EthiGeordie

Cheers mate what I really feel of, My only regrett is we should have Keegan starting in December though.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/martins-breaks-ranks-to-attack-allardyce-reign-774614.html It is the body language as much as the words that tell the story. Obafemi Martins did his best to be diplomatic but he made it clear enough that, while others celebrate the arrival of Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, he is relieved at the departure of Sam Allardyce. "I don't like talking against people," the Nigeria centre-forward said, "but if something is not right, you have to change it." As far as he was concerned, something was very definitely not right at St James' Park. "I cannot say I have good memories [of my time under Allardyce]," he said, "but I cannot say I have bad memories. If the manager's not doing very well, of course they will let him go. That's life – it's like that. If the fans don't want him there, he shouldn't be there." Martins began the season in fine style, scoring two within half an hour as Newcastle won 3-1 at Bolton, but he was substituted midway through the second half, a move that for him set a depressing pattern. Although he has featured in 21 Premier League games this season, Martins has played the full 90 minutes in only five and, while he has managed a total of seven goals in all competitions, he has not scored since 8 December. "I think I should have played more," he said. "A centre-forward is there to score goals... and since I was not playing, I was not that happy. I don't know why he didn't pick me. He wanted to play some other players: that was his choice. I never talked to the manager. I never knew anything." He was not happy either in the role in which Allardyce used him. "We have good players who can play, but when I am playing on the right wing it makes it difficultto play. I think that's why we weren't playing that good." While the local media on Tyneside can be demanding, it is nothing compared to the Nigerian press corps. With defeat to Ivory Coast in the opening game leaving Nigeria facing an embarrassingly early elimination from the African Nations Cup, Martins again finds himself in an underperforming side facing disgruntled fans. This time, though, the attention is more personal. In Africa it's different," he said. "If the players aren't doing well, they don't blame the coach, they blame the players. In Europe it's totally different; if players aren't doing well, they blame the coach." Nigeria have not won the Cup since 1994 – they have been third at each of the past three tournaments. "The problem is that Nigerians want the Cup so much that there is great pressure right now." The parallels with Newcastle, without a domestic trophy since 1955, are obvious. Only a hugely charismatic figure could handle such expectation, and Martins is optimistic that Keegan is that man. "Everybody loves Keegan," he said, "especially the fans."

i guess it is for the better once Faye and Beye comes back we are not in dire situation but surely we need to attract players like Woodgate at any cost

if we do well and pick up maximum points at home we will finish with 50 points thats about 8th or 9th. With lack of signing in this window though getting 23 points seems a mountain to climb.

I amk excited about the future as all our sreatve midfilders will be playing out of postions or warming the bench. I am looking forward for Emer to be honest we didn't see the best of him and I wanna see the best of him in extended run of games. Dyer was terrbile at Zogy age all his off the field antics the scandel he was with Rio and Lampard while they recover from that and be good player he never did and be a an average player. The sky is the limit for zoggy if he keepss improving.

Why no one comes up short when Keegan marches in Kevin Keegan has his own unique method of making players feel 10 feet tall Harry Pearson January 24, 2008 11:58 PM Last week the former Newcastle midfielder Rob Lee attested to Kevin Keegan's matchless ability to come into a dressing room and instantly make the players "feel 10 feet tall". On Saturday Robbie Keane commented that when Jermain Defoe was handed the Spurs captaincy before the game with Sunderland the forward suffered a similarly amazing growth spurt. "Jermain is only 5ft but he was 8ft before the game," the Irishman told reporters. We can see from this that, when it comes to increasing a player's sense of his own height, Keegan is 25% more effective that the White Hart Lane captain's armband. It helps, of course, that the Newcastle boss himself is diminutive. It was his stature after all that led Germans to nickname the Hamburg forward Mighty Mouse, though the bacon rind addiction played a part too, obviously. Many readers are probably under the impression that Keegan affects this transformation in his players by charisma and brilliant man management alone. In fact, Special K is far more practical and cunning than he is often given credit for. It is well known that when he fi rst took over at Newcastle in February 1992 one of the first things the bubbling Messiah did was tackle the training ground changing rooms. However, not only did he have them cleaned and fumigated; he had all the fixtures and fittings replaced with smaller replicas and the heights of the door frames lowered. The effect was completed by always serving the players their tea in doll's house cups and saucers and ensuring that when they served lunch the catering staff made full use of Marks and Spencer's range of mini party snacks. In a nutshell: Keegan makes players feel bigger by reducing the size of everything around them. "What we didn't realise at the time was that all the security staff at St James' Park were retired jockeys hired by Kev," the Newcastle goalkeeper of that and several other eras, Pavel Srnicek, would later recall in his autobiography, Pavs of Glory . "You'd see the bouncers in their black jackets and you just towered over them. It felt fantastic. And, of course, Terry McDermott did an absolutely brilliant job too. I remember one lunchtime he cut a midget pork pie into 12 slices and served it to the first team squad with fried quails eggs, tiny wee jersey royals and some shredded Brussels sprout that he told everyone was cabbage. Eating that off one-third scale plates with kids' cutlery made your hands look absolutely massive. Terry had literally made us feel like giants." Team bonding weekends at Bekonscot model village and Legoland helped further to increase the Newcastle team's sense of its own enormousness. The whole elaborate scheme began to unravel during the pulsating 1995-96 season. With Keegan's team 10 points clear of their rivals at the top of the Premiership, their Belgian centre-back Philippe Albert wandered into a supermarket one day after mistaking it for a pigeon loft. What he saw in the fruit and veg section would have a dramatic effect on morale at St James' Park and alter the course of the people's game. "It was half-time of the crucial clash with Man United at St James' Park," Srnicek wrote. "The match was still in the balance at 0-0. We knew that, if we won this game the title would practically be ours. Then Arthur Cox brought in our traditional interval orange slices. When Philippe took his he studied it for a moment and then - and I'll never forget this moment for as long as I wear tracksuit bottoms - he said in a loud and authoritative voice: 'This is not an orange. This is a kumquat.' "Kevin tried to save the situation by arguing that it wasn't a kumquat, it was just a very small satsuma, but the damage was done. Our minds were totally messed up. We weren't huge at all. We were just men of average height. We had been conned. Eric Cantona scored the winner and the rest, as they say, is hysteria . "To be fair Kevin is a nice guy, the sort of manager who likes to put his arm around a players shoulder. But he couldn't do that with us without giving up the pretence that we were 90cm taller than him. In the end he lost the dressing room, which was not surprising since it was actually really, really little." The sports psychologist professor Phil Singlet also warns that making the players feel 10-feet tall may have dramatic short-term effects, but fail in the longer term. "The trouble," he explains, "is the players' excitement at suddenly being able to look a giraffe straight in the eye quickly pales once the cruel reality of always having to wear your trousers low down on your hips to avoid showing everyone the tops of your socks hits home. And then, of course, there is the other major concern. If you make a player feel 10, 12, 15 feet tall, then inevitably there is going to come a time when he starts to believe he is bigger than the club. And, who knows, he could be correct." http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/01/24/why_no_one_comes_up_short_when.html

If Owen worth 115 Oba for sure deserve 90k.

We don't need to feed the big clubs by having thier players here . I hate it with Rossie. It will only make you second class team. There are other teams suitable for this.

Agree hope to have that one back just like season/ I have fond memory for that.

I dunno but I hate them Do I have to justify the reason? nope

What about his woeful injury record? I won't spent another 9 mil for hhim there is no chance for that.

What I really think off and when we be in that postion again pushing for the title we will worry about having another coach on board. I don't like tactics and most tactical mangers are usually boring.

Ashton is the similar thing we can find for the Ferdinand and Andy cole type of striker.

I luv Keegan as his old slef and it is awesome if he still thinks the same. I see his other experiance as weakness I want the naive full attacking Keegan.

Once Faye and Beye comes back from ACN we will be good defensivley after that it is amatter of working on the creativity part of our game.

Garay ight be what he look for a defender in Albet mold who score goals. I think We badly need that sort of defenders at this football club.

A but old I don't think he will contribute a good deal on the field. I dunno off the field though.

I felt that his 5 year plan is well underway right now and it seems he wants us to win the title in five years time. I think the most important period will be the next 18 months if things put in good perspective in those 18 months we will be where Chelsea are after the first 2 years of abarhamovich era.

Shut up punk!

No arguments here. I disagree because Newcastle is his boy hood club and every player wants to play for their favorite team at some point in their career.

I want to thank what he did for our football club. He bring smile, hope, and excitement for the Geordie nation. One of the best week of my life I hope the best is still coming but I feel that he didn't get enough credit here. He wants to emulate Abrhamovich and his whole attitude so far since he took over is outstanding. Please discuss what you feel about our owner and what do you expect in the next 6 month. Are you guys happy he is willing to spend 100 million for us?

I love berba here and I don't care how much we pay. 26 36 or for that matter 66. I just love great players and he is one of it. I wonder why people worry about much about other people money.

The more Ashley involve the more excited I become DOF is a good postion and he must have seen something in wise. Wise head Ashley

I was really upset with Emer this was the time we really need him yet he stupidly sent of the other day. Roz was not a midfilder and I was surprised how we didn't put on Troise for the last 15 min. Over all we will look up from now on. We will have Butt Smith and Barton back for the next game and thats really important area for us. with luck we might sign up some one quality before the game next week.

I am scared of the line up guys we are very thin. I hate that guy Emer when we need him most......