TRon

Milner and N'Zogbia are first team regulars. Taylor is not going to be first choice once all our defenders are ready to start, and for all his good assets, he still has plenty to learn IMO. It could be he's not getting a good enough deal like I said, I just hope he doesn't think he's better than he is.

How has the big-headed twat managed to put himself up alongside Milner and N'Zogbia? Only the top, top defenders demand wages equal to attackers. That apart, he might have a case in not wanting to commit to a 5 yr contract if the terms aren't acceptable. That should be determined on it's own merits and has nothing to do with Milner and Zog who are now first team regulars and a step ahead of Taylor in my view.

But Fred did appoint him, he never claimed otherwise. Fred also appointed Roeder after claiming it was the 'fans choice'. He also wanted Steve "The Cabbage" Bruce to be Newcastle boss to take charge on account of being a geordie. The best thing Shepherd could have done for Newcastle was to pay someone with better judgement than himself to appoint the manager. He should have done what Ashley has done and brought in a Chris Mort rather than hogging the headlines himself as Mr Newcastle. I knew straight away who the people were that would pick out the bits of that post that suited them and nothing else You were one of them To be honest the whole post was full of contradictions but I can't be arsed to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. I can if you want though. That crap about it being the players fault...now there's cop-out if I ever saw it. mackems.gif You obviously failed to spot that although we finished 3rd in 02-03 the performances generally were below the level of 01-02 when we finished 4th. There is a reason for that. And as for the latter part of 2002-2003 it was as plain as the difference between night and day there was a problem with some of the players. There is a reason for that too. There will always be players who aren't able to maintain their standards, this happens at Man U and Chelsea as well, and they get shipped out, (Whiteside, Kanchelski, Staam etc). That's the manager's job, so what is the point of complaining that it is the player's fault, when they start taking the piss? So it's right to lay the blame for lack of discipline at Robson's door, but that also has to be balanced to what he brought to the club such as prestige, dignity and relative success (see we're not all glory hunters). I don't have any issue with Robson being sacked assuming those in the know could see that the decline was irreversible and not just a blip, because even Ferguson has those. My problem is, and always has been, what criteria has been used to select a new manager? Souness was a rotten choice and most on here were dubious right from the start, although like all good supporters they will give a new man support until he proves a complete disaster. Steve Bruce was a rotten choice, and even the fact he was considered should have set the alarm bells ringing. His main quality being that he was a geordie - talk about professional decision making! Roeder was a rotten choice, and if Souness was appointed to instill discipline, on what basis was Roeder then hired? To uninstall it? To fetch Alan Oliver a biscuit very time he summoned him to Thompson House? Absolute bollocks.

But Fred did appoint him, he never claimed otherwise. Fred also appointed Roeder after claiming it was the 'fans choice'. He also wanted Steve "The Cabbage" Bruce to be Newcastle boss to take charge on account of being a geordie. The best thing Shepherd could have done for Newcastle was to pay someone with better judgement than himself to appoint the manager. He should have done what Ashley has done and brought in a Chris Mort rather than hogging the headlines himself as Mr Newcastle. I knew straight away who the people were that would pick out the bits of that post that suited them and nothing else You were one of them To be honest the whole post was full of contradictions but I can't be arsed to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. I can if you want though. That crap about it being the players fault...now there's cop-out if I ever saw it.

That sounds really good but it didn't get Roeder very far. I prefer Allardyce's methods which includes something called man-management.

But Fred did appoint him, he never claimed otherwise. Fred also appointed Roeder after claiming it was the 'fans choice'. He also wanted Steve "The Cabbage" Bruce to be Newcastle boss to take charge on account of being a geordie. The best thing Shepherd could have done for Newcastle was to pay someone with better judgement than himself to appoint the manager. He should have done what Ashley has done and brought in a Chris Mort rather than hogging the headlines himself as Mr Newcastle.

So you agree he was thick then?

Parker obviously thought he'd made it, that's why he publicly told Roeder to shove it at the end of last season. Roeder is probably still sending him unanswered texts while Big Sam is tying up hot Newcastle performers like N'Zogbia and Milner to decent long term contracts. Who got it wrong and who got it right is obvious to all but the wilfully blind. not reaaly as n'zog fell into the parker sect of doing it one year and being shit the next So Roeder had it sussed all along then. No doubt Spurs England and Man U will be head-hunting this supreme leader whoes only downfall was injuries and his best players recovering from them.

I think winning the FA Cup with his former club, may have something to do with it, but of course Fat Fred the king pie eater couldn;t attract good managers to Newcastle mackems.gif Or do you think such a statistic is irrelevant, and they should appoint a manager who hasn't won anything ? Think carefully before you reply, and tell us what exactly YOUR criteria would be Not being a thick pie-eating twat would be a good start. Answer my question at the 9th time of asking and be assured I will answer yours. In fact I'll answer it regardless, for the same reason you won't. I know I'm right and so do you.

Parker obviously thought he'd made it, that's why he publicly told Roeder to shove it at the end of last season. Roeder is probably still sending him unanswered texts while Big Sam is tying up hot Newcastle performers like N'Zogbia and Milner to decent long term contracts. Who got it wrong and who got it right is obvious to all but the wilfully blind.

Under Big Sam the Zog is looking like a player again. Is that truth hard to take?

Gullitt was appointed to bring back 'sexy football' after Dalglish. Some of the unsexy footballers at Newcastle didn't take kindly to it.

If Roeder was strong enough to allow for real competition you would have a point. Most people's impression was that senior players walked all over him - I can think of Owen, Shearer and Parker just to name three. Remember the embarassing sight of Glenda begging his players to do a lap of honour at the end of last season and Parker pushing Roeder away while giving him a mouthful? Roeder was a toadying lick-spittle and he got what he deserved from his team, total lack of respect and contempt.

You are quite wrong. I'm not "supporting" anyones leadership, I'm correcting the assertion you keep making about the old board. No board runs a club that qualifies more for europe than everyone bar 4 teams, fills a 50000 stadium, and buys Top quality international footballers, that is incompetent, shite, hopeless, call it what you want. I'm also pointing you in the direction of reality, in that not everyone can appoint Alex Ferguson and Wenger, simply because there aren't too many of them around. How many directors in the game have appointed shite managers ? Are you saying that everbody who wins nothing has a shite chairmen and board of directors ? Because, the vast majority haven't done as well as we have done. As for Sibierski, as Spence more or less said too, how often do you see a Frenchman display integrity, as much as we liked the bloke when he was here, this sort of thing happens all the time in football. Yes, I realise chairmen can't get all their appointments 100% right but that's not what I was debating. All I ask you is what was Shepherd's REASONING for wanting to appoint Bruce, Souness or Roeder? What do you think it was? If you think he had good reason then why not share your thoughts? Because when you try and fob off the Steve Bruce links, or refuse to discuss the appointment of Messrs Souness and Roeder, it looks like you are running scared - don't want to admit to the unpalatable truth that these appointments stunk of incompetence, and I challenge you to argue otherwise, and no, "all chairmen make bad appointments" doesn't count as an argument. With Dalglish, and Gullitt there were genuine reasons for believing they might move the club on, but Bruce, Roeder and Souness can only have been head-hunted through sheer stupidity. No one has even attempted to deny this so I rest my case.

Roeder was such a prick he spent more time trying to associate himself with other teams stars like Joe Cole and Defoe in a pathetic effort to boost his image, while ignoring the obvious talent right on his doorstep. Big Sam's quick action in tieing up a young star has only emphasised Roeder's buffoonery. 5 yrs for the Zog - in effect a bunch of 5 for Roeder

Glen Roeder will hopefully be choking on his toast right now on reading this. Congrats to Zoggy on being selected for the France U-21 side for the first time since he's been at Newcastle as well.

I have told you that, looking at our last decade, whereby only 4 clubs have qualified for europe more than us, and we have attracted top trophy winning managers, top international players, and filled a 50000 stadium, there must be a hell of a lot of thick twats out there. I suspect that really you wouldn't know a thick twat was if it stood in front of you and said "Stephen Spence was a top footballer". How thick do you think all the other chairman are, if they can't do better than the thick incompetent tosser we had at Newcastle ? Bruce was not offered the Newcastle job. I have not excused Souness, even though the thick twat Liverpool, Southampton, Blackburn and Rangers directors also appointed him to manage clubs in the UK. Roeder had its merits, as he did well as a caretaker. I take it you also think that Steve Gibson is a thick twat for appointing 2 managers without winning track records in management, and little experience. I also suspect that as you have carefully avoided answering this, you know the point I am making to be correct. Quite a lot of people thought Roeder was worth a punt, and some people such as Ozzie Mandiarse still defend the actions of Souness when he was manager. I think you should ask them what their thoughts are regarding this, I take it you knew in advance that Roeder wouldn't work out. Could you please tell us if you thought that a manager who had won 4 league titles with 2 different clubs was a bad appointment, and if so what criteria you would use instead ? And while you are at it, you can tell us how you appear to think that we are the only club with the only chairman that have made shit appointments, yet have attracted 50000 fans to home games, and why they have attended if things have been so shite ? Yes, I mean you. Assuming you go, why have you done this if things have been so shite ? I also see that you STILL are unable to see the completely ludicrous suggestion that the majority shareholders of a multi million pound industry leave the most important decision to someone else. Look all I am asking is that someone who supports Shepherd's leadership can attempt to suggest his reasoning for wanting to appoint managers like Souness, Bruce or Roeder. What made him pinpoint these men? Was it their tactical acumen? Was it their successful transfer dealings? Was it because they were good players? Was it because they were geordies? What was it you believe your man saw in these potential leaders of our club?

I think you will be proven right.

If Michael Owen has to fight for a place, I don't think it will be any different for Geremi. For me though, he's done quite well. While Butt might be better defensively, he doesn't offer anything like the same options going forward. In a 4-3-3 line up with hard-working midfielders, I think Geremi isn't a bad choice for the holding role. Butt would be a better option only if we had a far more attacking line up in front of him.

All I asked earlier, was can someone provide me with Shepherd's reasoning, I repeat: REASONING, for targeting Bruce, Souness and Roeder as portential managers of Newcastle. Because for me, the only reason you would consider that lot would be that you were a thick twat. As NE5 and co have carefully avoided answering this, I can only assume they know this is true.

nothing a big pie won't fix. Don't know what your problem is with Viduka, so far you have been proven wrong. I said he was a class player based on what he produced last season, which you laughed at. For us this season he's scored one goal against one of England's finest defenders and it was a goal that had class stamped all over it. These are the facts, plain and simple. I'm not on either side of the arguement but I wouldn't call 1 goal in 4 games showing his class. Not to mention in the first 2 games he was pretty much non-existant. That goal was class whichever way you look at it. His record last season and everywhere he's played has been class whichever way you look at it. I'm not about to put the thumbs down sign after 4 games here, because I think he's a clever player who holds the ball up well and uses it intelligently. Personally I think he's a much better player when it's played to feet, I don't think the long high ball does him any favours.

I think thats a good assessment Big Tron. He has hinted that he could be a real world class player for a while but he's done very little of note apart from score against the mackems really. I read an article about him in World Soccer a while back (before he signed for us I think) and it seems like he's been billed as the greatest ever Turkish footballer since he was about 12. I'd never seen him play much so when we signed him I thought mint - my logic was that if he's the best Turkish player he must be even better than Tugay who i reckon is one of the most underrated premier league players ever. I also remember reading a quote from Steven Gerrard somewhere saying that he'd played against Emre all the way through international schoolboy football and he said he was always the best midfielder he ever played against at that level. Its about time He did something to justify this massive reputation he's seems to have built for himself from his time at Galatasaray. From all accounts he wasn't much cop at Inter either. He's had the excuses that he's played under a couple of duff managers since he came here and been injured a fair bit, so lets hope he can put the injuries behind him and that Sam can get the best out of him. I think he also suffered from playing with Parker, who as loads of people have said on here slowed the play down too much. He might be one of these players who needs everything to go through him, and need s to be on the ball pretty much as soon as we win it - nothing wrong with that, as long as he delivers an end product when he gets it. I seem to remember reading that George Hagi really rates him as well, form when they played together at Gala, so that is a plenty good enough recomendation for me! When he first played for Newcastle, he showed glimpses of being a pretty special player. Since his early games though he's not really done enough and frustratingly has not played enough consecutive games to allow anyone to form a real opinion. When Joey Barton gets back, there isn't likely to be many first team slots available, so I think if Emre doesn't get involved in the next few weeks his opportunities are going to be limited.

nothing a big pie won't fix. Don't know what your problem is with Viduka, so far you have been proven wrong. I said he was a class player based on what he produced last season, which you laughed at. For us this season he's scored one goal against one of England's finest defenders and it was a goal that had class stamped all over it. These are the facts, plain and simple.

on the basis of what, exactly? Whatever I post will be rejected by you, I think there's little point bothering myself too much, so I'll just write a couple of lines in reply. I think he's a decent player, others do too and you and a few others don't. I think his best role is the one currently being occupied by Viduka but I think Smith can do that role better than Viduka if given a run. I hope FS uses Smith as a partner for Owen because that's his best chance of doing well for us. After saying that, even if Smith does go up front and does well, I don't think anything he does will convince you and a few others that he's a decent player. I would agree. I think Smith could play as a sort of target man in the way Paul Goddard used to - hold the ball up and play in a striker like Owen. I would think at some point in the season we'll be glad to have the option.

Seems to have a hard job completing a game without picking up yet another injury or niggle. I would say he is very much at the crossroads of his career at Newcastle. Hopefully he can remain fit enough to make himself available for a decent period of games coming up or questions will be asked.