Fatwax

Didn't know where to put this little piece of ITK mis-information.. this seemed the best place. I work in a casino in Derby and tonight we've had quite a few Geordies in the place, since Stoke is fairly close. I was chatting over a busy roulette table about this story and he told me that apparently the NUFC board have been talking with Alan Shearer about taking over as manager.. and Shearer agreed to the idea. ..I want to add now that I have no idea if this would be mid-season, in theory or at the end etc. He said that his source was the club doctor, a close friend of his. He also said something about a signing taking place, but I could only get bits and bats since I was working at the time. Probably nothing.. but if true.. Hm.

Man Utd have turned down United bid. Breaking news.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did you say something about Crouch coming to us this window a while back? Not having a go btw, honestly enquiring.

In regards to signing foreign players, I'm sure I read a later interview where he said that he would always travel to the players and sign the paperwork at that end if possible. This way, if the players were put off by the cold weather when they arrived at Newcastle airport it'd be too late for them to change their minds. Who knows though.. He did sign some fantastic players.

You know, he did look a bit like Hugo, but definitely wasn't him. He looked early to mid 20s and was speaking Italian/Spanish (I'm not the best with languages, but that's what it sounded like. Ahhhh, Spitalian.

I think you're on about Victor Moses.

Fuck a duck!

Enrique not even on the bench..

When all is said and done, the fact of the matter is that the old board and the way in which the club was run was an embarrasment. By no means am I going to take away from the investment in players and stadium expansions and all of that.. but every time I read another one of Shepards comments in the papers, or another scandal - the whore house incident as an example - I just cringed. Since the boards departure, it has been revealed that the club was not too far away from collapsing financially due to the way it had been maintained and was heavily in debt.. I at least feel that our new board adds some professionalism. Even if we aren't storming the premiership, at least I know that the club is being rebuilt. The worst thing of all about the old board though is that they simply did not care about the fans. Argue what you will, but Shepard & Hall saw us as nothing more but cash cows. As far as I see it, I would rather have several seasons of mid-table graft and building with a professional and well run boardroom in place, with the same manager at the helm, rather than the joke that we had before. I don't care what the stats say and I definately will not disagree with the fact that when Dougie and company stepped in it got us into a much better place, but I would rather have what we have now - a developing football club with enormous potential - than the soap opera rubbish that we have had to deal with for so long that made us all out to be jokes.

Best insult ever.

Classic commmentary. "It's an Australian on for a Nigerian.. sums up the Premier League right now."

It was the promotion season of 92-93 - we had just come off an 11 game winning run, finishing with the win at Joker Park the previous week...ironically, it was AT Grimsby, in May the following year, that we clinched promotion with a 2-0 win ; Andy Cole got the first, just after half-time and Ned Kelly clinched it on around 85 mins - one of the best nights supporting NUFC I've ever had ; was lucky enough to get into the Directors' Box at Blundell Park, we were all going berserk when Ned scored. KK had a bucket of water chucked over him by Ned afterwards - always wondered if that was why he let Ned go to Wolves after the season ended(just joking !). What an amazing night that was. I was born and raised in Grimsby, but have always supported NUFC through family ties and my upbringing, although I've always followed Grimsby closely, what with it being my home. I always love it when these two teams play eachother.

Ditto, if Big Sam can get Duff playing how he used to, then we'll look a hell of a lot better in the middle of the park.

The morning headlines will no doubt read "MARTIN WANTS OUT OF TOON" or "EMRE TO HAVE SHOWDOWN TALKS".

4 points in 2 games.. this could be the turning point! This result was needed after a frustrating November, no matter how hard it was to finally get the result.

Totally agree!

Wasn't it the 1-1 draw with Arsenal last season after losing to Sheff Utd that saw us pick up speed a bit and get some better results? Hat trick from Martins, heh.

Where the hell has Cacapa disappeared to? Is he still injured or has he just been dropped? Apparently Taylor is still suffering from his back injury so if he plays won't be 100%. I think that currently our only fit CB is Roz..

Source?

To be fair I would too. I don't think he brings anyway near enough to a full 90 minutes to warrant starting him.. I think we lack real depth in that area moreso than others.

Since the Blackburn game, Same has mentioned preferring Smith in a strikers role as opposed to his midfield role.. wouldn't be surprised to see a midfield 3 of Butt, Emre and Barton and a 3 point attack of Milner, Martins and Smith.. thats my guess anyway.

One of the most enjoyable derbies I have been to in recent years is Sheffield Wednesday v. Sheffield United.. even though they're both from the same city, there can still be as much venom as you'd get with the tyne-wear matches. I also find it interesting that the Notts Forest/County derby is generally very dull and lifeless, whereas the Notts Forest v. Derby County matches have a real edge to them.

Come on boys!!

Haha, brilliant.

No beef with Europe at all. Just not keen on people assuming the world revolves around Europe and everyone else should change what they do to accommodate Europeans. Expecting the world to fit in with what Europe does is arrogant though tbh. The reasons for holding the ACN in Jan/Feb have already been mentioned. The sport doesn't belong to England, Britain or Europe - Africa have the right to hold their tournament whenever the f*** they like. If this ruffles a few feathers then yes, 'tough s***'. I just hope you are just as outraged when the likes of Given, Owen, Viduka, Emre, Milner and Taylor are called upon to represent their countries. Cos that's totally different isn't it? Well, it is actually. We make time in our own league to accomodate the internationals... Also, the world/european cups aren't in season time, but if they were, I would be very pissed off if I saw the players mentioned f****** off to play in some cup. With all due respect, you're missing the point. the Internationals? f****** hell! International matches involving African countries aren't as important? It was well known when the ACN was taking place for years and years. People are only twisting and fretting because they haven't been intelligent enough to have a squad to deal with it. Africa has the right to choose when to hold the ACN. Full stop. It seems that every time somebody gives you an answer of some kind you try to twist the words. Other International competitions are held out of season because then the entire situation is made easier for the club, country and also the player. Fair play if ACN is in Jan-Feb it's just one of those things, but you must be able to see why people would be annoyed, especially since teams like Newcastle will have to go another two or three fixtures without our top goalscorer potentially.