KaKa

Unbelievably happy for Geremi.

Such a good pro and dealt so well with being stripped of the captaincy.

He really deserves to be the hero today.

Obs should be scoring any second now ...

Ilove the way our team is setup at the moment because I feel we will always be able to score goals.

Whereas a month ago we had absolutely no chance once we fell behind.

Chimbonda on the bench?

Nice!

We should be able to get at that defence a little bit.

Was Beye's chance from a corner?

Yet another 6 foot 4 striker for Stoke, what a stupid team they are.

I hope Shola does well but I am dissapointed he couldn't join a better team than Stoke.

All they do is lump it up to their tall and burly frontline of 6 foot 4 strikers.

Ironically, I believe this is what Shola is worst at as all he does is foul the defender when he goes up for the ball in these situations. I think he is actually better when it is played into his feet although his first touch will let him down at times.

Moved to England to play for Arsenal when he was very young, and so came with his mother, who was a bit of a controlling type.

His mother apparently hated it here as she didn't speak English and felt isolated and so she badgered him into returning to Spain, which he did.

He's a bit older now and he might finally have tired of being a mamas boy and wants to get as far away from her as possible.

Could work out for us. He's certainly talented, and was great when he initially joined Arsenal.

If Gudjohnsen decides to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, I think we should definitely go for him. Good supporting striker/attacking midfielder who can make things happen.

Goodness grief!

How about looking to the future and bringing in some fresh young talent and not the same old names.

Gudjohnsen is lsoing his pace and his legs with each passing second. He is gradually beginning to wind down his career.

I think this is a mistake many make. Just because Kenwyne Jones has gone off the boil a bit everyone is now writing him off as not good enough. Fogetting the unbelievably crap team he curently plays for and the fact that he is only young and this is first season in the premiership.

Every game I watch him he still looks a threat. Great size, speed, athleticism and holds the ball up well and brings others into play. His first touch is also pretty decent. He has shown more than enough this season to justify buying him. Now is the time to go for him. It is actually a good thing he has gone back under the radar as the season draws to an end.

I remember when Bentley was being loaned to Norwich and he had a pretty good first season, although he did show some inconsistency, and I thought he was well worth a punt. I posted this on another Newcastle site and the same old top four cast offs bollox was heaped on my head, and how he wasn't good enough bla bla bla. Now people are happy to pay £20 million for him.

Imagine Kenwyne Jones with someone like Petrov, Bentley or Ashley Young providing him with consistent service? He will probably end up with Man City, Blackburn or Aston Villa if we don't go for him. Then when he begins to flourish we'll start talking about spending £20 million on him too.

Lets assume for a moment that we keep this formation next season i.e. the 4-3-3/4-3-1-2 with Owendinho in the hole.

And we upgrade our starting 11 like so:

Kenwyne Jones (after Sunderland crash and burn hopefully) in for Viduka.

David Bentley (yes we have a chance!) in for Geremi.

Michael Carrick (shut it Dave!) in for Butt.

Drool away gentlemen, drool away ... because Keegan will make it happen. You heard it here first.

I think the key thing is that Owen will need a very explosive and quick striker alongside him. He can then continue to drop deep and link play and get into goal scoring positions given the opportunity to do so, and his partner upfront can be the one relied upon to stretch defences in behind.

Owen should no longer be asked to play on the shoulder of defender to try and get in behind them because he just doesn't do this as well anymore due to his loss of pace.

Like Tron says Owen and Martins looks to have a lot more potential given this development.

Owen alongside just one other striker with a lack of explosiveness and pace should no longer be an option for us anymore i.e. the likes of Smith and Viduka.

Therefore we should steer well clear of the likes of Crouch and Ashton this summer, unless Keegan wants to continue with this exact formation with Owen behind Oba and another striker.

The thought of our centre back pairing next season being Dawson and Taylor ... the humiliation would be unbearable. I will go out on a limb and say it would be the worst pairing in the premiership.

I sincerely hope this is some sort of sick joke by the media.

Please God we really don't deserve this, no one does.

Owen is a scary guy to commit to long term mainly because of his injury woes, especially with the amount of money we would continue to pay him.

However, I guess if Mike Ashley is willing to pay his salary and  put some serious money in the team, so that we are able to build a squad of players that won't miss a Michael Owen when he is injured then that would be fine.

Fantastic that we've built up a bit of confidence heading into this game.

I think it will be a very exciting contest and I really feel it could go either way.

We are certainly in with a chance and I think we could nick a result.

2 - 3 Newcastle win.

Oba Martins 50 yard screamer to win it in the 94th minute, after one from Barton and another from Owen.

That number 10 shirt also seems to make a lot more sense now, with Owen's deeper role.

Maybe subconsciously he always knew this would happen.

Freaky ...  

I really think that when it comes down to it Bentley would move to Newcastle, Aston Villa or Man City this summer for sure.

 

These clubs will be spending big this summer and will be bringing in quality players and at the same time he would be a big part of any of these teams, and would instantly be one of the best players in any of them. He would get an increase in wages and an even greater profile.

 

Blackburn have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while now, and how long will Hughes continue to be fortunate enough to get the likes of McCarthy and Cruz in for so cheap?

 

I doubt Bentley would sit around waiting for a top four club to come in for him in another couple of seasons he was presented with a good enough offer from either of the three clubs mentioned this summer. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone and you never know what might happen.

 

I think it is also important to note that Bentley started at Arsenal and knows what it is like not to get a regular game and he detested it. Which top four club would he go to now and be on the teamsheet every week?

 

He would have to put up with rotations due to the depth of quality at these clubs and I'm not sure he would be willing to put up with it.

This 

I know people keep referring to this formation as a 4-3-3, but wasn't it really more of a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Owen playing at the peak of the diamond, just behind Martins and Viduka?

With the latter routinely coming deep to receive possession and dictate play, Keegan has forged a new creative position for his captain, one at which he appears adept.

“We’ve played him there because he’s the one player at the club who we know can keep the ball, see a pass and know when to release the ball,” Keegan said. “He might get more chances coming from there. He’s enjoying the role. With the players we’ve got at the moment, it’s the best role for the club and I don’t see any reason to change too much when something’s working.

“In training, he naturally comes deep and we kept seeing it and thought, ‘Wow, this guy can link us up all day long’. I said to him after the Birmingham game, ‘You can play until you’re 36 or 37, if you want, as a midfield player’. Just give him the ball because he’s not going to give it away. Those players are priceless. I can find plenty who can give the ball away.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3607455.ece

I really think that when it comes down to it Bentley would move to Newcastle, Aston Villa or Man City this summer for sure.

These clubs will be spending big this summer and will be bringing in quality players and at the same time he would be a big part of any of these teams, and would instantly be one of the best players in any of them. He would get an increase in wages and an even greater profile.

Blackburn have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while now, and how long will Hughes continue to be fortunate enough to get the likes of McCarthy and Cruz in for so cheap?

I doubt Bentley would sit around waiting for a top four club to come in for him in another couple of seasons he was presented with a good enough offer from either of the three clubs mentioned this summer. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone and you never know what might happen.

I think it is also important to note that Bentley started at Arsenal and knows what it is like not to get a regular game and he detested it. Which top four club would he go to now and be on the teamsheet every week?

He would have to put up with rotations due to the depth of quality at these clubs and I'm not sure he would be willing to put up with it.

Gerrard is such a crap captain. Where was he throughout the Mascherano affair?

Look, I never claimed to know what he said did I? But I doubt it was anything groundbreaking! I'm I'm sure he didn't just create a swear word worse than all others, the guy can hardly speak English!

All I know is all season we have seen this kind of behaviour and much worse go unpunished and it's a bit late to suddenly change the rules completely. Until the FA has drawn up the rules and put them into effect then ...

I still maintain Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, Terry et al. would not have got sent off in the exact same conditions,

@ people mentioning the fact Mascherano said "Fuck off" to Bennett.

All these players swear at the ref constantly. Mascherano did not show enough aggression or blatant disrespect to warrant a yellow. Especially not in a game like this where you know the temperature is going to be a bit raised. Bennett should have grabbed Gerrard and told him to control his teammate or he would be off next time. It's just bad refereeing  and is pretty much all down to the Ashley Cole hoopla.

These refs are so unintelligent that they are now going to take it too far the other way and everytime a player speaks to them they will send them off. You just watch.

Not been the biggest fan of Owen's overall contibutions in the games he has played for us, as I always felt he could do more on the pitch.

However, I have been impressed by the contributions Owen has been able to make in this new role, and whether or not we play this formation or revert to a 4-4-2 I hope this spell will now give him the confidence to drop deeper a little more often than he typically does. It makes the team so much better and I believe it keeps Owen sharper and more alert as he is more active throughout the match.

Promising. Will beinteresting to see how we fare against better competition with this same approach.

By the way would Gerrard, Terry, Rooney or Lampard been sent of for doing the exact same thing in the exact same way.

Nope. Bloody awful stuff.

Stupid yellow for Torres and a worse one for Mascherano. Don't know why people are applauding these two awful decisions.

Neither torres nor Mascherano were hardly in his face were they? The ref has to be stronger than that. Steve Bennett is weak as hell. Always hiding behind his cards. Flashes them way too quickly.

All the build up all week and the game is effectively ruined by the ref.

Absolute rubbish.

Chopra the daft twat! Doing us no favours the mongrel.