TRon

I've said this from way back that the most effective teams away from home I have wathed at Newcastle were SBR's side which had Dyer, Bellamy and Robert who could all hit at lightning speed on the counter - in fact just yesterday I posted that I would like to see Kamara if he signed paired with Lovenkrands away from home for just that reason. I couldn't agree more with the pointless exercise in playing a legless 5 man midfield but I'm just a punter, what would I know legless ? aren't guthrie and barton supposed to be box to boxers. I was referring more to Butt and Nolan...the point being that you don't need blistering pace throughout the side as long as there are two or three front players who are pretty mobile. which is what barton and guthrie are supposed to provide (and jonas when fit) Barton is playing wide left at the moment, and in the time I've watched him at Newcastle he hasn't looked like a box to box player. He hasn't got in many goal scoring opportunities in free play for example.

I've said this from way back that the most effective teams away from home I have wathed at Newcastle were SBR's side which had Dyer, Bellamy and Robert who could all hit at lightning speed on the counter - in fact just yesterday I posted that I would like to see Kamara if he signed paired with Lovenkrands away from home for just that reason. I couldn't agree more with the pointless exercise in playing a legless 5 man midfield but I'm just a punter, what would I know legless ? aren't guthrie and barton supposed to be box to boxers. I was referring more to Butt and Nolan...the point being that you don't need blistering pace throughout the side as long as there are two or three front players who are pretty mobile.

Wonder how the English lads who hold a lot of clout here would take to him? Might be worth getting a view of players like Gary Speed who were in the same squad as to his suitability, managing in Greece is probably a lot different to here.

I've said this from way back that the most effective teams away from home I have wathed at Newcastle were SBR's side which had Dyer, Bellamy and Robert who could all hit at lightning speed on the counter - in fact just yesterday I posted that I would like to see Kamara if he signed paired with Lovenkrands away from home for just that reason. I couldn't agree more with the pointless exercise in playing a legless 5 man midfield but I'm just a punter, what would I know

Definately. The team were woeful and so slow it was embarassing yet we somehow ended the game chasing with Nolan/Butt in the middle. Butt was by and large the worst player i have seen, agree that Barton wasnt doing well out wide(like Cardiff) and others like Carroll were poor but why is Hughton picking a team so devoid of pace away from home? You can only assume Lovenkrands wasn't fit enough to start, other than that I suspect Hughton picks his team according to reputation rather than pick players to play specific games away from home. Not that we have a lot of pacy players who we could chuck in if we needed to in any case.

We aren't exactly scoring boatloads of goals, it wouldn't be a bad signing imo.

would have preferred Kamara but that deal's dead in the water till January at least, but Harewood would be a good addition. I think this will be the last signing though, even though we badly need a right winger.

It's half the point of the forum at all tbh. You what now? Most people on this forum use it because they can't get to games on a regular basis. Most people on this forum were watching the matches last season, no matter where they were. This season they're not. This forum would be very quiet if only the 1,800 at the time were allowed to comment on the match. Difference between commenting and blaming defeat on a player/manager's tactics. After watching the Cardiff game I was nervous about going into this game with the same tactics and formation, although I did say that Butt should slot in ok instead of Smith. Even without seeing the game live it's become clear that we got pissed on, the result wasn't a fluke, if anything our goal was. Obviously the misgivings before the game were justified, although i agree that it's daft to single out a player without having seen the game.

Good signing but he's fairly a experienced pro so I doubt he'll want to sit on the bench. There might be some friciton if he doesn't get a start some time soon.

Which is one reason why the difference may have been Venison, had he not be allowed to leave. It was also a lot to do with the amazing last 15 or 16 games from manure that is constantly overlooked. Really, the 12 point lead isn't the main thing here anyway. The media like to sensationalise and it's a better story (even if true) that Keegan bottled it on TV and threw away a 12 point lead when compared to Man Utd winning the league again due in huge part to an absolutely amazing run-in. It's played over 38 games and the bottom line is the best team wins the league. We were second best overall despite being ahead for large parts of it. We didn't win, but to suggest a manager is hopeless who takes a club from where Keegan started to where it was at that point is lunacy. Would agree with all of that, especially Man U's amazing run at the end. You can't really legislate for that, and tbh finishing runners up with a team that had only been promoted a couple of seasons earlier was no small achievement.

There was an element of bottling it in that season, though it had little to do with Keegan, it was more a case of some players suffering from vertigo once we reached the final stages. Rob Lee and Ferdinand were on fire in the first half of the season but the goals dried up in the second.

What I would say is that Hughton needs to show he can make some tough decisions. At the moment he seems reluctant to leave out any of his big names and when Smith returns on Saturday, at least two midfielders will need to be dropped. Butt will be one of them because Smith has claimed that role, after that it will be one from Taylor, Barton, Nolan or Guthrie. Guthrie and Taylor are the youngest so Hughton might well take the easy option and drop one of them. Should be interesting.

Nolan should not be picked in the centre of the park ahead of Barton or Guthrie. Even though you know it will happen. Agree with that 100%. Nolan is capable of some decent touches but he hasn't got the stamina to get up and down the pitch if we are going to play a passing game. Barton has been crap but there is still a good footballer in there and we need to see him playing in the centre of a well balanced team before writing him off imo.

Bit harsh on Barton as he has been played out of position for the majority of the season. Barton and Guthrie in the middle of the park would be too much for most teams in this league. We need to be going for teams at this level, not standing off. It should not matter where he has been played, okay he is a CM not a wide player and I am not on about him not hugging the touch line but his utterly care free passing, just swings a leg with no care. He has given it away so many times and has wasted it when we have been in a good attacking positions. Even if he was playerd at RB he should still put a shift in. Can't say I've seen the game last night so can't judge him on that. He had a bad day at Cardiff (again played out of position). But other than that I've had no problems with him at all this year. But he needs to be playing in the middle of the park, to me he's our best central midfielder, but how can we expect him to be influencing games wide left? Said this in another thread, but basically Hughton is just trying to accomodate all his big name players, and all of them are central midfielders, so we end up with a load of players hovering round the centre circle doing nothing. We had five midfielders against Blackpool's three and by all accounts they tore us to shreds, and we saw signs of it in the game against Cardiff so it's a poor show to have not learned from that. Crap decision-making when some balls were needed.

That is exactly why I expected us to struggle in this league and why the good start was such a surprise. If that was the case, then they had better snap out of it. Conversely, we basically used the same set of players in every match, so mentally and physically they must be very tired. That type of mindset is really only a problem when the players are jaded. I think putting out a balanced team will go a long way to better performances, far too many square pegs in round holes at the moment. You can get away with it for so long but I can't see it working over any period of time.

carroll is no quinn. he wins headers and has no idea where they are going whereas quinn put them in the right area. true it may get us promoted .it's just always been a pet peeve of mins when people though about how good shearer was in the air how little he actually scored from open play in the air and that the flick on stuff very rarely worked. You are right about the flick on stuff, it's way over-rated. Today's game might also make people realise that Ranger's contribution in the last couple of games was pretty crucial as his hold up play was very effective, every bit as important as winning the ball in the air.

If one good thing has come out of this defeat it's that Smith has established himself as the no 1 holding midfielder, in which case there's no place in the side for Butt. Smith is stronger, better in the air, surer on the ball and actually has better discipline in staying in position. Not to mention he's younger and faster as well. By faster, i don't mean he's quick, he's just not a jelly-legged geriatric.

Barton looked off the pace for a lot of games in the Premier as well and I remember being disappointed about it at the time. Hard to know what to make of him in this division especially when he's being played wide left.

Possibly. I'm basing my opinion on watching us get bossed at Cardiff, and from the sound of it getting bossed again tonight. Dont think Cardiff bossed us, we were very lucky to get all 3 points though. I thought we were on top for the first 25 minutes after that we defended well but gave up possession for large periods of the game, and didn't use the ball very well when we had it. Even Hughton himself said pretty much the same thing afterwards. You can expect to be on the back foot in away games but if the opposition are pushing forward that usually opens them up to counter attacks which we didn't manage any at all. After our goal can you remember any opportunities? We could expect better I reckon considering we are playing Championship teams, it's Cardiff and Blackpool now, not Arsenal or Liverpool after all.

Possibly. I'm basing my opinion on watching us get bossed at Cardiff, and from the sound of it getting bossed again tonight.

I would agree that Hughton has done a decent job this season but there have been signs that his over-defensive tactics were going to backfire sooner or later and I also said this in the pre-match thread so it's not hindsight. Sending out teams with one striker and a slow midfield can only work so many times. Hugthon needs to ask himself why our "premier quality" midfield has been out-run and out-passed for two games in succession despite fielding an extra man in that department. Lets be fair though, he's had the tactics of recent matches pretty much forced on him because of injuries and our squad size. I doubt he'll go with one up top/five man midfield combo when Shola and Jonas are back. What worries me is that he picks his team on reputations a bit. Just because we have a lot of big name midfielders doesn't necessarily mean that playing them all together will be more effective than playing a balanced team. I said before the game that I would have preferred an extra striker to one of those midfielders and I just feel that with Ranger and Lovenkrands available there was better options than a packed slow midfield and one up front.

Growing ginger hair. He's struggling to do that these days. On his head at any rate.

Still applies. Automatic promotion isn't a formality because there are only two places and despite our flying start, WBA and boro are still up with us. We need to assert ourselves more instead of adopting a defensive formation against every team when not all of them are worthy of this over-respectful approach.

Two strikers please Chris, we can't afford to throw any more points away to shit teams. Thanks.

I would agree that Hughton has done a decent job this season but there have been signs that his over-defensive tactics were going to backfire sooner or later and I also said this in the pre-match thread so it's not hindsight. Sending out teams with one striker and a slow midfield can only work so many times. Hugthon needs to ask himself why our "premier quality" midfield has been out-run and out-passed for two games in succession despite fielding an extra man in that department.