Blind and committed

If the Guardian are to be believed, then the fact that we have now agreed a £10 million fee for Obafemi Martins : "continues Newcastle's almost blind commitment to attacking football, a policy whose genesis lies in the romantic ideals that Kevin Keegan imposed upon the club in their halcyon period of the mid-90s."

Or maybe it just shows that we need a new striker, on account of our strikers either being retired (Shearer), seriously injured (Owen), not yet up to the task (Luque), or having to do the job on their own (Ameobi).

However, to be fair to Rob Smyth, he does go on to say that:

"Roeder is also hoping to improve his side's defence before the transfer window. If he does so, and given the quality of attacking players already on the books, Newcastle may finally be equipped to live up to the expectations of their chairman and their fans."

I don't know about you, but I hope he's right.