TRon

Smith any day of the week ahead of Butt. His lack of goals won't matter in that position and he can run around happily for 90 mins which we can't say about Butt.

I think some people deliberately miss the point with Shola. He does offer something from the bench which our squad lacked which is a big physical target man who can knock defenders about. True, Carroll is also showing signs that he can provide that but we've only seen him in a couple of matches so far. Lovenkrands is obviously a far better player but we already have fast left wingers who can't get in the team so it's not like we are addressing the problem areas, i.e., the other three positions in midfield by Lovenkrands arriving. Still, I suppose it means we can sell Zog, and that's probably the way the top brass are looking at it, and it's good business on a free.

It's not really worked that way for a number of years. I'm not saying we can make players stay, but if they are on decent contracts we can get a price we would be happy with. I would imagine if Martins and his agent want to leave it's only going to happen in circumstances which suit us, the right money at the right price, like Milner.

Everyone who has an agent is getting pimped tbh. I honestly don't really take much notice of it. I have a fair idea who is leaving, most others are on longer contracts and will only go if we want to sell them.

I've been making similar noises for about two years now along with most others here. The central midfield area is abysmal compared to the quality teams and even Fulham with Bullard and Murphy is better in movement and technical ability to Butt and Guthrie. Without doubt Butt is the single biggest problem we have at Newcastle in that he's our only specialist defensive midfielder. Add that to the fact he likes a game of dominoes with Joe down the pub and it's a given that he starts every match and gets offered a new contract. I am contemplating that it might actually be better for us to pay some other club to take him off our hands. That way we could either buy a replacement or dare to play someone through the middle who doesn't need an inhaler. I would seriously consider Taylor ahead of Butt, that's how bad it is.

yeah, in a financial sense that's spot on. but we may well lose out because we brought in a player who isnt good enough rather than someone who is decent just because one happened to be a free agent in january. considering our perilous position i'd rather we take a gamble financially (especially since we've spent almost nothing for 3 windows) than a gamble on quality. I get you, I agree I would rather see us buying a quality player if we can. Just don't think that is likely to happen in the current situation, and even it was I wouldn't argue against this kind of squad-building on top. my worry would be that we're unneccessarily limiting ourselves to cheap signings. doesnt mean this player is not good, he might turn out to be awesome, or he might turn out to be shit. diatta turned out to be the latter, i'm not sure we can afford to make such a mistake this time round. of course it would be great if he is not the only attacking player we bring in but i wont be holding my breath on that front! will be interesting to see if Lovekrands coming in means someone like N'Zogbia leaves, too. I'm not against this possible signing by any means, my only question mark would be do we need yet another left winger? We need players through the middle or wide right and by that I mean players who are right-footed, not left wingers shunted to their wrong side. From what is being said here, he's too lightweight/lazy to play through the centre, so however cheap he might be it seems unlikely he's what we need.

If he's half decent you'd think other managers would be after him, rather than poaching our 'bad' players like Zog. Stats mean fuck all in these situations because Butt doesn't operate in the danger areas where risks have to be taken. It's a lot tougher for wide players or attackers to pass accurately because they are usually trying to make forward passes although Damien Duff is an exception to the rule.

Does he still have this pace we are hearing about? I thought someone on here said he wasn't the same since he first signed for Rangers. Anyway, no harm in taking someone on a free providing he isn't complete shit. Can't say I'm expecting much though.

Joe should organise a knees up at the pub and any lads who can't sing along to "Knees' up Mother Brown" should be dropped from the first 11.

We don't need to get rid of Zog, get rid of the Kinnear instead and let him go manage the Pig and Whistle which is more what he's suited to. Start Zoggy ahead of the geriatrics and he'll happily stay IMO.

Prove it.

I just think when we have Beye, Bassong, Coloccini and Enrique we look pretty ok, because defensively they are all good in the air and on the ground. They all have pace, understanding and anticipation.

I think alot of football is based around luck, I mean you just have to look at two of the top four in Aston Villa and Liverpool - they've been just as s*** as other teams at times this year but still find themselves winning nearly every game. Luck however doesn't stem from own goals and refereeing decisions, I reckon it comes from confidence and grit and determination, something which comes naturally when things are clicking and the mood is positive - something we're a million miles away from atm. Just look at Keegan. Pretty much the same squad that Kinnear has, yet we were playing alot better then. It's because things just worked and clicked, because KK brought a confidence and a positivity about the place. The fans were enjoying themselves, Keegan was enjoying himself and the players in turn were loving it. Then it all went to s***. Ashley put the club up for sale, in came a below-par Kinnear and suddenly all that ambition and drive is out of the window - sure there's still a bit of determination, but that's been forced into the players through fear and anger from Kinnear's part. Things are going bad now because there is no confidence, players want out, fans are on edge at every opportunity, heads are well and truly down and so things aren't clicking - passes are going astray, shots are going wide, opposition players are being given more space, and so these 'crucial' decisions from referees are being noted even more as us being 'out of luck'. It's nothing to do with luck. Keegan had poor players available and we got poor results. Once the good players became available he made good use of them.

Full backs with midfielders making themselves available to pass to don't usually make that mistake. What guarantee is there that Enrique would find that available man? He only seems to have one pass which is a swing of his left foot which curls the ball inside. Half the time it finds a black and white shirt, half the time it doesn't. It wouldn't be so bad if he was solid defensively, but he often seems to get caught in the wrong position. I like his positive attitude (ie if he fucks up, he still makes himself available for the next ball), but if we're going to progress from our current position, we've got to look for someone better. Someone just as good would do me. I'd far prefer to sign a central midfielder who can run.

So what? Joe's probably in the pub with Butt, Dennis Wise and Shay Given's lawyer.

If you were trying to track a run by Gerrard, Lampard or Cahill what would be the sensible choice? For me it would be someone who can keep up so I would have detailed Guthrie and picked Zog in front of him. Sometimes though you just have to pick the good lads. Shay's a good lad. Owen's a top sort. Taylor's the lad you want in the trenches. Smith will give you 100%. Duff's Mr Reliable. Butt is true grit. Geremi is a good sort. Too many tough choices? Just pick the pub 11.

Coloccini's 'mistake' today was to get caught out by a fantastic bit of movement and a good pass. If Beye had been there instead of Taylor the goal probably wouldn't have happened as one would have covered the other instead of concentrating hard on pointing the arm in the air at the crucial moment.

He's big, enthusiastic and gets in the penalty area. Not dissimlar to Shola except he does it in the right areas of the pitch.

of a pub team. he likes good honest lads, so Geremi and Butt keep getting picked in central midfield despite the fact that they get out of wind if they attempt to run outside of it. Shay and Owen want to be away but Zog's the one who should be dropped because he's not a good lad. Barry Ferguson and Chris Boyd should fit in well down the Dog and Duck.

Full backs with midfielders making themselves available to pass to don't usually make that mistake.

i'm sure jonas checks his stride aswell before trying to get the shot in........and not forgetting the ball falling to n'zog 18yds out and he mis controls it when lashing the bastard towards the goal was the sensible option. Funnily enough I thought Jonas and Zog were our most effective midfielders, along with Guthrie despite those "mistakes".

+ Peter Lovenkrands

Tron - What did you think of the Guthrie/Zog combo? Would have to see it from the kick off to get a real idea, but I would have started with those two tbh. Both lads have got good legs, decent engines and have the potential to dovetail nicely. Over 90mins not sure if Zog has the discipline for the role but there's only one way to find out. Going forward it could be pretty slick.

I wanted to see him threaten the goal and he scored, can't ask for more than that. Fair do's, he's took his chance and earned his place in the team.

The defence will get the stick, but we conceded the midfield battle for large parts of the game. The defence shouldn't be coming under so much pressure at home, but until we get four midfielders with good engines in the team together we are bound to struggle against quicker players. Previously we've had Butt, today he was replaced by Geremi. One clapped out old fart replaces another and hey presto, it's Jurassic park week again.