Theregulars

The frustrating thing is that there isn't really much of a way for us to get it through to the management etc. what we think of the likes of Smith, Butt and Barton. Reading recent pieces Keegan seems to think Emre and Viduka are the solution, which is good to hear and why I was dumbstruck to see Smith and Barton in the starting line up against Villa on Sat. If either of them make it into the same side against Man United I'll be pissed off but I'll still cheer the team. It's annoying as I always ring these phone-ins and want to make these points in the vane hope that somebody might hear, but they always allow morons to go and talk about how we should sign Ronaldinho and how Keegan is God. FRUSTRATING.

Given just doesn't look particularly happy to be here at the minute- not surprising with 11 years of playing pretty darn well but still having to experience underachievement every single year. He hasn't been his usual self this year. If he's out for the next few games and Harper performs think Keegan has a tough decision to make.

There's nothing worth standing up for the way we're playing right now.

He rocks my world. The pundits are so terrible though, the lot of them, except Kamara for pure entertainment factor. Especially Merson, he's so appallingly thick it's untrue. I hate it when they put Paul Walsh on our matches. There must be some footballers out there they could use who have half a brain - Le Tissier is alright but boring, Thompson only ever concentrates on LIVERPEEWWWEEELLLLL, Charlie Nicholas needs to calm it down a notch and Merson... bah. Salako is worse. I also hate that 12 year old they go to for League 2 crap, "Johnny Phillips". Has anyone else noticed how Warren Barton is getting more and more exposure as a Spanish football expert and a Football First commentator/pundit? He's crap as well. Mentions the word experience every 8 seconds. Whenver someone scores, "used his experience there". Tried to say dilligence in the Valencia-Betis game at the weekend and came up with "dimmerance". Also always called Le Sib "Simierski" which I found infuriating. Send them all to tackling practice with Alan Smith. Apart from Lawrenson, the BBC are much better. Lee Dixon is mint, Alan Hansen is good, Shearer... obviously. And comedy is available in abundance with Garth Crooks and Ian Wright.

Agree with the post about Reo-Coker. Total wanker with a very stupid name. How could you make Reo-Coker sound even worse? Combine it with Nigel. Was willing Butt to dropkick him in the shins.

Smith is by far and away not the man you want in a relegation battle AS HE DOESN'T CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING USEFUL TO THE FUCKING TEAM. In a relegation battle you want someone who will create chances, score, defend properly, not just graft for grafting's sake. He's crap. Crap crap crap. Until everybody on this forum realises this I will not rest. Maybe the reason Keegan is so desperate to bring Shearer back as a coach is to teach Smith how to not be useless/to persuade Big Al to come back and play - cannot be worse than Smith. Babayaro had more good games in Toon shirt than this trogladite.

What Big TRon said is spot on - his off the field problems don't really concern me, it's that he's also a complete waste of space on the park which makes him even more of a disgrace. Woodgate still played well when he had baggage, even Dyer did. Barton just doesn't seem to offer anything and seems inadequate in every department. How any sane man, let alone the manager in charge of our shambles of a team, can pick him ahead of Emre is madness.

Ummmmmmmmm....... Owen remembers where the goal is Better football than under Fat Sam (still not leading to much of a goal threat, it must be said) All the Africans have returned Smith isn't too far away from his next suspension Keegan seems to rate Emre slightly

He eats Alan Smith and we never have to see him again.

Seems alarmingly reluctant to admit that what we have is not good enough. Also, although playing a different formation to the dross offered up by Fat Sam, the players seem to be adapting just as badly. How he cannot see that Smith, Butt and Barton are total wank is beyond me, I think he's in complete denial. Now all the Africans are back and ready he has no excuse to stick with them. Seems to have an annoying preference for crap English players with Premiership experience. I hate that, "experience" doesn't mean that you're any good. Bramble has experience, he's still crap. The same can be said for so many players in the league. So many players come in from abroad and look good straight away/improve by their second year. Keegan seems to think English players who have experienced being crap elsewhere are the best way forward. Very worrying. Hopefully Smith, Butt and Barton will have a fait in training and all get jailed/injured/suspended or something. The worrying thing about Smith especially is that everyone in a position of power seems to rate him - Allardyce, Keegan, Ashley.... even Ferguson at Manyoo did. Maddening.

Honestly if I spent as much time working as I did slating Alan Smith I could seriously go on to great things.

Totally agree with your first post - all this criticism our defence gets is unfair. It's not entirely undeserved, considering the antics of one Stephen Carr on Saturday, but it's out defending as a team that is shocking. We can never keep the ball long enough or launch a meaningful attack meaning our defenders have to do 5 times as much defending as most other back lines in the league, which means more exposure which means more space for errors/constant pressure. I've said before that the key to good, modern DM is one that can make a crunching, accurate tackle and then do something useful with the ball - Carrick, Mascherano, Flamini, Makelele, Hamann etc. all fit the bill. Butt can tackle someone but then kicks it to the other team/off the park/loses it immediately. An attacking midfielder is one who can pick up the ball and make something happen - run at players, pick a killer pass, have a go from distance. Barton offers none of these and plenty more problems in abundance. Central midfield is probably the key area on the pitch as they both have to contribute to attack and defence, and ours is hideously inadequate. I've been saying forever that Emre has to be a starter, just because at least he can make something happen. I would then partner him with Faye or Geremi - tackling wise Faye is better, but for the pass afterwards/creative side Geremi could be a better option. Butt is knackered and completely past it, Barton is just a waste of time and doesn't offer anything right now, shadow of the player he was at Man City (where I never thought he was that good to be honest, just a fairly decent player in a woefully average side). I also can't finish a post without reiterating that Alan Smith is shit.

The only good points to him are his workrate - which every player should give anyway - and this apparent ability to harass defenders. I haven't noticed defenders seeming particularly harassed by him. He's not even a particularly nice guy, I don't know where this comes from - he's an angry, fouling, moaning bastard. I've said so many times since the day we signed him that he's utter shit and will never be good enough. I could excuse him if he even got near to scoring a goal but whenever there's an attack he's usually nowhere to be seen or kicking somebody. Can't pass, shoot, tackle, dribble - all he can do is bring the ball down sometimes and pass it backwards. Every other forward we have is better than him, every other midfielder we have is better than him, ergo there is no need for him to be in the team. It frustrates me SO SO SO MUCH to see him named in the starting 11 week in, week out for nothing relating to his performances. Had really hoped KK would realise he is bollocks but apparently not. Maybe he's a real whizz in training or something. Next game go with Oba and Owen, Emre and perhaps Geremi in midfield, and see if we can actually pass the ball around. The one shining light of relegation would be that Smith would go.

Do you wonder if Owen might start to perform a lot better for us now he is no longer certain of an England place? We all suspect England to be his priority, especially as we can't give him top-class European football or mount a title challenge. When he thought his place was automatic (as it was under McLaren) he thought he may have thought he had nothing to try for, but now he really does have something to prove we could see an improved effort.

I like that you assume part of any criminal mindset is a lack of concentration, must make computer fraud and the likes a real bitch for those ADHD-laden delinquents... Sorry if that was unclear, I meant he must have a lot on his mind and thus might not have a clear head to concentrate fully on playing. I know when I've got something weighing me down I find it hard to concentrate on a task in hand.

I'm celebrating 100 posts by asking something I've been wondering a while. Is it just me, or do many great players come here to see their careers just flush down the toilet? What is it about NUFC which makes players not play well for us but go on to great things with other clubs before/after playing for us? A lot of the time it's bad luck with injuries, maybe it's crowd pressure, bad coaching set up, managers lacking any tactical nouse/motivational skills since the Robson era. But just look at some of the following: Duff- sublime at Blackburn, one of Chelsea's better players until dropped for Joe Cole. Has largely not doe a great deal for us. Owen- regular scorer at Liverpool/Real. Know he's been unlucky with injuries but look how Shearer came back. Jenas- clearly one of Tottenham's best players, but after a great start became crap for us. Parker- amazing at Charlton, untested at Chelsea, now looks good for West Ham - why did he not develop when he was with us? Barton- difficult as he's a criminal and must be lacking concentration as a result, but for Man City, despite being in trouble, he still looked really good. There's probably more examples but I'm at work so should cut it short. My guess is the general impatience of a lot of our fans who get on peoples' backs way too easily, and it's not a comfortable environment for them to play in/they fear cocking up. But there has to be more to it than that. So many talented/promising players and ones who performed well for other teams have just flopped here/not gone on to reach what they should have. Any thoughts?

I think he's clearly a strong tackler and reads the game well, but he's just far too slow. H ecan't keep up with younger/more skillful players and thus gives away too many fouls. Part of being a class DM is what you do with the ball after you've won it - look at Hamann, Mascherano, Hargreaves, Flamini etc. A DM can't rely on just tackling ability, the game is more dynamic now than it used to be and you need more. Much like strikers/wingers now have to defend a lot better/more than they used to, DMs/CBs I think need to show a bit more class/touch/skill etc. I think Butt just hasn't really adapted his game to modern demands, either that or his game just doesn't suit modern demands. Everyone is right, his passing is dross... now Emre is back maybe he'll get helped out in that department. Still don't think we should just get rid as he's obviously useful/experienced, and he's certainly not just plain shit. Just has limitations that perhaps KK could work on, let's not forget the quality of coaching Butt's had since he joined us: Souness, Bruce, Roeder, Allardyce. What chance did he have to adapt to better, passing football. David Batty wasn't a gifted creative talent but was a key ingredient under Keegan before. I think Butt could improve/work out, but it's certainly worrying how crap he is doing anything attack-wise.

I do hope we dont start hyping his brother as much as we hyped him.....

Managers? Sammy Lee, he looks like a proper gerbil. Surprised footballer wise Le Tissier and the Neville brothers haven't been mentioned before. And what of Toon legend Clarence Acuna? He looked like the Predator ffs!

Did anyone actually expect him to take the blame for anything? The man has such an over-inflated opinion of himself. He believed he was too good for Bolton as he'd done pretty well on a low budget. Many managers before and after him have done it, yes they were a prety good side but they weren't world beaters. Did they qualify for Europe once or twice? Fact is we just weren't compatible, his style and our needs. I don't buy into this stuff about lack of money, we spent plenty and he chose idiots like Smith and Barton, has beens like Geremi and players just plain not up to it like Rozehnal. He refused to adapt tactics and backroom staff that served him well at Bolton (where, let's remember, there were no expectations or history of good football, or seeming direction - we are not a club just happy to stay up and to see how we'll go from there) when it was plainly obvious for all to see that they just weren't really working as he is too stubborn and up himself. Good riddance and I hope the fat nonce learns some humility.

It wouldn't get asked but I'd love to ask him just what he thinks Alan Smith is actually capable of contributing to the first team. A more inane question would be to ask what areas of the squad he believes need strengthening the most. And something about how likely we are to be able to keep N'Zogbia.

If you honestly start believing that refs are corrupted then surely there's not much point in following football right now? That said, the mistakes are so grievous and frequent at the minute that they could do with an investigation as to why. Not necessarily accusing them of taking bribes etc., but actually sitting down the British refs in front of a large video screen and explaining why hundreds of decisions in the last few years have been simply appaulling. Right now luck is not on our side ref wise, but it really has been in the past so it's a "what goes around, comes around" situation for me. I don't think they're corrupt, just really, really shit and unaware of how football is actually played.

Football already looks far better/players look far more comfortable than under Allardyce. I think against Boro for the first time in a long while we looked capable of scoring goals, and scored two fair goals (thanks Mike Dean) as well as squandering a number of chances (Barton missed two good ones). Under Alladyce four chances in a game was an absolute rarity. Still think it's a very risky appointment, especially with a squad that he only inherited and, for whatever reason, was unable to add to, but more content with him thus far than I have been with anybody since Robson. Still worried that if it doesn't work out we'll be in complete turmoil as our so-called Messiah would have failed, but no need to contemplate that just now. At least I hope not.

Emre is hands down a better option than Geremi. The reason Emre seems like a '45er' (yuck) is that his fitness record has been poor in his time here and he's very rarely been truly match fit. Emre has had much less time on the pitch than Geremi this year and has been much, much more effective. Think Emre really should be one of the focal points of our attacking game, a partnership with him and Jailbait Barton sounds exciting (and scary to be fair). Geremi's legs are gone, he's lazy and hogs all set pieces despite not being particularly good at them. Making him captain was one of the most laughable decisions in recent NUFC history to be honest. Nonetheless, his ability to play a pass/create occasionally mean he can be a handy, ageing squad player. Nothing more.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for new young blood etc., but how many young Italian players have made it over here? Definitely think he would be better suited to a coaching role as he could teach our players a few things about qualities they lack in abundance, like creativity, skill and finishing. But let's follow the media and appoint him as our new manager + 1 and watch the situation inevitably implode. Ridiculous.