sniffer

He did appear slow last season and got turned inside out a few times that I saw. Since the deal is done I obviously want him to do well, but my worry is that our fullbacks expose the central defenders so much that I think his lack of pace could do him in. In a better organized arsenal team he may have done OK but there is no doubt that positioning and reading of the game can only make up for slowness so much. Campbell may be past that point. Not only the fullbacks but the midfield as well really because there isn't much pace in the team at all.

Right. I'd forgotten about Alan Hansen. I also seem to recall we looked at Andy Gray when he was at Dundee United but we never...........you know the rest.

You could've, LM. But you didn't. Yes, Francis Lee was a huge mistake. That could've been us instead of citeh with a couple more signings. No, I didn't write of Gordon Lee. He wrote us off. He did OK at Everton for a few years.

If you want to believe that having gates of 50,000 makes us a big club then go ahead. You are the owner's delight. Who needs to actually win a trophy to be called successful? Not us. Like I've already said, there's plenty of examples over the years of decisions that could've changed Newcastle's history if they had a board with ambition, less mismanagement, fewer absurd decisions and, admittedly more than our share of bad luck. Only for a handful of years under Hall and Shepherd did we look like putting together a team of players that could win as opposed to a team that had some good players but not enough of them to trouble the big teams. I'll give you a classic example of lack of ambition that sums Newcastle up over the years. 1966. We sign Wyn Davies from Bolton. It was supposed to be a double deal that included Francis Lee and everybody knew that Lee was a cracking player. Except for the pirate who wouldn't spend the extra cash to bring him as well. Why pay that bit more to bring in the quality that goes with a big name centreforward and actually aim for success. Fuck that, we'll pack them in anyway we don't actually need to win the league and we can stash the cash. Lack of ambition...exactly what Bryan Robson said when he left for West Ham. We didn't build on the Fairs Cup win. Since then fuck all. Get one big name player in, fans will roll up. Problem over the years is that we've never taken advantage of being in a position where two, three or four players turn you from a decent team into one that wins. Instead, we are more likely to sell the players that have put us on the verge of bigger things. Alan Suddick (although that deal probably saved us from relegation), Robson, MacDonald,Terry MacDermott, Alan Kennedy, Irving Nattrass ....the list goes on even before you even get to Waddle, Gascoigne, Beardsley. We didn't build, we sold. Miserable bastards that screwed us over for years like McKeag and Westwood. Gordon Lee treating us as shit. Gullit dropping Shearer against the mackems and not giving Lee a squad number....... Absurd decisions. Apart from Lee which is one of the biggest mistakes ever, we didn't sign Graeme Souness when he was going to join us before Liverpool. Appointing a school teacher as manager because the players liked him and wondering why it went wrong. McFaul signing a forward line of midgets and wondering why it went wrong. A fucking decade of wank managers. Who in their fucking right mind sells your main striker who scores goals for fun to your main rival? Where he continued to do it. No big club would've kept a player like ameobi on their books, much less give him a new contract. Giving up on Jon Dahl Tommasson.............wasting money right left and centre on shite players too many to name. Bad luck. Tony Green's injury.Shearer's injury. Graham fucking Fenton having his one good day against us. Being on the telly against Hereford so we can see that goal every year. The one manager that could've possibly got us over the hump turns out to have no backbone when push came to shove. These are just some examples over the years that could've dramatically changed our history. Not taking advantage of opportunities when they were there...but cost a bit of cash. Big teams don't make these mistakes or at least, not as consistently as Newcastle. Just having gates of 50,000 doesn't make you a big club. Just a well supported club. Trophies make clubs big providing they build on the success. That's also why flash in the pan, one off cup winners are not big big clubs as there is no continuity. It seems to me that too many Newcastle fans confuse success with taking part and now are willing to settle for that. Thats not what a big club is all about. Winning is what matters.

It's not bollocks at all. It's been a pattern all of the time I've been watching Newcastle with the exception of perhaps six or seven years and even that is s stretching it. And even in that time, we were not successful if you actually measure success in terms of winning a trophy. Which is what it really boils down to. You don't remember the runners up. Now you can drone on about Hall and Shepherd as much as you like. Bottom line is they imploded and couldn't get their act together to make us winners. And that has been the same for other boards....lack of ambition, get some players but don't go the whole hog and get the complete set. Arsenal did. Man U did. Liverpool did. We never did. We have a good ground and we can pack in 50,000. I'd swop our ground for the old SJP any day of the week if we won the league and the FA Cup. Snow, rain, somebody pissing down my leg, doesn't matter. Leeds won trophies. And in my lifetime. Who gives a fuck if they can only get 40,000? Bear in mind they have cricket and rugby, but so what? They won trophies. FFS, Stevie thinks Derby are a bigger club. They are shite now, small crowds if that's your yardstick and haven't won what Leeds did. I'm not a Leeds supporter but be realistic. Are Leeds bigger than us? Or have a more impressive history? No. Not if you want to consider the pre-war era. Boer war that is. Not much to choose if you ask me.

Why?

You really are a dumb fuck ,Stevie. 37 going 12 and living in your own fantasy world. You've taken a comment that Leeds had one of the best teams I've seen to believing I'm a yorkshireman. FFS, nobody better think there were any canny teams with you around or the north east will be deserted. In your little mind. Just because Leeds are now shite doesn't make us any better. But Leeds were definitely a better team at their peak than we have been. They won major trophies, we haven't apart from the Fairs cup. I saw every home match by the way. Newcastle has been a circus for as long as I can remember, primarily through a combination of mismanagement, lack of ambition, greedy owners not supporting the manager at critical times in terms of signing the right players and hefty slices of bad luck over the years...... If not bad luck then not getting a slice of good luck when we needed it. Recognizing all of this this does not mean you don't support the team. It means being realistic. Is history important? Of course but 1926 is a fucking long time ago. And droning on about it or how we were cup giants in the 50s is well........fucking pathetic when you think about it for a big club.

I probably should've added in living memory, Stevie. Like many people, I've moved on from the Edwardians and tend not to harp on about that golden era of domination. How much longer can you drone on about 3 cups in 5 years? We might have big crowds and a canny ground but everything else about the Toon is a joke. Some of the drivel you come out with is the reason why other fans laugh at us.

Doesn't really need much explaining as far as I can see. Set a mass murderer free under the guise of being at death's door and we'll do you a deal for oil. Oh, OK.

Short sighted and not good for the game long term. But these days, everybody wants a quick fix without thinking of the ramifications.

Simply put, Leeds had one of the best teams I've seen. Easy to say we are a bigger club providing you don't examine the trophy cabinet too closely.

It didn't take much to throw insomnia into the huff. Fucking little tart.

But it wouldn't work like that. Players would be moving on a permanent basis to get playing opportunities. You wouldn't have richer teams having huge squads. In fact, it would encourage teams to bring through young players rather than lash out on ready made stars knowing that they can rely on farm teams to develop their kids. The actual benefit we get from a Cleverly is incredibly short lived.

Really. Why? You'd prefer that we give practice to players from other clubs?

As if the frogs could really give a rat's arse about missing a friendly. Hardly what you call taking a stance.

IMO, loaning players out should be banned. It perpetuates the cycle of clubs like manure and chelsea stockpiling players and hedging their bets. Much better for the good of the game that they have to make a decision on the player.

Citeh have so many players that I'd think that a swop would be in Villa's interest rather than cash only. I'd ask for Ireland and perhaps Bellamy or Richards plus cash. Or even a straight deal of Milner for all three wouldn't be a bad for both clubs.

Beats me how anybody can be so gullible to think that a thug will be suffering over what he's done. More likely to be welcomed home by the cunts he ran around with and will pick up his life. Personally, I couldn't stand walking into the paper shop or a bar and seeing him laughing and joking and carrying on. But that's just me I suppose some people can just ignore it. Sad story but it doesn't change my opinion one iota on what should be done with these twats.

If you can't be at least optimistic about Barton, then you'd better not look at the rest of the midfield.

He's still more likely to make a telling pass than anybody else in our midfield.

Wasn't he officially found to be the second fastest player at Arsenal last season? Was he?

I'm having a freezing cold Modelo.

Has Campbell pursued coaching qualifications? If not, why would anybody assume he'd be any use? Surely arse would've kept him on in a player/coach position if he had any aptitude for it. From what I read, he wants to play full time for two more years....whether he can at this level is another thing.

Unfortunately, you don't "rot" in prison these days. Prisoners rights advocates see to that.

Despicable me in 3D. Canny.