Unbelievable

Barton nearly..

Was offside.. lol

YES!!!

Better player than Dyer you know..

Ameobi seems to have acquired a decent first touch somehow..

Ameobi didn't even touch the defender there, did he?

Oooh, good play Jonas..

Seeing Butt take that free kick makes me think: why wouldn't every manager try to at least have one free kick specialist in the squad? It's a half dozen goals "for free", regardless of whatever other qualities the player may have, and we have plenty of players who don't contribute anything positive in terms of their football.. Why don't we have anybody in our squad/team capable of consistenly hitting a free kick well..?

Dyer could pass and move at pace. He never scored or created many but as part of our team he pissed on Duff's contribution from a great height. Can't believe this is even in question tbh. He really didnt. He couldnt pass, he could run.. like a headless chicken. It says alot that his entire time here he was played right back, right midfield, center midfield and secondary striker. He was useless Are you drunk?

Jonas has done everything wrong the last 10 minutes of the first half..

Are we?

Jonas ffs!!!

Lol Martins..

Not too bad by Duffster there..

Enrique.. You have to laugh..

FYP

For me, he would start ahead of Duff..

They said wouldnt They did? Apologies in that case..

How predictable that was..

Commentators are certain Smith would get in our lineup when fit. Oh dear..

Nice one Colo

Phew, could have been a goal. Good save Given..

It does rather make me wonder what criteria they had for their new manager appointment before it became clear they were no longer wanted. Experience had the highest level? Nah. An affinity with the club or region? Nope. Someone to inspire the players and crowd? Definitely not. A proven pedigree? Not really. A friend they knew they felt they could trust and who would fit into the system (i.e. not ask any nasty questions)? Looks like it.

Good post Rich. Can't find much to argue with, so won't.

Not exactly the same as saying we have gone backwards 20 years in the space of a couple of months, is it? Besides, off the pitch he is probably right in terms of us being in the s*** more than we have been for a long, long while. On the pitch it is quite clear we need heavy investment if we ever want to reach the hights we did just five years ago. We have gone backwards in a staggering way in recent years. Shepherd is partly to blame mainly for some uninspired appointments, Ashley hasn't exactly turned out to be the saviour we craved.. You've misunderstood me, first of all: I initially posted that people have said we've gone back 20 years over the past few months, as in "over the past few months, people have said we've gone back 20 years" (talking about how recently I've seen it said, not how quickly we've regressed). Also, even if your version was true that's one quote I found after simply searching "20 years" in the football forum amidst numerous server errors, forgive me for not looking harder at your request. Obviously things haven't gone how we had all hoped over the summer, but it wasn't as big as a disaster as it was made out to be in some quarters from simply a player-for-player perspective of our dealings. Of course it wasn't up to the high expectations demanded by some (Keegan included, and myself to some extent), and as said in this very thread football isn't simply played on paper, but to say that the position we're in is not a false one after all that has gone on and after the good signs we've seen recently under Kinnear (of all managers) beggars belief. I did indeed misunderstand you; witten language is a funny thing.. Apologies for that. To address the issue at hand: do you really feel Newcastle United as a club have progressed in the last 2 and a half years? And where do you think we "belong" in the league? Not what should we aim for, but what should we expect from the current set up and playing staff?