Big Sam, Little Mikey and the 4-5-1 formation.

[Ashley17]

For those assuming Allardyce will not accomodate Owen, would you be saying the same if Allardyce had got the England job?

[buzza]

Allardice surely knows that owen is one of the best strikers in england and the best english striker! Why the hell would he get rid of him?

Bolton are quite fluid AND MAKE GOOD USE OF THEIR FULL BACKS (BYE BYE CARR, BABA!!).

[Yorkie]

I must have seen about eight different spellings of Allardyce since Saturday evening.

[Tooj]

I must have seen about eight different spellings of Allardyce since Saturday evening.

 

Stay off the drugs.

[Geordie Boot Boy]

It isn't the same, one is rigid designed to stifle the opposition and designed to catch teams on the break, the other is designed to get at the opposition, to pin back defenders (hence forward 3) and much more fluid as it can be rigged to a 4-4-1 off the ball. You try going from 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 during a game and you'll get madness like us against Reading with Martins, Owen, Zoggy and Ameobi all playing forward.

 

What?  Bringing on a twelfth man without the officials noticing you mean? 

[Cronky]

We need to get out of the mentality of building a side around one star name. If Owen doesn't fit the system that Allardyce or whoever wants to play, then Owen can go.

[madras]

everyone seems to assume cos alleardyse(9 yorkie geordie)plays a 4-5-1 at bolton he will do here.i've always thought it would be interesting to see how his teams would play if he went somewhere with better resources.......looks like we may be the experiment.

[rocksammy]

"Critics say he's rigidly 4-3-3 but he only adopted that system at Bolton because it got them results," argues Neil McDonald, once on Allardyce's coaching staff at Bolton, now Carlisle United manager. "Anyway it wasn't out-and-out long ball, it was about putting the ball into areas where it hurts the opposition. Isn't that what football's all about?"

[Parky]

4-3-3.

 

 

Young..Taylor..Diakhatte..?

 

.......Sidwell...Parker......

 

............VDV..............

 

.....Dyer........Anelka...

.............Owen...........

 

[Guest teepee]

another reason why bolton may have been playing 4-5-1 at times is money - they had very little and strikers are expensive. And he didn't really have any proper strikers, so he adapted.

 

it is not certain he'd do the same here!

[Mr Logic]

Allardyce will choose a formation to suit his players, he's not confined to one formation.

 

And the players will be drilled in that formation and will be able to play it, not like just changing the formation and watching headless chickens running around as we have seen under Souness and Roeder.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

It isn't the same, one is rigid designed to stifle the opposition and designed to catch teams on the break, the other is designed to get at the opposition, to pin back defenders (hence forward 3) and much more fluid as it can be rigged to a 4-4-1 off the ball. You try going from 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 during a game and you'll get madness like us against Reading with Martins, Owen, Zoggy and Ameobi all playing forward.

 

What?  Bringing on a twelfth man without the officials noticing you mean? 

 

Even better is switching from 9 men to 12 men.

 

Coach HTT must have graduated from the Souness school of tactical know how

[geordie2000]

There is no real point trying to predict his lineup because if he does use the 4-3-3 formation, his favoured formation, then quite a few of our players look out of place, even some of our better ones.

 

They have looked out of place in a 4-4-2 formation this season.

[Nobody]

It isn't the same, one is rigid designed to stifle the opposition and designed to catch teams on the break, the other is designed to get at the opposition, to pin back defenders (hence forward 3) and much more fluid as it can be rigged to a 4-4-1 off the ball. You try going from 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 during a game and you'll get madness like us against Reading with Martins, Owen, Zoggy and Ameobi all playing forward.

 

What?  Bringing on a twelfth man without the officials noticing you mean? 

 

Even better is switching from 9 men to 12 men.

 

Coach HTT must have graduated from the Souness school of tactical know how

How is your maths, mate?

[Guest JamesD]

It isn't the same, one is rigid designed to stifle the opposition and designed to catch teams on the break, the other is designed to get at the opposition, to pin back defenders (hence forward 3) and much more fluid as it can be rigged to a 4-4-1 off the ball. You try going from 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 during a game and you'll get madness like us against Reading with Martins, Owen, Zoggy and Ameobi all playing forward.

 

What?  Bringing on a twelfth man without the officials noticing you mean? 

 

Even better is switching from 509,213 men to 12 men.

 

Coach HTT must have graduated from the Souness school of tactical know how

How is your maths, mate?

just about as good as yours

[Nobody]

It isn't the same, one is rigid designed to stifle the opposition and designed to catch teams on the break, the other is designed to get at the opposition, to pin back defenders (hence forward 3) and much more fluid as it can be rigged to a 4-4-1 off the ball. You try going from 4-4-1 to 4-4-3 during a game and you'll get madness like us against Reading with Martins, Owen, Zoggy and Ameobi all playing forward.

 

What?  Bringing on a twelfth man without the officials noticing you mean? 

 

Even better is switching from 509,213 men to 12 men.

 

Coach HTT must have graduated from the Souness school of tactical know how

How is your maths, mate?

just about as good as yours

What the fuck?

[sempuki]

I'll fly over to Newcastle and give both FF and Owen a kicking if this happens!

 

United eager to trigger Owen's £9m escape clause

By Sam Wallace

Published: 09 May 2007

The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9m.

 

Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.

 

Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.

 

The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen's wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested.

 

The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.

 

Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for

 

Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman.

 

"Speed is important to us," Ferguson said. "The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed."

 

With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer.

 

In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea's first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba.

 

United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday.

 

Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight's game at Stamford Bridge.

 

The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.

 

[Guest smoggeordie]

Quoted for truthery.

 

You didn't quote anything!

[Guest smoggeordie]

I'll fly over to Newcastle and give both FF and Owen a kicking if this happens!

 

United eager to trigger Owen's £9m escape clause

By Sam Wallace

Published: 09 May 2007

The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9m.

 

Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.

 

Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.

 

The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen's wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested.

 

The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.

 

Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for

 

Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman.

 

"Speed is important to us," Ferguson said. "The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed."

 

With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer.

 

In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea's first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba.

 

United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday.

 

Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight's game at Stamford Bridge.

 

The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.

 

 

Yawntastic. Owen will only go if Sam doesn't want him.

[toontownman]

Cant see Owen going anywhere in the summer.

 

He would be hated not just by Newcastle fans just for his lack of loyality after all the faith and money we have put into him. but more importantly because wor Al would give him a real kicking.

[johnnypd]

I'll fly over to Newcastle and give both FF and Owen a kicking if this happens!

 

United eager to trigger Owen's £9m escape clause

By Sam Wallace

Published: 09 May 2007

The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9m.

 

Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago.

 

Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year.

 

The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen's wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested.

 

The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place.

 

Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for

 

Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman.

 

"Speed is important to us," Ferguson said. "The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed."

 

With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer.

 

In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea's first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba.

 

United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday.

 

Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight's game at Stamford Bridge.

 

The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.

 

 

they didn't even get the transfer fee right so i doubt the rest is accurate.