Big TRon

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I don't think Rooney's half as stupid as people think. I actually think he can be surprisingly eloquent at times. well if you wanted to stick your neck out you could possibly have done it before tonight

I feel he should hang on a bit longer from taking the Toon job...just in case he gets offerd the French national team coach position in the next 5 years.

Thus begins another debate about a complete load of shite.

There isnt going to be a transfer kitty, Ashley isnt trying to get succes as we see it, he is trying to line his pockets. The only hope I see for the future is if he cant make money out of it then he will sell up If there was no transfer kitty I doubt we'd have paid £10m for Coloccini. Yes, I know we sold players as well, but if we really wanted to do everything on the cheap, we could have bought someone for a lot less and Ashley would be making even more profit, which is his only aim according to some.

If the club income declines won't Ashley just reduce the transfer kitty further to make up his losses? I know people are angry but it just seems to me this boycott militancy is not going to do the football team any favours. Protesting about having a fucked up club is in danger of becoming a self-fulfilled prophesy.

Its harsh that we have different views on such an emotional and important topic but i'm not going to shy away from it. I think we're both more than capable of having a different opinion on this. My view is that he knew for months about the situation as it was the Keegan camp feeding Louise Taylor etc about events behind the scenes (about as close to a fact as you'll get in all of this). He had serious mis-givings during the summer, which he voiced through the press. It wasnt Ashley feeding the press all summer as that would have been an insane thing for him to do. The only possible conclusion you can draw is that Keegan had a problem with the set-up since the day 'problems with the set-up' appeared in the press. Thats months ago now. Its integrity to do the right thing by the people that you express you act in the best interests of. Ashley & co have no integrity whatsoever, they've lived and died by the same sword (PR). I've been saying that since they took over tbf too, me and LM + a few others were slating them from the start. For Keegan, i jst want to see the details of his contract to clear up this confusion. It would appear he has had problems with the set-up for longer than the friday before the Arsenal game. If it was me, i'd have been lobbying for change, setting out my reasons why, influencing those within the club to listen. I dont think he tried any of that. If he had sign-off on players, acting with integrity would have been to consult his lawyers for constructive dismissal the first time a contractual element of his role had been broken. Instead he issued demands asking for total control of the club and demanding that Jimenez & Wise are sacked, the day after none of that mattered for another 3 months. My personal belief is that the club were probably prepared to let Wise go but that the man who got them 12m for a player valued at 6-7m by the manager was pretty indispensable. I have a suspicion that this is what broke the possibility of them sorting it out. What i dont believe is that, having endured the set-up and problems for so long, he couldnt put up with it for a few months more, gone to the LMA and tried to sort this out from the inside out. People just accept this notion of a 'neccessity to resign' which to me sounds prescious and pompous. Could he not have thought of the greater good? Basically I've been saying that on N-O. I feel somewhat let down by Keegan. It might not have been how he wanted it, but there was still a hell of a lot to play for this season, with a squad slowly improving. I find it hard to get my head round the fact he'd give up his 'dream job' and walk away. Even accounting for the fact he might have been frustrated surely he should have wanted to work with some of the lads who have been signed?

But no one was calling him a yes man till now were they? He was doing well with what he had at his disposal, all the bullshit about him being tactically naieve was blown out of the water - he'd re-invented himself as a coach. That's why it disappoints me that he quit over not having more control on transfers, because that job wasn't being done disastrously, although you could question whether enough money was spent. I think it would have become increasingly obvious he was a yes man though. People were already questioning how much control he had over who went / who came in. If Keegan's transfer targets weren't in line with the policy of buying young emerging talent then there was always going to be a problem. Ashley hired the wrong man for the job in that case which is his mistake, although I agree with the policy broadly.

But no one was calling him a yes man till now were they? He was doing well with what he had at his disposal, all the bullshit about him being tactically naieve was blown out of the water - he'd re-invented himself as a coach. That's why it disappoints me that he quit over not having more control on transfers, because that job wasn't being done disastrously, although you could question whether enough money was spent.

If Keegan was targeting progressing this year it does (and he would be held SOLELY to blame, remember). I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't getting mixed messages too, that is "top 4" from Ashley but then being undermined from even any long shot at that by Wise and Co. No win situation for him if that were the case - and it certainly would fit the comments and circumstance. I don't think anybody would have hung out Keegan to dry if he didn't finish top 4 this season, bearing in mind the club re-iterated it was a long term vision just this week. I would like to have seen Keegan working with the new signings, they might turn out better than he expects. Well after the reaction he got after his comments re: the Chelsea match, it's clear Ashley as bigger ambitions than many would assume. Having said that I'm not saying he would be if he didn't this year. But I am saying he'd be held to blame for not progressing towards it, but if he felt the major reason behind that was not being able to buy the players he wanted and having players he want sold from under him then why would he want to stay and do that impossible job? It's not like the new signings have been bad so far, why not give them a chance?

If Keegan was targeting progressing this year it does (and he would be held SOLELY to blame, remember). I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't getting mixed messages too, that is "top 4" from Ashley but then being undermined from even any long shot at that by Wise and Co. No win situation for him if that were the case - and it certainly would fit the comments and circumstance. I don't think anybody would have hung out Keegan to dry if he didn't finish top 4 this season, bearing in mind the club re-iterated it was a long term vision just this week. I would like to have seen Keegan working with the new signings, they might turn out better than he expects.

The only thing I would blame Keegan for is not wanting the job enough. Yes he had reason to be pissed. Yes I can understand his principles. But there was some good work being done in targeting young emerging talent, and I don't think Keegan took that on board fully. It was a dream job, with great fans, and some bloody decent players with everything to play for this season. It obviously didn't matter enough.

If Shearer said that he was probably in MOTD mode. Ferdinand had to give up his #9 shirt when Shearer arrived. Shearer worked much better with Duncan Ferguson and Bellamy in my opinion.

I think the funniest part about the whole incident was Alex Ferguson pitching in with his holier than thou comments about dissent. The biggest bunch of ref-baiting bastards in my time watching football have been Man U, which is why this whole debate is laughable, being mostly phone-in fuelled media drivel. I'm with Andy Gray on this one, at least he isn't being a hypocrite.

We absolutely battered them but kept getting hit on the break. Plus by the end, Souness had about four forwards on the pitch with one defender which helped them add a couple of bonus goals.

I would still like to see Geremi taking the set pieces, because he's usually good at them. One bad night in that regard doesn't mean he's suddenly lost that ability. He looked short of confidence early on but much better second half. I'm hoping Keegan can get him playing again, because we need someone who can pass in that midfield.

Geremi was abysmal in the first half, but he played well in the second half. He passes better than most of the other midfielders which isn't saying much to be fair.

To be honest i think i'd just stick Faye and N'Zogbia in there. The rets of them have been shite for the vast majority of the season, but Faye looks like he can play the defensive mid role and pass a football reasonably and Zog is capable of attacking/creating which you can't say for most of what's been playing there. And if people say Zog isn't a natural central player or doesn't belong there do they really think he'll be worse than Barton et al? I quite like that idea. We wouldn't get over-run like recent weeks for sure.

Trust us to get the shite draw in a season when so many Premier teams have been knocked out.

On Wise, it's a strange one, but someone somewhere must have a pretty good reason for wanting him in, you can only hope they have good judgement. I just hope it's not Paul Kemsley whispering in Ashley's ear again.

Stuart Pearce would be more worrying.

If Tottenham are buying Hutton, wonder if that means Chimbonda is on his way, assuming there was any truth in that story.

The wank mag is still an option worth considering.

People keep going on about Woodgate bringing on Taylor, but for me he doesn't look to have learned an awful lot since his first game under SBR. Cacapa was by miles the best defender yesterday.

How long is this operation which is now taking on biblical proportions expected to take? Will KK in the dead of night be peeking in their windows to check on their diet? Keegan's into his 2nd week of management and he hasn't signed anyone yet. Is it a disaster (possibly biblical?) Maybe. Who knows? He might just be doing it on purpose to wind up people needing instant answers. For quick relief you could always buy a wank mag.

Even the creative midfielder we need - how could Keegan have identified one after being out of touch for so long by his own admission? He'll have a far clearer idea by the summer who he wants and those in the squad who are worth keeping. Milner's one of those for me who flatters to deceive. Keegan might think he's great on seeing him in training for example, but a lot of these players go missing when the heat is on. These are the things you find out as the season unravels. I can't remember KK admitting that like?, i can remember him saying that people seem to think 3 years is a lifetime, and also he's never been to a live game but still managed to watch and even listen (phone-ins etc), so minus these excuses I'm suprised that he hasn't signed anyone yet, it's got to have been mentioned in meetings before about the current crop of dross at the club. So watching MOTD, and listening to phone-ins is how managers assess their transfer targets? Well who'd have thought..?