Howaythelads

Good player. Much better than Milner so a definite improvement to the team if he joins.

He's had a bad injury, it takes time to get back 100%. Even when players (human beings) reappear on the pitch they're rarely at 100% for quite a while after a serious injury. He's got a good record prior to going to West Ham, even last season he played 31 games, plus he's a good player. He'd improve our team and that's the bottom line.

A player may be able to play matches but following a very serious injury it can take 12 months or more for someone to be back fully up to speed, back on their "game," if you know what I mean. The season is nearly over, we have a better manager now than we've had for ages who is able to get the best out of players. The sensible thing to do now is wait until next season. If Smith doesn't make it under Keegan then I'd say the injury has taken it out of him and he's not the same player. In that case, get rid. That's all I'm going to say about this because it's so bloody obvious it shouldn't have been necessary to say it at all. Cheers for now

s***, you're back, where did you go? Been busy. As I say anyway, I got fed up of the daft arguing. Isn't that what this place is for? Seems to be.

s***, you're back, where did you go? Been busy. As I say anyway, I got fed up of the daft arguing.

Now I know why I don't bother much with this forum anymore. The kids and the bandwagon jumper are still flooding the forum with rubbish.

Didn't get past page 1 since this is the "nail on head" post. Kev, Ignore the "soopafan" snipes.

The fact is he replaced them with Geremi and Barton, it's irrelevant that they both wanted to leave.

Seriously HTL, Cacapa has to be replaced if we want to improve. Yes he had a good game today but all too often he is bullied out of challenges and is turned way too easily, plus at his age he is only going to decline. Good points tbh, but I'm hoping his ability to read the game will make the difference.

Not sure what all the maoning is about but that's the usual thing on this forum. It's going to take time to turn around the shite started by Souness and finished off by Allardyce. The players are clearly very, very low on belief and self confidence, this is not something you can bring back at the flick of a switch and it's a very, very fine line at this standard between winning and losing the type of game we saw today. Positives for me : Duff is improving game by game. Not long ago many on here were stupidly writing him off.... mackems.gif Smith will do a decent job up front once we do get that confidence and start to create chances. He's not the long term answer but there are other areas to work on first. Owen is looking sharper and is going to get better as he plays more games. From some injuries it can take upto a full season to really get back upto 100%. His goal today was superb. Carr isn't doing too badly even though he obviously shouldn't and isn't going to be first choice RB. This is incredible if you believe the shite some people post on here about him. Cacapa. I can see him being superb by the start of next season as he adjusts to this league.

Aye, he's had some decent games upfront but these aren't mentioned much because it's the group of people who hate him and want to judge him as a midfielder who make the most noise and are prone to clutch at every straw they can to slate our players. Hence they rush to judge a player who is obviously being used out of position. The same people made excuse after excuse for the inept Parker, despite him being used in his correct position all the time. The tactics were wrong, apparently. Anyway, it's true that those who don't hate Smith don't bang on and on and on and on when he has a decent game up front, they just stick with the concept that he needs a run in that position and that he shouldn't be judged as a midfielder. It's called common sense and isn't that difficult really.

He hasn't had a decent run upfront yet, NM. he's looked as dangerous as bath water up front He hasn't had a decent run upfront yet.....as I just said.

He hasn't had a decent run upfront yet, NM.

Are we going to have to put up with another couple of pages of slating of Alan Smith after every game he plays in midfield? EVERYBODY (apart from the idiot in charge of the team) by now knows Smith is SHIT in midfield and he should not be selected there. It's obvious lots of people hate the bloke, but honestly, using every game he plays in midfield where he is obviously crap as another yet opportunity to slag him off is becoming more than a little bit boring.

Well done, soopafan.

Allardyce is a nob.

I will judge him where his manager plays him thank you very much. By now it is pretty clear Sam thinks of him as a versatile player and is perfectly happy to play him as a defensive midfielder. He is our captain, if that position doesn't suit him or doesn''t benefit the team he should be voicing his opinion about it. Souness saw Craig Bellamy as a wide player [well, he didn't really, but he was just looking for an excuse to cause a situation to kick him out of the club]. Bellamy was criticised by numerous people for voicing his opinion, for the good of the team in his view. Smith is playing where the manager wants him to play, for the good of the club, in the way he sees it. Different scenarios, but both those players had the best interests of the club at heart. But did you judge Bellamy as a wide player or a support striker ? Fact is, Smith is playing where he is because we are short of midfield players and getting on with it. Nobody is saying he's particularly good there, because we can see that he isn't. The danger is, does the manager see him there long term. Only the manager can answer that. The rest of us are going to have to wait and see. That may have been the case tonight NE5, and I agree Allardyce didn't really have a choice, but I don't need to remind you that Smith has been picked before Barton and more importantly and frequently Emre before, do I? Also, Sam must have banked on Smith as a midfield player, or he would have replaced Dyer and Solano with a proper midfield player. I have expressed my opinion on Smith before: I don't think he is good enough for us, even in his best position. He is a striker who can't score, create or shoot and to make matters worse our 6 million acquisition is not benched for constant underperformance, he is made the captain and put in the engine room of our team, with detrimental effects as is clear to see. I can't see where people who say I can't judge him in a position where he is being played and for which he was brought in are coming from, I really can't. I'm not saying myself that Smith is a midfield player. I realise he is different to Emre, but Emre is a homer, so there is a case for preferring Smith in some away games. At the end of the day, I don't think either is good enough in midfield, not for what I want either. If Allardyce has brought him to play in midfield, especially alongside another defensive player, then he is wrong. I've always said this. In that case it seems we do agree after all. It's just people who say we can't judge a player after such a shower of piss by said player do my head in.. Not being funny about it, but do you even support Newcastle? I don't think you do, which is why I don't particularly give a toss what you think.

Eh? That surely can't be right....I mean, just last season the only problems were the defenders and they've all been replaced with better players.....

Yes, why? Your irrational hatred of FS is now explained. You are a deposed member of the shite board pre-1992 This would make sense, tbh. The previous Board knew nowt at all about football.

If stablilty is having a healthy environemnt to achieve a considerable amount, then i want it. You need ambition to 'achieve a considerable amount' you don't just get that from stability. We do have ambition, but we didnt have the means to achieve it at the time that Allardyce took over, ie youth system, scouting, backroon staff etc. There didnt seem to be a plan but there was an apparent burdening debt which looked to afffect the future fo the club. Stability for me is having the platform to achieve something. We look like a different club off the field, but now we need to sort whats going on it. Whats the solution? Sack the manager, taking that stability away or stick with him see where he may lead us. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz So, we qualified for europe more than everybody but 4 teams, and everybody had a "plan" except us Crap stat, said it all before but you see what you wanna see. Not saying we didnt have a plan, but do you think we implented the plan to the end seeing as though you wanna go down that route? Boring. not for the first time, factual information destroys your entire "opinion" What do you mean "to the end". Are you saying we should have gave Dalglish, gullit, Souness or Roeder 5 years ? Facts which dont paint a true picture. Im saying that a plan has an point, do you think that the board implented there plan in the end? Are we reaping the benefits of this plan? Was Souness part of this long term plan? So we didn't have a "plan" during the era of Dalglish, Gullit, Souness and Roeder ? And you think we should have gave all of them more time to implement their "plans" If we had no "plan", then all those 87 clubs we qualified for europe more than, can't have had much of a "plan" themselves, wouldn't you agree ? At least 2 of our european campaigns have been back door though (losing cup finalists under Gullit, snaking into the Intertoto under Bobby) For "back door" what you really mean is, "within the rules that apply to all clubs."

Glad you agree.

Not true. If your expectation is Champions league football, your ambition is to win the league. If your expectation is UEFA cup football, your ambition is Champions league football. If your expectation is mid table, your ambition is UEFA cup football. If your expectation is lower table, your ambition is mid table. If your expectation is relegation, your ambition is lower table. In all cases your short term ambition is the next stage above your expectation, so lowering expectation inherently lowers (short term) ambition. What you are saying is that people's current expectation is too high and unrealistic for any manager. All others are saying is that expecting a visible improvement on the previous manager - who was considered bad enough to get rid of - is not an unreasonable expectation. You won't find many people who had Europe this season as a minimum expectation. Having read the comments from Bill and the definition list from Ben, I was going to reply, but you've explained it very well yet again.

In all seriousness. I fail to see why people kick up such a fuss, and have it in for people who have ambition for the football club and are prepared to show it. [i'm talking about the board, in case you don't realise] However, Dire was a talented player. I was watching his early few years a few days ago on video, and a Birmingham supporter who I knew at the time we bought him assured me that he would play for England and be a good player, sprung to mind. Fact is though, he failed to fulfull it due to a s*** attitude, injury problems, and in the end, the club are better off without him because there was basically no way back for him. What would a Birmingham fan know about Dyer?? Was there any point in you diving in with this stupid question?

Well you would say that you bought the spin I am sure NE5 & HTL will understand what I mean Yup. That's right.