James

Who are you, and what have you done to Wullie?

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At least Cacapa and Rozehnal are both good short options.

Barton misses loads apparently. Give it to the skipper or Martins.

I think Harper communicates with his defence a bit more than Given. Otherwise Given has the advantage. However, by increasing Harper's chances, you'd hope that it would provide Given with an incentive to tone down some of his prima donna attributes.

With the score at 0-0 we made the only substitution that could sensibly be made, ie swapping a midfielder for a quick striker. We had no other sensible substitutions available, but you could have hardly called N'Zogbia a left back, with him occupying an attacking midfield position whenever off the ball. What people are stupidly failing to appreciate is that the game became more difficult for us when Wigan went down to ten men. In the first half, we were creating chances because Wigan were creating spaces through their own play by trying to win the game themselves (but with little joy due to our defenders being a step ahead). However, in the second half, Wigan packed every player in their defensive third, stopping us playing the short ball, while their physical presense was always going to make us lose out on the long ball. It is an effective tactic that can win invaluable points for a smaller team just hoping to avoid relegation. Man Utd and Chelsea would have struggled to win this game. Only an excellent playmaker could have broken the deadlock, but a playmaker who is good enough to make a consistent impact in the every day 11 vs 11 hustle and bustle in the Premiership is rare. In England, we have Alonso, Arteta and Scholes, and that is about it.

Faye is back at Bolton sorting out his affairs. I guess he's been holed up in a Newcastle hotel for quite a few days now.

Obafemi Martins would have cartwheeled over them tbh

Don't encourage HTT, he's one of the biggest jinxes on the forum.

I've watched World Interviews with Harper and Owen, and it is clear that Cacapa has already commanded incredible respect from his team mates - they all clearly rate him, and they all clearly want him in the team. For two players to come out after a game and without any prompting from the interviewer single the player out for real genuine praise is unprecedented for a Newcastle defender.

I'm concerned that certain people on here are already talking about making us a top 4 squad. Raising the pressure and expectations a bit quickly aren't we?

.com are accusing Heskey of two assaults worthy of jail on both Taylor and Harper.

Don't worry, he can't answer back. We've got them next. Play 424 I reckon.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007400908,00.html Good slideshow of photos here, cant post them directly due to the protection technology used.

Pretty much had a 3 yard run up, a two yard jump to headbutt Smith on the back of his head. I'll still say that it was a bit harsh. I was really suprised when the red card was shown! Did expect a yellow not a red. But if you look at the motion of his header, I think he was trying to go for Smith. It was a second yellow.

I think the new manager/owners and players have probably raised expectations too highly in recent weeks. Newcastle fans for the three seasons prior would have been absolutely delighted to see the team apply constant pressure without ever looking in defensive difficulty.

From the sounds of it, our defence was so dominant for ninety minutes that it allowed us to press up the field for the whole game, with Wigan frustrating us by throwing bodies in the way.

Based on Mick Lowe's and John Anderson's remarks (ie probably way out): Harper 8 Taylor 7 Rozehnal 8 Cacapa 8 N'Zogbia 9 Smith 5 Milner 6 Geremi 6 Butt 7 Owen 7 Viduka 6 Shola 6 Martins 7

11 and a half minutes injury time today. Excellent result. Excellent performance mostly. Excellent start to the season.

A few seconds left

Nothing is happenning. We are slowly in control.

Good thing Taylor stayed on...

Spot on. I think it's a knee-jerk of a reaction to go around posting 'knee-jerk' each time someone makes a negative comment on this board. It's almost become fasionable now. 600 minutes without a goal is hardly 'kneejerktastic.' And yes, we do have a 'grip.' Maybe you need to get the stats? 170 minutes under a new manager and a new team. If you ignore the two versus Barnsley on Wednesday. Or the other five goals scored away from home.

Make the chances, and you score. Executed like last nights transfer window. People need to understand patience.

GOAL!