Never was a fan of Smith who wasn't a good sttiker or midfielder. A bit of a thug so we can reckon on him kicking Pritchard if they both play down at our place. As for the wonga he is pocketing, nothing surprises me any longer but seems a lot for someone so mediocre.

Let's not forget he finished Rufus's career with a lovely tackle. And had a couple of nasty leg breaks himself. What goes around comes around......

Curb_It said:

The thing that shocked me most is that he is still on 60k a week! Still. Did pardew draft that one? But Newcastle are going to pay 96% of his wages.

Signed a five year deal in 2007 so guess it expires this summer. Can't remember who was NUFC manager then

Newcastle only do 5 year deals

If anywhere near full fitness very good signing imo

Good player on his day. His career never reached the heights it should have due to injury but he is certainly a class above League 1. Lets not criticise the wages, it is what it is. I wouldn't turn it down. It wasn't Pardew and it wasn't Mr. Sports Direct so lets not get caught up in any of that bother. England international, good player, not a person I'd buy a pint for but so what. Hope he gets some football and enjoys an injury free rest of his career (but has a stinker against us).

Bangkok Dave , nothing personal , but do you remember what that northern monkey did to Richard Rufus? Hope some Div 3 clogger sorts him out.

Curb_It said:

And Bangkok Dave can we really not make a comment about his very high wages? Really? Ok.

Oh I think we can. Because it's our money, isn't it? How many more players like this are out there, forgotten because they are not playing, but still taking money out of the game like Smith, while clubs like Darlington go to the wall for the want of one week of his wages? It's sick, and we shouldn't be afraid to say so.

And poor old Richard Rufus never got to see anything like that money, because Smith did him before the really big money kicked in.

Im with cblock. Hope he gets done by some Div 3 clogger. Or alternatively, by Danny Hollands.

Alan smith is very good for league 1. He'd be very good alongside Hollands. But who wants to pay those sorts of wages?mplus there's surely not a lot of hunger there, as he'd think he's been there and done it at a higher level (I'd presume)

Addick Addict said:

This is Alan Smith former Man Utd striker now midfield dynamo who last scored a goal in United's 7-1 win over Roma on the 10th April 2007.

"Yes but he's been injured and he doesn't play the same role nowadays." I hear you say. Indeed, as 31 yellow cards and 2 Red cards since that goal will testify.

Glad we haven't got him. A poor man's Semedo imho.

So, the last time he scored, was a few months before he received a 5 year £60k per week contract :-)

I assumed he'd retired.
A poor signing by a nothing club.

This amounts to karl Robinsons shit-or-bust move.

I hope he's shit and his leg gets bust.......................................

I said in first post that Nufc are paying 96% of it... according to the Sun.

Like finding a tin of high-octane fuel and sticking it in your '98 Ford Mondeo, hoping it'll make it go faster. Everything will shake, the wheels will fall off and somebody will probably get hurt.

Will it not interfere with his Sky TV work?

I can't remember him doing rufus , is that for definite ?
anyone got any links for this

Proper dirty leeds player and a bluff as far as top class football was involved

KBslittlesis said:

Never trust a man named Smith
Nuff said.

Seems harsh but fair : - )

Wonder how long before he gets his first injury?

Have to admit not that impressed by this, hasn't played football in years, past his best, look at the gamble Sheff Utd have taken with Beattie which hasn't paid off.

BigRedEvil said:

Wonder how long before he gets his first injury?

Have to admit not that impressed by this, hasn't played football in years, past his best, look at the gamble Sheff Utd have taken with Beattie which hasn't paid off.

Not much of a gamble for MK though, if it doesnt work out, send him back, simples

tangoflash said:

This amounts to karl Robinsons shit-or-bust move.

I hope he's shit and his leg gets bust.......................................

Not a fan I take it :-)

HarryHutchens said:

My recollection of the Smith tackle on Rufus was that he injured Rufus' foot; but it was his knee that eventually stopped him playing. Could be wrong though.

Yes that is my recollection as well.

More worrying to me is the number on here who want to see another player get hurt. I find it quite distasteful.

Further than that the comments from PragueAddick strike me as very bizarre. Why should Smith give up his salary that he is legally entitled to? Newcastle offered him the contract and both parties are legally bound to it. From what I have read this is not a Tevez style situation, Smith trains everyday, works hard but is just no where near the team. Why should Smith pay because Darlington have over spent their budget, not stuck to financial regulations and nearly gone out of business.

Would any of us give us what we are entitled to in a legal contract to help out another business that has financially crippled itself by mismanagement? I wouldn't.

Bangkok Dave said:

More worrying to me is the number on here who want to see another player get hurt. I find it quite distasteful.

We're talking about a bloke who's made a career out of two-footed challenges, causing injury to others. In the same mould as Barton, Karl Henry and that ex millwall scum whose name I refuse to mention, so I for one won't retract what I said about him.........................

Bangkok Dave
I did not suggest that Smith should give up his salary, did I? However I deplore the fact that English football is currently structured so that he can earn this amount of money, while hardly playing, when long established clubs go to the wall for the want of far less money. You suggested that we shouldn't even speak about it. I disagree. We should speak about it a lot,because this money comes from us, the paying customers. And don't tell me that nothing can be done. of course it can. If the TV money were shared out more equitably across the entire Football League there would be less money wasted on Alan Smith, and more money helping Darlington to survive. And not just Darlington either. I can think of a club closer to home that came near to administration because of the precipitous drop in TV income that comes with relegation from the Premier League. And that club did nothing worse than a couple of misjudged managerial appointments.

I would't condone a Roy Keane style retribution on Smith, but a series of very hard ball+man tackles,that's part of the game and he richly deserves to get it

In this day and age why would anyone sign a player with blue lips?

Bangkok Dave said:

Further than that the comments from PragueAddick strike me as very bizarre. Why should Smith give up his salary that he is legally entitled to? Newcastle offered him the contract and both parties are legally bound to it. From what I have read this is not a Tevez style situation, Smith trains everyday, works hard but is just no where near the team. Why should Smith pay because Darlington have over spent their budget, not stuck to financial regulations and nearly gone out of business.

Would any of us give us what we are entitled to in a legal contract to help out another business that has financially crippled itself by mismanagement? I wouldn't.

He didn't, of course, say anything about Smith giving up his money. The point is that realities of modern football finances accommodate people taking £60k a week out of the game without contributing anything to it, whilst the heart and soul of British football hasn't got two farthings to rub together. Darlington it seems will die; a fairer distribution of monies in the game - including keeping money in the game rather than lining players and agents pockets - would help to address some of these problems and reduce the financial need to retain the status quo.

It's within the last ten years that Peter Varney and Richard Murray were arguing from within the Premier League that there should be a broader distribution of its wealth throughout football. It's ironic - but probably inevitable - that having established ourselves as a Premiership club, relegation led to what were almost insurmountable financial problems. We're not the first and we probably won't be the last. It's crazy that anyone should need - let alone have agreed to - parachute payments to remain solvent 4 years after relegation from the Premiership.

Finally, I think many of us have been critical at the bonuses paid by the banks to their employees; it all seems so disproportionate. Yet footballers and their employers seem immune to criticism when a town's economy and any number of jobs might be impacted by the death of a football club. The bonus earned by Stephen Hester - declined despite turning around RBS finances and preserving jobs in a high risk industry, all of benefit to the taxpayer - would be 'earned' by Alan Smith in just 4 months, 4 months of doing precisely nothing.

As for Alan Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see him sent off in one of his early games and featuring very little. Another youngster who made the wrong move and wasted a promising talent, becoming a terribly ordinary player even at Championship level. Not quite sure what Robinson was thinking.