Mick

Skirge, Today wasn't a one off, it was par for the course. It is the job of the manager to make sure we play with our strongest 11 whenever possible and that these 11 players are comfortable with what they are asked to do. They should play as a team, they did this for a few games when down to the bones and young kids had something to prove and ran themselves into the ground for each other. If this lot are playing for Roeder then God help us when they have an off-day against a team who really go out to win. It was only weeks ago that Roeder tried something similar to what he did today and it didn't work yet he's done the same thing and we got beat. You would think that he might remember something that was only a matter of weeks ago.

We had a 2 away goal lead against part timers, does Roeder not have faith in the teams he puts out? He could have put players on the bench on Thursday as insurance in case something went wrong, he didn't have to start players who needed a rest.

It wasn't just through the middle, it was also on the wings, I would have started both Milner and N'Zogbia and then made changes if necessary. Duff might have done better playing against knackered players rather than fresh players at the start.

The selection was pretty much correct for today's game. He couldn't have done a huge amount differently tbh. The thing he did wrong was start Milner the other night. And you know this how??? We're you in the dressing rooms? It's half the players' job to motivate themselves. Why should he have to do it all? You're defending somebody who is beyond defence, his selection was wrong and he clearly is not motivating the players, that is plain to see from our displays against teams thought to be below us, lesser teams. Why should he have to do it? It's his job, the job of every manager in every walk of life to make sure they get the right people for the job and to get the best out of them, motivation is a massive part of that, Roeder is not doing it.

Roeder is beyond defence, again. He picked a better first 11 on Thursday in a game which was all but won, even if we lost the home game we were never going to go down by more than 1 goal. He played Milner on Thursday then dropped him today to give him a rest, personally I think "the rest" was an excuse to drop him. If he was needing a rest then any manager worth that title would have rested him on Thursday, I'd love to see somebody try to defend that decision. Roeder didn't have the balls to drop a senior player so he shuffled the pack to get the three central defenders in, he does the same to accommodate Carr, he's a joke of a manager. The players should be motivated, self motivated, we all know life isn't that simple, sometimes it's the job of the manager, in this respect, I've yet so see any evidence that Roeder has done that this season. The players we have on the pitch should be good enough to beat Wigan, Sheffield United, Charlton, Fulham and Birmingham 9 times out of 10, it's the managers job to make sure this happens, it's his job to make sure the players are up for it and that they are the best players at his disposal in every position, he doesn't do that and I think it's because he doesn't have a clue what he's doing and that assessment isn't knee-jerk, I've not changed my position on him since he was appointed. I hoped I was wrong but so far it looks like I was right. You don’t fail as often as him at previous clubs if you’re good at your job. Roeder isn’t good enough, that isn’t going to change. I don’t really blame people for defending him, we all want things to go well, the trouble is that by defending him you’re accepting the shite that was produced today and nobody should accept that today was good enough. It wasn’t even a one-off it was typical of Newcastle this season and I think it’s going to be typical for as long as Roeder is manager. If the players need some help from the management then they are in trouble because the management isn’t up to the job.

Those same players win games when motivated, they don't beat teams like Wigan.

You might get stick from some but in reality you're not far wrong, he's clueless about most things that are important to managing a team. He doesn't seem able to motivate. Team selection is crap when he has to make decisions. He's got blue eyed boys who he seems unable to drop when fit. He's got no idea about tranfer windows. I could go on. What is he good at?

From BBC Sport: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6371353.stm Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder: "It was a nailed-on penalty and if we'd taken the lead then, we'd have gone on to win as we were on top and Shay Given had little to do. "But we just didn't take the chances we created, or made the best of the good positions we got into. "The second half wasn't a great spectacle, but it should have been all over by half-time."

I don't want to listen to him at all, he's out of his depth.

It looks like we'll be 11th after today, we've got very little chance of Europe.

Is this not his third season?

I doubt many people hate Duff, he's done nothing to make people hate him. When he signed my feelings were that we'd signed a quality player who we didn't need. I think most people were a bit pissed off that we signed a player that a lot of people felt we didn't need and that was said at the time of his transfer. The fact that he's turned out to be a waste of £5 million so far just proves those who felt the money should go elsewhere were right, yes, that bit's hindsight but that doesn't change the fact that so far he's been very poor and he would have been slaughtered if he was a lesser player (historically) costing that money for very little return. His "pedigree" seems to be the only reason that he doesn't get more stick, he gets a lot less stick than a few other players who have cost this club less than Duff or nothing at all. I can't see any problem with Duff having his value to the team questioned by the fans, he's been a passenger in the team for too long this season, he's yet to justify his weekly wage, never mind his transfer fee, a third of the budget for a year. Duff shouldn't be picked because of what he did at Blackburn or Chelsea, he was no world beater at Chelsea and that's one of the reasons we were allowed to sign him. He's had plenty of time to settle in here but has so far failed to do so, possibly due to his stop/start season through injuries but also possibly due to having no drive. Maybe he played well at Blackburn because he was hungry and now lost that when he went to Chelsea for such a large fee, maybe he felt that was the sign that he'd made it and could start to relax. I think his lack of form is down to one of three reasons, a lack of motivation, a lack of hunger or his injuries. Even if it is one of them he's had plenty of chances to prove himself and has been picked on his past record rather than merit, I would say that he's never played a single game on merit, at least not based on what he’s done here, 15 minutes against a very poor team isn’t good enough. Duff was surrounded by good players at Chelsea, he wasn't at Blackburn. I can't see that he's under any kind of pressure here because we're expecting too much of him, I think we expect him to put in a good 90 minutes when he plays, that's something we have every right to expect, we should expect that of the 11 who turn out every week, when I see Duff I don't see a plyer who appears to be trying too hard, I see a player who tries no harder than anybody else. He can have no complaints about his treatment from the fans as they've given him a lot of slack, a lot of slack which hasn't been afforded to some other players recently. Duff has to start living up to his reputation and he has to do it soon or should be dropped once N’Zogbia becomes fit again, Duff playing poorly should not prevent N’Zogbia from developing.

It's only £15 to get in the home ends, a cheap day out.

Oliver seems to have problems with most foreign players or those who refuse to give him interviews, if Oliver said it was dark outside I'd probably open the curtains to make sure. He does talk some s**** though doesn't he.. He used to play footie with me dad, in leadgate, he used to talk s**** then to.. surprise surprise. Your dad could have done us all a favour and crippled him, he couldn't have made him any uglier though.

Oliver seems to have problems with most foreign players or those who refuse to give him interviews, if Oliver said it was dark outside I'd probably open the curtains to make sure.

I still have a problem with his first touch, if he can crack that then he'll be a class player because he has no problem finding the net. His pace and power is amazing and the most important assets to have, he just needs to get his touch right then he'll be up with the best. He reminds me of Malcolm Macdonald quite a bit except Macdonald was better with his head, when Martins gets the ball you know he's only got one thing on his mind, to have a crack at goal. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to going a few games without a goal as he seems to show a lot of frustration during games when things aren't going for him.

N'Zogbia by a mile, the lads got loads of potential and is as direct as Martins most of the time. I can't wait to see him back, I'm not sure he'll get picked ahead of Duff, we'll see. Duff played Martins in really well for his goal on Thursday but I think N'Zogbia would have made more of an impact on the game over 90 minutes than Duff. Duff arriving has came at the same time as Zog stuttering, I think it's because he's lost a bit of confidence, Roeder could easily give him that back by picking him ahead of Duff and telling him that he's playing on merit, again, I don't expect that to happen. Prove me wrong Glenda.

I expect that the talent is around but we're not finding it or we're not developing it, the only other thing I can think of is that Playstations and Nintendo's are causing problems with kids not leaving bedrooms for hours on end. I hear they have the Internet on computers as well. That might cause some problems. On a more serious note, maybe expectations are too high at the moment. Are too many kids getting compared to the Rooney's and Crynaldo's of the world? I think club ambition comes into play as well. Especially at the Toon, where we're so desperate to win something, the youth get overlooked. Is that the case? It certainly seems like it from an outsiders point of view. (I'm a Geordie who grew up abroad) You might be right about expectations, a lot of kids are late developers. A few kids look better than they are because they are bigger, the smaller ones catch up and have missed whatever chance they had.

You're learning.

It would appear not. He probably doesn't recognise the significance of the "?" as you've used it properly, try leaving a space before it, that might get a response. Please explain how spending years selling your best players and playing in the 2nd division is the sign of a progressive club, and the same as one who regularly qualifies for europe ? Please explain why Gordon Lee left Newcastle for Everton, and bought current England internationals at Everton but not Newcastle ? Please explain why 3 local lads all wanted to leave Newcastle to win things and further their ambitions in football, and why this does not happen nowadays, despite their being "no difference" to the respective boards who ran the club ? Where did that come from ? What has it to do with the question Baggio asked you ? I've added the spaces for your benefit.

It must be shit for Chelsea, I'm glad we're not in crisis because we're 2nd.

I expect that the talent is around but we're not finding it or we're not developing it, the only other thing I can think of is that Playstations and Nintendo's are causing problems with kids not leaving bedrooms for hours on end.

It would appear not. He probably doesn't recognise the significance of the "?" as you've used it properly, try leaving a space before it, that might get a response.

The amount of grass to the North, West and South hasn't changed recently, it didn't stop the area from producing players in the past, it's just an excuse.