Scottish Mag

Is it not letting you in the five current facts thread either? I want to know if you are still taking driving lessons and have you finally found that fecking printer/scanner(?) cable yet?

I see in December Arsenal are the next to have their own TV channel on Setanta...

ALAN SMITH has pledged to give his all for Newcastle United – no matter where Sam Allardyce asks him to play. The England international has been used wide on the right in recent games even though it is a position which clearly does not suit him. But it is to Smith’s credit that he has not complained and just got on with the job and he played his part in yesterday’s 3-1 victory over West Ham at St James’ Park – a game in which he started on the right wing and ended up as a striker. And in a frank interview after the game Smith emerged from the United dressing room to tell me: “People know what they get with me. “Right midfield isn’t my preferred position, but if I’m out there people will know what they’ll get – 100%. “Everyone knows central midfield or up front are my preferred positions, and I’ve been playing wide right. “You’re giving something totally different to the team playing out wide. It’s difficult at times because people expect wingers to provide, and that’s not my best asset. “But I can do a job for the team working as hard as possible, and you won’t get any complaints from me. “I came to Newcastle and I’m a player who has played in every position throughout my career.” As usual, Smith never stopped working against West Ham and, like everyone else with United connections he was delighted at the way the Hammers were sent home with nothing. And the £6m signing added: “That was my best performance for Newcastle. “I’ve been frustrated because I demand so much from myself. I’m my biggest critic at times, and I get frustrated with myself, which people see. “I just want to improve and help Newcastle to do as well as possible. “It was nice to get a win after the Derby performance. “I know we can all improve as a team, but we’re going in the right direction and I think we saw commitment, passion and some good football against West Ham, which is what everyone wants to see.”

Sam Allardyce will do battle with Arsene Wenger tonight, claiming the Arsenal boss has not given him enough respect over the years. The Newcastle manager reckons he discovered the secret to beating Arsenal on their travels when he was Bolton chief - but he's never turned over the Gunners in north London. Newcastle aim to put that right this evening at the Emirates Stadium just 48 hours after beating West Ham in the Premier League. Allardyce has warned his Toon squad that Wenger currently has the "best side in the country" and openly admires the work achieved by the Frenchman. But the pair had spats over Bolton's physical style that got under Wenger's skin and Allardyce said: "I've never disrespected him in any way, shape or form. It's more the opposite - but that's life, as we say. "We had good results against them, although we never won at Arsenal. I am not telling you the key to rattling them. Arsene's not managed to work it out yet, so I might as well keep it going. "We're certainly underdogs in this game because they're the best team in the Premier League right now. They've got the best squad. "We must make sure that the players are aware of how we managed to beat them at Bolton. If they take that on board, they'll have a chance. If they don't, we could suffer at the hands of Arsenal - like many teams have this year. "I have total admiration for Arsene. He has done a terrific job and his side play terrific football. He's rebuilt a team in a way that few managers could do. "There's only one manager done it before and that's Alex Ferguson, and he's rebuilt four teams and he's still top of the tree. "Arsene's the only other one who keeps taking players out and replacing them, and is still producing success. "It didn't happen last year, but it looks like it will this season. Who doesn't enjoy watching Arsenal? "Their conversion of chances into goals has increased by at least 50 per cent. "That's why they're top of the league. They created just as many chances last year but missed them. Now, they're creating them and scoring." Allardyce was frequently accused of employing bullyboy tactics by Wenger's men, and Newcastle will come after Arsenal with their confidence boosted by Sunday's win over West Ham. Big Sam will field his strongest possible line-up with Shay Given likely to be recalled along with Steven Taylor and Oba Martins - who will partner Mark Viduka in the absence of injured Michael Owen. Jose Enrique and Abdoulaye Faye will also get their first starts for the club. Allardyce is not expecting an easy ride from a young Arsenal side, adding: "He plays the kids every week. He plays Fabregas every week and what's he? A kid. Denilson and all that lot. "It's not about whether they're kids or not, it's about how much experience they have. And they have lots. "Last season, those so-called kids got Arsenal right the way through to the Carling Cup final. This time, they should be even better."

Imodium EZ Chews, well you do suffer from verbal diarrhoea!

You must sit near me, i gave my dad my ticket today as i was playing football but he reckons he slipped while celebrating and cracked his head. Came back to his seat to a round of cheers from the crowd, and then did exactly the same again for our 3rd goal edit - i just seen puds version of events so either you or my dad is lying! Lying about what? Pud is right it didnt happen whilst celebrating the 2nd goal as he had already hit the concrete before Viduka put it in as we were all looking to see how he was and barely caught the ball hit the back of the net?

Happened more or less in front of where I was sat. The lack of any stewards to be seen or found for a couple of minutes was a disgrace. He returned to his seat about 5 minutes into the second half but about 20 minutes later the paramedics and stewards came and got him and took him away again. Surely he should never have been allowed to return to his seat?? Absolute lunacy!

I think hes taken to much to his new tache, I keep getting sent pics of him the Blue Oyster Bar..

RIP

Bank holiday weekend up here so I am off both today and Monday...

Tell you what i have noticed, all the pictures are taken in private. Lets see some in public places, me I will be presenting my effort in areas around the town. So what do you think we have been hiding indoors for the last month..

They are best served with Haggis and Neeps tbh..

Happy Birthday dude..

Tickets for Scotland v Ukraine

World champions Italy have returned to the top of FIFA's world rankings after leaping above Argentina and former leaders Brazil. The Italians benefited from a 2-1 away win over Ukraine in a qualifying match for next year's European Championship and also picked up points for a 0-0 home draw with France. Brazil enjoyed three wins out of three over Algeria, the United States and Mexico but still dropped from top spot to third place, since the matches were friendlies carrying less rankings points than Italy's games. World Cup runners-up France have fallen two places to sixth following their shock 1-0 home defeat by Euro 2008 qualifying rivals Scotland. Scotland are the biggest climbers in the top 20, leaping nine places to 14th thanks to the France win and a 3-1 qualifying victory over Lithuania. England have returned to the top 10, going above European Championship qualifying Group D rivals Croatia to claim ninth spot. Croatia still lead England in the race for Euro 2008 but gained less rankings points last month following wins over lower-ranked opposition. England chalked up 3-0 victories over Israel and Russia while the Croatians beat Estonia 2-0 and handed out a 6-0 thrashing to Andorra. Top 20 rankings 1. (3) Italy 2. (2) Argentina 3. (1) Brazil 4. (5) Germany 5. (7) Netherlands 6. (4) France 7. (8) Spain 8. (10) Portugal 9. (12) England 10. (6) Croatia 11. (8) Czech Republic 12. (13) Romania 13. (11) Mexico 14. (23) Scotland 15. (14) Greece 16. (20) Poland 17. (15) Ukraine 18. (17) USA 19. (21) Uruguay 20. (19) Sweden

Congratulations Darrel

I have been changed back to my old avatar and I am having problems updating it..

LFZZ98762 Works for those looking to reactivate an account or join up free for 90 days.

Use IE7 then you tit nah, I need to take a neb at it as its some daft IE CSS bug, if anyone knows what it is then can you let me know? I flagged that up weeks ago!

Emre has apologised in his native Turkey after losing his temper during his country's 3-0 midweek win over Hungary. The Newcastle United midfielder made a series of gestures towards the Press box at Istanbul's Inonu Stadium after Turkey took the lead. Emre – who suffered an injury in the Hungary game after setting up two goals – is understood to have been unhappy at criticism of coach Fatih Terim, whose team had drawn with Malta in the previous game. He had also been widely quoted by the Turkish Press on his club future, with the 27-year-old being heavily linked with a return to Galatasaray. And Emre – a superstar in his homeland – has been forced to apologise for his actions after Gökhan Ünal put Turkey ahead in the second half. He said: "This action was not for everybody, but only one person in the Press tribunes – he knows it." Emre – a £3.8m signing from Inter Milan two years ago – has dropped down the midfield pecking order at St James's Park after the arrivals of Joey Barton, Geremi, Alan Smith and Abdoulaye Faye. And clubs in Germany, Spain and Turkey had been monitoring his situation over the summer, though no firm bid was made with Emre still recovering from the ankle problem he suffered away to Reading late last season. He made his comeback in the Carling Cup tie against Barnsley late last month, only to suffer a thigh problem which kept him out of the home game against Wigan Athletic a fortnight ago. Manager Sam Allardyce, however, was powerless to stop him linking up with Turkey for their two European Championship qualifiers. And he was frustrated to receive a phone call from Emre telling him he had suffered a fresh problem in Wednesday night's game, in which he came off the bench. Allardyce said: "Emre has phoned to say he picked up an injury. "That's a big disappointment because we had only just got him fit before he went off to play for Turkey. "It's bitterly disappointing – but there's nothing we can do about it."

Sam Allardyce says leaving Shay Given out of Newcastle United's last game was NOT a difficult decision. Fit-again Given had to be content with a place on the bench when Allardyce named his side to face Wigan Athletic at St James's Park a fortnight ago, with Steve Harper lining up between the posts. And Harper is very much in possession of the United goalkeeping jersey ahead of Monday night's game against Derby County at Pride Park. Given – who had faced Barnsley in a Carling Cup tie three days before the Wigan game after recovering from the groin injury which had put him out of the start of the season – is not used to bench duty. Allardyce's predecessors have more often than not pitched Given back into Premier League action when he has returned to fitness from an injury. But Allardyce has been as good as his word, having insisted all players started under him with a clean slate when he took charge. And Harper has not put a foot wrong in Newcastle's first four Premier League games, with the 32-year-old keeping two clean sheets in an unbeaten start to the season. Allardyce said: "How a manager deals with that situation is what makes you a manager. "And the bottom line is, at the moment, that I don't see it being a difficult decision, to be honest." Harper's Premier League start against the Latics was the 50th of his United career, taking his total appearances for the Magpies to 94 in all competitions. The Easington-born player made his debut in November 1998 against Wimbledon, when Ruud Gullit was in charge at St James's Park. Given, meanwhile, has turned out 414 times for Newcastle, putting him sixth in the club's all-time appearance table.

How generous...... You of course wouldn't be expecting him to part with the PSP though you understand? Erm... what? Aye I was thinking the same??

Someone on here has went fishing and by the looks of it got more than a bite.