Scottish Mag

Well he pretends on the trains up here too then as I have seen him many a time on the trains...

Aye they have a chance but only because they won't have to face McFadden, Caldwell etc again....

Plymouth is in Scotland?

I hear all the talks on the Spurs forums is that Anton Ferdinand is signing for you, surely you can do better

I sold it after two days, I hated it...

Argyle's centre of excellence striker Aaron Spear could be set to sign for Premier League club Newcastle United. The talented teenager is thought to have travelled to Tyneside last week for talks with Newcastle officials. One other unnamed Premier League club have also expressed their interest in Spear, who played for the Devon Schools' under-15s last season. Should Spear be lured away from Argyle, they would be entitled to compensation. That would either be by agreeing a fee with the club concerned, or through an independent tribunal. Argyle chief executive Michael Dunford told Herald Sport: "Newcastle, and one other Premier League club, have expressed an interest in Aaron Spear. "He has been given permission to speak to them. "We would like to keep him but the lad appears adamant that he wants to talk to the Premier League clubs, which I can understand." Dunford added: "We are waiting to hear from Newcastle whether they have decided to sign him." Spear was set to play for Argyle's reserves in an away game against Forest Green Rovers in April. But, shortly before the game, it was realised he was not old enough to play in the Pontin's Holidays Combination match. Spear, who was born in Plymouth and is a student at Coombe Dean School in Plymstock, spent two days training with Scotland's under-15 squad in March. He is eligible because he has a Scottish grandmother. Newcastle snapped up one former Argyle centre of excellence player earlier this year. Plymouth-born defender Ben Tozer put pen to paper on a four-and-a-half year contract with the Magpies when he moved from League One club Swindon Town in January His transfer fee could rise to up to £1 million. Tozer, 18, had only been at Swindon since the previous summer after not being offered a professional contract by Argyle at the end of the 2006/07 season. The defender has not played for Newcastle at first team level yet, but was on the substitutes' bench for their season-ending 3-1 defeat at Everton on May 11. Should Spear sign for Newcastle or the other interested Premier League club, regulations would not allow him to play for them until January 1, 2009.

TRANSFER RUMOURS Arsenal have won the £5m race for Cardiff star Aaron Ramsey ahead of Manchester United and Everton, with boss Arsene Wenger proving influential for the 17-year-old. (The Sun) AC Milan are trying to hijack Manchester City's £18m bid for CSKA Moscow's Brazilian striker Jo. (Daily Star) Real Madrid are preparing a world-record £60m offer for Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo. (The Times) Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie is adamant French midfielder Lassana Diarra will not leave the club, despite rumoured interest from Tottenham in the £10m-rated player. (Daily Telegraph) Aston Villa's Gareth Barry has demanded that boss Martin O'Neill lets him leave the club to sign for Liverpool. (The Sun) Liverpool have opened negotiations with Roma over the possible £5m sale of attacking left-back John Arne Riise. (The Independent) And the Anfield club, frustrated in their attempt to sign Espanyol winger Albert Riera, could now seek to seal a £12m deal for Middlesbrough wide-man Stewart Downing. (Daily Mirror) Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Mattos could be one of Harry Redknapp's first signings for Portsmouth this summer if he attempts to trigger a £6m release clause in the Panathinaikos man's contract. (Daily Express) Everton hope to offload Dutch winger Andy van der Meyde to Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg. (Various) And Goodison Park boss David Moyes is planning a daring raid on Sporting Lisbon to snatch Portugal's £16m-rated Joao Moutinho from under the noses of Manchester United and Arsenal. (The Sun) Zoltan Gera will join Fulham after rejecting another contract with Premier League new boys West Brom. (Various) But West Brom manager Tony Mowbray wants Arsene Wenger to do him a favour by loaning him Arsenal defender Alexandre Song for the season. (Daily Star) Chelsea are facing a £10m tug-of-war with old boss Jose Mourinho - now manager at Inter Milan - for Barcelona's Portugal midfielder Deco. (The Sun) Newcastle have stepped up their pursuit of St Etienne and France forward Bafetimbi Gomis by lodging a £10m offer. Arsenal and Bolton are also interested. (The Times) Newcastle are holding out for £7m from Liverpool for the services of nippy wide midfielder James Milner. (The Times) Derby boss Paul Jewell is ready to make a third bid for Swansea star Ferrie Bodde this week, putting £1m on the table for the young Dutch midfielder. (Daily Star) Leeds want to sign veteran striker Andrew Cole after being rejected by West Brom's Kevin Phillips. (The Sun) With boss Steve bruce struggling to sign Egyptian hitman Amr Zaki, Wigan have been sounded out by Marseille about bringing former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse back to the Premier League. (Daily Mail) New Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is planning to raid his old club Blackburn Rovers for giant defender Christopher Samba. (Daily Mail) Derby boss Paul Jewell is set to bid for Newcastle's teenage striker Andy Carroll. (Daily Mail) OTHER GOSSIP Real Madrid target Cristiano Ronaldo will be fined by Manchester United if he fails to return for pre-season training at Carrington on time. (Daily Mirror) Boss Fabio Capello has warned England's best-known names - including Michael Owen and Frank Lampard - face a fight for their futures and also stressed the need to "fantasy" in his evolving international set-up. (Various) But Capello has also urged Chelsea star Lampard to consider a move to Inter Milan, suggesting it could make him a better player. (Daily Mail) Ex-player Henning Berg has emerged as a front-runner for the vacant manager's job at Blackburn. (The Times) Jailed Joey Barton must decide whether to accept a £30,000-a-week pay cut or face being sacked by Newcastle United. (Daily Mirror) Newcastle have informed clubs of midfielder Joey Barton's availability. (Daily Mail) AND FINALLY Austria's misfiring striker Roland Linz has had to fight off rumours of being distracted by affairs of the heart after failing to score against Croatia in the home nation's opening Euro 2008 fixture. After splitting with swimmer Fabienne Nadarajah, he has been linked in the Viennese press with Miss Styria 2007. "I am not in love with her, I am single," he hit back. "I am angry." (The Guardian) Liverpool's owners have been labelled a "disgrace" by a supporters club after they claimed £1.4m in expenses for just seven months. (The Sun)

I wondered about that. I haven't seen my letter, seeing as I rang them two weeks ago to tell them I was moving house and they told me 'tough, the letters are going out..you'll have to look at someone elses and then contact us later when we've dealt with everyone else.' Proper Premier League club us man. SSR reckons he has the option but its def not on mine. Only has an option to pay for 2 years at £988 for the payment plan.

If you paid up front for this season be prepared to find out that on your application there is no option of the paying up front with a 10% reduction (even though there is a flyer about it) So anyone who bailed them out last season when they were desperate to get some pennies in the bank doesn't get the option of saving themselves £150+ now..!

NEWCASTLE United have slapped in a £10m bid for St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis – despite the French ace signing a new contract just last week. The Magpies have made their move after fearing the price for the 22-year-old could rocket up if he shines at Euro 2008. However, the bid is likely to lie on the table until Gomis returns from Switzerland and Austria. And, ominously for United, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is now showing a keen interest in the striker amid fears that leading scorer Emmanuel Adebayor may quit The Emirates Stadium. The Gazette revealed on March 8 that Gomis had emerged as a top United target after director of football Dennis Wise, vice president Tony Jimenez and technical co-ordinator Jeff Vetere twice travelled to France to run the rule over him. Kevin Keegan himself has also seen the player in action, and was obviously impressed enough to make a move for him. It's not the first time United have made a move for a French striker before a big competition, with Kenny Dalglish gambling £3.5m on Auxerre striker Stephane Guivarc'h prior to the 1998 World Cup. But despite France lifting the trophy, Guivarc'h was probably their weakest link, and Dalglish's successor Ruud Gullit was quick to sell him to Rangers at a loss after just four appearances in a black and white strip. Gomis may have to settle for a place on the bench tonight when France get their Euro 2008 campaign off against Romania in Zurich tonight. Having been a surprise addition to the French squad ahead of the experienced David Trezeguet after he scored twice on his full international debut against Ecuador last month, Gomis is still way down the pecking order for Les Blues. Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and young Lyon hotshot Karim Benzema are ahead of him in the queue for a striking spot, and he may find his opportunities limited.

Mine arrived today...

http://ipswichtown.myfootballwriter.com/fu...icle.asp?i=3539

From.com

I am currently playing a game as Dumbarton. I won the 3rd division in my first season (undefeated largely due to Celtic being my parent club) and also won the Challenge Cup having to be three 1st division sides to win it. Now into my second season I am sitting top of the 2nd Division with only about 10 games to go though there is only around 6 points seperating the top four sides. I also retained the Challenge Cup..

HIRARIOUS and BIZZZZZZZAAAAAAARRRRR

So thats what Anal Oliver is up to these days...

HAVING entitled his autobiography “Who Ate All The Pies”, Mick Quinn doesn’t exactly see a kindred spirit in the skeletal Peter Crouch. But he does see a potential fellow Newcastle United striking hero. Quinn, Tyneside’s tyre-bellied darling of the early 90s, is back in Toon — and in black and white stripes — next weekend for the Screwfix Northern Masters. And while he fears bearing the past masters’ goalscoring burden alone — “I’m the only f***ing striker in the squad!” — Quinn reckons Crouch would prove a perfect partner to the Magpies’ current crop of strikers. While the club’s scouts scour Europe and beyond for new firepower, Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan is said to see England star Crouch as a safer bet than a foreign import. And Quinn, now 46 and a successful racehorse trainer, agrees. “The worry is that you tend to have to pay over the top for English players, and £10 million seems to be what Liverpool want for Crouch,” said Quinn. “But he’s an England international, and he’s proven. Foreign players have got to get visas, bring their family over, find a house and settle in. “That’s before they’ve set foot on the pitch — and then the big question comes: can they settle as players in English football? “Even the better ones can take a season to get to grips with things here, and plenty never do. “Yes, your Man Uniteds, Arsenals and Liverpools have brought in guaranteed quality from abroad, but Newcastle aren’t really in a position to do that. “I would go with Crouchy. The little and large act has already worked up there with Mark Viduka as the focal point. “When him, Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins were on the pitch at the back end of last season, Newcastle never lost. “And Crouch is certainly capable of holding the ball up like Viduka, as well as winning plenty in the air — and scoring goals.” Quinn added: “Kevin going back to Newcastle came out of the blue, but as usual he has adapted pretty quickly and things came good towards the end of the season. “The acid test though is who he can bring in this summer and whether he can get the club in the top eight next season. “He needs backing, and if he doesn’t get it then there’ll be interesting times ahead, because one thing the fans in Newcastle don’t want is mediocrity.” Meanwhile, out of the blue is a fair description of Quinn’s Masters call-up. “I played in a testimonial about a month ago, having not played since last year, and ended up with blisters as big as the elephant man’s head,” said the man whose 59 goals in 115 appearances for United — and stout physique — earned him hero status. “They’ve still not healed and then I get the call for the Masters. I’ll have to get into the gym for a blow-out. “But it’ll be great to see the lads again — fellas I’ve played with and against. And Newcastle still feels like a second home to me.”

NEWCASTLE are poised to make a £7 million bid for Atletico Madrid’s ex-Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes, according to Spanish sources. And United are eyeing Valencia’s talented young centre-back Alexis, with left-back Jose Enrique possibly returning to Spain in part-exchange. But Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen is NOT bound for Tyneside. Reyes’ career is at a crossroads after an unimpressive first full season back in Spain — the 24-year-old failed to score in 26 appearances for Atletico — since leaving Arsenal last summer for £8m. But while Reyes’ failure to settle in London after his arrival from Sevilla in 2004 places massive question marks over any move to Newcastle, the Magpies are also eyeing 21-year-old Alexis. The former Getafe starlet is well known to United’s head of player recruitment Jeff Vetere, who recommended that Real Madrid sign him last summer. Meanwhile, the Sunday Sun can confirm that Newcastle are not the English club trying to lure former Chelsea star Gudjhonsen back to the Premier League. But back in Spain, confusion reigns over the Magpies’ planned pre-season trip to Majorca. While United believe that the four- team tournament — featuring themselves, Real Mallorca, Hertha Berlin and Hannover — will take place on August 1-3, the German clubs have been told otherwise. “We heard that the first game was on July 31 and that the competition finishes on August 2,” Hannover spokesman Bernd Reiser told the Sunday Sun. “There’s confusion. It’s still not sure which game will happen when.”

I don't, I think it was the influence of Tommy Craig. No, I agree with T-Keith on this, Shearer certainly seemed to have more of an influencial presence over the results we got. I'd be gutted if he went elsewhere and was a success, the other thing is if he did go somewhere else and didn't put his all in to it like he would here then it could damage any future possibility of him being our manager. It's a no win situation for him imo. Well certainly from a coaching point I would say Craig played a huge role especially seeing as he was one of the people taking Shearer through his badges...

I don't, I think it was the influence of Tommy Craig.

NEWCASTLE United are furious with Liverpool after they offered three “nonentities” in part-exchange for winger James Milner. United have found themselves in an identical situation to Aston Villa when Martin O'Neill went ballistic after Rafael Benitez tried the same trick with them in a bid to lure Gareth Barry to Anfield. O'Neill never went public with the players he was offered by Liverpool, but the Chronicle can reveal that Benitez has dangled 19-year-old defenders Emiliano Insua and Jack Hobbs in front of United. The third player was so insignificant that my St James’s Park source could not even recall his name – and needless to say United will not be biting. Insua is an Argentinian who was signed from Nobby Solano’s old club Boca Juniors, while Hobbs has been on loan at Scunthorpe since the January transfer window. It’s not that long ago that Liverpool were trailing in the wake of a Sir Bobby Robson-inspired United, and the feeling at St James’s Park is that the Anfield club have a nerve to offer three players who are presumably surplus to requirements for Milner. If Benitez had put Peter Crouch in the frame in part-exchange for their England Under-21 international, then United would at least have been prepared to listen. Even Norwegian left-back John Arne Riise, whose Liverpool stock has slumped since his disastrous own goal against Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League at Anfield, would have brought a semblance of interest. Riise is expected to leave Merseyside in the next month and it seemed a fair bet that Kevin Keegan could have been interested. Keegan told me before the end of the season that with Spaniard Jose Enrique as his only left-back, he would be on the lookout for another one in the summer. But that was before Keegan’s showdown meeting with Mike Ashley. Indeed, all the talk among football agents is that if any transfer business is to be done with United, it will be done through director of football Dennis Wise and vice-president (player recruitment) Tony Jimenez and not the manager.

NEWCASTLE United’s search for some much-needed new players is now worldwide. For technical co-ordinator Jeff Vetere has been in South America running the rule over some top young players in Argentina. And no sooner was he back than he was off to the Toulon tournament in France, where he was joined by a host of scouts. United, of course, have had players from Argentina with them before – but neither Christian Bassedas nor Daniel Cordone pulled up any trees in their stint at St James’s Park. And Ossie Ardiles was hardly a success in his time in the United hot seat. In the meantime, United director of football Dennis Wise was spotted in London’s Landmark Hotel – a venue much used by football people – on Wednesday in talks with representatives of IMG, arguably the biggest sports agency in the world. The United trio of Wise, vice-president Tony Jimenez and Vetere have put in the miles during the past two or three months. United watched Marseille midfielder Samir Nasri in the UEFA Cup tie with Zenit St Petersburg in March, but it looks as though he was outside United’s price range and he is expected to join Arsenal soon. United fans would love to see the first new face arrive – and so too would the people in the St James’s ticket office.