TRon

Liverpool will have better players all over the park tomorrow. We shouldplay 4-3-3, fill the side with big lads and lump it towards them. We'll probably still lose but with the loss of key players in every dept we aren't going to win a match playing good football. Carroll and Xisco to fight for the high balls iwth Owen playing as a moocher.

Not really, I said it would happen before the game, without any cover for Enrique it's what was bound to happen. Unfortunately every time it does it increases the chances of Duff staying and Zog leaving. How effective we were with the nous of Owen, Duff and Viduka instead of Martins and Zog playing in attacking positions. Hip hip hoorah for football nous and intelligence. We'd beat the shit out of Wigan in a chess match

Owen and Viduka up front, no pace and no threat on the break away from home...what a surprise. Not.

Yeah. I thought that after watching his goal back on Sunday. He just seemed to throw Guthrie out of the way when he tried to celebrate with him. Acted like a bit of a cunt really. I noticed that as well. Cliques work both ways though. If Zog is part of one clique who is part of the other...and more importantly are they the shit players who no other club wants to pay money for?

can't wait to hear UV's take on this alhough i doubt we will

Team: Newcastle United Current Position: 12th Where did you expect your team to currently be: Pushing for Europe. We took a big setback when Keegan left but we are recovering gradually. Best player so far this season: I'd say Jonas. early on he was spectacular, now he's a marked man but he still put's in a hard shift every match. Even when he's not performing wonders on the wing he works hard for the team. Worst player so far this season: Smith. Best game so far: Villa at home. Pompey looked spectacular but that was a team struggling since Reknapp left them in the lurch. Villa was a great win against a team in form. Worst game so far: Take your pick from any of the games after Keegan left. Who would you like to sign in January: A central midfielder who can drive forward and a striker who will cover the loss of Owen and Viduka. Who would you like to sell in January: Smith, Duff and Butt. Thoughts on your manager so far this season: He's done well and it's great that his desire has produced some pretty decent results. He's not Keegan but then Keegan doesn't want to be here that badly. General thoughts on your team so far: another season hamstrung due to the upheavals around the club but we are fighting hard to keep ourselves up there, which is encouraging. Where do you think you’ll finish from this point to the end of the season: 8th - 10th.

Duff up front with Owen? Drop Enrique more like, either that or Zog/Jonas in the middle with the other 2 on the wings. Enrique could be out with injury so I sexpect Zog will drop to LB and Duff will go to LW. I just hope Duff shows the same drive when he's starting a game as he did when coming on as sub because Charlie was arguably our best midfielder on Sunday.

no ambition ? Villa bigger and more ambitious than Newcastle ? Well, they acted it in the past, but not since 1992 they haven't been, until now that is. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't N'Zogbia make noises about leaving when the previous regime was incumbent? correct me if I'm wrong, but he didn't go, did he ? How do you get your argumetns so water-tight? Whats your feelings on Bassong? Good signing by the scouting team? thought after the Coventry game he looked good as a left back and he had something. He's superb as a centre back. As for the scouting team, most people get some signings right, credit where it is due. Shame they also found xisco and that other bloke, whatisname, Fernandez ? . All our managers have made some good signings though, the real shame is that the good signings made have been offset by selling a player the manager wanted to keep and not giving him the money to buy his own player(s) with it rather than looking like its offset the fee for Colocinni. Dalglish signed Given, Solano, Speed, Hamman. Gullit bought Dyer and Ferguson. Roeder bought Martins and Duff. Allardyce bought Beye, Enrique. Even the fuckwit Souness bought Owen [lets not speculate Shearer played a big part and keep it consistent as Souness was the manager] but lost that by kicking out Bellamy and Robert I've explained this before. Good clubs bring in players to strengthen the team as the manager sees fit, not sell one to buy one and make money or save money from it all. My quibble is with the overall attitude of the club, and the fact that they are behaving like a 2nd rate club, which became clear to me some time ago. They will make some good signing and bad signings, but aren't looking to add players to the current good ones to the extent that they have shown ambition to put the club where it should be. Simple fact is, even this "buying up the youngsters" stuff has been grossly over-exaggerated on here. People make out the club has never done it before, I pointed out this was wrong, and listed a load of players to prove it, and it led to the thread being locked. If you want to compete with the trophy winning clubs you have to seriously compete with them. Stop making excuses and making naive suggestions that it can be done on the cheap, because it can't. I'll give you some more examples. Who are the last good youngsters manu have bought ? I'll tell you who they have bought. Nani (21) for 17m, Anderson (19) for 18m. We won't even mention Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo. Even Arsenal have bought Walcott (17) for 12m, Nasri for 15m. Liverpool have bought Torres for 23m. I won't mention Robbie Keane because of his age, but he has cost them close to 20m quid. We have, in the young player stakes, apart from Bassong, bought Xisco for 5m, Guthrie for 2.5m this summer. People like you think that our scouting team are going to find players like this for 2 or 3m quid or less ? Do you think people like Ferguson, Benitez and Wenger are amateurs and are going to allow someone like Denis Wise to beat them to the best players, and do you think the clubs are going to accept bids of a few million quid from us when others are prepared to pay 4 or 5 times that amount to back their managers, or do you think our scouting team is so superior to that of other top clubs that they will find these players before other clubs do and their value goes up ? if you do, then you are suggesting the scouting teams of the other top clubs are incompetent at best for not spotting these players earlier and thus putting their clubs in the position whereby they need to pay these unnecessary fees ? The only chance we have of signing these sort of players, is if we are in the Champions league and matching these teams, or being seen to be at least trying to get up with them, as soon as possible. Thats reality. Not dreaming. He played at CB (not LB) in the coventry game, I know that for a fact because I opened a thread "First impressions of Bassong" straight after the game. He looked to have a good understanding with Coloccini, and in fact the back four that game was the same as the current starting line up.

Can't hit a barn door according to JFK. Really? Hence his complete exclusion from every squad. Tragic tbh, he's probably quality. I think his height is probably working against him in this situation. JFK probably sees him as an ineffective battering ram, but I have a feeling Xisco probably has better striking instincts than the likes of Shola, hence his decent goals ratio in Spain. What is his goals record like in his La Liga? Don't know it off the top of my head, it's been mentioned a few times here though.

I'm a bit concerned about how we will score goals tomorrow tbh. Away from home we have been sitting back under Kinnear and Martins pace has provided a real threat on the counter. Viduka and Owen are different players and we need the midfield to be pushing up and getting plenty of service to them which I'm not sure we'll do. Given Wigan have some very dangerous players as well I really will be pretty happy with a point from this one

Can't hit a barn door according to JFK. Really? Hence his complete exclusion from every squad. Tragic tbh, he's probably quality. I think his height is probably working against him in this situation. JFK probably sees him as an ineffective battering ram, but I have a feeling Xisco probably has better striking instincts than the likes of Shola, hence his decent goals ratio in Spain.

Is Gomis good in the air? We could do with a target man in any case with Viduka leaving.

Enrique has got all the tools but he needs a bit of coaching on the offensive side of his game, which Kinnear seems to be doing. Not sure he thinks he is the answer but if he can get someone in better fair play to him.

Bassong could turn out to be a double signing. Not only a great capture in his own right but could be the reason Zog stays here now as well!

http://www.setanta.com//uk/Articles/Football/2008/12/23/Prem-NZogbia-wants-to-leave/gnid-32699/#comments I smell bs. The same story is being run in the Sun but with a headline "N'Zogbia ready to stay at Toon"

On the other hand, if he gets injured for any length of time, no one will want him and we can reduce our offer accordingly. At least we know now he is motivated for the rest of the season.

They are if it leads to the singing section being abandoned as people wont sit down though. Its a stupid rule, if safety was the issue they should ban celebrating goals as people stand up and, shock horror, jump around like lunatics. Its about 'control' and as with all insiduous forms of social control, the authorities use 'safety concerns' as the Trojan horse for reducing our liberties. The funny thing is, i'm not taking the piss either. or they might just use the 'safety concerns' to stop their arses getting sued by one lone twat who grazes his knee jumping up and down and sees a big payday looming. We've got a former manager claiming he was sacked after walking out of Newcastle after all.

So do I but we just have to keep building and moving forward. Owen has to look after Owen and we have to look after Newcastle.

That doesn't look like spin, it looks like fairly educated guess work which will probably not be too far off the mark. The plus point of all this is he will be desperate to prove his form and fitness to other potential interested clubs so we will have him at his best while he is still here. We may well lose him but if he gives everything and bangs a shedload of goals in between now and the end of the season it can only be a good thing for us. We brought Owen here when he would have preferred to go to Liverpool, and if he ends his contract well by hitting form it's all we can ask for. I do feel shame though that a guy who leads us out onto the pitch wearing the captain's armband doesn't know whether he wants to be here next season.

That doesn't look like spin, it looks like fairly educated guess work which will probably not be too far off the mark. The plus point of all this is he will be desperate to prove his form and fitness to other potential interested clubs so we will have him at his best while he is still here. It is spin because it could be interpreted one way or the other. The mail have chose to headline one of those ways They interpreted it the same way you have judging by your posts. Did you want them to interpret it differently?

That doesn't look like spin, it looks like fairly educated guess work which will probably not be too far off the mark. The plus point of all this is he will be desperate to prove his form and fitness to other potential interested clubs so we will have him at his best while he is still here.

I think that's the most important thing. While Michael Owen has every right to look after his own interests, we should also be looking after ours and not be in a hopeless position of pining for a positive decision from Owen. If Ashley shows he's willing to invest in quality with or without Owen, it would make him worried about losing Newcastle rather than Newcastle worried about losing Owen.

Not on the same fucking planet. Or in the same team come the summer. I think I'll stick with the one wearing our shirt tbh.

Bollocks. Owen is honouring his contract, and he is entitled to leave at the end of it if he wants (as with any footballer). Taking the captain arm band off him is the exact type of childish shit that would help him speed up his decision to leave, not stay. It would cause more aggro than it is worth but I also am not happy that our captain is unwilling to commit to the club. Obviously as a player he's well within his rights to run down his contract, but it hardly sends out a great message to the rest of the team if their leader isn't willing to pledge his future here. I'm glad he's staying for now, he's a valuable player but it's going to piss me off to see him wearing the armband.

This better not be a false alert