ohmelads

This is true. Under Glenn Roeder, Luque got less chances than Chopra last season and Owen isn't even worth talking about. Whichever striker we buy (if we buy one), it is to partner Ameobi. He will be in the team whenever fit, he's an automatic choice. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he's one of the first names on the teamsheet now, because Roeder doesn't view Luque as anywhere near him. This is the sad reality of the situation.

Same here.

Sounds like fun. Maybe I'll go there when I retire

Difference is we can be in the Toon in a few minutes and watch the football, and have dirt cheap flights all over Europe on our doorstep. You're stuck out in the football wilderness

Personally I think he's made it clear Luque is not, and will never be, in his plans. If we're forced into playing Luque this season, I expect to see a disinterested player. Luque has been given his chance in pre-season, two games and he's responded with two goals and worked hard, but he's been dropped. I think it's the end for him. Everyone knows my view on Luque, but I actually hope he is sold. If he stays we'll be left in a situation which isn't beneficial for the player, the manager or the club. We had that with Robert and it was a massive distraction. The question is, will Shepherd sanction yet another massive loss? My gut feeling is Luque will stay and Boumsong will go.

Getting rid of him is easier said than done, we've got to find a mug to take him off us first. All depends on our asking price. For 2M we'd have a lot of Spanish clubs interested. Wages may be a problem but I think we'd easily find a buyer. Maybe we could get 3 or 4M. Just depends how desperately Roeder wants rid.

I agree. If Roeder has absolutely no faith in him he must get rid now. The guy's on massive wages and his value is declining rapidly, he must make a decision.

To answer your earlier question, I am still wondering why Chopra got more opportunities than Luque, yet Luque was retained and Chopra was not. Due to starting only 6 games last season, Luque's value has more than halved. Another season like that and he'll be going for next to nothing. Would you rather sell him now and bring in a cheap Championship striker? I'm curious just how badly you want rid of Luque.

What period of time is this? Let me get this straight, he started the season with a clean slate yet he's already lost his place and you're saying Villarreal had nothing to do with it? Are you honestly suggesting he lost his place after the Lillestrom game, where he scored our only goal?! They're the only two games he's started. Under Roeder, Chopra got more opportunities than Luque. Fact. How about since we signed him? Ask yourself why Chopra got more opportunities than Luque. Weren't we told all the players got a clean slate at the start of the season? According to you Villarreal had nothing to do with it, and the only other game he started was Lillestrom, where he scored our only goal. Or was it the PSV performance, one that impressed most people and included a penalty. So tell me what he has done to lose his place?

What period of time is this? Let me get this straight, he started the season with a clean slate yet he's already lost his place and you're saying Villarreal had nothing to do with it? Are you honestly suggesting he lost his place after the Lillestrom game, where he scored our only goal?! They're the only two games he's started. Under Roeder, Chopra got more opportunities than Luque. Fact.

Shola was no better against Ventspils than Luque against Villarreal. Considering the level of opposition I expected a lot better from Ameobi. Perhaps he missed having a striker next to him...? We caused Villarreal more problems than we caused Ventspils. You make it sound like it's Ameobi or Luque, yet Ameobi was rubbish without a strike partner last night. I think he got one effort on target and won a few headers. Fact is Luque has been frozen out, look at Roeder's team selections last season. Even Chopra played more minutes than him last season, and he's since been released for nothing.

Ameobi started against Ventspils. You've lost me? Will Ameobi now be dropped on the back of a rubbish performance against Ventspils? People think it's fair to drop Luque on the back of a friendly against Villarreal, a game in which Ameobi was spared of deserved criticism because he scored from a set-piece.

Ameobi started against Ventspils.

Why? He isn't a striker anyway. He played his last season for Depor on the wing, and played for Spain on the wing. But much of his career was spent as a second striker, Depor fans believe this is his best position and I would agree, although his injury on his second game has made him about two yards slower than the player Depor fans are used to seeing. We haven't seen him produce much up front for us, but then again, we haven't seen much of him full stop. He's been frozen out since he arrived here. My prediction is that Roeder will continue to freeze him out over the next 12 months and we will see him return to Spain for next to nothing next summer. Funny thing is a lot of Newcastle fans still wouldn't know anything about him. Looks like the same thing will ultimately happen with Boumsong. It's already happened with Robert and Viana in the last 12 months, so Boum and Luque are the next two. It's a completely unsustainable transfer policy but a lot of people seem to support it.

Everyone knows the craic with Luque, they can see we're not playing him even though he's fit. When I was over in Spain some people were asking me what the hell has happened to him, and I couldn't give them an answer. We're not going to get much money for him, if we tout him around Spain we may get 3 - 4M for him. He's still highly rated there, but they know he hasn't played for a year. That amount would be enough to land us a Championship striker as a replacement. The Luque issue needs to be resolved immediately because it's obvious where this is going. He'll end up going for nowt next summer if Roeder is still in charge and we as a club can't keep doing this every year, it's unsustainable. Souness did it with Robert and Bellamy and now Roeder is doing it with one of our most expensive players, a player we've seen start half a dozen Premiership games. He's being frozen out. If we sell Luque we will need THREE new strikers. It won't generate money, it'll cost us money.

Roeder doesn't have the pedigree, so a bad start to the season will only confirm many people's suspicions about him. So long as we're in the top half he'll get a full season, if we're drifting towards relegation (a la Souness) then he'll get the chop pretty quickly I reckon.

For what it's worth Luque was the star of the show in today's training game (11 vs 11). The final score was 6-2 with Luque scoring 4 goals and setting one up for Solano, showed some lovely touches as well. At the other end Duff and Ameobi scored.

My team currently: Van Der Sar Taylor Dawson Ferreira N'Zogbia Carrick Fabregas Alonso Duff Shevchenko © Berbatov Subs: Warner, Asthon, Distin, Sommeil

How much have you actually seen of Albert Luque? Be honest.

Fair enough, but Fowler gradually declined. Luque enjoyed probably his best season at 27 just before he joined us. Why would he lose it within a few months at that age?

To be fair I started watching games there after we bought Luque, so I only ever saw him on TV for Deportivo. I always thought he was overrated but still a quality player and I was surprised to see us get him as I thought he'd end up at a bigger club. He's still rated highly over there but a little forgotten about as he lost his place in the Spain squad (not surprising considering he didn't play for us almost all season). Nowt personal, but you don't really know much more than anybody else about Luque's form in Spain then? You just know of his reputation? Never claimed to mate, hence why I stuck to the facts. You say you'd sell him for £4.5m, but what sort of replacement striker do you have in mind for that kind of money? Bearing in mind that strikers are going for very inflated prices at the moment.

To be fair I started watching games there after we bought Luque, so I only ever saw him on TV for Deportivo. I always thought he was overrated but still a quality player and I was surprised to see us get him as I thought he'd end up at a bigger club. He's still rated highly over there but a little forgotten about as he lost his place in the Spain squad (not surprising considering he didn't play for us almost all season). Aye but you have a first hand knowledge of that league and what it takes to shine which as you've pointed out, Luque did, consistently and against the top sides, in Europe too. I really believe his injury set him back more than one would imagine. I'm confident that if he gets a good run, a starting run, he'll do well. My biggest fear is that he has permanently lost a yard of pace, as his pace, bullet shooting and decent finishing were always his strong points. If he's lost that then he'll never be the player for us that he was for Deportivo. It could be that he was very nervous running full pelt after his hamstring injury though, hence why he was rested by Souness (the man who bought him) and Roeder. A lot of it seems to be confidence though, at Depor he was very composed in front of goal, even a little arrogant, whereas here he had a very disrupted start with that injury and came back looking very nervous. I'm keen to see what he can do with a run in the side, none of us have seen that yet.

Neither have I, but we haven't seen much him at all, have we. We're judging his Newcastle career on the back of a few performances, he wouldn't be the first player to struggle then find his feet. My gut feeling is Roeder doesn't really fancy him but probably sees him as a more viable option up front than Milner because he's actually done it there before and Milner hasn't. How many games Luque starts this season will depend on injuries, the Chronicle has already said he won't be starting against Wigan. But when you look at the prices people are charging for strikers, would it be wise to sell Luque for £4.5m and then find we can't buy anyone for that? That wouldn't even buy us Heskey at the moment.

To be fair I started watching games there after we bought Luque, so I only ever saw him on TV for Deportivo. I always thought he was overrated but still a quality player and I was surprised to see us get him as I thought he'd end up at a bigger club. He's still rated highly over there but a little forgotten about as he lost his place in the Spain squad (not surprising considering he didn't play for us almost all season).

He's started a few games. He played a few hundred minutes of football last season. Sell him now and he'll go on to be a success with someone else, I'm confident of that. Selling is a gamble as is buying, if we sell a quality player and bring in a crap replacement then we're weaker, so of course you have to consider his pedigree. Would you sell Owen for a few million based on what he's done for us so far?