Scottish Mag

Newcastle have confirmed assistant manager Kevin Bond has been given leave from the club. The former Portsmouth coach was not among Newcastle's travelling party for their trip to Estonia for their Uefa Cup clash with Levadia Tallinn. Bond has been allowed to stay at home for personal reasons, but the club have refused to divulge what the reasons are. A club spokesman said: "Kevin is on leave from the club for a few days to resolve personal matters." Glenn Roeder is expected to be assisted by Terry McDermott for the game with Levadia Tallinn.

James Milner has been recalled to the Newcastle squad for Thursday's Uefa Cup clash with Levadia Tallinn after Nolberto Solano was hit by injury. Solano has been ruled out of the trip to Estonia after he picked up a hamstring problem in training on Monday. Milner, who came close to leaving Newcastle on transfer deadline day, will now replace Solano in the squad after missing out altogether against Fulham last weekend. Magpies boss Glenn Roeder is anxiously waiting to find out the full extent of Solano's injury, but he believes Milner is a more than capable deputy. "Nobby pulled up in training and we are hoping it is not too serious," said Roeder. "He will have a scan while we are away and, until we get the result, we do not really know whether he will be with us when we go to West Ham on Sunday. "James will be involved in Tallinn and will play a significant part, and I am sure he will give us something down the right." Meanwhile Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given has called on his team-mates to raise their game if they want to enjoy success in Europe. Given was unhappy with the defeat to Fulham and has warned they must improve if they are to make any impact in the Uefa Cup. "Whenever you have had a bad defeat or a bad result, the best thing is to have a game as soon as possible," said Given. "It just was not good enough against Fulham and the goals were schoolboy errors. "The game in Tallinn is on Thursday night, so that is a good thing for us. "It will not be easy. They have already knocked out FC Twente. "They are decent - but we have to get back to what we are good at and getting some results. "We should have done that against Fulham and seen the game out with 10 minutes left, 1-0 up. "A draw was bad enough, but it does not get any worse than losing the three points."

It must be great to have money to throw away...

SSN now reporting it will be 9 months..

I fear for Taylor. Whilst he is not at the standard many would like you to believe he does have the attributes to be a decent player. However the longer he continues to play with the rest of the clowns we have here at Newcastle I see no way his game is ever going to progress.

I would say the scariest thing about it is that you are believing what you read in the Mirror..

Happy Birthday dude..

That is how much we have spent since the end of the 03/04 season. A season where we ended as disgruntled supporters not happy with how the season had panned out, what I would give to go back to then.. Given, Harper, Caig Hughes, Griffin, Caldwell, O'Brien, Woodgate, Bramble, Bernard, Elliott Ambrose, Bowyer, Speed, Dyer, Viana, Robert, Jenas Shearer, Ameobi, Bellamy, Lua Lua Even Chopra and Taylor had been involved at some points over the season. That is the squad we ended the season with. Whilst I'm sure it will be open to debate as to who was actually any good and there could be arguments as to whether it is any better than what we currently have the fact remains that 75 million has been spent to try and "improve" that squad something we can certainly say has not been done. A summer in which Chelsea and Liverpool both sacked their managers and brought in Mourinho and Benitez and have went from strength to strength god knows how we have managed to let it all go tits up...

My point is that imo he made other contributions rather than just scoring goals. I am firmly of the belief he had a major part in our revival last year as deputy manager for instance. First and foremost, above his considerable technical ability, he is an intelligent player. How many other players do we have that you can say that about? Does Bramble have a brain underneath that layer of muscle? Yes he was old and imo probably stayed a year too long, but to simply not replace him was madness. A source I know reckons Shearer's input was minimal as 'deputy manager' to say the least. Could be bollocks but there you go. Well something has gone seriously wrong with our game plan this year compared to last, because we look clueless. That may be mainly down to the playing staff though I suppose. Parker at least showed his worth but it was downhill when he went off. Who has Roeder got in his entourage to give him advice now btw? Serious question, I don't know. Clark? McDermott? Is it a coincidence that he no longer has Tommy Craig alongside him in the dugout..?

Emmm I can most assuredly say without conviction that it werent the uber-geeks fault this time I believe it was the Werepigs fault...

TRANSFER RUMOURS Real Madrid newboy Jose Antonio Reyes says being left out of the Champions League final was what persuaded him he must leave Arsenal. (Daily Mirror) Arsenal's new left back William Gallas will wear Dennis Bergkamp's old number 10 shirt, despite being a defender. (The Sun) Lokomotiv Moscow have told Hearts that striker Gary O'Connor is not for sale. (Daily Record) OTHER GOSSIP Liverpool striker Peter Crouch could be dropped for the Merseyside derby - with boss Rafael Benitez saying he is tired after his international exertions. (Daily Mirror) The Andorran government could take action against national team coach David Rodrigo after Israel's Yossi Benayoun claimed he made racist comments to him in their midweek international game. (The Times) Hearts' owner Vladimir Romanov admitted he has picked the team in the past - and says he will do so again in the future. (Daily Record) Jonathan Woodgate says it will be "a dream come true" to make his debut for Middlesbrough, having been a season-ticket holder at the club as a youngster. (Daily Mirror) Northern Ireland hat-trick hero David Healy says there is "no way" he wants boss Lawrie Sanchez to quit. (Daily Mirror) Wigan's Arjan de Zeeuw says he wants to play on past the end of the season, despite being 36. (The Sun) Alan Curbishley could be in line for a return to management at Brighton. (Daily Star) Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce says it has become "open season" on Ben Thatcher after he was accused of another elbowing incident. (Daily Express) MK Dons have increased security at their training ground after a second break-in in three weeks. (Daily Mail) FUNNIES Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni has been persuaded by his kit sponsors to model Ryman League side Tooting and Mitcham's new kit for publicity photos. (Daily Mirror) Charlton boss Iain Dowie says he likes arguing with players as it motivates them to play better. (Daily Star) Sheffield United's Danny Webber says he wants to do well against Blackburn because he waited to get Rovers' boss Mark Hughes' autograph when he was a youngster. (Daily Star) Fulham manager Chris Coleman likes to travel to away games on the day whenever possible as he thinks players sleeping in their own beds helps their performance. (Daily Star) New Sunderland manager Roy Keane says the only good luck message he has had so far is from his wife, because she has not seen him since he took over the job. (Daily Express) Keane also wants photos of Sunderland's past glories to be put up at the training ground to make it a less "cold" environment. (The Independent) Portsmouth's Serbian international Dejan Stefanovic says he intends to apply for British nationality in two years' time. (The Independent)

Giuseppe Rossi will make his Newcastle United debut against Fulham today with the hope he will be taken under the wing of Alan Shearer during his time on Tyneside. Rossi is a huge admirer of the former Magpies captain and has revealed the prospect of working with him while on loan from Manchester United was a major reason behind his excitement at leaving Old Trafford. Shearer is not a full-time member of Newcastle's coaching staff because of media commitments but the club's record goal-scorer is a regular visitor at the training ground - and Rossi is keen to spend as much time as possible with the ex-England striker. But while the prospect of learning from Shearer was a big attraction to the American-born Italian, Newcastle's reputation for attacking football also helped lure the teenager. "It would just be great to meet Alan Shearer," said Rossi, who is expected to start against Fulham alongside Obafemi Martins this afternoon if Shola Ameobi fails a fitness test. "If I can chat with him about football, about playing as a centre-forward, that would be incredible. "He's a legend here, his goal-scoring record speaks for itself and if I can talk to him and pick up anything while I am here that would be fantastic. Of course that was an added incentive to come to Newcastle. Alan Shearer is one of the best there has been, he would be one of the best people to learn from because he did so much. "Newcastle have a tradition of having great centre-forwards. There have been so many top strikers at Newcastle, I'd love to be one of them while I am here. I know the supporters love strikers and I hope to be successful while I'm playing for Newcastle. That is one of the reasons I was so keen to make the move to Newcastle, they play attacking football, that's what the supporters expect to see." The arrival of Rossi on a four-month loan deal was not the sort of ambitious signing fans wished to see. It has also raised question marks regarding the club's own development of young players. But Rossi comes with a glowing endorsement from Old Trafford and has also set tongues wagging in the United dressing room. "It was a very tentative call to Alex, half expecting to be politely told, `No Chance'," said Roeder, who is also excited about the prospect of unleashing Martins on Premiership defences this season. "I know how highly he rates him. He wouldn't want to leave the squad weak but he slept on it and said he would be sympathetic to the request. I said I would look after him and give him plenty of experience." Rossi's move to Newcastle is designed for Manchester United's long-term gain but it is also a short-term boost to United after their failure to sign the strikers they targeted this summer. Rossi added: "It's great to be here with Newcastle. It's a team with great ambition, great history. It's a great opportunity for me. For now, I'm just thinking about the next four months. I'll give my best for the team until January but if everyone agrees I'd like to stay here longer."

Glenn Roeder has denied Newcastle have messed James Milner around despite cancelling a deadline day move to Aston Villa just hours after giving him permission to talk to the Midlands club. Milner, who scored the winner for England Under-21s against Switzerland in midweek, is understood to have been far from happy with his treatment having already had the number 11 shirt taken off him this season when the club signed Damien Duff. But Roeder, who has spoken to the hardworking 20-year-old on his return from international duty, is confident he will recover from the unrest and uncertainty which has followed him all summer. "From our point of view, he was allowed to go to Aston Villa to talk to them," said Roeder, who nevertheless will have to do all he can to restore the player's confidence in the coming weeks. "It was the last day of the transfer window. Unfortunately, it was a deal we couldn't go through with right at the death. These things happen in football. "That is much as I can say. The experience, in the long run, will help his career, this won't have wounded him or harmed him. He wouldn't have wanted it to happen but as a young boy it won't do him any harm. He is back in the fold. You can see the numbers we have got and the amount of games we have in Europe. He will play plenty of games. "We don't think he was messed around. The situation didn't turn out as we thought it was going to. We have ended up still having a highly talented player but I think saying he has been messed around is taking it too far." Whether Milner feels the same is a moot point and he would still appear to have an uncertain future at St James's Park when the transfer window re-opens in January. With money tight at St James's Park, the versatile midfielder may still need to be sacrificed to raise funds - as he initially was last week to fund a proposed bid for Middlesbrough's Mark Viduka - with Roeder suggesting yesterday that he will almost certainly look to buy in the New Year. Roeder added: "A week is a long time in football, nevermind four months. Who knows what will happen when the transfer window opens in January. I'm confident I will be able to bring players in. They might be new targets or we may revisit the same targets as we wanted last time."

Why not?

http://www.tranmererovers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Welcome ??

I wear both glasses and contacts (not at the same time though obviously). Whilst I sometimes enjoy wearing my glasses they can become a pain in the arse when its raining etc..

TRANSFER RUMOURS Portsmouth had a £6m bid for Tottenham and England striker Jermain Defoe turned down on deadline day. (The Sun) Bolton boss Sam Allardyce has put a price tag of £6m on Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim to ward of interest from Pompey. (The Times) Sheffield United have decided against signing Senegal midfielder Khalilou Fadiga because of concerns over his lack of fitness. (The Times) Hull's former England international Nicky Barmby is being tracked by Sheffield Wednesday with a view to a loan deal. (The Sun) Coventry are set to sign Rafa Gonzalez after the Spanish goalkeeper impressed during a trial. (The Sun) Wolves want to sign Newcastle winger Alan O'Brien on loan. (The Sun) OTHER GOSSIP The Premiership is facing a new bungs scandal after an undercover BBC probe into illegal payments. (The Sun) Wayne Rooney floored Michael Gray with one punch after the "sleazy" Blackburn full-back made unwelcoming advances to the England star's girlfriend Coleen in a trendy Manchester bar. (The Sun) Ashley Cole did not move from Arsenal to Chelsea for money. (The Times) Tottenham striker Mido has gone on a crash diet over the summer as he will be fined if his weight rises above a certain level. To help avoid a pay-out the Egyptian is also now sporting a crew-cut. "I've lost about 22lb and the hair was about 7lb!" he said. (Various) Hearts star Saulius Mikoliunas hitched a lift back from Lithuania on a flight with the Tartan Army. (Daily Record) Scotland outcast Richard Hughes has had a bitter swipe at manager Walter Smith. (Daily Record) FUNNIES Liverpool new-boy Fabio Aurelio says team-mate Craig Bellamy reminds him of his superstar countrymen. If you're wondering, it is the way "he runs and hits the ball" that marks the Welshman out as an equal to Ronaldinho, Robinho and co. Tony Gale has urged his former club West Ham to forget about bringing Sven-Goran Eriksson in as their new manager. "We saw what happened with Sven in the World Cup," he said. "I'd rather have Nancy (dell'Olio) in charge." (The Sun

Nah...

2-1 now. Henry deflection put France 2 up but Gilardino has just pulled one back. Quality game...

Another good win for Scotland France 1 nil up on Italy..

What tests? All the buttons are working if thats what you are asking?

Both quote and fast reply (and delete ) are now working fine for me...

Probably not, but makes more sense for those who are exiles or travel a fair distance. I for one couldn't be arsed with the 8 hour round trip just to have dinner..