toptoon

I like Taylor he's much better than some on here make out. He'd have a lot of takers with other Premiership clubs, but i'm glad he's at ours he's Toon through and through which is a bonus. Yes he needs to cut out the mistakes and i don't mind sticking my neck out and saying i think he will and prove a few on here wrong. Saying that he'll have to wait for his opportunity because the current back 5 are undroppable at the moment.

Ive seen snails with better movement than Viduka tbf Movement isn't about all about speed tbh. Viduka's excellent at receiving the ball from deep, laying it off, and getting into the box. The first time he touched the ball in the Boro game he was about 40 yards from goal. He's also excellent at getting infront of his defender at the near post. Admittedly, Owen is the master of good movement but Viduka is certainly second in that respect. Although Oba has improved, if he wasn't blessed with such pace then he probably wouldn't be a brilliant striker. No he isn't .......Martins and Owen move alot running into channels ect..... Viduka nowadays is very static with no to little movement..... when people try passing to him the defender nips in front of him taking the ball off him. For a big bloke he is also very weak in the air and easily overpowered by a half decent CB. Shearer would at least try. There is no way you can convince me Viduka has good movement. Viduka is a good finisher and also good if you give him space to work in or a defender who is weaker or makes lots of mistakes. Against a good CB viduka will have no to little impact on the game.

Source: The Sun. Seems to contradict each other. I tend to believe the quote. I think the sun probably added the first bit highlighted, because if there is no interference then Keegan could come back.

Since i started comparing him with Viduka. But he doesn't though. He has excellent pace of course. Doesn't equate to excellent movement though. I think his movement has been really good this season, he seems to be pulling out wide more which has been dragging defenders out of position and leaving space for the wide men to run into, he also seems to be finding space out wide more where he's been able to put some dangerous balls into the box. His partnership with Owen has impressed me this season. Ahhh Baggio a man who speaks sense.

Since i started comparing him with Viduka.

Agreed. or even Xisco or Duff or Ranger. Don't rate Viduka at all. Viduka has fantastic ball control technique and ability. Give him the ball in the box and he will generally get a shot on target. Lash 40 yard balls up to him & expect him to challenge it aint going to happen. Nowadays Viduka is still a good finisher if you give him a chance on a plate. Thats all the positives i can say about him really. He has little to no movement which is frustrating if you want to pass him the ball, he is slow, he wins surprisingly little/nothing in the air against half decent CB and can be very easily marked out the game. I'd rather dip in the reserves for Ranger/Xisco or even Shola. Pass the ball to Vidukas feet and he will retain it. Shearer wasn't exactly super mobile towards the end of his career but his skill, technique and ability was still so good he kept on scoring goals........not forgetting his assists as well. Viduka will score a few goals for us before the end of the season, these will come in handy. Its getting the ball to Vidukas feet in the first place which is the problem unless our midfielders are skinning the opposition and the opposition have left viduka unmarked. Viduka is a poor mans Shearer. Shearer grafts his arse off putting defenders under constant pressure, which Viduka certainly doesn't. Plus Shearers movement and hold up play was very good Viduka's is almost non existant and he is surprisingly weak especially in the air for such a big guy. Shearer was astonishingly good in the air. Shearer wasn't that particularly big and he wasn't fast but was pretty much perfect in ever other way.

Agreed. or even Xisco or Duff or Ranger. Don't rate Viduka at all. Viduka has fantastic ball control technique and ability. Give him the ball in the box and he will generally get a shot on target. Lash 40 yard balls up to him & expect him to challenge it aint going to happen. Nowadays Viduka is a good finisher if you give him a chance on a plate. Thats all the positives i can say about him really. He has little to no movement which is frustrating if you want to pass him the ball, he is slow, he wins surprisingly little/nothing in the air against half decent CB and can be very easily marked out the game. I'd rather dip in the reserves for Ranger/Xisco or even Shola. Utter nonsense. So you think he has excellent movement, is quick, wins alot in the air and is rarely marked out of the game? I think some people forget how bad a player can be when he's been out for a while. He is still a quality finisher (so better than Shola there) but other than someone else carving out a gilt edge chance for him or it luckily landing at his feet he offers the team precious little and thats not enough in the modern game. Martins and Owen offer the team excellent movement and make themselves available avenues for passes from teamates. Viduka doesn't seem to do anything really except moan that people can't get the ball to him in space.

Agreed. or even Xisco or Duff or Ranger. Don't rate Viduka at all. Viduka has fantastic ball control technique and ability. Give him the ball in the box and he will generally get a shot on target. Lash 40 yard balls up to him & expect him to challenge it aint going to happen. Nowadays Viduka is still a good finisher if you give him a chance on a plate. Thats all the positives i can say about him really. He has little to no movement which is frustrating if you want to pass him the ball, he is slow, he wins surprisingly little/nothing in the air against half decent CB and can be very easily marked out the game. I'd rather dip in the reserves for Ranger/Xisco or even Shola.

Why? Because he isn't very good!

Agreed. or even Xisco or Duff or Ranger. Don't rate Viduka at all. Gutted if Martins is out. I'd fancy us to beat them with Martins. Without its still possible but i'm a lot less confident.

Very happy with Martins and Owen. Martins is the key for me. As he can play up top on his own if needed (not ideally) is real nightmare for defenders with his speed and being able to use both feet well, unpredictable and has a rocket of a shot too. I am having nightmares that we may sell him. Owen needs others to create for him but is a master finisher and is so intelligent with his runs, timing and positioning. Martins is a good foil for him. He can lurk a little behind Martins timing his runs into the box or Martins can drop off or wide to turn provider, its a flexible partnership. If Owen does go i would build our attack around Martins. Get him the best partner we can. A big man type striker ideally with some pace too.

Agreed. Hopefully he's learn't now.

This. Coulden't put it any better. Would be gutted with Rise.

Agreed. He is one of our most important players for sure, arguably THE most important. He is a danger to any defense a real door opener, a raw talent. Takes the heat off Owen nicely too. Hopefully Kinear has now realised not to sit back too much when going ahead. If we do get pushed back then we need at least to be able to hit them on the break and give them something to worry about. Martins being the best at this. Zoggy and Jonas would be handy too.

Butt and Viduka's contracts should not be renewed this summer. We should also get rid of Smith and possibly Duff too. Be good to re sign Shola and then sell him for a couple of million. We have Barton, Gutherie in the CM slots. Geremi, Colo and Lua Lua can cover if needs be. Butt's passing is poor and his legs are going now too, he's no spring chicken.

Martins is arguably our best outfield player. Certainly one of them and very effective.

Harper and Owen i'd really want to stay. Edgar maybe too and resign Shola to sell. For the rest its time to go and take Smith too.

GIVEN BEYE TAYLOR BASS ENRIQUE JONAS COLO GUTHRIE NZOG OWEN MARTINS I know some will disagree with Taylor coming in. Its a gamble i'd take. This has the right mixture of grit, skill, workrate, passing ability and pace imo. 1-2 Martins and Owen for us.

It is unbelievably obvious that this is the case. There shoulden't really be any debate here. As soon as Martins goes off our ability to hit teams on the break all but disappears, this gifts teams the chance to throw extra bodies forward and put us under pressure . Viduka is no where near as good as some on here think he is. He is a fat, slow, has been, who can still finish if given a chance on a plate or some space to play in, but will never be up to much if you stick a half decent CB on him. Smith, Cacapa and to a lesser extent Butt andpossibly Duff too we need to get rid of in the summer too. For all the undoubted positive attributes Kinear brings to the table. The one big failing he seems to have (other than taking Martins off) seems to me to be he try's to keep the big names happy. i.e. Viduka doesn't deserve to be on over Martins. He seems to think Butt, Smith and Duff have big futures with us where as most of us with half a brain thinks keep Butt till his contract runs out in the summer then replace him with someone better with younger legs (and someone who can pass), Sell Smith to the highest bidder ASAP, Viduka, Cacapa and Duff see Butt and Smith.

If there was a premiership XI he'd be the only Toon player to make the team. I coulden't name a current better Keeper and i woulden't swap him for any other keeper. He's certainly better than any other Premiership keeper imo.

This. Although JK will probably play Butt and Duff (if fit) unfortunately.

Won't disagree that perhaps he wanted his bit of fun too of owning a premiership club. But he never expected to hang around too long. Have his fun then cut and run laughing all the way to the bank. He could still have keegan here if he really wanted. Alarm bells should be ringing now and the penny has hopefully dropped for some now he wants 300-400m for the club he paid just £133m for (ok plus paying off £80m) .

The best team i think we could muster would be: Given Beye Taylor Colo Enrique Jonas Barton Gutherie Zoggy Owen Martins Harper Bassong (deserves to play really) Edgar Geremi Gonzales?? Xisco?? Carroll Not sure about xisco or gonzales yet. Butt's legs have gone. Duff runs around like a madman which is great if he would be more productive with it, but he isn't Viduka some people are expecting great things from if he ever isn't injured but they will be disappointed he is big and slow and is easily overpowered by most CB's. Give him space and time and an apportunity and he'll tuck it away nicely but we can't carry him. We need to provide for Owen now. Cacapa 5th choice for me CB, we may as well use an up and coming youngster. Replace Smith and shola too.

"It is crystal clear now what the motives were, obviously, for Mike Ashley". "I think that really in the end he did buy the club in the hope that he thought he could quickly sell it on for a vast profit" 100% correct. Some on here still thinking otherwise though is beyond me. Extreamley gullible. He has a track record of buying into things only to sell after a short while at a large increase.

Given 8 Kept us in the game with two cracking saves. Taylor 8.5 Nearly won us the game, got us a point. Cacapa 6 okish, i don't rate him Coloccini 7 Classy player very busy at times couple of mistakes. Enrique 6 - Subbed early. I like him, but he has some real competition with the impressive Bassong Geremi 6 fantastic crosser and great cross it was for the first, but thats about it, preffer him to Butt though. Butt 4 A liability. Guthrie 6.5 Tidy display N'Zogbia 7.5 A real threat good runs keep him on the left wing ffs Duff 5.5 headless Chicken of the highest order, right time right place for goal. Owen 6 No service did little Bassong 7 - good game Ameobi 5 - Donkey