By Martyn Osmond
July 14 2004

Lee Bowyer, Shola Ameobi and Gary Speed were just a few of the United players to speak at a press conference in Thailand on Tuesday about their and the club's futures. Gary Speed was the ringleader at the press conference, answering most of the hugely varied questions.

Speed had the following to say on his future: "I love playing in front of 52,000 fantastic supporters each week, playing in a great city at a great football club," he replied when asked about why he had been at the club for so long.

"I've been very happy playing for Newcastle and I've been fortunate enough to have been here for a long time, with some great players alongside me. Like all of us, I've always worked hard to remain at the club for as long as possible because we're in a very fortunate position.

"When you leave a club like Newcastle it is bound to feel like a step down because there aren't many better clubs around.

We have got to improve ourselves after last season because the gap between ourselves and the top three grew.

"They strengthened and we did not. We need to do better, and I do think we need to add a couple of players to the squad to help us close that gap. Who that is will be up to the chairman and the manager to decide."

Shola Ameobi agreed with Speed about the need to strengthen the squad in order to close the gap: "There is definitely a gap between us and the top three.

"It's going to be difficult to close that gap and to do so we've got to spend some money and strengthen our squad. We've got to bring a couple of players in.

"Chelsea spent £110m to close the gap last summer and they finished second, but they still didn't win a trophy. Nobody has got that sort of money available, but we do need to add some new faces.

"Spending a lot of money on new players doesn't guarantee success, but it certainly helps."

"We'd got better year by year under the manager, but last season was a poor one by our standards. It wasn't what we expected it to be.

"We were going for fourth place and we didn't get it so in that sense it was disappointing. We'd talked about winning a trophy this time last year, but once again we didn't get one, despite getting to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

"This year we've got to improve ourselves again. We cannot afford to stand still like we did last season because the teams around us have all tried to strengthen this summer as well."

Lee Bowyer also spoke to the assorted media: "It will be very tough for us on Wednesday night. They will be far more used to the conditions than we are and we're not going to be 100pc fit.

"Having played out here before we know they're going to be quick and will pass the ball around and make us work to get it back.

"It certainly won't be easy because they are used to playing in this heat and we've just got off a 12-hour flight having only been in pre-season training for a week."

On his own personal future, Bowyer had this to say: "I feel good - hopefully I can start off where I finished last season when I played in what I consider my proper position.

"At the start I was playing right midfield or right wing and I'm not a winger. People thought that when I was at Leeds I played as a winger but this wasn't true. I played in the centre of a three-man midfield.

"I was saying all along `give me a chance in the middle' and I never got it until the injuries came along. That was frustrating for me.

"I've experienced it before in the Far East - they like their football here. It's good to come to training and see so many people.

"But it's hard work because it's hard to get your breath as it is so humid. The hardest thing is the time difference.

"I only had six hours sleep the first two nights. We were swimming at 8am when it was 2am back home.

"Physically, you feel tired but in a way it is a good thing as you are pushing yourself to the limit."

The players were speaking on Tuesday at a press conference in Bangkok.