UpweySaint

Warne's hair is glorious!

My god how much I pray we finish above Liverpool this season ... the more he tries to explain himself the more of an a**e he comes across!

Who knows eh! As ever a source wouldn't go a miss ... For him as top scorer I did chuck a few quid on him at the start of the season, he was 50-1! Admittedly those are the odds for a reason but if Costa succumbs to his injury issues and Berahino's form dips it is not impossible. Oh and Bearsy, nice thumbnail joke

wiziwig has some, only a couple in english

Fair enough. Rather hope Koeman is here for the long term mind.

I think you are seeing this with 'Boruc tinted' specs on. You may (may) know more than any of us about what went on between Roko and Boruc but, nevertheless, you cannot predict the future. Even if Roko had not given Boruc a fair chance Boruc could have trained hard and been patient. Should Forster have slipped up Roko may have given Boruc a chance and conceded he was wrong. Either way have to wonder why you are so keen to bang the drum on here when you have made quite clear you are not a saints fan?

Double standards much? Could it not be said that Forster is a better keeper than Boruc and therefore Forster starts for us? As an aside you keep banging on about it being Boruc's shirt to lose. He was never Roko's choice. Roko chose Forster. If Boruc is the amazing keeper you claim he would have demonstrated to Roko the error of his ways ...

Money talks and we had issues this year but I really like the way both our kits look this year. Even our training kit is to my tastes. Shame if we have to go back to the stock templates but such is the way of modern football I suppose!

No dispute, rather a mismatch in terms of playing pedigree! Franny remains rather popular around our way though One day we may hold Roko in such high regard!

Perhaps ... still nice to show an interest in the wider club. May have admiration for what Benali has been up to of late as opposed to his sporting career

This. The Newcastle fans are a passionate bunch and, had Newcastle given them anything, would have got behind them. As good as we were they lacked quality, concentration, application, spirit, tactics ... basically anything you would want to see from your team.

Care to share a summary? Was not aware he had given an interview

Good interview, cheers for posting! On Long always hated seeing him line up against us so glad he signed. Appreciate that he wants to be here and seems to 'get' the club. Don't expect miracles but, even with him having to learn a new role in a side in transition, I would hope he could help our goals tally through goals, direct assists and creating space for others to play with his effective off the ball work. As for price we all know, even he knows, it may be a bit steep. But value is subjective. We wanted him, Hull had no real desire to sell, we managed to find a mutually acceptable price. Simple.

Actually got a source?

Have to say I am impressed. Particularly liked hearing him on the touchline barking tactical instructions at the players even when we were 3-1 up.

Source?

Yeah have to say I had a grumble about that, ex Liverpool player in saying our players are 'too good for us' shocker. Really hope, I know unlikely, that we finish above Liverpool this season. Would go some way to shutting a few up Either way looks like Morgan is staying now and that can only be a good thing. Brings brilliant balance being able to play that role linking defence and midfield - not many around who do it better!

Well looks much like last season against west ham. No cutting edge and f**king frustrating.

Entitled to your opinion of course but I would disagree. I concede our players at full international stage have often been found wanting and that we rarely produce players who fit into the "world class" bracket even out of the national set up (of course there have been some exceptions but the "who is world class" debate is a messy one!). You suggest that anybody who seeks to understand what they consider to be under-performance as delusional but surely that hints at a bit of realism? Trying to understand why Costa Rica, Belgium or even the USA played more effectively than we did despite having fewer players of recognised quality is surely a positive thing for the state of the English game which, whatever state it may or may not be in, is not in a fixed state.

And the award for sweeping generalisation goes to .... First off yeah we had some luck winning the thing but how do you think we got as far as the final in the first place? Perhaps we are not producing players of the same quality and it really is that simple but I would contest that the fact that we make a decent fist of youth level internationals might suggest otherwise. We can't be all that terrible if we continually feature in major tournaments at senior level either.

Crikey! Showed some flash there! Good to see him doing well, keeps it up and one day he may come back

Is that his first??!?

Don't get the assumption we can only chase one player at once. Just because we go for players for whom we are not going to be 'first choice' does not mean we are not working on other targets. Not a unequivocal fact but I think the general consensus was that Gardos was brought in when it became clear we could not attract Rojos. If we are chasing Alderwield I am glad. Six million is a bargain for the player and if he goes to a club we perceive to be 'on our level' after us dropping our interest people on here would be having fits. May as well give him our best offer but make sure we have other irons in the fire.

Agree, completely. Imagine they would be more willing to entertain a bid from say Hull or the like. Only way I see us getting him, other than in a horrid Morgan swap, is on deadline day. If they want to sell him we and we can tempt them with a decent offer they can spend on their defensive targets it could get over the line ...

Townsend divides opinion but I would agree he is quality. Though the fact we have shifted our focus would suggest either we are trying a bit of gamesmanship with spurs or we got feedback from Spurs that suggests we may not be able to secure Townsend. The other two, if the scouts feel they can make the step up, why not? We have had success with players stepping up from the Championship before and the prices may be better. Like you though I would hope we could find another gem like Tadic who is quality at a reasonable price ... though this is, in itself, a gamble.