Northern Monkey

where is Kieron Dyer? He's ace.

Whats the status on viduka now then? How bads his injury?

nothing a big pie won't fix.

i agree - smith doesn't look like he belongs in a midfield of three central players.

 

i'd play:

 

               butt/faye

        barton       emre/geremi

only problem there is that if the combination is Barton/Butt/Geremi, we have to rely completely on Barton to pass the ball.

Who will we play in the big games, though?

I'll be happy to see Smith up front with Owen in a 4-4-2. He's definitely good enough.

 

on the basis of what, exactly?

 

Whatever I post will be rejected by you, I think there's little point bothering myself too much, so I'll just write a couple of lines in reply.

 

I think he's a decent player, others do too and you and a few others don't. I think his best role is the one currently being occupied by Viduka but I think Smith can   do that role better than Viduka if given a run. I hope FS uses Smith as a partner for Owen because that's his best chance of doing well for us. After saying that, even if Smith does go up front and does well, I don't think anything he does will convince you and a few others that he's a decent player.

Yes, clearly the "few" (probably the majority in honesty) who don't think he's that good are wrong, and you are right, based on the fact that he was never a prolific goal scorer, and played fairly poorly in a non-goalscoring role.

I think Sam has gone with 2 DMs because we have had Carr and Zoggy at right back and left back. Zoggy is inexperienced in this position and carr is just crap. When our back four settles into Beye Cacapa Roz and Enrique I imagine two of the midfield three will be given more license to get forward. These two players willprobably be Smith and Barton.

 

So which three would be in the midfield & upfront then?

 

I find it hard leaving out Butt/Faye or Geremi in a midfield four let alone having a midfield three. We seem to play our better football in a 4.4.2 formation in anyways. What about when Duff comes back too?

 

I think it would be Geremi, Smith and Barton in the midfield three. As for the front three only God knows. That is going to be complicated because we don't know how Sam would use Owen in this formation. I would love to see Owen, Viduka and Martins upfront but not sure if it would work. If it did though we would be so exciting to watch. Hope Sam figures out a way to make it happen.

Smith ruins that middle 3.

It's OK, Roeder will be here this season as manager.........

I'll be happy to see Smith up front with Owen in a 4-4-2. He's definitely good enough.

on the basis of what, exactly?

hmm.

i reckon if you watch milner on sky, he doesn't look half as good as when you're at the match. his workrate and off the ball work is immense.

Careful, people who only watch on telly think they get the best view, etc.

I assume all of the "Bramble on his day is one of the strongest/best defenders in the league" merchants will be sticking up for him again?

He's fucking shit, he's always been fucking shit, and his comedy defending can now be enjoyed by us as well as other PL fans.

as is his playing record. He's fucking awful.

Seeing as how Viduka is now injured, Ameobi not really a first choice striker, Martins going missing during the ANC, he might still have a role up front this season. Maybe Big Sam's one step ahead of us. Not sure he merits a place in the side right now, but if you look at the bigger picture, he might prove an important member of the squad over the season. In which case it will arguably have been £6m well spent.

 

 

 

....and slowly but surely Smudger began to enter the consciousness of the unwilling.

but remains not good enough.

 

But you were rubbishing Viduka before last week, since then he has faced and defeated Woodgate to score an absolute pearler in the Tyne -T ees derby.

scored one good goal, and has otherwise looked like a fat lumbering cretin, yes. Go him.

Smith is not a good striker, simple as that. All the "combative" attitude in the world doesn't make up for the fact that he doesn't score or create enough to make him worth anywhere near £6m, or provide any real value to us. We need another striker, and Smith is not it.

we are currently a top 9-type club. is milner good enough for that? yes.

 

if we were a top 6 club, would he be good enough? yes.

 

beyond that, imho, he COULD be good enough, given the right coaching. he certainly has shown that unlike skanky kieron, some players CAN improve and move towards their potential, so he's worth a chance.

 

When NM has hope for a player I am satisfied by default.

<shaking fist smiley>

When you look at the question "Milner good enough for Newcastle" the sorry answer is yes

 

ive said this before ...Milner is an averasge player.....not a loser but hes definately not a winner either

 

Newcastle need winners...Milner isn't

 

Bartons a winner

Martins a winner

Givens a winner

 

There are one or two more approaching this status but Milner, dont make me laugh

 

In fact when you look at it coldly Newcastle are still pretty much bereft of high quality

 

Milner was touted around for sale at the start of last season....NO INTEREST

 

Grt the rose tinted off for christs sake, theres a difference between being positive and being blind faithful.

 

FACT..NOBODY WANTED TO BUY MILNER AT 5 MILLION..  simple as that

 

good enough for Newcastle, very sorry to say yes

 

 

What an awful, awful post.

 

 

 

sorry but the truth can hurt

 

get a hug from your mum

 

The truth can hurt can it?

 

Ok, here's a truth for you. Someone, namely Aston Villa, did want to buy James Milner for £5,000,000. Pick up a couple of paracetamol for the pain on the way out.

 

not just villa, when you ask a price for your player your asking anybody.

 

he was on the open market at 5 million ...no takers.. villa said no

 

 

theres no room for sentimentalist b****x at this standard of football

 

until  NUFC & the faithful stop accepting average players we wont truly challenge for top honours.

 

Sneaking the league or FA cup wont mean nothing until we can stand on a field with any of the top 5 and have a reasonable chance of beating them.

 

Right now we dont look anywhere near

 

IMO we are true underdogs n that aint good enough.

 

i dont accept "winnun sum silva ware" as recompense for years of piss poor managment

Newcastle deserve/should have a fearsome side capable of beating any team on just a good day

 

i,m as passionate about NUFC as anybody on here im just fed up with the mediocrity thats dished up and accepted

 

 

Hi mate. Not sure how long youve been abroad in the middle of nowhere for, but since you were away, we've been taken over, have a new top class manager, totally revamped non-playing staff, a load of new players who look very good so far. 

top class manager? aye. right. decent manager, granted. top class? only what we hope.

ability wise, the zog, every time.

we are currently a top 9-type club. is milner good enough for that? yes.

if we were a top 6 club, would he be good enough? yes.

beyond that, imho, he COULD be good enough, given the right coaching. he certainly has shown that unlike skanky kieron, some players CAN improve and move towards their potential, so he's worth a chance.

Seeing as how Viduka is now injured, Ameobi not really a first choice striker, Martins going missing during the ANC, he might still have a role up front this season. Maybe Big Sam's one step ahead of us. Not sure he merits a place in the side right now, but if you look at the bigger picture, he might prove an important member of the squad over the season. In which case it will arguably have been £6m well spent.

 

 

 

....and slowly but surely Smudger began to enter the consciousness of the unwilling.

but remains not good enough.

like shola, its a negative for us if we have to play smith, because he isn't actually good at any of the roles he plays.

I think Smith is a welcome addition to the squad in terms of depth, versatility and the fact I think he's not a bad player. But he's not a player we really needed and not at the expense of a winger, which has become the weakest part of the squad.

 

As has been pointed out before, he could come in very handy when the African Nations Cup comes around, as any or all of Martins, Geremi, Faye and Beye could be gone for a month. I do think he'll come in handy as a utility player for any injuries which arise in midfield or up front and I think coming off the bench he could help us close out a game. If, say, we had a tight lead against Man Utd with 30 mins to go he'd be an excellent option to bring off the bench to try and close the game.

 

But I don't think he deserves a starting place in any position on current form.

not a bad player? he certainly isn't a GOOD one.

Both of them are s**** at saving long shots.

 

what utter bullshit

 

It is the weakest part of Shays game for me.   

you think he's BETTER at controlling his area and his defence??

He's a striker and he has a winning mentality, the value of which is obviously something that isn't understood very well.

so a great mentality is an adequate replacement for being a good enough striker?

Smith as the new player to toss shit at, give me a break! He brings grit, hard work, decent passing and inspires other with his will to win. For me good enough to be a starter in the CM in a 4 - 3 - 3 formation. With two proper wingers playing out wide with Viduka in the middle I think he would look good. The whole midfield trio suffers a bit from being to similar players, with Barton back and a midfield of Smith Geremi Barton it will get better.

 

 

you've never seen him play in midfield, have you.

Fucking hell Pompey talk about route one.

when we're a couple down against a superior footballing side, see how we play.

At another club.