The Fat Fred effect

It seems as though Fat Fred's dubious public negotiation tactics over Michael Owen have come back to bite him in the arse, with Steven Taylor issuing what amounts to his own ultimatum to the club over his new contract.

Taylor's declaration that "I don't want to be messed about" implies that he's already feeling "messed about", but as with Fat Fred's Owen outburst it doesn't strike me as the smartest course of action, far more liable to anger the chairman and board by backing them into a corner than to result in an entirely amicable arrangement. Why can't the strong words be kept behind closed doors?

Of course, it's very unlikely that talks will be allowed to break down. The local lad was our one solid performer in defence last season, also finally finding his scoring touch and chipping in with vital goals against Celta Vigo, Blackburn, Birmingham and Sheffield Utd. Letting him go would leave an even bigger hole in our defence than there already is, and with Moore, Bramble, Bernard and Onyewu already having packed their bags, we've got quite enough work to do to bring in replacements in that area.