smoggeordie

Flintoff to play on Friday. Personally I think it's time for a Harmison recall, he's been fucking quality for Durham this season. 12 overs 2-17 so far today.

Made a statement that he's staying where he is.

Nigeria defender Celestine Babayaro has been forced to put his Portsmouth trial on hold after catching malaria during a trip to Africa. (1240 BST, AFP)

Couple of nice goals of his on the Tube of You. Seems canny quick.

Reports in the French press linking us with him: Link Anyone heard of him?

10-15 minutes you're out, I'm sure the lads reaction when I tell them will be akin to toon fans reactions when we signed Antoine Sibierski. The team we're playing are born and bred mackems to the bone from Hendon, so kick fuck out of them when you're out without getting sent off. I reckon we've had 10 sendings off in a year easily, and only one of them mine. And then i'll do a Sibbers and be one of our best players of the campaign. Wonder how you'll do in nets...

I'm playing outfield tonight, Stevie's shitting it but I bet he'll be "pleasently surprised"

Finger's crossed...

Baba has joined pompey

Geoff Boycott!

High in drama indeed, but Federers game was below his usual standard for long periods.

5th twice actually but as I say, if you havent won it you have failed. 2nd = 1st loser. Also ran. No one will remember that second place finish in 100 years time. Only winners are remembered. I can't name who finished first 100 years ago, never mind second, so that's a bit of a daft statement. But if anything was to be remembered from 95/95 it would be NUFC finishing second, would it not? And second is "1st loser" is it? You'd cream yourself if you'd finished 2nd twice. Bitter, bitter boy.

Come on Roger!

Correct. For me it'd be Birmingham comfortable, if we're not including sunderland and Liverpool.

It's certainly got a distinct whiff of Sheffield United-itis.

Middlesbrough have signed Sparta Rotterdam striker Marvin Emnes in a £3.2m deal. Emnes, 20, signed a four-year contract at the Riverside after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical. The Rotterdam-born Netherlands Under-21 international played 55 games for Sparta and was named as their Player of the Year last season. Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate said: "We feel we have signed an exciting young player in Marvin." Southgate added: "He can play anywhere along the front line, so he has versatility to go with pace, energy and technical skills. "Marvin is very enthusiastic about coming to England and the challenge of Premier League football. "He also fits the profile of the sort of players we want at Middlesbrough in that he is young player with hunger, energy and pace." Southgate also revealed Ajax and Feyenoord had been interested in Emnes.

Apparently been given permission to have an extended summer break due to international commitments and is expected to make his debut vs PSV or Valencia at SJP.

Since Enrique? Bet we had to push this through quickly before Shepherd fucked it up at their end

Brilliant that the club have kept this under wraps. If he does turn out to be good, then by keeping it quiet we haven't alerted other clubs to his availability.

JOEY Barton could be out of jail this morning but he will still be contemplating the possibility that his Newcastle United career is over after pleading guilty to a second assault charge in the space of just two months. Barton yesterday admitted assaulting former Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo following a training ground argument last May, a decision which could lead to the termination of his contract at St James’s Park on the basis of gross misconduct. The midfielder had initially intended to deny the charge and claimed he was acting in self-defence, but changed his plea just before the trial was due to begin at Manchester Minshull Crown Court yesterday after Judge Mushtaq Khokhar indicated he would impose a suspended sentence if he did so. The 25-year-old, who was due to be released from jail on an electronic tag on Sunday, despite serving only six weeks of a six-month sentence for assault and affray following an attack on two people in a drunken rage in Liverpool last December, will be sentenced this morning. However, although the club refused to comment on Barton’s future last night, the late decision to plead guilty rather than go through a long and potentially embarrassing court case could yet earn Barton a reprieve at St James’s Park as he will not be forced to spend even longer behind bars. Although Barton’s decision to acknowledge his guilt will mean he receives considerably less than the maximum five-year sentence available to Judge Khokhar, his crime – described as an “explosive combination of football and violence” by prosecutor Richard Vardon yesterday – remains a serious one. United had decided to wait until after the Dabo trial before they made a decision on Barton’s future and, given the possibility that he could be back in training before the start of the season – as well as manager Kevin Keegan’s determination to support his player – Newcastle may decide to stick by him despite the trouble he has encountered and the bad publicity the club has attracted as a result. Owner Mike Ashley is determined to punish the player for his actions, although Barton and his agent Willie McKay have already turned down an offer which would have cut his weekly wage of £60,000 by 50%. That has not gone down well with the Newcastle hierarchy, although their decision could be influenced as much by economic factors as any moral misgivings about their employee’s behaviour and character. Barton’s representatives will argue that United already knew the player was facing a trial for assaulting Dabo when they signed him from Manchester City a year ago, although United were led to believe that Barton was going to deny any wrong-doing by pleading not guilty. His advisers will also suggest that, if United sack his client after their previous offer, they are doing so solely because they want to cut the wage bill. It will be hard for Ashley to simply write off £5.8m worth of investment by terminating his contract, which still has four years left to run. Even if Newcastle kept the player’s registration, they would receive only a fraction of that fee from anyone who signed him. Nevertheless, there will be those who argue Newcastle have a moral obligation to take a tough stance with a player who has a history of violence and misbehaviour, both on and off the pitch, particularly as the witness statements yesterday reflected so badly on him. Outlining the events at Manchester City's training ground on May 1 last year, prosecutor Richard Vardon said Barton’s actions had shocked his former Manchester City team-mates, as well as then manager Stuart Pearce. According to witnesses, the pair squared up to each other after a simmering row during a training match session. Dabo, 30, was said to have felt intimidated that Barton had invaded his personal space as he shouted and swore at him. The Frenchman pushed his shoulder with both hands, and in retaliation Barton punched him to the left side of his head, causing the Frenchman to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Greater Manchester Police said: “The victim walked away, but Barton ran to him and punched him on the side of the head. “The victim was instantly made unconscious but Barton continued to punch him as he was collapsing to the floor.” This version of events was collaborated by Pearce and several City players, who indicated Barton had held Dabo down as he continued to punch him. Vardon added that one player, Georgios Samaras, said he had never seen such a violent incident on a training pitch and would never be able to forget it.

"Joey, you have 30 people who saw you twat him.....do you REALLY want to plead not guilty?"

Premier League footballer Joey Barton has admitted assaulting a former team-mate in a training ground row. The Newcastle United midfielder was due to go on trial at Manchester Minshull Crown Court over the incident. The 25-year-old changed his plea shortly before the scheduled start. He attacked Ousmane Dabo during a training ground bust-up on 1 May last year when both played for Manchester City.

Funny how it takes two people to write that

No it's just you've got nothing good to slate. People knock Ronaldo because he's quality, ditto Lampard and Gerrard. You're just shit. Yet most of ours would walk into your team. Oh i'm sorry I must have misinterpreted the last 5 results between the teams. Means the square root of fuck all. Berbatov, Keane, Bale, King, Hutton, Woodgate all head and shoulders above your current crop. Berbatov - Fair enough Keane - Owen I'd take Owen. Although Keane scored 4 more in the league last season, Owen has recovered from a career threating injury and missed a lot of last season. Great effort to grab 11 I reckon. Bale - Enrique. Isn't Bale a perma-crock? Seems like he's overrated because he can hit a good free kick. Enrique is good in the tackle, strong as an ox and isn't scared to get forward. Will only improve King - perma-crock again, will be lucky if he plays 20 next season Hutton better than Habib Beye? Don't make me laugh Woodgate is a class act i'll agree. So out of the 6 you've mentioned, which are obviously 6 of your best, only 2 of them are better than what we have.

No it's just you've got nothing good to slate. People knock Ronaldo because he's quality, ditto Lampard and Gerrard. You're just shit. Yet most of ours would walk into your team. Oh i'm sorry I must have misinterpreted the last 5 results between the teams.