Rich

We played a lot of long balls under Robson, thing was that we actually had Shearer to win the lion's share of them and Bellamy to chase the knock-downs so it was a tactic that was actually exciting to watch.

N'Zogbia, only player we have capable of bringing the crowd up by simply winning/receiving the ball.

Just been on Revista de la Liga (sky sports) with Guillem Balague about this, here's what he said... - There is a 5 million Euros offer on the table from Newcastle for Navarro right now (£3.5m-ish). - While Valencia have injuries he may get more game time, so that might keep him there. - The money being offered to him by NUFC far, far outstrips what he's getting at Valencia and he would "jump" at the move from a purely financial perspective. - However, there are players dissuading Navarro from moving here and he himself "knows little" about the Toon, people are telling him Newcastle is a very difficult place to play and would be a bad move. (Luque?) Basically, if Balague is correct then it looks like another instance where the player only comes for the pay if indeed he does come at all. I know nothing much about him myself, but there's not much shame in being a squad player in a team as good as Valencia. Bit of a gamble though, surely?

Totally undermines the manager, and from someone who was sat in Mallorca at the weekend while the players played their second game in 48 hours at his behest, it totally takes the piss. Spot on, but unfortunately all the ingrates will see is the fatman riding in to save the day on his trusty (giant) steed. Like the clowns at the match having a go at the people chanting against Shepherd. SEE MAN! HE DUZ FKN CARE LYK!

So THAT's the reason he's went downhill. Of course! Nowt to do with him being shunted between team and bench, flitting between positions in a God-awful team and seeing an underperforming Irishman taking away his first-team slot mind. If Boumsong was still here he would be MINT.

So, we've known Shola's due an op for months now and because it's got past the point of no return recently we've tried to book him in ASAP... but now there's a queue for the surgeon so he could be sitting around for weeks before his rehab begins. Classic.

So speaks the most literate Soopafan around :wink:

For the record I never said he should never play again, but how can anyone justify a player telling practically an entire stand to "fuck off" and then sarcastically applauding them in the midst of potentially his worst performance for the club? The captain, no less. Admittedly the East Stand IS gash, though. It's just another measure of despair in my mind, because other than at half-time and after Sheff Utd scored I thought the support for the lads on a mong of a night/game was fairly outstanding, that's what makes it galling. I've never been one to slam Parker, but he was bang out of order.

Worse than any display I saw under Souness and not a word of a lie.

Disgrace what he did yesterday, much like some of the daft comments in here from people who weren't even at the game and had no clue about what went on between him and the East Stand. He was jeered every time he got the ball after his outburst and rightly so, Carr wants a slap as well for what he did to the Corner at half-time. I'm not even sure if it's the players who people boo/were booing, in my mind most ire was reserved for Shepherd/Roeder/selection/tactics/substitutions rather than the lads themselves. Until Parker did what he did the team was receiving tremendous backing and offering up absolutely nowt in return. I've never seen anything like the Parker incident before, could never imagine Beardsley or Shearer telling his own supporters to "fuck off" after he was rightly moaned at for a half-hearted bit of play on a day when he was absolutely shocking overall. The fans had every right to have a slight moan at him in that particular instance and his reaction was shambolic. Captain fantastic, my arse.

i guess that's a reason to decide if a player is good or not... Well most Asian are good,like PJ Soong,Seoul Kee Hyun etc. And I think Lee YP is not that far either. Well most European are good,like Henry,Rooney etc. And I think Wayne MB is not that far either.

Apparently, like Carr, Butt has been "top class" this season as well... deputy captain behind Moore as well... Do my negative goggles prevent me from seeing this or something? What has he contributed this term so far? ...and we're expecting Luque to play as target man by the sounds of things (Roeder is hoping he'll hold the ball up.) Marvellous. I am expecting a decent game, in fairness, but I can't help but laugh at a lot of Roeder's comments recently.

Canny wad of cash to get an adequate replacement in with, would be an excellent move for all parties concerned (Emre probably would jump at it, he'd probably be exceptional for them, Man Utd get Hargreaves and we end up with a lump sum), my only worry would be how the dosh was spent. Would love a player like Diop though, we've been crying out for a bit of physical presence in the midfield since Gary Speed left. The amount of headers he won was paramount to the sort of football we played, as it allowed the more creative players to do their thing and took a hell of a lot of pressure off the defence.

Why? What if the team who is playing the better football is Inter Milan or Porto or an equally grotesque club? What if the team playing "better" football is also diving all over the shop? That's how I would judge who I want to win as a neutral, as far as I see the British clubs are miles behind a host of others in the play-acting/cheating/time-wasting/diving stakes. Until that changes, I'll still support them. It's not just about the pretty stuff for me, yesterday I thought Chelsea were the better team and played more like a team than Barcelona did, same as Arsenal did in the CL final in the face of adversity. Saying all that, I don't dislike the big teams much at all - the only time my British supporting goes out of the window is when Spurs are playing in Europe... something I haven't had to contend with too much over the years bluebiggrin.gif

this is what i was thinking but not what i want to see Same here, I'd actually chuck Luque in for Emre to keep him fresh for Saturday (like Skirge has done) and I'd love to see O'Brien get a run out at some point. Fairly sure we'll see Milner on the left and N'Zogbia in the middle though whatever happens.

Don't know about anyone else but I always support English/Scottish teams in Europe, logically being a Newcastle fan there's a few problems there (increased revenue for "rivals", etc.) but at the same time there are a few positives as well (improves the reputation of the PL, means more games for our "rivals".) Anyway, I can't fully explain it but it'll be a rare day when I support a foreign team over a home team, especially a team like Barcelona - or any Spanish/Portuguese/Italian/Turkish team for that matter. Don't mind the Dutch, French or the German teams at all, though, I've just been soured by our own excursions in Europe against the "clever" nations and by England's failings in tournaments due to questionable conduct.

Harper Taylor Bramble Moore Ramage Solano Emre Butt N'Zogbia Milner Sibierski Subs Krul Bernard Huntington Pattison O'Brien Luque Carroll Surely?

GET IN THERE YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moments like this remind me why I love football, brilliant goal and justice is served. Drogba's been invisible since he got that bash on the noggin but fantastic, get in Essien as well, fantastic.

Seesly, there should be about 8 minutes of stoppage time here. Deco is a little ratfink bastard.

Classic Deco, little arsehole. Bleh, I fucking hate Barcelona.

Ballack does his best impression of an overpowered shot on PES6.

I think hes done well to contain Messi still the best LB in the world IMO, who wouldn't struggle against Messi The key words were "going forwards" tbh! Done alright defensively.

Ashley Cole is gash going forwards - this isn't just based on tonight, either, he's technically weak.

Tits, good goal mind. Drogba is a right fucking nancy.

He must have meant that, it's not like he's a Sunday league player.