OTF

ffs man step up the Ranger Oh well, that will remove any chance of other teams being interested in Martins in this window.

As far as I can see the only three players that he could be talking about are: Xisco - 5 million back to Spain Enrique - 5 million back to Spain N'Zogbia - 6 million to England or France

To get this straight, I'm not for one second suggesting that all of this will actually happen. I have close to no faith in: - A recruitment team that buys a player for upward of 5 million pounds, gives them roughly 90 minutes of game time then decides that they need to be sold less than six months later. - A manager with minimal tactical nous, who spouts nonsense to the press. - An owner who constantly contradicts himself. Nonetheless I feel that if the steps I mentioned were there or there-abouts taken we could have the club on the up for the next two years, then who knows from there. What happens in this window will give us the clearest indication of our short-term future, because as we all know it would be foolish to trust anything that any of these clowns have to say.

I think we're at a critical cross-roads currently. We have a squad that is horribly balanced, with some players of exceptional quality, and many players who are passed it (or just never will be). We have an owner with questionable interests, and a manager with questionable talent and credentials. Then we have Dennis Wise, of questionable character, intelligence, morals, sexuality and effectiveness. Though it's not all bad. I honestly don't think our squad is that far off being competitive with teams that will be challenging for the top 6/8. So with that in mind I think that should be a very reasonable target for us to achieve as soon as next season if things are properly handled in the meantime. Key: This would involve a decent amount of funds available to us in the current transfer window in order to provide us with cover in key areas, and strengthen us in other areas. Namely we need to bring in cover for both fullback positions. A single player who is comfortable playing on either side may be sufficient, though a left and right fullback are preferable. Unlike many I have a good deal of confidence in Enrique's defensive abilities, so I don't think he needs to be replaced. Likewise I think Beye is an excellent fullback, so won't need to be moved out of the first team squad (obviously when fit). An investment of 5 or so million pounds may be sufficient to provide this cover, if we're looking at two player that may need to raise to 8-10 million depending on the resourcefulness of our scouting team. More importantly we need to spend on our central midfield. Butt has been woeful of late, and definately needs a rest. Guthrie is half decent, and if we bought someone good to play alongside him I think we could see them forge a partnership that will help Guthrie improve. Barton is still in the picture, and will have an important role to play when he returns. I think an investment of around 10 million is required here. They're the key positions that I feel we need to strengthen. After these 2-3 player I think we then need to look at bringing in even more midfielders. If we're keeping N'Zogbia then I'm realitively happy with our left side. Duff is playing well of late, and Jonas is more than comfortable on the left. So we'd really only need to bring in a right sided midfielder. Preferbly one with pace, and sufficient conditioning to get back to help out in defense when required. A big defensive midfielder in the vein of Papa Bouba Diop could be the go here. He could well be a possibility given Portsmouth's financial instability coupled with the fact that he has not been a permanent inclusion in their team. With this sort of investment I feel we'd be able to safely negotiate our way out of relegation troubles. Then comes the summer where we would again be active in the market. Stocks could then be taken of players who are no longer required from the current squad. Certainly the end of Viduka's contract (and Owen's) and the possibility of offloading Alan Smith and Geremi would free up considerable wages. This void could be used to increase the quality of our squad. Investment required here would be in the 20-40 million pounds range for a net spend (including any potential return on outgoing players). It's highly likely that Michael Owen will leave in the summer, so he will need to be replaced. This is not necessarily such a bad thing, as I never felt that Owen and Martins would make a good partnership (given that they're our two highest profile strikers it would be good for them to be compatible). These are the players that I feel could have a key part to play next season (in no particular order): Shay Given, Obafemi Martins, Jonas Gutierrez, Habib Beye, Sebastian Bassong, Fabricio Coloccini, Damien Duff, Jose Enrique, Charles N'Zogbia. The remainder of the squad are in some ways expendable. I do feel that we should certainly seek to have Steve Harper sign a new contract. In addition I feel that we're better off giving Ameobi a new contract as well, as we'd have to spend money where it's not really required in order to bring in a player better than him. He is at least very loyal. I'm sure Nicky Butt will sign with us again, as I don't think anyone else would be that interested in offering him a contract. Certainly not a club the size of Newcastle. They will be squad players, that should only see considerable time on the field should there be an injury crisis (and there invariably is at Newcastle). With that sort of investment we rightfully should be able to challenge for a UEFA Cup position. I do however feel that we would also need to replace Joe Kinnear at the end of the season with a manager more in touch with modern tactics and the player market. Thoughts? I'm most likely being far too optimistic and not thinking about all of the externally influencing factors - like the quality of the squads and managers that we would be competing with for these places, as well as our ability to sign quality players while we hav ethe likes of Joe Kinnear managing us. It could very easily go in a vastly different diffection from this junction, all it takes is a few players leaving.

Hang on.... someone is inferring that Joe Kinnear is talking rubbish?!??!?!

How does this man have so much money?

Yeah, I shuddered when I saw that as well.

Arsenal only just bought a left sided midfield player in the summer - Samir Nasri. Nasri is better than N'Zogbia and is developing constantly. N'Zogbia's development has stagnated over the last couple of seasons, Newcastle can probably shoulder some of the blame with him constantly being played out of position but nonetheless there is several areas where Arsenal need to strengthen more than on the left (where van Persie and Walcott can also play, plus where Adebayor constantly drifts). They're not a big spending club, so I don't think they would pony up the amount of money that Newcastle would want for N'Zogbia. Paper talk exasperated by N'Zogbia's foolish comments.

For the third match in a row Butt was horrendously bad. His dillying on the ball was painful to watch and almost gifted Hull a goal. Damien Duff is playing well of late, and Jonas was exceptional in the second half. Michael Owen should have scored in the first half, and should have been given a penalty in the second. Given again MOTM.

Yeah, it would certainly boost his popularity amongst Newcastle supporters if he was to sign on for the rest of his career.

Still feel for the poor bugger though. Honestly think he is a good player, who more or less gives his all whenever he plays. If he didn't have his horrible injury record, I think he could have been an excellent player for England. As it is I'm glad we're rid of him.

That covered 10 years, so take out £155M (transfers, Finance and Shareholders), it takes about £50M a year to run the club. Don't we get about £40M a year TV money? No way is he not in hefty profit with his transfer record. That's what's been bemusing me with the transfers, I can't see how we've not got a cash build up somewhere unless something major has changed that I'm missing. Don't think it's that likley that any of the better players from the higher teams in the Championship will be keen to let their players leave cheaply. Rather than potentially upset the balance for a small payout now, they'll be pushing to crack it into the Premier League for a much bigger pay off. Even still, there's some good players there - so I don't begrudge them for looking there. Plus there should be less of a change for these players as compared to those from foreign leagues.

He's bonkers if he thinks he will oust Ashley Young from left midfield/winger - and he's a rubbish defender. I'd really like him to stay as he is dangerous running at opposing defenders - just needs to improve his final options, which I think he will if given more of a consistent run in the team (so he feels like he doesn't have to score every time he gets the ball).

Allardyce isn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, I'm super glad that he's no longer our manager, but I think he should be able to keep Blackburn up as they have a decent squad of players. That said they are a little detached at the bottom at the moment, so it will be a telling few weeks to see whether his arrival lifts the spirit of their players.

I voted for Viduka, because he's the best player in the list. He scored a great tight in goal against Woodgate the last time he played him - though given Woodgate's latest injury troubles he's unlikely to figure against us. I think that JFK may start with Ameobi, but will bring Viduka on towards the end. I'd prefer if he did it the other way. Viduka will offer a nice target to Jonas and N'Zobgia.

Despite his recent injury troubles, I would take Parker back. We'd surely be able to buy him for less than we sold him to them. As a player though I'd probably prefer Barton, though he seems to be just as injury prone, and Parker is certainly the more likeable of the two.

Who did we sell that Keegan didn't want to go? (remembering that Keegan said the Milner offer was too good to turn down) The Milner offer was too good to turn down - ON THE PROVISION that the money from his sale was reinvested into the team. When Keegan made that statement it was on that basis. He was lead to believe that Milner would be replaced (and not by an injured loan 'signing').

Would hate to be Xisco. Poor bugger. Comes into a team all wide eyed and eager, then finds out that the iconic manager has quit and a large part of his going was your arrival. Then to make matters worse most Newcastle supporters are suddenly experts on scouting and footballing ability allowing them to deem you a complete dud after you play a game or two. And the cherry on top -> you pick up an injury that will keep you out of training for several weeks. Welcome to Newcastle! If anything it just makes us even less likely as a destination for foreign players in the future.

Don't think he did anything worse than Beye in that match and had a lot more work to do defensively. Don't know if you watched the match, but I'll reiterate he seldom had anyone to pass to when he cleared it. I'm not suggesting he's a world beater or anything, but in my opinion he's a credible left back and I think we're only going to see him improve. Buying a player of his age with his experience and bringing him to a new club you know 100% that you're going to have to give him time in the team to firstly adjust and then to develop - noone here seems to understand that. More important areas of the pitch to strengthen IMO, though we should realistically have cover at both fullback positions when we really don't.

Ireland is a good player. Ugly as sin though. Very composed in front of goals.

Good to see someone giving credit where credit is due to a player who seems to cop an unfair amount of criticism. If you honestly look at most of the times where Enrique sends a ball upfield there is noone in close proximity for him to pass to. You can understand him not wanting to hold onto the ball and try to beat a player on the dribble, so clearing is the best option he has. He makes a good amount of tackles, and is pretty quick. Leagues ahead of N'Zogbia in terms of his defense. In the first half in particuylar he had NO protection from Damien Duff, and with Bosingwa so keen to get forward he was often in a position where he had to try to mark two players - this is the reason why he was sometimes pulled in towards the middle - following runs from Joe Cole - the onus was on our midfield to pickup Bosingwa breaking forward.

If I had to pick who I'd have alongside me in the trenches the name Damien Duff would not come up That said, he was the one that was there when the best chance of the second half fell to Ballack, so credit to him. He (Duff) actually made a tackle in the second half too - almost couldn't believe it!

Stone the crows, guv. Why the hell not Bassong or Given MOTM.

Agree, it was a powerful performance from Bassong - to drop him to bring Taylor back in would be foolish. You could not honestly criticise any of the back four for their efforts in this match. JFK has an obvious favouritism towards Damien Duff. In my opinion it should have been Duff not Jonas making way for N'Zogbia. Stoked with a point! Keeping a clean sheet against Chelsea at the Bridge is great. Thank Shay for some good goal keeping, though Chelsea didn't create as many clear chances as they should have given their possession. Put that down to some good defending. Coloccini improved vastly in the second half with some very good clearing headers.

Would be nice if Damien Duff had a little more defensive resistance than a plastic bag. Good decisive defending from Bassong. He's the right sort of player to play alongside Coloccini, who it must be said is less than convincing in the air.