Ronnie Whelan

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I dont think Barry was the answer to winning the league, but Rafa wanted him and if Rafa is to complete the squad he wants then the players he wanted should have been delivered. IMO this is an argument against replacing Rafa or not giving him, lets say, a three year contract. It would be pointless giving another manager what is a vastly superior squad to 04/05 if Rafa has not had the chance to complete what he is trying to build.

There are also one he missed out on and had to settle for second best. Pennant, Crouch, the missing out on Barry. Also the squad inherited in 04/05 which went on to win the CL overachieved. We had a good mentality and excellent tactics to beat teams who were better than us. In that regard stating that he inherited a CL winning squad is a different base to say inheriting the current Manc squad. Money had to spent in order for the squad to adopt the managers strategies and mentality, I still think we are still maybe two players away from being the squad rafa wants.

I dont think so mate the obvious example being Gareth Barry from the summer.

Classic quote. What an utter c*** Ronaldo is and as others have said it seems Torres is the complete opposite. if the story in the original thread is to be believed Torress immediately said No to this offer.

Chelsea & Mancs get the majority of who they are after, in a lot of cases over the past few windows Rafa has had to settle for what perceive as being option two or even three.

Another question you should ask here is 'has Rafa always got the players he was looking for?'

For some that would still be overshadowed by us not challenging in the league.

I have to admire your brutal honesty RP.

` Is the right answer. It is far too easy for people who are sore after drawing at home against to Stoke to declare that the manager should be replaced. He has raised our expectations again, we will all be disappointed if we dont challenge this year and would be disappointed if we dont at least make it to the semi final of the CL. Our expectations have been raised and our expectations should always be on collecting trophies in may because thats what we do.

Jon has his left foot on the ball in that link and is somehow still managing to stand upright.

Fair point. Ask fans what they would like to prioritise this season and the vast majority will say the league, im sure a lot of players are saying the same thing, surely memebers of the board are aware of this too (excluding our american oweners). The club could never make a statement or insinuate to that end.

It must be our priority this season. The mancs are one away.

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Completely. There is no way Martin went in for the challenge thinking he was going to seriously injur Jo, there are much easier ways to do that then taking out his Kidneys. Its the way he ended up challenging after his initial jump, but still ended up being a kick.

I wouldnt but Martin Skrtel would.

He was challenging for the ball and kicked the opposition player in the back while challenging. It wasnt as bad as the caption might show but it was a kick nonetheless.

To be fair, Karate kicks are not an every day occurance.

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Career threatening is definitely an over reaction but Martin does tend to make the odd bad decision in matches. The Yakubu shoulder charge in the derby being the one that first comes to mind. Some would say that points to him being only human but I dont believe that for a second.

IMO Amoo is more likely to get first team opporunities sooner than Dalla Valle.

I didnt realise there were such issues with the Academy, in fact it was one of the areas of the club I have been excited about for the last couple of seasons. I guess I should read more. Anyone here know anything about this guy Owen Brown?

You expected the s*** they find themselves in now? This thread was in late August before the window closed. King Kev was resident and they were looking to bring some players in before the close of the window. The club has imploded since.

Haha, bunch of c****. Who'd have thunk Newcastle would be in such turmoil!