CaliMag

Admittedly, I don't like Viduka but surely you are overrating his ability. "One of the best touches in the Premiership" - an exagerration. Gejon - I am unconvinced his stats last year were anything other than a fluke. Blind prejudice on my behalf is possible but right now I'll put my tin hat on and say he's Kevin Phillips circa 1999... laugh away.

Viduka is here to stay (I am certainly no fan) but the big guy up front is what Sam wants and we will stick with him until he is injured... which I expect will happen soon. Viduka = Big Dunc redux. How many times have we heard "A good touch for such a big lad..." applied to both with little end result?

"No silverware, no silverware Oh why the fuck should I care." Props must be given to last year's intertoto norwegian away game "You only sing when you're whaling!"

I think there is a basic point missing here. Regardless if we have a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 Big Sam is going to play it narrow, tight and boring... and I am not sure this is a bad thing. Even when he was playing Solano during the summer he was experimenting with him in the middle because Big Sam wants to keep the same kind of football he has been using at Bolton. One of HTL's old favourite subjects (back in the SBR days) on 4-4-2 was that there was a difference between playing wide and playing wingers .. .and I think Big Sam is NEVER going to play with wingers. I don't even think we will be playing with wing backs. During the first 15 minutes of the Boro game (when we were killing them) it looked like we were playing with Zoggy as a wingback but we weren't. The most important factor of our good play in the begining of the game was Zoggy and Milner charging up and down the field like mad men (but getting back in time for cover) - after about 15 mintes of this we saw a slight decling in their mobility because they are human and could not go on like that. Big Sam was reasinably happy with our overall play but as he said in his post match interview "It felt like a loss." Becasue up until the Arca equalizer that was what he wanted and expected from this game. Running it down the middle to the big lad (Viduka) who then hold sit up and either passes it out or scores himself - which only works about 1 in 20 attempts and in Big Sam's mind thsi is how it should be... because its really difficult to counter against. Big Sam is looking to build Newcastle as a disciplined physical side (that unlike Bolton can pass it on the ground because of greater talent, larger budget etc) and that will be either a narrow 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. George Graham lives and his name is Sam Allardyce.

If you look at the ex-manager cam you can clearly see he is NOT smiling furthermore he is wearing a Norwich top and a makems scarf.... END of discussion.

Harper with a good last ditch save there.

Yellow card for Mido for being a twat to the away end... a red surely.

fuckin' mido.

Rochembach clearly is missing a pair.

Not a smile in sight I'm afraid.. FYI - he looks like that because he has one foot in... not because he's supprting boro.

SBR nodding in the Boro VIP box to the Zoggy goal... ledge.

ZOGGY! with his right!

Wear an Australian national shirt with the number 9 on the back...

If we stick with the wholly uncreative midfield three of Butt Smith and Geremi and have Carr at RB - this will be a draw or a loss. If we just substituted Carr with Solano (please please please God) - then we have someone who will give adequate coverage down the flank AND be able to pass a useful (dare I say creative) ball forward. Personally I think things will only begin to change if we add Nobby, Barton and to a lesser extent Emre back into the midfield. And yes Carr pins us back on the right and needs to be gotten rid of. If I get what I want then I'd say we'll batter 'em into submission - they are crap.

I suppose that must be areference to the CL Title. The Regulars: Great translation by the way. I wish my spanish was that good.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2151243,00.html

He will try his possible best to master the English language. BRRRRRAP! "Expectation grows.... listening to the outside world...... Focus on the internal" He's on the herb by the sounds of things. No that is just his attempt to reach out and connect with the fans and by the sounds of things he seems to have Parky and Madras as his examples of the typical Geordie...

The ultimate insult. I'd love WHam to go down.

I demand the return of the Belfast Bartender.

I would say: Harsh but fair. Shola has actually done what was asked of him... even Luque has... Owen not so much. However, Owen has been paid fucking lorry loads of cash to play what seems like two games for us ove rthe past three seasons. He absolutely must deliver the goods.

You mean beyond what SBR wrote in his book: "I thought Nobby's legs were going and he weas getting fatigued too easily." Seemed SBR was pretty straight forward. He liked us to have younger players (even to his detriment) and for an old codger he was always looking for a way to get rid of the older players (SHearer included) and it would seem on the surface for purely football related reasons. for those reasons he should have been sold in the close season when we had time to find a replacement. Solano was never the fittest, just though there must have been a different catalyst. As for Robson's book, he also hinted at a problem with Solano's attitude as I remember. Leaving the Boro ground before the game was over after being sending off I think. Aye, he did say that - Nobby left so he could go to Peru again. But he never mentioned an attitude problem at all, Robson's words were: "I guess that's the modern day footballer for you." said with not even a hint of comtempt And yet he was happy to keep Dyer, Bellamy and Robert - no doubt it was said with contempt! That is an excellent point. SBR hardly tried to get rid of problem players... he collected them. Bowyer... Woodgate even. And its not like Nobby is even in the same league as them/

Is this the new thread that NE5 will take up residency in? Admins - Perhaps we should mark it appropriately then.

Not sure why people are critical of Nobby. He is not Ronaldihno but he lost posession of the ball fewer times in a season that Carr (or any of our other defenders) does in one game. He keeps hold of the ball and gives it to another Newcastle player 99% of the time - that kind of consistancy is invaluable.

You mean beyond what SBR wrote in his book: "I thought Nobby's legs were going and he weas getting fatigued too easily." Seemed SBR was pretty straight forward. He liked us to have younger players (even to his detriment) and for an old codger he was always looking for a way to get rid of the older players (SHearer included) and it would seem on the surface for purely football related reasons.

hmmmmmm... no word on Nobby I see. Fair thee well Dyer.