Jimbo

Shit first touch

Now THIS would be worth seeing !

TRANSFER RUMOURS Chelsea are prepared to pay £40m to sign Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o should Didier Drogba leave Stamford Bridge. (Sunday Express) Meanwhile, Drogba has told Ivory Coast team-mate Yaya Toure he wants to join Barcelona, AC Milan or Real Madrid. (Mail on Sunday) Newcastle and Manchester United are battling it out for the signature of Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov. (Mirror on Sunday) And the two teams could do an £18m deal that would see midfielder Michael Carrick leave Old Trafford for St James' Park. (Daily Star Sunday) Manchester City and Aston Villa are interested in Real Madrid forward Julio Baptista, the Brazilian who played on loan at Arsenal. (News of the World) Liverpool's unsettled midfielder Momo Sissoko is wanted by Monaco and Inter Milan. (News of the World) Chelsea's Peruvian centre-forward Claudio Pizarro is a target for Italian side Lazio. (News of the World) Everton want Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing but face competition from Tottenham. (News of the World) And Toffees boss David Moyes may also move for Chelsea's Steve Sidwell, if the midfielder will consider a pay cut. (News of the World) West Ham and Derby are looking at 20-year-old Ipswich midfielder Danny Haynes. (News of the World) Crystal Palace are lining up a £1m bid for Charlton striker Izale McLeod. (News of the World) Coventry and Plymouth are interested in signing Sheffield United's £1.25m-rated striker Jon Stead. (News of the World) Peterborough have told Charlton to keep away from their 23-goal striker Aaron McLean. (News of the World) Leicester and Coventry will be alerted to the fact Derby want to sell defender Darren Moore. (News of the World) Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid are all interested in 15-year-old Brazilian prodigy Neymar. (News of the World) West Ham and Fulham want to sign Hertha Berlin striker Marko Pantelic. (News of the World) Birmingham are set to make a £2.5m bid for Manchester City forward Georgios Samaras. (News of the World) Portsmouth are planning to swoop for Real Mallorca's £5m-rated striker Daniel Guiza. (News of the World) Newcastle want Portsmouth centre-back Sol Campbell and Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar. (Sunday Express) Tell us your transfer rumours Back to top OTHER GOSSIP Kevin Keegan is being paid £4.5m a year to try to revive Newcastle's fortunes - £500,000 more than was offered to Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp. (News of the world) Meanwhile, Keegan is set to approach Alan Shearer and offer him a job at Newcastle, but he has revealed that the pair may need to resolve some differences first. (News of the World) Dennis Wise is also in the frame to land a top job at Newcastle. The Leeds boss is being lined up to become director of football at St James' Park. (The Mail on Sunday) Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier will this week be offered the Republic of Ireland manager's position. (Sunday Express) Back to top AND FINALLY Basketball legend Michael Jordan saw Havant & Waterlooville's 4-2 FA Cup victory over Swansea from his holiday home in the Bahamas, while sitting next to one of the club's directors. Havant now plan to send new fan Jordan an extra-large club t-shirt. (News of the World) Back to top

IT could have been one of the most awkward moments of Michael Owen's career. There, stood in the doorway of the Newcastle dressing room, was the man Owen had criticised in his book three years ago. Yet if the England striker was expecting a sub-zero reception from Kevin Keegan, there was still one surprise left from the man who just hours earlier had stunned Tyneside with his return to St James' Park. As Owen explained: "Kevin sat next to me and said: ‘You've played for some big clubs like Liverpool and Real Madrid and have experienced what the atmosphere can be like there. But, believe me, you haven't seen half of what this place can be like yet.'" In just a few short sentences, Keegan had taken the first steps in helping Owen buy into his vision of Newcastle's future, a future that was so starkly different than the one Owen faced under the previous regime. And Owen explained: "I have to say Kevin convinced me that there are exciting times ahead for Newcastle. I definitely want to be part of it. You tell me a striker who wouldn't want play in a team with Kevin Keegan as manager. "Managers can have different philosophies. For instance, Sam Allardyce might prefer to concentrate on his back four, keep a clean sheet and nick a 1-0 result. "Kevin Keegan will also want to keep a clean sheet but he will want to put on an entertaining performance and score plenty of goals — and that means everything to me. "He definitely believes in playing more football with plenty of passing and movement. I will settle for that." There was no mention of the criticism Owen had launched against Keegan in his biography over his treatment of the striker at the Euro 2000 finals — even though Keegan has admitted privately he was hurt by it. Both men chose to ignore it, although Owen insists he stands by every word he wrote following his time at the finals in Belgium and Holland almost eight years ago. In one passage, Owen did not mince his words as he described the build-up to the final group game against Romania. He wrote: "He (Keegan) said to me, ‘Michael, if I was any other manager you would not be playing tomorrow. You've got to improve or we'll have to change.' But Owen insisted: "What I said in my book a few years back was an honest opinion and I stand by it. "I don't see any need to take those words back — and from the comments Kevin made in his first press conference on Friday afternoon, he felt the same way. "It was probably said in frustration but it was how I felt at Euro 2000. As far as I am concerned it is not water under the bridge — it is water off a duck's back. I don't see it as an issue now. "I know I wasn't playing well but I'd just experienced my first major injury at Liverpool — a hamstring strain — and I was frustrated. But that wasn't helped when I was taken off in one game at half-time and after an hour in another. "I described it as the most difficult time of my career and that feeling about that specific time remains. I got on fine with Kevin as England manager. He generated a great atmosphere and he prided himself on that feelgood factor. I did not have a go at him as a person or his style of football — just with his handling of a situation which left me so frustrated. "Looking back now I realise I didn't have a divine right to stay on the pitch but I still feel he wasn't 100 per cent sure of me." But there was no ill-feeling when Owen and Keegan met up again on Wednesday night. With a few words the new Toon boss managed to convince the club's record signing that good times were ahead. And Keegan went a step further by making Owen captain for yesterday's Premier League clash with Bolton. Three days earlier in the cup replay against Stoke the Newcastle players were not aware Keegan had arrived until they left the pitch at half-time. But Owen said: "The kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes to allow all the fans to get in and that was the first sign of the impact he had made. The crowd was lifted. "You could sense there was a change of mood around the club. "The boss came in 15-20 minutes after the game and shook hands with all the lads and had a chat with some of us. Immediately there was a lift, a buzz about the place. "There was an even bigger buzz in training on Friday morning. The session was no different to normal but you could sense there was an extra spring in everyone's step. "Then I got home and switched on the television and watched Kevin's press conference. It was fantastic to see him at work. The whole room was spellbound. "You could feel the enthusiasm. Anyone who is not uplifted by his arrival must have something seriously wrong with them. The fans and players are certain to respond. It seems there will be money available for him to spend on the team and he'll bring back the style of play the fans want, a way that lets me play the way I can be most effective. "This is a new chapter at Newcastle and a new phase in my career. I'm genuinely excited to be playing under his guidance. "I suppose the only danger is that people will expect too much too soon. But I doubt you will ever dampen the enthusiasm and optimism of the Newcastle fans — and who can blame them after what has happened this week. If that is a taste of what it is to come then I can't wait." Owen's future at Newcastle has been a constant subject of speculation but he is adamant he wants to stay at St James' Park. He insists he has plenty to offer the Toon Army and can shake off the wretched run of injuries that has blighted his two-and-a-half years at the club. Owen said: "Kevin has been quoted as saying he has unfinished business at the club and that's exactly how I feel. "There has been loads of speculation which has left me in a no-win position. If I say nothing, people think there is something in the rumours but if I respond to them I would spend all of my week denying them. "I have not been fit enough for long enough to show the fans what I can do but if I can stay 100 per cent right, I know I will do well here under the new manager."

Shite midfielder, average striker at best, always gives 100%, can't tackle, runs about a lot.

Dennis Wise has emerged as a shock candidate to join Kevin Keegan in Mike Ashley's Newcastle revolution. The Leeds manager is the leading contender to become director of football in a Europeanstyle management structure, working with Keegan on the recruitment of players and having authority over every aspect of the football side of the club except the first team. But Leeds chairman Ken Bates is unlikely to let his manager and close friend go quietly, with his club looking good for promotion from League One despite starting the season with a 15-point deduction for breaking insolvency rules. But a well-placed source claims Wise is the man Ashley wants, ahead of more experienced coaches like Gerard Houllier, who would appear to be a more natural choice for such a role. The job would give Wise huge responsibility at one of the country's top clubs and would provide Ashley with a capable caretaker, or replacement, if Keegan were to make a sudden departure. The key man in the Wise intrigue is Tony Jimenez, the property dealer and football Mr Fixit who first came to public attention when The Mail On Sunday revealed his crucial role in Tottenham's capture of Juande Ramos.

Well that was shite ! It's fucking Skelton man, what did you expect? True, but fighting a German based fighter in Germany you'd hope Skelton would have realised he needed to knock the fucker out rather than cuddle him for 12 rounds

Well that was shite !

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsD...1219843,00.html

Other than gaining 3 points, a lop-sided win would have done us little good tonight, imagine a Shola hat-trick ffs, we'd have given a totally false impression of our team's ability, Keegan is now under no illusion of where we need to strengthen, midfield and strikeforce nowhere near good enough to play to the standard he expects.

...and Nancy loved it right up until I came in her hair.

Setanta 1 at midnight

Everywhere? Yes to be honest, anything more would be a false impession of where we are in terms of the squad, apart from in goal we need strengthening in every department, had we won 4-0 tonight it would have given Keegan the impression we are good enough, we aren't and I think we can all admit that.

This is giving Keegan a pefect example of where we need to stregnthen at the moment.

Oh and Roy Jones Jnr Vs Felix Trinidad

Or some longer legs.

Should be good, I'll be watching on Setanta, also some good boxing tonight too Matt Skelton Vs Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA World Heavyweight title too.

Very unlikely that you'll find an external drive as small as that, for value for money you'd be better for with one around 250gig. Here's an 80gig for £50 http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3323761/Free...GB/Product.html Here's a 250gig for £53 http://www.bigpockets.co.uk/product.php?la...bae1a4fb2e859b5 I know which one I'd get.

Given the players that are missing due to African cup of Nations and suspensions, I think it makes sense to give the armband to Owen, also its an olivebranch following the comments taken from Owens book, a good move in my opinion.

Brilliant as ever Jonny.

Bastards, first Johnson and now this !

He's just gutted that he's managing a pub team in America.

Ruud Gullit feels Newcastle remain 'unrealistic' about their ambitions. Gullit is one of six men to have managed on Tyneside following Kevin Keegan's original spell in charge - but he lasted little more than 12 months. Now Keegan has returned to take-over for a second time - but Gullit says the expectation level is still too high. "I think the expectations at Newcastle are so incredibly high that maybe they are not realistic for the people who go to work there," said Gullit - now coach of Los Angeles Galaxy. "Newcastle is such a big club and I think they have had great coaches and some big names - Sam Allardyce, Glenn Roeder, Graeme Souness, Bobby Robson, Kenny Dalglish - and therefore it is not about the coaches, it is much more complex than that. "With Sam Allardyce it was incredible - once he was talked of with the national team and now nothing, and I think again they haven't been realistic there with him. It is not possible there, just not possible. "Also you have the local press, who have big expectations and big ambitions, and it is not realistic what they ask. "The most difficult part is that they have to compete with teams who are much more attractive than Newcastle are. "Most big players and promising young players go to Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. "It means that none of the biggest players want to go there (Newcastle) which is a major a difficulty that you have to deal with." Hard Gullit does not think Keegan will be able to transform Newcastle's fortunes in the near future "No, he won't do it. It is not realistic to expect that," Gullit added. "For the simple reason that the other clubs have a huge advantage because they have the best youngsters and the best players in all these other teams. So it is going to be difficult and it is not realistic. "A realistic goal is that he needs to have the time to build a team and maybe then in the future they can compete in the league."