merlin

yes beaten twice by arsenal and a point off lowly bolton without a shot on target in 270 mins of football without a single goal :pottytrain5: You must of missed the Smith goal line clearence. You can make anything sound bad when you ignore/make things up. Talk about Black & White specs - this is REALLY grabbing at straws ; we never looked like competing with them apart from about 30 mins in the first half of the Cup game - completely outplayed in the League match,we looked like a Championship side at best. So showing one example of where we've had a shot on goal after someone has declared we had 0 shots on goal in 270 minutes is grabbing at straws? Seriously, this thread is filled with doom mongers. It is also filled with people who imitate ostriches - heads in sand, won't look the danger in the face, and whether you like it or not, if we lose on Sunday and the other results at the w/e go against us we ARE in a relegation battle - even Given admits it.

yes beaten twice by arsenal and a point off lowly bolton without a shot on target in 270 mins of football without a single goal :pottytrain5: You must of missed the Smith goal line clearence. You can make anything sound bad when you ignore/make things up. Talk about Black & White specs - this is REALLY grabbing at straws ; we never looked like competing with them apart from about 30 mins in the first half of the Cup game - completely outplayed in the League match,we looked like a Championship side at best.

If Villa play as they can, we will lose.

They'll all be pushing up daisies by then my friend..!!

I think its more the fact that the people we were after were not available. ...Or didn't want to join NUFC..!

If the Cap Fits....

We can't afford to wait even ONE season to replace players who are on the downward path - NUFC have done that far too often over the years and the best managers always get rid before the rot really sets in.

Davies! Not bad for a pub player. Didn't expect that. Obviously turned FC's head when he's been to VP. However. Is Kirkland better than Hart? Green? Davies' attitude has been spot on since that crushing piece of honestly. He's looked excellent of late, calm in possession, fast, reads the game very well, I'm happy for him. It also reflects well on MON's buying young / British policy. Surprised Green wasn't in the squad ahead of Kirkland, though. Careful Brummie - you can't go round suggesting MON has got the ability to improve players - there are still plenty on this site who rate Allardyce a better manager and think MON is over-rated - perhaps you'll have a good little gloat when you get UEFA Cup`-and, with a bit of luck - CL Football at the end of the season..!!

Isn't that rather wishing to throw the baby out with the bath water. He may not even play, but I don't blame Cappello one bit for wanting to see Owen in training/with a decent midfield. Could prove/disprove all the crap he's been hearing that Owen is past it, or that it's just the squad around him. Also...fact is, who else? Agbonlahor got in, good shout. As did Crouchy, who's been consistent for England, but barely anything for Liverpool. The fact that he capped Heskey makes me wonder if he didn't watch the Israel and Russia games though. And Owen had had less matches with Newcastle before those. Anyone else recall that Owen's goals have all come (minus the one's against championship sides) the match directly before England. An omen for the weekend? Anyone wanting Owen to get injured when NUFC are in their current plight must be quite happy to see the club relegated ; if he is out again for any length of time over the next few months we WILL be drawn into the relegation scrap.

Just don't tempt fate - many a true word spoken in jest....

Peter Kirkley who has been back at Newcastle for a few years now signed Ray Hankin and Brian Laws, as well as Trevor Steven for Burnley. The shameful thing Peter often gets overlooked by idoits of Acadmeny Directores like Irvine & Joyce. Old interview with Peter @ http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_objectid=15754262&method=full&siteid=50081&headline=face-to-face--peter-kirkley-name_page.html A good point - too much of the old pals act in appointing Academy managers instead of looking at their talent & ability.....

This is true because Steve Gibson placed a high priority on Youth Development some years ago. Newcastle, on the other hand, have ALWAYS been a club that signed developed players at the expense of local talent(possibly because the management/board had some sort of kick-back financially ; that sort of thing was rife in the game some years ago)....if you look at some of the talent that escaped over the years you have the likes of Bobby and Jack Charlton(Jack was a fanatical B & W), Howard Kendall, Norman Hunter, Colin Bell, Stan Mortensen, Peter Beardsley(club had to pay to bring him home),Steve Bruce,Alan Shearer(played, unforgettably, as a goal-keeper in a trial before he went to Saints),Chris Waddle(signed from Tow Law),SBR(went to WBA),etc etc etc...most of these guys said that they always felt that NUFc were not particularly bothered about local talent and that there were always hundreds of kids hanging around the club - problem was that the club took them for granted. These days, there are less & less kids playing football at school and as I've said before, too many not exercising at all(on computer games etc).Greater material wealth has ruined the NE as a football nursery. You only have to look at countries like Brazil, where there is still much poverty,who still produce great players because they see it as a way out of the poor-house. There won't be any change unless the School Cirriculum is changed, and that doesn't look likely....

You mean like 'Given beaten easily again from Long Range..' !!!??

What a load of s****! So Charles wouldn't be the subject to interest from Tottenham if Sam, Roeder, Souness or Robson were in charge? Get a grip ffs. You have misunderstood my post . The point I was trying to make is the lack of signings in this window are down to Keegan not knowing the market. By his own admission he has been reclusive and has neither watched or followed football for 3 years. By the way have you seen what a right load of rubbish his soocer circus is /was.? It was certainly aptly named. Zog has been the subject of interest for a number of teams including Arsenal. So don't put words in my mouth and if you want to criticize that's OK with me but do not assume that everyone's opinion other than yours is s*** But Keegans already publicly stated that he HAS followed football over the past 3 years, but he hasn't been to a live match. Our failure in this transfer window so far is down to two things........... time...... and the lack of quality players that are actually available. Simple, really. ..PLUS - the lack of quality players that want to come to SJP..!!

N'Zogbia ain't talking, because there is nothing to say. He ain't smiling because there's nothing to smile about. He's a stone-cold assassin. ......Who wants to go to Spurs !!??

And who among those African superstars is going to score the goals necessary to stay out of trouble ? Martins ?? Well, he's going to have to alter a whole seasons' habit because he has missed as many as he's scored - he hasn't even managed one against other African teams whose defences ,largely, have been rubbish.

Likewise, and I watched the replay several times in order to be fair in judgment of Given - whilst Flamini struck the shot well, I don't think it was travelling as fast as either the Elano goal at Man City or the one Harper conceded at Derby to Miller ; in addition, Harper was more unsighted than Given was in either the Elano or Flamini goals. Flamini's shot WAS saveable by either a taller keeper with longer reach, or one with more athletic reactions - Given had a clear view of his intention to shoot(yes, the defending was also poor, but had his view been blocked by a crowd of defenders trying to stop Flamini, he would have had more excuse)...Given's dive was short, and graceful - as in 'I've seen an Airship take off faster' graceful..!!! I still maintain that the long-term injury he suffered has taken the edge off his game ; whether this is permanent I do not know, but I also would select Harper at this time.

This has all the hallmarks of a draw - they will undoubtedly battle hard and as we saw when they played Arsenal, they are NOT a bad side on their day ; their morale will CERTAINLY be better than NUFCs as they have just come off the back of a crucial league win and beating a lower div side away in the Cup. The rumblings about N'Zogbia & Spurs in the media will not help team morale at SJP either, nor will all the off-field changes which are bound to have been subject of speculation among the players.... This is possibly the toughest Tyne-Tees match at SJP for some time and it is going to take a mighty effort by the team to get a positive result when only a win is satisfactory. If the scoreline is blank and they score with less than 40 mins to go, I fear for our chances, but hope for the best.

He is undoubtedly talented, but rarely looks happy in the side ; he has been mucked about mainly by Allardyce, but has always had a tendency to sulk. If we were well-off for talented midfielders/wingers I would let him go, but only for a large fee - unfortunately, once a player decides he wants to leave, the club has little choice these days unless they are Arsenal Chelsea or Man U, then they can stick them in the Reserves until the CLUB wants to sell. As we are not in that position, it doesn't look good, and as some have said it makes the club look even worse at a time when we cannot seem to attract players.....I hope this is all not just a load of paper-talk preparing us for his departure when in all probability, the transfer has been agreed for some time ; wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened, and we are in the middle of a very crucial period ; most of us know that a win against Boro is vital for several reasons.

Geremi is far more ponderous at 28 than Solano was at 32 - Solano had a far superior football brain as Alex said, and he had much quicker feet than Geremi. When Solano was Geremi's age he had more pace than Geremi...there is no comparison between the two as creators and Nobby gave us nearly 10 years' excellent service - a great buy by KD in 1998. Incidentally, he was a far better player than Milner too.

You forgot to mention that Birmingham and Wigan lost and gained no points last night ! Fck me man. Because they were playing other teams in the bottom half. You happy with 4th from bottom? For this season? Yes. Next? No. This shows how far we have fallen - all of you who said "give Souness more time, give Roeder time, ALlardyce will fix us" should be f****** ashamed of yourselves. We should be railing against being in the bottom 5 or 6 (a genuine threat to us now), we should be making SJP not just a bad place to come to for away teams, but a place where players KNOW they have to play well for us. Anyone who accepts s**** like Geremi, Smith, Ameobi, Rozenhal, and even TRIES to make excuses for them should bow their heads in abject shame. Agree & disagree with you in equal measure. It's why some supporters, and the following thoughts were voiced on this forum, were stunned amidst the flacid crowd response in the wake of Souness' first season. A season of underwhelming performances were lost amidst the result of the day, that being a gutsy season closing effort against Chelsea. Such incompetance, both from a team & management standpoint, over the course of a season wouldn't stand-up at Anfield for example. Houllier was virtually shouted out of the job, the board listened to it's supporter base who became frustrated at the brand of football Houllier's team was dishing up at the time - despite the Cups and his penultimate CL finish which imo was greatly influenced by injuries to our key players down the stretch ie. Bellamy and Woodgate, our defensive rock & our creative foil around the box. I still think if the SJP terraces had rallied against Souness enmasse, as was the case re: Houllier/Liverpool, after the already mentioned season closer against Chelsea the board - ie. The Halls - would've swiftly pulled the trigger in response and that would've would've stopped the cancerous Souness regime dead in it's tracks. As for supporters 'hanging their heads in shame' for accepting s**** like Geremi etc etc. It's my opinion that Geremi would still make a better RW option than Milner. The likes of Cacapa & Rozenhal, i wanted to see how they'd fare beyond the first month of the campaign where they're were blessed with having to face some lightweight attacking frontlines during the opening stages of their premiership careers - both have failed. Don't peddle this 'don't try to make excuses for them' because i'll rewind the clock a bit. Up until Parker pulled the fingered salute at home you spent the best part of a year defending Parker's performance level under successive managers, especially during Roeder's tenureship where at one stage you suggested playing him in exactly the same role - positionally wise - as he was utilised in Souness's so called 442, and Souness' so-called 442 resembled a narrow & unbalanced 4-1-3-2 which because of it's the team's inability to laterally stretch the opposition's defensive ranks with some left-to-right sideline passing/possession play across the midfield line only served the purpose of having the team play out of it's own half & defending for their lives for the best part of 90 minutes. And yet despite the ramifications of such a positional change, as opposed to Roeder's misguided faith in utilizing him in a balanced offensive & defensive 442 central midfielder in the Rob Lee mould - a role which he clearly wasn't up to, you made that call. At the time you were more than happy to see the midfield formation & balance compromised in order to get the best out of a player who in your exact words was s***. Take a leaf out of your own book mate. SBR said recently that Mourinho had personally warned him that Geremi's legs had gone so I don't agree that he would be any good as a winger - he's hopeless where he's been playing, and that doesn't require anywhere near as much pace as the wing ; the guy is a waste of space and he isn't the only one - should never have been Captain.

lower than that. 15th for 3 consecutive seasons in fact. A real golden era. And yet quite a lot of the older generation whinge about things now, looking back at that era through rose-tinted specs. Yes , but you have to dissect the whole thing - we had some good players but a poor Board(satisfied with mediocrity) and a manager that was coming to the end of the line(Joe Harvey)after 12 years at the club. There was too much concentration on the Cup and not enough on the League but the players knew that really high standards weren't expected of them ; also, we had no really decent Reserves to put pressure on the 11 first-teamers..... Contrary to what the youngsters on this board think, the 1st Div was far more even in those days in that nearly every team in the Div had one or two decent players - yes there were only a couple of teams likely to win it but it was possible for team like Derby to emerge as title challengers after promotion which wouldn't happen today..then again, they were managed by 'The Master'!.... indeed. Which only adds to the mystery of why you [maybe, but certainly others] don't add weight to when I put the last decade into perspective. Of course, I would still expect some people to continue with their "opinions" though, regardless of perspective or fact. Because the last decade could(and should)have been better than it was...

Boro Sunderland Fulham Reading surely 6 points Not the way this team is playing - heaven help us if they happen to lose on Sunday because heads will go down even further.

Some on here are living in dreamland - Arsenal were even more dominant than in the FA cup tie ; we hardly got into their box all night and Owen was completely isolated up front. We passed the ball well - in our OWN half, when they weren't concerned as to whether we had it or not, but lost possession as soon as we got into their last third of the field. I could sum up the match by writing exactly the same comments as for the Cup game, esp about the lack of fitness showing up once again as they hit us with late goals. This time, however, I could add a comment about Flamini's goal which I'm sure will be discussed in that long-running thread 'Given beaten easily again from long range'.....!! No further comment needed... The other results from last night also went against us - I don't need to remind anyone that we are in for two really tough games at SJP against both the Mackems and Boro - both will have taken heart from their results last night and these are now MUST wins - failure to do so will really put the club under the screw for the last part of the season, and even Fulham picked up a point at Bolton........

lower than that. 15th for 3 consecutive seasons in fact. A real golden era. And yet quite a lot of the older generation whinge about things now, looking back at that era through rose-tinted specs. Yes , but you have to dissect the whole thing - we had some good players but a poor Board(satisfied with mediocrity)and a manager that was coming to the end of the line(Joe Harvey)after 12 years at the club. There was too much concentration on the Cup and not enough on the League but the players knew that really high standards weren't expected of them ; also, we had no really decent Reserves to put pressure on the 11 first-teamers..... Contrary to what the youngsters on this board think, the 1st Div was far more even in those days in that nearly every team in the Div had one or two decent players - yes there were only a couple of teams likely to win it but it was possible for team like Derby to emerge as title challengers after promotion which wouldn't happen today..then again, they were managed by 'The Master'!....