maggiespaws

My sentiments exactly. I really don't think he's that good, the only reason I would keep him would be if Krul is going out on loan somewhere to get some matches under his belt. I'd disagree. He's not mature enough yet. Give him a few years and yeah, ok. But for now, we need someone more reliable if/when Shay is out. Krul really pulled it out of the bag for us last season with his 'unbelievable' performance but it's a bit much to expect that more regularly. For now, Harps is a capable replacement. I agree with the earlier post on him not being as good and the the other post about them being neck and neck at one point.

The point is though, it's just my opinion. I might think that with more games and more exposure he could have been no1. However, he might not be interested in it and is therefore not something he has pursued; whether he thought he could do it or not. I used to work with a bloke who was 10 years my senior and technically better than me. Problem was he wasn't interested in the limelight even though we both knew he was the better of the two of us. At the time he was getting paid more than me too. He was happy where he was, even though he knew eventually I'd over take him. When I first began contributing to this thread I wasn't doing so with the purpose of defending him and I'm still not. I'm just offering an alternative explanation based on a loosely associated experience

tbh, I reckon if Shay hadn't stayed so fit and Harper had played more games he'd be Englands No1. As is he's been overlooked. Perhaps if he was career minded enough to want to be England's No1 he'd have moved already. Maybe he just has different priorities and imo, we shouldn't criticise. When Shay get's injured I'm not too worried about his understudy. We have far greater things to worry about on other areas of the pitch. Harper always gives his all when he plays and does a good job. We are lucky to have him.

things is though SLP, if he doesn't have the new faces he wanted to work with, he has to begin preparations with who he has got. Ramage would be dropped the instant we got someone capable in.

From what I heard, it's nothing to do with money. He's happy and settled in the area, his family are settled and he doesn't want to move them. He's doing/did whatever degree it was he wanted to do and doesn't see the need to move, as long as the club wants to keep him. To be fair to him, that's what I'd heard. Just maybe, he holds his family stability above his football career? Maybe he enjoy's NUFC and I'm sure he'd love to play more games but not everyone want's to chase their career so single mindedly. I've met people who are better software architects than me but lack the ambition to take it further. They are happy where they are and feel less pressure as a result. A bit of a safe zone maybe.

GTA III San Andreas and Guitar Hero II - tastic. Listened to an eclectic mix of stuff recently. But currently, ACDC - Uncut from VH1. A live TV set from the mid 90's. Smut galore

They could "do the job" but neither of them are right backs. We shouldnt be in a position where players are playing out of position unless injurys force them to. FFS we have money to spend, I really dont understand what the problems are because we're not an attractive prospect for players? because we're trying to buy players when all teams in the market know of our new financial situation because we're trying to buy players when all teams in the market know of our desperation in certain positions. Indeed. This is part of the problem with the transfer market - it's a sellers market; and we need to buy. As soon as Chelsea had money they had to pay more for players and clubs knew they could take advantage. The difference now is that there are a few clubs in the Prem with money so it will be interesting to see how that affects the market. I think that as clubs like Liverpool now have good money they stand a better chance of catching up with the top 2. Unfortunately, the rest of us have an even bigger mountain to climb. Spurs are going about it the right way, but have been for the last 2 seasons. It takes time.

I think it's a combination of factors really. The takeover will slow things down. IIRC, didn't MA send Chris Mort in to do a strategic review before we did anything else? That wont have been a quick job. That and the transitional period of handover wont have helped. MA/CM/SA need to get to know each other and SA needs to get MA/CM up to speed on his plans and vice versa. This is a period of flux for us and the timing isn't great (close season) as it has clearly slowed things up. My guess is that we were far enough down the first signings for the takeover not to halt them. Add to that, all we've really spent is 2m by the time you balance the incoming/outgoing and SA was probably allowed to complete the deals before the Strategic review. Lastly, the takeover both works in our favour and against us. It signals a new era, which for some means a new NUFC and better prospects. Others with see this as a transitional, possibly shakey time for us as there is a lot of change and it does not always go smoothly. Players may see this as another stage in the 'rocky ship' history of NUFC and stay away. Others may see it as a revolution, similar to the Chelski one. Time is marching on and you can see SA is getting a bit frustrated. One or two of his comments suggested that the new board were spending time bedding in before spending (normally good business sense) but in the case of an industry where you only have a finite period in which to recruit personnel and make larger changes to your business strategy for the next 6 months; time is of the essence and a luxury you cannot afford to waste. We've clearly missed out on a few targets and had some turn us down, possibly for the reasons I've mentioned. I'm optimistic though that MA/CM will not delay too long and through SA we can still buy some good players in what's left of the window. Bridge getting injured wont have helped for example as we maybe would have signed him. Same can be said for a couple of the injuries we've had, they wont have helped. I'd like to think we could end this season top 6. Some will say we should expect this given some of the players, but there is a lot of change this season and a steady ship first will make the ground we've lost over recent seasons, much quicker to make.

Hallo stranger. Y'alreet? And have you had that hair cut yet?! Not bad pet. Loads to tell you. I've had my hair cut load of different ways, half of which I've hated. I'll PM you as there's load more interesting stuff than my hair

Switched

class cover. you hear "diamonds are forever" at glasto the other night? I was there and it was canny like. Not a huge fan of the Arctics - but they were tight.

Easy to say isn't it. It's like Reading fans claiming they're happy to see Sidwell go. Yeah I know what you mean. I think part of their response to me was based upon a little bit of bitterness as he has been by far and away their best player. Perhaps, with better players in front of him they will play into the space his passs would create. Then again, I remember having this exact conversation about passing on this board about Bowyer. Time will tell. I dont like him as a person, but he now wears our shirt so I will give him time. I'm not going to get all excited over him, but then I'm not going to get on his back the first time he does something wrong on the pitch either. He, like the others, will need time to settle in and work with SA.

hmm, I'm with manc-mag on this one. I hope this doesn't come back on us. My sister in law's husbands side of the family (keep up ) are all citeh fans. They are pleased to see the back of him. Not very strong in the passing department apparently.

Got to say, with everything going on at the minute, the release of the fixtures has got me a little more excited for the start of the season

I know, the irony. Make you wonder how they come up with the fixture list.

IIRC it wouldnt have mattered would it? If WH won their last game they definitly stayed up. It never should have gone to the last game. WH should have been relegated long before then. If it was us I'd be furious and feel completely cheated. The only reason WH weren't relegated was because of Tevez. The very person who should not have been playing for them.

Quoted for truth. I agree with Manc mags comments also. You can't blame him. If I was him and this was my career, I'd think twice about playing for us too. Especially if I got 'head hunted' by a bigger, better firm. Especially if that firm was one of the best of it's kind. As has been mentioned, we've had two managers since he's joined and we've deteriorated even further in that time. He now has a third manager and the company is going through a takeover. Does he stay and take a chance? or, if given the opportunity, does he move to one of the companies who are more successful, not in a state of flux and who's market forecasts predict further growth. I want him to stay and I believe he'd be instrumental in our season; but I wouldn't blame him if he went.

After reading this, so am I now. Live version off 'How the West was Won'. Class

At the moment things are going so well, it feels untrue. We got a decent manager who (despite being on holiday) immediately started working on the future, we are already really working on our targets and it looks like we could for the first time have assembled the core of the squad ahead of pre-season training. And we get a new owner. I hope I don't wake up too soon. Was just thinking the same. I'm half delirious at the fact that we look like bringing in 3 new signings in June - JUNE FFS!? At this rate Freddy can have August 31st off, or at the very least have an early finish. I know. I'm not 100% about the Barton deal, but if anyone has a track record of sorting problem players it's SA. That aside, we actually look like we have a plan this close season. The pessimist in me says 'this is NUFC, when things are going good, we f--k it up spectacularly'. So I am waiting to come down with a huge crash......

To be fair to him, we are a bag of sh--e. A player of his calibre needs to be playing at a top club. I don't blame him for looking elsewhere. You only have a short time as a top pro footballer. Big Al should have won loads more than he did, but he spurned it all to play for his home team. We can't expect Owen to do that for us. IMO, he's waiting to find out what Sam's plans are and whether or not it's worth sticking around for another year. I think he feels he needs too, given the time he's had here, but if we look like we're gonna be shambolic again next year he'll be off. It's obvious the club has gotten worse over recent seasons and unless Sam can convince key players it will be different next season there will be more than just Owen on their way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAOzLQEu5Do Nuff said

I think Parker has taken a lot of grief this season. I agree he's not performed as we would have hoped (particularly as Captain) but then neither has most of the rest of the team. We need to keep him as he's one of the players who actually wants to play for us. If we play with a tactical plan (something which as been missing all season) I think we'll see a better Parker. I don't buy into this 'all he does is pirouette' bollocks. When he has no-one else to pass to 'cos the midfield aren't creating space then he has to hold the ball. When he first joined us he played well and led by example. We all felt he deserved the Captaincy (I remember the polls on here). There are other areas we need to change and strengthen in the team. We should concentrate on those. I think Parker will come good under Sam.

Jill, you must be ecstatic at the arrival of SA. Surely Mr Speed will follow.....

Titus, watch that the door doesn't catch your ample posterior on the way out