TRon

So of the yanks linked with buying us, Mark Cuban is the only one who hasn't been ruled out. More likely a mystery buyer who has kept his cards close to his chest.

If the club isn't in new hands before January he should be given the rest of the season, because he WILL keep us up, of that I'm certain. Then we should get a proper manager in for next season.

UV doesn't usually need much of an excuse to have a moan to be fair like BTW, the page reloads are flying. Good job lads.

You live another day happily.

For the assists. http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=57617.msg1565105#msg1565105 But ya see i can write something like that. Its not a credicle source tbh a poster on a forum. Fuck me...he's gone and we got £8m for him after after buying him for £6m and having four seasons in Europe while he was here. We spent £17m on Owen on £100k/week plus, has he really provided better value in his time here?

I've noticed it too and its equally frustrating and perhaps why he's playing for us and not a major club. Don't you think the space today was in the centre though rather than out wide? For me there has been a massive gap between the central midfield and the strikers. Personally I'd prefer not to see Butt trying to fill it, i think that's where we need to see Barton's quality, further up the field.

For all the shitness, I did enjoy finishing 4th and 3rd for a couple of seasons though. We might finish 3rd and 4th this season as well though...from the bottom. That's the only difference. aye, because Dyer is responsible for those finishes. It's because we were finishing 3rd and 4th that we could afford to keep someone like Dyer around. We'd have no use for him now. If you're denying the part Dyer played in those seasons then either you didn't watch the games or personal dislike is colouring your judgement. Probably the latter but that's to be expected tbh.

For all the shitness, I did enjoy finishing 4th and 3rd for a couple of seasons though. We might finish 3rd and 4th this season as well though...from the bottom. That's the only difference.

I think the only reason he didn't attack the full back today was because Fulham were doubling up on him.There were at least two men in front of him most of the time because he was the obvious threat. With both Barton and Butt sitting deep, it was no problem putting extra men out in Jonas's way for Fulham.

At least when Dyer was playing we didn't look like a bunch of stiffs walking around the centre circle while other teams over-ran us in the middle. SBR described Dyer as having two hearts because he covered so much ground. Which of our current central midfielders are playing 'box to box' then?

Because our wingers are our main attacking points & with our CB's not being the best & overall our defence being shit they both sit deep to cover them back four. But if both central midfielders are sat back in their own half, doesn't that invite more pressure on the CB's? Which is the point of the original post in the first place I think. I don't think Arsenal have the best defenders but they don't pull everyone back to over-compensate. In fact a lot of the time, Butt was playing further up the field than Barton for me.

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.