Benwell Lad

Nope, it's not VAT. We might conjecture in the absence of any evidence it's an *ahem * agent's fee wouldnt be surprised to be honest i just want to understand why luque has turned from one of the most feared strikers in spain to being an absolute joke within the space of 18 months! Could have something to do with the way the club is ran and the type of manager/coaches we hire. Same could be asked of how a club which makes the Champions League spends a fortune and manages to end up in a relegation place ?? It was a sad day when Bobby Robson was forced out of the club.

Oliver of course once hit the heady heights of playing in the Wearside League. It's a shame that someone as intellectually limited as Lee Clark is given a role in a club as big as Newcastle. And as for Terry MacDermott..?? Could you really see any serious club employing them ?

SMB But the severity of the punishment !! Why don't they make them stay closed on Saudi Arabian Christian religious holidays instead.

That is ****ing shocking. Play for the shirt he said. He scores then is dropped for the next game. Fair enough, he may be tired (although he said he wanted to play) so I gave Roeder another chance as Luque looked fairly good when he came on. Now **** him. Unless there are valid reasons such as injury, just **** right off Roeder you miserable piece of shit. Roeder's stubborness and desire to "cut his nose to spite his face" as far as Luque is concerned is turning me right off the guy too.

May be best not to spend in January, cos if the current squad can't get us out of trouble then the types of players we'll be iable to attract in our financial and on pitch predicament, are unlikely to be of a calibre to improve things significantly. By then the biggest decision in the history of our club may have to be taken. If we don't have 25 points by January (unlikely right now), no one will be coming here and we will be thinking about Championship football and a budget which will mean getting rid of high earners NOT recruiting them. Like every other team before us who looked like going down, or had just come up, it's a huge gamble between investing for success and the risk of bankruptcy caused by failure. Whatever the shortcomings of the Mackems bosses (Murray and Fickling) when they got relegated first time, they did a pretty good job of getting rid of Peter Reids big earners and managed to keep the club from folding. Those who run our club may have to think about doing a similar job in the not too distant future.

But it's not all about end product, is it? Because you know as well as I do that he's not going to be a prolific goalscorer, despite the few goals he has scored, and so there has to be something else to his game. I haven't seen ANYTHING to his game, least of all any effort or application, something which is fundamental in a relegation scrap. Yes, I know goals are more important, but as I've said, Luque is not going to be a prolific goalscorer in the Premiership, we both know that. To be fair, none of our players are gonna score 20 a season so to use that against Luque is a bit daft. Its about effectiveness from now on. Luque is effective, or has been in the 3 starts he's had under Roeder, that can't be denied. And given a run who knows, we may then see the other side of the game being brought out of him, like running his nads off etc. We're asking Rossi to lead the line and he's being chewed up by defenders because a) he's not that type of forward, b) he lacks experience, c) has no real strength and c) he needs games to find some form and by the time that arrives, which may not even happen anyway, he'll be off. What then? You seem to think I'm suggesting that Rossi is somehow the answer to all our woes. In your other post you went on about there being no point building a team around him. I'm well aware of that. But as far as our current options up front go, he's the best we've got. In my opinion. You can hang onto this dream that Luque will somehow come good, and this misguided belief that he has this amazing talent that he's just waiting to unleash given a run of games. You might be right, but there is a MOUNTAIN of evidence to suggest that he's not that good, and he's not that interested. Where is the MOUNTAIN of evidence ? He's hardly ever played ! I thought on Satyuday Luque looked a lot more bothered than most in the side after he came on. See, I can't really have a discussion with you about Luque as I can't for the life of me see what game you were watching where you can write that last sentence with a straight face. He did NOTHING but pretend to challenge for the ball as a sort of token effort on a few occasions. And you thought that was acceptable. :confused: Did I say it was acceptable ?? I still think getting beat at SJP is unacceptable - no matter who off - never mind Sheff Utd. So NO it is not acceptable. Sorry to have to repeat to you, but what I said was he did OK when he came on for his bit part appearance and DID look bothered. By your argument do you rate the forwards performances against Charlton and Sheff Utd as acceptable ? You must if you don't want to change them.

But it's not all about end product, is it? Because you know as well as I do that he's not going to be a prolific goalscorer, despite the few goals he has scored, and so there has to be something else to his game. I haven't seen ANYTHING to his game, least of all any effort or application, something which is fundamental in a relegation scrap. Yes, I know goals are more important, but as I've said, Luque is not going to be a prolific goalscorer in the Premiership, we both know that. To be fair, none of our players are gonna score 20 a season so to use that against Luque is a bit daft. Its about effectiveness from now on. Luque is effective, or has been in the 3 starts he's had under Roeder, that can't be denied. And given a run who knows, we may then see the other side of the game being brought out of him, like running his nads off etc. We're asking Rossi to lead the line and he's being chewed up by defenders because a) he's not that type of forward, b) he lacks experience, c) has no real strength and c) he needs games to find some form and by the time that arrives, which may not even happen anyway, he'll be off. What then? You seem to think I'm suggesting that Rossi is somehow the answer to all our woes. In your other post you went on about there being no point building a team around him. I'm well aware of that. But as far as our current options up front go, he's the best we've got. In my opinion. You can hang onto this dream that Luque will somehow come good, and this misguided belief that he has this amazing talent that he's just waiting to unleash given a run of games. You might be right, but there is a MOUNTAIN of evidence to suggest that he's not that good, and he's not that interested. Where is the MOUNTAIN of evidence ? He's hardly ever played ! I thought on Satyuday Luque looked a lot more bothered than most in the side after he came on.

But it's not all about end product, is it? Because you know as well as I do that he's not going to be a prolific goalscorer, despite the few goals he has scored, and so there has to be something else to his game. I haven't seen ANYTHING to his game, least of all any effort or application, something which is fundamental in a relegation scrap. Yes, I know goals are more important, but as I've said, Luque is not going to be a prolific goalscorer in the Premiership, we both know that. Problem is non of us have really seen ANYTHING in his game cos he doesn't actually get to play. What little he's played this season he's done OK. There again the superb performances of our front players in the recent home games against the mighty Charlton and Sheff Utd probably means we don't need to change anything.

You obviously think so. I don't. Rossi may turn out to be a Premiership player at the moment he looks like a reserve. Even if Luque looks no better, at least he's a Newcastle player - not a Man Utd reserve farmed out to a struggling club to gain some experience. He's better than anything we've got, regardless of who he belongs to. If you seriously think Luque looks a better player, I'd love to know what games you've been watching. Indeed not many. Only the ones he's played in or been given a bit part in. He looks OK to me when he's on the field. Problem is none of us really know whether he is a good player or a bad player because he simply hasn't played enough since he returned to fitness, to be properly judged. Too many seem to be judging him, like Mick Lowes, on the basis of how he looks as he sits in the stand. It's pretty difficult to play a blinder in the dugout. Play him then judge him.

I wouldn't object to any player on loan who improves our team, UNLESS their manager started making demands about whether he plays or not.

I'm assuming you're referring to Luque? I personally think we've established that a) he's not good/interested enough to start games, and b) he's not an impact substitute. So basically we use him as a last resort and that's that. While a totallly inadequate Man Utd reserve gains valuable premiership experience, at our expense, therby keepng Alex Ferguson happy. That totally inadequate Man Utd reserve was the best player on the pitch against Charlton tbh. And he looks twice the player Luque is. You obviously think so. I don't. Rossi may turn out to be a Premiership player at the moment he looks like a reserve. Even if Luque looks no better, at least he's a Newcastle player - not a Man Utd reserve farmed out to a struggling club to gain some experience.

Sorry lads, but unless we have amassed something like 25 points by January, no one will be coming here. At that point we had best be thinking about Championship football and a budget which will mean getting rid of high earners NOT recruiting them. Like every other team before us who looked like going down, or had just come up, it's a huge gamble between investing for success and the risk of bankruptcy caused by failure. Whatever the shortcomings of the Mackems bosses (Murray and Fickling) when they got relegated first time, they did a pretty good business job of getting rid of Peter Reids big earners and managed to keep the club from folding. Those who run our club may have to think about doing a similar job in the not too distant future.

I'm assuming you're referring to Luque? I personally think we've established that a) he's not good/interested enough to start games, and b) he's not an impact substitute. So basically we use him as a last resort and that's that. While a totallly inadequate Man Utd reserve gains valuable premiership experience, at our expense, therby keepng Alex Ferguson happy.

I'm not sure it was well underway. Ashton would have been a great signing, but my point is the "manager" was not alllowed to manage. He HAD decided to replace Shearer, it was Shearer himself who decided he did NOT want to be replaced, and because he was bigger in the chairman's eyes than the manager, it was the manager who was replaced, by a bunch of cronies. And then the descent really started.

Always had a lot of time for the big fella's style of reporting, but I thought his attack on Albert Luque before Saturday's match (heard on BBC Newcastle driving to the match) was disgraceful. Talking to the mackem summarisers (during their half time) he spent most of our pre match analysis attacking Luque. Amongst the comments were that he was a new Marcellino; someone from the crowd could of scored his goal at Palermo and generally that the unfortunate Spaniard was symptomatic of the depressing state we're in. Well the little bits I've seen of Luque he has been as good as and probably better than those who ARE playing. We don't actually know if he is lazy or not because he doesn't get to play - it would be nice to see him play a few games before actually judging him. Unlike Marcellino he sems to be desperste to play if what he says is correct. Come on big fella, don't resort to lazy and cowardly reporting, instead of joining the bandwagon and using an under used foreign player as your scapegoat take a lok at those who are actually in the managers starting elevens, and more significantly those who have been pulling the strings at our club over the last few years.

Amongst all the wailing and nashing regarding the dire plight we now find ourselves in, one reason repeatedly raised is our inability to replace the best centre forward in the premiership. Although many think the current malaise goes back further, I think it all turned sour when we decided to sack Bobby Robson, despite the top 4 finishes he'd achieved - yes we were vying with Liverpool to be 4th of the "big four" that recently. Anyway many cite not finding a replacement for Shearer as a major factor in our demise. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Bobby Robson depart mainly because he actually had the audacity to suggest Shearer should be replaced - the time was then right to move on. What followed has been well chronicled, SBR went and so did our best player (Bellamy) who had also fallen foul of the ruling powers at the club. To replace the people who had taken us to the Champions League we brought in cronies to join the NUFC gravy train. I'm sure had Robson been allowed to manage and a suitable successor been found by the right process it would all have been very different.

Me too please! :confused: What is Middlesborough famous for apart from smog and parmos?. The Bongo club over the border.

Yeah I think the fact that no local rag, fanzine, radio broadcaster or website has ever raised this, somehow reinforces the point. Some people are so big you just don't question them. Gullit and Kluivert were people of similar stature (perhaps greater stature) than our big fella on the world stage, but they were never going to take him on in his own back yard.

I was at the games yes, it's not a case of not liking the lad, I was really hopefully when he first signed. I'd seen him play in the Spanish league and saw what he could do. He has to many problems in this league though, he's still very slow to the ball, like he said he can't take a man on and the fact that a injured Ameobi looks more likly to do something in a match that Luque when he plays shows exactly the reason why he doesn't deserve to play. I judge players on what they do, I can't like or dislike players I don't know them, which is why I judge them on performances and Luques performances have been woeful. I really don't understand why some people are happy to settle for second best I'd much rather see better and better players come into the team. True, apart from brief glimpses Luque has not played well in a B&W shirt. However since his injury (a pretty bad one) he has simply not had enough of a run to prove whether he is or is not good enough for our league. We all know that very few top foreign players "hit the ground running" when the come into the Premiership, my feeling is Luque will do it if he is given a chance. I would however like to be proven right or wrong by him actually playing in his correct position. To date he has been another victim of "Geordie instant judgement" by many.

Yes Lillesroem. Played us off the park until Luque scored. Were you there ? Soopafantastic. :confused:?? If that means super fan then no not really. 40 odd years of mainly pain and shit, occasional good times, bleed black and white but not a super fan. I know some who are, but don't think I qualify. But I take it that's a NO anyway ? If you aren't playing the soopafan card then what point are you trying to make about Luque's performances against Lillestrom at home and against Sunderland away last season. I'm aware he scored in both games but what else did he do to suggest he has what it takes to cut the mustard over here? And what else has he done in other matches when he didn't score? I'm aware he may not have been given a fair crack of the whip but I blame that (at least partly) on him and his attitude. So, what's your case for Luque? Appreciate your acknowledgement. Now we're in discussion again. His attitude appears to be bad, but I think a combination of confidence, injury, new surroundings and manager's remarks have contributed to that appearance. My main case for Luque is that we are playing terribly but have a £10M player who WAS good, sitting inthe stands. The manager needs to kick him up the arse and say "get out there and play the way you know you can" - but he needs to be given that chance. After his recent run out in the reserves the coach was full of praise for his attitude, and he certainly looked happy to be playing and scoring. And that in a game many senior pros would not have been interested in. No I wasn't there.

Yes Lillesroem. Played us off the park until Luque scored. Were you there ? Soopafantastic. :confused:?? If that means super fan then no not really. 40 odd years of mainly pain and shit, occasional good times, bleed black and white but not a super fan. I know some who are, but don't think I qualify. But I take it that's a NO anyway ?

Yes Lillesroem. Played us off the park until Luque scored. Were you there ?

I take it you had been drinking before, during and after the games you believe Luque played and looked good ?!?! Were you at the mackem away game or Lillestrom home ? N No I only drink after the match as I like to see what is going on, which in Luque's case is a quality player who is low on confidence and finding it difficult to adapt to new surroundings. You obviously don't like him, but I reckon if he's given a run we may well see the quality come through. If we were in the top 4 and scoring freely I may think we should leave things as they are. We are'nt.

Luque has been a very good player, and in brief glimpses for us has looked good too. He needs a run, he needs confidence to express himself. I'd be right pissed off if Roeder was letting Alex Ferguson tell him what the pecking order should be and who should be on the bench etc. Let it go Roeder, give Luque a run, he has the potential to be one of our best players, letting him sulk on the sidelines is not good management.

Prefer TF's assessmants to the once great nufc.com which has now become too opinionated. Agree to a point, but what amazes me is how these opinions of where we went wrong gloss over the role our club captain played at the time. Once the greatest CF in the world he was allowed to become bigger than the club, and that should never happen and could not happen at a serious football club such as Arsenal, Man.Utd, Bayern Munich or others. Shearer was instrumental in getting rid of both SBR and our best player Bellamy. A friend of his, Souness took over. Another buddy MacDermott was brought in, and frankly it all started going down hill. Ultimately Shepherd must take the blame for allowing it to happen, lets face it he thought aligning himself to the big man would ensure his own popularity and survival. Time will probably prove this to be his biggest mistake. Also disagree with assessment of Martins. Give him service and he will score goals.