James

Something he has actually done if you read this months FourFourTwo.

There's plenty of competition James but this is probably the stupidest thing you've said on this board. It is something I know most will disagree with, but why should anyone who doesn't seem willing to support the team even want to be in the stadium? It would be better off if the club decided that it didn't want these people in the stadium when there are others on the waiting list who are willing to pay up and support the club.

The first team squad have to do worse stuff than play badly before they should be criticised from their own fans within the stadium. They are on the pitch because the manager has chosen them and given them the necessary instructions, and should get full backing from the crowd to help get the best out of them even if their best isn't very good. The buck stops with the manager and the board, as they make the employment decisions, but any wrath aimed in that direction should wait until after the final whistle, as any ill feeling during the match undermines the support for the players.

The most important thing Barton spoke about was the fact that there was an atmosphere in some elements of the crowd that in their minds had lost the game before a ball had been kicked. Even the opposition had picked up on it, which would explain how quickly Liverpool came out of the blocks. The start of each game should be a carte blanche for all our players, and they should get a reception their performance over 90 minutes deserves, not a five second moment at eleven minutes. If a player says there is an issue, the fans should look to resolve it, as just telling the player they are paid enough and playing crap isn't going to make matters better. People blame the kids for the bad atmosphere, but it was grown men who were the first to shout out against the team in the Liverpool game. That fat middle aged man with glasses that was on the TV screens berating Allardyce from behind the dugout, I seem to remember sitting near him at Fulham last season, and all he could do for 85 minutes was scream abuse at Damien Duff, with the occassional chant for Nobby Solano on the bench, and for some reason he would suddenly cheer for Steven Taylor whenever he touched the ball as if he was his Dad or something. Compare this to preseason and cup games where there is a younger and fresher group of fans in the stadium, and the atmosphere is usually much better. I'd be very happy if Chris Mort decided that enough was enough and banned fat middle aged bloke with glasses from the stadium with the full knowledge that a younger, fresher, more enthusiastic fan is waiting out there to take his place.

Hardly the best in the world given that everyone outside England would have to endure a bunch of long ball cloggers bumbling their way to a quarter final knock out.

Yes, but I dont think its got anything to do with this thread

I thought you had started to talk about yourself in the third person for a moment then.

More importantly I dont have a job, and its raining, and I'd rather spend my day analysing Newcastle goals than watching Jeremy Kyle and This Morning

All a bit stupid really. Says a Crotian has failed a drugs test and England have qualified for Euro2008, and when you scroll down it turns into one of those really rubbishy Carlsberg jokes.

it is certainly a good thing that Nelsen is supended, Martins enjoys playing against Ooijer.

All as good as goals. He is not a goalscorer though. None of our central midfielders are really scoring goals, so other variables need to be taken account, and as far as these stats are concerned, Geremi wins the ball in the right places and does something effective with the ball, whereas the same can not be said about Nicky Butt.

vs Manchester City - Long weighted ball to Martins who controls it and sticks it away vs Middlesbough - Cross to Viduka who turns and slots it in. vs Bolton - Forces LB into mishitting long pass to Martins near half way, who scores via lucky deflection vs Bolton - Through pass from 35 yards out to Smith on left wing who passes short to Milner who is in a better crossing position who crosses for Martins bicycle kick vs Everton - wins 50-50 ball, plays simple pass to N'Zogbia who plays in Smith wide right, Everton struggle to deal with the cross and Butt tucks it home. vs West Ham - wins ball and plays it 35 yards diagonally for N'Zogbia who crosses to Martins vs West Ham - wins ball and plays 15 yards diagonally to N'Zogbia who crosses for Viduka after exchanging a one-two with Milner

I can tell you that discounting simple sideways passes only deducts 1 from Geremi's total. Most of of his KC's come from good forward passes, usually towards the wide left area. Smith, Rozehnal and Butt would lose out the most from discounting sideways passes.

Per game ratio: Emre - 0.71 N'Zogbia - 0.62 Geremi - 0.58 Owen - 0.5 Viduka - 0.5 Martins - 0.46 Milner - 0.46 Enrique - 0.43 Smith - 0.42 Rozehnal - 0.33 Butt - 0.25 Taylor - 0.22 Barton - 0.2 Faye - 0.14 Cacapa - 0.11

I thought I'd rewatch all our goals this season and see who the people are that are really contributing to our goals this season. Of course, goals and assists are important, but it takes good play to work the ball into positions from which a goal can be created. Thus you get a key contribution if you: Score Assist Win a free kick, corner or penalty that leads to a goal Win back possession and the opponents dont get control of the ball before a goal is scored Pass the ball between possession being won and the goal being scored Force the opposition into making a mistake that leads to a goal. And having tallied up the contributions the table (Premiership only) currently stands at: N'Zogbia 8 (13 games) Geremi 7 (12 games) Martins 6 (13 games) Milner 6 (13 games) Emre 5 (7 games) Owen 5 (10 games) Smith 5 (12 games) Viduka 4 (8 games) Rozehnal 4 (12 games) Butt 3 (12 games) Enrique 3 (7 games) Taylor 2 (9 games) Faye 1 (7 games) Cacapa 1 (9 games) Barton 1 (5 games)

Yeah, i know what you mean. When i chose my team i put Geremi on the right-wing simply to have him in the team, because i think he's important for retaining possession (forget Liverpool, Geremi's the best at doing that in our team even if he isn't particularly creative). But he really should be in the centre if he plays. It might be worth playing him and Butt instead of Emre (i initially had Butt/Emre as preferred combo), because we're away from home and Emre doesn't turn up then. Plus, as i've said before, Butt and Geremi worked earlier in the season, didn't it? I would never have Geremi on the right personally, as he is only good keeping possession in the central are where he has shown that he is good at offerring a short option for the defence, and then delivering a simple pass to someone in a position the bring the ball forward and put some pressure on the opposition. Thus he helps our team take charge of the match. With Butt, it is an endless cycle of stopping the opposition attacking, losing the ball, stopping the opposition attacking, losing the ball, and this just puts the team under pressure that will lead to us eventually conceding. Geremi is someone who can really help us by converting pressure on us into pressure on them, especially when he has mobile players all around him which is the criteria I have used when selecting my team. Its a shame that people like olliemort and warrenbartoncentrepartin only judge players on goals and assists. I could see these two people wanting to throw Gary Speed out of the team before every match in the Robson era. A few facts about Geremi when he had been playing in the centre: Received more passes than any other player Has the second best passing accuracy in the team (Owen is best) Made more interceptions than any other player Made several key contributions to goals scored while on the pitch. For me, those facts explain why we have been playing badly since he has been on the right.

Yes, of course he had to miss an England game just so he didn't have to play Liverpool - a club he has played against before with no difficulties.

At the time, I think Sven was too expensive for us given the financial difficulty we had fallen into under the old board.

It's shocking how many people on here exclude Geremi from central midfield. Given Beye Faye Whoever Enrique Geremi Barton Emre Martins N'Zogbia Smith

Apparently the issue here is the fact that allegedly Portsmouth seems to have been some sort of financial stepping stone for a transfer of an Auxerre player represented by Willie McKay to Newcastle. Given that similar can be said for the Boumsong transfer, and Rangers had also been raided, we may have to expect further arrests.

Thats not very PC now is it. Forgive me Ally, and thanks for the suggestion, only Dave brought the level of this thread down a notch.

Dave, I am deaf, not a retard.

We could have worse people with an interest in us than Richard Branson.

Hopefully there will be a reason to lock up Jamie and Fat Frank as well.

I agree with Dave under the assumption that he isn't being sarcastic.