Consortium of one

we win 3-0. Geremi on a DFK, Coloccini heads home a corner and Guthrie scores late.

Owen is on the agenda. Item #3 to be exact, right after Ashley delivers his state of the team address and then passes the hat for donations.

An acquaintance of mine says he saw a guy in Manhattan that looks a lot like Mike Ashley. He was wearing one of the new shirts with "Messi" on the back and had "I <3 Kaka" scrawled in black magic marker on his briefcase.

Milner is Alan Smith with some skills. I think he can be a handy player and an asset to the team. Not a star, mind you, but a player that can definitely contribute. More suited to the middle though.

I heard he'll suddenly bolt from practice go save a baby from a burning building and immediately return and then stay late to make up his work.

If the new policy with the club is to be tight lipped about all deals then how they are handling Coloccini is consistent with that policy. They'll make the announcement when they think it's appropriate.

I'll try to help speed this along...

Great signing and I hope a few more are coming

I don't know nuthin. I didn't see nuthin. I was just standin over there minding my own business, aight?

Normally, I don't appreciate booing one's own players but in this case I agree. If a guy doesn't want to be there, send him on but only for a fair price. Until he's sent on, the player should shut up and honor the terms of his contract.

Can we all agree that we'd like to beat the living snot out of Ferguson?

No strategy should be set in stone but should be flexible enough to make a grab for the gold ring when it presents itself. The model for Newcastle should be to invest in scouting and development and concurrently signing younger players with potential to improve to fill in gaps in the roster. The idea is to avoid overpaying for mediocre talent. It sounds simple but it isn't because at some point the team may make a decision to overpay for a player. This isn't a bad thing, in fact it should be part of the strategy to raise the team up to the desired level. Take Pablo Aimar, just as an example: if KK identified him as a real difference maker, the kind of player that can help the team move up a tier, you make the move for that player, even if you over pay for him. He may not be worth every penny you pay him (or worth the length of his contract, maybe you add an extra year) but what he does for the team on the field, plus his reputation could help to make the club seem a more favorable place to play. I think the LTS should include the possibility of signing that fading star if it's the right player at the right time. The model does not have to be exclusively signing young, up and coming talent.

cautious. We need to fill out the squad, at least, so guys have to compete for playing time.

I always hated it when the help asked me for an autograph. "Carry my bag or get out of the way", is what I always said.

Spurs just signed him

Kind of a no brainer signing for me. Young, maybe he'll bloom. If not, we signed him inexpensively and he can provide some cover.

I understand what manorpark is saying. There's an old quote that goes something like this, "Shooting for the stars and landing on the moon is better than shooting for the moon and not making it." The premise being to aim as high as possible because things will always happen that make you come up a little short. I guess where I disagree is that aiming for a top six finish isn't really mediocrity, it's just another way to say, "Our goal is European football next year". It's good to have goals but for a team, I'd rather they take it a game at a time and do all they can to win the next game. If they do that, the long term plan falls into place a little easier.

^^^^^This. Looks to be a decent signing and I'm curious to see what the final fee was. We need more but hopefully this is the dominoe that tips over a few more. Like a lot of others have said, it's cool to see this happen under the media's radar. And since they haven't been referenced yet... I guess Spurs didn't want him?

Yes, today IS the day... post #100

he might have copped a plea in return for the sentences running concurrently or already having time served.

Maybe it's not a lack of funds. Maybe the writers are assuming that and it's just a matter of the staff agreeing that they aren't going to overpay for a certain class of player. The only time you should overpay is when you have the chance to bring in an impact player.

I voted B but with a caveat. Who's going to buy him injured? Get him on the pitch and hope to hell he has something left. If he does has something left, you'll see what kind of value he has. Maybe he can still be good enough to keep, doubtful, but maybe. Still, people are going to want to see if he's healthy before they spend a dime on him. No choice really, other than to just release him and pay him anywyas.

There were some players that show marked improvement towards the end of the season and Taylor was one of them. He's young, wants to stay so it's worth it to make this investment in him.

where's my 100? Geez, that'd be what, $200 American?

nah, that can't be, we;ve got a sooper dooper new owner to replace the fat b****** who prevented the club from winning every game they played and so everything is just fantastic Well, this is a pleasant surprise, isn't it? Glad to see you finally "on board" with the new regime!