ATB

Probably

When they do a fitness-test at matchday I don´t think they do a bleep test, that would be quite stupied. They probably do some start stop running and then judge how it looked.

SAM Allardyce believes that the "unique" talents of Turkish playmaker Emre can bring something different to the Newcastle United midfield as the former Inter Milan ace nears a return to full match fitness. The 27-year-old came through 90 minutes of Reserve team action on Tuesday night, showing his quality with a man-of-the-match display and a sublime first-half free-kick which helped Lee Clark's side to a 2-2 draw. And Big Sam is adamant that, despite rumours suggesting otherwise, the 47-times capped star will not be leaving Tyneside in January, the United boss instead insisting that Emre could play a key role for the Magpies this season. "In many ways, Emre is unique for us at the moment because of his passing ability and the way he can unlock the back door in teams," said the 52-year-old manager. "We will need a player who can do that at times. He has a fantastic eye for a pass and he is also left-footed, which is something different again. "He is not the same type of player as the other midfielders and he can definitely bring something extra when he is full fit. "It's just a case of getting him fit and keeping him fit." Emre told Newcastle World TV last week that he was determined to fight for his place in the United side and was quick to rubbish newspaper reports suggesting he had tried to engineer a move back to Turkey. And Allardyce too has spoken of his desire to keep the former Galatasaray youngster at St.James' Park. "I've not got a large enough squad to be thinking about losing any players and I do not want to sell Emre," added the former Bolton boss. "The squad is just about big enough this season, but I will not be looking to lose anyone. "Emre's problems have been injuries. He had an injury at the start of the season, went away on international duty and came back with another little problem which has taken longer than we expected to clear up. "He's just getting back involved, but he will be going away on international duty again next week. "I just hope, this time, he doesn't come back injured again. We want to have him fit and available because he adds something different to the squad when he is fit."

Or picture=)

i dont think there is any reason to blame Sam for playing Smith etc. it´s problably a reason why he are picking the team he does.

the different between the sides yesterday was Elano and Petrov. They, as many games before, won the game to them. I think this is what Sam wanted from Barton but as lucky we are he got injured=(

I just wonder if you belive Sam can make us to a winning team again, and make us so good so we can for real can compete for CL and the FA Cup.

Geremi is far our best passing player! He shoulden´t be droped.

But that's the thing... thinking that we would do anything better than mid-table this season was certainly unrealistic, in my eyes. With all the upheaval at the club, with the past seasons of unrest and mediocrity and inconsistency, with all the changes that have happened and all the ones that need to happen still, a top-6 finish this season would have been downright miraculous. A top-8 finish would be a serious uphill struggle. Even top-10 will need determined effort. But I'd say, based on what Allardyce has said and done so far, that we should not be focusing on our position in the league as an indicator of success for this season. We should be looking for significant improvement in our defensive performances over the course of the season, and that's really pretty much it. Allardyce obviously made the decision to focus primarily on strengthening our defence this summer, since it's generally been our weakest area. He brought in Viduka, Barton, and Smith to kind of pad out the front/attacking mid areas but didn't really work on strengthening our attack, because generally it's in much better shape than our defense was. Except for those 3, every signing we made was either a defender or a defensive mid. Some may argue that he should have been looking for more options up front instead of focusing almost exclusively on shoring up the back, but I don't necessarily see it as a mistake. I see it as a long-term strategy. A somewhat risky one, but a strategy nonetheless. I'd expect Allardyce's plan for this season was to focus on defensive improvements, trying to stop us from leaking goals and organizing our back line and in dong so, trusting our existing midfielders/strikers to get enough goals to give us a semi-decent league finish, a stance which I think is backed up by his deliberate efforts to play down any speculation of a top-6 finish this season and by quotes about needing several years to really implement his plans for Newcastle. I'd say he's not going to be looking at a high league position this season as an important goal, merely shooting to finish slightly better than last season. What he's really looking for is a tighter defense that works as a team and concedes fewer goals. I really think he'd be happy with even a 12th or 13th place finish as long as our defense looks competent and composed by season's end. If we do finish top-10 or even top-8, so much the better. But if we don't, it's not a huge problem as long as we show definite signs of improvement where we need to. Fix the defense this season, worry about the midfield and attack next season. Don't try and rig a half-ass solution to all our problems all at once. Focus on them one at a time, fix them completely, and then move to the next. Incremental steps forward. I'm just not sure most fans are patient enough for it. It's an unpopular viewpoint, I'm sure, to think that we shouldn't be focusing on pushing up the table, but I think that putting too much emphasis on results undermines efforts to really address the underlying problems with the team. Don't make it about must-win games, make it about improved performances in target areas. If we do that, then the results will come in due time. Assuming we're patient enough to let Allardyce see things through, that is... Totally agree. Cheers mate!

No suprise. Good choice Same old Shola always scoring!=D

I Would say Milner

What a funny thread... 1st: Newcastle United I don´t give a shit to the rest of the team.

"the pressure is on Derby to perform" No its not. Its on us. Therefeore we should play 4-4-2

ok Enrique seems to be in doubt. In that case I would play Taylor as leftback and play Beye as a rightback.

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1112619,00.html I would start with Ameobi in the game. as well as Enrique and move Zog to a left wing spot. The rest of the team would be the same as against Wigan (Milner takes Smith´s position), and of course I would play 4-4-2

Ze Maria?

No Emre=(

Is Emre on the bench?

ok the team is?

Good team!!!

teamnews?

Still we got a really good team that should win this! I love Smithy=D

Good timing to say this now. They really care of the club...

sounds good. though he was injured or something. good news

Why did Milner go off=S