Milner in the middle though, always been keen on the idea.

Until Nicko rubbstamps this rumours, its bullshit. WUM etc. Nah, its plausible.

If it was just a job he wouldn't be getting insane wages for pissing about with a ball nor would he get the adulation of fans in the first place. Sorry but bollocks is it just a job.. As for doing nothing wrong, pushing so hard for a transfer and disrespecting fans and manager alike in the process is something very wrong to people who have given you so much support. Fine if he just sees it as a job and has no respect for the club or its fans, but also fine if the fans then tell him to take a flying leap.. yes? The whole argument falls down in the fact that, why should a player show loyalty, to just be sold? Look at becks as the prime example, cried when he had to leave man u, much like gillespie did, much like in any other profession. they are employees who they can get rid of when and how they see fit, the guy wants to move on to better places, and if he didn't want to go, but liverpool had come in with 20mil, i can guarantee villa would have accepted it and barry would have been left looking like a tit. As for the money aspect, they get alot yes, but that isnt their fault, i mean, you wouldnt turn it down, and the love of the fans, thats a bullshit argument, do you honestly think people care if the fans like them or not? thats like saying you care if a guy you meet at work likes you or not, you dont know them, as far as i am concerned, and i think alot of other people are concerned in life, u cudnt give a f*** about people who arent really involved in your life. Not really, he'd be playing for a superior club in the champions league. He'd be flattered and moving onto better things, but this way he's tried to engineer a move but not gone to the extent of handing in a transfer request so he can get his loyalty bonus. It's pathetic. The only difference here is that he wants to call the shots.

I'm heading to this one. Walked past a shop in Whitby and saw the Newcastle away strip for sale. Was half tempted to go in and buy it but managed to resist. It'll be a hardcore case of Ameobi vs. Ameobi. Will they cancel eachother out or push eachother to the limit? Amazing viewing for a neutral no doubt. Yeah right.

"It'll be like a new signing".

This is a massive bonus for me too. It sounds like he stood out of our midfield at times. Aways a good sign. Like I said earlier, this'll be Duffs first full pre-season with us too. Things like that will always help.

West Ham, Aston Villa etc. all lost their first friendlies, one of them against a non-league side. It doesn't really mean much but it makes me feel a bit better. The fact that we were a goal down too & away from home. Matches like this always help the manager see where needs improving aswell.

Smith wasn't that bad for Leeds. Oh whatever, despite Smiths best efforts last season, we still managed to stay up.

I cannot explain the joy I am feeling from a Duff hattrick. This'll be the first full pre-season he's had with us aswell. Nailed on, injured within the next 4 weeks.

He's too chicken to answer this question. you're like a little lapdog Ozzie lad, always getting under somebody's feet but i notice you didn't answer the question. i answered this earlier. Do you think Ashley will do better than the Halls and Shepherd with the same manager ? I don't, but the situations are completely different.. thats a ridiculous comparison.

I notice you didn't mention Smith or is he covered by the etc? Fatwax is French man. As he was saying, Duff, Milner, Guthrie et Al.

I notice you didn't mention Smith or is he covered by the etc? Hmmm, I really don't know. In my minds eye I can always see the likes of Duff maybe coming good and adapting based on the fact that at one time he was a class act, but I've never really liked Smith or been overly impressed with him. I'd love it if he became a reliable supersub or just a 8-10 goals a season striker for us because then he'd serve a purpose but as of now I'm really not sure.

I really can't wait til Doncaster now! I'm impressed with what I've heard from Guthrie, not going to jump the gun quite yet though as Geremi was a beast in pre-season. A few have scoffed at the idea, but I wouldn't put it past Keegan to get the best out of players like Duff, Milner, Guthrie et al.

Assist AND goal. Bring on MUFC. Cunts.

Nice assist from Guthrie by the sounds of it. Excellent stuff.

I used to work with the dad of one of your youth goalkeepers, Darren Loach I think, & he was telling me that King took a swing at Boothroyd at one point.. either that or something similar. He didn't play for a long time and they said it was an injury. Sound fella, he was. Edit.. not King, obvious. He's a c*** etc. There were rumours like that flying around during January of our most recent Premiership season, he actually was injured though, but there were also rumours of fights outside a nightclub and all sorts. Scott Loach, you might be thinking of? Some reckon he might break into the first team after a good spell at Bradford, a few Premiership clubs (including you) rumoured to have been interested over the last few months. I despise King for leaving us in the lurch in the way he did, just for money, he wanted 40k a week (just been given 25k!) and was told when we get promoted, so he engineers a move and fucks off. Now it hasn't worked out for him, so he ironically ends up at a club (most probably) that wouldn't have been promoted if we hadn't lost the momentum and a goalscorer as we did in him. Selfish prick, hope he fails miserably. Yeah, I just remember the surname Loach, haha. Don't know if he still is, but when I worked with him his dad was a doorman at a casino in Nottingham. He told me about the fight thing about last September I think it was but I have no idea on when it was meant to have happened or how much truth there is in it - but like I said, he was a sound fella and I had no reason to believe him. Not a massive fan of King myself, never really heard anything to make me consider changing my mind etc..

I used to work with the dad of one of your youth goalkeepers, Darren Loach I think, & he was telling me that King took a swing at Boothroyd at one point.. either that or something similar. He didn't play for a long time and they said it was an injury. Sound fella, he was. Edit.. not King, obvious. He's a cunt etc.

Chalk & cheese

The thing is NE5, I agree with you when it comes to Shephard and his ambition, how he would back the managers etc., but you never seem to be able to recognise any mistakes he (or the rest of the board for that matter, it wasn't a one-man show) made that directly affected the club and its league positions as the years progressed. 14 months on and I'm still very skeptical about Ashley. I can see alot of good that he's done with the finance and rebuilding connections within the community etc, but he has yet to put his money where his mouth is and go out to bring in some important, much needed signings that show our ambition - but then again I think it's completely unrealistic to judge the new regime so early into their tenure & especially to hold it against Keegans last stint here due to how different the entire situation is in the game, especially in the terms of finance. My point is.. I don't understand why you seem so against the board. They've yet to prove themselves compared to the old board, but they were hardly brighter than bright in their endeavours.

So True - and the reason why we should (if we aren't currently) be letting him meet with and talk to potential transfer targets - The man's pure enthusiasm is so infectious! I don't believe that Keegan isn't involved in the recruitment process. Terry Mac said in an interview that Keegan left his holiday in America for a day or two to speak to potential targets, didn't he?

We signed a player a week or so ago..

Doraemon! Amazing..