Gallowgate End

"Berbatov signing of the season" deary deary me ZERO away goals in his first 5 months in the Premiership. Lua Lua is the best player in the Premiership if we are rating players by flicks. I suggest Berbatov watches more videos of his so called idiol Alan Shearer thats a proper number 9 and Centre Forward.

Agree... Don't want him, hes the sort of player i would hate to see in a Black and White shirt, woeful work ethic and arrogant for such a average player. His work rate is shocking particularly away from home, ZERO away goals in his first 5 months this season would back that up. And if his performance at St James this season is anything to go by i would not even look at him as a potential signing he was absolutely woeful. A decent 3rd Choice Striker behind Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins though.

Agree... Werder Bremen are the favorites for me... Sevilla are in trouble after there first leg. Benfica would be more favorites then Spurs i would imagine they have been playing Champions League football season after season and knocked out Liverpool in the Champions League last season.

Also his variation of strikes are good, power strikes left and right foot, lifts over the keeper, headers. Scored two cracking goals last night. Obafemi Martins second goal reminded me of Patrick Kluivert famous goal in Euro 2000 against France i think it was, where he sucked the defender into the 6 yard area then cleverly pulled back 6 yards and fired the shot into the bottom corner masterful movement.

Agree... I dont think its so much there defense that is so weak. Its the space in between the Midfield and the Defense that is there big weakness, something that we exploited so well with Butt and Parker consistently breaking there play up and setting attacks off fast. I think its very much to do with Van Gaal going with so many Attacking midfielders like you said that has cost them so much in the first leg. From what i saw Boukhari roming off the Left and Martens roming from Attacking midfield and Jenner on the Right all looked like very much attacking players who when things got broken up were not prepared to track back and left De Zeeuw their holder and back 4 with way way too much to do. I feel we are going to get goals over in Alkmaar i have no doubt about it. They have conceded 2 goals every home match in this seasons Uefa Cup.

Interesting comparison. Agree... with the prospect of Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen firepower next season and the quality in Midfield and depth cross the Midfield that Defense must certainly be the priority this Summer. I think re signing Jonathan Woodgate must be the main individual priority, we are talking about one of the best English centre backs available for a mere £5 million, i also think the situation at Man United is interesting Gabriel Heinze seems to have been totally frozen out and he is both very strong as a Centre back and a Left Back other then that i would love to see Roeder go for Gareth Bale who looks a fantastic prospect and could solve our Left Back area for many years to come. I certainly agree that a Striker must not be the priority this Summer, i will be surprised if Roeder does go for Midfielders and Strikers.

Positive thing is last years Uefa Cup winners Sevilla look like there in trouble with a 2 v 2 home draw against Shakski Donesk hopefully Donesk can know them out. Tournament favorites Werder Bremen and Benfica look like there going through hopefully they draw each other for the Quater Finals. And the others Osasuna, Espanyol, Lens and Spurs are all very much beatable opposition. We must of had the hardest journey yet playing Fernabache, Palermo, Celta Vigo, Az Alkmaar we are due a easy draw for the Quarters surely. After beating the sides we have we must be up there with Werder Bremen as one of the favorites no?

when fully fit for me we have a better first 11 and squad then when we finished 3rd,4th,5th under Sir Bobby Robson. i think the future is bright in that respect. particularly with the return of Michael Owen to partner Obafemi Martins, what fire power we will have. problem is Roeder has not yet in his year in charge been able to pick our strongest first 11 due to horrendous injury list.

interesting stats they have conceded 2 goals EVERY time they have played at Home in the Uefa Cup this season, against the likes of (Karserispor?, Braga, Liberec and Fernabache) and also not kept a clean sheet in this seasons Uefa Cup. there is no doubt in my mind we will score at least 2 away goals. i think we have a big big chance of going through after last nights impressive performance and result. Kieron Dyer and Obafemi Martins are the key players in the Away tie it will be interesting to see whether Roeder decides to change it and go with them two up top for the Away tie.

if you watch Faner game over in AZ Alkmaar they had 4 or 5 clear cut chances in a 2nd Leg and were the better side in both ties (chances wise) there is no doubt in my mind we will score at least 1 or 2 goals with Obafemi Martins which means they will need at least 3 or 4 goals they should be died and buried at 4 v 1 but the Ref has now made the second leg interesting and has given AZ Alkmaar a chance

How is the coefficient remaining high a good thing? Yeah, you have a chance of nicking the last UEFA spot but as long as there are 4 champions league places the big 4 are going to get in again and again and again......and again...and thats just going to mean they're continually getting their transfer budgets subsidised by the rediculous money they get for competing, keeping them way ahead of everyone in real terms. If English clubs got beat and the coefficient comes down - Fair enough you might be watching a lot more of the Bill instead of Belgian policemen - but suddenly these 4 teams with rediculous budgets are competing for 3 pots of gold - its going to end in tears for one of them (Manure? ) and they'll have to sell players or gamble Leeds style (Whoops!) and happy days - everyone is one rung closer to the top of the ladder. I'd love to see that coeffecient - rot away - 3 could become 2 and 2 could become 1 - and it will be a whole lot easier to get up there once you're on an even keel financially and long european campaigns tend to hinder league campaigns...its the only way anyone other than the current top 4 are even going to win owt. i would like to see top 3 get a Champions League place and then last Champions League spot going to the Fa Cup winners, it would do wonders for the Fa Cup and would keep the dream alive for other clubs to get the a Champions League place. for me the League Cup (Carling Cup) needs to be scraped.

so where the responses on GG about Michael Owen being finished also

question is how long is it acceptable for this guy to be effectively on leave of absence for? there is no doubt in my mind that its the race charges that have created a psychological problem for him to return and this "calf" injury is merely a cover up, a cover up for maybe something that he actually did do wrong we may well have seen Emre play his last game in Black and White due to this up and coming race charge i feel

interesting good analysis in the last paragraph. about the subject in the last paragraph for me its all very very bad on Shepherd's part however, makes a mockery out of the Sir Bobby sacking the way Shepherd has gone about things since, giving people time (Souness and Roeder) for finishing lower then what was "unacceptable" that of 5th under Sir Bobby, spending way way more money in one go under Souness money that was given to Souness because he could not manage a team that had got 3rd, 4th, 5th proviously so we had to give Souness a chance of building "his own team" basically Shepherd has done a alot of things he properly would not of had to do if he had not ludicrously sacked a manager who was consistently getting this club among the top pack of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal and consistently getting this club into Europe just 14 days into a season. however i back the idea of giving Glen Roeder time and it will be interesting to see how he goes about the Summer transfer window like you said. i was very impressed with his dealings last Summer so i am hopeful

All of that has been said before. Personally I couldn't give a s*** about him calling souness a liar on TV, the whole bloody thing was engineered by souness and his band of 'yes' men. It's a disgrace that people who had been watching the commitment of Bellamy from the moment he joined the club were prepared then and are still prepared now to think ill of him based on the ramblings of a f****** egotistical maniac like Souness. I find it incredible that you cite the match against Charlton and use that particular match to get at Bellamy. That was the match after which souness should have been sacked because that was the match he sacrificed 3 valuable points to feed his ego. He put his ego ahead of the best interests of the club. Bellamy called him a w****** because he knew that too. Still, each to their own. For myself, I want to see top players playing for this club and I want to see a manager who can manage awkward personalities. I'm off now, end of thread for me. It's been difficult the last few pages through the ridiculous sniping by the usual suspects. I think we all want to be PROUD of our club - and the players and the rest of the staff With a tit like Bellamy you just want to cringe - he's not going to change and I for one am very very gald he's gone are you "very very" glad 3rd, 4th, 5th positions have went with his departure also? for me Craig Bellamy ability rides above his personality defaults, and by the way personality defaults that for me did not effect the dressing room in so much of a bad way as the 3rd, 4th, 5th positions would suggest. there is no doubt Craig is a fantastic player and was a excellent player for Newcastle United on the pitch and one of the catalysts of our high times. however thats gone i hope all the best for Craig Bellamy as a Newcastle United supporter, Craig now has the club he deserves one of the most successful trophy winning clubs in English history. and by the way you mention cringe? Souness and what he did to this football clubs makes me more then f****** cringe, ruining two of the main catalyst of 3rd,4th, 5th (Bellamy, Robert) time at Newcastle United resulting in finising a discraceful 14th by the way Newcastle United worst every premiership finnish this all after Sir Bobby Robson has given his life to this football club turning this club into consistently with the top pack of Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal and qualifying for European football year in year out all for that useless c*** to ruin it. two of our OWN players fighting on the pitch under the so called disciplinarian Souness is what made me f****** cringe.

completely agree HTL i wrote a article about this subject when it happened on a different source and it including most of what you just wrote

good thread and interesting question when everybody is fit i think we have a strong first 11, strength the front 6 and 1 of the back five being the best in the Prem in his position ---------------------Given------------------ ---------------------------------------------- ---Solano----Taylor--Onyewu----Babayaro ---------------------------------------------- ---------------Parker----Emre------------- ---Milner---------------------------Duff---- ---------------Owen--Martins------------ with a good mixture of quality rotation/squad players Dyer, N'Zogbia, Emre, Bramble, in my opinion what and who Roeder needs to do to take us to the next level is to buy two big money signing of Jonathan Woodgate £5 million and Gareth Bale £7 million and 2 talented youngsters in the Right back position and Centre back -Jonathan Woodgate to play alongside Steven Taylor -Gareth Bale to give us one of the best left backs for years to come ------------------Given------------------- -------------------------------------------- --Solano---Taylor--Woodgate---Bale-- -------------------------------------------- --------------Parker---Emre------------- ---Milner-----------------------Duff----- -------------Owen---Martins------------ Subs Dyer, N'Zogbia, Butt, Onyewu, Harper Not being funny mate but do you still believe Parker and Emre works, despite all of the evidence to the contrary? its a interesting topic in which my opinion is the roles instructed to them by Roeder as a combination its not worked for the best of the two players to work as well tougher and its a big thing for me Roeder needs to realize and then modify it tactically rather then listen to our supporters and potentially just sell Emre rather then fixing a slight tactical problem. for me Glen Roeder fixing the slight tactical problem involves realizing our Captain must be given his best role, a role in which he won player of the season for us under Souness, a role breaking up the play and winning the ball back a role in which in my opinion only Makalele is more effective then him at in the Premiership (Mourinho had the same vision in Parker qualitys as a DCM) IF Roeder gives him that role i believe Emre can be given the role he made his name for at Inter Milan thats magic in the oppositions half and creating chances and designing moves with his passing. Glen Roeder when Emre returns will have to find that tactical solution or we may continue not to get the best out of for me what is two quality central midfielders in Emre and Parker.

good thread and interesting question when everybody is fit i think we have a strong first 11, strength the front 6 and 1 of the back five being the best in the Prem in his position ---------------------Given------------------ ---------------------------------------------- ---Solano----Taylor--Onyewu----Babayaro ---------------------------------------------- ---------------Parker----Emre------------- ---Milner---------------------------Duff---- ---------------Owen--Martins------------ with a good mixture of quality rotation/squad players Dyer, N'Zogbia, Emre, Bramble, in my opinion what and who Roeder needs to do to take us to the next level is to buy two big money signing of Jonathan Woodgate £5 million and Gareth Bale £7 million and 2 talented youngsters in the Right back position and Centre back -Jonathan Woodgate to play alongside Steven Taylor -Gareth Bale to give us one of the best left backs for years to come ------------------Given------------------- -------------------------------------------- --Solano---Taylor--Woodgate---Bale-- -------------------------------------------- --------------Parker---Emre------------- ---Milner-----------------------Duff----- -------------Owen---Martins------------ Subs Dyer, N'Zogbia, Butt, Onyewu, Harper

if he still has the power and pace he use to have then he will be a huge assest to Manchester City however did he not get a really bad knee injury then moved to a Saudi club so no idea what condition he is in now

al last someone with a bit of sense anybody who actually believes Sir Bobby wanted to sell Shearer needs there heads checked, i suspose these are they same people who would suscribe to that of Sir Bobby having no control of the dressing room despite getting 3rd, 4th, 5h -these myths are laughable whats more laughable is those who believe them- Have you read Sir Bobbys book? only the 5 times

al last someone with a bit of sense anybody who actually believes Sir Bobby wanted to sell Shearer needs there heads checked, i suspose these are they same people who would suscribe to that of Sir Bobby having no control of the dressing room despite getting 3rd, 4th, 5h -these myths are laughable whats more laughable is those who believe them-

most importantly 3rd, 4th, 5th, totally doolally

Nonsense. You want your goalscoring centre-forwrds to be greedy for crying out loud! I think it's great to see him so desperate to get his name on the scoresheet. It's not 'just' to get his name on the scoresheet - it's not 'just' that. He's the number 9 centre-forward and he is desperate to be top goalscorer, and justfiy his price tag - and so he should do. I'm fecking glad Shearer was greedy... Agree (Yorkie-Geordie)

Ratings Harper - 6.5 - had nothing to do. Solano - 8 - used the ball fantastically, played the pass of the match for our first goal and was key passer to our attacking moves. Taylor - 7 - was solid did not have to much to defend. Bramble - 8.5 - (MOTM) dominant in every one on one battle and anticipated fantastically tonight. Babayaro - 7 - used the ball well and was very comfortable however arguably at fault for the lead up to our goal but arguably harsh refereeing. Milner - 7 - worked hard and played his part in some good triangle play with Solano and Dyer. Dyer - 8 - the "movement" player in some fantastic triangle play with Solano, Milner, and his forward movement cursed lots of problems. Butt - 6.5 - for me another disappointing performance following on from the Liverpool match he is for me a poor mans Parker at winning the ball back and breaking up play in my opinion. Duff - 7.5 - beat his man time and time again one of which led to Martins goal and put in some good balls that where well defended. Martins - 7 - was not on fire tonight but got his customary goal. Sibierski - 7.5 - worked hard and offered himself at every opportunity for our midfield.