Northern Monkey

It was very disappointing because, although AZ were better on the night and deserved to win, I wasn't that impressed with them.

 

Dyer is far more effective playing down the middle, either as a withdrawn striker or attacking midfielder. He ended up drifting inside to try and make things happen, and while I don't blame him for trying to get involved (particularly as no-one else was producing anything), it messed up our shape.

 

Eventually Roeder realised the need to play Dyer inside, but he didn't want to bite the bullet and abandon the tactic of hoofing it on to Sibierski's head. The result was our shape got worse after the substitutions.

 

All we needed was one goal, and we ought to have got it. Their defence wasn't any better than the one that showed up at St James's. Overall, I think Roeder has done a good job, but he got it wrong last night.

How has he done a good job?

Transfers - why did he completely ignore our most desperate requirements.

Tactically - inept

Substitutions - NOT PATTINSON YOU ARSE!

Motivation - seemingly zero

We need a proper manager

end of story.

We need a GOOD manager. Which we haven't had since Robson, and would be almost certainly no closer to getting if we had Shearer.

ffs, for the first goal Taylor just stood and watched the ball go past him, and it's not as if he got a call from Shay to leave it.  It's not as if it was hard to just knock it out for a corner.

 

Shay Given has to expend effort off the pitch making sure Taylor does what Given wants him to do.

Not just Taylor. All of them.

If the manager and keeper can't get that through to the defence, they should all go. All of them.

Yet again, Roeder proves himslef to be an absolute arse.

perhaps Prima Donna is the wrong word to use.

 

Perhaps I should call them individuals.

 

Right now, we have a team of individuals rather than a team. Given is an individual, not a team player. We need to builsd a team, starting from the back, and for me, Given is expendable if we could sign someone like Ben Foster, or even Man City's Isaksson.

 

i want to keep Given, but get rid of Championshipplayers like Shambles, Babayaro etc, and get GOOD defenders in.

 

Defenders is the obvious first logical step, but that would be last chance saloon for Given, he'd have to gel with his back four as a unit, and if he didn't, I'd have him sold.

If he couldn't control them, agreed. But he has ability. Something the defence do not*.

* Until the Bramblephiles kick in, and start to pretend he has talent/potential/etc.

We get £4m for a good UEFA Cup run iirc.

i think you'd need to win it to get that, and even that might be stretching it.

he's a good player, but sadly like many others, you are overestimating him on the basis he has scored "high profle goals".

 

I'm not knocking you mate, but what exactly is a "high profile goal "

 

A Cup winning goal, or in the eyes of people like Baggio  would that make him a "trophy player"   :lol:

 

Fact is, the best strikers score goals in the 6 yard box, score when it matters, and don't miss as many chances close in , rather than score spectacular efforts. This is what makes them the best strikers. You don't get a bonus goal or extra points for being spectacular.

 

He didn't bury his chance tonight, BTW. And his overall play is limited, and always will be unless he learns to get his head up.

 

 

Don't worry, I agree with you. I said 'market value' rather than 'value' precisely because of this. His goal vs Spurs and his goals vs Alkmaar are likely to be highlight package material (spectacular/ good + in Europe), thus high profile (though perhaps that's a bad term). Anyway, they're likely to increase his value a fair amount. If a player scores a few spectacular goals you think he must be able to put away the tap-ins as well (Tony Yeboah style), even though getting to tap-ins requires a different set of skills.

 

His first touch needs to come along a bit. His vision too, although I 've seen a few instances to tell me he has a decent eye for a throughball. It's his movement that I think needs improving most though, to make the best of his pace.

His first touch is often absolutely awful.

perhaps Prima Donna is the wrong word to use.

 

Perhaps I should call them individuals.

 

Right now, we have a team of individuals rather than a team. Given is an individual, not a team player. We need to builsd a team, starting from the back, and for me, Given is expendable if we could sign someone like Ben Foster, or even Man City's Isaksson.

i want to keep Given, but get rid of Championshipplayers like Shambles, Babayaro etc, and get GOOD defenders in.

Right now, all I care about is the money Europe gives us. Not at all botherd about European football.

The league gives us more than the UEFA Cup does.

If Given was replaced with a more commanding goalie, do people think the rabble infront of him would improve? Serious question..

No. Because they are not anywhere near good enough, in the main.

People have already posted the quote I was going to, but I hope to God he's talking about Bramble and is finally realising what everyone (bar Ronaldo) has been saying for years.

Even last week, there were people saying he was worth keeping, had ptential to improve, was very strong, yadda yadda.

Fact time, kids: Titus Bramble is NOT a defender who has the ability to play in a team with aspirations of the top 7, and to push on from there. He simply isn't very good.

Andy Townsend, Mark Lawrenson &c. proving that propaganda works just as well in 2007 as it ever did.

 

Haddaway and shite man, we've kept 1 clean sheet in the last 20. Just cos they say our defence is shit doesn't automatically mean it's not. It is.

 

My attempt at brevity has, as ever, resulted in ambiguity. I was referring to how Bramble is blamed irrespective of what the circumstances are.

 

 

He is blamed because, like last night, he is shit.

The Shay-bashing always shows up after every bad defeat.

 

I won't even bother bandering about the useless "world class" debate, but I don't think anyone here can disagree that his saves for us FAR outnumber his mistakes. End of.

 

Aye he does good stuff, but fact is, he is a prima donna. Football is a team game, and he never plays his part in the team, instead just living off his own individual moments of brilliance, which is why we'll never win anything while he is between the sticks.

 

In my eyes, there is no difference between Shay Given and Laurent Robert.

You must REALLY hate Babayaro, Carr, Bramble, Ameobi etc, then

When he is there. allegedly screaming for the ball in a good position (which is actually very rare, his movement is poor), and he gets it, what does he do? Fuck all. And who's fault is that? Not HIS, it seems...........its because no-one passes to him (a defunct argument as to why he loses the ball when he gets it).....because he has no decent LB behind him.......because he's playing in midfield next to a right footer (?!)......because he's a ginger.......never HIS fault, oh no.

Roeder: "I have to find defenders who are good enough to play in front of Shay Given."

 

Well done Glenn, you've finally got it. Bit late like.

He might want to also find a coaching team worth more than fuck all. Oh, and some managerial talent for himself, and some more outfield players.

Especially that C**T Glenn Roeder get the useless bas**d out!!!

 

We created plenty chances. When you play with certain players who don't give a shit, that is when you are caught out. Duff's effort was a disgrace, Martins didn't look interested and Bramble just isn't good enough.

We didn't create plenty of chances, we played like a team full of very mediocre players (ah, i see), managed by an very poor manager (check), and with no real leadership (ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!!!)

I've been saying for a long time that Shay's line dwelling costs us goals.

 

Couldn't agree more and it's a regular thing. Yes, he has the spectacular saves which time and again overshadow his total lack of being able to command his six yard box. Believe me if he was that good he have been off somewhere else a long time ago.

Shit argument.

He IS at fault at times, but not as much as his defence.

As for going somewhere else if he was good, what about Shearer? Or ir staht different, because some fans (incorrectly) believe he was a god?

Emre changed nothing, as we did nothing. He ran about a bit, but no real product, lets face it.

His lack of control of his area and the defence has always been his weak spot, but he is nowhere near as culpable for our past defensive shitness as the likes of Shambles, Moore, Babayaro and Carr, etc.

Given - 4 - great shot-stopper on the whole, has fuck all command of his area, or of the defence.

Solano - 5 - best Toon defender on the night. Also our best right winger for the entire game.

Bramble - 3 - shit, again. Positioning, decision-making, pace, awareness, intelligence. All attributes that Shambles once again proves he does not have. Get rid, for fucks sake.

Taylor - 3 - best central defender we employ, and you were shite. You fucking eejit.

Huntington - 3 - Goal-line clearance gets you an extra point, you were taken to bits. Still better than Babayaro.

Dyer - 4 - Poor. Anyone who said yesterday he was best at right wing might want to watch a video of the game. He was all over the place, but not in a "Gerrard, making the game go his way from all over the park" kind of way. Just in a "unable to grasp the concept of beinga  winger, or carry out the basic functions required, while still offering nothing when in the centre" kind of way.

Butt - 4 - rarely seemed to get round to doing his job. You don't mind a midfielder being quet if they are doing their job, but he didn't.

Parker - 4 - As Butt, neither of them could take control of the midfield. Also seems to be actively LOOKINg for the chance to twist around when he's on the ball. Pack it in.

Duff - 4 - Actually tracked back a bit, which is an improvement. Still nowt there, though.

Sibierski,- 5 - One player who actually looked able to cause them a problem, but too slow. Probably not even got one more season left in him.

Martins - 4 - Unfortunately, Awful Touch Martins showed up last night. Shocking lack of control of the ball. Unable to amend his game to counter the fact that the AZ players/manager had sussed him.

The Zog - N/A - got around 86 minutes less than he should have.

Emre - 5 - Awful set pieces, can someone PLEASE stop him from taking them. Runs around a lot, to no avail.

Roeder - 2 -  the ONLY reason he put Emre on was that Pattinson wasn't on the bench, i reckon, the fucking genius. Tactically absolutely inept, and without any clue as to how to amend our game to suit the actual match we were playing. Out-thought and out-classed byt he equally wrong-faced Van Gaaaaal. NOT a decent premiership manager, Roeder, and lets not pretend he is.

Taylor was s***. So was Bramble.

 

 

Anyone who has defender Bramble but is now calling Taylor - Shambles has made far, far more mistakes than Taylor, are you calling him s**** and a liability as well?

 

 

Of course.

We'll see. The "Bramble has potential/no-one stronger/made a great long pass once" brigade will be out soon, re-writing history again.

I'm sure the Bramble apologists will try and bail him out, but he was s**** today and his defensive colleages weren't much better.

 

Taylor was worse.....

But Shambles was once again proven to be a defender of little ability. That is undeniable.

Why blame Roeder ? I'm not defending him but when your so called BIG players don't turn up for the game what hope is there? You expect the likes of Shambles and kids like Huntingdon/Taylor to fu**up, but Dyer /Duff/Parker and even Nobby fu**ed up. I don't think we could've defended a 3 goal lead on tonights performance.

We have no big players.

Oh, and blaming Roeder? Its largely his fault. He chose the wrong players. The wrong tactics. And he - unlike the AZ manager - was unable, at any point, to see how the game (or 2 legged tie) was going, and amend the way we played to match it. He's fucking awful.

 

 

Glenn Roeder insists it has not been another season of failure for Newcastle United, despite their exit from the Uefa Cup.

 

AZ Alkmaar recorded a 2-0 home win in the second leg of their last 16 tie to go through on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate scoreline.

 

The defeat will mean another campaign without a trophy for The Magpies, but Roeder refused to look on the gloomy side.

 

"It is too easy to say it is another season of failure for Newcastle," said Roeder.

 

"That is just too easy. You know the problems we have had. The squad has been decimated for six months by injuries.

 

"We have got a few back now, but we have had to pick up points during the season with a team that was minus a dozen senior players.

 

"There are nine games left now and we need to pick up as many points as we can to make sure we finish as high up the Premiership as we can."

 

With regards to the defeat in Holland, Roeder felt too many players failed to produce their best form when required.

 

"Conceding two goals," he added when asked where Newcastle had lost the tie. "We needed to score one and we did not. It is as straightforward as that.

 

"From our point of view, the two goals were poorly defended. Considering how well we played last week, we played very poorly tonight.

 

"We had too many players off form, experienced players who I would have expected to do better."

 

 

 

AT f****** LAST he used it as an excuse..

 

 

 

Im not trying to protect Glenn here,but thats a fact and something that we have coped very well.Hes not pointing it out as one of the reason why we lost,but whether the entire season has been a failure for us.

How many first team players WHO ARE GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN THE TOP HALF OF THE PREMIERSHIP are we missing? one?

No idea about league preformance.

 

But I can predict with utter confidence that there'll be plenty more disgraceful fans who think "supporting their club" means shitting all over it at every opportunity.

Woudl you rather we said that the players were good enough, the manager competent, and the results acceptable, wven though none of those are true?