NYHETER: Ex-player/-manager news, Part I

[kjelvi]

quote:Originally posted by kjelvi


Mark Viduka er den eneste ex-playeren som kom med på SkySports' ukens lag, hvor også John Arne Riise var med.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=450542&CPID=8&clid=&lid=1490&title=Team+of+the+Weekend

På BBC's ukas lag er ikke Viduka med, men det er derimot Jonathan Woodgate. Her har også Riise lurt seg med.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/shared/spl/hi/football/squad_selector/team_of_the_week/html/ss_team.stm

[kjelvi]

Rafa may extend Robbie's Reds stay
Rafa Benitez has hinted he could extend Robbie Fowler's second stint at Liverpool after admitting the veteran remains the Reds' best finisher.
Fowler is out of contract at the end of the season and is facing an uncertain future, with Liverpool confirming they have reached an agreement with Andriy Voronin to bring the Ukrainian striker to Anfield in the summer.

Hele saken: http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_1945109,00.html

[kjelvi]

På OPTA's Team of the week, finner vi Scott Carson, Gary Speed og Robbie Fowler.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=450789&lid=1490&clid=&channel=&title=Opta+Team+of+the+Week+-+Feb+26

[kjelvi]

I farta 26/2

Stoke - Barnsley.
Dom Matteo starter for Stoke.

[Per-Stian]

quote:Originally posted by kjelvi


I farta 26/2

Stoke - Barnsley.
Dom Matteo starter for Stoke.

Viktig at Stoke vinn denne. Ser kampen no og skal halde eit godt auge med vår tidlegare kaptein.

[Per-Stian]

Matteo måtte ut etter 23 minutt med ein lyskestrekk. Han såg ut til å vere litt rund i kantane.

[kjelvi]

Famouse Words - Johnny Giles

John Giles
Blue rinse statesman of Irish punditry
........................................



John Giles is a former Leeds and Ireland hatchet man nowadays turned grand-old-gent of Irish punditry. He’s also the brother-in-law of Nobby Stiles: "My sister Kay's never forgiven me. Nobby's no oil painting is he?

Gilesy has seen it all, and is rightly suspicious of modern players. Remembers all too well the bad old days of anti-achieving Ireland. Tells of a four-nil reverse in Budapest after which one of the five-man FAI selection committee popped his head round the dressing room door.

"Fantastic, lads! Best performance I've ever seen from an Irish side." It took Gilesy a few seconds to work it out - Hungary had worn green that day. "For f***'s sake, Pat, we were wearing our change strip!"

Most of Gilesy's commentary is devoted to eulogising players with the "moral courage" to "put their foot on the ball" and knock a few "bread-and-butter passes". Also a strong believer that national stereotyping beats research any day of the week. Italians will always defend well, Africans will be "a little bit naive, Bill" and East Europeans "probably won't fancy it", particularly their goalkeepers.

The key to most of Gilesy’s guff triumphs is his unintentional Laurel and Hardy relationship with RTE anchor, Bill O’Herlihy. This double act has got it all…


Insight...
Billo: "This [UEFA Cup Final] is something of a local derby between Holland and Germany."
Gilesy: "Er...yeah, they've been close to each other for years..."

Wildean Improvisation
Billo: "We’ll draw the winners out of a hat a little later in the programme."
Gilesy (Rare moment of Frivolity): "A top hat, Bill?"
Billo (quick as you like): "Yes, a top hat, John. We got it out of your wardrobe."

Gritty Realism
Billo (pre-2002 World Cup): "Sixteen days from now we'll all walk a little taller. Won't we, John?"
Gilesy: "Well, er, I don't think we'll be any taller, Bill."

Billo (pre-2002 World Cup): "Sixteen days from now we'll all walk a little taller. Won't we, John?"
Gilesy: "Well, er, I don't think we'll be any taller, Bill."

Billo: "So you think they (Arsenal) can score, even in Spain?"
Gilesy "Well I don't know what you mean by 'even in Spain', I mean the goals there are the same size and all that..."

Lively Banter
Billo: "What are you actually saying, John?"
Gilesy: "What am I saying?"
Billo: "Yeah."
Gilesy: "I would be more confident that we could win this game now than before the game."
Billo: "You could be a cock-eyed optimist."
Gilesy: "I'm not."

Gilesy: "It’s like the old George Formby song Waiting on the Corner."
Billo: "Leaning on the Lamppost, you mean?"
Gilesy: "Yeah."
Billo: "Are you going to sing it?"
Gilesy: "No."

Toeing the party line
Billo: "We’ve a big game tomorrow night. And of course it’s a big game for us as well."
Giles (grinning): "Yeah, let’s hope everyone is watching."
Billo: "You’re very sarcastic tonight, John."
Giles: "I’m not being sarcastic Bill. It’s ahhhh very important. Ahhhh. Ratings. Ahhh."
Billo: "That’s right, John."

Gilesy: "I've not time for the UEFA Cup at all."
Billo: "Hold on a second John. We've got the final on Wednesday."
Giles (grinning): "It should be a great final Bill. It always is on RTE."

The Best Unintentional Gags In Town
Billo: "Carsley lacks a bit of skill in those situations. Let's call a spade a spade."
Gilesy: "Yes, Bill, he's in there to dig."

The Rest Of Gilesy’s Guffbank
On the big match atmosphere:
"I'd rather play in front of a full-house than an empty crowd."

On Spurs’ fallen saviour:
"Hoddle's career in management has been a bit of a mixed grill."

Concerned that holding interviews for the Irish manager’s job discriminated against less-eloquent candidates:
"Interviews is a nonsense."

Defending forwards who go down easily:
"It's like somebody walking down the street and there's a big block of wood. If you don't see it, you're going to walk into it and fall over."

What it’s all about?
"A good manager will make eleven players look like a good team, whereas a bad manager will make eleven players look like a bad team."

On Robbie Keane’s inability to tackle tricky long reds off the top cushion?
"The difference between him playing and Ken Doherty, though he is a big stout-hearted lad, is huge."

And on the declining standards in world football:
"The problem is, Bill, that the kids nowadays have got personal stereos and higher education."


Kilde: http://www.dangerhere.com/hallofguff/

[kjelvi]

Howard Wilkinson
The man who thought he could learn footie from a book
........................................................



while Wilko’s star has faded in the firmament of the footie manager, his place is assured in the honour roll of football guff practitioners. In fact, after years on the sidelines â€" working as the FA’s Technical Director â€" Wilkinson proved his enduring greatness by getting the public to laugh at him, rather than at his dire Sunderland team. Magic.

As a purveyor of football nonsense, Wilko specialises in David Brent-like homespun philosophy, mathematical mastery, self delusion, and the bizarre.

Philosophy:
Elucidating on his playing staff at the Stadium of Light, Wilko threw us this pearl of wisdom -

"Our squad looks good on paper. But paper teams win paper cups"

The Sunderland months will also be remembered for an insight into the complex world of recruitment â€" one that surely has found its way into business text books everywhere:

"If you hire people who are smarter than you, maybe you are showing that you are a little bit smarter than them."

Ricky Gervais was no doubt tied up for weeks in negotiations with Wilko’s people trying to buy the rights to using the line in the US version of The Office.

The Numbers game:
With the Mackems languishing at the foot of the table, Wilko was famously asked by Garth Crooks on Football Focus whether he felt there are three worse teams in the Premiership than Sunderland. Wilko’s reply was masterly:

"I'm not concerned if we are one of the three worst, I want us to be the fourth-best down there."

Leaving Sunderland, Wilko was rightly proud of easily achieving his goal.

In fairness to the lad, he eventually insisted on adding a sums module to one of those courses of his. The improvement was immediate:

"I'm a firm believer that if the other side scores first you have to score twice to win."

Self Delusion:
"I would say relegation is three from four because we are already out of it in my mind. When I look at our fixtures, thankfully they are against teams around us which makes them better fixtures. I believe we are going to get out of it and I am not too bothered who else is going to get out of it. I don't have to think about what relegation would mean to this club because I have been in the business a long time."

Howard showing that he was from the "ignore it and it’ll go away" school of football management. Howard ignored the relegation dogfight and Sunderland went away.

After just a few weeks at Sunderland, it appears that Wilko had something of an epiphany:

"Jesus Christ couldn't come in here with a system that would cure the way we have been playing."

Especially as the Good Lord himself doesn’t have the coaching badges.

Eventually it all became too much for Howard.

"It’s like trying to push custard up a hill!"

The Bizarre:
After a depressing 4-1 drubbing by Spurs and a memorably bad-tempered press conference, an under the weather Wilko admitted it’s

"…not easy to sit here with a temperature and a thumping head and be belle of the ball and play the tambourine."

Yorkshire balls are obviously unusual affairs.

There would, however, be no cover-up. Or something…

"We are not putting our cape over the tunnel; we are putting our cape in the tunnel."

The real benefit of Wilko's qualifications can be seen with his colourful analyis of other great figures in the game:

"Zinedine Zidane could be a champion sumo wrestler. He can run like a crab or a gazelle."

Kilde: http://www.dangerhere.com/hallofguff/howard_wilkinson.php

[kjelvi]

I dag, 27. februar:

1969: Tidligere Leeds-spiller Robert Mollenaar blir født.

[kjelvi]

FANS BANNED AFTER PHELAN ABUSE

Two New Zealand football fans have been banned from their local ground after former Republic of Ireland international Terry Phelan was racially abused.
Phelan, now player-coach of Otago United, spoke out after two Canterbury United supporters were banned from their team's English Park ground for racist abuse.
Albert Laverack and son Michael have had trespass orders issued by the New Zealand Police and their season tickets revoked.
Both deny making racial comments.
"I've played all over the world and I can honestly say that's the first time I've had someone, 10 feet away, throw those sort of insults out," Phelan told The Christchurch Press.
"You don't expect to come to a lovely place like New Zealand and hear that. It's just mindless."
New Zealand Soccer spokesman Glyn Taylor said: "I don't want to go into what was said; suffice to say it's not acceptable conduct. We have a zero-tolerance policy to that sort of act. It can't happen."
Phelan said Canterbury had been 'absolutely brilliant' in its handling of the matter and had decided not to lay a complaint with the police.


Ikke mye stjerner i NZ. Fra nettsida:
"Terry Phelan is to be the Otago United Player/Coach for the next 2 seasons. Terry undoubtedly is the highest profile player to ever grace the New Zealand Football competition."


http://www.otagoutd.com/senior_squad_profiles/phelan_t.html
http://www.otagoutd.com/index.html

[kjelvi]

Meanwhile; Aaron Hughes is being linked with a loan move to Sunderland. (TeamTalk)

[kjelvi]

Oster prospers as troubles of the past are put in the shade

Winger who once shot a team-mate has higher aims in tonight's FA Cup replay against Manchester United
It is little wonder John Oster played with such freedom when he excelled against Manchester United in the FA Cup 10 days ago. Only a few weeks earlier the Reading winger had agreed a settlement with Mark Maley five years after he ended his former Sunderland team-mate's career in an accident with an air rifle. Oster would not use that backdrop as an excuse for his own stagnation but there can be little doubt that the incident weighed heavily on his mind.
The unsavoury episode is not alone on a CV that also includes an arrest on suspicion of assault following an incident outside a Durham night club and a loan spell at Leeds that was cut short after he was found guilty of misbehaving at the club's Christmas party. That crime sheet, though, sits uncomfortably with the affable 28-year-old who candidly discussed his "mistakes" ahead of tonight's fifth-round FA Cup replay against United at the Madejski Stadium.
"The air rifle was just a freak incident," says Oster. "We were larking about in my flat on a Sunday morning and I thought the safety catch was on when I pointed it at [Maley]. It went off and it hit him in the eye.
"It was strange to say the least because it didn't fire straight at the best of times. I thought he was messing about and then I realised his eye was bloodshot. I immediately phoned for an ambulance and we went straight to hospital.
"I haven't spoken to him for a while. I had a claim against me which has just gone through, so I have had to go through the process of using solicitors because he sued me; that had been going on for a few years. We settled out of court which we have just agreed. We were mates, it was a complete accident and he's not in any way bitter towards me, but the fact is that he had to finish his career because of me."
Oster's playing days might also have come to a premature end. Having been given a free transfer by Sunderland in 2005, he finished the season at Burnley but spent the summer waiting for the phone to ring. Without a club, he stayed with Don Hutchison, his former Everton team-mate, and began pre-season training at Millwall before Steve Coppell eventually came to his rescue.
Oster believes he might have taken a different path had he played under the Reading manager earlier in a career that promised so much but has delivered so little. He joined Everton from Grimsby at the age of 18 in 1997 for £1.5m but departed for Sunderland two years later with his potential unfulfilled. "Looking back, Everton was a massive club and I didn't really savour that time," says Oster. "You just don't appreciate it at such a young age.
"Going to Everton was a big thing for me. Moving away from home, living on your own in a house for the first time at 18 years of age in a place like Liverpool and left to get on with it at a club that was fighting against relegation at the time, was hard. You do get sidetracked, especially when you haven't got anyone around you. But I wouldn't put it all down to that. You have got to take responsibility for your own actions."
Older and wiser, the Wales international is now doing exactly that. He has made only three Premiership starts at Reading, but he has impressed whenever involved. His goal against Middlesbrough on Saturday was his first in the Premiership for nearly 10 years, and his display at Old Trafford a week earlier left observers talking about the player that might have been.
"There is always could-haves and maybes," says Oster. "I think my career has been stop-start a lot of the time and it's difficult when you're not playing on a regular basis. I think I'm playing well now. I'm coming on [as a substitute] and playing in the Cups which isn't ideal but I'm at a club that is doing well. It's not so good when you're at a club that isn't doing well and you're not playing. That's when you have got to look at yourself."
Introspection is something Oster ought to be familiar with. He knows he has been "silly" and "stupid" in the past but the visit of Sir Alex Ferguson's side this evening provides another opportunity to prove that it is on and not off the field where he is capable of making an impression. "It's been a while since I've done any misdemeanours," adds Oster. "We all learn from our mistakes and hopefully I've got no more mistakes to make now."

Kilde: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2022151,00.html

[kjelvi]

Ferguson praises Smith

Alex Ferguson has praised Alan Smith's resilience and self-belief as the former Leeds man prepares to make an FA Cup return in Manchester United's sixth round replay against Reading.
Smith has endured a nightmare year since breaking his leg in the fifth round of the FA Cup against Liverpool last season.
And while the 26-year-old has struggled for games since his return, Ferguson admires Smith for refusing the chance to go out on loan.
"At the time, I said going away on loan would be a good thing for him," he told The Sun.
"But he had the ambition and drive within to say, 'I want to get back in the team'. That showed great faith in himself.
"The one thing you know about Alan Smith is he has great courage and enthusiasm to play football, which always gives him a chance."
Smith will be part of the squad that travels to The Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night, and Ferguson believes it is important all the players in his squad are given first-team action.
"Alan has been unfortunate not to get his chance sooner, because of the form of the team, yet he still has a long-term future at the club.
"There's no question our squad options are better than last season. Alan Smith and Kieran Richardson had another run-out in the reserves last week and enjoyed it.
"I've been saying for weeks that the more first-team football we can give them, the better it will

Kilde: http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=450944&CPID=8&clid=1&lid=2&title=Ferguson+praises+Smith
-------

It's one Al of a return for Smith
ALAN SMITH will join Manchester United’s treble bid with an emotional return to FA Cup action.
Smith, 26, broke his left leg just over a year ago in the fifth-round tie at Anfield.
He has made only one full first-team appearance since â€" in the Carling Cup win at Crewe back in October.
His last game was an hour of the humiliation at Southend two weeks later.
But boss Alex Ferguson has been impressed by his work and determination to return to the side and he will be in the squad for tonight’s fifth-round replay at Reading.
Smith even rejected a chance to go out on loan in January to stick to his quest to get back in a United shirt as soon as possible.
Ferguson declared: “At the time I said going away on loan would be a good thing for him.
“But he had the ambition and drive within to say ‘I want to get back in the team’. That showed great faith in himself.
“The one thing you know about Alan Smith is he has great courage and enthusiasm to play football, which always gives him a chance.
“Alan has been unfortunate not to get his chance sooner, because of the form of the team. Yet he still has a long-term future at the club.”
Ferguson is likely to bring Smith on from the bench at the Madejski Stadium.
But he is intent on giving him some first-team football soon, as he prepares to lose Henrik Larsson from his striking department on March 12.

Kilde: The Sun

[kjelvi]

I farta 27/2

FA:
Reading - Man.U 2-3.
John Oster hele kampen for Reading. Judas Ferdinand ditto, mens Alan Smith er ubenyttet innbytter for Man.U.


WBA - Boro 1-1 e.e.o., 4-5 str.: 1-1 Mark Viduka (63).
Jon Woodgate og Viduka (byttet ut i 86. mins) starter for Boro.

CCC:
Luton - Norwich 2-3.
Matt Spring spilte hele kampen for Luton, mens Warren Feeney ble byttet inn i 85. mins. Darren Huckerby hele kampen for Norwich.

Div. 1:


Crewe - Scunthorpe 1-3: 1-2 Jermaine Beckford (40).
Andy Crosby spilte hele kampen for Scunthorpe, mens Beckford ble byttet ut i 83. mins.

Doncaster - Yeovil 0-0.
Neil Sullivan og Sean McDaid hele kampen for Donny, som hadde Sam Hird på benken.

Rotherham - Swansea 1-2: 1-2 Martin Woods (90).
Woods hele kampen for Rotherham.

Oldham - Blackpool 0-1.
Sean Gregan spilte hele kampen for Oldham.

[kjelvi]

BOWYER ON BRINK OF RETURN



Lee Bowyer has brought West Ham some good news at last by putting himself in line to face Tottenham at Upton Park on Sunday after making his comeback from a dislocated shoulder.
The former Charlton, Leeds and Newcastle midfielder, who was brought through the youth team ranks at The Valley by West Ham manager Alan Curbishley, played the full 90 minutes of a reserve game against Charlton's second string on Monday night - having been sidelined since the 6-0 defeat by Reading on New Year's Day.
Bowyer missed a good chance to turn the 1-1 draw into a win for the Hammers, who are still seeking their first reserve league victory after 11 attempts this season, but coach Steve Brown was delighted by his overall performance.
Brown said: "It was good to see Lee get through the entire 90 minutes, and I thought he looked sharp and hungry.
"No matter how much training you do, you can never replicate the experience of a competitive game, and Lee will have gained valuable match-fitness from the game."
Bowyer's availability will be a welcome tonic for the manager, however, as he confronts multiple problems which came to a head when Saturday's 4-0 thrashing at Charlton extended his record of Premiership matches without a win to 10 matches.

Kilde: http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/02/27/SOCCER_West_Ham.html

[jokern]

Noen som vet hva som skjer med Killa i Sheffield United??

Hverken spilt eller vært på benken som jeg har fått med meg hvertfall...

[kjelvi]

Keane ban stands
The Football Association has rejected Robbie Keane's claim of wrongful dismissal in Sunday's game against Bolton.



Hele saken: http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=451074&CPID=8&clid=6&lid=2&title=Keane+ban+stands&channel=football_home&

[kjelvi]

Boro worry for Woody
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is worried about failing to secure Jonathan Woodgate's services permanently.
The England international is currently on a season-long loan deal from Liga giants Real Madrid and has impressed with his home-town club.


Hele saken: http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=450954&CPID=8&clid=25&lid=2&title=Boro+worry+for+Woody

[Papi]

quote:Originally posted by jokern

Noen som vet hva som skjer med Killa i Sheffield United??

Hverken spilt eller vært på benken som jeg har fått med meg hvertfall...

Han vart jo kjøpot skada.....?


I`d rather walk alone

[kjelvi]

The following events happened over the years on February 28.

1991: Howard Wilkinson signed a new five-year contract at Leeds United.
2006: Steve Staunton confirmed Robbie Keane as the new Republic of Ireland captain.

[kjelvi]

Tigers swoop for Pettinger

Nationwide North side Worksop Town have completed the signing of goalkeeper Paul Pettinger from rivals Stalybridge Celtic for a nominal fee.
The 31-year-old will link-up with manager Ian Bowling, who he played with during his time Kettering Town.
Pettinger signed for Stalybridge from Harrogate Town in June, 2005 and prior to that, helped Hucknall Town to win the 2004/05 UniBond League title.
In keeping with Stalybridge's club policy, the terms of the deal for Pettinger were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Celtic manager John Reed has already secured a replacement for Pettinger with the signing of former Barrow keeper Simon Bishop until the end of the season.

http://www.leedsfans.org.uk/leeds/players/732.html


Her i aksjon mot Man.U i FA Youth cup-finalen i 1993

[kjelvi]

Jubileum for Pennent!

1. mars:

2005: Jermaine Pennant was jailed for three months for driving offences.

[kjelvi]

Whatever....
God tur!


FOWLER CONSIDERS DUBAI MOVE
Robbie Fowler is more likely to receive a final top-up to his footballing pension from Qatar or Dubai rather than United States.
Despite the claim of New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol that the Liverpool striker is considering a move to the MLS, Fowler's agent says that "If he was to think about moving, Qatar or Dubai could be an option."  (Football365.com)

[pedro]

Fowler degosen ville passet veldig bra blant arabere, off bare navnet Fowler gjør meg kvalm. Betaler vi lønna hans ennå[?][V]

quote:Originally posted by kjelvi


Whatever....
God tur!


FOWLER CONSIDERS DUBAI MOVE
Robbie Fowler is more likely to receive a final top-up to his footballing pension from Qatar or Dubai rather than United States.
Despite the claim of New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol that the Liverpool striker is considering a move to the MLS, Fowler's agent says that "If he was to think about moving, Qatar or Dubai could be an option."  (Football365.com)

[kjelvi]

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"He has not had a conversation with Steve [Nicol] and I don't think [New England Revolution] could afford him anyway. If he was to think about moving, Qatar or Dubai could be an option"

Robbie Fowler's Mr 15% George Scott clarifies that his client wouldn't dream of making his next contract decision on purely footballing grounds.

[kjelvi]

ROBBIE FOWLER has been warned not to price himself out of a move to the USA by demanding “David Beckham” amounts of money.
The Liverpool striker, who is out of contract with the Kop at the end of the season, is wanted by New England Revolution in Major League Soccer.
The megabucks deal signed by Beckham with the Los Angeles Galaxy last month has got many players thinking they can join the Yankee Doodle gravy train.
Zinedine Zidane’s massive demands were too rich for MLS â€" he wanted almost £10million a year in wages alone.
Fowler has been told to forget about a huge pay-day if he wants to play in Boston.
Revolution boss Steve Nicol, a former Liverpool team-mate, insisted: “We won’t pay the kind of money the Galaxy do.”
The Revolution’s top-paid player is striker Taylor Twellman on £100,000 a year.

Kilde: The Sun

[kjelvi]

Deler æren med ex-player, som er spiller, kaptein og ass. manager

"We have great leadership qualities from the captain Andy Crosby, who's done a great job assisting me along with Ian Baraclough. The players just want to do well for each other."

Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins etter å ha blitt kåret som Coca-Cola League One manager of the month for februar.

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1811_1951959,00.html

[kjelvi]

LEE BOWYER has vowed to give his all to avoid a second relegation with West Ham.
Bowyer, 30, said: "After what I went through here four years ago, it’s even more frustrating now.
"I’m desperate to play any part I can and hopefully that will start against Spurs on Sunday."


The Sun

[Robert H.]

Clarke Carlisle på lån til Luton Town

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=451645&CPID=10&clid=102&lid=2&title=Hatters+swoop+for+Carlisle

[kjelvi]

WOODGATE KEEPING HIS OPTIONS OPEN


Middlesbrough's Jonathan Woodgate insists he has not turned his back on his career at Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old England international faces former employers Newcastle on Saturday
having re-established himself as one of the country's most accomplished central defenders during a year-long loan spell.
Boro are desperate to sign Woodgate on a permanent basis at the end of the season but insisted recently Real's claims that the deal had been done were premature.
Woodgate is adamant he will keep his options open despite the implication that he is no longer part of Fabio Capello's plans at the Bernabeu Stadium.
He said: "I have still got my contract in Madrid but we will wait and see what happens.
"I am a player there at the end of the day, I have got a year there and I am on loan at Middlesbrough and I am really happy here.
"I will cross that line when I come to the end of the season. I will take all the options into account and see what happens.
"But the main thing is I am extremely happy at Middlesbrough."
Woodgate spent 18 months at St James' Park after Sir Bobby Robson prised him away from cash-strapped Leeds, and he was a major hit with the fans.
However, injuries were to blight his time on Tyneside and the Magpies could not refuse when Madrid offered £13.4million.
Fitness problems limited Woodgate to only a handful of appearances in the famous white shirt, but having resurrected his career on Teesside, he admits he could hardly be any happier.
He added: "I am happy every day coming to training. I enjoy coming in. I wake up every morning looking forward to getting to training and sometimes you do not want to go home because you enjoy it that much.
"The football on the training pitch is brilliant. I am really enjoying it."
Whether that is enough to persuade Woodgate to commit his future to Boro remains to be seen, although he is confident the ambition is there to ensure the likes of striker Mark Viduka remains on board and other big signings head for the Riverside Stadium.
"For me, we have one of the best chairmen in the country in Steve Gibson," Woodgate added.
"They brought players in in the summer - they showed ambition by getting Robert Huth, Julio Arca, Jason Euell and myself - so you cannot say they lack ambition.
"But hopefully they do keep the players who are out of contract, especially Mark Viduka.
"I am a fan more than anything, so I want him to stay."
Boro boss and former England team-mate Gareth Southgate will attempt to convince Woodgate to stay and produce even better football.
Southgate said: "Jonathan is playing very well, but I think he can improve. There is more to come from him.
"He will be better for the season he has had in terms of the number of games he has played and the confidence that will give him as he goes on.
"But he is 26 and as a centre-half there is still plenty of room for improvement at that age, which is something when you consider the level he plays at now."
Newcastle contemplated trying to re-sign Woodgate last summer, but could not compete with the emotional pull of the club he supported as a boy and were forced to look elsewhere.
Whether or not that earns him a frosty reception from the Toon Army is debatable, although Southgate expects midfielder Julio Arca to bear the brunt of the abuse.
The Argentinian's Sunderland background would have made him an obvious target anyway, but the fact that he was unwittingly involved in the collision which ended Alan Shearer's career a few weeks prematurely has upped the stakes.
Asked if he had any advice for Woodgate as he prepared for his return, Southgate said: "I wouldn't stand too close to Julio Arca."

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