James

I think that only you and Kieron Dyer himself would include him in a World XI. Name another player who is better than Dyer at rapidly carrying the ball between the midfield and attack through the centre of the pitch. He 'rapidly' carries it, but then loses it with a shit pass or by running into trouble like he normally does. With the exceptions of martins (and Solano who can't keep up) there is no-one capable of making space to receive a pass. In the team I've named, there would be.

He said "big boys" meaning the big clubs that consistently finish above us, not a couple of clubs that have done it once or twice in 15 years. ^-^ We are the 6th best team in England ever when looking at all-time top-flight point haul. That means that as we have come an average of 8th/9th under Shepherd, that would say that his chairmanship has been below average. I think you're confused again.... Where exactly am I confused? Our average position under Shepherd has been 8.5th, while we feature at 6th place in the all-time top-flight league table. That means that Shepherd has been a below average Newcastle chairman. I'll play along......... What makes you think I have any interest in these stats? Have I ever posted them or even responded to them? Since you point out Shephard is an average Chairman are you suggesting I believe he's a great Chairman? Where have I ever said Shepherd is a great Chairman? Next..... Do you not use Shepherd's average league form as a reason to defend him? Or maybe that is someone else. Regardless, I thought it was a fact worth pointing out to those who feel that Shepherd is a better chairman than all of those we have had in our history.

He said "big boys" meaning the big clubs that consistently finish above us, not a couple of clubs that have done it once or twice in 15 years. ^-^ We are the 6th best team in England ever when looking at all-time top-flight point haul. That means that as we have come an average of 8th/9th under Shepherd, that would say that his chairmanship has been below average. I think you're confused again.... Where exactly am I confused? Our average position under Shepherd has been 8.5th, while we feature at 6th place in the all-time top-flight league table. That means that Shepherd has been a below average Newcastle chairman. Why is he below average? Because we had a couple of good seasons 10 years ago, and we haven't lived up to it? Because his results have been worse than the average results during the history of NUFC.

He said "big boys" meaning the big clubs that consistently finish above us, not a couple of clubs that have done it once or twice in 15 years. ^-^ We are the 6th best team in England ever when looking at all-time top-flight point haul. That means that as we have come an average of 8th/9th under Shepherd, that would say that his chairmanship has been below average. I think you're confused again.... Where exactly am I confused? Our average position under Shepherd has been 8.5th, while we feature at 6th place in the all-time top-flight league table. That means that Shepherd has been a below average Newcastle chairman.

I think that only you and Kieron Dyer himself would include him in a World XI. Name another player who is better than Dyer at rapidly carrying the ball between the midfield and attack through the centre of the pitch.

Buffon G. Neville Cannavarro Marquez Lahm Gattusso Pirlo Ronaldo Dyer Ronaldinho Drogba

Tottenham Can I just clarify that this thread is asking who you want to stay UP, NOT DOWN.

Right now, I'd say that three of Charlton, Watford, West Ham and Wigan are going down, but who do you want to stay up? I'd say that there are disadvantages and advantages with each team being in the Premiership next season. Charlton Reasons to stay up: Nice fans, nice club, a few good players that are good to watch. Darren Ambrose plays for them. Reasons to go down: Our record against them isn't great, long journey to the Valley, small stadium where it's difficult to get tickets, Amady Faye plays for them, Darren Bent is going to be a lot less available if they stay up. Watford Reasons to stay up: Nice fans, nice club. Comedy from Darius Henderson. 6 points for us every season, Boothroyd is a good manager, and could be good for England if he does well. Would like to see how Marlon King does in the Premiership. Reasons to go down: Brings down quality of league. Long journey to stadium, and is difficult to get tickets. West Ham Reasons to stay up: Could be good to watch if they can find form. If they stay up Roeder might not be tempted with some of their mercenaries. Easier stadium to get tickets for. Reasons to go down: Long journey, some good players may be available. Good chance to laugh at big spenders going down. Karma for tumour boy comments/spoiling our season by injuring Given. Wigan Reasons to stay up: We have a good record against them. They have some good players worth watching. Stadium is closer and better than the others. Reasons to go down: Baines and Taylor would become available. I want Charlton to stay up, as Baines is a good reason for Wigan to go down, while West Ham deserve relegation, and Watford just aren't good enough.

He said "big boys" meaning the big clubs that consistently finish above us, not a couple of clubs that have done it once or twice in 15 years. ^-^ We are the 6th best team in England ever when looking at all-time top-flight point haul. That means that as we have come an average of 8th/9th under Shepherd, that would say that his chairmanship has been below average.

I'd have Kuyt here as well as Martins - would have made an excellent partnership. Martins is probably my favourite player at the moment. Hearing his name associated with Newcastle always brings a smile to my face, as he is talented, and hard working, and will undoubtedly be responsible for one of the best moments of the match. A real matchwinner.

I'd take Spurs and Blackburn out of that. The teams we really need to be beating (but never do each season) are Bolton, Everton and Fulham. These teams are physical and well drilled and always seem to get the better of us.

Wouldn't have picked Liverpool the day after my brother died if that was the case.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N154963070211-0900.htm They have a 30-day free trial, so if you are really desperate to see some lenghtly version of the game, it is worth a look.

Owen link was bound to come out sooner or later. Liverpool can't score consistently, while Liverpool missed out before because they couldn't afford him. With the cash inflow, newspapers are going to jump to the obvious conclusion that he is Liverpool bound. Unlikely I'd say.

A poster recently posted statistics on whether we have won, lost, or drawn when each of our players were on the pitch. Most of these results were inconclusive, I thought, as they showed little causality due to simultaneous injuries occurring being unable to prove that player X was making our side worse when playing. However one interesting point was the much higher than average win ratios for both Shay Given and Celestine Babayaro. In fact after yesterdays game, Babayaro has a higher win-ratio than any other Newcastle United player. The same was the case last season too. It is clear to me, that his presence in the team is of great benefit. He has his flaws, which others will no doubt point out, but the fact is that full backs are very specialised positions, but you must be pretty bad if players playing out of position do the whole job better than you (ie Carr). With Babayaro, expect defensive gaffes, but also expect his decent level of footballing ability to put us under less pressure, and to help us score more goals. Therefore, I can't understand how others can justify their preference to have Edgar, Huntington, Ramage, Taylor, Duff or Carr in that position instead of Babayaro. By all means, buy a better left back at a high price* to replace him, that would improve the team. Until that day however, Babayaro will remain my first choice left back, and will get my full support as a Newcastle player. *Unless we can really negotiate a good price for a want-away left-back, a left back whose contract will soon expire, or a prospect who hasn't reached their potential yet, betterring Babayaro will be costly. His £1m transfer fee reflected his injury-proneness and squad status at Chelsea, rather than his ability. A first-teamer who plays consistently who is of the same level of ability as Babayaro would cost £3m-£5m in my opinion, while a regularly fit left back, better than Babayaro will cost in the region of £6m-£8m - Is Fat Fred willing to invest so much money on such an unglamourous position?

Condolences Baba, but well done. We've now won something like 60% of games Baba has played in. Whatever his flaws, having him at left back improves our team.

Blatently written by Phil Thompson.

Didn't see the game today, but from what I saw when at Fulham, Bramble is the charger, Gooch is the sweeper. However, McBride really got the better of Gooch during that game.

Didn't see him today, but wasn't very convinced by his performance against Fulham, will be interested to see what people think of how the game went for him today.

Spurs are like us. Quality in some positions spoilt by other neglected parts of their team.

Intertoto is going to be more popular than in the past, as it starts later, and there are less extra games to play, with a higher probability of going through.

We've played our games against Manyoo and Liverpool now. Arsenal have to come here, and haven't been great this season. We are strong at home against Chelsea, especially when the game is at a time when the season will be wrapped up. A little bit out of those two, plus a win away at rweading, and just other consistent performances would see us up to 7th IMO, as I just cant see Everton or Bolton slipping up.

To be fair, I thought the point of Soccer Saturday was to have totally biased pundits.

Newcastle United are the most bipolar football club in the World.

Shut the fuck up! Name a better player at doing that from a central position.