Shak

NE5, I'm sure everyone is well aware that there have been worse seasons in our history than those listed in the poll. But can you not just let it go and let people answer the question asked? I'm sure a large part of the reason the poll starts in 1993 is that the majority of the posters on this board are, through no fault of their own, quite young and unfamiliar with the years before it.

I'm just thankful that no Man U fans have gotten wind of this thread tbh, them invading the boards and watching some of our own posters trying to say Martins is better in response to them would be beyond cringeworthy.

Oh ffs. Why so bothered? Presumably because we have just moved another point further away from 6th. Unattainable given our current state of affairs, so I'm not really bothered. Sad as it makes me to say. That Wullie is ever the optimist though.

Oh ffs. Why so bothered?

Thread is starting to lose direction just a bit.

Don't know how you'd know that seeing as we've never bothered with them roeder is a tactician

It's not like he'd be struggling to make ends meet giving up his twelve grand a week. He'd still be on upwards of 40k a week I reckon had he gone to PSV, as I'd imagine he's being quite well paid here. And please don't anyone say that it's a short career and players have to make money while they can. That was true a few decades ago, but with what they earn now the likes of Luque were set for life after about two years of their career. Unless they're throwing money away. Personally I'd be gone as soon as possible if I were him, given his situation here, and I'd gladly take the pay cut to do so.

Souness Mk 2. f*** off Glenn, f*** off now, you utter utter arsehole. Can't believe the t*** has the nerve to come out with that s****. > At least he has stopped referring to himself in the 3rd person, something to be grateful for. This bit really pisses me off though "Conceding two goals," he added when asked where Newcastle had lost the tie. "We needed to score one and we did not. It is as straightforward as that." What sort of pathetic attempt at an answer is that? How were we going to score a goal the way the team was set out? Don't you think its likely we'll concede two goals if we sit back and invite a team with a great record of scoring goals at home to come at us? Given how shite we are at the back, is it ever wise to just sit back and rely on our defence to win a tie for us? When we needed a goal towards the end was it really the best idea to play a narrow 4-3-3 system, given how effective our wingers were against the same team a week ago? Given how badly bummed we were getting throughout the game, we could have been four or five down with twenty minutes left. No Glenn, you bottled it. You put out a team that was begging to get beaten and you got what you asked for. It's as straightforward as that. Ya clown.

ITV still hoping to get a word with Roeder, but they're locked in the dressing room apparently. Really can't see Roeder having the stones to actually criticise anyone.

Got to agree about his set pieces. Took a few good ones when he first came here, not a good one since. How on earth he pulls rank over Solano at such a crucial time is beyond me. Still prefer him in the middle to any of our other options though.

Jesus weeping on a bike tbh. A truly incredible thread. I love Martins, think he'll be a superstar for us, but Rooney will ultimately prove to be one of the best players of his generation. He's having a bit of a slump by his own standards this year, but that's gonna happen with any player whose been around for as long as he is and is still so young. Some people have some short-ass memories. Rooney's vision, passing, movement, touch and finishing are all streets ahead of Oba, only thing Oba has on him is pace and is possibly better in the air.

He'd be the ultimate super-sub I reckon. At some point in the second half in any game, he's going to be ideal to throw on. In a tight game, with neither team creating many chances, he could be thrown on and would immediately ask different questions of the oppositon. Be it up front, down the wing or even in CM he'd be a breath of fresh air. In a game where we're winning and looking to hold on, throw him on as a striker and use his pace on the counter attack. If we're losing, throw him on instead of one of the midfielders and he'll likely provide more of an attacking threat than whoever he's replaced. The only position he could ever be effective week-in, week-out is on the right wing. As a CM, he'd be a liability against the better teams, where we need to scrap for everything and be solid in midfield. As a striker, he drops too deep against the teams we expect to beat. As a result we often end up playing 5 in the middle against teams we should be looking to throw everything at. Buthe'll never be the super-sub for us, not on the money he's on. So either he gets it into his head that he's best on the right hand side or he'll always be a bit of an enigma.

We'd probably be looking to get £20m, but if its a big club they'll probably end up getting him for about 15, possibly less.

Pretty much sums it up. I don't know what people want from our back-ups, and I can't see how getting defenders can't be the priority this summer. Shola gets a lot of stick for a number of reasons - He appears awkward on the ball, has some horrible touches at times and often seems to play in a half-assed manner. For a guy his size he also gets outmuscled far too much. - Familiarity breeds contempt. We've seen Shola in the team for so long, and he has never seemed to develop his game and improve into a good all-round player as many hoped he would. It's natural we'll get frustrated. - We've been told countless times by our last three managers, and Shola himself, that Shola is just about to come good, and yet he never does. It's irritating. But if some people can look past their apparent hatred of the guy then they'll see he's easily good enough to be one our two back-up strikers next season, with Martins and Owen up front. We're not a Top 4 side at the moment, we can't expect to have 4 top class stikers in our squad. If we can get a decent striker for a reasonable fee in the summer then I'll be happy going into next season with Owen and Martins as our primary striking options, and Shola competing with our new recruit for the 3rd place spot. Dyer could also do a job there if he stays fit. That will leave us to spend money where it's actually needed, on a top class CM and some defenders.

Great point, and often overlooked. Parker I believe has said he doesn't see himself as a DM, and the manager doesn't either. Until they address that, and as long as he's our more offensive minded central midfield player, we're going to struggle to beat the teams we feel we should beat consistently. I said my piece in the other thread and it was generally quite negative, but I certainly see what he could offer to the team, if used right. He could be a very effective DM, and he put in some terrific performances in that position last season. He's generally done better for us this season in games where we'd be expected to be under the cosh and have to fight for results, tough away games or home games against the top sides. There the defensive/workrate side of his game is being tested more than what he offers on the ball. And he equitts himself well when faced with such tests. But in games where we'd be favourites going in, and are expected to take the game to our opponents, he's exposed. Butt's the supposed holding midfield player, so Parker's job is no longer to support him in trying to stop the stronger opposition from overwhelming us, but to create good playmaking from the middle of the park. And he'll never do that. He's limited on the ball but, as tmonkey says, you can still be a top class player without being fantastically gifted on the ball. Take Roy Keane for example, solid ball player but a player who became truly world class by doing things that Parker looks capable of doing. It's just how you use your strenghts, and avoid your weaknesses. Of course Keane wasn't harmed by having Beckham, Giggs and Scholes making up his midfield compatriots. And therein lies the point, we need to find someone to be our Scholes. We've a couple of good young wingers in Zoggy and Milner who can get at teams and get crosses into the box for years to come. Add a quality, ball-playing center midfielder to dictate our play and provide service to the wingers and Martins and Owen, thereby allowing Parker to play a simple, effective, disciplined game. A quality playmaker and two potentially very good wingers providing good service to Michael Owen and Oba Martins is a very attractove proposition, and I think Parker could do the dirty work to make us a formidable team. Assuming we get a couple of good full backs and a center half as well. But Roeder and Parker really need to wake up and between them see that playing him as an attacking midfielder is just a shambles. It must have crossed Parker's mind a few times that he hasn't exactly done a whole lot for us going forward this season, and that maybe the holding midfield role is where he's meant to play. If he doesn't see it himself I'm not particularly confident Roeder will either see or address the issue. It needs to be addressed and sorted for next season. We're pissing in the wind until then.

I still think he'll come good for us, on his best form he's better than Owen and Martins combined.

I remember watching one cup final (I think) about 5-6 years ago because he was playing Remember that cup game we had against tranmere a few years ago, pissed myself every time they got a throw inside our half.

Not like Chelsea have to worry bout the bottom line either. 12m to them is fuck all really tbh.

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable. we've had at least two of these over the past few years. I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc. Hyperbole? You think he's trying to make Dyer, Jeenas or Faye look better?? Wouldn't be particularly hard.

I can count on one hand the number of central midfielders i've seen with worse distribution and what's this 'decent shot' he has? Has he ever produced anything more than a 'toe punt' from outside the area? To describe him as a 'great individual player' is laughable. we've had at least two of these over the past few years. I can name bloody loads worse or, at least, not much better just in recent times: Faye, Jenas, Dyer, Batty, McClen, Glass, Bowyer, Ambrose, etc. Hyperbole?

One thing I forgot to mention in my uber-post was that with Parker as our AM we're almost gauranteed to lose a game once we go behind, as teams can then play it safe against us. As a result we need someone who can take the initiative in the middle of the park and really start to run the game. Wigan looked half asleep during the second half yesterday but, because we had absolutely nothing to offer in terms of our playmaking, the game just farted off into nothingness. They were there for the taking, and we didn't even give them a bit of discomfort. He may have had a good game and kept Gerrard quiet a few weeks ago, but its those games that are the only thing he'll excell in. Where the game turns into a high paced war and he can charge around like a headless chicken, doing what he does best. Never mind that we only got level in that game because of a fluke and were torn to bit in the first half and should have been a few goals down.

Anyone know whatever happened to David Challinor? Now he was a fucking weapon.

One thing Souness had right, if Parker was ever gonna amount to anything it was as a defensive midfielder. Have him sit in front of the back four, work hard and never let the opposition settle. And, when he gets the ball, play simple passes to someone else. He could have been quite effective for us in that role, much like Makelele is for Chelsea. The unsung hero of the team. But between himself and Glenn Roeder they seem to have determined that the holding role is somehow beneath Scott Parker. I remember Roeder claiming at the start of the season that he saw Scott Parker as our Steven Gerrard, the box-to-box heart and soul of the team. However comparing Parker to Gerrard on any level is comically absurd, Parker isn't even close to being in the same league as Gerrard. Yet, for some reason, this hasn't become apparent to the manager as of yet and as a result we still try to persist with Parker as our main creative force in center midfield. As a result we've been treated to a headless chicken running around trying to be a hero doing everything, and consequently doing nothing, all season. He has a shocking first touch, dreadful passing range, poor vision, takes far too much time on the ball, doesn't have any real eye for goal, has a dreadful final ball and doesn't get into any good positions in the box. Not what you look for in an attacking midfielder tbh. When he plays with Emre in CM its a shambles to watch. They have it completely ass backwards. Emre sits in front of the back four trying to protect, while Parker tries to get forward. Emre is very poor at tracking back and often leaves our back four exposed, while Parker is completely incapable of providing any sort of service to the front men and wingers. With Butt it's a marginally better tandem, cos at least Butt can do the holding midfield job quite competently. But still we can do nothing going forward, due to Parker. When Butt and Emre pair up in CM, it's no coincidence we look a whole lot better. Emre can go and be our playmaker, something he's a lot better equipped than Parker to do, while Butt protects the back four. Emre still doesn't quite do enough for me in that role, but at least we have balance. With Emre likely to hit the road this summer, I feel one of our biggest needs will be an attacking midfielder. Parker could still be a very effective holding midfielder for us, but he needs to shape up very fast. Stop going for the glory tackles, stop getting pulled out of position and PLAY AS PART OF A TEAM. Do your job. Otherwise he can get lost and it's no loss as far as I'm concerned.

He was right about Pardew though, good manager.