[Neil Purvis]

I don’t think he was criticized for signing Martins, more the way he went about it in such a way that it left Martins (and his agent) holding all the cards which ended up in a big salary and the minimum release fee.

[Shergar]

Originally posted by Neil Purvis:
.com's take on the Roeder story raised a smile:

<BLOCKQUOTE>Some Roeder quotes as Newcastle manager:

About transfer inactivity:

"We'll keep working away, trying to make inroads into one or two targets. It's a question of being patient. I know the fans are looking in the papers to see who we might have signed. I think it's best to keep things close to our chest."

About Obafemi Martins:

"We must be patient, it will take him time to settle into the high tempo of the Premiership. We have to consider he's trying to regain full physical fitness from when he arrived from Italy having been unwell for two weeks with flu."

About Kieron Dyer's long-waited return:

"Kieron is confident he will be fit for Saturday. I am a very patient person."

About Nigel Pearson's appointment:

"I have been very patient looking for a new first team coach and I think I have found someone who will come in and help me greatly to get the team winning again."

About Michael Owen's injury:

"It's a question of being more patient and building him up. It's taking longer to heal than at first thought. We thought he'd be ready for the whole of April."

About the fans:

"The Newcastle fans were absolutely magnificent and were patient when we needed them to be."

About the club:

"I know this club and if I am given time then things will drop into place and then we can go places."

</BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats class

I have to say I had alot of respect for Roeder when he left the club and felt bad about the way he ended up going.

But after slagging off Big Sam before a ball has been even kick or hes even finnished pre season is a bit low and more childish than anything.

I do hope he gets a chance with a lower down the leagues club but after comments like that I dont want him anywhere near our club on ANY level.

[Neil Purvis]

Missed off the best bit:

"The current squad finished last season well enough to be playing in Europe this season. Without so many injuries, we would have qualified again for Europe.

Injuries you say Glenn?

[RedRob]

Not that he'd ever dream of using them as an excuse of course

[Jeff the Fish]

Originally posted by Neil Purvis:
I don’t think he was criticized for signing Martins, more the way he went about it in such a way that it left Martins (and his agent) holding all the cards which ended up in a big salary and the minimum release fee.

The negotiation of the contract would have had absolutely nothing to do with Roeder.

[nbrocky]

Really really really don't care about this Roeder news story at all. Can we just go back to pretending we might sign a full back please?

[Big Geordie]

Originally posted by Jeff the Fish:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by Neil Purvis:
I don’t think he was criticized for signing Martins, more the way he went about it in such a way that it left Martins (and his agent) holding all the cards which ended up in a big salary and the minimum release fee.

The negotiation of the contract would have had absolutely nothing to do with Roeder. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Yup - as with Owen, it would have been Shepherd's doing.

[Juve4EVA]

That Roeder article.

Martins: Does he want to leave and what is his price? I don't want to see him on your long list of injured players.

[Neil Purvis]

That’s irrelevant. The fact is that we signed him right before the season was about to start and he knew that we were desperate for a striker so could ask for whatever he wanted. If we had moved earlier we would have had more of a bargaining position.

In fact let’s look at Roeder’s signings:

Martins
Fell into our lap when Juve were relegated and Inter started snapping up strikers. Was never a long term target we’d watched for weeks, simply signed because we needed a striker and Inter were prepared to let him go.

Duff
Had no intention of signing him whatsoever then heard Spurs were going to sign him so asked if we could talk to him and were told we could have him for £5m. Again we hadn’t been scouting him or anything, just came on the market so we signed him.

Sibierski
I’d be amazed if we had been tracking Big Sib for weeks, analysing his game and deciding he could do a job for us. Was always a case of rushing around on the last day of the window and snapping up whoever was available and luckily Man City were prepared to let him go.

Bernard
ahahahahaaha

Rossi (load)
Why did we sign him again? Was either brought on as a sub with nothing to play for or played alongside another small striker so never got a fair crack of the whip.

The Gooch (loan)
Got no problem with this one. Loaned him in to see if he could do a job, he couldn’t so we sent him back. Much preferred that to spending £4m+ on him befor5e realising he’s Boumsong mrak II.

Srnicek
Apart from nostalgia, Pav should never have come back to the club. There were plenty of keepers available for loan, most of whom wouldn’t have had the movement of an 80 year old man. Luckily we didn’t have to call on Pav too often. If we had to give him 6 games we would have been truly fecked (even moreso).

[Stu1892]

What do we all think of the Queudrue rumours? Seem pretty strong. Not sure what to think of him, seemed to blow hot and cold at Boro and didn't see him at Fulham. Decent left foot too if i remember correctly

He's tall and that's what fat Sam's after though.