Dr Gloom

without further additions, i reckon this is probably our strongest lineup. we will probably go 5 in midfield against man u. looks like we'll do well to avoid a spanking. -----------------------------------harper pirch--------- campbell (if fit)-----------collocini------------enrique -----------------------------------smith -------------------------guthrie------------nolan ---------routledge---------------------------------------jonas ----------------------------------carrol bench - krul, williamson, barton, lovenkrands, best, r taylor, (xisco/vuckic)

pretty gash this like

Canny, really? Or just better than the dross we have? And I'm not even sure about Zamora in that respect, he had a great season last year but before that was an absolute joke. Maybe I shouldn't have said I wouldn't take either Cole or Zamora, but I wouldn't pay a fee for either one. problem is it would be a hefty fee for either because they're english. you'd get much better for the £5m+ either of them would cost if you looked abroad

i didn't think smith would do much here but i've been amazed at just how crap he's been. same goes for barton.

i always thought shola would become a half decent player after shearer packed it in because the two weren't suited to playing alongside each other. turns out shola was just always shite and had nothing to do with his partner. the smith comment is a funny one. can't remember who it was that noticed but when i was trawling back through old threads, someone pointed out that he's on a goal run of 2 in 5 seasons.

probably had one of those inclusive all you can drink and eat honeymoons by the looks of it

sol-ossus campbell's response "It's pathetic. I had been training for three days – just three days. I am three weeks behind everyone else in pre-season. Don't they know I have just got married and been on honeymoon? "I accept that the picture wasn't flattering, and I do need to catch up on my level of fitness, but the training kit was not very flattering and showed up all sorts of things. The truth is that I am now in better shape than when I started off back at Arsenal after a long lay-off. I got myself back into shape at Arsenal, and I think I had a reasonably good end half of the season. "I am a naturally big guy, but I cannot rush my conditioning, otherwise trying too much too quickly could result in injuries. Of course I can understand the manager wants me to be in the side, but the season starts in just two weeks and I really need three to four weeks to get back to peak fitness. "I've seen it all before, done it all before, heard it all before, but that means I also know exactly what to do. It's a long season and I cannot listen to idiots. I know these things cannot be rushed. What I do know is that I will achieve peak fitness given the time I need to do it. It might be that I will need to play and then put in extra training in between games.

i'd probably take zamora and cole ahead of lovenkrands and probably carrol too because they've got the pace to play the lone ranger role. that rodallega got me a few points in fantasy football last year. don't know if he's a one season wonder but he's got the sort of movement our front men lack. lovenkrands looked a good striker in the championship. i'm not sure he's good enough to be more than a bench warmer this year. hope he proves me wrong obviosly as it doesn't look like we're getting a new striker in any time soon.

just been reading back through some old threads and came across this gem from yours truly " i think we will see the best of shola after shearer retires."

i thought yours would have been leighton baines related

it's not good business sense though is it? you'd think he'd try to increase value of his asset given he's clearly still looking at an exit strategy. a premier league club is worth a lot more than a championship club. why risk having to get out of the championship again? it surely won't be quite as easy next time. you'd have thought he'd have learned his lesson from last time we went down. just a couple of quality signings in key areas would give us a much better chance of surviving. you don't have to throw stupid money at it but something beyond the odd freebie or loan, surely?

totally. pace is key. in fact athleticism is almost as important as ability in the premier league these days, given the frenetic pace of the game. there's a real danger at the moment that as well as being outplayed in terms of skill and passing, our players will be chasing shadows half the season too. we absolutely have to sign at least a couple of players with ability and pace worthy of a premier leageu side or it's going to be a long hard season.

what is the stevie criteria of geordie? i suspect i'm struggling to meet it, given i've lived away from the region for so long. i didf live south of the river for much of my formative years too, which probably doesn't do my chances much good either

it does show that the situation there isn't always quite as awful as the western media makes out though alex.

god, what a depressing thought. are we really destined to become another west brom style yo-yo club? happy to bounce between the two divisions

i think our defence is actually looking as good as it has for a while, minus a decent right back. i admit i haven't seen much of perch but forest fans didn't make him sound all that. it's our lack of options going forward that is clearly our weak point.

What is, being under the thumb or not smoking? ha, i don't know which one is worse. smoking & no sex or sex & no smoking i thoguth the under the thumb route would prove easier. so far hasn't been the case Do you still have a geordie/mackem accent? what a weird question. i've got a geordie twang, yeah. probably not as thick as it was when i was a nipper admittedly Hows it weird you ever heard Sinton or Hutchison? it's weird in the context of this thread. i won't argue, my accent has faded. i've lived away from the north east for about half my life now. but what's that got to do with smoking? i wouldn't say "lenduz a tab marrah" to a londoner if that's what you're getting at. Neither would I, it's a mackem word. i always thought it was generic north eastern. i've certainly got geordie mates that use it. apparently it's a pit term, shortened from half marra. young boys were paired up in the pits and were known as half marras which was eventually shortened to marra.

carrol might get a few, but he'll get more with a better quality strike partner. i don't think he's mobile enough to play the lone striker role up front in the premier league either. he needs a pacey front man buzzing around him. tbh, craig bellamy would be a perfect signing for us

totally. the lack of new signings is troubling. just a couple of exciting new players in would give everyone a lift and probably guarantee a full house for our first home game of the season. there's no doubt we need at least a couple of new attacking players too. relying on jonas and routeledge for our creativity was ok on the championship. take those two out of the side now and we're completely lacking in creativity and pace. you're right about the season we got bellamy and robert in. thsoe two players alone seemed to transform a n average team into a top 4 side.

Ahh, that residual Scampi & Lemon smell on your fingers. There's nothing quite like it in my experience. i can think of something it smells like

shame they stopped making brannigans roast beef and mustard. they were lush

What is, being under the thumb or not smoking? ha, i don't know which one is worse. smoking & no sex or sex & no smoking i thoguth the under the thumb route would prove easier. so far hasn't been the case Do you still have a geordie/mackem accent? what a weird question. i've got a geordie twang, yeah. probably not as thick as it was when i was a nipper admittedly Hows it weird you ever heard Sinton or Hutchison? it's weird in the context of this thread. i won't argue, my accent has faded. i've lived away from the north east for about half my life now. but what's that got to do with smoking? i wouldn't say "lenduz a tab marrah" to a londoner if that's what you're getting at.

can't see anything unpredictable happening this year. the usual 4 clubs plus city will dominate the race for the champions league. spurs will probably struggle to maintain last year's league form, especially if they do well in europe. the usual group of everton/villa will lead the chasing pack. we'll struggle to finish among the midtable also-rans without a couple of decent new signings.

the prospect of xisco's return being heralded as a new signing and us not bringing in a new forward to challenge shola/carrol/lovenkrands is a depressing one