Football Talk 2005-2006 (Soccer)

[Doink]

I've been having an argument on another forum that sven should be sacked due to the way he treats players in friendlies+ he hasn't won anything after two tournaments, and mostly they're defending him!(though a few are on my side) Fucking amazing if you ask me.We'll probably get lucky with a victory against wales, but there is a wake up call right around the corner in the qualifiers...

Who would you get in to replace him?

Mclaren wont be any better, trust me on that, he'd prob play phil neville and nicky butt centre mid with lamdard and gerrard out wide. The guy loves playing players out of position and playing with 2 holding midfielders.

Big Sam - unkown quantity as has yet to show he has the ability to play against european opposition, has done well so far with bolton,however can he handle the pressure of dealing with a full team of big names rather than about 4-5.

Curbishley - again unkown at european level, always starts well but fails to deliver - would fit in well as england manager.

Souness - could the firey scott bring back some of his old success and would he switch aliances?

Furguson - proven, would/should be first choice, but would he leave man u to manage england - not a chance.

Pearce - would still play for england if he could, still needs to prove himself at this level first.

Coleman - always a fight against relegation, we'll leave him to take the wales job.

Hughes - trying to rebuild blackburn and make them a good a side that once won the league, did well for wales but very much doubt he would take the england job.

Benitez - Would bring some spainish knowledge to the team, not likely to leave pool so soon tho.

Mourinho - perfect choice but could he won the world cup knowing he can only use the players he has?

Moyes - has done well with everton but would rather try to turn scotland into a great team than manage england.

McCarthy - has the experience with ROI and did well, would be worth a shout to see how he does with so called better players.

Jewel - could he prove to be the 'crown jewel' in helping england to success, highly doubtful, prob wouldnt even make the short list.

Perrin - unkown, lets se how he does with pompy first.

Pardrew - Always hear that westham fans are calling for his head & he got them back in big boys league, the pressure for success is a lot greater in the england job, can he handle it?

Wenger - Has done brilliant at arsenal, defo worth a go but can he do it knowing he doesnt have any french players to bring into the team?

O'Leary - would love the opportunity to prove himself at this level, unlikely to be given the chance tho.

Bruce - never played for his country but by god he would give every moving limb in his body to be given the chance to manage them. Could possibly make the short list as an underdog.

Robson - could captain marvel return to the england fold, could he bring the success that not only he but his country crave for, very possibly he could but unfortunaty was given to hard a time after he left boro so is having to prove himself at league level again first before he will even be considered.

Jol - can the big dutch man bring success to england, the fa will wait to see what he does at spurs first.

Abramovich - what? just coz he's hasnt managed a football team before, fuck that shit, the guy could bribe fifa, allowing him to buy the brazil team, buy their citizanships for england and then put them all in white england shirts and buy us the....sorry win us the world cup, pretty much like he did at chelsea! *awaits dazz to kick off*:shifty:

& the final choice has to be -

Mike Bassett England Manager - he drinks, he swears, he strips off to his underwear, he writes his england squad on the back of a fag box, he gets his players to do the 'hand of god' against the argies by god he has to be the number one choice !!!!!

[Londoner]

My top choices would be either:

Mourinho-Only i'm not sure if he would take the job at the sametime as being chelsea manager.But he would bring the best out of the players and will no doubt give everyone a fair chance.

Alan Curbishley- Ok so he's unproven at european level, but he has done the best he can with he squad he has, that to me, is what the international job requirement should be.

Steve Bruce- I've been impressed with him as far as management goes, could be a possibilitiy.

Peter Taylor- has experience at u-21 level, ,the FA may have him in mind in future to takeover Sven.

Basically i just want someone in who can make friendlies 'meaningful' again and give everyone a fair chance.Why do you think we always collapse in the second half of friendlies?Because Sven makes so many subs it disrupts the pattern of play. He doesn't give players full 90 mins usually. he gave rooney a full 90 mins and surprise surprise he scored!If you play players for the full 90 or atleast 70-80 mins then they might actually give a shit and learn to work well as a team.That is also why we collapse in the second half of world cups/euro championships, because we have not learnt how to work well as a team through-out the match. The players would be used to being subbed at half time in an england match, and as a result most of the time they wont be used to playing the second half for england, as a team.How did Greece win the euro championships?through teamwork.Which was down to good preparation(sp?) in friendlies and actually taking notice of them.It is also good for the morale of the team if the players enjoy their football, that is something i don't see under Sven.

I think anyone is better than Sven at the moment.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Mourinho's said before he won't manage England, only international team he'd consider would be Portugal, and even then not for a few years at least while he's still managing at a club.

[Doink]

The trouble is, if they are going to replace Sven, they need to do it sooner rather than later, I agree with TL about the subs, it completly disruptes the play and what normally tends to happen is that some players will have to change position for the person coming on (therefore in effect make 2 changes for 1 sub) e.g beckham starting on the right with gerrard in the centre, sven would sub gerrard, push beckham inside to bring on wright-phillips.

The other thing that annoys me is playing players out of position, i'll use beckham as an example again, what is the point in playing him in centre mid for a friendly when he is most likely to play wide right in a competitive game (i didnt watch the game last night so dont know if it was done, however i have seen sven do this before).

I wouldnt put it past sven to start rooney in goal for a friendly because he wants to see how david james is up front. sven is that much of a dick to do something like that.

My money will be on sven to remain in charge,england at a push to make the semi's in the world cup, then sven to quit after the world cup. Then id go with the long shot of stevie bruce for manager.

[Doink]

Clinton Morrison could be on his way to Norwich as they have had a £2m bid accepted. This could increase speculation that Dean Ashton is on his way out wth Wigan lining up a move for him. If I was a newcastle fan, id be demanding that souness puts a bid in for ashton, I think he'd do well up there, and no disrespect to wigan, if the guy has any ambition he'd choose newcastle as he'd be more or less guareented top flight football next season and he could learn a hell of a lot from shearer.

However with that said, I think Morrison will prob reject them as I think he will want to stay in the premiership with the world cup due. From the sound of things he's been angeling for a move to sunderland. Trouble is they have about 7 or 8 forwards there at the moment and I think now the fee is at £2m, it will be way out of there budget.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Beckham wanders into centre midfield whether he's supposed to or not, the twat.

[Wengerland]

Morrison is pretty much guaranteed a world cup place if Ireland get there anyway. David Connolly, probably the main alternative, had a great end to the season for us and is top scorer in the league after a few games but didn't make the squad for the Italy game despite Keane being injured, and Morrison and Eliott starting the season on the bench. Amazing.

The players have to take the bulk of the blame for last night like i say, no passion whatsoever, and if they need a coach to motivate them before pulling on an England shirt then they can fuck off. We were terrible under Hoddle and Keegan, remember that. Allardyce is probably the best English manager about but Bolton are horrible to watch, so it depends if he can adapt his style.

[Londoner]

To be honest i think Sven encourages them not to give a shit about friendlies.You can see it on his face, he just doesn't care.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Morrison is pretty much guaranteed a world cup place if Ireland get there anyway. David Connolly, probably the main alternative, had a great end to the season for us and is top scorer in the league after a few games but didn't make the squad for the Italy game despite Keane being injured, and Morrison and Eliott starting the season on the bench. Amazing.


Connolly is shit, that's why. All he has ever really been for Ireland is a liability (getting himself sent off against Belgium for stupidity, missing easy chances and a penalty against Spain in the World Cup, crying about it when he was called into a friendly squad late), whereas both Elliott and Morrison always put in excellent performances and work their balls off.

Also, Aiden McGeady is seen in the Irish set-up as a striker, that is where he played for the youth teams.

[Ogen]

Connolly is rediculous everyone went mad about him at the start when he hammered in goals against giants like Liechenstein. He never seems comfortable on the ball to me. Hopefully Elliot gets a good run in the leauge this year because we are in need of a rival to Morrison.

That Juve lad Miccoli is to decide between Benfica and Villa in the next few days. Don't really know much about him apart from him being great in Football Manager but I like the sound of really. I assume if we get him we pull out of the Baros deal and I'm fairly torn between the two really.




Also Jose is a legend plain and simple:


Chelsea boss has hit back at Ricardo Carvalho following the defender's outburst at being omitted for the start of the new season.

Carvalho expressed his frustration at being left out of Chelsea's team in both the Community Shield and the opening Premiership fixture at Wigan.

Mourinho opted to select John Terry and William Gallas as his centre-back pairing - a decision that left Carvalho far from happy.

However, Mourinho has wasted little time in responding to the Portuguese international and insists he must be prepared to wait for his chance in The Blues' first XI given the wealth of quality in their squad.

"Ricardo Carvalho seems to have problems understanding things, maybe he should have an IQ test," Mourinho quipped to Record.

"I am not happy to have heard about this through the papers.

"Ricardo has worked with me for four years and I do not understand these quotes, he probably needs to see a doctor.

"I told the players this summer that they will need to have patience because we have a great squad and everyone needs an opportunity.

"Carvalho knows how I work, I think he is just temporarily angry but I will speak with him personally.

"We can't have this kind of thing at Chelsea."

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Morrison is on his way to Norwich for £2m. IMO that's about his level, I don't think he's a higher-tier Premiership striker. Good, but nothing special.

As for Ashton now, I dunno. Norwich don't really need to sell, but Newcastle desperately need someone and they could do a lot worse *cough*Anelka*cough* than trying to land him. It'd take about £5m or more but as a long-term investment (what is he, 22?) I'd say that's decent money.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Some wanker at Rajah is posting that Alberto Luque is in Newcastle tonight for a medical. Smells like absolute bollocks, because Luque is actually fucking brilliant.

[Dazz]

Mike Bassett England Manager - he drinks, he swears, he strips off to his underwear, he writes his england squad on the back of a fag box, he gets his players to do the 'hand of god' against the argies by god he has to be the number one choice !!!!!

You seem to have forgotten all about his christmas tree formation :(.

And most people you mentioned have shit all experience at good clubs or in Europe, I don't like Sven but we can't get anyone better yet.

[Doink]

that was the point I was trying to get across Dazz, I only thought id mention the premiership managers and my opinions on their credentials as England manager.

At the moment I dont think there is any intention by the FA of replacing Sven. Like I said he will be ther until after the world cup (which we wont win) and then he will prob quit rather than be sacked IMO.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Bring back Bobby Robson<font color=#000000> and watch everyone refuse to play where he tells them to</font>

:shifty:

[Wengerland]

Connolly is shit, that's why. All he has ever really been for Ireland is a liability (getting himself sent off against Belgium for stupidity, missing easy chances and a penalty against Spain in the World Cup, crying about it when he was called into a friendly squad late), whereas both Elliott and Morrison always put in excellent performances and work their balls off.

Also, Aiden McGeady is seen in the Irish set-up as a striker, that is where he played for the youth teams.

He wasn't the only player to miss a penalty against Spain, and his attitude has been fine here. I remember Elliott missed an easy chance against the Faroes too. When he's on form he is a better player than Morrison, not sure about Elliott because he did very well last season and is quite young, but even he was dropped for the back end of last season, so i don't know whether he has problems too.

I don't want to argue about it though, as you, Eoghan and Adam don't like him and probably won't change your opinion, but neither will i. If he's not wanted then i'd sooner he didn't play so he isn't risking injury anyway.

The papers are saying Newcastle have made a bid for Luque, which would be a great signing if they pulled it off.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Luque, the 27-year-old Spain forward, was Souness' next target but a deal is understood to have collapsed.

Chairman Freddy Shepherd told official website www.nufc.co.uk: "We have made an offer to Deportivo La Coruna for Albert Luque.

"We are now waiting for their response which may or may not lead to the player coming to Newcastle."

[Londoner]

Dunno if anyone has said it in this thread yet but emre is injured for 6 weeks, just fucking great eh?I hope we get ashton but i don't see norwich selling him, ashton+Morrison could be a great partnership upfront.

[yianni]

Spot the dickhead:

http://www.fifa.com/images/cms/reuters/SNAP_Neville_BG.jpg

:lol:

[El Capitano Gatisto]

He wasn't the only player to miss a penalty against Spain, and his attitude has been fine here. I remember Elliott missed an easy chance against the Faroes too. When he's on form he is a better player than Morrison, not sure about Elliott because he did very well last season and is quite young, but even he was dropped for the back end of last season, so i don't know whether he has problems too.

I don't want to argue about it though, as you, Eoghan and Adam don't like him and probably won't change your opinion, but neither will i. If he's not wanted then i'd sooner he didn't play so he isn't risking injury anyway.

The papers are saying Newcastle have made a bid for Luque, which would be a great signing if they pulled it off.

His attitude stinks, and it's the entire package I am going by. I could see him being in the squad if he could be relied upon to nick a goal or score a penalty, but he's more likely to throw a strop or get sent off.

His poor attitude has followed him through his career. Morrison is a better player, too. Brings far more to the team.

[The Mackem]

Shit, Stephen Wright is out for the Liverpool match. We'll never win our first match in the Premiership for 100 years at this rate.

[Dazz]

that was the point I was trying to get across Dazz, I only thought id mention the premiership managers and my opinions on their credentials as England manager.


I gotta be honest with you, I only read your post at all because my name came up in a vanity search, I didn't actually read what you put about the managers you mentioned.

[Wengerland]

His attitude stinks, and it's the entire package I am going by. I could see him being in the squad if he could be relied upon to nick a goal or score a penalty, but he's more likely to throw a strop or get sent off.

His poor attitude has followed him through his career. Morrison is a better player, too. Brings far more to the team.

His attitude was bad, but like i say, we've had no problems with him. I don't know if he's got problems with playing for Ireland, but i've not heard anything like that being said.

Connolly gives the same effort as Morrison and is a better finisher, i'd rather have him to score in a one-on-one than Morrison, and he's a more intelligent player. It's his attitude in the past which cost him a chance of playing premiership football, Sunderland were sniffing around this summer but decided to get Andy Gray, who looked pretty average on the opening day.

[Londoner]

Shit, Stephen Wright is out for the Liverpool match. We'll never win our first match in the Premiership for 100 years at this rate.


Hahahahaahahhaaha:D

[Dazz]

Fucking gay, stuck 83p (all I had left in my online account) on 8 matches happening, and fucking Brighton lost, would have won £177.16 if they won. they let me down on last weeks bet too, don't know why I bet on them again.

[Nervous Ferret]

because gambling is bad :nono:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Coach Joaquin Caparros believes that Deportivo La Coruna should sell striker Albert Luque to Newcastle United if the price is right.

Negotiations appeared to have reached a dead end on Friday with the two clubs failing to agree a transfer fee for the 27-year-old Spain international left winger. Newcastle are thought to have offered £7.5million, but Depor are holding out for £10.2million.

"I am counting on having Luque, but I would understand his sale should a good offer arrive," Caparros said in El Mundo Deportivo. "That is even more the case when you consider we are in a delicate economic state."

Caparros replaced Javier Irureta as Depor coach in the summer, but lack of funds have hampered his attempts at bringing in new players and although Luque is in his plans, he is pragmatic enough to see his sale would solve several problems.

"My way of thinking is that should an important offer come in, then we should sell because that allows you to bring in other players and to grow," added Caparros.

"At the moment, I have heard nothing new from what I knew last week, but if we sold him, we would have to adapt."

-----

Fucking Leeds :foc: We will beat you in the end

[The Mackem]

Those bastard European Champions stopping our march to the Premiership.

[Londoner]

My fantasy team gined 21 points today, some of them still to play tomorrow. Sadly 16 pts will get deducted of that score after i made 5 transfers last week.the Bent-Rooney partnership should help though!

Btw, we really need a striker, i can't believe Freddy is being such a stubborn bastard about getting the money for Luque, now we have a chance of getting a striker our chairman probably thinks we don't really need one...

[The Mackem]

Great strike by Drogba today.

[packt up]

Best of Chelsea career no doubt.

[packt up]

In fact the one off his knee were better than the two sitters he actually tried to score with. :y:

[Londoner]

Damnit, I gained 40 pts over the weekend only i lose 16 of them, didn't think i would be so far down the table.Only 2nd week though i guess.

Drogba is definately worth £24m ain't he?

[Londoner]

Btw, Freddy Fucking Shitty Shepherd needs to fuck off out of Newcastle.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Everton have been rejected by both Kuyt and Owen.

Ahahahahaha, how many people want to reject them now - they are aiming for ridiculous quality of players though.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

And Luque has rejected Newcastle. Hopefully they can finish even lower than Villa this season to take some of the shine off us being so crap.

We've got Baros.

[Cactus Sid]

And Luque has rejected Newcastle.

Actually Newcastle agreed terms with Luque, but Deportivo wouldn't accept Newcastle's final offer.

[Londoner]

And Luque has rejected Newcastle. Hopefully they can finish even lower than Villa this season to take some of the shine off us being so crap.

We've got Baros.


Nice way to report the news.Get your facts straight next time, as Cactus said, Deportivo rejected our bid, not Luque.As I said before, Shepherd needs to leave, how comes we can bid £10m for owen but not for Luque?Something is not right.

[Rob]

Owen is a proven European and International goal scorer and has played in England before. Luque hasn't.

[The Mackem]

Can't believe we gotbeat, we deserved better. Although you can't let Premiership strikers run through the middle of you

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">fucks sake, how many own goals are we gonna score this fucking season?

Peter Whittingham laughed when i called him shit when he came over to take a corner near me :love:</font>

[Cactus Sid]

Beaten and we went through....I've seen this somewhere before :shifty:

[Londoner]

Owen is a proven European and International goal scorer and has played in England before. Luque hasn't.

I know Luque isn't a proven goalscorer like owen, but Luque would fit in our formation were using at the moment perfectly, as he can play on the left and create chances aswell as score them.He would be a good partner upfront for Shearer, better than Owen overall I think,Owen just guarantee's you goals, not usually assists.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

What the fuck...

Newcastle have made a club record bid for Owen, who said he'd accept being a Newcastle player.

£15 million plus.

Newcastle.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Owen would suit Newcastle a lot more - they need a goalscorer, they simply don't have one anymore.

Shearer is officially past it now, Ameobi just confuses himself with those big black legs, and Chopra is a Division one player at best.

Owen in front of a solid classy midfield might put them Top 8.

[Londoner]

I woke up exactly as this news broke today, best news I could've woken up to. this is alot different to when we bidded for rooney, we never seriously wanted rooney as ive explained before somewhere in this thread, but we seriously want Owen, plus Madrid have agreed to our offer,Everton didn't agree to the Rooney bid.I just can't wait until this transfer goes through, however if it doens't go through then i will be incredibly pissed off.

[Doink]

It all depends on Owen himself, he has stated he would prefer to go back to Liverpool & will only go to Newcastle on loan should the liverpool move not materialise.

The fee is believed to be £18m, not a bad profit for Real, I cant see liverpool buying him unless they sell Cinama, Cisse or Morientes. The only other option is for Benni to change his system or continue to use Cisse out wide.

It'll be a good buy for newcastle should Owen agree to go. LOL at Everton apperently putting a bid in aswell.

[Doink]

I cant wait to see match of the day tonight, apparently there was some good goals by Lua Lua and Mark Viduka. Skysports describe Viduka's goal :

Viduka smashed home a wonderful second which will surely be a candidate for goal of the season - even at this early stage.

The goal was all the work of the former Leeds man as he received a throw in on the edge of the Birmingham area, he then tricked his way past three players before unleashing a Van Basten-esque volley into the corner leaving Taylor stranded.


:drool: :yes: :drool: how good does that sound?

*awaits tv footage which will show the goal was prob a 1 yard tap in.*

[Doink]

I woke up exactly as this news broke today, best news I could've woken up to. this is alot different to when we bidded for rooney, we never seriously wanted rooney as ive explained before somewhere in this thread, but we seriously want Owen, plus Madrid have agreed to our offer,Everton didn't agree to the Rooney bid.I just can't wait until this transfer goes through, however if it doens't go through then i will be incredibly pissed off.

:lol: there will be about 60 thousand other gordies that will be slightly pissed off aswell.

[Danny Electric]

Wish we went in for Owen, our performances so far have shown that we need someoen to get the ball in the back of the net.

[toxic rooster]

Would you say you 'need him more than Ben Affleck needs acting school'?

[toxic rooster]

I cant wait to see match of the day tonight, apparently there was some good goals by Lua Lua and Mark Viduka. Skysports describe Viduka's goal :

Viduka smashed home a wonderful second which will surely be a candidate for goal of the season - even at this early stage.

The goal was all the work of the former Leeds man as he received a throw in on the edge of the Birmingham area, he then tricked his way past three players before unleashing a Van Basten-esque volley into the corner leaving Taylor stranded.


:drool: :yes: :drool: how good does that sound?

*awaits tv footage which will show the goal was prob a 1 yard tap in.*

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/neil.trodden/viduka.asx (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/neil.trodden/viduka.asx)

:drool:

[Cactus Sid]

Nice goal, but not really Van Basten-esque

I can't help but feel Newcastle might be shooting themselves in the foot over this Owen deal.

Owen said he wants to go back to Liverpool, but he would go ON LOAN to Newcastle for the season.

Newcastle then make a bid which Liverpool won't match (presumably why they made such a high bid)

So now Liverpool seem to be out of the equation, Owen has to say to himself "Do I want to sign for Newcastle permanently" and I don't think he'll want to. SO rather than having Owen for a season....they probably won't get him at all.

[Rob]

How the hell can a player cost £8 million, not play a regular game all season and win nothing and be worth £18 million a year later?

[The Mackem]

Because Freddie Shepherd is fond of bullshit.

[packt up]

COME ON OWEN

Woooo at us getting ripped off (probably us shitting ourselves over a Liverpool bid) but oh well he's exactly what we need.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

You could've had Henri Camara for £3m, you fools :nono:

[packt up]

:\'( Everton were robbed apparently

[Rob]

Yeah everyone is saying Collina had a nightmare. Apparently gave a foul against Everton anytime the ball looked close to going to Duncan Ferguson.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

How the hell can a player cost £8 million, not play a regular game all season and win nothing and be worth £18 million a year later?

Because he had a year left on his contract when he left Liverpool, I seem to remember.

[Rob]

Okay personally I thought he was worth at least 15 mill last season even in that last year of contract but Real Madrid still can't be serious to expect a £10 million profit on a player they did nothing with and who is about their 5th or 6th choice striker now.

[Danny Electric]

Good business for Madrid and Collina had a bit of a shocker tonight. Shame that really, Everton can feel robbed.

[Doink]

You need to be asking why newcastle have put in such a high bid? Is it because they feel guilty over the Woodgate deal, could it be that Real stil owe a few million for him and newcastle have possible included that as part of the deal hence the reason the price appears to be high. Real paid £13.4m for him last year, Id prob say they stil owe at least £8m for him, it's possible that newcastle could effectively wipe out the remaining debt as part of the deal and be getting Owen for £10m.

*accepts that this is a really far fetched theory*

Everton should accept the fact that Collina blew his whistle for the foul before Ferguson even made contact o put the ball in the net. However things like this happen all the time, Bent gave a slight shirt tug and got a foul given against him, if ref's were to penalise every foul that happened on corners, there would be a minimum of about 7 penalties in every game.

I remember an incident last season where i think it was frank lampard blatently blocked john terry's marker, obvious foul however the ref didnt give anything and it allowed terry a free header and he scored.

It all depends on what the officials can and cant see, last nite i heard collina's whistle go before the goal went in, however the tv claimed it was the linesman who gave the foul and if thats the case, collina was only doing his job and using his assistants.

*i cant believe i'm sticking up for a ref* :eek: :$ :nono:

[The Mackem]

Souness has ruled out the year long loan option

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/4182612.stm

Souness said: "As I understand it, the loan is not an option, not a chance. Not when we've made a whacking great offer for him that's been accepted. "He is contracted to Real Madrid and it is not his decision."
-------

He wants to be careful with what he is saying.

[Chavo Classic]

CHELSEA IN GROUP G!

FUUUUUUUUCK!

[Chavo Classic]

...and now Anderlecht and Betis. Liverpool are boned.

[Doink]

how come Man U had country protection yet the European & Premier LEauge champions didnt? I dont understand that one.

Ok i'll accept Liverpool never because they didnt qualify and have already had a favour done by being allowed to defend it, however why the fuck were united given it over chelsea, can anyone explain that to me please.

[Doink]

lol Big Dean Windass might be on his way to Wigan at the tender age of 36.

I fucking love the guy as his attitude when played for boro was spot on. I hope if he takes the chance that he does well, I also hope if Jewel does sign him that he will give him a good chance and a good run in the team. If he is only buying him as back up then FUCK OFF JEWEL LEAVE HIM BE AS HE IS DOING WELL FOR BRADFORD AND I LIKE TO SEE HIM KNOCKING THE GOALS IN AND DONT WANT TO SEE HIM SAT ON THE BENCH OR IN THE STANDS!!

DEANO DEANO DEANO DEANO

[The Mackem]

News that the bid was rejected was about early this morning.

[Rob]

how come Man U had country protection yet the European & Premier LEauge champions didnt? I dont understand that one.

Ok i'll accept Liverpool never because they didnt qualify and have already had a favour done by being allowed to defend it, however why the fuck were united given it over chelsea, can anyone explain that to me please.

Something to do with seedings.

[Rob]

Apparently Albert Luque is packing his bags for Newcastle as I type this.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Yeah I'm pretty sure UEFA have a ranking system similar to FIFAs, basically because Man U have consistently been in the Champions League for a long time they have a much higher ranking at this time than Chelsea.

[Danny Electric]

I think it's a good draw for us. Anderlecht and Betis are beatable.

[Doink]

News that the bid was rejected was about early this morning.

Last I heard early this afternoon was that Colin Todd had told jewel he wasnt for sale in his opinion but by all means speak to the chairman, Jewel faxed a £450k bid,which was initially rejected by Todd but bradford have accepted it and said the final decision rests with the player himself.

Something to do with seedings.

I still dont get how they were seeded over Chelsea, fair enough its Man U's 11 consecutive apperence in the group stage but stil IMO Chelsea or anyone who wins the premier league should be seeded before a team that finished below them in the table.

[Nervous Ferret]

Chelsea in GROP G. What a rippoff

[Y2Ant]

I don't really want Owen at all now, a year long loan is bullshit. He doesn't want to come to Newcastle so fuck him, let Liverpool have him back.

Luque :cool:

[El Capitano Gatisto]

how come Man U had country protection yet the European & Premier LEauge champions didnt? I dont understand that one.

Ok i'll accept Liverpool never because they didnt qualify and have already had a favour done by being allowed to defend it, however why the fuck were united given it over chelsea, can anyone explain that to me please.

Chelsea did have country protection, you silly cunt.

Liverpool didn't, because they were given an extra place in the competition.

Chelsea are ranked lower in the seedings because in the past 5 years they have not performed as well in Europe as any of the top seeds. It's pretty simple. It requires an attention span and a memory that goes back more than a few months, but then, still pretty simple to understand.

[Doink]

Chelsea did have country protection, you silly cunt.

Liverpool didn't, because they were given an extra place in the competition.


Absolute no need in that you fucking stupid peice of shit, I asked a simple question so there's no need for that sort of a responce!

It still doesnt make sence as to if Chelsea have the protection and Liverpool dont then if Chelsea are an english team as are liverpool so how do they end up in the same group as another english side, where's the protection there ?

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">Solano's red card appeal was rejected. :cool: ahhh fuck you O'Leary you ugly, whinging sack of shite. Accusing Hughes of cheating :mad:

Claiming there wasn't any contact when there clearly was :| I'd have extended the ban for wasting the FA's time with an appeal.

I fucking hate it when people give it the "He's not that kind of lad, he wouldn't do something like that." It sounds like the kind of thing stupid middle class parents say to the police when their kid gets arrested for nicking stuff to fund their drug habbit.

But yes, O'Leary is a dickhead.</font>

[Rob]

Because Liverpool aren't classed as an English qualifier therefore they could have been oaired with Chelsea, Arsenal or Man U

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Absolute no need in that you fucking stupid peice of shit, I asked a simple question so there's no need for that sort of a responce!

It still doesnt make sence as to if Chelsea have the protection and Liverpool dont then if Chelsea are an english team as are liverpool so how do they end up in the same group as another english side, where's the protection there ?

You stupid dickhole, Liverpool weren't classed as an English side because they have no country protection. They didn't qualify as a team put forward by the English FA, but as winners.

What the fuck would it even mean if Liverpool had no "country protection" if another English side couldn't draw them because they did? Are you really that fucking stupid? Does it not even look a little bit stupid when I put into words for you there?

In short: Chelsea could not be drawn against any other side designated as an English qualifier or in the same seed group as them.

[Rob]

Newcastle officially got Luque. He is signed in time for Man U on Saturday. Bad debut for the lad.

[Doink]

You stupid dickhole, Liverpool weren't classed as an English side because they have no country protection. They didn't qualify as a team put forward by the English FA, but as winners.

What the fuck would it even mean if Liverpool had no "country protection" if another English side couldn't draw them because they did? Are you really that fucking stupid? Does it not even look a little bit stupid when I put into words for you there?

In short: Chelsea could not be drawn against any other side designated as an English qualifier or in the same seed group as them.

Why go into the full fucking ethics of the champions league format to try and make yourself feel more brainy when you could simply say :

Because Liverpool aren't classed as an English qualifier therefore they could have been oaired with Chelsea, Arsenal or Man U.

Cheers Rob, Obviously I hadnt realised that Liverpool were not classed as an English qualifier and you realised that!

[Doink]

Newcastle officially got Luque. He is signed in time for Man U on Saturday. Bad debut for the lad.

He will prob start on the bench, I doubt Souness will start him as he hasnt had anytime to get use to his team mates, either way it could prove to be a good move or a bad move.

If he starts him, the other players arnt use to his style of play and vice versa so it might not work, however Man u will also not know his game so his movement might allow others to break through the man u defence and get shots in.

If he benches him then the way newcastle have been playing of late man u will pass the ball around and the service to shearer will be limited, however, if newcastle can keept it tight like they did for the first 80mins against arsenal, then they could bring him on and add a new dimension to their game and again give man u something different to think about. However at the same time if souness makes the sub to early then ferguson will take a look for a few minutes, asses the situation and then use one of his subs to counteract it.

Either way it may or may not be that bad a debut for the lad.

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">Man City away today; tough game on paper.

BUT FOOTBALL ISN'T PLAYED ON PAPER

COME ON YOU FUCKING BLUES</font>

[Mr. Monday Morning]

If Luque plays on the left he'll be up against Wes Brown. Hmmmmm...

[El Capitano Gatisto]

He'll play up-front, if anywhere. I'm thinking he was signed as a striker. Shearer needs a player like Luque up there with him, to get through the running, since Shearer is practically stationary these days.

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">fucks sake.

My team is so shit, it makes me sad :(

Ah well, always next week, onwards and upwards.</font>

[packt up]

You're above us Owen so shut up :(.

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">true and we're basically your B team :(</font>

[Y2Ant]

Dammit I wish I was there to see your boys get beat :@

Next year come to Manchester Pricey, and you can go to the gay village afterward ;)

p.s. Shaka > Westerveld :cool:

[Doink]

lets sign a forward that we r screamin out 4 and play him wide left then move him up front 4 the final 5 mins, thats what we need! the loque's (hehe u like that dont ya) that shepard was givin souness during that game tells ya souness dont have much longer left!

Its the same at boro, i left as soon as the 2nd went in, why take of the 2 players who give a fuck and were interested in the game and looked like they wanted it at half time? fair enough frankie was diving in a bit but he was more focused then downing (who was shitter than reizeger) and bring on pogagtez (who didnt look fit IMO & was to exposed by downings lack of interest) and take off our best outlet and most attacking player of 1st half in morrison 2 bring on shitieta 2 take him off after 10 mins??

maccarone wasnt given a chance as we basically went with 1 up front in viduka who had 2 on him everytime yet we stil tryed to put the ball in the air everytime to him/ Ugo was shit, he worries me everytime he gets the ball as he needs 5 mins to think b4makin a pass. no excusses tho, charlton simply out classed/passed/paced us and wanted it more than us. if we dont sign any1 b4 wednesday we are in 4 a dog fight. yakubu was lost, i heard a rumour he can only score at fratton park so he will only get a max of 3 all season, and that depends on us drawin them in both cups.

[packt up]

Hey Doink I would mock your team but then I would only invite counter mocking :(.

[Doink]

lol, i only mentioned your team as i didnt understand why souness buys the lad, says how good a forward he was, then plays him wide left. Thats not a dig at your team, just at your managers tatics. The only critisim i would give is that boumsong wasnt at his best and just b4 they got the 2nd, why the hell was loque tryin to shot from 35 yards from that free kick when a cross would have been the best option?

obviously if it had gone in then i wouldnt be saying that as its obvious he shot to try and impress on his debut. I think the lad was tired at the end when he dragged that shot wide after lifting it over the defenders head.

Boro, we were shit and out classed. Our best player was taken off at half time, downing should have gone, not morrison. Mendieta was a wasted sub, although maccarone looked alright and deserves another chance, Doriva would have been a better choice to bring on and try and get a grip in midfield. We have no creativity once Morrison is not on the pitch and Yakubu will be on soccer am this week in the taxi section of the show after that airshot he did! He di well to make the chance then goes and does that, you cant help but laugh.

Bottom 3 at end of season on current form is going to be:

18. Middlesbrough
19. Newcastle
20. Sunderland

And ive only put boro above newcastle due to fact newcastle cant score, and sunderland bottom due to the losing streak they are currently on.

[The Mackem]

I have every confidence that there will be at least one game which we do not lose.

[Rob Ban Fan]

yakubu was lost, i heard a rumour he can only score at fratton park so he will only get a max of 3 all season, and that depends on us drawin them in both cups.

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">Last season he was absolute cack. He got lazy and shit and never bothered running for anything. His scoring rate was actually pretty cack but it looks much better cos he got about 7 penalties. Had we not sold David Unsworth it would've looked a lot worse.

He very rarely scored away from home but he did a few times and a lot of his goals were very lucky (Bolton at home one flicked up off de Zeeuw and his Yakubu in hte side of the head and went in. At home against you Quadrue put it in but I think Yak got credited with it.)

His game was all about pace and power, he has a shit touch and isn't a good finisher but when he ran at defenders, they cacked it. The problem was, some dickhead agent; Barry Silkman (who apparently works for Boro) unsettled him and he stopped running for us. We all figured that once he went to Boro he'd start working hard again but maybe not. *shrug*</font>

[Rob]

I'd bet my computer on Boro not going down.

[Doink]

Barry Silkman doesnt work for us as far as i'm aware but you never truely know what goes on behind the scenes do you so maybe he does i dunno!?!

Rob I hope to god you dont lose your computer, however the way we were completely outplayed by Charlton really worries me.

lol on how you wont bet your computer against newcastle or sunderland going down !

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Baros looked great on his debut the other day. I had no idea how fast and strong he was.

My fingers are crossed that he thrives on being the main striker at a club. His arrival will almost definitely kick Angel's arse into gear too. Those two and Phillips are a great three to have vying for the top 3 places, with Lukey Moore growing into maturity.

[Cactus Sid]

Owen's gone to Newcastle.

So Sheppard finally got the big one....thank god Souness is there to fuck it up for him.

I love the fact they think they'll do the age old trick of "Ah, we'll score twice as many as we let in"....will they fuck.

[The Mackem]

I'm a bit gutted that we've given Chelsea a 12 point lead but it's not impossible to turn it around.

[packt up]

MICHAEL OWEN MOTHERFUCKER

AKSDJFKASDJFALSD Seriously so happy right now :D

Think you've missed your last chance to be above Newcastle now Mackem :(.

[packt up]

And of course you won't go down Doink you silly sausage.

[Doink]

Michael Owen has agreed to join Newcastle after holding talks with The Magpies and former club Liverpool.

The Real Madrid star held discussions with Newcastle and Liverpool on Monday and he has now agreed a four-year deal at St James' Park.

Owen is currently undergoing a medical on Tyneside and he successfully comes through that he will become the club's new record signing.

The England international's future has been the subject of intense speculation all summer with Real Madrid bringing in Brazilian duo Robinho and Julio Baptista.

Owen had been worried about his international ambitions if he was not going to be playing regularly at Real and he decided that he needed to leave the Spanish club to safeguard his England place ahead of next summer's World Cup.

The news is a massive boost for Newcastle boss Graeme Souness following his side's dismal start to the season which has seen Newcastle fail to win a game and score a goal this season.

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd hailed the signing of Owen as one of his proudest moments at the club.

"Bringing Michael to St. James' Park will rank alongside the signing of Alan Shearer as my proudest moment at Newcastle United," Shepherd told the club's official website.

"Newcastle fans love centre-forwards and Michael is a fantastic goalscorer. He's someone we would love to build the team around and we hope he can help us bring success to the club."

Owen should make his debut against Fulham in two weeks should he put the finishing touches to his move.

[Doink]

Owen's gone to Newcastle.

So Sheppard finally got the big one....thank god Souness is there to fuck it up for him.

:rofl:

it is subject to a medical, lets hope that he doesnt have a 5-a-side game with souness before he takes the medical :shifty:

[Doink]

I'm a bit gutted that we've given Chelsea a 12 point lead but it's not impossible to turn it around.

YOU CAN DO IT ;)

[I refuse to Rosk.]

For once, I have no idea how I think a player will do.

Owen baffles me at the best of times. An obviously quality player but he seems to demolish team structure just by playing in his own mercurial manner.

Newcastle to do a Leeds, I reckon.

[packt up]

You know thinkin about Souness I'm quite baffled. I don't think anyone can doubt his summer signings have been very impressive - Parker, Luque, Emre and Owen.

And yet we are 19th with not a win or a goal to our name. Our starting line up against Man U wasn't half bad but then it was obviously hampered by Dyer and Emre not lasting for shit and then two defensive lapses. Although we deserved to be beat we were hardly overwhelmed.

I don't know what I'm really trying to say apart from Souness on signings = good. Souness in virtually all other respects = bad.

[Cactus Sid]

You can have the greatest team in the world on paper (i.e Real Madrid) but if you don't have a manager who can get them to play, then things go tits up (i.e Real Madrid)

Newcastle have got their priorities seriously screwed up.

As for Liverpool, I'd have loved to have seen him come home, but we haven't got £16 million to spend on him, when we need other areas strengthened. Benitez is going for a 4-1-2-2-1 formation and I don't think Owen fits into that

[Cactus Sid]

Also, I have to laugh at both Souness and some of the Newcastle fans they've interviewed.

Souness said that they were signing "The England No.9" and that "Newcastle sold itself to Owen"....yep, sure.

Also some Newcastle fan said that Newcastle were the biggest club in England, and they are now gonna win the title....all with a straight face

[The Mackem]

Yeah, they can be a funny bunch

[Doink]

Souness said that they were signing "The England No.9"

Are they signing Rooney aswell???, Fucking hell, I thought that deal had died last season, they kept that one quite didnt they!

Also some Newcastle fan said that Newcastle were gonna win the title

With Rooney, Owen & Shearer upfront I think they will be up there come the end of the season.

How much have they got Rooney for then? I cant believe Man U sold him to be honset, ud have thought if he new he was signing he wouldnt have scored and set one up on sunday....unless that was to throw the scent away from the transfer, well it bloody worked didnt it!!



:shifty:

[The Mask]

http://exodus.interoutemediaservices.com/delivermedia.asp?id=78ee11e7-6ab9-4d68-9c19-30e9cf456eab&delivery=stream

:lol: mourinho's half time team talk

[Oxstar]

Where did Newcastle get £35 million quid from? They only got £5 million for Bellamy. Maybe they should try signing a center back!

[packt up]

Newcastle have got their priorities seriously screwed up.



What do you mean by that? That we should have signed a centre back instead or that we should have been getting rid of Souness?

If you mean we should have signed a centre back then maybe but we needed a striker too. If you mean that we should be getting rid of Souness then I would still agree with you.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Bouma has signed up for the Villa, apparently.

Impressive signing, and it's good that we are beating sides like Lyon/Liverpool for our recent signings.

[Wengerland]

Cracking signing for Newcastle, can't really add much to that. They should be looking at top 5 minimum with that squad.

[Cactus Sid]

What do you mean by that? That we should have signed a centre back instead or that we should have been getting rid of Souness?

If you mean we should have signed a centre back then maybe but we needed a striker too. If you mean that we should be getting rid of Souness then I would still agree with you.

I think you needed a centre back more than a striker. Luque isn't the most out and out forward, but with the number of midfielders you've got, he should've been signed as a forward, and then spent the 16 or 17 million you've just spent on a player, who was valued about £5 million cheaper for the record, on getting a few decent defenders in.

As I said, the mentality of "we'll score way more than we let in" rarely works.

If Souness is still your manager in January, I'll be shocked.

[packt up]

The thing is this signing is only going to speed up Souness' demise if anything in my eyes. Expectations shoot unreasonably through the roof plus Sheppard will be bringing out lines such as "look at how much money I've spent Souness hasn't delivered blah blaah"

The squad is seriously not that bad - defensively still short as you mentioned but its not as bad as some teams out there (mainly due to Shay between the posts) Our midfield is pretty good though losing Dyer and Emre is a blow and now hopefully striking wise we are sorted. No more excuses available for Souey.

[Rob Ban Fan]

Barry Silkman doesnt work for us as far as i'm aware but you never truely know what goes on behind the scenes do you so maybe he does i dunno!?!


<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">Yak's agent was Pini Zahavi yet all the quotes in the papers and on Sky were from Barry Silkman claiming to be Yak's agent and saying how he was looking for a move to Boro even though both the club and Yakubu denied Silkman represented him.

Barry Silkman was at Fratton Park when we played you as a guest of Steve Gibson and Milan had him thrown out. Allegedly one of our director's; Terry Brady had some of his "mates" go round for a polite word with Silkman about what he was doing in the press constantly. Which I thought sounded quite funny.

The whole thing sounds quite funny really :$</font>

[The Mask]

Owen isn't all that special anymore anyway. when he lost his pace he lost a huge part of his game. got frustrating watching him for england.

[Doink]

Terry Brady had some of his "mates" go round for a polite word with Silkman about what he was doing in the press constantly. Which I thought sounded quite funny.The whole thing sounds quite funny really

:lol: seriously tho, Ive not heard of him being involved in any other of our transfers, however clubs do tend to bring in agents to help with transfers. It was prob something to do with keith Lamb (our chief executive) He's a smarmy little fucker and it sounds like something he would do.

Do you think Terry Brady could send his 'mates' to have a 'word' with Keith lamb too?

[Doink]

Our midfield is pretty good though losing Dyer and Emre is a blow and now hopefully striking wise we are sorted. No more excuses available for Souey.

Actually this could be a blessing as it means Souness wont really have to think to much about his selection. He can just play Loque, Bowyer, Parker and id prob go with Milner on the right however, Souness will prob put Faye in instead of Milner so that you can play more narrow, meaning your only outlet is Loque on the left.

IMO you will see shearer start to bang a few goals in now, only because the pressure is now off him, the tatic will be for shearer to flick it on for owen and then get on the end of anything the keeper parries from owens shots.

It could work but only if you play with wingers IMO. I'd also get Craig Moore in alongside Boumsong and move taylor to right back (this also gives the option of pushing Carr on a bit) that might sort out your defence.

[Doink]

Middlesbrough's Michael Reiziger is in talks about a move back to his native Holland.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :yes: :y: :y: :y: :wave: :D :rofl: :D :)







Im a bit gutted about that to be honest :shifty:

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Oh, so happy with Bouma.

Strengthened our depleted areas, finally:

Sorensen/Taylor

Hughes/Delaney Mellberg/Ridgewell Bouma/Laursen Samuel/Barry

Solano/DLC Davis/Hendrie McCann/Berger Whittingham/Barry

Baros/Angel Phillips/Moore

Now that can challenge for Europe. Thank fuck Doug pulled his chequebook out a bit.

[packt up]

Lol whats wrong with Reizeger. You were jizzing your pants when he first arrived. Is it just the injuries?

Yeah fuck Souness for playing Faye hes fucking terrible. If he starts selecting him over Jenas (presuming he stays) then he really has lost it. Carr is shit too. Never seen Moore play but I'd be willing to let him have a chance. Babayaro is shit and slow too flanks are ultra weak.

[packt up]

Bouma should be a class signing for Villa saw him play for Holland and he looked like a brickshithouse who could tackle. I would complain that Newcastle didn't get him but that would look stupid on a day like today :D

[I refuse to Rosk.]

I just hope he gets used to the pace of the Premiership - always a problem with Dutch bastards.

We have two fucking bullies as our centre backs now. Mellberg clearly clubs baby seals in his spare time, and Bouma looks like he eats the remains.

[Danny Electric]

Bouma's a good player. Bad move by him though, great signing for Villa.
Owen's ruining his career by goign to Shitcastle.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Carr gets worse every time I see him. Babayaro is, I think, a coke fiend, which would explain why most games he suddenly trances out and loses all perception of time and space. Boumsong and Bramble together seemed to be getting some sort of understanding, but individually they're not good enough. If Newcastle didn't have Shay Given they'd have been close(r) to relegated last season.

Dyer (if he ever gets fit)
Emre
Parker
Luque
Owen
Shearer

is a hell of a front combination though. I still say they should go for Ashton, if not now then at the end of the season when Shearer's gone and Norwich still haven't won a game.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

That Steven Taylor at Newcastle is a class player. To be fair, that was a strong-line up on Sunday they took to Manchester United, but with several players not close to full fitness (Bowyer, Luque, Emre). They have decent personnel in defence, they just need to work on the organisation and concentration.

[packt up]

Indeed Steven Taylor is class. Hes not scared of anyone and won't stand for any shit. If you try to dance past him or something he will just snap you in half.

[packt up]

Babayaro is, I think, a coke fiend, which would explain why most games he suddenly trances out and loses all perception of time and space.

LOL sadly true :( I swear to god he was never this slow for Chelsea but he is a complete liability. Not even half as good as Bernard who we let go for about 500k. Word about Boumsong and Bramble too but that partnership won't be renewed for a while.

AND I'm a fan of Ashton too. Always been good for Crewe and nearly saved Norwich last season.

So in conclusion MMM is always right.

[Danny Electric]

Newcastle have the tendency to ruin good players.

[Cactus Sid]

Oh and apparently they've made a bid for Nobby Solano

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Pretty comprehensive win over QPR therrrrrrrrrre, couple defensive blunders aside. Looking good :cool:

[Y2Ant]

I still dunno about Owen, does he really want to be at Newcastle or what, guess we'll find out. I hope he ends up bagging us about 25 goals and a top 5 finish, and scores a hat-trick against Liverpool at anfield, that would be hilarious :cool:

[Danny Electric]

If that happens, I will cry.
I don't think he wants to be there, which isn't good for Newcastle.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Top 5 finish, don't make me laugh.

Newcastle will do well to make the top half.

The rumour is that Newcastle are bidding £1.5 million for Solano and giving us Milner for a year on loan. If that's true then Villa should definitely accept. Nobby clearly wants to go for some reason, and if we get back what we paid for him when there's only 11 months left on his contract, then we can hardly complain.

Don't want him to go though, he was our Player of the Year last year, and top scorer.

[packt up]

SOLANOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO if we sign him it'll just complete Newcastles best ever week in the transfer market. Even if we lose Jenas then its still awesome.

[Doink]

Jenas has taken a medical at Spurs, Eric Edman is on his way out of Spurs.

Reizeger is in talks with PSV. He has been nothing but a liability hence reason I am happy he is possibly going. He was ment to be the best defender in Spain the season before we bought him, he is ment to be an international class RIGHT back, his best game for us was at LEft back and he has been totally shown up by Tony McMahon (England under 19 defender and our best right back). Once McMahon is fit, he should be first choice (any boro fan will agree with that).

In the meantime i will settle for Abdel Xavier as he is experienced and I dont want us to go sign someone that will disrupt McMahon's progress.

I've heard a rumour that there is going to be a big sale on at White Hart Lane today, there needs to be with all the midfielders they have! I wouldnt mind boro checking it out to see if they can pick up a bargain.

[packt up]

Tottenham are the biggest Midfielder whores ever

[Doink]

:?: :?: :?:

'Owen can leave for £12m in a year'
Wednesday August 31 2005





Newcastle persuaded Michael Owen to sign a four-year contract by giving him an escape route next summer, according to reports.
Owen was so reluctant to sign a long-term deal at a club with a history of instability and underachievement that Newcastle have apparently had to promise that he can leave after just a year.
The Independent claims that the magic figure that will trigger his release is just £12m.
The England striker was desperate to return to Liverpool, but they were understandably reluctant to pay twice the money they received from Real Madrid a year ago.
With Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea not interested, Owen's options were limited.
Now Owen will hope that the Reds or another big club will come up with £12m next summer to rescue him from Newcastle, if the deal does not work out, after they gave him the only option out of Madrid when they killed the market with their £17m bid.
According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle also assured Owen that Graeme Souness' future as manager is safe.
Owen himself claims that a combination of Alan Shearer, the Newcastle fans and the red carpet treatment persuaded him to join the club.
"I was uncertain that a Liverpool bid would be accepted in time and I wanted to play for a club who really wanted me," said Owen.
"My mind was made up, particularly when I thought back to the excellent meeting I had enjoyed with the Newcastle directors, management and Alan Shearer.
"We met the large Newcastle contingent at a grand country house, although I didn't know there were cameras in the bushes. The meeting went on for almost three hours and what was said made a very strong impression on me.
"Alan should work for the Newcastle tourist board when he finishes playing football.
"I will regard playing alongside him in his last season as an honour. He has been, and still is, a great striker and there is no way that Newcastle should be where they are in the table with that calibre of player."


:?: :?: :?: This transfer gets wierder by the minute.

[Doink]

Jenas has completed his move to Spurs.

David Connelly looks set to complete a £2m move to Wigan.

Bolton have pulled out of the Fernandes transfer due to 'financial reasons', Saints chairman rupert lowe says he cant see what the problem is, he is a 25 year old who can play on either wing, available on a free transfer & only wants £6k a week. (wouldnt mind boro taking a chance on him to be honest).

Lovenkrandes may end up at boro after all, he is apparently on his way down to agree terms as we have stepped up our interest due to Downings injury.

[Cactus Sid]

We're about to sign Simao :cool:

Maybe Bonera as well

[packt up]

Simao good shit :y:

Sheppard has denied that release clause - though I guess he would by default

England's current top goal scorer now no.10 for the second worst team in the Premiership :cool:

[Doink]

Simao good shit :y:

Sheppard has denied that release clause - though I guess he would by default

England's current top goal scorer now no.10 for the second worst team in the Premiership :cool:

:eek: I cant believe it, not only do you have Shearer, Owen and Rooney but you have also talked Bobby Charlton out of retirement.

Does he think he can stil do a job at this level?:?:

[packt up]

By current I meant still active :p SHEESH



And yes I do :shifty:

[Cactus Sid]

Oh.....Arsenal are apparently signing Mart Poom

[The Mackem]

Yeah we're apparently getting Hoyte on loan for the season. Poom's a good keeper but he's been injured for a while and I'm puzzled as to why Arsenal have moved for him. Quality bloke and a good goalscorer :)

[Cactus Sid]

I remember his awesome header :y:

Just to wrap up the transfers so far

Owen to Newcastle
Jenas and Lee-Young Pyo to Tottenham
Reto Ziegler to Hamburg and Erik Edman apparently to Rennes
Reiziger to PSV and Joseph Desire-Job to Al Ittihad
Khizanishvili from Rangers to Blackburn
David Connolly to Wigan

Simao to Liverpool, Poom to Arsenal and apparently Robbie Keane to Everton are likely by the end of the day

[Cactus Sid]

Yeah we're apparently getting Hoyte on loan for the season. Poom's a good keeper but he's been injured for a while and I'm puzzled as to why Arsenal have moved for him. Quality bloke and a good goalscorer :)

All of this is now confirmed

[Cactus Sid]

Oh and if your after foreign tranfsers, I know that Miccoli and Karagounis have signed for Benfica

[Cactus Sid]

Fuck sake

Benfica have refused to sell Simao. So we make an offer, they accept it, he travels over here to have a medical, then they decide not to sell him. WANKERS.

[toxic rooster]

Why the hell does Doink think Rooney's gone to Newcastle?

Is this something that everyone else seems to have missed?

[Cactus Sid]

No its more of a very bad joke which everyone has chosen to ignore

[Cactus Sid]

Some confusing shit with the Simao deal

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/list.asp?hlid=303054

Apparently he's passed a medical and terms are agreed, we agreed a fee, Benfica accepted, then changed their minds, but there is still a chance.

Only Sky Sports News have said its dead in the water....so maybe still a chance

[Rob]

Francis Jeffers is in talks with Rangers. Damn that's desparate!

[Rob]

David Bentley has gone to Blackburn on loan.

Apparently the Fabrice Fernandes move to Bolton is back on as is Nobby Solano's move to Newcastle.

[Y2Ant]

Yessssssss Nobby :cool: I think i'd rather have him on the right wing than Dyer, at least Solano wouldn't get a hamstring injury every 5 minutes.

Jenas :( wish we'd have got more for him (didn't Souness value him at £20m?) but he was never gonna get in the team with Emre and Parker, and IMO he was too good to be left on our bench.

On paper the starting lineup is pretty class, with the exception of two dodgy fullbacks. And the lack of strength in depth overall, the first team needs to all stay healthy this season if we want a top half finish :mad:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

<s>Robbie Keane</s> Van Der Meyde to Everton

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">we have signed Dario Silva :cool:</font>

[Doink]

Reiziger has joined PSV, get in!

[Cactus Sid]

Simao ain't coming, Bonera probably won't

With the exception of Alonso, Benitez has been utter wank in the transfer market.

[Danny Electric]

He left things too late.
Now we're goign to struggle at the back and we need a new lease up front.
Shame on him for thinking Sinama Pongolle can get the job. i always think you need 4 quality strikers and we have...well it's debatable.

[Astley316]

Bolton have pulled out of the Fernandes transfer due to 'financial reasons', Saints chairman rupert lowe says he cant see what the problem is, he is a 25 year old who can play on either wing, available on a free transfer & only wants £6k a week. (wouldnt mind boro taking a chance on him to be honest).

.

Bolton haven't pulled out, there was a period where it didnt look like the deal wasnt going to go through, but according to the bolton evening news, its a done deal

[packt up]

SOLANOOOOOOOOOO ON HIS MOTHERFUCKING WAY.

[Rob]

Michael Ball has left Rangers for PSV and Maurice Ross has gone to Sheffield Wednesday.

[Cactus Sid]

DIAO'S GONE

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Cactus Sid]

Actually, I should say "to Portsmouth on a year long loan"

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">Salif Diao :cool:

Take THAT Cactus Sid and Danny Electric :cool: Wheres your best player gone?</font>

[Rob]

I'm quite surprised nobody has made an offer for Nigel Quashie.

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">They only signed him a few months ago for over £2m, no one would pay more than that now and they wouldn't let him go on the cheap</font>

[Rob]

They'd get £2 mill on him now. Jesus, Leicester just got that for David Connelly!

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">I dunno, i thought maybe West Ham might go for him but i guess not. I wouldn't pay more than £1m for him, I think we did well getting £2.1m for him. He's improved since he started playing for Scotland but he's a bit limited still. ;)</font>

[Rob]

It's official that Solano is back at Newcastle. James Milner went to Villa on 1 year loan.

[I refuse to Rosk.]

Yessssssss Nobby :cool: I think i'd rather have him on the right wing than Dyer, at least Solano wouldn't get a hamstring injury every 5 minutes.

Jenas :( wish we'd have got more for him (didn't Souness value him at £20m?) but he was never gonna get in the team with Emre and Parker, and IMO he was too good to be left on our bench.

On paper the starting lineup is pretty class, with the exception of two dodgy fullbacks. And the lack of strength in depth overall, the first team needs to all stay healthy this season if we want a top half finish :mad:

You dickhead.

Solano is far, far, far better than Dyer on the right. 3rd highest assists in the Prem of all time should tell you something. Dyer's simply overrated.

Jenas is a highly average player, and I have no doubt that Newcastle practically ripped Spurs' hand off when they offered that much.

Your defence in general is pretty shit. You also have a lot of pretty boys now who will all get pissy under Souness - I guarantee you won't make Top 8. Your squad will be tearing eachother apart within two months.

[Cactus Sid]

Rasiak to Spurs....now I certainly didn't see that one coming

Fucking hell, they must have the biggest squad in the league....including Chelsea.

[packt up]

You dickhead.

Solano is far, far, far better than Dyer on the right. 3rd highest assists in the Prem of all time should tell you something. Dyer's simply overrated.

Jenas is a highly average player, and I have no doubt that Newcastle practically ripped Spurs' hand off when they offered that much.

Your defence in general is pretty shit. You also have a lot of pretty boys now who will all get pissy under Souness - I guarantee you won't make Top 8. Your squad will be tearing eachother apart within two months.

Sounds like someone's a bit bitter about losing Solano :(

Newcastle should make the top 8 no problem on paper and I think we will. Just depends how Souness manages them all.

And yeah that Rasiak deal came out of nowhere. Poor Derby - not going to come up now I think :(

[I refuse to Rosk.]

In many ways it's a great deal for us. O'Leary stuck to his guns on the price which Shepherd said he wouldn't pay and he got it, £1.5 million for a 30+ player who would be off on a free in 11 months.

And we get Milner for a year - no doubt O'Leary will stroke him and tell him this is where he belongs. He'll grow into a good player and we'll sign him at the end of the season. Or he could do a Carlton Cole.

[Wengerland]

hahahaha have it Derby.

Pretty gutted about Connolly going because he was our only real goalscorer but it's a tidy profit and hopefully they stay up so we get the extra million, apparantely it was going to be rejected but Connolly himself asked to go and can't deny him a crack at the premiership.

We've made Elvis Hammond's loan deal permanent and signed Iain Hume, who's also pretty highly rated, though neither are prolific. Ah well, have to see how it goes.

West Brom signed Curtis Davies aswell for £3m, which, despite a fairly inflated fee, is a good signing.

[packt up]

In many ways it's a great deal for us. O'Leary stuck to his guns on the price which Shepherd said he wouldn't pay and he got it, £1.5 million for a 30+ player who would be off on a free in 11 months.

And we get Milner for a year - no doubt O'Leary will stroke him and tell him this is where he belongs. He'll grow into a good player and we'll sign him at the end of the season. Or he could do a Carlton Cole.

To us Newcastle fans we sold him too cheap to you at 1.5m so we are just happy that he's back really for exactly the same price.

Milner I feel will become a good player, you're right. At the moment though I don't think he's got much going for him apart from his good energy. His finishing and final ball are all pretty poor. Thing is hes only 19 so plenty of time to learn.

[Doink]

We only ended up with Rockyourback & Jimmy Bad Hair (Rocembach (sp) & Xavier) which was a bit dissapointing but we have options now which im sure Mclaren will have to consider due to downings injury.

We could play 3 up top and 3 centre mid of Rocky, Boatang & Parlour or we could stick with Morrison on right & put young johnson on the left of even put French Franck on the left with pogetetz at left back, we could even put Morrison on the left and bring mendieta back in on the right.

However mclaren will prob go for no creativity of Doriva on the left, Parlour on the right with Rocky & Boatang in the centre.

I think we will struggle this season. Lower mid table finish is what im thinking at the moment.

[Wengerland]

Oh yeah, i saw a load of links about him but did Hugo Viana actually go anywhere on loan?

He's a pretty handy player really, would give Newcastle some good depth.

[packt up]

He's gone off to Valencia for the rest of the season.

The Newcastle fans really loved him but at the end of the day he was shit for us - lazy and just didn't adjust to the Premiership. I have no doubt he will go on to do good things elsewhere though. Plus like all his comments since haven't really endeared him any further with us.

[Wengerland]

That's the one, i remember seeing that now.

Another foreign transfer that went through was Sergio Ramos from Sevilla to Real Madrid for £18m, their first Spanish signing for 5 years. Ronaldinho has extended his contract at Barcelona aswell :love:

[packt up]

Wtf apparently Luke Young is going to start the England game. Pretty low standards to be an England right back these days. Never thought i'd say this but Gary Neville will be missed :(.

[Doink]

So the transfer window is shut, all teams are left with what they have until january at least. Lets move on from the transfer gossip and take into acc what is happening now.

IT'S INTERNATIONAL WEEKEND PEOPLE !!!!!!

So the rumour is that Sven will play a 4-5-1 formation against wales with Rooney spearheading the attack on his own !

Is this wise, Rooney likes to drop off so we could end up playing 4-6-0. I say give defoe his chance, he is doing well at the moment and he could prove to be the difference between the sides.

Opinions, thoughts on how you think england/ your country will do in their qualifiers.

[Doink]

Wtf apparently Luke Young is going to start the England game. Pretty low standards to be an England right back these days. Never thought i'd say this but Gary Neville will be missed :(.

damn it you got in before me with the internationals :mad:

anyway, :wtf: Luke young? id prefer to see Carragher (I havent seen or heard team yet btw) there but think he may start at centre back. If not id like to see hargreeves maybe start there.

[Wengerland]

To be fair Luke Young has been pretty good for Charlton, did well against Boro. I'd rather have him than Glen Johnson, and the only alternative was Phil Neville. Defoe should have started too, what's the betting that we'll be back to 4-4-2 on Wednesday when Owen's back?

Carragher will start in the centre, Doink, as John Terry is out.

We really should win comfortably, Wales have only got a handful of premiership players and Bellamy is missing. Scotland-Italy should be alright too but i hope Rab Douglas doesn't play, even though he's been alright apart from his debut for us :$

[packt up]

England will win both games comfortably I reckon. I wasn't so much complaining at Luke Young being chosen I just think its sad that he's Englands second choice right back. Johnson shouldn't be picked for a while.

Definite return to 442 on Wednesday.

[Doink]

My only worry over Luke young is lack of experience at International level, having seen the expected team I think we should do allright. Glen Johnson shouldnt be anywhere near the england squad IMO. Whats wrong with Danny Mills, from what ive seen and heard he is playing quite well at City!

epected line up is:
.......................................Robinson................

..............Young.........Carragher.......Ferdinand........A.Cole...

..Wright-Phillips...Beckham.......Lampard.....Gerrard......J.Cole..

..........................................Rooney....................

Like I say just concerned over the experience on the right, not the quality of player and am worried we might be a bit limited in attack as Rooney & J.Cole both tend to wonder (not in a bad way as usually pick up good positions but put of position & if Rooney does that then who is ahead of him?)

[packt up]

Actually people are expecting Beckham to play deeper than the other 4. England should win even if they had Peter Crouch at Right back.

[packt up]

PS i fucking hate Danny Mills

[Danny Electric]

Play Matty Fryatt at the back :shifty:

[Rob Ban Fan]

<font face=verdana size=3 color="#ff6600">GRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFIN FOR ENGLAND :cool:</font>

[Doink]

fuck it why not...... :shifty:

Colin Cooper for an England recall :D

Super Super Cooper Super Super Cooper

Come on Sven Why not you were only looking at him the other season because of his form. The only reason he didnt get called up was because of his age.

Sven is an Ageist Bastard !

[Rob]

Opinions, thoughts on how you think england/ your country will do in their qualifiers.

A good performance against Italy will satisfy me.

Rino is coming home though. :D

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Rasiak to Spurs....now I certainly didn't see that one coming

Fucking hell, they must have the biggest squad in the league....including Chelsea.

They do indeed, at least according to the paper I read today. Spurs have 34. Meanwhile Chelsea have 25. Not sure if that makes them 2nd biggest but Spurs are definitely top.

[Team Sheep]

Could have got tickets for the Wales/England game tomorrow, but didn't bother. It would have been like walking into a battle field. :o I hope we do alright tomorrow, tough ask though obviously, but nobody expects us to do anything, so let's just go for it.

[Cactus Sid]

They do indeed, at least according to the paper I read today. Spurs have 34. Meanwhile Chelsea have 25. Not sure if that makes them 2nd biggest but Spurs are definitely top.

Actually, think about it, Chelsea just have strength in depth. We've got a pretty huge squad full of shit players.

[Doink]

They do indeed, at least according to the paper I read today. Spurs have 34. Meanwhile Chelsea have 25. Not sure if that makes them 2nd biggest but Spurs are definitely top.

No where near mate, as per skysports.com here is their official squad amonuts as of today :

Tottenham - 35 members in squad.

Charlton - 33
Liverpool - 33
Sunderland - 33

Chelsea - 32
Man U - 32
Middlesbrough - 32

Portsmouth - 31

Everton - 30
Fulham - 30

Blackburn - 29

Newcastle - 28

Aston Villa - 27
Birmingham - 27
West Ham - 27

West Brom - 26
Wigan - 26

Arsenal - 24
Man City - 24

Bolton - 23


:lol: Fulham have Dave Beasant registered as a player according to this.

[Doink]

Solskjaer suffers new injury blow

Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suffered a new setback in his bid to recover from a knee injury. The 32-year-old Norwegian last played for United in the FA Cup Final win against Millwall in May 2004.

Swedish knee specialist Lars Petersson said: "He has picked up a tear inside his knee. It is a very recent injury." Petersson operated on Solskjaer last year, and added: "I thought he might be back in October but it is impossible to set a date now."

And asked whether he was totally confident Solskjaer will come back at all at the top-level, Petersson added: "No. I am never 100% sure in these cases."

A spokesperson for Manchester United said the club would not comment on the report.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Well that was a fucking atrocious game/performance.

[Astley316]

yeah, god how does sven keep getting away with it

[Team Sheep]

Nah, England could have scored more goals if they'd wanted to.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

lol yes with Joe Cole playing in the middle instead of the left and taking off our best attacker after an hour and Lampard and Gerrard running into the same areas. Easy :yes:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

LMAO go on Kenny :cool:

[Cactus Sid]

LMAO go on Kenny :cool:

:love: :love: :love: :love:

Come On Scotland

[Rain Man]

WANK

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Taxi for Vieri :$

[Cactus Sid]

Gotta be pleased with the draw, shame we couldn't hold on for the win, but with a performance like that I'm optimistic for a result on Wednesday.....you never know.

As for Ireland, Switzerland and Israel drew, which is a great result

[El Capitano Gatisto]

Brilliant result. Means our destiny is still well in our own hands. We have are two biggest rivals both still to play at home which is a big bonus at this stage. Ireland are very hard to play at home, and neither the Swiss nor France will fancy going to Lansdowne Road with this much at stake.

Any points on Wednesday will be superb. A loss wouldn't be a total disaster, but a win would almost guarantee our progress. A draw would change very little, except mean that the final game with the Swiss would effectively be a decider.

Mixture of anticipation and worry about Wednesday. France are a troubled side right now, but so talented that they could turn it on and blow us away.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

France actually have a second string out against the Faroes tonight. The big wankers.

[Nervous Ferret]

USA USA USA USA USA USA USA


WORLD CUP QUALIFIER

[toxic rooster]

Are they still ahead of england in the world rankings or whatever?

[Nervous Ferret]

I didn't even know there were World Rankings to be honest.

BUT IF THERE ARE USA IS #1

[Wengerland]

Jesus christ there's been an overreaction to the England game. Looking through the News of the World and Terry Venables was the only person not to label it a disaster, fact was i felt we were pretty comfortable for the most part and aside from a few nervy moments near the end and the Hartson header (top class save though) England controlled the game.

Masters final today, come on Leicester :cool:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

It wasn't a disaster per se but people expect better against not even a full-strength Wales side.

I'll wait and see what happens against NI when in theory we should be full strength before any great sense of panic sets in.

[Rob]

Never thought I'd see a day where I'd be pissed that Scotland didn't beat Italy. Walter Smith has done fucking wonders just motivating the team. Kenny Miller looks like a different player now. What Glenn Hoddle did with him worked.

I had 7/1 Kenny Miller to get the first goal and 11/1 Scotland to win 1-0 :(

[Mr. Monday Morning]

The great thing is he's working that hard every game for us, even though he hasn't scored in the league yet (he will). To be honest I'm a tiny bit worried he's just doing it to put himself on the market (his contract is up this year) but we'll just have to wait and see.

[Rob]

He is still on the transfer list ain't he?

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Yeah, at his own request. Hoddle said he hadn't had time to talk with him about it, not sure if that's true or not. Sunderland tried to get him on the cheap :nono: so he's still here. I wouldn't be *totally* surprised to see someone try again in January but I guess it depends on how we're doing/if we can get anyone in to replace (I wouldn't be comfortable relying on Cort, Ganea, Ndah and Clarke for half a season)

[The Mackem]

Sorry MMM :(

[Wengerland]

It wasn't a disaster per se but people expect better against not even a full-strength Wales side.

I'll wait and see what happens against NI when in theory we should be full strength before any great sense of panic sets in.

I wouldn't panic if we only win that 1-0 personally, the win's all that matters. Only downside of the Wales game was the missed chances, but they didn't prove costly and with the players available they're not going to miss too many. Brazil looked frightfully good last night though (won 5-0 to qualify), but they finished in the final qualifying position during qualifying for the 2002 world cup and won it.

The legend that is Pep Guardiola could be going to Wigan which is pretty gay, could help them stay up and get us the extra million for Connolly though, so it's alright :o and Leicester won the British Masters :love:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Speaking of that Brazil game:

Claridge: "Who’s that Brazilian who plays in midfield and looks like Juninho?"

Burton: "I’m not sure."

Claridge: "He plays in midfield. And he looks like Juninho."

Burton: "Um...I’m really not sure who you mean."

Claridge: "The Brazilian who plays for Barcelona in midfield and he looks a bit like Juninho."

Burton: "Ah...I think I know who you mean. I think you mean Deco."

Claridge: "That’s him."

Burton: "Except that he plays for Portugal."

Claridge: "I keep thinking he’s called Dido or Dada, or something."

Quality coverage right there.

Oh and there's also this gem:

"Thank God it's only on match days we have to go into Middlesbrough" - Emmanuel Pogatetz

[Doink]

"Thank God it's only on match days we have to go into Middlesbrough" - Emmanuel Pogatetz

News of the world mate, so i wouldnt believe a word that was written, I still check teletext to make sure the scores they put in the paper are correct!

Southern press, they have visited middlesbrough about the same amount of times channel 5 have paid for a commentator to actually attend a game and not watch it from the studio.

Anyway, WTF would he know what middlesbrough looks like, has he got some sort of super glasses that allow him to see through the smog ? :shifty:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Are you casting doubt on the journalistic integrity of the Scr...News of the World? For shame :nono:

[packt up]

Lol theres a classic quote from Nemeth about Boro too:

"Middlesbrough is very bad. It is not a very nice town and there are a lot of factories"

:D We don't call em the smoggies for nothing. Oh and not 5th worst place to live in the country too ;).

[Chavo Classic]

:lol:

[packt up]

Oh and before everyone asks the Nemeth quote was in The Guardian so :p

[Rob]

Speaking of that Brazil game:

Claridge: "Who’s that Brazilian who plays in midfield and looks like Juninho?"

Burton: "I’m not sure."

Claridge: "He plays in midfield. And he looks like Juninho."

Burton: "Um...I’m really not sure who you mean."

Claridge: "The Brazilian who plays for Barcelona in midfield and he looks a bit like Juninho."

Burton: "Ah...I think I know who you mean. I think you mean Deco."

Claridge: "That’s him."

Burton: "Except that he plays for Portugal."

Claridge: "I keep thinking he’s called Dido or Dada, or something."

Quality coverage right there.

Oh and there's also this gem:

"Thank God it's only on match days we have to go into Middlesbrough" - Emmanuel Pogatetz

And Claridge wonders why he never lasted a month in charge of Millwall

[Wengerland]

Deco technically is Brazillian, Claridge is the man :'(

Bravo is class now it's got the original Football Italia back though.

[packt up]

GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGOAL

[Doink]

Lol theres a classic quote from Nemeth about Boro too:

"Middlesbrough is very bad. It is not a very nice town and there are a lot of factories"

:D We don't call em the smoggies for nothing. Oh and not 5th worst place to live in the country too ;).

Your right, Middlesbrough is not the 5th worst place to live in the country, You will prob find billingham on that list which is about 5 miles away, but not middlesbrough (well not in the top 5 anyway).

Anyway, you'd think all these footballers would know that we are an industrial town by now as everytime we are on the telly, its not like the camera's dont pan out and show the beautiful countryside around us do they, no they show the smoking towers at british steel and the ICI plant.

(just a point to put out, the 'smoke' coming out of british steel is usually steam due to the fact they are cooling towers for the steel made, whereas the big flames and thick black smoke coming out of ICI is prob darngerous and poinesous - but thats not the point, we have other views they could show to). :shifty:

[Doink]

Predictions for tomorrow:

England 2 - 0 NI

gerrard and Rooney to score.

[Cactus Sid]

Kenny Fucking Miller :cool:

[Cactus Sid]

And Kenny's going off injured.....but a hero

2-0 :love:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

He'd better not be fucking injured, we go to Luton on Saturday :mad: :'(

[Cactus Sid]

He got a whack in the back, he should be fine

Couldn't do it any other way could they, concede a goal in the 89th minute and then have to hold on.....

BUT They did it.... and if we win our last 2 games and Norway lose one of theirs, we'll get a playoff place

[Mr. Monday Morning]

Fuck's sake Rob Edwards has gone off as well. And Ince won't be back :mad:

[Mr. Monday Morning]

lol they could make an entire Platoon segment out of the Ireland-France game. Jeez.

[The Mask]

i love rooney so much :'(

[packt up]

Wow this is a borefest but holy shit at the entire stadium bouncing up and down.

[packt up]

LOL ENGLAND LOSING

[Team Sheep]

HAHAHA

[David Sutherland]

lol mate, Arsenal 4 lyfe. OI OI OI

Troy Don't tell ma I was here. ;)

[packt up]

lol Owen Hargreaves - thats way attacking

Wtf has Hargreaves ever done in an England shirt apart from be slow, mope around and give the ball away.

[Mr. Monday Morning]

HAHAHA

How bad does it make Wales look though? ;)

Still, nothing can be said really. Incompetence of the highest order. Are you worried yet Wengerland :nono:

[Team Sheep]

How bad does it make Wales look though? ;)

Still, nothing can be said really. Incompetence of the highest order. Are you worried yet Wengerland :nono:

Meh I don't really care about that, we had our day not so long ago against Italy, and we're a developing team now. I just feel embarrassed over England. :lol: