Rich

Have I missed something? http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?action=arcade;sa=highscore;game=723 He's not only beaten it, he's annihilated it, the utter utter bastard. Bit of a Stick Cricket whizz from back in the old days. Lost 2 wickets on that go!

His subs seemed to work, in fairness. Liverpool should have been 3-0(+) up by the break, though.

He's just utterly frustrating, KD, after how good he used to be for your lot. He's always injured, he's lost most of his pace, he's doubled in size, his arrival coincided with our dimmest stage for a while (obviously not entirely his fault, like!), he makes numerous dodgy decisions on the field, has been culpable for numerous goals this season, never seems too arsed to be playing for us, he made dodgy gestures at the East Stand against Sheffield United.... he was apparently trying to engineer moves back South (to Spurs in particular) over the summer, etc. Just nowhere near good enough for a Premiership fullback.

Delighted to see Chelsea and Liverpool go through against their respective opposition. Also good to see that Valencia are in the next round. Just a shame that Lyon lost out to Roma in my eyes. Personally, I hope that Arsenal, Man Utd and Celtic join them in the quarters as well, though I accept it's highly unlikely that the Hoops will score in Milan, let alone get a score-draw or a win. We still have to play Arsenal and Chelsea, so personally I hope we have to play them when they are in between two European games.

My tickets came today and say "7.30pm" on them. Just mentioning this because I've heard from a few people that they had the wrong time printed on them. (Perhaps just the earlier editions did?)

05/06 - 30 appearances, 8 goals, 2 assists, 25 offsides, 80 fouls. 06/07 - 9 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist, 16 fouls. And his performances were poor. He can't trap a ball, and for a big lad, he's shit in the air. And on the ground. Roeder was in charge for 30 games last season? Bugger me.

Ronaldo has been immense. Especially considering his age, as well, and the World Cup stuff preceeding this season. 16 league goals and 8 assists is fantastic, but BRV is right about his European performances. (3 assists in 6 games, no goals.) He's been the best player in the PL this season, I think.

Aye, but countless times there was opportunity to take it forward a few yards, cause someone to break free from the "two banks of four" to close them down and then pass the ball to the freed-up team-mate. It's fairly basic stuff, I would reckon. A lot of goals at the better clubs come from moves that are initiated by a centre-half carrying the ball into the usual open space in front of him (beyond the opposition striker/strikers) and causing an opposition midfielder to have to close him down, before either (rarely) continuing his run or playing a simple ball into a midfielder who now has more space to work in. The way we force our centre-backs to play (whether it be the crowd, our reputation or the coaching) is that they are too fearful of making a big rick and losing the ball and then being caught-out, instead of using them as an occasional platform to build attacks from. There were many, many occasions on Saturday where Titus or Oguchi could have taken some extra touches and looked for a simple ball, instead of stalling then attempting a far more difficult pass. Over the season at SJP I'd go so far as to say dozens and dozens. I do accept that it's a more risky strategy, especially when neither of them are exactly technically wonderful, but I also strongly believe that it's a tactic that would lead to us breaking more teams down at SJP as we force them to break free from the 4-4/4-1-4 When teams like 'Boro come and man-mark every single one of our front-six then more onus is placed on the fullbacks and the centre-halves to drive us forward. Taylor and Solano got forward a fair bit (even though Nobby's right foot was off-colour and Taylor was obviously coming inside a lot), but I really think that at this level our central defenders should be able to offer more than hopeful punts forward every time they have it. Sometimes it's about making your options, from what I see. People slate Parker because he has to move around on the ball a lot when he collects it from the defenders, but this is often because he has an opponent in very close proximity to him and not many options ahead of him (the same argument you've just made for the defence.) I do agree with those that say he often could release the ball faster, but he would improve a hell of a lot if he was given the ball in better areas from Titus/Gooch, or if one of them committed a midfielder towards them before releasing it.

I used to do similar things... add capital letters, commas, etc.

Howay man, all he does is pirouette, never passes forward, he should be a ballerina, etc. etc. etc. Repeat ad nauseum.

Well, another home game went by when our only visible tactics seemed to be (again) aiming for Milner from Shay's kicks and then a brief period in the second half where Milner and N'Zogbia switched. We also looked better from corners than we have done for a while. Apart from that, things just seem to be left to curdle. For example, Parker and Butt being unable to decide what role to play... Milner thinking that running at his fullback and attempting a cross is ALWAYS the best thing to do, Taylor thinking that passing to a double-marked N'Zogbia (tight to the byline) is a good option... Bramble and Gooch being shit-scared to bring the ball out of defence and play a simple forward pass... Given constantly clanging it upfield to nobody in particular... why Dyer never gets close to Martins for flick-downs and why even though we aim for Milner from the 'keeper, nobody gets near him to collect a knock-down, etc. Things like this should surely be gradually dying out and being coached, but they don't seem to be and the football we've played this season isn't as far removed from Souness-stuff as a lot of people seem to think. He's hardly brought us on leaps and bounds since Souness left, which is starting to get very worrying after a year.

I don't think you can go wrong in the city, but it depends on what you're looking for. The number of pubs/bars/clubs within walking distance of St. James' Park is huge. Some close at 11pm, some at midnight, others at 1am. I'm not entirely sure how late most clubs have licenses these days, but 2am/3am sounds about right. The Trent seems to be a popular jaunt with people from Toontastic (another NUFC forum), it's just a typical pub and I know a few people who I used to knock about with who say it's quality on match day. Wetherspoons (Union Rooms) is always good if you like a good variety of cheap beer and a place where there is no music/a lot of Newcastle fans, plus free entry. It's very big, as well, so there should be plenty of room. It's very close to Newcastle's Central Station (train) and about 5 minutes walk from the stadium. It closes at midnight. The variety is huge, though. There are bars that have music, some that have topless girls, "old-men" pubs, live music pubs. There's a gay section in town, if that's your bag. http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=35638.0 That is a good thread from someone else who was asking for good places to visit in Newcastle, as is this one also: http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=35954.0 Then there are pub review sites like: www.pubsnewcastle.co.uk and www.theburglarsdog.co.uk if you have the time to read them. Personally the Bigg Market is the only place I'd say to avoid, but I have a few mates from Belgium of various ages who absolutely loved the place and insist on going back whenever they visit... I'd just suggest having a walk around and taking over the place you like the look of the most. You should have a great night.

Newcastle are slight favourites at EVENS on PaddyPower, AZ to win & the draw are 9/4. What do you think mate? I reckon it'll be a score draw, 1-1 or 2-2.

Excellent. If your fans are as good as Heerenveen's, PSV's and NAC Breda's then the atmosphere should be a lot better than it has been lately. The NAC Breda fans in particular were excellent, but the PSV match has been among my favourites over the past couple of years. All gave very vocal backing to their teams and made it a special night.

Glad we'll be able to see Parker playing more defensive over the next two games, because of Butt's ridiculous suspension for AZ and him also missing the Charlton game. Hopefully he will be far better than he has been lately with a more attacking partner beside him.

Don't blame you at all mate. Personally I haven't been to a home European game since the Levadia Tallin one as I was away for Fenerbahce, playing football myself when Celta came and at a family thing when the Waregem game was on. It's probably why I'm so up for this one because it feels like ages since I've seen a good European night at SJP.

Just been buying me and the lads some tickets online and I was fairly surprised to see the lack of availability around the ground: the only remaining areas were the various bars (1892, Sports, Platinum Club, etc.) and then a couple of sections in each of the four stands (Two sections of Milburn Paddock 'B', two sections in the East Stand, three sections in the middle of the Gallowgate and two sections in the middle of the Leazes) not the choice I was expecting. Plumped for seats behind the goal in the Leazes End, right next to the Sports Bar seats, as to get a different perspective from my usual digs in the Gallowgate. Made me wonder whether we can expect a decent turnout on the night for what is probably the biggest game of the season so far and one that promises to be fairly good value for money. So are you going? Where are you sitting? If you're not going, why not? Wouldn't blame people after the 'Boro match and because it's on the TV, but I'm fairly excited about it -unlike most other home games this term. Any news on how many fans AZ are bringing?

Funnily enough, I think spending £10m on Martins was a bigger gamble than either of those.

I'm waiting for him to break a fingernail and pull out, tbh.

My thoughts exactly, both then and now. It was such a non-event. "Say what you want about Newcastle, but we are never boring", etc. I just slunk out of the stadium and got straight on the metro, where one of the clown ticket inspectors seemed confused by the amount of miserable bastards queued up before him and proceeded to shout out, "Well at leat they won, eh?" Then turned bright red as the usual sarcastic replies flooded his way. Daft cunt, aye we fucking won 10-0, hence all the long faces. To think I had some drying paint at home, an' all.

I didn't hear too much jeering at half-time where I was sitting, and even at the end it wasn't exactly the majority. I was asleep for most of it, though...

3-1 to us.

Rather have Ameobi playing than Sibierski.

If he played for anyone else but Spurs I'd feel more sympathy. From a personal perspective for the lad it is a great shame because he has had some absolutely outstanding games and has been a model professional for Tottenham. Surely a move to a big club was on the horizon if he was able to keep fit? It is terrible news if it's true, and I do hope that it's not, mainly for King himself.

Out of the list, only Emre and Owen are currently injured, with the former expected to be back on Thursday and Owen by April. Sibierski will not get a start when Dyer and Martins are fit, let alone when Owen/Ameobi are back. He's only played so many games because of the sheer number of injuries we've had this season. He's had 19 starts and 12 substitute appearances out of 44 games, so he's started a bit les than 50%. I never said he was a "reserve", he's just nowhere near a first choice player for Roeder - who prefers Dyer up there to him when the situation allows it. In comparison, Dyer has started 17 despite being crocked for most of the campaign so far.