Punk77

I don't think it's the wages his stalling at. It's the length of the contract. That's what I've read...

Agreed, Van Aanholt and Sturridge would have made my day.

What on earth are you talking about? Replacing him in Leeds....

I've always thought he's a good player. He got everything that he needs as an attacker: decent speed and technique, finishes with both feet and is class in the air. It's his mentality that has stopped him from realizing his potential, I think.

Are you just trying to pick an argument? The only way I can make sense of your statement is if I factor in your age: When Woody played for us, you were not old enough to remember and most importantly UNDERSTAND how good Woodgate was. The ONLY reason why Leeds sold Woodgate was because they were knee deep in debt. They HAD to sell. That's why you rate Ferdinand as a better player too, because him you can remember. Ferdinand is a better athlete in the sense that he's not injured all the time. But Woody ON the pitch is all about athleticism. He's unbeatable in the air, a fantastic tackler and fast. The fact that you manage to say that Woody is an inferior athlete (on the pitch) compared to Ferdinand, proves to me that you never saw him play when he was at his best. But what really separates Woody from Ferdinand is the formers coolness even in stressful situations. Ferdinand can loose his head sometimes then, Woody never did. When Woody played, Bramble and O'Brien suddenly took their game to another level. Woody was only 23 when he was with us (1 year younger than you're now) and already then he was a complete defender. How's that for class. That's why Ferdinand ended up at Man U and Woodgate at us, clearly. The bias on here in regard to Woodgate is incredible, frankly, but that part in bold is beyond a joke. If you care to remember, when we bought Woody we were a top 4 club. And why should Man U buy Woody when they just bought Ferdinand. Woodgate was REPLACING Ferdinand, he just came up through the youth system. And Woodgate was sold to an even bigger club than Man U, Real Madrid. But injuries ruined his career with them too. Get your facts right before you start hammering away.

I'm positive he's left footed mind. No he isn't. Pay attention to how he ushers the ball. Players use their preferred foot when the do that. As yesterday when he he dribbled past a player with his right foot, but finished with his left. The ball just skipped the post.

Told you, he's learning from past mistakes

That's because he lacks concentration, which he and Pardew now is working on. But we now see that Best got some class. He had some very nice touches, and he's getting better and better mano vs mano. He wins everything in the air. Quite unlucky that he didn't score yesterday. If he eliminates the offsides, he will get more clear cut chances and more goals..I think we have a diamond in our hands..

Even better, let us all prepare for a bidding war!

True, but those lines interconnect somewhat. Talks imply that an agreement between the clubs has been reached. And that's often the biggest obstacle. The talks with Enrique could consequently be a formality since they would have no problem matching his wages, and offers CL-football.

How reliable is this source? Don't know it since I'm from another country...is it jibberish? Sounds a bit weird that they're talking...illegal if no agreement has been reached between the two clubs. http://www.people.co.uk/sport/2011/02/27/ac-milan-to-sign-newcastle-left-back-enrique-102039-22952469/ The only way those talk could start is if we've agreed a fee with Milan, as you say. If a bid has already been accepted, then AC Milan must have offered silly money for him. And it's very important that he's sold to Milan and not Lpool. That makes the sale so much easier to handle..

If he wants to leave, so be it. As long as we get good money for him I'm satisfied. And it's much better that he signs for a foreign club. We'll sign Van Aanholt for a couple of mill, and save money on salary. And Aanholt is younger, faster and better in attack. Although I do not believe a word of that rumor Johnny..

Tiote was not the reason for our goal. Colo should never hit that pass in the first place. Tiote stood only a couple of yards away and was under pressure. Second, the shot was not hard or well placed. In other words, Harper should have saved it.

Are you just trying to pick an argument? The only way I can make sense of your statement is if I factor in your age: When Woody played for us, you were not old enough to remember and most importantly UNDERSTAND how good Woodgate was. The ONLY reason why Leeds sold Woodgate was because they were knee deep in debt. They HAD to sell. That's why you rate Ferdinand as a better player too, because him you can remember. Ferdinand is a better athlete in the sense that he's not injured all the time. But Woody ON the pitch is all about athleticism. He's unbeatable in the air, a fantastic tackler and fast. The fact that you manage to say that Woody is an inferior athlete (on the pitch) compared to Ferdinand, proves to me that you never saw him play when he was at his best. But what really separates Woody from Ferdinand is the formers coolness even in stressful situations. Ferdinand can loose his head sometimes then, Woody never did. When Woody played, Bramble and O'Brien suddenly took their game to another level. Woody was only 23 when he was with us (1 year younger than you're now) and already then he was a complete defender. How's that for class.

No doubt in my mind, I would have kept Tiote. Easy choice too, even if Enrique had signed a similar contract. Tiote is very unique as a DM. It's not very often you see a man in dm position with such passing skills. That particular skill of his, brings a whole new dimension to our play. He can act both as a creative and defensive force. Enrique on the other hand is more replaceable: Todays football demands more and more from backs when it comes to contributing forward: So will not be hard to find lb that could even contribute more in the offensive play than Enrique. Enrique still have some concentration problems. His strength is in his stamina and his ability man against man defensively. But we got to remember how much help Jonas is giving him defensively. It could be hard to find a back that has the same physical presence, but I think our game will hurt even more if Tiote doesn''t play. He makes Nolan, Colo and Williamson better too. And we've only won 12% of the games he's not been playing.

Magipie99 has some valid point. I see Van Aanholt as an ideal replacement for Enrique. From what I've seen from him, he's now already more poisonous in attack than Enrique. He will not be expensive either, since Chelsea got Cole. And we may be able to unsettle him due to his history with us. He probably settles for half of Enrique's pay too. No chance in hell that Chelsea now will sell Sturridge. Their own attack is not good enough, and they really need the mobility that Sturridge represents. And I absolutely agree about Sinclar at Swansea. He will not be expensive, and is a low risk investment. But if he succeeds, the payoff will be enormous.

That's nice to hear. In other words, Pards is not as authoritative as he used to be..

Agreed. I was quite surprised when that shot went in. It was loose, and not well placed. Harps has been outstanding lately, but I'm pretty sure both Krul and Forster would have saved that shot.

Agreed. And Pards has coped with a shitload of injuries, playing every match (except Lpool) without Carroll. Tiote's suspension was also costly, although imo I think he never should have played him.. But Tiote himself made that tackle..not Pards

Read my longer post on p 208. That will give you some background info regarding Pards. And I disagree with you. He got plenty of competence. Every player that has played under him has pointed this out. It's his ego that has hurt him in the past, not lack of skills. Give him time..SAF was mm. from being sacked from Man U. That trophy saved him. So margins between success and failure is minimal sometimes.

So have many players, you need more composure and more confidence at the top level. Agreed. It's unwise to throw him into the lions right now. If he starts, and doesn't score, that will both hurt him and the team. It will affect his confidence. He needs to build his confidence in Championship first, like Carroll, before he's allowed to start games in PL It's his roughness that result in his impacts when he comes on. At that point the opponent's defenders are feeling the fatigue, while Ranger is fresh and ready. If Ranger starts a game, his fatigue will correlate with the opponent's defenders. Thus he doesn't get his advantage of having more energy. How can a young promising talent progress by not playing as many minutes as possible?? I don't understand. He needs to be matched carefully. It's not sure he can handle the pressure if he's given the opportunity from start. The more games he goes without scoring, the more pressure will come down on him, and that could affect his confidence and become a real problem for him. Ranger is already benefiting as a substitute, he's getting more and more experience and will soon get his goal. But because he's a reserve, he got an excuse for not scoring. That frees him from the crack in confidence that may have been the result if he played from start in numerous of games without scoring.

Pink??Am I your bitch now suddenly

I think you're wrong. He did it very well the first season. (promotion). In the second he achieved a FA-cup final which they were unlucky not to win and qualified for Europe . The third season however, Ashton was also ruled KO. He was in his prime form. It would have been the same as removing either Colo or Titoe from our team. As a manager for a newly promoted team, you're always sensitive for injuries on key players. Some players are irreplaceable, period. As Pardew himself pointed out, without Ashton's injury he probably would have kept the job. And he's right. Too bad that boards often do not consider the effect of injuries on important players. And this is in particular important for newly promoted/small teams. In Soton he was treated like s***, according to some rapports. But he should not have poked Mr. Johnson into "reserved holes", of course. He was not sacked due to lack of results, but because Soton wished a more humble and down to earth manager. Charlton was already a sinking ship when he took over. He had no money to use at all. Every player that has trained under Pardew say he's a very skilled manager, and that he's good with people. His critics has pointed out that he can probably sound arrogant and uses too much authority because he knows he's right. The point is that almost every person learns from his mistakes. It's how we become better humans and function better in our jobs. And this goes for Pardew too. He's now done his mistakes, he will never do what he did in Soton again. And that's why he will not be that arrogant in NUFC. He's actually been quite humble in his approach to this job. In particular his respect for CH's work has been impressive. In sum MA has appointed a highly motivated, skilled manager, that is interested in rectifying previous errors. He had bloody Tevez and Mascherno, it's like removing Colo for Puyol and Tiote for Xabi Alonso Players he didn't want and couldn't fit into his system. Come on they're both world class, you make the system fit around them. You're serious? They where undeveloped players for pete's sake. Didn't know the PL-football, unknown to the culture, didn't speak english and so on. Takes years to integrate players, as Colo and Enrique have shown. They weren't world class when they arrived, but when given time, they became good players.

I think you're wrong. He did it very well the first WH-season. (promotion). In the second he achieved a FA-cup final which they were unlucky not to win and qualified for Europe . The third season however, Ashton was also ruled KO. He was in his prime form. It would have been the same as removing either Colo or Titoe from our team. As a manager for a newly promoted team, you're always sensitive for injuries on key players. Some players are irreplaceable, period. As Pardew himself pointed out, without Ashton's injury he probably would have kept the job. And he's right. Too bad that boards often do not consider the effect of injuries on important players. And this is in particular important for newly promoted/small teams. In Soton he was treated like s***, according to some rapports. But he should not have poked Mr. Johnson into "reserved holes", of course. He was not sacked due to lack of results, but because Soton wished a more humble and down to earth manager. Charlton was already a sinking ship when he took over. He had no money to use at all. Every player that has trained under Pardew say he's a very skilled manager, and that he's good with people. His critics has pointed out that he can probably sound arrogant and uses too much authority because he knows he's right. The point is that almost every person learns from his mistakes. It's how we become better humans and function better in our jobs. And this goes for Pardew too. He's now done his mistakes, he will never do what he did in Soton again. And that's why he will not be that arrogant in NUFC. He's actually been quite humble in his approach to this job. In particular his respect for CH's work has been impressive. In sum MA has appointed a highly motivated, skilled manager, that is interested in rectifying previous errors. Pardew's enemy in the past has not been incompetence (unlike Souness, Gullitt, Roeder etc) but his ego. But MA has now given Pards a lifetime opportunity, and I'm pretty sure that he will behave, because he's learned from earlier.