Gallowgate End

The questions:

1. At the start of the season what where your expectations, and are things going as you expected?

after Glen Roeder pulled off the signings of Obafemi Martins and Damien Duff added to our first team over the Summer i felt bar injuries my expectations were 5th place the best team outside the "big 4" us having the un lucky injury crisis has made it difficult to achieve that target particularly as none of the other competitors have had to deal with such a injury crisis however we are level on points with our main rival for 5th Tottenham and we are not too far off Bolton who i feel are catch able just like last season so 5th place and the Uefa Cup we are still very much on course i feel.

2. Who's been your best performer this season?

Scott Parker has been a colossal in terms of winning the ball back and breaking up attacks he is one of the best in the Premiership for me at doing that and has been fantastic for us this season other then that Obafemi Martins at just 22 years old is having a great first season in the Premiership he has banged in the goals and baring injuries i feel he could be the Premierships third top scorer behind Drogba and C.Ronaldo this season also James Milner who in terms of productivity has continued from last season with 9 assists for Villa for us now 8 assists and 4 goals he is becoming a huge part of our attacking play but for me Scott Parker has been our best and most consistent performer yet again.

3. And your worst/most disappointing?

Michael Owen, Damien Duff both due to injurys, however both will be here for the next 4 years to show there true worth i feel.

4. You had a quiet January transfer window, if you where the manager, who would you have tried to sign? 

for me there where hardly any good deals in January and it was the best stratergy that we saved up for a big Summer, Jonathan Woodgate who when fit is arguably England's best all round centre half available for a mere £5 million must be brought to play alongside Steven Taylor apart from that compertion for places must be brought as i feel when everybody is fit we have a first team that should challenge for trophies and consistently be the 5th best team in the country year in year out.

5. What are your best and worst memories of our previous meetings?

4v3 at Anfield

6. Do you have any favourite/best chants (and perhaps any that require an explanation)?

Blaydon Races

7. What?s the banter like between Newcastle and Liverpool fans at St James, would you say that the 2 sets of fans get on?

Very good i think, I for one have a huge respect for Liverpool and its great history and also for there fantastic and special supporters.

8. In the summer, Liverpool and Newcastle are told to swap 3 first team regulars, who would you send to Liverpool, and who would you like from us?

Don't like the question.

9. Liverpool have become the latest club to gain new owners, Newcastle have been mentioned as well as a likely candidate for a takeover. How do you feel about these take-overs by foreign owners, and would you like to see it happen at Newcastle?

Good for some clubs however i am happy with our achievements under Freddy Shepherd and would not like a new board, we have been the 5th best team in Premiership history getting high places like 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th under Shepherd, Keegan, Sir Bobby Robson what other club bar the "Big 4" have had that? we are very much the 5th best club and best run club in the Premiership under Shepherd and i am very happy with Freddy and would not like foreign investment.

10. Care to predict Mr Roeder?s starting line up for the game?

                          Harper

--------------------------------------------------

--- Solano -- Taylor -- Onyewu -- Babayaro

---------------------------------------------------

----------------- Parker --- Butt ----------------

--- Milner ----------------------------- Duff ----

---------------------------- Dyer ---------------

------------------ Martins ---------------------

11. And finally, let?s have your score predictions for the game:

i think Rafa will go with 3-5-3 will be a tight game Butt and Parker against Alonso and Gerrard will be key also Milner and Duff will have a importent role against your formation, for you Bellamy(who i will stand up and applaud tomorrow) roaming as one of the 3 up front will curse havoc so two assists for Craig with Crouch and Kuyt scoring and i think Obafemi Martins will get goals off the wide service of Duff and Milner so 2 v 2 i predict.

Newcastle United 2 v 2 Liverpool

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/middlesbrough/6333175.stm

it shall be intresting to see if Woodgate accepts the contract

how long is his contract at Real Madrid for? because its muted Madrid are going to change there manager at the end of the season so why not wait till the end of the loan deal then decide

Real Madrid with a new manager and new ideas or Boro?

James Milner has 4 assists and 2 goals in his last 3 games

and now has 8 assists and 4 goals this season for Newcastle United

so it begs the question is he England's most productive and in form Right Winger this season?

for me he is

this is the promising youngster Sir Bobby Robson brought in to replace Nobby Solano for Right Wing and hasn't he just gone on and done that

yes he is under 21 but so is Aaron Lennon yet this season James Milner(8 assists and 4 goals) has been more productive then Aaron Lennon (goals 3 assists 5) and more productive then any other English Right Winger this season and also not forgetting he got 9 assists in total for Aston Villa last season compared to Aaron Lennon 3 assists so why oh why is Aaron Lennon in the England squad ahead of the more productive James Milner?

is Pace more important then Productivity i ask?

one thing is for sure is England in both James Milner and Aaron Lennon have two very special talents to go on and replace Beckham for Right Wing and we are very lucky to have one of them

We do need his height and aerial ability, no question. Hopefully he'll do fine if he gets started. Mainly I'm concerned that he's only had a day or two to train with the rest of the team. We've seen the drawbacks of playing with an unsettled back 4, and I can't imagine that they'll have built up any sort of understanding together yet. I'm just worried about putting out a defense that's not ready to play together yet.

agree its a concern

however with Milner having 4 assists and 2 goals in two games and Damien Duff return to the side and Dyer and Martins threatning teams through the middle i feel we will have too much attackingly for Fulham tomorrow thats the postive.

as much as our back four is a concern and especially after them coming off their worst performance of the season in a lose to a relagation side i don't see them being too much of a big concern to our unsettled back 4 and dabuton Onyewu.

i feel the Fulham game tomorrow has come at a great time and we need to make the most of that by getting the three points

 

Fulham have McBride, Bocanegra, and Dempsey, all of whom know Onyewu's playing style (a lot better than we do right now) and I'm sure have shared any potential vulnerabilities with their teammates. If anyone in the EPL have the edge of knowing Gooch's weak points right now, it would be Fulham.

 

So is it really a good tactical decision to have him make his debut, with all the pressure that comes with it, against the only team with players that knows his playing style better than his teammates do?

 

Just a thought.

intresting

but you can flip it round though

Onyewu has faced McBride in hundreds of training sessions and marking his fellow country men tomorrow would not be foreign to him a dabut tomorrow would not concern me at all

After tonight its clear Dyer shouldnt be played in midfiled!!!! Up front is where he's best and it seems he has a good understanding with Martins. When Dyer moved into midfield he wasnt all that good, He have a great engine but he aint a big tackler and when he does surge forward he leaves a huge gap in midfield. I dont even think he's a RW because he aint that good at crossing.

 

I suppose he could play attacking midfiled sat just behind the striker in a 4-51 but i feel his best position is up front where his pace is best used. He finishing has also improved.

interesting thread.

however i am one who has called for Dyer to be given a Central Attacking role from central midfield and i maintain this is his best position.

(wrote this in the match thread for Fulham)

"i saw in another thread people where saying Dyer was infective as a bombing on central midfielder against Aston Villa while he was not at his best on Wednesday i still feel this is his best position and Parker is a good partner when Michael Owen returns to partner Obafemi Martins i see Dyer and Parker being Roeder central two, a big feature of Sir Bobby successful sides was Dyer bombing on through the middle and Solano passing and link up and deliver off the right hand side and with the return to right back of Nobby tomorrow i am sure we will see a more effective Dyer tomorrow, for me its very important Solano and Dyer are in the same team as they link up fantastically."

main point is i think Solano off the right hand side gives the delivery and passes Dyer likes when coming short to link up or bombing on while i agree he was disappointing in this role against Aston Villa i feel the absence of Nobby delivery and passes Dyer movement thrives on was a major factor.

Given, Edgar, Huntington, Taylor, Solano, Milner, Sibierski, Butt, Patterson, Martins, Dyer.

decent line up, it will be interesting to see what Roeder shapes up with does he play Kieron Dyer throw central midfield for this one with Sibierski partnering Martins and Milner and Pattison playing wide or like Man United last weekend Milner coming off the left and Dyer from the right with Pattison and Butt central?

Bent would be a fantastic signing. Very quick, very good in the air and finishing will only improve. He has proved doubters wrong who were saying he was a one season wonder by singlehandedly keeping Charltons survival hopes alive. Without him they would be 10 points worse off.

 

Bent is the best British strinking talent in the country right now, and if he were to come to us for anything less than 13mil i would be delighted.

 

http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/fo/profiles/60000000000000000000020742.html

 

Genuine 1 in 2 striker playing in a shite team, with no european or domestic cup history, at only 22 years of age.

Agree with most of that, my opinion is he is England's 3rd best striker behind Rooney and Owen and in-front off the likes of Crouch, Defoe, Johnson, Smith.

would Bent suit Obafemi Martins or Micheal Owen though? i am not so sure, for me we need to buy a striker who long term Owen and Martins can thrive off and in terms of complementary strikers for Owen and Martins i think Crouch or Alan Smith would be a better then Bent.

Just been reading the 3 Legends book and found it to be an alright read and there are some interesting bits from Malcolm. He also claims that Robson knew nothing about the signing of Milner!

Good luck to Liverpool on this, it's good there are still people who give a F*** these days.  Don't let a few arsehole Newcastle fans on here speak for all of us.

well said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6233307.stm

 

Thought to be £5m.

I am surprised Spurs did not go for Boa Morte as they desperately need a natural left winger to balance there side.

however great buy for West Ham one of the better left wingers in the Premiership.

Its Watford apparently.

rumours it might be Tottenham, Martin Jol wants the Dutch youngster as his 4th choice striker.

it's gonna be either Watford, Tottenham or Sheffield United.

Looks like Souness will have a job pretty soon

We have a chance depending on what he wants. If he wants regular first team football then Us and Tottenham are the only two teams who will give it him and we have a chance. However if he isn't that bothered about first-team football then we stand no chance against Liverpool, Arsenal and Man U.

 

Tottenham have Young-Pyo Lee as left back

 

The only team that would guarantee him 100% first team football is us

But that doesnt mean he will choose us

Milner, Parker, Duff all choose Newcastle United over Tottenham so if its just us and Spurs in for Gareth Bale then i would fancy our chances obviously same situation regards to Giles Barnes.

i doubt very much Man United are actually in for Gareth Bale as they have spent millions already on Left Backs both Hienze and Evra.

Roeder is the only manager to say he is interested publicly for Gareth Bale however i suspect Spurs are also in for him as Lee and Ekotto have both struggled to impress Martin Jol to get a long runs in the side similar happened with Stalerti last season and Jol just went and brought Chimponda.

i suspect Newcastle and Tottenham are the two clubs to have bid.

Harper, Carr, Bernard, Babayaro, Bramble, Ramage, Moore, Butt, N'Zogbia, Ameobi, Owen are Injured and Parker is suspended so team picks itself really unless we sign anybody between now and Saturday.

                                       Given

                     Solano   Taylor  Huntington  Edgar

                          Dyer    Butt  Emre    Milner

                                Martins   Sibierski

hopefully the following will return for Spurs away the week after Babayaro, Carr, Ramage and Duff.

if not then Babayaro and Carr are surely taking the p*ss

Or is he just including him so our injury list looks worse ?

11 or 12 six and two three's tbh

put Milner left, Dyer right and Sibs up front. At least that way only one of our players is out of position.

Yeah I think its likely Roeder will start that midfield. Dyer--Parker--Emre--Milner

however i want to see Dyer causing problems through central midfield with his pace and movement he could be picked out by Emre passing from the Left and Solano passing from right back (ala like the move when Dyer went on to get the penalty against Everton) and he could bounce off Sibierski hold up play as a (link striker) also Martins would benefit from this also.

Judging by Roeder quotes sounds like Nicky Butt will play alongside Steven Taylor this added with having both Duff and N'Zogbia injured gives us a fantastic chance to play Dyer through the middle bombing on from central midfielder which in my opinion is his best position, Scott Parker has a big job on protecting the back four for this one and will have break up play and also come over to make two up against one when either one of Man United wingers are attacking our full backs.

                                         Given

                    Solano   Taylor     Butt     Huntington

                    ---------------Parker---------------

                        Milner      Dyer      Emre

                                          Sibierski

                                 Martins

Subs Carrol, Luque, Pattison, Edger, Krul

Prediction Newcastle United 1 v 1 Manchester United Rooney, Martins

anyone know if Scott Parker 5th booking against Everton means he is suspended for this one or Birmingham next Saturday?

With the right coaching and use of the old "the ball's a hot potato" training strategy he could probably become a decent holding player. I think the thick cockney git thinks that "holding role" means hold the ball, forever!

think this post does some up perfectly the bizarre reasoning of some Geordies of there dislike of Scott Parker.

no point debating the quote to be honest...

the same Scott Parker then was our player of the season under Souness in the holding role.

 

As he would be for any team fighting for dear life in games and always on the back foot. If we want to play like that all the time, great, Scott will fit right in.

 

However, if we want to put teams under pressure then he's not the right type of player.

 

I disagree i think Scott Parker can also play as a box to box player and press high up the pitch and be effective.

 

however why Roeder has been using Parker in that role when Emre has been alongside him i find strange the balance simply is not right, somebody else posted about this the other day Emre is a more effective and better player when played in a attacking central midfielder role and has a holder next to him thats why he has been fantastic since Butt has been in the team, Glen needs to play Parker in the holding role where he got player of the season under Souness in and Emre attacking central midfield where he has been playing since Butt return to the side.

 

Parker won the player of the season for his defensive work in that role, as we were a team constantly under attack from the opposition. He's shown, now that we're playing better football and actually putting teams under pressure, that he doesn't have the brain to distribute the ball quickly enough from that position and help put teams under pressure, which is part of that role. Tackling and work rate aren't good enough attributes to warrant a place in the team.

Aye still think Parker can be a effective box to box central midfielder too i mean he has 4 goals this season and 3 assists in that role however it seems we both agree he is a better holding central midfielder and that is the position Roeder should play him if Emre is to be his partner and if we are to get the better out of both no?

the same Scott Parker then was our player of the season under Souness in the holding role.

 

As he would be for any team fighting for dear life in games and always on the back foot. If we want to play like that all the time, great, Scott will fit right in.

 

However, if we want to put teams under pressure then he's not the right type of player.

I disagree i think Scott Parker can also play as a box to box player and press high up the pitch and be effective.

however why Roeder has been using Parker in that role when Emre has been alongside him i find strange the balance simply is not right, somebody else posted about this the other day (see Quote below) Emre is a more effective and better player when played in a attacking central midfielder role and has a holder next to him thats why he has been fantastic since Butt has been in the team, Glen needs to play Parker in the holding role where he got player of the season under Souness in and Emre attacking central midfield where he has been playing since Butt return to the side.

here is a better way of explaining it...

The problem with Parker is that his manager can't seem to make his mind up what to do with him.

 

Creatively Emre is the better player but when they play together Emre is sitting deeper trying to play a disciplined game while Parker gets forward and tries to create. It's ridiculous. I remember Roeder saying something a while back about Parker getting forward with Emre sitting back and I couldn't believe it. It's a total misuse of both players' skills and they both look worse for it.

 

Butt has come in and Emre has been playing a lot better. This isn't because Butt is good or because Parker is poor, it's simply that Emre has been given the creative freedom he should always have had, while Butt has enjoyed playing his own defensive game. Butt as we all know is a DM and this has forced Roeder to play Emre a bit further upfield. Someone mentioned in another thread that Roeder has been successful when decisions have been forced on him and this is another example of that.

 

Emre shouldn't be anchoring the midfield while Parker goes wandering - that's mad. As soon as Butt came in we had a DM doing the defensive work and an AM doing the attacking work, and guess what - we look much more balanced.

Scott Parker holding and Joey Barton bombing on would be very effective in my opinion.

 

if the rumors about Emre are true that Bayern Munich want him for around £8 million then i would cash in and buy Joey Barton for £6 million and have the holding options of Parker and Butt and bombing on options of Dyer and Barton.

 

however January is not the time for this...

 

i think Roeder will concentrate on bringing in players in positions we need like Defense and a Striker and not Joey Barton in January.

 

Here we go again.

 

What on earth makes people think Parker can play the holding role he is continually touted for?

 

I don't think Barton is that good, but I'd swap him for Parker in the blink of an eye.

the same Scott Parker then was our player of the season under Souness in the holding role.

however i have seen your posts before about our Captain and there is no point debating Scott Parker pro's and con's with somebody who thinks Scott Parker contributes nothing to our team.

Martins' goals warning

By James Pearson - 30 Dec 2006

Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins has warned Premiership defenders he is yet to reach peak form.

The former Internazionale ace has six goals in his last six league outings following a slow to start to life in England.

Martins is hoping to reel in the likes of Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo in the scoring charts, but has revealed he can get even better.

"If I can beat Cristiano Ronaldo and Drogba, that would be fun,"

"I respect other strikers but I am here on a mission. Being top scorer in my first Premiership season will be no mean feat.

"Learning the ropes was tough and the pressure really got on my nerves. But I knew the moment I relaxed and concentrated fully on my game the goals would start pouring in.

"When I hit full throttle in weeks to come, I will be devastating in front of goal."

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=438336&CPID=8&clid=4&lid=2&title=Martins'+goals+warning

Seems to have his confidence back. 

At 22 years old and what i have seen in the last 6 games this kid has the potential to be one of the best Strikers in the Premiership in my opinion.

can see Obafemi tearing Everton defense apart today.

if Garath Bale and Melciot did come in January it shows that Roeder has totally lost patience with the consistent piss taking by Babayaro and Carr and there little injuries.