Cronky

It's a big test of our new formation, and I can only see our midfield being overrun. NaturallyIhopeI'mwrong.

Keegan was past his best when he came to us. After promotion, he himself realised that he wouldn't be able to cut it any more in the top division, and got out at the right time. Actually, even at his peak, I'd be reluctant to play him at Beardsley's expense.

Well this is why I'm surprised at the persistence of this rumour. It's hard to think of a player less suited to Arsenal's style than Oba.

Quite easily, really. There's only room for one centre forward, and Shearer was miles better. Beardsley would have been his ideal strike partner, and it's a shame they weren't together at their peak. Supermac had pace and power, but not much finesse, as I recall.

McFaul Nattrass Woodgate Moncur Kennedy Lee Green Gascoigne Waddle Shearer Beardsley Whenever this question comes up, I feel frustrated that we haven't had better defenders. (Woodgate excluded)

Yes, he was. Not much pace but very skilful and a brilliant reader of the game. Somehow he would always use the ball in precisely the way that would hurt the opposition the most. Quite a tasty bugger too. I can remember he had his cheek broken in an aerial challenge with Kevin Moran, who was centre back for Blackburn at the time. Dalglish was out for quite a few weeks, and his return match was actually against Blackburn. First corner of the game, Dalglish and Moran go up for it and down goes Moran, clutching his face. Dalglish had actually broken his cheek, but had somehow done it without making it look deliberate. Coincidence? You decide.

I can't see anyone challenging the top four. Even Liverpool - generally regarded as the weakest of the four - are capable of a standard of football that's beyond the rest. It really all depends on who buys who. But Everton's position is no fluke.

I'd like to see Fergie win this one and confound all the journos who hate him, but the momentum is with Chelsea.

The whole issue of Sir Bob's succession was bungled, but you can't blame the guy for not holding up his hand and walking. After all, in the season before, we'd just finished 3rd in the Premiership, and had got to the 2nd phase of the Champions League. It was up to the Chairman to make the tough decisions. The master plan was for Shearer to take over when Sir Bob retired, but for various reasons, that didn't come off. There seemed to be no Plan B.

Some great football and very exciting, but in the end both teams lacked a cutting edge that would match their approach play. One goal in 180 minutes tells its own story. Neither team had a really top notch centre-forward type to lead the line. (Eto'o looked past his best and seemed to roam around quite a lot.) I'd fancy Chelsea to win it now, though Man U have got just enough left in the tank to stagger over the finishing line in the Premiership.

Fuck me, what a game. I thought Barca put in a great effort. Man U had no answer to Messi. That guy can run faster with the ball than most players can run without it.

Great game. Barca are unlucky to be behind. If they get an equaliser, I don't fancy Man U's chances of getting back.

Some more good stuff, thanks HTT. Beardsley was always getting subbed by Dalglish at Liverpool, so I think there was a bit of an edge to their relationship even before Dalglish came to us. With Sir Bob, I think I'm right in saying that he was in charge when Beardsley and Wharton faced that enquiry about bullying academy players, so maybe there's something left over from that. He certainly comes across as bitter in many respects. With Shearer, I'm quite convinced that many people in the game are actually a bit afraid of him. I don't just mean people connected with NUFC who are worried about his influence - I think it's much more widespread. It's journos as well. The guy has a presence about him which makes people very wary of upsetting him.

I could see Man U stumping up big money for Berbatov. Not £40m perhaps, but something around £30m. He could be he last piece in their jigsaw - a centre forward-type who is comfortable with their passing game. I know it's a bit strange to be talking about something missing from a team that's top of the league, but with Berbatov they'd be unstoppable.

I'm jealous of you for being there. I'm a bit disappointed about their comments on Wise. The big clubs all need to develop elaborate talent-spotting networks all over the world, because the competition is so fierce. It's impossible for one man to do it, and I don't think Keegan is a 'detail' sort of person anyyway. Likewise with Houghton - you need someone to do the research into the opposition and that's never been Keegan's bag. The gung-ho approach that Beardsley and Bez seemed to be talking about won't be as effective as before. And I'd agree about Taylor - he's gone backwards and needs to sort himself.

http://www.spurspies.tv/2008/04/why_are_spurs_making_such_hard.html A sweeping generalisation that's asking to be shot down - Andy Cole, Craig Bellamy, Rob Lee, Shay Given etc But it's not an easy place to play, given that in the last 20 years, expectations have exceeded achievements.

Disappointing if true. He looked a good all rounder to me, and he's now got something to prove.

Well personally, that's what I was doing. What I'm finding here is that if you give a balanced picture of Martins, others are only picking on the reservations that you've expressed, and not the positive bits. The guy has done better than I was expecting this last few weeks. Our attack looked pretty toothless without him, and we now look like scoring goals, however ragged we look in other areas. All the focus has been on Owen and his new role, but I'm still not convinced. I'm only going by the 60 minute Sky highlights, but he looked pretty anonymous yesterday, and he didn't produce much the week before. Opposing managers will now be devising plans to keep him quiet, and that's a fresh challenge. In my opinion, the focus has quite rightly been on Owen and his new role -- it's been a major turning point, and let's be honest, as both captain and the far-and-away most prestigious player Newcastle have got, he's going to be the "main man" when it comes to coverage of the club. Plus, it was probably the most surprising aspect of the change in form, so it got the attention. 6 goals in 7 matches is nothing to snigger at, either. Fair enough he was fairly anonymous v. West Ham, he was bound to have a quiet match at some point, just as Martins did the week before. But to say "he didn't produce much the week before" seems a bit...ludicrous. Merely two goals and a helluva lot of build-up play, won every MOTM I saw, essentially delivering the win in the derby match. No, he wasn't great v. West Ham, but aside from Martins who looked particularly good? It was an off day, away from home, and the lads still managed a draw. Not a bad result, imo. Never mind, I forgot to whom I was speaking (or posting...whatever). Owen sucks, blah, blah, blah.... Gotta give you credit, though, you're consistent. Not one of those who switches opinions with the tide of the masses. Well let me put it another way. The new formation, and the new role for Owen, has got us out of the mess we were in. Owen has been able to score by making runs from deep, and that's been an asset. However, as I said, other teams are going to get wise to that. What bothers me is that Owen is not a particularly good passer of the ball, and if we're looking to progess from where we are now, I don't think Owen should be an automatic choice. I don't want a situation where we're trying to fit the team around one player, rather than trying to get the best out of all eleven. All this exaggerated praise that comes Owen's way does worry me for the future. I'm not saying he's a bad player. Just not as good as his reputation suggests.

He's a good player who knows all the tricks of the trade. I could see him and Faye combining quite well, in fact.

'Kevin Keegan wants to bring a £25million superstar to Newcastle this summer.' Can't they even be bothered to make up a name?

I could understand all this hand-wringing if we'd lost out to Boro or Portsmouth, but Spurs are ahead of us in the game, they've been competing in Europe, they've just won a trophy and they've got a manager with a very good reputation. No-one at the club is necessarily to blame for not landing this player. I hesitate to say this, but I don't think Keegan's pulling power is as strong as some are suggesting. He may still be a hero in the North East, but to a lot of people elsewhere he's the guy who walked out on England and got the push at Man City. He needs to re-establish his reputation a bit before a really top player is going to trust him with their career.

Well personally, that's what I was doing. What I'm finding here is that if you give a balanced picture of Martins, others are only picking on the reservations that you've expressed, and not the positive bits. The guy has done better than I was expecting this last few weeks. Our attack looked pretty toothless without him, and we now look like scoring goals, however ragged we look in other areas. All the focus has been on Owen and his new role, but I'm still not convinced. I'm only going by the 60 minute Sky highlights, but he looked pretty anonymous yesterday, and he didn't produce much the week before. Opposing managers will now be devising plans to keep him quiet, and that's a fresh challenge.

Which all goes to show that you can get statistics to prove virtually anything.

I guess it's a judgement on the sort of player he is. He's an exceptionally good athlete, whose pace and strength is always going to be a problem for defenders, and now and then he'll get you a goal that other players wouldn't. It's also a big asset to us that he can chase down long balls that most players wouldn't get near. I don't know the bio-mechanics of it, but a lot of powerful athletes of his type don't also possess the delicate football skills that you'd wish to see. There are exceptions, but he's not one of them. Every player's technique will improve with practice and experience, but we can't expect too much of him in that area.

Oba's first touch might improve, but it's never going to be great. By the law of averages, now and then the ball is going to land where he wants it to, and he's going to look good, but he's not going to be consistent.