TRon

It sounds like the most probable reason but if it's true you would expect the press to have got hold of it by now.

Yes - we finished 2nd. And got us to a Cup Final...As for Dalglish, he should never been sacked when he was. Sacked after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge after he'd just laid the foundations for a very good side (Given, Hamann, Solano, Dabizas, Speed). Sure, he bought a lot of dross, although that was mainly down to the fact he had to sign players just to set up a reserve side again (Serrant, Pinas, Gudjonsson, Brady, Robinson, Coppinger, etc). Aye I fully agree. 4 of the players he signed 10 odd years ago still play top flight football. I always reckoned he would've improved us if we gave him another season or 2. His teams were awful to watch by the end. Stunted with fear and lack of flair. Him and John Barnes went on to do a shit job at Celtic after leaving us IIRC.

How can you argue that after arguing Allardyce should not have been sacked in another thread? Or are you taking the piss? He's either taking the piss or on the piss.

What a good idea. ...and replaced by Mourinho with Van Gaal as assistant manager, you forgot to add.

I'm pretty sure Geremi was playing right back when he came on as sub. Might be a pointer to Keegans thinking. But I still think he shouild replace Butt in midfield.

I think it could work. Geremi at RB would give us plenty going forward. Solano did it well last season.

Is it ok to stop reading there? I'd think a mobile target man would be the requirement.

It would add much needed height to the team for sure.

It needed saying

More than likely... although signing a player who can pick the ball up in the middle of the park, get his head up, and pick out a pass to a player bombing on ahead of him would do wonders for our side. Agreed, that would certainly be the first part of the puzzle, but when you look at Arsenal in particular they've been moulded into what they are over a number of years. Hleb, Rosicky, Fabregas, van Persie have all been brought into that ethos and have been because they are players who Wenger and his scouts have realised will be able to play that way. I just hope people aren't expecting us to get anywhere near that level, even by August, it will take a hell of a lot longer than that and even then it's questionable that it's how KK will set us up to play. Even one key midfielder can make a massive difference. Wenger bought Viera and overnight Arsenal became a different team. Obviously Vieras don't grow on trees but a player in that position is the heartbeat of the team.

yes and no. he maybe should be given a chance because what we have isn't working,more so than the stats. Well the stats equally show that Butt isn't working. not if he played in the games where geremi won aswell. keefaz point is valid about those teams we played with butt and without geremi and it's almost like the rest of the team didn't matter. tho Butt didn't play as defensive midfielder when he was alongside Geremi, more often than not Geremi sat back and gave Butt licence to go forward and not have to track back and run about as much. Since Butt has moved back to DM he's looked terrible. he's done his own thing of winning the ball but is now left having to find 40yd passes as no-one wants to take resposiblity creativly.......like when he first came. i don't think he's that much better than geremi when it comes to winning the ball, what sets them apart is that on the ball butt is s**** and geremi is comfortable. he can spot runs and pick a pass more easily which starts off attacking moves. i think there is some of the"great when he's out" creeping in here. definitely not, i was saying this earlier in the season. So was I. So was James with all his stats in hand back then FWIW.

The difference two mobile central midfielders would make can't be under-estimated. Duff hasn't been great but he's been isolated too many times when he's on the ball IMO.

you've said that so it must be true.

I concur. Not saying the defence can't be improved but it's not the real problem.

Surrounded? They were 10 yards away. What do you expect in midfield, all the Man U players should retreat to their own penalty area while Barton collects and composes himself? He'd still probably miss the fucking pass.

We should drop Beye. Not even as good as Nicky Butt. For someone who's slagging the statsmeister, quite ironic you have that newcastlestats link in your sig

He looked quite sharp when he returned but his end product has been zero. He also looks like one of those players you can count on least when it gets tough.

It's not as if he's the finished article, or without flaws, we can see that. But he's the only one of our current squad who would command a decent fee, that tells you a lot. How many good left wingers are there around if we needed a replacement in the summer?

Seriously, I don't know what that's based on. Not saying we're overflowing with creative players (everyone knows we're not) but he's so ordinary I can't believe what I'm reading from some people. He struggled to make an impact in a decent side here, couldn't wait to get away - claiming he couldn't settle in the region, then he said he was off to Greece and reckoned the pace would suit him there as English football doesn't suit players like him (or words to that effect) and now he wants to come back? He probably wouldn't even get a game with our current squad if everyone was available. It was more based on my opinion of our players, as apposed to Lua Lua. However, looking at Lua Luas attributes, he's a player that likes a trick or to beat someone or have a snap shot. None of our players are doing that atm. Thats why i'd like Oba back, he will shoot from anywhere. I don't think we need dribblers as such, just midfielders who will pass and move

Hopefully with Geremi back around the place, his mood will have lightened as well. He does tend to get stroppy when his French-speaking mates aren't in the side.

I would hope that we are looking at far better strikers than him in the summer.

If Martins and Owen don't show some spark on Saturday (assuming they start) I'd seriously consider bringing Geremi into a 5 man midfield. Butt would still be left out though.

We need another striker as well, the most expensive position of the lot.

how dare you go destroying stats like that. don't you know all some people have for comfort is numbers ? Didn't Butt play most of those piss easy games as well?

He's a poor man's Martins if that's possible.