Yorkie

It was a poor penalty, but he was trying to put it in the corner... he wasn't trying to chip it. :?

Fucks sake, not picking on you particularly but to even suggest the Roeder is going after Melchiot based on speculation by Planetfootball is insane. The article had no quotes from anybody and no other credible site is covering the story. Why i said "if" tbh mate.

Well done everybody! This one tickled me... So KR, Taylor, Bobyule... then everybody else.

Our opinions differ. ;-) Not saying we should or will break the bank, i'm just saying that if we were to - i'd rather we did it on a defender than a striker. But, if Roeder's going after the likes of Mario Melchiot, he is clearly saving a hefty wedge of his budget for a striker. Not needed IMO. I'd much rather we go after a £2m Viduka or a £3m Beattie than spend £8m or whatever on Peter Crouch, or someone.

You reckon? Seriously? The defenders will return from injury. What happens if Martins is injured? Serious question. Unfair to rely on Martins anyway, imo. I don't think he's a serial goalscorer*. We need defenders aswell as a striker in January. But we crave defenders - absolutely no doubt about it. Martins might score a goal every single game, but if we continue to concede two every game aswell, then we're screwed. We need quality defenders - because we're very, very short on them. I'd much rather we broke the bank in an attempt to improve the defense than the attack, which is something we simply do not need to do. *And before people jump on my back and say that i'm only stating that cos he missed a penalty today, i've actually been saying that all season.

I think you do.

We'll get mullered and people will go back to calling for Roeder's head. I dread to think what they'll be saying after the Tottenham game aswell.

Unfortunately, i'm not surprised by anything to do with Newcastle and transfers anymore. I'll take everything with a pinch of salt, because you just have to, but i'll always believe there to be a certain degree of truth in something. Simply because it's Newcastle.

But surely he should use his skills to appoint a manager capable of picking the best team, instead of one that would rather change a winning formula? Alex Ferguson changes winning formulas. Aye, he has Man Utd's squad aswell. Knew the Roeder wankfest would capitulate after these games. Two more losses against Man Utd and Tottenham and people will return to the wrist-slitting. Very, very predictable and the whole Roeder thing is very knee-jerk, whether opinions swing from good to bad. Not criticising Ohmelads here, i think he's spot on. It's the other Roeder thread - effectively the complete opposite to this one - that i believed to be knee-jerk.

:roll: :roll:

Would have loved to have seen what he could do with our squad, which i still believe is far superior to Villa's, at his disposal.

That's an excellent point actually. And Wullie - totally disagree. He's still got to put it in the back of the net, hasn't he. ;-)

I love Oba.

I think Emre's got massive potential. So long as we play him with the right players (player - Butt). I wouldn't like to see us sell him. Barton would be a decent replacement if we do, though.

We've obviously got a certain amount of money, i'm thinking probably in the region of £10m. Bringing Melchiot here for tuppence wouldn't surprise me. If we do that - Roeder is clearly throwing all his eggs in one basket, and is going to buy a striker. Bring in a below-average defender for nowt, then we can concentrate on bringing in another attacking player for big money. For some reason, the words 'typical Newcastle' spring to mind. Left-back is the one position in the squad that we are totally shite at. If i wanted to see us blow our budget on one position - it would be that one. Melchiot is fucking crap and relegation-fodder standard. :roll:

Shearer scored his one and only penalty in a World Cup finals tbh. Scored two World Cup penalties actually. Ah yes that's right. There was two in the Argentina game.

Shearer scored his one and only penalty in a World Cup finals tbh.

Yeah, he scored something like 52 penalties i think. Couldn't care less... he's still got to put it in the net. For the Premiership only, had he not have netted against Sunderland in his last game - he would have had an exactly 1 in 2 goals ratio. So he's actually got a very marginally better one. I'd say he was pretty prolific...

"I hate people...", nah i didn't actually mean that. "I hate it that people..." Just makes me sick watching that goal, that's all. And tbh - if a Premiership footballer can't kick a ball from 70 yards out, or whatever, they're in the wrong division. He hit it hard, but that's all it was. Harper fell over - that's why it went in.

Agreed, i'd certainly be tempted into a big money signing for a Bent or a Crouch, but i think logically - i'd prefer a stopgap. Like Viduka or Beattie. Though Beattie, i think, could do well here and may be more long-term than someone like Viduka. We're bound to have a decent attacking line-up next season anyway. Owen, Martins, Shola, Sibi, Dyer, whoever we get in Jan - so i don't think we need to go breaking the bank for a striker.

The Olympiakos game was in March 2005! The only time Iv ever been to SJP, was for my 21st bday. What a game to go to! Wow. Bet that was immense. My St James' Park visits currently stand at Blackburn in the Worthington Cup, 1998 (drew 1-1, lost on pens), and 3-1 against Valerenga. :|

you don't half talk some shit at times That a fact? Could say exactly the same thing about you mate. didn't mean to offend

Yeah, that's the sort of thing I was talking about. I think possibly Cech would inspire more confidence in our back four, whereas sometimes I get the impression that they're unsure as to who should be dealing with the ball in. You're probably right about Cech... i'd probably consider him for my Top 3. However, i certainly wouldn't call him the best keeper - i honestly couldn't tell you who is. Nevertheless, i still feel that Cech is overrated, and Chelsea's lack of goals conceded is primarily down to the sheer quality that they have in their defense, it's not largely down to Cech. He's just the cherry on top, as apposed to the 'cake'. Look at me getting all metaphorical.

Did you pick that one by the quality of it, or the importance of it. Just wondered.

I'm not so sure tbh. We seem to concede a lot of our goals from set pieces/crosses, and I think Cech commands his box better than Shay does, and is better at getting to the deliveries in the first place. Yeah, we do concede a lot from set pieces, but is that really that much to do with Given? Yes - a goalkeeper should command his box, however i think Given does. I'd put it down more to incompetence from our defenders, rather than lack of communication (etc) from the goalkeeper. And Given's catching has improved immensely through the years, i reckon. I just think Shay's a better all-round keeper than Cech. Plus, Cech cocks up - like i said in my previous post, he lacks concentration at times. You rarely see Shay Given make a real howler, whereas Cech has done it three or four times since he's come to Chelsea. I'm probably missing atleast one here... but the last real cock-up i can think of Given making, was when he flew out of his area to close down a Wolves striker, back in 2003/04. The striker promptly took the ball round him and scored. Cech's only young though (in goalkeeper years), he'll certainly get better. Keepers tend to hit their best form once they've reached 30.