TRon

In his last game he played Cacapa and Beye, in the game before that he played Cacapa and N'Zogbia, the game before that he played Cacapa, N'Zogbia and Rozehnal. I think you are missing the point there, with all respect.

On the plus side, it does look as if the new scouting network is identifying decent targets if Chelsea are now sniffing round.

Whether the foreign players are quality is up for debate, but no doubt the British players like Butt, Carr, and Barton don't have the legs collectively to stay with the game for 90 mins.

Carr is sure to get shagged if he plays as sure as night folllows day, just as Cacapa was bound to get outmuscled by Carew against Villa. I sometimes wonder why we don't go horses for courses more often. Cacapa should be ok against Man U, they have smaller forwards so we should be able to release Faye into midfield where the game will be drawn or thrashed. All over the pitch we will need pace and strength so go with the strongest and fastest line up. Beye, Faye and Enrique must start. But probably won't.

All he's said there is that he thinks he looks interesting. Hardly means he's about to be fast-tracked to #1 by March.

Given's only real weakness used to be he didn't command his area. Now you can add he tends to stand motionless when he thinks he's got no chance which is far too many times these days. He's not the keeper he was.

I don't think we can play defensive, a better approach would be pick players who can match them for pace and movement in the key areas. I'd seriously consider Zog and Faye in the middle. A midfield of Duff, Zog, Faye and Milner won't get over-run like creaky chitty-chitty bang-bangs, Butt and Barton.

Any manager isn't worth the weight of the piece of paper their contract is written on if they're unable to recognise the shifts in game tempo, fluctuations in possession balance and whatnot as it happens from the dug-out & make the necessary changes, especially if they alternatively need to rely on a bloke downloading stats to a laptop as a means of making any potential strategic changes at half-time. Pro-Zone was originally supposed to be just a an analysis add-on, at best. For example by crunching the numbers - ie. yards covered by a player over the course of 90 minutes - a player's fitness level after returning from injury could be equated. But from what i've read it was analysis system which was used to compliment the information already provided by the backroom staff - ie. physios etc - to the manager. On face value Big Sam seemed to use Pro-Zone, and the stats that were being crunched up by the tech bloke Fleig, as a means of defending or justafying the s**** brand of football he was having the team play as 'balanced passing football'. An exchange of short passes among the defensive back 4 followed by an aimless punt up the park doesn't equate to a 'balanced passing attack', something Allardyce tried to peddle by using Pro-Zone generated stats as his argument backbone. Pro-Zone = I.T. blokes milking football for all it's worth. Getting back to the first paragraph, and this relates to decisions a manager has to make on the fly in conjunction with how the game is being played out - that's what they're payed for, Pro-Zone is irrelevant imo. You get the SBR award for dismantling bullshit

Someone must have put in a good word who had links with both clubs. It might just be Shearer coincedence of course...

Should be worth a watch. Shame Lua Lua's not playing, I'd like to have seen a bit more of him.

Incredible really when you consider how dire so many of the first team have been. ATM, I think KK would be wary of putting kids in a potential relegation battle, but once we're clear a few should definitely be getting a few starts.

Not just a a great manager but a local who has won not just our admiration, but respect and recognition across the globe. Thanks for putting us back where we belonged for a brief but brilliant few years.

Mike Hooper once saved a penalty from Jurgen Klinsmann He's going to be another Hooper then. Good point.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/8558/79491591os3.jpg A picture says a thousand words

Try google.

He played one game for us at senior level and on that show looked better than both Given and Harper back then IMO, and I said so at the time. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go on to become a top keeper for a big club for us or somewhere else over the next few years, injury permitting.

Most young players are. Rooney shagging prostitute Grannies ring a bell?

The goal scored by Huth for 'boro was a bit of a shocker as well. A slow looping header should have given him plenty of time to adjust his position, take a few steps back and tip it over the bar. He just stood there rooted like a tree.

He was supposed to have lost discipline in the dressing room when he was unceremoniously sacked. In hindsight, it might have been a rash decision seeing where disciplinarian Souness' reign of error has landed us since. Personally I don't really buy the lack of discipline line as showing loss of control, as Robson was quite clear he was prepared to leave Shearer out of the starting line up that season; a brave statement which might have had more to do with his sacking maybe. In any case, you can't help marvel at his football intelligence. You could spend years pumping out statistics without getting close to that level of insight.

For someone who's supposed to have lost the plot, his football acumen still shines through loud and clear in these words. Makes you wonder who was really pulling the strings in his final season.

I wonder even more if things turn round by the summer, we spend big and start heading in the right direction next season, whether NE5 will be big enough to say "you lads were right to wait to see how things panned out, rather than dumping a skip-load of turd over the new regime at the first possible opportunity" I won't hold my breath though. Like I said earlier to you, how long have you supported the club [if you think the last decade has been shite] - have you replied BTW ? - I haven't supported this club for over 40 years and wanted them to fail [what a daft idea], I admire your optimism which I have had for all these years myself, but not your grasp of reality of the current situation I was here before Keegan if that answers your question, soo I've seen my share of incompetents in charge at Newcastle. Can't you recognise a sensible viewpoint without needing to check how long someone's supported the club? It doesn't seem so because just like you drag Fat Fred into every thread, you are always questioning everyone's opinion according to their age. Does it not occur to you that a thick twat could still be a thick twat even if he'd watched the town for 30 years? It certainly does occur to me. The proof is right here in this thread, anyone who says they supported the club in the 1980's and doesn't see how massively superior the club is in comparison, and the rise of the club during the years it was run by the Halls and Shepherd, has simply got to be not the brightest tool in the box No one is even arguing that point, but don't let that get in the way of your ramblings. You are though. You are constantly saying you are glad to be rid of the "fat bastard who ate all the pies" ie a major player of the very board you now concede has been a good board. The truth is, you are so blinded by personalities and the fact that you take a few daft press comments so seriously, you haven't any clue at all , "fat bastard who ate all the pies" just about sums it up I work away a lot, and believe me, I was never "embarrassed" by anything Fred ever said, nobody ever said anything to me, in fact most people didn't even notice never mind care. People may embarrass you on message boards, but they are only message boards and its not half as embarrassing as spending years in the old 2nd division and being ritually humiliated by lower league teams in cup competitions year after year. Freddy was essentially a thick big mouth whoes heart was in the right place. He wasn't intelligent enough to do the job properly, personality has F-all to do with it.

cont. Apologies for the length of these articles but Bobby's knowledge of how to make players and teams tick is fascinating stuff. Legend.

I wonder even more if things turn round by the summer, we spend big and start heading in the right direction next season, whether NE5 will be big enough to say "you lads were right to wait to see how things panned out, rather than dumping a skip-load of turd over the new regime at the first possible opportunity" I won't hold my breath though. Like I said earlier to you, how long have you supported the club [if you think the last decade has been shite] - have you replied BTW ? - I haven't supported this club for over 40 years and wanted them to fail [what a daft idea], I admire your optimism which I have had for all these years myself, but not your grasp of reality of the current situation I was here before Keegan if that answers your question, soo I've seen my share of incompetents in charge at Newcastle. Can't you recognise a sensible viewpoint without needing to check how long someone's supported the club? It doesn't seem so because just like you drag Fat Fred into every thread, you are always questioning everyone's opinion according to their age. Does it not occur to you that a thick twat could still be a thick twat even if he'd watched the town for 30 years? It certainly does occur to me. The proof is right here in this thread, anyone who says they supported the club in the 1980's and doesn't see how massively superior the club is in comparison, and the rise of the club during the years it was run by the Halls and Shepherd, has simply got to be not the brightest tool in the box No one is even arguing that point, but don't let that get in the way of your ramblings.

I wonder even more if things turn round by the summer, we spend big and start heading in the right direction next season, whether NE5 will be big enough to say "you lads were right to wait to see how things panned out, rather than dumping a skip-load of turd over the new regime at the first possible opportunity" I won't hold my breath though. Like I said earlier to you, how long have you supported the club [if you think the last decade has been shite] - have you replied BTW ? - I haven't supported this club for over 40 years and wanted them to fail [what a daft idea], I admire your optimism which I have had for all these years myself, but not your grasp of reality of the current situation I was here before Keegan if that answers your question, soo I've seen my share of incompetents in charge at Newcastle. Can't you recognise a sensible viewpoint without needing to check how long someone's supported the club? It doesn't seem so because just like you drag Fat Fred into every thread, you are always questioning everyone's opinion according to their age. Does it not occur to you that a thick twat could still be a thick twat even if he'd watched the town for 30 years?

some gems in there as usual especially the bit about the importance of collective pace in a team. Shame Fat Sam couldn't feed some common sense into his Pro-zone equipment as well as his much loved stats.