LFEE

Classic...

Nope... Wise & Co.

Can't see where Bates is having a go at NUFC?... Just looks like the facts with a bit of player agent encouragement via easily influenced journalist looking for a story putting the usual spin on things... Bates doesn't once state we are being unreasonable... Not sure why I'm defending him... Guess the journalist got the reaction he was looking for judging by all the mis-judged comments...

Not really... Iirc his agent put the request in a few minutes after the transfer window closing much to the amusement of the media... Hope he turns out to be a bit brighter than his agent...

The over hyping of players by pundits using the phrase "he's a top top player" which has lead to the extra hype by some pundits now reverting to "he's a top top top player"...

River Plate survive relagation... What a surprise... :-/

Looking like Forest could be leading the race now...

It was a different French journalist - Xavier Rivoire (I think) but how gushing was he about Cabaye. If he is half as good as he said, we will have one helluva a player. Happy to stand corrected... Good to hear both them singing Cabaye's praises all be it a little over the top today I'm guessing... What did he say about Cabaye? Listen from 3:30 http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/hawksbee-and-jacobs/blog/2011-07-22/rivoire-taarabt-deal-psg-still-cards And for those using Apple products... Hard to pick it all up as the journalist was very excitable at some points... With regards to his footballing ability he raved about his passing and dribbling and made a few comparisons with Messi which he knew as soon as he said that he didn't mean so literally but on the other hand didn't want them taken as throwaway remarks... If that makes any sense?... Intelligent and creative but not physical and good enough to grace the current top four... Man Utd and Chelsea weren't interested... Arsenal were concentrating on signing Gerviniho and Liverpool running short of money... Revealed during an interview with this journalist a soft spot for Newcastle after watching us under KK's first spell saying "They made us dream..." when watching Ginola and Tino etc... and also discussed the passion of the Geordie fans which he wanted to experience and convinced him to sign and give it his best shot... If you can track the interview down it's worth a listen... The tail end of it really got my blood pumping in a daft way... Got the feeling this lad knows what we are all about and he's not come just to pick up his salary... Can see him dovetailing nicely with Tiote and Ben Arfa... Sorry... Finding it quite hard to convey... Maybe others who heard it will make a better job of it!

It was a different French journalist - Xavier Rivoire (I think) but how gushing was he about Cabaye. If he is half as good as he said, we will have one helluva a player. Happy to stand corrected... Good to hear both them singing Cabaye's praises all be it a little over the top today I'm guessing...

He was on again today on the H&J show... Mostly talking about NUFC with regards to this lad and Cabaye... Anyone who heard him talking on Cabaye would of surely had a little smile brought to their face...

Heard someone on the radio today who's name escapes me who seemed to know Given fairly well and hinted that not every play fancies living in the big smoke...

Focusing on NUFC in a bit on TalkSport according to the presenter...

On a lighter note... Chant of the night... "Bonjour!... Bonjour!... We are the Geordie boys!..."

Tickets just landed through door...

Can't remember him playing for PSG either... Journalism today... Shudder...

There was one edition of PES when he was practically the best player in the whole game imo. The Inter side was something else. Probably had something to do with the fact the creator of PES (Seabass) is a massive Inter Milan fan hence them always appearing stronger in comparison to other teams statistically stronger...

Quite a revealing article on Joey Barton in this weeks NME in case you are unaware... Basically hired the manager of Vampire Weekend to improve his off-field image...

People will probably put it down to the fact he never won the World Cup. However, he was clearly a brilliant player, and look at his scoring record for Udinese. I'd recommend anybody to watch the game when Flamengo played Liverpool in the Intercontinental Cup. Flamengo were far too good for Liverpool, especially Zico, who ran the show. ... You could be right regards his medal haul... More fool them... I wonder sometimes how much one's self publicity plays a part... On a slightly different level I'm always baffled how people rave on about Zola in comparison to Beardsley... But I digress... It's nice to see the Flamengo v Liverpool game on YouTube along with so much other footage that is rarely shown on these shores... Liverpool were made to look very ordinary against a team where Zico seemed three moves ahead of the game... It was also interesting to see the comparison of Zico v Gentile Vs Maradona v Gentile in Spain 82... where I felt the superior dribbling ability of Maradona was contained easier than the superior vision of Zico... fascinating stuff... I would encourage anyone who hasn't already to look up Zico's spell in Udinese... Zico = the benchmark in free-kick taking IMO...

Always makes me wonder why Zico is rarely mentioned when talking about the game's greats... Still my favourite number 10...