"Zidane not good enough to be a First Division player"

[Guest Pie]

Jenas did do well for part of that season but I couldn't believe he won it. He beat Terry to it iirc.

Think youre right. Never been convinced of Terry either really. Very good player but stil not in the same league as Jonathan Woodgates time up here

[nobby_solano]

i'm sure i remember us being linked to signing terry years ago, just after the alleged bottle throwing bother / him being on loan to forest

[Guest optimistic nit]

How well a player does also depends on the style of football you play, how you bring them on, where they fit in the team, etc.

 

If Zidane hadn't signed for Juve would he have been the same player?

 

Impossible to say.

 

As it happens, we're shite at developing talent anyway.

 

How many years was Milner here without ever learning to cross a football?

That has to be the most hackneyed phrase in football. There are a number of players who have done very well here, some at an early age. Paul Gascosigne is one significant example. Chrissy Waddle managed at a later age too.

 

Lee Clark, Steve Howey, Steve Watson, Alan Thompson etc all made England squads.

 

We might not be very good at promoting youth at times but that is another issue altogether. If a 21 year old still needs teaching how to cross a ball then the problem lies within. Charles N'Zogbia didnt seem to suffer the same (level of) problem (i.e. I didnt hide my pie behind my seat when he was looking like crossing a ball) with the same people around him did he?

 

Viana looked shite at Wolves in pre-season friendly and hasnt cut it anywhere else since. Whose problem is that? Real talent of the Zidane standard emerges anywhere and in spite of problems.

 

We have had problems down the years e.g. even Mick Harford became an England International despite looking piss poor here.

 

Perhaps we're too impatient at times. Plenty of people on this board certainly are. Perhaps we have just bought another piece of turd. Or perhaps we imagine people will be better than they ever could be - consider the number of people calling themselves Taylor on here in the hope of some reflected glory.

 

I'm way too young to remember Waddle or Gazza as youngsters, and if that's how far back we need to go to find examples for the counter point then I think that speaks volumes.

 

Milner's inability to cross a ball clearly didn't lie within. He's twice the player now he's at Villa. Did he improve a jot while at Newcastle? Very debatable.

 

How long was Bramble here without ever getting any better? It sure as hell wasn't through lack of game time. He appears much more settled since moving on.

 

Louis Saha?

 

It's good that you mentioned Viana and N'Zogbia. They may simply not have the what it takes. That's a fair point to make.

 

That said, talent isn't innate. It requires hard work alongside the feedback and tuition of a good coach. There's a reason why the system is built that way.

 

We may have had moderate success recently with the likes of Taylor, and Carroll is looking promising, but our recent record doesn't have a great deal to be proud of in terms of youth development.

 

The only glaring exception in recent memory is Bassong. Excellent here, shite elsewhere. That obviously boils down to attitude... but that's half a coach's job: getting big time charlie to keep his head down and keep working on his game.

 

titus bramble was known as a good but inconsistant defender for ipswich and given wigans defensive problems this year i dont really think you can say he's past it. he's always been a very good defender apart from when he costs you goals.

[NG32]

i'm sure i remember us being linked to signing terry years ago, just after the alleged bottle throwing bother / him being on loan to forest

 

We were , SBR was going to pair terry and Woodgate, we had a bid in apparently for 6 mil as Chelsea were rboke...Roman turned up with his millions and tunred them around.

[Village Idiot]

Good news magpies, you are on Marca's pages today 

 

Bad news, they are having a laugh at you because of this Zidane thing 

[Dinho lad]

Good news magpies, you are on Marca's pages today 

 

Bad news, they are having a laugh at you because of this Zidane thing 

 

I thought Spanish sport papers are normally reliable? But they believe this crap?

[Village Idiot]

Good news magpies, you are on Marca's pages today 

 

Bad news, they are having a laugh at you because of this Zidane thing 

 

I thought Spanish sport papers are normally reliable? But they believe this crap?

 

Spanish sport papers are bull mate, they are the only thing close to The Sun or the Mirror in our press (we don't have regular sensationalist press thank god).

[Dinho lad]

Good news magpies, you are on Marca's pages today 

 

Bad news, they are having a laugh at you because of this Zidane thing 

 

I thought Spanish sport papers are normally reliable? But they believe this crap?

 

Spanish sport papers are bull mate, they are the only thing close to The Sun or the Mirror in our press (we don't have regular sensationalist press thank god).

 

I seem to recall a newspaper breaking the Beckham to real madrid story months before it happend.

[Village Idiot]

Good news magpies, you are on Marca's pages today 

 

Bad news, they are having a laugh at you because of this Zidane thing 

 

I thought Spanish sport papers are normally reliable? But they believe this crap?

 

Spanish sport papers are bull mate, they are the only thing close to The Sun or the Mirror in our press (we don't have regular sensationalist press thank god).

 

I seem to recall a newspaper breaking the Beckham to real madrid story months before it happend.

 

A broken clock is right twice day. Today Marca is opening with a "Kun to Real Madrid" story. In the past week they have had an Ashley Cole to Madrid story, a Rooney to Madrid story, a Silva to Madrid story... and FC Barcelona papers are just slightly less spaz in linking every player in the planet to us. Pretty sure that at least one will come up right by sheer probability.