merlin

Should have been done years ago - too much at stake now if the ref/officials make a serious mistake with pens/goals that weren't etc(Schwartzer's thing against Fulham was a case in point - he clearly had the ball over the line when he caught it..). It only takes a few secs for an official in the stands to see the vid replay & tell the ref over headphone that its a goal or not etc. Can be replayed on stadium screens so fans KNOW that correct decision has been made - imagine if we were on the verge of winning FA Cup, and a similar incident to Schwartzers took place, and we ended up losing as Fulham did to Boro in the last few minutes..would you STILL say technology has no place in Football...!!??

He's doing what any DECENT Chairman should do - working quietly in the background, supporting the manager, and concentrating on the club's future development as well as presenting a well-moderated and coherent face to the fans & media - who wants anything else ? Shepherd back anyone ? Or the likes of Ellis perhaps....!!?

The voice of reason from an outsiders perspective, Ive been expecting that. Totally agree brummie Yes, me too Brummie - I have been a Newcastle supporter for over 40 years and I have never been so disgusted with some of the immature reaction from other fans on this site. I saw us win our last trophy in 1969, and I felt as hurt as any when we lost to Hereford in 1972, but the reactions of some fans today is unbelievable. There were justifiable complaints about the previous set-up for a couple of years and the club was going nowhere with it - we get what everyone has been praying for, and suddenly, the team is expected to play like Brazil 1970 as soon as the season starts - incredible !! We've got 4 points from 2 games, Man Utd have not won 1 game from 3, and the top 4 are still below us. Incidentally, you've got the makings of a good side, Brummie..!

Just wanted to add to my earlier comment about Shorey - I had temporarily forgotten about Enrique and we can only hope he is the business, but he IS young and has no Prem experience. Only time will tell if he IS the answer.

I agree with this post - i watched the whole game on Foxtel until 2.15 am our time, and make the following observations ;- I expected this to be a tough match and I wasn't wrong - those who have knocked O'Neill in the past should eat humble pie as he had Villa really well organized ; they defended excellently and we hardly got a sniff. The closest we came to scoring was Rozehnal's shot(well-saved)and Viduka's header(deflected over). They could also have scored twice through Laursen & Carew, and should have scored through Agbonhalor, so a draw was a fair result athough we did shade the possession. Our Positives - the high tempo of play and work-rate - last years' team would have lost this match. Smith & Butt were instrumental in keeping us going & Milner's work rate is exceptional ; he must have been knackered at the end as he was the only man taking defenders on . Also, we ARE keeping shape as a unit which is good for the long-term- no-one gave up. The negatives - as I said last week, we lack a midfielder with vision & passing ability. We lack pace up front which will probably not be solved with Owen as he will have lost some of his acceleration off the mark ; we could do with signing Anelka who would give us a whole new look up front. For those criticizing Viduka - get real ; he was virtually isolated among 3 defenders for much of the match as Martins & the midfielders were slow to support him on breakaways.he got very little help from the ref either, who gave Laursen the benefit 8 times out of 10. It was noticeable that the best forward pass of the game was from Viduka in the first half and should have opened them up. Martins does not, in my view, possess the vision to be a really top forward - athleticism yes, frightens defenders when running at them, yes, but control is not good and he doesn't see the quick forward pass when a team-mate is making a run. N'Zogbia needs to be further forward in order to use his pace against the full=back - he is playing out of position, and we need a good L/B asap - I thought Shorey was excellent again yesterday against Everton and he would be a good buy.. Neither side wanted to lose, and it was noticeable that the 2 managers had a long and friendly chat at the end - there is obviously mutual respect,and so there should be as both men are building decent sides from a low base. I agree with those demanding patience - we have fallen far from the heights of 1996, and even from 2002 but I believe that SA WILL get it right - but probably not this season.

The only two things we really lack are pace and vision in the form of a dominating midfielder who can see a great pass on in an instant - these 2 things are vital, esp in away games if you are trying to catch a team on the break - that is why I think this Saturday's game will be a good guide as to how we deal with a team with these qualities.

There is no doubt that he has tons of experience and seems a very steady defender - however, he WILL find that the Prem is quicker & more physical than the French league and the fact that he hasn't played competitive football regularly over the past year may have taken his edge off - only Sam will be able to judge that, but if he comes in and does as well as Rozenhal did at Bolton, we can have no complaints - my concerns in this match are mainly over the fullbacks against their speedy wingers, but if we control midfield - and I believe we can - then we should have a good chance of 3 points.

I have a whippet, ironically he's called Merlin. Good post though. I'm honoured - on both counts....!!

What?! We don't?! Weeeellll - don't tell 'em...!!

His signings are OK for now - we need to get some tangible success in League or Cups so that we can start to compete for younger , top class players as they have more clubs after them - we just have to trust Sam's judgment until the end of the Season.

Lets wait until at least November before speculating whether we can get into the Top 4 or not ; we need to take things on a game-by-game basis - there will be all sorts of wingeing if the wheels happen to fall off against Villa on Sat ; if we beat them, THEN think about the next game... Lets face it - all the disappointments of the past should have taught us all that, and Football can be a strange game... how many on here would have tipped Spurs to be pointless after the 2 opening games they had.!!

If this is about Keane's rant against the so-called WAGS of English football, then this is one thing that i DO agree with him about. Its not just Sunderland who would have a problem getting certain players to sign for them - we also would have the same difficulty, despite Newcastle being one of the most lively & progressive cities in the UK . People like Beckham's wife are a pain in the butt, and have far too much influence over the players - as Keane says, the players & wives that come into that category are weak and also thick - they probably still think the North East has stacks of coal-mines, chimneys with thick smoke, and all the fans wear cloth caps & have whippets/pigeons etc. etc. This is a common phenomenum when the women are from London/S.east - most of them have never been north of Watford anyway, and foreign players , esp Southern Europeans, think that London is the centre of everything - even if the lifestyle is crap. At least when Hamman & his wife were based in the North East, he did say that he really enjoyed all the lovely countryside around the area and they both used to drive into Northumberland etc at weekends or days off. That is why it is SO important that NUFC has a really good Academy system, not just in the UK, but eventually overseas in order to dispel these myths and get in players who REALLY want to play for the club and not just pick up their oversized wages so their particular WAG can go shopping in London...... I believe that these WAGS were partly to blame for England's pathetic showing at last year's WC - too much concentration on pleasing the girls instead of total concentration on the games.

This will be a hard-fought game - it would have been better for us if they had managed to sneak something from Liverpool, as they will now be desperate to get at least a point on the board. O'Neill will have them well organised & wound up for this one - expect them to defend in depth & hit us on the break if they can. If we win 2-1 in a tough game I will be well-pleased & consider we are making the right sort of progress - success is all about confidence and we need to learn to grind out results when teams try to snuff the game out. I too expect a defender to be one of our scorers, most probs from a set-piece.

100% spot on and so refreshing to hear a manager, especially a Newcastle manager, speak out about something that has almost become our stock and trade these past few years. My two cents from earlier... About this booing malarky. I honestly think we've been fed so much drivel, s*** and excuses over the last 3 years, that it was inevitable that we (the fans) would crack. Lets hope with the positives coming out of the club, when something goes wrong, or somebody fucks up, we can see how far we've come, and respect that. I'd also like to add, that I don't think the fans at home will be half as restless this time around. We can see a new horizion, we can see plans. Agree totally - as long as team gives 100%, they will get proper support as the fans now know that things are much better behind the scenes.

Best thing about this situation is that most of the midfield players seem to be mature guys with a good attitude to both the game and the situation - Smith will know, as will the likes of Geremi & Butt, that you need a decent squad to have any hope of long-term success, and they will accept that sometimes they are in the team & sometimes not, depending on injuries, opposition, whether home ar away etc. The ones who will be hardest to keep happy are the strikers - Viduka will have injuries from time to time, but will be in the side if fit(we don't have a better CF/Target man), but Owen and Martins will be fighting for the same spot and neither will want to be dropped - Owen because of his England ambitions, and Martins because he has other clubs interested.. Milner will accept being in & out for tactical reasons or loss of form, but Zoggy could be a problem.. Either way, its a nice problem to have, but we could are still vulnerable to injuries to the forwards, esp goalscorers..

Would be happy with Shorey OR Brown - both would add considerably to our defensive strength, but if I had to choose 1 it would be Brown ; can cover at RB, is a very steady & experienced Central defender and still ata good age. Brown alongside either Taylor or Rozenhal would be a strong central pairing and if we get this guy we could concede far fewer goals this season - we would only need a decent playmaker to make us realistic candidates for 5/6th.

Provided he stays clear of injury, Smith could prove to be one of the signings of the season - he will be essential to us in away games with his committed approach, and, no little skill.

Watched whole game here in Oz - much better result than I expected, although I did say before that we should get something if we scored first & kept them out for the next 20 mins. Better side by far in 1st half, went off boil in second, although we weathered their expected charge after half-time. Rozenhal was superb - coped really well with the step up in pace & aggression ; looks a class defender & its a pity we never got to see him & Woodgate play together - would have been as good a Central pairing as any in the Prem, if not better. Still problems with full-back, esp Carr ; Smith excellent, great workrate amd probably a must in midfield in away matches ; he & Butt snuffed them out, but we do need a playmaker - urgently... Viduka was great at holding up the ball until he tired, but looks a top acquisition - something we desperately needed - Ameobi showed his lack of pace off the mark when given a great pass - defender simply caught him up ; not Prem class in my opinion. Geremi was steady and involved, Milner never stopped. We had some luck with Martins' second, but I reckon either Roz or Smith would have put N'Zogs free-kick in even if it didn't drift across them , so all in all , a deserved win. As Sam says, still much to be done, and we need to retain possession better when teams put us under pressure - went through a spell after their goal when we gave the ball away recklessly outside the box... Will be interesting to see who Sam picks for first home game next week....!

It'll be a tough one - we could have done without this as a first match. They'll be fired-up because of Sam etc., and we have basically a new set-up with some key players missing. Had Barton and Owen been available, I would have fancied us to get at least a point - now, I think we'll do well to get one. If we score first and keep them out for 20 mins after that, we should get something ; if they score first, we could lose by 2 at least. Rozenhal will, as Sam says, find it a baptism of fire - they are very physical and play at a higher tempo that he has been used to in France, which is why I think that we need to keep them out for a while so he can adjust - an early goal for them could cause the defence to lose confidence & shape to disastrous effect.. Essential that we try to control the middle - hope Smith is playing in there as he and Butt will bite a few ankles - they will definitely try to do us physically... There'll be no prisoners in this one and I hope we don't get any more bad injuries from the game - if we come away with a well-earned point AND stand up to their battering, we will be on the verge of a good season - there won't be any tougher away games than this bar the top 4 & Spurs, but then, Football has a habit of surprising you !!

I know far more about the subject than you seem to - don't accuse me of incoherent rants when you haven't looked at the big picture - Trade ? They sell us far more than we sell them(we have a surplus with every area of the world and a DEFICIT with the EU(try looking at how many French/German cars on UK roads..!??). How many SHIPS built on Tyneside now ? Sunderland yards closed in 86 when they were most modern in Europe, French now build Cunard liners.... COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY costing UK families at least 1000 a year extra in food(subsidising French farmers). As for the Political parties - all these guys want to get into the Euro Parliament and get far more wages/pension than they get at Westminster(paid for my us - I mean - YOU now! Regarding companies,only multinationals want us in it because they can avoid exchange controls WHEN the UK joins the Euro(which it will have to after signing the new Constitution - Whoops !- I mean, 'TREATY'...... They will simply leave & go to China or India when EU Labour costs get too high... The only thing keeping the UK economy up is the Financial Services in the City of London - look at the disparity of house prices there and in most other parts of the country. EU/UK depend on Russia for Gas(now THAT's good 'business', isn't it!!??) As I said before, but you Europhiles never listen, do you - this is a FOOTBALL site - you asked for this reply by your continuation of the debate - just drop it before the Admin clamps down.

On the face of it, we had a better-than-expected price for a player 80% of fans wanted out of the door. However, if Ashley HAS got evidence of a tapping-up, the he's quite right to screw them. We have got Smith now, so Dyer either has to cough up himself(at least some of the extra)or reconcile himself to rotting in the Reserves. Some of the signings we have got will be fantastic value for money if they all come off, so the fact that the club has to pay Dyer's(grossly-inflated)wages will not worry Ashley too much... I reckon he's gambling on Dyer buckling, and agreeing to pay some of the 8m himself - and so he should after all his time on the sidelines etc. And, as for Dyer feeling he's been 'treated badly' by the club - well, its no more than this waste of space deserves. A pity, though, that we just couldn't have got rid....

Ashley is a tough cookie - don't rule out his putting pressure on the City Council by threatening to move to Gateshead & build a new stadium if they block any expansion plans...

Like I said before - this is a football site, so I won't debate the EU with you here. Suffice be it to say, I think it was the worst thing the UK ever did to join it - Britain is an outward-looking nation(or was), with links throughout the world. There is not ONE thing that has been of major benefit to the country, and it costs the country billions evert year. You have your view - I've got mine & thank goodness I don't live there anymore..

There should be much more optimism - a good start would make a hell of a difference to the atmosphere at the first home game - a win or fighting draw at Bolton would be a catalyst, but it will probably be a month or so before the team really starts to click, as there are quite a few new faces. Whatever the case, the club's future looks MUCH more settled now, so people should give the team & management time to get things properly sorted.

The CL is the one that really sells a club to top players, but the UEFA is better than nothing and as MJ said, it DOES raise a club's profile. In our case, it would be a sign of the right sort of progress - if anyone doubts that, just imagine how you would feel if , by some fluke, the Mackems made the UEFA & we didn't......esp if we were both in the market for the same player....