ohmelads

He's a right winger in my book. Him and Milner for the right, Duff and N'Zogbia on the left and our wings are sorted, competition, youth and pacy bench to change a game. Our squad needs improvement, but we'd do better to improve the weaker areas of our team such as across the back line. It's no use selling one of our more important squad players knowing his price wouldn't reflect his value to us.

No. We've got enough problems in the squad without creating more gaps to fill. He's hardly been injured since he came back, touch wood that will continue. I don't know how much money you expect us to get for him or what sort of replacement you think that'll get us, but I'd rather keep him.

I think that was more because both teams were jaded from playing 48 hours earlier and Arsenal were not pressing us up the field as teams normally would. That's when our defenders crap themselves and punt it long, rather than risk a dodgy pass in defence or getting caught in possession. Also I felt we held a decent line yesterday, not too high to let strikers in behind but not too deep to invite shots on goal. Makes a big difference, Adebayor and Ljungberg were left very frustrated as we set up our defence correctly. If only we could do it more often.

I'm really in the middle on this one. Good arguments from both sides. It does seem absurd that a team called Arsenal from London doesn't contain a single English player. Football is a tribal game, it's an expression of self, and local people support their local teams because it feels a part of them and their identity. To go and watch a Newcastle team without a single British player would seem a bit absurd. But it would be equally absurd if Arsenal began carrying some crap English player round on their team bus who was never good enough to play but had to be there to satisfy regulations. I think a medium has to be found I'm just not sure where the line should be drawn.

Ameobi is better than Sibierski at every aspect of the game. His return can only be viewed as a good thing. As someone already mentioned, we'd have caused Arsenal huge problems with him in the side yesterday as their centre backs were struggling with high balls to Martins, one of the smallest players on the field. Whether we like to admit it or not we play quite a lot of high balls these days. With Ameobi in the team I don't see us playing more, I just see fewer of them going back into opposition hands. We've been pumping high balls all season to the smallest strike force in the league. I don't see the argument for waiting until next season. If they're fully fit then bring them back into the fold. I'm no expert but something tells me it could do more harm than good holding them back until next season - by that time Owen will effectively have spent 20 months out of the game, the pressure on him will be even greater. Get his return out of the way now while things are relatively calm so we don't start the new season with a media circus on our hands.

Taylor has massive potential but as others have said we're crying out for a classy centre-half alongside him. We're gonna have to fork out but it'll be worth a lot of points over the season if we get the right man in, and I really believe that in the right circumstances Taylor can go on to become one of the league's best defenders in a few years. We've spent a fortune in midfield and attack the last two summers, it's high time we spent serious money on defence.

We've played almost 5 hours at St James' without a league goal now. Disgraceful.

It smacks of Roeder though doesn't it, a cautious manager lacking in ambition. He really doesn't inspire me at all as a fan to believe that he will lead us to great things. Some would say that's what we need, a 'calm head' and all that, but I disagree. Neither his words nor his football inspire me and what you have highlighted is just one example of what you get from Roeder. He's trying to lower expectations at this club to such a level that mid-table "stability" is considered acceptable. In the grand scheme of things a point wasn't a bad result today but knowing that we had Arsenal where we wanted them it must be seen as two points dropped. I was happy to see a clean sheet but felt frustrated as yet another 90 minutes passed by without a goal at home.

5 points behind Portsmouth now. They've still got to play Liverpool and Arsenal at home and Everton and Villa away, four difficult games. The other game is us. If we beat them at their place we can catch them. Redknapp said a few weeks ago he may apply for the Intertoto: http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8702_1985159,00.html

James Milner on the left? Why on earth would Warnock guess that when Duff and N'Zogbia are fit and Milner hasn't played on the left for ages? Alan Oliver does it again. He can't help it can he?

I thought Gooch was solid, it wasn't a perfect performance but he deserved a clean sheet and deserves praise for his performance. I still don't think he's good enough to get a contract though.

Not petrified they'll beat us, but I don't want them up when we're so poor. It's a sad state of affairs when people are saying we need s*nderland up to motivate our players. In fact, I just don't want them up at all. Don't understand those fans who do. As somebody else said, be careful what you wish for.

Dyer has had more good games than bad and has been one of our better performers overall this season. He isn't a striker, in my view his best position is right wing, that's what's best for the team, though not many seem to agree. I think he could also make a dangerous substitute. Every time he has a few average/poor games there are people who want to sell him. I don't understand it to be honest.

I agree with others that Dyer didn't do much, but we definitely lost something when he came off. Arsenal got the upper hand when we brought him off for Zoggy, we suddenly weren't pressing their defence as much and they dominated second half possession.

Be careful what you wish for. When our knuckdragging neighbours came up, we had a few seasons of utter fecking humiliation before we finally got one over on them. I'd rather we never had to play them again, the tension in derby matches is just too much Exactly. The way Newcastle are at the moment I don't see why anyone would want them up. They may have been absolutely sh*te the last two times they came up but in derbies anything can happen and that'll be two tough games (and potential injuries) that we simply don't need next season. It is really really painful losing a derby and can seriously affect your season. I always feel more confident playing the other promoted teams, these derbies fire everybody up and anything can happen. I don't want them coming up at a time when we're a bit vulnerable, I don't see why anyone would want that. My love of Newcastle comes before my hatred of s*nderland.

Arsenal were there for the taking today. Some might not agree but I think if we had Ameobi today we'd have caused them all sorts of problems. They weren't confident with any of the balls which came their way, both aeriel and on the ground. Martins had the measure of them he just needed some physical presence alongside him to win those aeriel balls and hold it up. Because we had to midgets up front Martins had to go for all those balls. We definitely lost something when Dyer came off. Butt was immense and I was impressed with our defence today. Still not convinced by Gooch and don't think he's good enough but credit where it's due he hardly put a foot wrong today, matched Adebayor for pace and power didn't give him any room. Taylor and Solano were fantastic and Carr didn't let us down. If Dyer had stayed on or if we'd had a powerful striker I reckon we'd have won this one. Duff showed a lot of hunger and seems to be approaching some sort of form. Two points dropped rather than one gained. But at least for the mean time we seem to have got our act together. That intertoto place is still a possibility.

It'd be even funnier if they can't make it when they think they are great.

No. F*ck them. I don't see how anyone can want them to come up when we're in quite a state as a club ourselves. The rivalry is great but I like seeing them in the Championship. I'd love it if they lost the playoff finals on penalties or something like that, I'd love to see Roy Keane's face.

I thought Duff was a bargain at £5m. I thought that even Newcastle wouldn't spend £10m on a striker and £5m on a winger if we only had £15m in the kitty, leaving only 6 defenders to get us through a season. I underestimated the club's stupidity and sure enough that was a third of our budget and we were left with nothing to buy defenders! If we want to build a successful team over years and years we need players who play together for years and years, we need youngsters who become synonymous with this club. We need continuity, both with playing staff and with (a good) manager. It's quite hard to just buy a successful team. Liverpool have built a formidable squad but their most important players are still Gerrard and Carragher. Chelsea have spent a fortune but Terry and Lampard are the core of their team. Look at Man Utd and their "class of 92", Scholes, Giggs and Neville are still vital to them all these years later. It's hard to put a price on these players because they are hard to replace. Look at Arsenal since they sold Vieira. In N'Zogbia, Taylor and Milner we've made a start, they may not be world class but they will get better the longer they play together. Krul might come good in a few years too. We need to build on these foundations, not sell our future. If we lose N'Zogbia it'll show a serious lack of ambition.

So can Pompey still apply? I know some will say it could be a blessing in disguise not being in Europe as the injuries and extra games certainly didn't help our domestic campaign this season. However I think it always helps in raising the club's profile if you make it to the quarters or beyond (as we have in two of our last three attempts), even if the tournament is a poor man's Champions League. It also gives the opportunity to blood youngsters in competitive games and let's face it we did terribly under Souness when we were out of Europe anyway. I also think it represents possibly our best chance of winning a trophy. There's always the risk of a big CL team dropping in at the later stages but the past two years this hasn't happened. The last two times we have gone out to teams who we outplayed at home before totally self-destructing, and the finalists have been beatable teams. I do get the feeling that when we finally end our trophy drought it'll be a UEFA Cup.

He'll cost a signing on fee, but it'd still be a damn sight cheaper than buying another striker. Sibierski isn't good enough now and in a year he'll likely be even poorer. He's not a man who will get us goals, he's not even a striker really. You say Viduka'd cost £5m in signing on fee and wages, but all new signings require wages and we never normally factor that into their price so it's a bit unfair. Some people tend to turn their noses up at freebies, but even the biggest clubs have done it. Man Utd (Larsson), Chelsea (Ballack), Arsenal (Flamini), Liverpool (Zenden, Aurelio, Fowler, Voronin). There is an argument for keeping what we've got, with a striker pool of Owen, Martins, Dyer, Ameobi, Sibierski, Carroll. If the rest of the money was going into building a quality defence I could live with that, though strictly speaking two are midfielders and one is an academy player. It all depends on what our budget is like really. I guess what I mean to say is if we can afford to sort out the defence and one or two additions elsewhere then I'd take Viduka up front as he'd give us something different and I reckon his power and link up play would complement both Owen and Martins better than anyone we currently have on our books.

Warnock is an absolute pillock. He fancies himself as this cheeky jack the lad type but it comes off all wrong and he ends up looking like a totally self important tit. A horrible horrible man.

Fantastic rant

N'Zogbia is a good youngster with the potential to be a very dangerous winger for us (I don't buy this central midfield talk, his game isn't suited to playing there at all). I think people are annoyed because it's not often to see a good young prospect come through at Newcastle and when we finally get a young player who excites the crowd he is replaced, dropped from the side and then dropped from the squad to accommodate a big name who fails to live up to expectations. It's f*cking typical of Newcastle and for a manager who prides himself on bringing through youth it's normal that people want answers. I'm a big fan of N'Zogbia and I'll be livid if we let him go.

A while ago I turned my nose up at Viduka, he's always been a very good striker but has always had problems with injuries and a questionable work ethic. This season though he's done very well for Boro and changed my opinion of him somewhat. I think we're also in a position of beggars can't be choosers as I honestly believe we need to buy a whole new defence in summer. On a free he would complement our strike force nicely, he is a better striker than Sibierski in all aspects of the game, a big physical player with a touch of class about him. Get rid of Sibierski and bring in Viduka and we'd have a healthy striker force for next season: Owen, Martins, Viduka, Ameobi. We need to start building a squad so we're not left playing untried kids after a few injuries. Players like Viduka and Sidwell on bosmans would help us to do that, they've got Premiership experience so you know what you're getting. Save our transfer funds for plugging the gaps in our squad, such as in defence.