jimmymag

Sam might be working on defence but today was the same old Newcastle, taking the lead and then giving it up with 6 minutes first time and 2 minutes next, without the creativity. I can't see how the 3 in midfield are working together, who's breaking when we're on the attack? It seemed Butt was getting forward but surely Smith, with his goal scoring history, should be the main attacking midfielder. Instead Smith was largely anonymous today. It was criminal they way we squandered the lead so easily playing an ultra defensive formation. Charlie's goal should have been enough to secure the 3 points.

A question mark instead of an exclamation mark would have been more appropriate.

The post Sky generation of "supporters" make me laugh. Trying not to sound too much like Leazes, you should have seen the shite served up by NUFC pre Keegan. The fact is this club has lost a hell of a lot of ground since the disgraceful sacking of SBR, and for the first time since then I can see the club starting to move in the right direction. Sam's the right man for the job and, because the vast majority of fans feel the same, he's in a very strong position to put pressure on the board for the funds he feels he requires, because the jury's still out regarding Ashley's intentions. Sam seems satisfied with the backing he's getting at the moment and he's on record as saying it's going to take time to get things right here. The main thing Newcastle United supporters need is patience, I suggest some of you start exercising it.

So, he really is a perfect replacement for Dyer. Dyer got 14 goals in his last 70 games at club level so I'd say not, then again he doesn't get stuck in like Snudger does so that doesn't matter. And 20 in the previous 216. He's a meastro! That wasn't quite the point I'm making, my point has always been to replace Dyer with a player with pace who can stretch games, we've seen in the past before we signed Bellamy and Robert how a team can be changed when you add it, we should have been looking to replace Dyer with someone with similar pace but more consistent in his football rather than a talentless grafter who gets stuck in. Dyer didn't stretch games. He scored very few, created even less. I know it's hard but look past your hatred for Dyer and see the bit I've highlighted, do you agree with that? No, i don't. I don't want a player who can run fast with the ball. I want a player to run fast with the ball and do something with it. Its not about more consistency than Dyer, its about more talent. I don't think Smith is a replacement for Dyer (at least, he shouldn't be), but then i don't think we need a replacement for a midfielder who was s*** on the wing, and offered v little in the centre. Agree with what baggio's saying, its what i was thinking when all of you wanted dyer gone. but to call smith "talentless" is taking it too far. smith is a good player and his passion more than makes up for his lack of pace, his passing game is often overlooked aswell; much rather have him than geremi, i mean we've seen smith play very well for manyoo and don't understand where all this negativity is coming from . He's highly rated by his own fans because of his great attitude and ability on the field. Im going to end up contradicting myself now, but yeah we really need pacey playmaker.. All the negativity regarding Smith is coming from Baggio who, imo, is digging himself a rather large hole! People said the same when the likes of me, HTL and Crumpy said the same about Scott Parker tbh. I expect a few idiots will pull this up if he scores tonight but I really don't care as it's not the bigger picture, I bet nobody will be pulling it up come the end of the season except maybe me when I'm proven right. . I agree, we should give Smith until the end of the season before we decide if he's good enough for us.... ....Oh, but you didn't mean that. In fact you've already decided that he's not good enough for us. It amazes me how you managed to blow your interview before FFS chose Big Sam as our new saviour. How much is the bet by the way?!

So, he really is a perfect replacement for Dyer. Dyer got 14 goals in his last 70 games at club level so I'd say not, then again he doesn't get stuck in like Snudger does so that doesn't matter. And 20 in the previous 216. He's a meastro! That wasn't quite the point I'm making, my point has always been to replace Dyer with a player with pace who can stretch games, we've seen in the past before we signed Bellamy and Robert how a team can be changed when you add it, we should have been looking to replace Dyer with someone with similar pace but more consistent in his football rather than a talentless grafter who gets stuck in. Dyer didn't stretch games. He scored very few, created even less. I know it's hard but look past your hatred for Dyer and see the bit I've highlighted, do you agree with that? No, i don't. I don't want a player who can run fast with the ball. I want a player to run fast with the ball and do something with it. Its not about more consistency than Dyer, its about more talent. I don't think Smith is a replacement for Dyer (at least, he shouldn't be), but then i don't think we need a replacement for a midfielder who was s*** on the wing, and offered v little in the centre. Agree with what baggio's saying, its what i was thinking when all of you wanted dyer gone. but to call smith "talentless" is taking it too far. smith is a good player and his passion more than makes up for his lack of pace, his passing game is often overlooked aswell; much rather have him than geremi, i mean we've seen smith play very well for manyoo and don't understand where all this negativity is coming from . He's highly rated by his own fans because of his great attitude and ability on the field. Im going to end up contradicting myself now, but yeah we really need pacey playmaker.. All the negativity regarding Smith is coming from Baggio who, imo, is digging himself a rather large hole!

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer. If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te. No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with. Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up. There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of. If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club? Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world. Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why. I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt. Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit. Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years. You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels. Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines. (By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.) Nail on head. I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot. I don't think there was any real statement from Mort about financial or accounting malpractice, was there? Every company in the country does soem form of creative accounting, or uses the loopholes available to it. If Mort did say anything, it's more likely to be to buy more time for the review, curb fans expectations of loads of cash being pumped in, or to get the fans onside by having a dig at the Fat Man. No malpractice was inferred but, iirc, he did say that they had been caught out by the way it had been done and, I believe, this wouldn't have shown up until their thorough review of the club.

i don't understand or agree with the "fuck England" thing, but i agree with the benefit to us. I don't give a toss about England. I'm from the People's Republic of Geordieland and I support NUFC. England is a distraction that usually hinders NUFC, perhaps on this occasion we might derive some benefit from it but I doubt it.

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer. If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te. No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with. Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up. There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of. If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club? Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world. Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why. I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt. Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit. Possible but let's be honest most of us knew the club was at least 60m in debt just from the various NUFC finance sites that have been about for the last 3-4 years. You'd hope a man who allegedly prides himself on the people that he surrounds himself with business wise might actually had someone look into things, a trawl or two of most NUFC message boards and you'd be at least aware of the concerns for the clubs debt levels. Like I said, the media needs to justify its existence and perpetuating rumour and speculation is an easy way to drive headlines. (By the way, Mike, if you or one of your many advisors are reading this - you stepped up to the plate, now follow through and actually turn our club into the huge club it has always had the potential to become.) Nail on head. I agree with all of that as well, but didn't Mort say recently that there had been some sort of creative accounting going on that had "hidden" a lot of the debt. I'm not an accountant so I don't know the technicalities, but I got the impression that the new lot had been a little outsmarted by the old lot.

If we play the ball to Viduka's feet sometimes he might have half a chance of contributing to the team. Lumping 50 yard balls up to him whilst he's marked by 2 central defenders makes it almost impossible for him to control the ball and get it to a player in a black and white shirt.

Fuck England, but if Owen comes through the game unscathed, and closer to match fitness which would be of benefit to us, I'll be happy.

I was talking to someone last night who has a good mate pretty high up in Sports World and apparently it's fairly common knowledge in the higher ecehelons of the organisation that Ashley is none too happy with the state he's found the club in and would be willing to sell if there was a suitable buyer. If that's the case then all the talk of what a great, self-made, businessman he is, is utter sh!te. No-one goes into a 150m investment without a thorough investigation of the business they are buying, if that was his way he wouldn't of made it any further than the half arsed local sports shop he started out with. Forgetting the fact that no-one really knows what Laura thinks, his business history is that of buy low and build it up. There is no history of selling out, there is no history of giving up on one of his investments that he has taken full ownership of. If all he wanted was a quick turn around why delist the club? Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the media here likened him to Howard Hughes. Hughes was constantly hounded in the press with rumour and speculation and this was the 1950s, imagine what it is like in this day and age of everything being scrutinized on football forums, in the tabloids, television and radio - the media has to justify its existence therefore it looks for any angle, something I doubt Ashley would of even considered before thinking about buying a football club, let alone the one with the largest neurotic fan base in the world. Ashley for the money he paid could have bought almost any premier league club, he didn't and there must be a reason why. I was also under that impression but I read somewhere that because he didn't make an offer to buy the club outright, he bought pieces that built up over time, he couldn't undertake due dilligence where the prospective purchaser gets to take a look at the state of the business including the accounts. That's why he quickly undertook his "internal review" to find out exactly what he'd got himself into. The review has revealed that the club is in a worse state than he anticipated, including £80 million of debt. Perhaps his chairman is now advising him to sell and take even a small profit.

What a pathetic comment. Man City have rode their luck and I'm sure that SGE wouldn't say that they're the finished article. It takes time to build a squad, a team, for the players to learn what the manager wants of them, and for the manager to get to know the capabilities of his squad. Totally disagree, they look very good to me but where did I say they are the finished article? They have a load of new, foreign players who are playing very well together and plaudits have to be given to the manager - my comment was a FACT - 3 wins out of 3 - not supposition - unlike your comment that they have rode their luck. Aye they played Manyoo off the park!

What a pathetic comment. Man City have rode their luck and I'm sure that SGE wouldn't say that they're the finished article. It takes time to build a squad, a team, for the players to learn what the manager wants of them, and for the manager to get to know the capabilities of his squad.

Aye, can confirm that Shearer and Newcastle were mentioned in that Icelandic news clip. Didn't have a fucking clue what they were going on about mind. Also saw Roger Moore towards the end of the clip, is he involved in the takeover as well???

Don't get too excited, it could be a hell of a let down if we don't flatten the opposition.

The new Scott Parker Possibly Bang on. Every last word. There's nothing that annoys me more than a player being labeled "not good enough" after only his second game for the club. It's even more annoying when his performance is no better or worse than most of the other players on the pitch. How are players supposed to succeed when they're being written off before they've had a chance to prove themselves? We've been linked with Smith for several years. We know what he has to offer, he isn't Enrique. It's not the point. As soon as he signs for us, he should be given a chance to prove himself for us. In amoungst our players. His performances for Man Utd and Leeds are absolutely irrlevant to how he will perform up here, and if that's what people are judging him on he really doesn't stand a chance. If we sign Heskey i'll moan the second he misses a sitter, why should I wait when I know full well his level of performance. If we signed Ronladinho i'd expect him to become our best and most influential player within 9 months because that's what I'v come to expect after watching him week-in-week-out for a nmumber of years. I've watched Smith for 6 or so years. I know his game. In midfield he is very similar to Parker. I knew this last year and i'll know it this time next year. Since the last two years of Leeds Premiership status i've been watching him carefully as we've often been linked. I think he could do well for us but I know his limitations. Butt-Geremi-Smith isn't going to work. Butt-Geremi-Smith will grind out a shed load of clean sheets if that's what Sam wants, and I think that's what he wanted against Villa. Too many people seem to be confusing individual performances with Sam's team tactics. We have plenty of options across the middle of the park when everyone is fit, and I'm convinced that Sam will get the best out of our above average Premiership squad in the weeks and months ahead. This short termism does my box in, we've had a decent start to a long season. Keep the faith!!!

OMG Massive knee jerk reaction!!! You must be one of the "greatest football supporters" eh?! [/Jimmymag] Eh?! Please post in context otherwise you make yourself look a bigger mug than you already are!!! I'm taking the piss out of you for saying people are kneejerkers for not hanging out of average players arses. Champions League experience, current England international, by all accounts the Mancs sorry to see him leave them, but obviously not good enough for us after 2 competitive games?!!! Get real man! Smith's obviously being told where and how to play by Sam. He's doing a job for the team. Like I said, knee jerk reaction!

Eh? If he's acting as some sort of figurehead of this new takeover (IF), then he's sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Let Mort and Ashley get on with their jobs. Maybe he's concerned they're not bigging him up enough. Shearer wasn't involved in Match of The Day this weekend, obviously up to no good! Or he could just be on the golf course.

Good post. I actually got a bit of a funny look off this bloke yesterday for screaming 'come on' as loud as i could. I think its fair enough if you go to a match and just want to watch, but if youre gunna moan all the time you should fuck right off. A singing section would be brilliant, no fear of getting funny looks or feeling like a tit. Focusing the noise to one area would spread a lot more around the ground as well I think. It's not a crowd anymore, it's an audience. The lack of noise and support is an embarrassment. Viduka said before the game he couldn't wait to get out there and experience the Geordie support, I'll bet he was distinctly underwhelmed. We still have a hardcore of "real" fans and I do hope the new management consider the idea of a "singing" area such as the Toon Ultras are advocating. We need it!

OMG Massive knee jerk reaction!!! You must be one of the "greatest football supporters" eh?! [/Jimmymag] Eh?! Please post in context otherwise you make yourself look a bigger mug than you already are!!!

I totally agree with your point regarding tactics. Sam seemed to be obsessed with getting a clean sheet at home, and he was very lucky to get it yesterday despite his negative tactics. This seemed to be confirmed by his post match interviews in which he said how important that clean sheet was to him because now he felt he had a foundation to build on. What pisses me off are the "supporters" who are picking out individual players and saying that they're not good enough. IMO we've got a better than average Premiership squad and it's up to Sam to get the best out of it. I'm sure he learned some valuable lessons yesterday, and as long as I see a steady progression throughout this season then I'll be satisfied.

Yeah that's basically complete and utter bollocks. That's right, because Smith done what yesterday? He got stuck in and made a few crunching tackles which the ref gave freekicks against us for, the lad created fuck all going forward and it was often left to Geremi to try and bring it out from the back. Anyone with a clue about football could tell you we needed to replace Dyer with either someone with pace who can stretch teams or a playmaker who can pick a pass out and knit the team together, instead we've got a bloke who's known for being a grafter and giving his all, worse still we played him in the middle with a 2 holding men and the result was we created fuck all in the centre and had no movement whatsoever. Another one of the "greatest football supporters the world has ever had"! Fucking pathetic!!!

Apart from his one comedy moment, can you give any examples to back that up? He was beaten in the air once or twice by Carew, but stood his ground. He was leading the defence yesterday, his positioning was excellent and he was playing it out along the ground, which is more than can be said for Rozehnal who was part of the problem with his long balls costing us possession and putting people under pressure. I thought Rozehnal "got away with it" a few times where he let players outmuscle him or get goal side of him, and he broke ranks once or twice as he got drawn towards the ball. I don't want to be too critical of him because he does have qualities, he's certainly quick, tall, seems to have a decent enough reading of the game and he's a calm head at the back, but as Sam alluded to before the Bolton game he can't afford to be doing these things in the Premiership because once managers are aware of his weaknesses they will look to expose him. Hopefully in time he'll get to grips with what the Premiership is all about, I think he has what it takes. Getting back to Taylor, I thought he was very solid yesterday and certainly didn't look like a 21 year old in the heart of our defence. Very professional performance, barring his one 'moment'. Look im sick of people bringing taylors age into it. Ignore his age as Micah Richards is a much better player than him even though hes 2 years younger. Things wrong with Taylor are: 1) Not quick enough- As shown when he got done all over by DJ Cambpell, (conference player). 2) Hes a cheat- Handballs then faking injury. No need for it. 3) He gives stupid fouls away in dangerous areas- E.g. away to arsenal. henry running into the corner so taylor fouls him and they score from the resulting freekick. 4) He gave the ball away on numberous occasions- As shown yesterday. 5) Can be dodgy- As shown yesterday when he fell over and gave the ball away at the back. If Taylor wasnt from Newcastle he wouldnt get bummed by the people that currently do on here. IMO he will be like players like Dawson, jenas, etc. where people make a big deal about them being the next up and coming england international and he will just turn out to be rubbish as dawson is and never good enough for england. Massive knee jerk reaction!!! You must be one of the "greatest football supporters" eh?! Give the kid a break, OK it wasn't his best game for us, he's still learning his trade and will improve under Big Sam's tutelage.

No surprise really. WHU have transplanted cancer into the heart of their club and they are going to suffer the consequences.

Some good points. Gerrard and Essien certainly piss over anything our midfield have to offer pace-wise. They use it to press and break from deep. Gazza was far from a fat tub of lard over 50. He was exceptional at breaking and surging onto (and with) the ball. Scholes does similar from deep but its not with the ball. It takes timing and pace to manage that. I have little problem with our central midfield though. Other than they are very similar. Owen Hargreaves is also very quick by the way. Out wide we are lacking. Thats an area where we need that commodity, whether some of the time or all of the time. Top teams don't go into a season without anyone who can break and stretch teams. Pennant is average but still has that thing we don't. On the other flank, Kewell can be very good but they have more drive from central midfield. Gerrard constantly does it in either position. We aint got those options. I think you're confusing pace with the timing of runs from deep. Smith, Barton and Geremi are all capable of this. Perhaps Dire was the fastest sprinter at the club, this doesn't mean we have to sign Linford Christie or his current equivalent as replacement. When he could be arsed Dire looked good because he'd pick the ball up deep and run straight at the opposition as opposed to our usual tactic of just punting the ball 50 yards up field hoping to win the second ball. With our current squad we've now got players comfortable on the ball so we should be able to play from back to front on the deck whilst still having the option of mixing it up because of Viduka's strength and touch with Martins or Owen running the channels.