madras

just going from that list a few posts ago...what constitutes a cross ? has it got to be in the air or is it just a pass from out wide ?

In the first dozen or so games of this season he was very poor, easily the poorest he's been for us. He had an entire season last where he was quality on the right. and also our best on the left (if your talking last season)

is it possible our wide men are being unfairly castigated due to no forwards to help them.....martins positional sense woeful...viduka's mobility and pace of grey's monument and owen always injured. bit like the days of yore when batty got slagged off for always going square when we had ian rush up front on his tod with 3 defenders.

allardyce himself trying to play clever fuckers

Unfortunately he's probably right. We in here are only a small % of toon fans, and the uneducated majority would love to see Shearer back, and would even be their first choice. Loads of people you speak to hold that opinion, its crazy. i don't know any that think that....quite a lot who think he'll be the next manager though.

So you think you are a better judge than one Brian Clough then do you !?? Because, as I keep telling you, that is EXACTLY what Clough said football was - a simple game made complicated by Buffoons... If you get the players playing in a system they are comfortable with , AND to their strengths, they will do the business PROVIDED they have a modicum of ability. Clough did not take 20 games to make an impact at Derby and everywhere he went he took John McGovern with him ..one day, a NE journalist, Doug Weatherall, asked Clough why he always signed McGovern, as none of the Press guys could see anything in him - Clough replied ' that's why YOU are a journalist, and I am a MANAGER, Doug..!!' John Robertson, now coach to O'Neill at Villa, never got on well with Clough, but he would run through a brick wall for him because Clough let him PLAY TO HIS STRENGTHS as a left-winger...do you think Cloughie would have played N'Zogbia at LB, because I don't....I once saw him bollocking a player in training because the guy was a striker and he was taking corners - Clough said ' I didn't pay 1m for you to mess around taking corners, I paid it so you could score goals- GET IN THE MIDDLE !' No messing about with positional changes for BC..!! To be fair, he was pissed at the time. He was a great manager but football in his day compared to today is a whole new ball game. it's not complicated the way man utd play. Fergie would disagree. pretty sure fergie would get the basics right and you're almost there

So you think you are a better judge than one Brian Clough then do you !?? Because, as I keep telling you, that is EXACTLY what Clough said football was - a simple game made complicated by Buffoons... If you get the players playing in a system they are comfortable with , AND to their strengths, they will do the business PROVIDED they have a modicum of ability. Clough did not take 20 games to make an impact at Derby and everywhere he went he took John McGovern with him ..one day, a NE journalist, Doug Weatherall, asked Clough why he always signed McGovern, as none of the Press guys could see anything in him - Clough replied ' that's why YOU are a journalist, and I am a MANAGER, Doug..!!' John Robertson, now coach to O'Neill at Villa, never got on well with Clough, but he would run through a brick wall for him because Clough let him PLAY TO HIS STRENGTHS as a left-winger...do you think Cloughie would have played N'Zogbia at LB, because I don't....I once saw him bollocking a player in training because the guy was a striker and he was taking corners - Clough said ' I didn't pay 1m for you to mess around taking corners, I paid it so you could score goals- GET IN THE MIDDLE !' No messing about with positional changes for BC..!! To be fair, he was pissed at the time. He was a great manager but football in his day compared to today is a whole new ball game. it's not complicated the way man utd play.

the needs and qualities needed to manage outside the prem have little to do with those of managing in the prem,especially if given money to spend. wht i'm trying to say is that the talents and qualities to manage hartlepool are different to those needed to manage newcastle

chris-r..............3 shots on target all game would be a massive improvment

d'you reckon allardyce will still name barton in the 11 as a show of solidarity ?

even if we did it would take allardyce till november to feel he was ready then his game relies on teammates moving into space to get his passes.

Look at Man City though. 7, 8 new players and they're unbeaten at home and yet haven't won in 8 away (until next week obviously). Course, all of those are clearly factors but I think it's one of life's great mysteries. there has been a study done on it. don't know if it's online or even where to satrt looking. My dissertation tutor, Sandy Wolfson, did one actually: http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article192792.ece Testosterone levels apparently. Might be something in it. Is testosterone classed as a banned substance if taken as a supplement? there are far too many jokes in that last bit

We're talking about the PL I don't intend to waste my time arguing the toss over international squads from back in the day.... Give me some good examples of players taking over at clubs in trouble in thier respective top divisions ideally the PL or maybe Serie A and we can discuss. Don't bother if the teams turn out to be more or less the powerhouse outfits in thier league ie Barca, Inter and so on...The comparisons woud be childish and ill thought through. Now are we done here? but we are going to be the powerhouse with ashleys cash you are so confident he is going to spend.

yeah france were fantastic at that time...didn't he take over after they had failed to qualify for the euro championships afetr only 1 of their qualifying games...aye world class

Look at Man City though. 7, 8 new players and they're unbeaten at home and yet haven't won in 8 away (until next week obviously). Course, all of those are clearly factors but I think it's one of life's great mysteries. there has been a study done on it. don't know if it's online or even where to satrt looking.

the fans at all those clubs (with the exception of man utd maybe) will tell you there clubs improved in the first 6 months. being patient pays off...should we have given souness,roeder,bill mcgarry longer ? Exactly all those clubs could see improvement, so far we have been terrible with no sign of improvement. FFS our fans aint moaning for the sake of it or because their standards are sky high its because the football has been dog s*** and tbh our league standing doesnt reflect how bad we have played, we have had a bit of luck I think its fair to say we've seen slight improvement in the least, i believe that we had our best start in the PL ever this year? and this is a sign of no improvement at all? We do have better players and a better squad, we've got more away points this season so far than last season. We're not in a total injury crisis like last year and we are comfortably away from the relegation zone and pretty damn close to Europe still. Aye we're f***** aren't we, i'd hate to be a fan of any of the teams below us. we had a dream start in terms of "look at that opening group of games" have you seen our remaning away fixtures? Bullshit, i bet we wouldn't have won as many under Roeder and tbh we've had easier starts to the league than this one. Yes its going to be a difficult second half to the season, but i'm convinced we will finish top half, which i'd be happy with. i don't think we'll finish top half,infact 45 points is looking a long way off

and wales ?...holland at the time,even france at the time. do stop it with the ...it has all the fakeness of NE5's mackems.gif

it could well have a lot to do with confidence,comfort and familiarity of surroundings

true,however they can go backwards over 6 months Would you be willing to categorically state that our team has been only sliding backwards since june? no not at all....can you categorically say there has been any improvement in 6 months ?

Commanding respect and pulling as one will be as nothing when he starts losing a few games and has no experience to fall back on. A few years ago this former respected player lark had some mileage, even 3/4 years ago it was just about do-able. Now the PL is like a shark tank with half a dozen world class managers and another half a dozen tough cookies following up. In short we should actually try the novel approach now we have some fianancial stability of getting the absolute best manager for the job ie not Shearer. he has experience as a player and how his managers coped,look at all those who have went straight in. do we have the finacial clout...ie is ashley gonna let loose ? you seem set that he is as we've discussed it before. Who went straight in? I hope you're not going to mention Rijkaard.. beckenbauer,mark hughes,keegan,platini,capello,roberto mancini,marco van basten,dalglish ...you forgot to mention the clubs...I know why. beckenbauer,van basten,hughes and platini were international managers(supposedly even tougher). i kept it even as i had earlier mentioned "top flight (even international)..4 international 4 top flight (3 really...can you spot which?)

the fans at all those clubs (with the exception of man utd maybe) will tell you there clubs improved in the first 6 months. being patient pays off...should we have given souness,roeder,bill mcgarry longer ? Exactly all those clubs could see improvement, so far we have been terrible with no sign of improvement. FFS our fans aint moaning for the sake of it or because their standards are sky high its because the football has been dog s*** and tbh our league standing doesnt reflect how bad we have played, we have had a bit of luck I think its fair to say we've seen slight improvement in the least, i believe that we had our best start in the PL ever this year? and this is a sign of no improvement at all? We do have better players and a better squad, we've got more away points this season so far than last season. We're not in a total injury crisis like last year and we are comfortably away from the relegation zone and pretty damn close to Europe still. Aye we're f***** aren't we, i'd hate to be a fan of any of the teams below us. we had a dream start in terms of "look at that opening group of games" have you seen our remaning away fixtures?

true,however they can go backwards over 6 months

Commanding respect and pulling as one will be as nothing when he starts losing a few games and has no experience to fall back on. A few years ago this former respected player lark had some mileage, even 3/4 years ago it was just about do-able. Now the PL is like a shark tank with half a dozen world class managers and another half a dozen tough cookies following up. In short we should actually try the novel approach now we have some fianancial stability of getting the absolute best manager for the job ie not Shearer. he has experience as a player and how his managers coped,look at all those who have went straight in. do we have the finacial clout...ie is ashley gonna let loose ? you seem set that he is as we've discussed it before. Who went straight in? I hope you're not going to mention Rijkaard.. beckenbauer,mark hughes,keegan,platini,capello,roberto mancini,marco van basten,dalglish

the fans at all those clubs (with the exception of man utd maybe) will tell you there clubs improved in the first 6 months. being patient pays off...should we have given souness,roeder,bill mcgarry longer ?

Commanding respect and pulling as one will be as nothing when he starts losing a few games and has no experience to fall back on. A few years ago this former respected player lark had some mileage, even 3/4 years ago it was just about do-able. Now the PL is like a shark tank with half a dozen world class managers and another half a dozen tough cookies following up. In short we should actually try the novel approach now we have some fianancial stability of getting the absolute best manager for the job ie not Shearer. he has experience as a player and how his managers coped,look at all those who have went straight in. do we have the finacial clout...ie is ashley gonna let loose ? you seem set that he is as we've discussed it before.