Cronky

Give Joe a chance, I say. At least he wants the job. The last blown-out old has-been took us into the Champions League.

I actually that's a tricky decision in most circumstances, but Martins has been so poor in the last two games. I'd start Martins against Villa, then bring Owen on from the bench. Whoever does best, I'd start the following week. I'd like to see Owen earn his place, rather than walk straight back in.

Did you not reckon much to the Owen of last season, Bob? Ie - playing off two strikers. I thought he linked the forward line to the rest of the team very, very well. Played some corking key passes aswell at times, i'd never realised he actually had that sort of passing ability. Oh the 4-3-3. What KK could have done with it this season. Owen was neat & tidy but i'd hardly say he was creative. his biggest strength in that role was timing and positioning, being able to ghost into the box later on in the build up to finish off chances. i actually think Viduka fits bobyule's description somewhat, but for his awful movement (and the fact he's finished) he'd be what we need. in terms of a 4-4-2 i still think Martins - Viduka is the best partnership at the club. I'd agree with that. Owen brought his ability as a finisher and as a reader of the game to that position, but he has never been a good passer of the ball. You may well be right about Viduka and Martins, but personally I've written Viduka off. I suspect he's not that bothered himself whether he plays for the club again.

What we lack is a creative striker who can operate in between a front man and the midfield. Someone in the style of Beardsley, Bellamy, or - going back a bit - Gavin Peacock. We've got target men (Viduka, Shola, Carroll) and finishers (Owen, Martins) but I think for the best combination you're looking at a front man plus someone who likes to play a bit deeper.

Bassong and Cacapa are so far ahead of Taylor it's daft man Taylor is in the team as the big stopper. Those two are far better defenders but pair them with Coloccini and we might be vulnerable in the air. We are even with Taylor in there tbh. he stops f*** all and backs off all the time though. Anyone would think he's the sweeper If there is one thing that I find unforgiveable in a defender it is when they continously back off an advancing attacker. I hate it with a passion. It is probably my biggest problem with Taylor. Justin Hoyte is another who specializes in this brainless tactic. Face up to the player, try and time it right and get a challenge in. I have seen Taylor back off till he is literally just outside the 6 yard box. It is criminal. If anything you want to make sure you get your challenge in before the opposing player is in the penalty box for goodness sake. It makes me cry. I've wondered about that for years, but it happens so often I can only think that it must be coached as the best way to defend. none of our other defenders do it/did it though. Bramble would charge at people all the time, even Ramage knew when not to back off Taylors problem is he can't tackle properly, he knows it and that's why he doesn't often tackle in the box. Sure he can launch into crunching tackles on the touchline or halfway line (which he often misses) and he'll throw himself in front of someone to block a shot in the area, but when it comes to proper tackling where the risks are high, he can't take the ball cleanly like Beye or Coliccini can. I'd agree with that analysis. He's poor on the ground, either with the ball at his feet or when he needs to tackle, and so he ends up trying to avoid certain situations rather than deal with them. Sadly, I just think Taylor is too clumsy to make a top class centre back. He'll improve with time, but I don't think by much.

The headline clearly doesn't reflect what he's said, but I think there's a decision to be made in the near future. I wouldn't particularly want yet another change of manager half way through the season, so if he continues to do his job well, I'd give him a contract to the end of the season, and then make the longer term decision from there. That's regardless of whether it's still Ashley in charge.

1952 FA Cup Semi-Final Programme, NUFC v Blackburn, in which the team's kit is described as 'Black and white striped shirts, black knickers.' Eeee, times have changed.

If he was willing and able to carry on (which I doubt), I'd have no problems. I don't want any silly grovelling apologies though.

This,I cant believe that people on here are still slating him Nothing is harder to lose than a reputation. It applies to Shola as well, who I thought did a good job for us last night.

West Brom looked like a settled side, built with a certain style in mind. We were a hotch-potch, with players often leaving things to one another and lots of misunderstandings. The low point came at the end when Duff and Geremi tried to hold the ball by the corner flag and even managed to cock that up completely. But - WBA played as well as they can, whereas we can improve. I agree about Barton as captain material. Sometimes giving the bad boy more responsiblity can work, and there aren't any other real leaders. And Jonas is our best buy since Rob Lee.

The big difference between the two teams that was exposed in the second half was that West Brom were a side built to the vision of one manager, who all understood what was expected of them. There was always an available man, they hunted the ball in packs, and they anticipated where they were all going to move and what they were meant to be doing. We looked like a scratch side, put together by different managers, with good individuals who could improvise well on occasions, but were generally hesitant and with little trust in one another. We often lost the ball through players getting in each other's way or not making the right runs. Fortunately, West Brom had no pace and a shit defence. But - we will improve, as Barton and Jonas get fitter. We also should develop a settled side with a settled way of playing.

Well, it looks like tonight will be a moment of truth for those of us who have been wanting Butt out of the side. Every other midfielder is available. Neither Barton nor Guthrie are great tacklers, but they do work hard so hopefully that'll be enough.

I'd agree that we need to replace him quickly if he's going to go, but I wouldn't be sorry if that happens. He hasn't progressed as we'd have all liked to see, and I don't think that's anything to do with managers mis-using him. It doesn't look to me like he's worked hard enough on the weaker parts of his game.

Obviously part of your central midfield has to protect the back four. Whether it's best delegated to one player or shared between two I'm not really sure. Maybe it depends on who's available. But what's been a problem for us in the last few seasons is that we've had defensive midfielders who can't really pass the ball (Parker, Butt), and / or we've paired them with players who don't get into the opposition's box (Emre) Either way, there's not much point in winning the ball if you can't use it swiftly and well. Of course if you've got athletes like Viera or Bryan Robson who can do both jobs, then it's problem solved. But those players are thin on the ground.

Given Beye - Taylor - Coloccini - Enrique Duff - Barton - Guthrie - Jonas Martins - Shola is the team I'd like to see. We can't really put out a great defensive side, but at least that one will be good going forward.

There were several bad moments in the final run-in to the 95-96 season, but watching us lose at Blackburn 2-1 when we went a goal up with 11 minutes to go was pretty shattering. We'd done the hard bit, and then our nerve collapsed. Somehow you knew then that the team just wasn't cut out to be Champions. Of non-NUFC moments, England failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals by drawing 1-1 with Poland made a big impact. England had never failed to qualify before and it seemed unthinkable, particularly as we'd won the thing 8 years before. And the game was unbelievable. We battered them for 90 minutes but it was one of those nights when the ball just wouldn't go in.

I don't understand the criticism of Jonas. I'd say he's our most important player. He retains the ball well, works hard and gets the team going forward. I know it's early days, but I think we look a different side when he's around.

No way in the world they have a better squad than us ours may not be that big but there is certainly lot more quality than most teams in the Premiership. Our loss was down to a managerial cock up. Oh for fucks sake. There's been nothing wrong with Joe Kinnears management, why the fuck are our supporters do keen to sink the boot in and blame someone? And those suggesting that we wouldn't have lost if Keegan was in charge are deluded. It wouldnt' have made a difference. They played better than us, you know, it happens. As for their squad being better than ours, I think you either seriously over-rate our players or seriously under-rate theirs. Agree with Joe Kinnear doing a good job overall, but he really did screw up the substitutions in the last couple matches. Their squad is hardly a different class to ours, and had we started with Jonas and Barton we probably wouldn't have to bypass the midfield every time we tried to attack. I felt the subs could have come on a bit earlier, but starting them would have been a bit dodgy. I think Joe may have had half an eye on the West Brom game, when they might well start.

He telegraphs his passes, which are often aimed at players in a worse position than him. That's why we end up losing possession so often.

Barton did very well today, considering the occasion and the pressure on him. He was very calm and confident out there and just played his natural game.

We were dominated physically in midfield for most of the game, so we can't complain about the result. Bassong was in trouble and they targeted him throughout. They pumped virtually everything down his wing. It's not his fault he's really a CB, but Enrique looks more confident out there. Martins had a mare. Shola did well. Basically in a game when space and time is very limited Martins is shaky. Jonas and Barton did well when they came on. We've missed them both.

What I really don't want to see is him playing well and then getting dropped the minute the big name player becomes available. JK has to walk the walk here - you can't praise the lad up and then not show faith when it comes to the acid test. I just want to see this club being run on normal lines for a change. If you play well, you keep your place.

Defensive midfield players in the style of Butt tend to be more valued by managers. My own feeling is that while you need someone to protect the back four, there's no point in choosing a player that keeps giving the ball away and puts pressure on the defence that way.

When the first goal went in and we went down to 10 men, I thought we were going to get humiliated. Absolutely mullered. They had dominated the game up to then and looked a class above us. But instead of going in for the kill, they slowed the pace right down and started knocking the ball around. They're good, but not actually good enough to win games like that. At this stage, they're a bit of a poor man's Arsenal. They pass the ball well, but not with Arsenal's pace and power. They also suffer a bit from Arsenal's weakness, in that there will be occasions when the long ball is the right option.

I thought he looked like a centre back out of position tbh. SWP was a real handful all night, and would have created problems for the best of full backs mind.