Howaythetoon

It is a tired old cliche I agree, but the likes of Fowler ARE natural finishers compared to some strikers, like Martins for example who just isn't and never will be. The likes of Fowler don't even need to look and can finish all manner of strikes effortlessly in the blink of an eye, so I think the description is valid where he is concerned. I don't think it means anything though in the grande scheme of finding the back of the net because Shearer was never described as a natural finisher, yet as we all know, he was in a league of his own when it came to finishing. Anyway natural to me means effortless and you have to admit, Fowler in his pomp put them away in that fashion. Romario was the same. The Shearers worked harder for their goals. What complete bollocks, again. Oh, I seem to have a stalker, that's two threads now, care to debate the point or are you unable to? I agree, though, I do talk shite I thought a succinct summary would work better than a point by point analysis. Basically I think the whole idea of Martins, or any player of such a young age, never being able to become as good a finisher as Fowler is ridiculous. It may take him more practice but he COULD quite possibly become as accomplished. And don't flatter yourself, if I was going to stalk someone they would be far prettier than you. Well I like to write waffle, so if it's succinct points you're after I'm your wrong man <talkingshite>I like Martins and he will score goals, but I doubt he'll ever become as accomplished in the art of finishing as a Fowler because he isn't a natural finisher. But that doesn't mean he can't be just as prolific or score goals and it isn't an issue. It isn't as if I'm criticising him for not being a natural finisher, you don't have to be one to score goals. All I'm saying in reply to Ally's post is that for some strikers you can clearly define whether they are a natural finisher or not and for me, Fowler falls into the category where as Martins doesn't.</talkingshite>

How does football have any more meaning than pure entertainment? It's a diversion for the working classes who can't afford the theatre. You're saying it's not worth discussing because it's not real, how has that got anything to do with it. Tarantino's talent and ability to satisfy the viewer (or lack of it) is just as debateble as Scott Parker's. Oh howay man, you know full well it has more meaning than pure entertainment. I'll agree to disagree with you regarding films though

It is a tired old cliche I agree, but the likes of Fowler ARE natural finishers compared to some strikers, like Martins for example who just isn't and never will be. The likes of Fowler don't even need to look and can finish all manner of strikes effortlessly in the blink of an eye, so I think the description is valid where he is concerned. I don't think it means anything though in the grande scheme of finding the back of the net because Shearer was never described as a natural finisher, yet as we all know, he was in a league of his own when it came to finishing. Anyway natural to me means effortless and you have to admit, Fowler in his pomp put them away in that fashion. Romario was the same. The Shearers worked harder for their goals. What complete bollocks, again. Oh, I seem to have a stalker, that's two threads now, care to debate the point or are you unable to? I agree, though, I do talk shite

Arsenal, if not them, I don't really care.

I'd snap their hands off, Duff will never be the player he was and we should never have signed him in the first place. Money back, yes please.

Rummenigge. They are all no Gerd Müller though. indeed if we're talking "finishers" I htink my list of all time greats would run:- Muller Clough Lineker Greaves at NUFC it would have to be Len White saw them all - but Gerd was sommat else men who seemed to be able to stay totally calm in the mad house of the penalty (or even goal) area and just pop up to bang the ball in interestingly non of them was very fast, or very tall - all about reading the game and keeping a clear head Bloke I knew who saw both Hughie and Wor Jackie (passed away now sadly) reckons White was the best of them all and one of my relatives reckons he was even better than Shearer. What about Law Rob and Ian Rush?

To be fair, most of the stick Shola gets is on forums, at the ground, or certainly away from home with the Hokey Cokey chant, I'm sure the applause can easily be translated as "fans favourite" so I wouldn't read too much into Roeder's comments. Maybe he's trying to gee up Shola who must be a bit down not being able to play and also, since Roeder took over Shola has been one of our better players, he was much improved and has become a decent squad player in the process. I actually think him and Martins could prove an interesting partnership because defences up and down the country won't know what to make of them or be able to predict what's coming next.

Gazzetta was a proper football show, and James Richardson is a legend, could never understand why the likes of Sky or the Beeb never tried to poach him. That bloke who does our games on C5 reminds me of him somewhat. BTW did anyone else used to think it was "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLAZIOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"? Also does anyone know the music they used to use when they went around the grounds to show the goals of the previous weekend?

Gol still obsessed with Chelsea I see Zola was a fantastic little player but Signori was an awesome player, penalties included. He would have been a revelation in the Premiership. He was the hub of Lazio and much more than a goalscorer, he was a creator and a leader. Probably the best Italian striker for a long while. Regarding Weah, I didn't rate him so highly, he wasn't as good as he was made out to be in my opinion, I mean Yeboah looked world-class at one stage. I think timing and playing for Milan propelled him higher than his ability did. No different to Sir Les in many respects. I know I'll get slated for that but that's my own personal opinion of Weah. Don't get me wrong he was a fantastic striker but not in the same bracket as Van Basten, Shearer, Batistuta, Ronaldo et al. BTW never rated Del Piero or Totti that highly (injury played a partt with Del Piero and expectation admittedly), the likes of Paul Scholes pisses on them two. Zola was a class above them IMO.

If strikers win you games, then surely they also win your tournaments? Fergie has clearly lost it, should have retired when he said he was going to tbh as Man Utd have never been the same since.

Deflecting blame onto others for his role in the unsuccessful takeover and now trying to get fans on his side presumably for his own full takeover bid. It wasn't the Halls who were wanting mega money for their shares, it was Shepherd. God help us if this man ever gets full control of the club.

Well done to Hatton.

Agree about the German league, pretty good to watch too but never gets the publicity/credibility it deserves IMO. The Argie league is good, bit slow though and if people think the atmosphore of the EPL is 'the greatest in the world' (which is utter nonsense) then they haven't seen some of the South American leagues. The Argies fans are complete nutters though Would love to see a Boca Juniors vs River Plate game in the Bombanera Agreed, they make the Shearer testimonial scarf waving (which was magnificent BTW) seem like foam hands, the Argies that is. I tell you what league was shite given the national team and reputation, the Brazilian league, man that league is awful.

It is after 1 in the morning GM...

You could say the same about football tbh. Football is real. It's an entertainment, just like film. But unlike a film, not make believe. Football isn't entertainment either, it has far more meaning than mere entertainment. A cinema will never ever be able to produce an atmosphere like a stadium or a film the sheer emotion and feeling the game draws from "punters". I like my films but that's all they are, films to either be enjoyed or not.

Serie A today isn't a patch on what it was and is well behind our league and La Liga, despite some big teams and some fine players playing in it. Italy was always at the forefront of the new game, with the influx of Dutch players for example in the 80s, their own brand of the game went to Italy and coupled with the Italian's discipline and defensive steel out came a new way of playing, hence the great AC Milan team. Today there are no new types of football or footballing revolutions to be had because they've all be done before or have happened in other leagues, none more so than the Premiership which after the influx of foreigners post Sky, has seen it rise to the very top as not only the most entertaining, most lucrative but the most challenging but even then, our own league is fastly becoming stale and in a way is kind of like the old old Serie A, full of boring teams all pretty much even lit up by the stars of the bigger teams. The best league for unpredictability is La Liga, which has churned out some fine and different teams over the years like Deportivo, Valencia, Villarreal and now Seville. The German league is also a very good league. I personally like the Argentinian league, it is like the Premiership but more interesting.

But they get paid fortunes man

It is a tired old cliche I agree, but the likes of Fowler ARE natural finishers compared to some strikers, like Martins for example who just isn't and never will be. The likes of Fowler don't even need to look and can finish all manner of strikes effortlessly in the blink of an eye, so I think the description is valid where he is concerned. I don't think it means anything though in the grande scheme of finding the back of the net because Shearer was never described as a natural finisher, yet as we all know, he was in a league of his own when it came to finishing. Anyway natural to me means effortless and you have to admit, Fowler in his pomp put them away in that fashion. Romario was the same. The Shearers worked harder for their goals.

Same here, yous will all be pleased to know...

Much better than Zola, had Signori played in the Premiership, he'd have scored a truck load, Shevchenko = poor man's Signori, more like. I used to love watching Serie A in them days, the matches were often boring but the big stars always shone like Signori, Batistuta, Baggio, that AC Milan team was awesome, Inter had that Uruguayan, with the white boots, jesus forgot his name, he was a class player though, Balbo I liked him for Roma, I even remember Lazio winning 8-3 once in a crazy game, great saturday morning telly with the legend that is James Richardson, then on sunday the big match and formula one, followed by sunday dinner. Happy days. Was it not Daniel Fonseca? There was also Reuben Sosa (think that was the name), but i'm not sure if he was Uruguayan! That's the one Papa, he was chilean I think, not Uruguayan, he was South American anyway. Fonseca he was another class player Gol, and then there was that Asprilla fella. Parma used to play great football in the mid 90s. What was the Serb player for AC? For the life of me I can't remember his name, he was the Italian football version of Paul Scholes, really clever goalscoring forward type playmaker. He was class too. That Milan team, what a team. I remember watching a game between them and some other team, the pitch was watterlogged, the other team were passing the ball on the deck and kept losing it, Milan played football in the air, to head, chest, thigh, off the deck, what a delight to watch, like head tennis but with their feat, they won 3-0 or something and I remember thinking how advanced they were to any side I'd ever seen. That was their 94 team I think that ended up winning the European Cup against Barca 4-0. Awesome team.

That's Wenger being kind, he doesn't want his young starlet to be messed around tbh. If I was a manager the last place I'd send a youngster to would be Newcastle.

and we have limited funds, what would you say the priorites are? spend another large sum on one player who may not even improve the situation, or spend a similar amount on three players who surely have a better chance of improving on what we've got? We do have limited funds, that seems to be the case anyway. I personally would snap up Collins John for £2-3m (he's available, has the attributes and is somewhat proven) and try and get in another forward on loan, to add numbers to our attack (another Sibbers type player) and spend the majority of money left available on central defence and left-back, two extra bodies will do in those positions, someone experienced for centre-back and someone not injury prone at left-back. We could always bolster numbers further with another loan signing, David Weir would have been a good shout prior to his move to Ibrox for example, someone in that mould. I wouldn't spend a large sum on any one individual however unless that player was guaranteed class (wayne Bridge for example). Basically we can't be spending all our budget on a young striker from Serie A or equally a young centre-back from the Championship. There doesn't seem to be many options though so it is going to be hard and if we can't find the right players, we may as well leave it until the summer as there is no point buying for buying sake, even though that would almost certainly leave us with an uphill struggle to do anything this season and be unacceptable. There shouldn't be any excuses for not bringing in at least one "right player" though, they've had since the summer to identify and target players, this month should be all about enticing rival clubs to part with such targets and then attracting the player/s to St. James' Park. I just hope we haven't went into the window without a plan or a list of players, the last time we made it up as we went along, we were forced into calling our good friend Willie McKay. We now have 10 days before a match and 10 days left to bring in those players. Lets hope we do.

That all? I thought someone was blowing fumes from tac into her face or something the way she got the hysterics. Is it just me or does someone in a fit of giggles give you the giggles, I was sat there watching her laughing her tits off laughing mine off.

Much better than Zola, had Signori played in the Premiership, he'd have scored a truck load, Shevchenko = poor man's Signori, more like. I used to love watching Serie A in them days, the matches were often boring but the big stars always shone like Signori, Batistuta, Baggio, that AC Milan team was awesome, Inter had that Uruguayan, with the white boots, jesus forgot his name, he was a class player though, Balbo I liked him for Roma, I even remember Lazio winning 8-3 once in a crazy game, great saturday morning telly with the legend that is James Richardson, then on sunday the big match and formula one, followed by sunday dinner. Happy days.

Never mind, back now, just weren't showing before.