OTF

I think anyone would take an exchange of Geremi for Beckford (though they're completely different positions of course). If Hughton wants him and Ashley's prepared to greenlight the move I think we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and should move for him. If it doesn't work out we're in a better position than we were with Geremi (lower wages, younger player) and I'm sure there would be plenty of interest from other Championship (or League one) clubs who want a proven scorer at that level that we could sell him on to without losing any/much money if things don't work out.

Pointless dreaming, but wouldn't mind if we went for Morten Gamst Pedersen. Sam Allardyce clearly not playing him because he's a footballer and doesn't fit into his long ball bollocks. If he's free at the end of the season it wouldn't take that much to get him off Blackburns books assuming they think that he won't resign for them. The trouble would be convincing him to come to a Championship club. Creative player who can play down the left or in the middle.

No chance of that happening unfortunately. I'd welcome his exit as well. I'd prefer to see Guthrie alongside Nolan than Butt. Even though he seems like a logical replacement for Smith when he's not available he annoys me with his lack of running and in general his complete lack of use in attack (and the way he always seems to go into slow motion when he first gets a ball). Not having to see his flighted chips into the box/across the field ever again would make me very happy.

Was probably the player in our side who could best cross a ball, however you're never going to score off a cross that doesn't happen because the player wasn't able to get to the ball before a defender. Poor bastards who have signed him - though I bet he'll have a good African Cup of Nations. That's a huge chunk off the wages, and it appears that they're actually giving us some money as well? Astounding. The power of him having played for Real Madrid and Chelsea I guess!

Can someone please delete this thread. If there's going to be ridiculous speculation over players who are out of our price tag can we at least make then half decent.

Sad but true. I'm sure we'll hear that in not too long. Getting Joey Barton the decent footballer from 3+ years ago would be like signing a new player. Getting Joey Barton the player we've seen in spits and spats since he signed for us more than 2 and a half years ago is not like signing a new player.

I don't think anyone will be that interested in buying any of our players and for that reason I think we'll hang onto them all. At the same time we may try to bring in cheap players or players on loan. Other clubs will be surprised at how little Ashley is willing to pay. Gone are the Shepherd days of big transfers. Ashley and Llambias have successfully beat us down so much that a 1.5 mill signing will feel like Christmas has come again.

I've worn a few of my NUFC shirts in a couple of matches, nothing too serious.

Don't forget, we've technically still got Xisco.

To be fair to him Barton has changed his ways a hell of a lot since his earlier career. He's now no longer a footballer...

Then he went on to take what was possibly the best corner of the game. Unfortunately none of our players in the box were expecting a decent cross from him, so they wasted yet another glorious chance to score. Guthrie is a player who can pick out a pass and should be deployed in his natural position in the middle. Like Nolan he's not good on the ball, however I think he's more mobile than Nolan and much more likely to keep running (though they're both slow). At this level Nolan could play up front with either Carroll or Ameobi. When he plays in the midfield alongside Smith or Butt we're virtually assured that there will be no attacking passing coming from our central midfield. This season Smith and Butt don't have a goal or assist between them. Nolan as we know has 10 league goals, but has only chipped in with a solitary assist (on day 1 when he layed on a perfectly weighted pass for a Damien Duff goal). In contrast our leading goal creator is Danny Guthrie who has 8 assists in the league (as well as a solitary goal). Next best on the goal creation front is Andy Carroll with 6 league assists (4 goals), then Jonas with 4 assists (1 goal), Enrique 3 assists, Ryan Taylor 3 assists (Ranger 2 and the most of any other being 1). That says to me that we need to change who we're playing through the middle in order to change the way we're playing. If we had Guthrie in the middle, Jonas down the left and Taylor on the right we'd have three semi legitimate players who can create a goal. Smith still in the middle shielding the defense. Up front would be between Shola, Nolan and Carroll.

As others have said he actually put in some decent crosses (and a good corner) against Derby. ONe problem I've noticed is that he always seems to have his head down, so he usually doesn't know where his teammates are, and consequently takes too long to make a pass when he decides to. That said it was his pass that split the defense and sent Ryan Taylor in on goal. If Taylor had tapped it to the open Lovenkrands to his left it would have a been a goal.

...and then sabotage our promotion push so that he could keep knocking goals in in the championship? I don't think anyone's suggesting he'd be an automatic first pick. If the price is right though he could represent good value. Has to obviously (i) want to come here and (ii) want to prove himself at the top level.

This. I think he'll still be trying to play the ball in the Premier League and this will be his undoing against forwards who are infinitely better than the ones he's up against currently. His flat footedness will again become apparent against players with pace an a little bit of skill. Better than anyone else we've got though.

Why the fuck did Ryan taylor the greedy cunt not pass the ball into the path of Lovenkrands when he was clear on goal 1-on-1 with the keeper. Sure 1-on-1 is usually a good chance, but it's fucking not when you have an open man to your left who would be passing the ball into an open net. Disgraceful. And Steven Taylor you silly bastard. Head it away from the keeper when you're less than 6 yards out. Must have thought he was making a fucking back pass. Glorious opportunities wasted.

I honestly don't think Carroll or Ranger will go. Boyd could replace Harewood as we have Ameobi and Carroll to play the big man role. I would say that the only thing stopping Carroll going is whether anyone is stupid enough to come in and pay money for him. That could be the one saving grace, no club with any sense is going to purchase a player who could be unavailable for six months while residing at one of her Majestys finest establishments. The next Duncan Ferguson tbh.

I honestly don't think Carroll or Ranger will go. Boyd could replace Harewood as we have Ameobi and Carroll to play the big man role.

He's been quality for us this season, but in the premier league he was constantly beaten by player with pace and skill. If an offer came in for close to what was paid for him it would be hard to knock it back. Coloccini himself would surely want to play for real Madrid. He's also on high wages for us. With our current owner and chairman it's a fair bet that if he was sold that the money would not be reinvested info the squad and so for that reaSon alone I hope he doesn't go. I'd have to say that I think the whole thing is probably bollocks.

Basic lack of passing and movement in the centre of midfield (and extending out to the wings) in this one. We barely maintained the ball at all, let alone breaking forward. A quality headed goal from Nolan, and a good finish for their first. The other two weren't goals so cancel each other out. Cracking save from Harper. Too much stuffing about on the ball from Coloccini and Enrique, a sign that they're getting a bit too comfortable playing against lesser opponents. Spare for his goal I though Nolan was particularly weak. Guthrie tried hard but once again showed that he is clearly not a winger. He cannot beat anyone for pace, and consequently always has to check back inside slowing the play down. Thankfully their thick defenders didn't figure this out for pretty much the entire match. Butt was defensively quite good, but if he didn't constantly lopp the ball aimlessly forward he may have had less to do. Pancrate and Lovenkrands had nothing to do when they came on, because the ball was played over our midfield more often than not, and neither of them are targetmen. Carroll obviously is and did a good job. I'm thinking we'll see him start against Derby alongside Shola. Butt will probably miss out with Smith coming back in.

My point was that if you have forwards that are constantly attempting to 'dictate the pace of the game', and close down opposing players it can sometimes be to the detriment of them scoring. There's plenty of forwards who are lazy as fuck who have made a great career out of scoring enough goals to make managers, chairmen and supporters forget about the other 70 odd minutes where they're doing fuck all. To name but a few there's Van Nistelrooj, Crespo and Yakubu. It's the midfield that should largely be dictating the pace of the game and bossing possession. I didn't mention Viduka because he's Australian, but because he's 'free' and I think could actually have a positive impact. At any length I even noted that it was just a silly pipedream. Viduka did ultimately fail here, largely because he was just about never fit to play. When he did take to the field he was clearly still capable of things that no other player in our team were (not just in the pie eating stakes). He's gone anyway and won't be playing any more professional football in a competitive league so I'll put that back to bed.

Half time trumpeting, yes please. I'm sure even at 35 he'd make 31 year old Geremi look like he's 80.

A good point well made. Better to have a striker who looks lazy, but has the energy to score a goal when required that one who expends loads of energy chasing down impossible balls, and heading on to noone ( ) who is then buggered when they get the ball in a good scoring position. People will scoff, but if we go up and someone could convince Mark Viduka to sign on a pay as you play style arrangement he'd be a good aquisition. He knows the area and the team, plus in terms of ability on the ball he's a class above anyone we've got or could realistically hope to get. Obviously in some kind of mid-retirement limbo at the moment, but I'd dare say he could be convinced to play some sort of bit part. /pipedreams

I could be convinced either way about keeping him until the end of the season or letting him go now. Definitely don't want him next season. Next season we'll need to bring in a decent premier league quality striker capable of scoring 15-20 goals to anchor our other permanent striking options.

I would've thought he was worth a place in the squad purely for his big match experience. He's got to offer more on the world stage than Carlton Cole or Agbonlahor. Agbonlahor offers pace that Owen no longer has. I'd probably have Agbonlahor in the side ahead off Owen TBH. However with Defoe in the side he has the pace of Agbonlahor so Owen's experience and dare I say finishing could come in handy at some stage. Carlton Cole is a bolter IMO. Darren Bent would be a better inclusion. Up front I think they should take Rooney, Defoe, Heskey, Crouch and one from Owen, Bent and Agbonlahor. In 2006 they took only Rooney, Owen, Crouch and Walcott. Ridiculous in retrospect in a squad of 23.

We're stuck now with having to give him a chance next season. There's fuck all chance that Ashley will sell if we're promoted. He's ignorant and deluded to the extent where he will think we'll have a squad and manager that's good enough to compete in the Premier League. What price a top 6 finish? In reality if we go up he should cash in and fuck off. Hughton should return to being a coach, a new manager should be bought in and 30 million pounds should be spent on improving our team.