Jimmy Greaves seems to have a positive view about our chances from a Today interview earlier last week (as well as some views on Bobby Robson and Newcastle): "There was a wonderful sight in the week, Bobby Robson beaming down from another well-lit stage, another job before him- more success, no doubt. The night before he had delivered a marvellous speech in hounour of Bryan Robson at The Savoy. He was up at 5.30 the next morning to get a flight to Dublin to be ready for an 11am press conference. Sharing the stage with Steve Staunton, he looked bright and breezy and ready for the challenge of helping the Rep Of Ireland to the next European Championship finals. This is the man who led Newcastle to fourth, third and fifth in the Premiership in his final three seasons in charge at St James. This was, of course, having guided them clear of relegation when he first arrived in 1999. His reward for this- the sack just a handful of games into last season. The result- Newcastle finnished the season 14th their worst ever Premiership finish and blew their chances of winning the Uefa and Fa Cups. And now turmoil, once more swirls around Tyneside. What is it about Bobby Robson that makes people act so swiftly and repent at such leisure? The FA, Barcelona and Newcaste have all done it. Still he beams that smile, bounces back and once more embraces the game he has given so much. As for Newcastle, well, you cannot help wondering if they are getting what they deserve. Five managers in the last 10 years is hardly the stablitiy on which to build any sort of power-base. Yesterday things just got worse as the bickering at the very top continued. Chairman Freddy Shepherd is not happy Newcastle's poor run is being blamed on injuries. After giving manager Greame Souness a healthy £50 million to add to an already strong squad that under Bobby got 4th 3rd and 5th you can understand why. In return, Souness hit back yesterday claming it was not an excuse but a "fact" that they are not winning football matches beause the do not have their best players. In the meantime, Souness continues a fight with the local media due to the criticism he has recieved. Never a good sign that. Particularly in a part of the world where the fans lap up every word those in charge of their hopes and dreams utter. Today, Souness faces his old club Blackburn where he left 16 mouths ago to take over at St James Park. It is only a rumour that the sound of champagne corks could be heard popping as he drove away from Ewood Park. To be fair, he did get them up and win a League Cup there but he also put them in danger of the drop. Mark Hughes in contrast has done a marvellous job, having saved them from relegation last season, Rovers are now a top 10 force and 90 minutes away from a trip to Cardiff and the Carling Cup Final. Do not bet against them doing a job on Man Utd next week in the Semi Final second leg. Souness is someone who seems to attract confrontation whererver he geos, He clashes with players on a regular basis and nothing ever seems to be his fault. A bad result today and chairman Shpehrd may decide that it is in fact his fault. Then he will go, and someone else will come in and the circus wil go on, if only they where not so swift to sacking Sir Bobby maybe things would be different." -Jimmy Greaves talking to Neil Custis-

The News of the World story and the video tape of the meeting. There was a live on air slip on Sky Breakfast that suggested Portsmouth is the struggling club and McLaren is the big name manager.

Just out of interest, has anyone got Souness' comments after Gally's goal the last time we won at Newcastle?

I think we have reached the tipping point where it is more likely than not that Sven will go before the World Cup. Furthermore he will be unemployable in the UK which means that one big hitter will not be available when the Manchester United and Newcastle jobs fall vacant. This is how the most read Sports pages- the Telegraph- are covering the story. English football is going into melt down and the consequences from the ability to lure foreign players using complicated tax structures to the amount the broadcast rights can command are now under question marks. It could be a bit like the shooting in Sarajevo in 1914. Sven cannot retract his legal case against the NoTW without losing all credibility. The NoTW have used some more of his slack jawed comments (the fact that Atholle Still was with him probably increases the likelihood of more gossip with the fake sheikh rather than decreases). This time, they've used the stuff which they know they will not get pilloried for- last week's exposee rebounded badly on them. In looking to their own popularity after last week's mauling, even the NoTW probably don't know quite what they have set off. They have said that Managers and clubs were named- the pressure for those names to come out in public will be immense. Watch for it all popping up on the internet on short lived sites (not this one please). The FA either haul Sven in for questioning or get very publicly hauled up for double standards. They cannot question Newell, Hulse and Holloway but make an exception for their own employee. Surely, the Police and the Premier League will be interested in the tone of Stll/Eriksson's remarks and perhaps the NoTW and their fake sheikh face a subpoena at some stage. The NoTW must have more from Sven's trip to Dubai which hasn't gone into print- its the NoTW style to drip this stuff out. As the Telegraph comment, this whole sting cost them £100K+ and they will not have recovered much of that outlay yet. Atholle Still will be a busy man this morning. Who knows what might be going into shredders in the football world today? The last week in brief.

Enemies of the State.

First of all let me explain what a rolling contract is. What happens is that every day you wake up it is extended by another day. So yesterday Sparky's contract expired on 21 January 2007, today it expires on 22 January 2007, tomorrow it expires on 23 January 2007.... and so on. Secondly, the issue is how you interpret the word "then" in the following quotation: "My ambition is to go as far as I can, and take Blackburn as far as possible. "We have got some way to go and hopefully we will get there quickly. "Then we will need major investment to go to the next level. I read that as Hughes saying that AFTER we have got to where he wants us to go in the short term (good league placing/UEFA Cup is my guess), we need major investment to go to the next level (regular Champions League is my guess). However, it could be meaning "IT FOLLOWS MY LOGICAL SEQUENCE" that we need major investment to go to the next level in which case it is not dependent upon achieving the next step. I think my AFTER interpretation is marginally the more likely as Hughes went on to say: "The club will have to decide how far they want to go. Chase the best or stay where we are?" The operating word is WILL. Had he said MUST NOW then your version would be correct. Incidentally I haven't disagreed with the net penny argument- when you see my analysis of the accounts you will see that it could be said that the club is in the middle of reorganising itself to give Hughes a rather pretty net penny which would be consistent with John Williams statement that the only transfers in will be of players to go straight into the first team because they are better than our existing players.

That is really putting the cat amongst the pigeons- the FA have very publicly interviewed Mike Newell, Rob Hulse and Ian Holloway. They have no option but to ask Sven to substantiate this irrespective of how it came out. It's a case of writing the three names in a sealed envelope and seeing if they are the ones if Sven's names are revealed but I got my three in no time flat! (with a first reserve). Sky's coverage doesn't name names but is sufficiently specific for me to change my mind about one of the corrupt ones. How the rest of the World is reacting to Svengate.

There is a difference between 16 and 18- the age of Rooney's England debut. Shearer scored a hattrick in the First Division (proper) on his debut against Arsenal! Sure this kid is very good but he isn't yet a Pele, a Whiteside, a Shearer or a Rooney. This World Cup is coming a year to early for him. He'll be the grand old age of just turned 21 when the next one comes round!

This must be all Steve Bruce's Christmases come at once today. Sunderland are winning at the Baggies. (Stead hasn't scored)

Yes he is on a rolling contract. The Walker Trust are already stepping forwards for the Rovers as you will see with the analysis when its posted. Unfortunately, the decline in attendances since 2002/3 has probably cost the Rovers some £5m cumulatively- just think if the Rovers had that available to spend now. However, I expect that Dickov's injury will inject real urgency into the club's decisions IF there are strikers available of the calibre we need. That is far more likely to be the deciding factor in signing strikers than transfer funds availability. I've read through the transfer thread and I struggle to think of the name of a single striker who is genuinely available at the moment beyond Maxi Lopez (£100K a week) and perhaps Ashton if we pay £8m. Reading the LET article, it is worth quoting Sparky as he is always very careful and precise in his selewction of words: "My ambition is to go as far as I can, and take Blackburn as far as possible. "We have got some way to go and hopefully we will get there quickly. "Then we will need major investment to go to the next level. "The club will have to decide how far they want to go. Chase the best or stay where we are?" In other words he is not calling for transfer funds right now but I bet he is saying back me in getting the targets I have already lined up for the summer. My fear is that without Dickov, we will pay for lack of striker cover when we go to Old Trafford and Upton Park. Prolonging our Cup runs is vital to our financial well-being this season. Protecting our 8th place and perhaps pushing up one or two places of course will help but getting the cash from the Cardiff final and another round or three in the FA Cup will make very significant differences to this tear's numbers despite going down to what looks like at best, an average gate of 20,500. PS Revidge, I completely disagree with your two posts.

Some pretty scary stuff about the future of US passports and UK data surveillance. Every week there are stories of thousands of data records being stolen from places like hospitals where hard-pressed under paid clerks are just trying to shuffle the paperwork. HSBC leaving thousands of unshredded papers in the skip outside a central London Branch was a good one as well.

We don't really know how good this kid is. Nor do we know whether his future development will be consistent with his precosity. I haven't heard any comparissons with Pele yet and that is what you've got to be talking about if you are taking a kid of 17 years 3 months to the World Cup. You are being a romantic dreamer Shillito.

Never mind the fans' behaviour, Newcastle have the highest number of fouls and disciplinary points of any club in the Prem. Might as well start 10 a side to save the ref the effort of waving the red card.

Arsenal have done the deal to buy Walcott. Whilst the headline number is £12.5m, it is £4m certain and the rest subject to... Walcott's coach speaks about him. His comments about Academies in the UK are a bit worrying.

Emre is being reported as recovered from his hamstring and fit to start tomorrow. But will he finish tomorrow...? Apparently both Todd and Matteo are likely to be unavailable through injury.

Just in case anyone thought Abramovich isn't planning on making a profit from his Chelsea involvement. Note the bit which says Stamford Bridge is worth £500m. He has turned the world of football upside down yet he has probably not yet achieved net outgoings of £500m on his Chelsea investment.

After Rob Hulse backed up Newell now the QPR Manager and former Chairman. In all probability this will die a quiet death but if stories start running with this regularity, surely the League/FA will have to do something.

Actually it says Parker is a remote possibility for being fit in time for the Cheltenham FA Cup match a week later. Bramble and Emre are considered possibilities for Saturday. Frankly, I feel relatively indifferent about them playing given Souness' track record of rushing players back before they are ready. That's obviously the case getting Carr to play three weeks after a hernia operation- it is no surprise he now needs another one. A fully fit Bramble would struggle against Dickov's harrying and Kuqi's strength would unnerve him but he is a physically strong lad. Facing the likes of Savage, Reid (in all probability) and Todd is hardly ideal convalescence for Emre no matter how classy he is.

Killer's preview

No transfer spending for Bruce. The list of all his purchases makes interesting reading.

Decent piece of work by Macbeth and some good follow-up. Newcastle are in some difficulty if the wage bill has jumped by £185K a week (£8m a year). It explains why their Board is unwilling to pay off Souness for £3m! Add getting rid of his backroom staff and recruiting replacements with compensation and Newcastle could easily be looking at a bill of £6m which would just about wipe out their projected net worth of £7m. Two conspiracy thoughts- I wonder if Newcastle will try to pin some bungs allegations on Souness and get rid of him that way. Also, it could be argued as one of the posters has done that FF is driving down the worth of NUFC to take it over. At the end of the day, Newcastle are miles away from the Leeds situation. They still have tradeable assets in Owen, Parker and Given and are not bereft of players with any value and still over £100m in pressing creditors which is where Leeds found themselves. Anyway, I am feeling a bit more optimistic about Saturday's game but it will be tough to get three points up there.

This link should carry a heath warning. Those who find others' misfortune funny should wear a truss to avoid rupture whilst laughing. Anybody of a depressive nature should avoid open windows, busy roads or railway lines.

Obviously you have no concept of the insurance and civil liability risks that would entail blue phil.

The funny thing is the biometric data. It is pretty asccurate but not 100%. If you are using it in a criminal trial, a 99% chance of nailing the suspect would seem pretty good using DNA evidence. But transpose that to a population of 60 million and 600,000 people (or everybody in Burnley, Blackburn, Preston and Bolton) are suddenly not who they think they are according to their ID card! Sorry folks, ID cards do not work. Perhaps it is not surprising that the IT industry's most respected commentators are amongst the people most vehemently opposed to ID cards.

I was careful not to mention Hughes by name in my original post but your reply shows that if the FA went on pure footballing grounds, Hughes is the strongest home grown manager currently working there is to chose from. As we both know, football takes a back seat in these considerations. Oh and by the way, I was waiting for someone to post what salothsar has just written. I bet the leading line in questioning was a classic: "That Owen only went to Newcastle for the money, he cannot possibly be happy there. Another drink, Sven?" "Yes".