TRon

Obviously Dyer's injury record made him a liability but when he was actually fit to play he carried far more threat going forward. He did exactly what Duff doesn't do...run at the defenders and take them on.

In a nutshell. He looks terrified at the prospect of taking on a full back, when it's so much safer to stop, check back and then pass it sideways.

What I can't figure out is why Barton and Butt are both sitting so deep. I really expected Barton to be driving forward a lot more if Butt is supposedly in the team to protect the back four.

Why the hate? So we can overtake them? Their manager is a mackem turd?

That team was from the Bobby Robson era, a legendary manager who was sacked for his efforts and replaced by Souness. But if you look at it against say: Given, Beye, Taylor, Colo, Enrique, Duff, Butt, Barton, Guiterrez, Owen & Martins how many on here would pick the current team to win? I don't really understand what is your point? Robson built a very good side I agree. He was sacked by Freddie Shepherd after consistently finishing in Europe. Are you saying Freddie Shepherd took us backwards by sacking SBR and bringing in Souness?

That team was from the Bobby Robson era, a legendary manager who was sacked for his efforts and replaced by Souness.

Perhaps as way of proper comparison you'd like to post a team from today's squad without 7 first team midfielders and 2 best strikers (Bowyer, Dyer, Emre, Parker, Jenas, Luque, Milner, Shearer, Owen from that squad iirc) I don't think Jenas was there then. Yup, you're right. I edited, but too late. Only 6 injuries in midfield. I'd still back the squad we've built since then to tan the arses off that one led by Roeder. How many of them would you have wanted to keep?

He's still 2nd rate tbh, but at least he's shown that he can come in and do a job as a target man while Viduka's out. I'd have been over the moon to have sold him in the summer but it's actually turned out to have been a blessing that the deals fell through. Unreal.

Wrong thread. I did think twice before mentioning it but jesus...if you are talking about a threadbare squad which can't handle injuries, that one was dismal, despite the results.

Yep I just looked at that as well which represents now at the height of an injury crisis. I'd say this side has more quality than the 2006 one though. Owen's talking about finishing in a European place. It might be a bit ambitious but when you consider we just beat Villa who are pushing for a top 4 slot it's maybe not that far fetched. Shame about all the uncertainty around the club though.

Roeder had an abysmal squad, obviously the board at that time didn't want to back their manager too heavily in the transfer market. Martins was probably the only significant signing during his time in charge iirc.

Good shout. Owen stealing in from deep like last season maybe. Not sure Martins will hold the ball up effectively enough though, that's not the best part of his game.

I don't know why you find these opinions 'ridiculous' in all honesty. No one is claiming Shola is a world beater and should stay in the side indefinitely, just while we are winning no need to rush Owen back. Also while you are playing down the wins against WBA and Villa, a couple of weeks ago if someone had offered a draw at home against Villa many would have taken it. The team has performed relatively well in the last few matches without Owen, so it's hardly 'ridiculous' to consider giving them the chance to continue.

I agree with that. Obviously there are some cases where a player is so crucial to a side he will always walk back in, such as Ledley King or Fabregas. Michael Owen's situation is more similar to Beckham's though. While he's still quality, he's not the player he was. If he replaces Martins we will lose our threat on the break. If he replaces Shola he might gel with Martins, he might not. In any case the two forwards currently holding the shirt should probably keep them while we are winning.

I read in a couple of papers yesterday that the asking price for the club is £250m, which if true means Ashley must have dropped his valuation to a realistic amount. Hopefully that's true and he will sell up and clear off pronto. If he's not going to run the club in a proper manner there's no point in hanging around while Dennis Wise wheels and deals with what he's got. I can see more harm than good in that.

So your counting on Owen and Martins to hold up the ball in the final third? Shola doesnt do it brilliantly but theres no one better who's available. if the ball isn't 6ft in the air owen does it a lot better Even so, the times that Owen has played with Martins they have hardly proven effective without Viduka in tandem. It just seems unnecessary to change a winning team to accomodate one player especially if there are doubts that it will even work.

So what you are saying is basically go with reputation rather than form and results?

Although he's a "mentally unstable 50% Asian bloke" I think it's only fair to point out he's also 50% English geordie lass, mentally unstable or not. In fact his dad used to go to Rutherford School on the West Road as it happens, it's a technical college or something now.

I think the point in having a manager is to pick sides to win games not keep Owen happy. Anyway, I'm sure he'll be back in the side soon enough, what's the hurry?

Have Villa actually made any official comment about racism or is this all this stuff still being "reported" second hand?

a resteraunteur in Beaconsfield apparently.

It could also be the case that he wasn't saying 'big lips' but was in fact saying 'big tits', as I'm sure lip-reading experts will confirm. If that's the case he should be chucked out of the game for good as many women have issues with the size of their breasts, making this a clear case of sexism if not racisim...and possibly both.

Barton doesn't exactly keep his head down does he? If he keeps giving sticking his head above the parapets he's eventually going to be shot down. What exactly would you prefer he do? He's always been a player that intimidates the opposition, it's a massive part of his game. He wouldn't be the Joey Barton we bought from Man City without it. The fact is no matter what the lad does he'll get raped in the press for it. He can't win. That's bollocks tbh. No one is going to stop him playing aggressively within the rules...all he has to do is make sure he doesn't transgress them. This incident being blown up out of all proportion is a good thing IMO. I doubt anything will come of it and it might serve as a wake up call to Barton that he needs to keep his nose cleaner than clean. Even the slightest dribble of snot is not going to go unnoticed.

I doubt Villa are going to pursue this, they are just keeping the pot cooking to make a point. Seriously though, Barton has got to realise that he can't afford any more slips. Not even the slightest insignificant one if he wants to continue playing football at Newcastle.

If Owen comes straight back in it had better work or there will be hell on. I haven't seen much evidence yet that Owen and Martins work that well together and dropping Shola would be a big knock to his confidence. Obviously a player of Owen's class will come back into the side at some point, but why not wait until either Martins or Ameobi have a bad game?