pedro111

Terribly. Lol. Fair enough then. 4 centre halfs at the back, a left winger in centre mid, a centre mid at right wing, need I go on??...

His poor performances up front prior to switching roles are pretty quickly being forgotten. He's a class act playing from deep, and for that I hope he recognises and appreciates that Kevin Keegan has almost certainly given him a new lease of life. What poor performances? He's always looked a class act in a black and white shirt. Sure he may have not been involved much in some games whilst playing high up front but this was the fault of his team mates being unable to produce for him rather than him simply having bad games. I am yet to see him have a game where his touch and distribution are not spot on. The ones that caused Keegan to switch his position/role in the team. He was spending most of the game doing nothing up front, winning no headers, unable to hold the ball up adequately enough, failing to convert the few chances that did come to him, looking slow and poor in his finishing/shooting range, etc etc. I'm not going to dig up the threads surrounding Owen's poor form at the time, but I can assure you there were plenty who saw it, as it was pretty obvious his diminshing pace was hurting his game when he returned from his second major injury with us. In terms of blaming the rest of the team for a "lack of service", fair enough we we're pretty s*** under the likes of Big Sam, but at the same time its a common excuse for strikers who are providing little for the team to actually work with in the first place - you cant provide service to a striker who cant get away from his marker, and its difficult to regularly provide service to a striker who makes little runs that require world class through balls to be picked out. Owen's lack of pace or strength in the striking role that he was playing for us made it difficult to service him when centrebacks were marking him tightly. For example, even though we're s*** right now and weren't that good under Keegan due to the squad he inherited, we could all see that Alan Smith was struggling badly, and if he finds great form tomorrow or next year in different circumstances, I dont think it'd be an accurate statement to say his poor form previously was down to the team not providing lots of chances. Conversely, now that Owen is making runs from deep with other strikers doing the required jobs up front, he's far more difficult to pick up, and is considerably more dangerous - it's added a new dimension to his game, one that is compensating for him losing his pace. On top of being more difficult to pick up, he's actually contributing to the team now when hes not on the end of a chance, the opposite of which was a major problem when he was up front (effectively playing with 10 men alot of the time). And as we can see, that contribution is pretty good given his consistency in his touch, passing and awareness. Fair enough, but were those times not blighted by niggly injuries here and there? A fully fit Owen with games under his belt Is better than anything we have had up front since Shearer pre 97 imo.

Terribly.

His poor performances up front prior to switching roles are pretty quickly being forgotten. He's a class act playing from deep, and for that I hope he recognises and appreciates that Kevin Keegan has almost certainly given him a new lease of life. What poor performances? He's always looked a class act in a black and white shirt. Sure he may have not been involved much in some games whilst playing high up front but this was the fault of his team mates being unable to produce for him rather than him simply having bad games. I am yet to see him have a game where his touch and distribution are not spot on.

We did.

Love him, he is possibly the only player to come out of this situation with any credit. To my surprise, Charlie has done his bit aswell.

This smacks of the Roeder fiasco. Not in a MILLION BILLION years should Kinnear be offered a permanent job here.

Honestly, I will be sick as a chip if these Nigerians take over.

Aye its true on ssn now, get his name right though lol!!! :colo:

There was nowt impressive about the attendance last night imo. Would have been about 10 thousand lower had it not been for the direct debit thing and one fact which is overlooked imo is the fact that SJP is right in the city centre, if it was out in the sticks ala Leeds and Elland road, i think we would have gotten even less. I hate the cup game ticket policy. They are NEVER priced right imo, the club just want money, they are not arsed about the lift a full house will give the team. The only one i can recall which was well priced was West Brom in the League cup about 2003 ish. There was a full house iirc.

One of my mates who works in Barclays Bank on Grainger street is adamant that Gazza was in there today at around 5pm getting money out. Laughing and joking with other customers. Looks like this is one sick, sick joke.

The timing of this with regards to the match makes it seem a bit fishy tbh.

If this is a joke it is sick as fuck.

I've just got this text too. Could this night get any worse.

The commentator came out with a good saying during the second half: "The darkest hour is just before the dawn". Surely, surely, that was the darkest hour.

This.

I agree, meh. I have total apathy regarding all things football at the moment.

I suppose it will do us good for attracting African talent but tbh they will all be away missing huge stretches of the season every other year for the African Nations. Leaving us with the likes of Shola and Smith to take up the mantle.

Honestly, this Nigerian consortium can only be another chapter in the disaster that is Newcastle United. I mean come on, its Nigeria FFS. Bad things always happen there.

I would have been there but the events off the field and the £20 entrance fee have forced me to stay away. I predict a shocking crowd with us getting dumped out on our arses. Sad, but I cant see anything else really.

I agree, the silence from the club has had a pivitol role to play in our downfall.

God, some people's views are mental tbh, and surely the club will have been sold way WAY before feb 1st.

Havent read the whole thread so this may have been covered but how in the hell do they know it was Guthrie that broke his leg? The hairline fracture could have been casued at any point during the match in another tackle or merely through an awkward landing.

Yeah that Scotch bloke said it was a fact that Ashley snubbed the Arabs to go out on the 'piss'. How the fuck would he know?