Wullie

Oh ffs.

Duff? Well spotted. 48% of available points without Duff, 6% of them with him. I'll bet you got extremely aroused when you found that statistic. I think the departure of Martins for the ANC was massive, we've been shit ever since. Obviously the change of manager was massive but I really think the loss of Martins played a very big part too. I was stunned actually, I actually thought he'd come back from injury earlier. Doesn't surprise me though. Aye, we have missed Oba big time too.

Duff? Well spotted. 48% of available points without Duff, 6% of them with him.

I was gonna say, Miller got two against us for a start!

There's one factor that kicked this bad run off and has stayed consistent since. And it's not the manager.

I'm not sure where this myth comes from about people saying Leeds were thought of as too good to go down. They were one of the nailed on favourites to go down the season they did, after avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth the year before, and they were in the bottom three pretty much from the off. Not really your point, but I've been meaning to pick up on it for a while. And no, because we haven't got any debt. Ashley might sell up but he'd have to be off his tits.

He's not "disinterested", he's just finished.

Wright(Brock); Venison, Beresford; O’Brien, Scott, Howey; Carr, Peacock, Kelly, Clark, Sheedy(Kilcline). EDIT: dang.

Milner does things that a footballer needs to do. Occasionally sets a goal up, occasionally scores one, occasionally puts a cross into the box, occasionally makes a key pass to set someone else away, occasionally beats his man. Probably doesn't do any of them as often as he should. Works his fucking bollocks off as well, not in a false way like Alan Smith by kicking people but in a genuine run-60-yards-to-stop-the-other-team-scoring kind of way. Duff doesn't ever do any of those things. I'm not in the least bit surprised that his return has coincided with this club's worst run of form since 1978. He's by no means the only reason of course (God no), but he is a very big one nonetheless. You're basically adding a man to your midfield who contributes nothing going forward or back and obviously in the process losing someone who does, be it Milner, Geremi, N'Zogbia, Emre, whoever. Geremi had been on the field for two minutes on Saturday when he robbed a defender and whipped in a cross better than Duff ever has for us.

I've stayed quiet so far in this thread but I have to take issue with that. If Duff and Owen are our best players, we will go down, absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. A winger who hasn't scored or set a goal up all season is our best player? Christ! He scored against Stoke We're in a relegation fight. Maybe next year, and only if he keeps playing, I'll give a toss what he does against Championship sides.

Neither are good enough and i'm a huge critic of Milner's but his contribution to NUFC has far exceeded anything damien duff has even attempted and i can't see that changing in the future. I like Milner and think he'll make a good squad player, he is limited though and we can do better, but of course you're absolutely right. I find the attitude of many to Duff absolutely bizarre when I think of the treatment some of our other ex-players used to get (some deserved, some not). Robert, Parker, Dyer and Speed were four players who, on their day, could take a game by the scruff of the neck and win it for you, all contributed a hefty amount to NUFC and all were booed at St James'. Hell, credit where it's due, even Jenas had some cracking games for us in his first year or so. Duff in comparison just keeps getting away with woeful display after woeful display and hardly anyone seems to notice, still gets applauded off, still doesn't raise a mention in the paper. Does not compute. We've got 28 points this season. Do you know how many we've got with Duff playing? 2.

How any Newcastle fan can slag Milner and defend Duff in the same breath is totally beyond my comprehension I'm afraid. Milner's had more good games this month than Duff has since we paid good money for him.

What's Milner got to do with it? Right wing is more of a priority than left, that is my point. Because we've got Charles N'Zogbia.

What's Milner got to do with it?

So we're supposed to play him on the back of his friendly performances for Ireland now and ignore the fact that he's yet to put a cross in this season? Presumably you'd happily see us pay big money for David Healy in the summer, despite the fact he can't get a game for a team on their way down? I couldn't give two fucks how he does for Ireland. He is shite.

I've stayed quiet so far in this thread but I have to take issue with that. If Duff and Owen are our best players, we will go down, absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. A winger who hasn't scored or set a goal up all season is our best player? Christ! You have a personal vendetta against Duff though so you hardly came in here to sing his praises. How is it personal? It's because he's fucking garbage.

I've stayed quiet so far in this thread but I have to take issue with that. If Duff and Owen are our best players, we will go down, absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. A winger who hasn't scored or set a goal up all season is our best player? Christ!

Good stuff. I'm not one for saying the reserves should all play as soon as we lose a game or bigging them up after ten minutes, but Carroll can't do much more to earn his chance really. Fair enough if we were scoring goals but we have one of the most impotent strikeforces in the country and it's no risk whatsoever when the alternative is Alan Smith. Shola's fucked or in the huff, I'd play Carroll and Martins. I know that won't happen.

Adebayor looked a fucking carthorse more often than not for a good while.

This is it. You just can't make this point without the bi-polar crew claiming he's finished and that were blind not to see it like they do. What are you insinuating by that?

He'd miss a load of easy chances I know that much. Like Ferguson or Wenger would even entertain the idea for a second.

Owen scoring in crucial matches is a myth. In international tournaments his record is shambolic How is it a myth? off the top of my head... vs Argentina 98 (goal + pen) vs Brazil 02 vs Arsenal FA Cup Final (2 goals) vs Man Utd Charity Shield vs Portgual 04 (goal + pen) Charity Shield? Owen's problem isn't that he doesn't score in crucial games, it's that he's finished.

His best games were almost always alongside Sibierski. Some of their link up play was excellent at times and Sibierski is pretty limited to say the least, despite being an infinitely better player than Smith. he also played pretty well with dyer iyam. Aye, fair point. Just the threat of the pace scared the shit out of teams, including Arsenal at their place.

I'd agree that the semi has increased our chances of getting the points there, but Birmingham could also find a Lord Mayor's show there on Wednesday night, Wigan might turn out against Nugent, and other games in which our rivals feature vs Portsmouth may have a friendly atmosphere against a Pompey side with increased fixture congestion. If we get the points we should, it won't matter. Thankfully, Bolton and sunderland don't have to play them, I think they're the main two we need to look at. I think Birmingham and Wigan will have enough to stay up anyway. I want a Wigan win against Bolton on Sunday.