Benwell Lad

I think Sunderland will be next season's Reading. In Keane they have a winner and a motivator, some of it is bound to rub off on the players. Can't see it. Reading were an exceptional Championship side who were hammering all around them. The Keane hype has lifted Sundlund and he has made them a difficult side to beat, but the truth is they have not been exceptional and have scraped home in a lot of games against less than moderate opposition. That does not auger well for when they step up. Their squad is full of Championship type players, a lot of whom Keane brought on big contracts, he will be saddled with them next season. And remember they have always done well in that league, we heard all the hype before but they never cut it in the big league. Granted they will not beat their fantastic 15 point record, that is destined to remain theirs indelibly for ever, but I forsee more tears on Wearside next season when the magic carpet comes crashing back down to earth.

Not getting carried away but if we start beating the lower table teams, stay injury free and instill some belief in certain players top 4 or 6 is by no means impossible. That is based more on the limitations of some of the clubs who have been challenging this season rather than thinking we will be become great again soon. Personally I'd bin any player who does NOT believe we can improve significantly on this season !

Watching most Newcastle games, I have to say that IMO Bramble is the best defender we have. It seems his cock ups are focused on so much more than anyone else's, to the delight of likes of Mark Lawrenson and many on here who love blaming Titus for anything which goes wrong defensively. He makes occasional cock ups. All NUFC defenders make occasional cock ups. All defenders make occasional cock ups. Sol Campbell, Ferdinand, Tony Adams even Bobby Moncur made cock ups. Many on here sing the praises of Woodgate, granted a good defender when he can be bothered, but do we remember his HUGE cock up which effectively cost us no less than a place in the Champions League and tens of millions versus Partizan Belgrade. Imagine Titus had done that ! No Bramble aint perfect, there never has been and never will be a perfect defender but he's better than any other CB on our books at present, including the vastly over rated and prone to occasional psycho moment Taylor.

I think if you watch the AZ's first goal you will see that in the first place it was more Bramble's mistake then Taylor's Bramble tried to leave one of the forwards offside,that didnt work out,then Hunty was slow to close the cross and after that it was mostly Taylor's fault that he didnt marked Arveladze who scored For the 2nd goal it was 100% Bramble's fault because he lost his man before the corner And finally the fact that Bramble was made the scapegoat is because he was doing this amateurs mistakes for 4-5 years already.It was time that he takes the blame(of course i dont support the idiotic manner of which Roeder criticized Bramble in public). Point is Taylor was shocking against Alkmaar. Who was worse is debatable but Bramble was made scapegoat. Taylor also conceded a stupid penalty at 4-1, which he's always liable to do with the habit he has of closing people down with his arms flapping at his sides to try and widen his body.

Spot on ! Modern day fans at SJP have become very selective in terms of which players they support and encourage. Some have been openly abused and this has caused a downward spiral effect on their form. (Shola, Bramble etc) Have opinions and have favourite players but support and encourage anyone who wears a B&W shirt on the pitch.

You may have missed the point of this "bizarre" thread. No one has "criticised" anyone for supporting or applauding the team. Far from it. The point was that the post match reception seemed a little OTT for a 0-0 draw in a game which was fairly meaningless to us. The reason the game was pretty meaningless is because much the same bunch of players have failed to produce any level of performance in far too many games earlier this season. Re Taylor - yes he had a good game (one of very few this season) and he's entitled to his applause, but he just seems to be doing a bit of a "Niall Quinn" in terms of popularity seeking. As a team all four defenders should have been taking the acclaim on Sunday.

I don't think anyone actually said we should BOO because we didn't beat Chelsea. I have never booed any Newcastle side and believe me I've endured more than most on here. We should always support our team noisily and enthusiastically but the point was that the celebratory atmosphere that greeted this 0-0 draw in a game which unfortunately meant little or nothing to US was to say the least a bit OTT

Agreed - credit where due - but considering pretty much the same bunch turned in such gutless performances recently against Man City,Wigan, Pompey etc which effectively meant our season was finished in March, I thought yesterday's reception was a bit generous to say the least.

Performance was OK - maybe quite good - we held a very good side at home, but can anyone remember Petr Cech being tested or equally significantly them testing Harper ?

Shows how far we've gone back since Robson was given the boot.

Credit where it's due and all that, and support our team always, but I thought the reception the team got after yesterday's match was just embarrassing. It was like we'd won something or it at least actually meant something. A 0-0 draw, our fourth consecutive scoreless home game, which was as meaningless as a friendly to us, and takes us to 12th in the table. Steven Taylor walking round the pitch like a young Niall Quinn milking applause and trying to become Tyneside's Mr.Popular. So sad that one of the highlights of another mediocre season is putting a spanner in the works of a side for whom the game did ACTUALLY mean something.

Whatever Bramble's shortcomings he is a better defender than Taylor. Both were good yesterday but generally Taylor has been shocking, he gets lost too much, gets wrong side and then is liable to commit the most stupid fouls. I think too many are falling for his "self appointed local hero" stuff. Despite most people thinking Taylor was to blame for the Alkmaar defeat it was Bramble (again ) who was made the scapegoat.

Maybe yesterday was, but the Cardiff incident was nothing more than him condoning football yobs who were frightening fellow passengers. Whatever spin Sundlund put on it, airlines (ESPECIALLY Easyjet) don't keep planes on the ground for fun. Anyway how come the chairman always seems to be there at the time ? Probably just a PR stunt to help the sad man's desperate desire for popularity.

We've been spending big for more than a decade. What we need to do is spend wisely, and ensure the new signings are determined winners NOT overpaid flash git prima donnas.

Seeing Roy Keane enjoying some success in his first managerial role (mind so did his predecessors until they had to do it in the big league) makes me wonder about why certain people are allowed to continue and prosper in the profession. Football is an industry which will sell it's soul to the devil, we all know that, but in most professions these people would never be employed again once they've crossed a certain line. Which was worst Rijkaard spitting in the face of a fellow professional in a world cup match and thereafter getting several managerial appointments or Keane's pre-meditated violence which ended the playing career of a fellow professional he held a grudge against ? I'd probably opt for Keane's particular piece of nastiness, because as vile as spitting at someone is, it's not going to destroy his carreer and liveliehood. Neither would have prospered in any honourable profession.

Isn't it about time that the myth that Steven Taylor is a top defender was finally blown. I watched Taylor in our reserve team and he looked great at that level and also had the physical attributes to cut it at the highest level. When he was introduced to the first team he looked a bit raw and had an occasional un-necessary thuggish side to his game but I hoped he would learn quickly. Having watched him since he has not improved and although Bramble is usually made the scapegoat alongside Taylor even he looks good. Taylor maintains the un-necesary thuggish side to his game which will cost his side dearly and it seems he cannot eliminate from his game. He loses his man too often and loses out in critical areas. The penalty he conceded in the home leg was punishment for his habit of closing down with his arms at his side to make himself broader -another habit which will cost his side dearly. He was woeful for the first goal last night. Talk of Taylor to Chelsea seems strange, on current form Taylor is more likely to make his living at Barnsley than Chelsea. Right now he looks no better than Steven Caldwell did at his age.

Let's face it if Liverpool were mad enough to offload Bellamy, he is going to have plenty of options and that being the case there is no way he'd sign for a club like Sunderland even taking into consideration the "Big Niall's magic carpet" phenomenon. We really need to put the Macums season in a kind of context. They always do well in the 2nd level, and in fact they actually did BETTER under the previous chairman, manager and players at that level. I.E. they actually won the league. That did not stop them then being the two worst relegated sides the Premiership has ever had. At this point in time Quinn/Keane have done nothing that Murray/McCarthy didn't also achieve, although you'll struggle to point that out to their intoxicated supporters right now.

That's me on the piss tonight - looks like we're gonna win something at last. :occasion14:

It's bad enough listening to some of the crap spouted about us by idiots like lawrenson etc at national level, but is the anti-Newcastle thing spreading to Fenham now. Tonight on the regional news we struggled to beat some "part timers" according to one local hack. Or put another way we brushed past Zulte Waregem 4-1 on aggregate. That's the Zulte Waregem who won the Belgian cup and qualified from their group after beating some good European opposition. In other words they did what Jeff Brown's beloved Sunderland have never done and actually won a game in Europe. Clem Bitofalad then remarks that Roeder passed a piece of paper to Martins which said "don't pass to Luque he's useless". OK whatever we think of Luque (and let's face it it's been debated to death on here between those who like him and those who hate him) it's downright disrespectful for a jounalist to say that on TV about a pro footballer. Especially a smoggie journalist - cos lets face it they haven't had any highly priced flops have they ? Rant over.

They never actually beat Fenerbahce at home or away, they drew 5-5 on aggregate and went through on the away goals (that silly rule as someone just called it) rule. We actually beat Fenerbahce 1-0 at home and quite honestly should not fear anyone at all. We beat Liverpool last week who have subsequently gone on to beat Barcelona (the reigning CL champions) in the Nou Camp. Don't underestimate your own team, if we play to our strengths and have the crowd behind us we are a match for anyone. Don't get me wrong we're in with a great chance, my point is they are a good side and not to be underestimated. Whatever the scores, they beat Fener over two legs (so the draw for the last 16 says anyway) and I repeat ,that is never an easy thing to do.

PSV and Feyenoord were considered as tough opposition when we played them. AZ have been better than Feyenoord for a couple of seasons now and recently they won 3-2 in Eindhoven. We are playing a very good side, with a world class coach (no not Roy Keane ) and who've just beaten Fener over two legs which is never easy. Anyone who thinks this will be easy is really kidding themselves.

I've never seen Roeder or anyone else slag him off for not scoring. I've slagged him off on countless occasions for being utter dogshit though. Perhaps you're confusing the two? Love to know when these "countless" occasions were - do you dream about him ? Newcastle fans have hardly had a chance to see him as he's hardly ever played. Your dislike of him and haste to become involved in any discussion about him is really not normal, perhaps you could seek help. Did a "significant other" of yours ever have an affair with a Spaniard or something ?

1m net It's really all about the contracts not the actual transfer fees.

Has undoubtedly done a good job. He has however had a lot more resources than any of the others in the division and while they polish off the lower teams they struggle to beat any of the teams at the top of their league. I see a problem for them if they do get promoted in that they have a wage bill far higher than any other team and a lot of the players are recent recruits on good contracts. These players will not be good enough for the top level so they will have to clear them out and pretty much start from scratch if they want to survive. Other bad thing for Sundlund is that despite all the blarney spouted by Quinn and Co, deep down they know that with Keane it's a no win situation - if he fails - he fails - if he succeeds then he will be off to a big club (or the Irish FA). It normally all ends in tears down there.

Watched the game in a bar on way to Belgium last week, great match - great goals. AZ are the better team and should certainly not be underestimated - they have broken into the PSV/Ajax/Feyenoord monopoly in the last few years and are up there with them. Like Reading not to be taken lightly because they don't have a famous name. Also dead easy to get to (about 1 hour north of Amsterdam) so has to be AZ for me but it will be two very tough games.