Shak

Can't see how that's possible. Souness was a complete prick, Roeder is just incompetent and losing it a bit with the pressure so he's starting to say stupid things. Souness was a prick from the get-go, who put himself and his own agendas before the good of the team. Roeder hasn't done that.

My guess is that Shepherd hoped and thought Roeder would be able to do a decent enough job this season to be able to let him continue on next season, before getting moved aside after next season for Shearer to take over. Now we're in a real problem position, if Shepherd still wants Shearer as his boss ultimately. Who is going to take the job here unless they have Shepherd's full backing, as in being given finances to rebuild the team? Surely FS wouldn't give big money to a manager he had no long term plans for? If he wants Shearer as his boss, he should offer him the job this summer. Take it or leave it, Al. If Shearer turns him down, forget about him and look for a top boss and back him to the hilt, long term. I've no faith though.

Golf?? Surely Greg Norman is a relative or close friend? Yeah, Greg and I go way back. We used to skip of school and go smoke joints and play golf down in Melbourne back in the day... good times, great memories.

I'd love to see Shola actually start scoring regularly next season, purely for your reaction. Not that I think it'll happen, before you go off on one. Anyway, with any luck Shola will be battling a new arrival for the 3rd choice striker role come next season to back-up Owen and Martins. He may even have a good chance of starting some games if Owen and Martins don't work together as a partnership, which is very possible.

They can fuck off at that price tbh. Though think of the amount of left wingers we could buy with that money...

Tell me about it. One of my best friends, a Man U fan, said to me about a year or so ago "I'm just sick of supporting Man U. I mean, we've won what in the last few years? FA Cup a couple of times and been finishing 3rd mostly. I mean, what good is that?" He was deadly serious too. Wanted to kill him. Should have, now that I think of it.

If it's any consolation going to Wembley with my dad to see us beat the mancs in the final is still one of my best ever days I doubt it is, to be fair.

Two Liverpool 4-3 losses I cried over, the first time in a room full of my friends and family (Man U and Liverpool fans every one of them) and the second time I was actually in Anfield, sitting amongst the Scousers with my family. That Everton game Stevie mentioned, the 2-1 loss to Blackburn when Fenton the cunt scored twice, the Man U game we lost 1-0 the same season. Few others tbh. The Chelsea Cup semi in 2000 was probably the last time. Hard to get to that point these days, or maybe I'm just older and able to deal with it better. You'd only really cry when it was a massive game though, and its been a long time since we came close to winning anything so it never gets to that point. Even Lisbon and in particular Alkmaar had such a sense of inevitability about it, you never felt we had the bottle to win it out. Relegation would probably do it though, God forbid. Only other sporting occasion I've ever cried over was when Greg Norman blew up in the last round of the US Masters and lost it to Faldo.

Absolutely. Let's hope the people who keep banging on about this read your comment and actually understand it. To be fair, I do remember Shepherd making comments last summer that we would be focusing our transfer efforts on getting in attacking players rather than defensive ones. Can't find an article but I do remember him saying such. Only defender I think we really targeted with any conviction was Bridge, which failed due to the saga that was the Cole transfer. We had alledged interests in Woodgate and Huth, but it seems that those efforts were half-hearted. It seems unlikely that we'd fail to get any defenders in whatsoever if the manager acknowledged it was a position of need, so it would seem he didn't.

Aye. There are countless other managers capable of taking us in the right direction, we just desperately need to find one.

How anyone can call Parker or Butt trophy signings is beyond me, Butt was seen by many as the player we needed in midfield to really make us contenders. Parker, meanwhile, is hardly a glamorous player either and was signed at a time where CM was a need. Duff could be classed as a trophy signing though, depending on how you define the term. Big name, big reputation player who was signed for a position that wasn't a pressing need by any means, who took the place of one of our more promising, though less well-known first teamers.

Campbell and Sorin would have been great additions at the back. If Man U go for Bale during the summer you'd wonder what Evra's situation will be. Depends on whether Heinze moves on as well I suppose. I'd like Evra here though for sure. Arteta has to be the best signing on that list, fantastic player.

Since he can't pass the ball or tackle properly I've no idea why you think things would look up if he plays a defensive role. Besides, are you seriously saying he's playing a "creative" role right now. f****** hell. Well Butt is a holding midfielder, and from what I've seen Parker seems to be the one expected to get forward. So yeah, he's playing the creative role. Horrendously so, but it's what he's been doing. I think he can be a good DM, if he were to learn a bit of discipline in his play. As it is he works very hard and does very little. But we saw displays last year which showed he can be a good DM. He's not a young player anymore. It's a very understated and specialised role in how good a player has to be to do this well. Their reading of the game and distribution has to be first class and I don't think you can just learn it by putting a bit of discipline into your game. They have to be a natural, there aren't many around like Gary Speed who can change their game and work this role effectively. I seriously doubt Parker has even 10% of the ability of the likes of Speed at anything, let alone in that defensive role. He needs to go and I hope he goes soon. Personally I'd be happy to see him go as well, but unfortunately can't see it happening any time soon. He'll never be a top class DM, as you say he lacks the passing ability and reading of the game for that. But he does work very hard and can put in some crunching tackles, which you need someone in midfield to do. If we're stuck with him, as I believe we are, moving him to DM can vastly help the situation. Cos while he'll never be a top class holding player, he can be passable. As a box-to-box player, which he and Roeder seem intent on him being, he's beyond horrific though and we'll go absolutely nowhere with him there.

Since he can't pass the ball or tackle properly I've no idea why you think things would look up if he plays a defensive role. Besides, are you seriously saying he's playing a "creative" role right now. f****** hell. Well Butt is a holding midfielder, and from what I've seen Parker seems to be the one expected to get forward. So yeah, he's playing the creative role. Horrendously so, but it's what he's been doing. I think he can be a good DM, if he were to learn a bit of discipline in his play. As it is he works very hard and does very little. But we saw displays last year which showed he can be a good DM.

Glenn won't likely be here much longer though, year and a half at the most. Though I do agree that there's fuck all chance of him leaving anytime soon. Surely at some point someone will have the good grace to tell him he's a DM, then maybe things will start to look up.

Ronaldo has replaced Ronaldinho as the most enjoyable player in the world to watch for me. If I could have any one player in the world at Newcastle, it'd be him. Easily. He's got a ways to go before he can be mentioned as best ever though, but I think everything you need is there for him to possibly do so. He's just brilliant at everything needed in his position really, the ease with which he beats players one on one is incredible. Reckon he'll end up being better than Ronaldinho. At his age, Ronaldinho was still trying to find himself to some extent. Being stuck at PSG didn't really help to be fair to him. Just think Ronaldo has everything that Ronaldinho has, with just that little bit more pace and ability to just breeze by people like its nothing. The original Ronaldo was better at the same age, but injuries have made him the shell of his former self tragically. If Cristiano stays injury free and applies himself, he'll become the best player in the world.

Yet we have NO good left backs and (at a stretch) ONE quality centre back. Yeah left wing is certainly what we needed. In regards to players fitting in, Dyer and Milner play a hell of a lot better on the left wing than any of our defenders play at left back. We DID need someone for the left and a player became available. Nowhere near as much as we DID need a centre back or a left back and players became available. Sadly Jon, it appears you still think a defender would prevent us from being dominted by teams such as Wigan, Smoggies, Charlton, Fulham, and Man City as has happened lately. If you can't dictate the game against teams like this, then you are in trouble and only better quality footballers who can pass and move in forward areas change this. Left backs don't pass and move the ball forward? I suppose you think left back wasn't one of the main reasons we lost to AZ aswell? We tend to have f*** all going down the left wing because there isn't anyone good enough to support Duff, do you not see why this could be part of our issue when it comes to retaining possesion in the oppositions half? no. While the majority of the responsibility does go to the midfielders and the strikers when it comes to passing the ball and keeping possession and playing good football, full-backs are also important. Countless times over the last few years I've seen our midfielders try and pass the ball, only for it to break down. When this happens, the full-backs are usually the best option in terms of a ball-retaining pass as they are generally in more space than the midfielders. So the ball goes to them. Good full backs can then control the ball, draw in an opposing player, and then play a pass to a teammate so we can attempt to start a passing move again. Our full-backs, however, are so poor that they generally plank themselves and hoof the ball aimlessly forward, resulting in loss of possession. As a result we can't really expect to play good football. Our full-backs don't need to be exceptional ball-players, but they need to be a whole lot more competent than the ones we have at present if we're ever to play good football. of course I understand this, but I don't agree. I think we give possession away up front too easily, too often, and lack a midfield player who can quickly support the front men, or man, as they are isolated too often. Keep the ball up the field, hold possession, the whole team moves up, this is not happening so we are under pressure. It has been happening all season. I have seen the wide men - all season - make runs and nobody is up to support them, Martins is on his own in the middle, and the 2 central midfield players are both defensive players who are nowhere near being in a position to support these players. This is what one of them should be doing. I am not disagreeing that Babayaro in particular isn't a patch on Bernard, but I think this is a major failure in the team and the potential for doing far better is more likely if an attacking midfield player and a striker are brought in rather than a full back. I think the first step to having a good defensive record is better possession and movement up front and in attacking situations. Basically, we have too many players who have performed sloppily when in possession, too much, too often, and this is because of a lack of ability. I must say also that I have been disappointed with Dyer, he has the pace and the stamina to do this role but has disappeared too often, in spite of having a run in the team for the first time in years. And of course we can't rely on him not getting injured. And - at this level - unless you can get someone out of contract or find a gem from the lower leagues, players that will improve you cost a lot of money and if you try to penny pinch in these position, it is highly likely they will not be good enough. We have won too many points this season while being the inferior team for my liking, and have scrapped for these points. Thats alright, but it isn't good enough at this level and the only thing that is sustainable is talent when passing and moving, we simply have not been good enough at this and if it is not improved next season could be in trouble. I'd agree that we need a top class CM in there, that would be my top priority this summer. After that, I believe two full-backs are the next priority. As good a midfield player as we may get, he won't be as effective if we continue to have long ball merchants playing at full back. We need a striker as well of course, someone who can offer us something different than Martins and Owen. Ameobi fits that mold in theory but, while I rate him higher than most on here, I'm not sure he's someone we can rely on to lead the line. I don't think we need to be spending big money on a striker though, personally. Dyer's problem for me while playing CM is that he tries to make that surging run forward too often, timing them poorly for the most part. He's never developed the timing of someone like Scholes, who knows when to sit and when to go from the middle.

Yet we have NO good left backs and (at a stretch) ONE quality centre back. Yeah left wing is certainly what we needed. In regards to players fitting in, Dyer and Milner play a hell of a lot better on the left wing than any of our defenders play at left back. We DID need someone for the left and a player became available. Nowhere near as much as we DID need a centre back or a left back and players became available. Sadly Jon, it appears you still think a defender would prevent us from being dominted by teams such as Wigan, Smoggies, Charlton, Fulham, and Man City as has happened lately. If you can't dictate the game against teams like this, then you are in trouble and only better quality footballers who can pass and move in forward areas change this. Left backs don't pass and move the ball forward? I suppose you think left back wasn't one of the main reasons we lost to AZ aswell? We tend to have f*** all going down the left wing because there isn't anyone good enough to support Duff, do you not see why this could be part of our issue when it comes to retaining possesion in the oppositions half? no. While the majority of the responsibility does go to the midfielders and the strikers when it comes to passing the ball and keeping possession and playing good football, full-backs are also important. Countless times over the last few years I've seen our midfielders try and pass the ball, only for it to break down. When this happens, the full-backs are usually the best option in terms of a ball-retaining pass as they are generally in more space than the midfielders. So the ball goes to them. Good full backs can then control the ball, draw in an opposing player, and then play a pass to a teammate so we can attempt to start a passing move again. Our full-backs, however, are so poor that they generally plank themselves and hoof the ball aimlessly forward, resulting in loss of possession. As a result we can't really expect to play good football. Our full-backs don't need to be exceptional ball-players, but they need to be a whole lot more competent than the ones we have at present if we're ever to play good football.

Pot. Kettle. Jon.

http://images.scotsman.com/2002/05/28/2805royb.jpg Playin it cool...

Complete crap. Duff has never relied on outright pace. He's got great skill on the ball, and he's a far better player than you're giving him credit for. He's struggled for fitness in the first half of the season, but he can really make things happen, and it's showing now. Great skill on the ball? He's fairly limited with the ball at his feet. His first touch is average, he scuffs as many crosses as he connects with. His best talent has always been his ability to beat two or three men at a time with a bit of good dribbling. I suppose pace is the wrong word, maybe acceleration would be better. As he gets older, this will decline. He had a good game yesterday apparently, and good for him. He was due. Still doesn't explain why he was bought and why we'll lose N'Zogbia, a much better long term prospect, as a result of this.

I'll be heartbroken when N'Zogbia goes. Can't believe some people aren't bothered that he looks to be on the way out. Sure, he's not the finished article yet. But who is at 21? He's got everything you need to be a top winger. Pace, power, work ethic, tracks back, couple of tricks in his locker and can swing in crosses with real pace. He was by far our most productive player last season, ran the show for us. Despite the fact that the team around him was dreadful and he was only a youngster. So what happens? We buy someone to take his place while the shit players around him keep their place. Frankly, I'd be off too if I were him. Duff will never be the player he once was. Even if he rediscovers some semblence of form his best assett was always his quickness. He's getting older now, meaning his pace will gradually decline. He's past it as a top player. Meanwhile, N'Zogbia has the potential to be a top player for years to come. But no, we can't have that at Newcastle United. We're a shambles of a club, and the departure of Zoggy will just further solidify that.

I've been over to St. James' twice this year. Fulham and Sheffield Utd. Hoping to make the Blackburn game as well, should be able to afford it. Suppose I could take up supporting Man U, it's all the rage over here.

Martins is better than Rooney tbh. Anyway, I like Martins and think that he has the potential to be an extremely good player. He's far from the finished article though and the last few games have served as a reminder to a few people who were going a bit overboard (see the Martins v Rooney thread) that he's far from polished. It'll be interesting to see how he and Owen work together as a partnership. Oba isn't really a natural goalscorer, yet we've relied on him as our main scoring threat this year. With Owen back, it should take a bit of the pressure off Martins so he can play a bit deeper and drift more. Even then there are question marks as to whether his control and touch is good enough to be our link man up front. Much depends on how clever he is, as in can he learn how to best use his strengths in the PL. AT times he looks like a headless chicken with the ball at his feet, as though he's constantly panicking. His goal against Liverpool at St. James is a good example of this. The ball broke to him and you could almost see him taking the two or three seconds to compose himself and slot it home (You can imagine what's going on in his head 'BALL!! THERE!! SHOOT, SHOOT NOW!HARD, HIT IT HARD!' but he restrains himself and manages to slot it home.) If he develops a bit of composure on the ball and learns to play with his head up more, he could be a superb player. His pace will annihialte most Premiership defences if he's free to drift onto the wings and drive at full-backs knowing that Owen is sniffing about in the box looking for the ball across.

^^ Fuck you two and all, another pair of cunts ye.