Chaser

Wouldnt anyone fancy a punt on Saha? I know its old boys club with Keano, but Saha's played here before and he's still a canny player. Him and Smudge could play up front again

5-3? We can only dream of scoring that many goals..

Shola without a shadow of a doubt. I have always said on here that I backed Shola, season after season and gave him his last opportunity once Shearer retired. He was always woeful alongside Shearer but did manage a few goals once partnered with a quicker striker. Since then though, he has failed to make any impression and now looks even worse than he did a few years back. He is probably worried about the Michael Bridges or Paul Robinson scenario of falling down the league however if he has that little faith about his own ability, he should do the decent thing as a Newcastle fan and disappear. Smith on the other hand disappoints massively. He was genuinely a decent player whilst at Leeds and I disagree about the better players ideology; he was an integral part of the team during the O'Leary years. It was disappointing seeing him go to Man Utd as I was surprised being such a big Leeds fan that he would step across to the dark side. Im not sure what Ferguson saw in him to play him in Midfield but I have quite a few Utd mates and they always rated Smith and said he would do well coming here. Sadly I dont know what has happened but he looks a shadow of his former ability. Id like to keep on giving him chances but when its so blindingly obvious that he's not anywhere near to scoring, you cant put a chance on him. I'd be interested to see how he fares in training to see if he is producing it there because if he trains like he plays, he shouldnt be anywhere near the first team. As far as the others go, we'll get little for Cacapa, Geremi or Vids so would therefore keep them until their contracts expire, unless theyre not performing by January and a daft offer comes in.

Bassong was head and shoulders above anyone else purely because he did what was asked of him. Because of the lack of fans, you could clearly hear Geremi shouting orders at everyone which explains why Keegan gave him the armband. I hadnt seen Smith finish a full 90 for some time and on the back of that, it really is embarrassing to see him play up front. On the basis that we've signed Collocini, I think we're still 2 players short for going into the new season. We really need another midfielder and ideally a striker who can be called upon to score goals. Smith & Ameobi should be sold off to the highest bidder which means we'll probably generate about £3m from them together if we're lucky.

I agree that defence might just be our strongest and most competitive position if Collocini signs. Midfield and up front pretty much pick themselves at the moment which leaves us wide open to the tacticians in the league. Why is Smith not scoring goals? We all know that Stroller should have gone years ago and it seems crazy that someone in the Championship isnt prepared to take him on (When you look at how good Ade Akinbiyi was once he dropped down) and we can get him off the wage bill. The guy is deluded if he thinks he is worth a place in the team. How about Carroll up front? Where are all the young promising British based players? Whats worrying is that we are still lighter on numbers than what we were last year. Granted some that left were just fringe players but if injuries bite hard we'll struggle again, particularly with the likes of Owen out.

If we could only get rid of Shola or Smith (Both if possible) and sign 1 striker worth his money that would be better than 2 who cant score goals. I would definitely look towards Bullard as an option. We know that Spurs like to sell strikers so couldnt we get Bent on the cheap? At least he likes to play up top on his lonesome

Excellent post and I agree with pretty much all of that however dont think any of the albums after BHN are a patch on their first 3. Interestingly the clip for the new song sounds promising and hopefully the rest of album will be much better. On the subject of Weller, I was a massive of fan of his first 3 albums to the point where I could sit and listen to an album all day on repeat without getting bored however, since Heliocentric, things seem to have changed a lot and he's only shown glimpses of the stuff which got me into his music. He is oustanding Live though.

Funniest thing on here for quite a while

Anyone got a figure of how many games he played up front last season? (whole match not just 10 minutes)

Im not one for giving people 3rd chances but KK is obviously doing so, and we are desperately short. This time, he better buck his ideas up, perform like the player he was tipped to be and to keep himself out of trouble. Any less than that and he should go in January.

Didnt Ferdinand mention something about worrying about Spurs in Satda's Mirror?

Does Kev include Spear in that "couple"?

How can you be happy with stockpiling players in the hope that one or two come good? Unfortunately its European football which secures the signings of proven quality as they want to play on the big stage. We are never going to win the league or even challenge at the top for honours but the purpose of this window should be to sign enough quality to see us get that European slot.

Nail on head there. If we are supposedly going to be better organised, then transfer targets will have been set out and the offers, however derisory will have been made. It hasnt come off and now we are looking at another list and it seems like we are struggling even to get those. The fact of the matter is that we are short in most departments, particularly defence which most concerns me.

So in the first thread he types "I know 4 players WE are after" then goes on to say that he's not a Geordie and tells us to fuck off? Wait until his dinnerbreak and he'll be back on here.

Is MA the new Doug Ellis?

so its shit then This place used to be a hive of activity but seems that its been quiet for over 6 months now, even during the season.

French for Pay Day?

Im interested in finding out whats going on over at Newcastle Online however theres no way I can join as I dont know my ISP email addy or password. Who runs the show over there and is there any way to contact them?? It just always seems a bit dead over here on the football side of things so wanted to see what shit they were making up over there.

not prepared to judge anyone until theyre wearing the Black & White.

Another one of the old guard

At least the Scandinavians can stick the weather up here and dont moan about it being too cold.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/t...ted/7489444.stm

Thats just the thing that makes the reactions and comments funny though, If we had signed a player from the premiership who we knew about (E.g Lennon) then im sure a lot would be picking up on the negative sides of his game. Im sure there would be quite a few cautious posts however because no one even knows how the guy plays, everyone is full of blind optimism Superb.

Anyone know if we've been linked with him already this summer?