James

I think NE5 and HTL really do have a very legitimate point here which is being dismissed out of hand because it is them, and others have equally biased agendas on the other side of a gulf of differing opinions. Of course, defenders are important, and I doubt they will deny that our defence needs improving. Fact however is that throwing money at buying decent defenders does not improve the defence. Have you seen what happens at Real Madrid every year? Alternatively, look at what happens when a highly rated defender playing for a mediocre team makes a step up to a inconsistent, but offensively excellent team, and suddenly looks only half as good. 75% of defending is about the team, and not about the ability of the defenders/defensive midfielders. That includes tracking back, winning the ball further up the field, keeping the ball further up the field, and most importantly having more possession of the ball so the opponents have less time to cause any danger. The above reason highlights why Babayaro is so important for us - we may have better defenders than him, but having him at left back over all other players currently in the squad allows us to play better. In my opinion, it is our carelessness in possession which is costing us results. We are better off at the moment with Solano at right-back, and Babayaro at left back, so therefore we need to look at finding more permanent replacements for those two, but at the same time find a way to retain possession for longer at the top of the field. it may mean addressing midfield balance problems, or it may be that we do need a new striker, and I think that is what I would look for - a decent foil for Martins/Owen who can not only chip ingoals if both were injured, but who will also not gift the ball back to the opposition 19 times out of 20 like Martins and Shola and Sib do. Also, I dont get the comparisons with Chelsea - we are nothing like them. Boularouz is poor, while the rest of the team is pretty handy. Replacing that one weak link is bound to improve their team, while the NUFC team has lots of facets that need smoothing.

Think Coppell is a decent manager, but he's at his level, ie doing pretty well with a Reading side he has created over quite a few years now. Bit like Curbishley at Charlton I reckon.

Happy birthday to Sir Robert William Robson! 74 today. Lets hope this year is better than his last year. Some average ex-NUFC midfielder is also 24 today, though the less said about him the better.

Why? Has Bellamy threatened to chin them? Probably all media lies apparently.

They are locking and deleting all the threads on this on RAWK

How the hell did Roeder miss out on Ashton in January 2006? By not being our manager perhaps.

I really, really, really want us to beat spurs in the final.

Seriously, looking at the players on the field tonight, there is no real other candidate.

Why not legendary vice-captain Kieron Dyer?

Never rule out the Turks.

I liked Leeds. Can't believe they've gone so tits up.

Premiership: 1) Cech 2) Van der Sar 3) Lehmann 4) Given 5) Jaaskelainen World: 1) Buffon 2) Cech 3) Van der Sar 4) Cesar 5) Valdes

Aren't most of those on the list free-kicks?

I truly believe that Newcastle have an extremely good chance of claiming the UEFA Cup. Newcastle have consistently performed well at home against the big clubs this season - in fact our problems have been down to our squad not really designed to cope with the typically British physical and well drilled sides such as Chelsea, Bolton, Everton, Fulham and Sheffield United, not to mention injury problems. In fact, the squad that we have right now is probably one of the more continentally styled in the Premiership, if you exclude Manchester United (who we drew against), Arsenal (against whom we drew at Ashburton in our only game so far) and Liverpool (who we beat at home). The three mentioned teams are doing better in the league because they have a more British football orientated core in their defence, combined with more continentally styled attacking players, a balance we currently do not have. Like many continental teams, we share the same problem when playing British teams - defending set-pieces. Most European teams will not only be unable to defend against some of our players who are good at set-pieces ie Bramble, Sibierski and Taylor, but will be much worse than British teams at attacking set-pieces. Therefore, results will be determined by individual brilliance on the pitch, and with a highly motivated Obafemi Martins, Emre, Solano, Milner, N'Zogbia and Kieron Dyer on the pitch, not to mention the possibility of Duff finding form, or michael Owen being available for the latter stages, we have more players on the pitch that can win us matches than any of the opposition will.

A couple of players who apparently excelled against Swindon last night were 15/16 year old attacking players. These players would have been playing for Roeder when 13, so there is a chance that there might be a few skillful players - something we dont often produce, waiting around for five years time.

Souness would have blatently picked him against Liverpool on Saturday.

Two previous incarnations of this forum got shut down because someone posted fixtures up on here... Might be a load of nonsense that we can't post fixtures, but it is Newcastle United and the Premier League's fault, not the site's.

There is to be a report on this on the TV. Roeder makes some comments which make me quite happy that he is doing the right thing with the club's youth network. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/6333107.stm The above link has a few interviews (Roeder, Brooking and others) for those who cant watch the programme.

DYER??? Please tell me you're joking. I'm not going to have to explain myself all over again am I?

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. I was basing my view on Dyer on the last 8 years at the club, not just who he plays with this season. I aren't having a go on purpose mate, I just think its baffling how you can put Dyer in a world XI! I've never said he is the best individual, but I do think that he brings something very unique to an attacking team, which could really reap benefits, no matter how good the rest of the team is. Thus, I see Dyer as an individual who can improve any team, and should therefore be in the starting XI.

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.