merlin

After his performance today, I am prepared to stick my neck out and say that Enrique IS the best LB in the PL - bar none. I have always thought that in the past year or so he has been the best DEFENSIVE LB but he has now added quality overlapping and crossing to his game ; the side could and should have had at least 2 goals from his runs/crosses/passes in the 1st half alone - I wouldn't swap him for Evra or Cole. He WILL be sold - no doubt about it. The lad would almost certainly stay at SJP if NUFC were an ambitious club aiming to win trophies and pay the going rate to its top players, but as Brian Clough once said, 'if your auntie had b---s, she'd be your uncle' and NUFC are NOT an ambitious trophy-winning club....or likely to be in the next 5 years unless something totally out of the blue(AND unlikely), happens. In that case, the lad needs to make the most of his career and win some medals as well as getting the money he is capable of earning. I don't blame him one bit of he leaves, he's been a great servant and always given of his best. Some people on here need to get real - players are no different to anyone else, if they have a chance to better themselves, they will just as people who slate them on here for 'disloyalty' would if given the chance. People want a job where they are paid what they are worth, appreciated by their employer and with a company going places both now and for the foreseeable future - are NUFC any of those things ? The club are basically a feeder club for the Top 4/5 and with the current regime, always will be. To be fair to Ashley & Co, it may be almost impossible to break out of the box the club is seen to be in even if new owners take over....too many vested PL interests now.

This - games like this, where we are on top, are a great opportunity to put a gap between the rest of the bottom half and ourselves. It also serves to sicken them if you pull further away. As it is, Wigan will take great heart from their point at Liverpool and W Ham also after coming from 3 down at WBA ; in fact, the latter game could be critical because if WBA had won, they also would have been lifted and now, the Hammers will be thinking they can escape. I now believe Wolves and WBA will be doomed unless they win their next matches and this leaves one place left....there will be a major scrap to avoid that and unless we can start scoring in crucial games like this, we will be drawn in. A pity because the side were better than Blackburn and Enrique outstanding esp in the 1st half.

IF we are talking about Pardew and not KK(!), then I agree with most of the findings that he is doing between Good and OK ; had a difficult job when he arrived and has faced a difficult situation over Carroll whilst keeping the team focused on the pitch ; results have been as good as can be expected with such a lousy attack. On the Carroll situation, yes, undoubtedly, every player has his price ; the problem with this transfer in most people's eyes is either that he wasn't replaced(risking relegation) or that it was stated beyond doubt, that he was NOT for sale this season. People would have been far less concerned if a half-decent striker had been signed in the window. As for KK, my biggest problem(and, I suspect, Keegan's also) was the interference coming from Wise plus the decision to sell Milner without replacing him with a decent player ; I believe a man like KK would not be able to work with his decisions being subject to Wise's approval and both Fergie and Wenger backed his stance as did the tribunal. Its history now - he's gone, never to return and we have Pardew....for better or worse and at the moment he's doing OK ; this is NUFC, so that can change in an instant.!!

I willingly hold my hands up about my early judgment of Coloccini. The first time I saw him at Man U in the first game of 2008/9, I actually though he WAS a good player because he read the game well. However, he was obviously affected by the upheavals at the club following KKs walk-out, plus he took time to adjust to the English game/way of life. Ever since last season he has been good, and this year has proved beyond doubt that he is a quality player. He has been awesome in some games, esp at the SOS when he almost played their attack on his own. I have never seen a player make such an improvement at his age and I am delighted I was wrong about him. Just a pity he isn't a couple of years younger because he could have been the bedrock of defence for 5-7 years. As it is, he is probably going to be away within 3 at best and if a decent offer comes in, even before. His one weakness is in handling fast physical forwards who get tight on him, but nobody is perfect. Best CB we've had since Woodgate and stays fit too which is just as well because we will need him for the crucial run-in games.

I'm embarrassed that NUFC have been forced to stoop this low. I'm sure you are - but surprised..! Not a bit, and there will be similar events at the club before things get better. Many seem happy with it, so why worry..!??

Yes, that's right....keep going..!! That's why they got to win the WC 5 times and usually play the most attractive football. This comment HAS to be the worst I have EVER seen on this site - at least you get to be famous for that. Ewerton may well turn out to be second-rate, but then , he would be competing for a place with second-rate strikers at NUFC...

...because nearly all the best ones go to other countries - think Ronaldo,Romario and all the decent ones that have ended up in Germany.

I doubt now that they know our better players are on relative peanuts for wages that any big bids will come in. Merely making it known to the players representetives they can double their bubble elsewhere will se an exodus of tranfer requested players. Ashley either has to pay them their percieved worth or they'll be off. Simple. Totally agree Crumpy and that is why I wouldn't renew if I was still in the UK. Ashley knows his customers and now other clubs know his wage structure so there is only one way it will end....

Was miles better than Souness, Gullit and Allardyce. He was on a hiding to nothing. He was rebound guy. Wasn't even given a decent welcome, and the board were more interested in floating the club. Absolutely agree. It's been quite irritating watching people slagging off his time here at NUFC, the guy has a better track record as manager than many of the 8 or so different managers we've had in the past 7 years. Looks to me like people are letting their anti-Liverpool prejudices blind their vision of him as a manager and as a footballing legend. Sad, really. It's pathetic and very typical of the general attitude on here. Nail on head...

Its the contrast between the peaks and troughs which make the season so noteworthy(I don't think 'memorable' is appropriate unless relegation is definitely avoided, and its not over yet..). There have been some great performances and some awful ones - some great events like the signings of HBA and Tiote, confirmation of Enrique's class and also that of Coloccini, but these offset by the sale of Carroll and the refusal to add to the squad when it was obviously necessary. Had the club possessed an ambitious and dedicated owner, we could have been celebrating a Euro place at the end of the season and that WOULD have been special...as it is, the great moments of this season are still in danger of being overshadowed, but it won't be forgotten either way. The commentator for last nights game said ' You need to have read the Health Warnings to be a fan of this club' after we pulled back to 3-4....and that about sums it up.

Didn't see this until this morning as we were staying at friends last night. An unbelievable result esp against a side of Arsenal's calibre - the best ever come-back in PL history and done in 20 minutes. We were actually on the wrong end of a similar scoreline in the old First Division back in 1985 under Jack Charlton. We were 0-4 ahead at QPR at half-time and Chris Waddle(I think)put us 0-5 ahead just after HT...QPR actually went on to draw the match 5-5 and JC was absolutely furious, so you can imagine how shell-shocked Wenger would feel. Sometimes, you get an air of inevitability that the opposition are going to do you, no matter how well you have played - when England were 0-2 in front of W.Germany in Mexico in the WC, you just KNEW that we were going to lose after Beckenbauer scored a soft goal. The opposition suddenly get a lift and at SJP yesterday, a similar feeling must have crept over the Arsenal fans and players after the second Newcastle goal.....a bit like being tied to a railway line and a train coming - you know its going to get you but you can't do anything about it...! Poor defending to concede the first goal so soon, and also, uncharacteristic bad defending from Enrique for the 3rd...Harper was in no way at fault for any of the goals. Stupidity from Diaby started the riot for Arsenal, but there were no excuses as its often more difficult to play against 10 men. Brilliant strike from Tiote for the equalizer - he has been badly missed ; a quality player. Full credit to the team for pulling this off when they must have thought it was going to be a hammering at HT Another crazy week in the life of the craziest of Football Clubs.....

Good. After watching him fail to get anything out of a strong Newcastle squad I have high hopes he will take Liverpool backwards and the money they have spent will become a debt they can't service. Were you not watching in 1997 when he took us to second place after we were 6th when he took over ? Do you not take into account the restrictions placed on him after that because we had become a PLC ? And the fact that he lost Shearer for months in 97/98 ? Do you seriously think all his signings were c---p? Are you aware that the players actually liked him as a manager ? We will have to let time prove whether he is a decent manager or not....

Your future after selling Waddle and Gazza was pretty good though, wasn't it? For a while at least. If you call relegation OK...we went down the season after selling Gazza..!! We did OK after Waddle simply because we still had Beardsley and Gazza. No, my point is that HTT said there was no hope for the future. A handful of years after Gazza left, you had your best team in my lifetime and nearly won the league. There may be pain in the short-term, but there is hope when you are a club with a high turnover.....as long as UEFA manage to knock out the Citys and Chelseas. It was 5 years after Gazza left that KK got us promoted - it was another 2/3 years after that before we realistically challenged for the PL title...do you think that is a short space of time ? 8 years is only 2 short of the average Pl player's effective career span . In that time, clubs like Man U had won titles and other trophies...also in today's world, you need to be in the CL every year to get the big bucks in otherwise the other clubs that do just get wealthier and the gap bigger. I don't think you are being realistic.

Your future after selling Waddle and Gazza was pretty good though, wasn't it? For a while at least. If you call relegation OK...we went down the season after selling Gazza..!! We did OK after Waddle simply because we still had Beardsley and Gazza.

'still behind the likes of Martins'....? Keep it up, I'm rolling around the floor here..! That was one of the best quotes of the day ! Why? This thread is all about opinions as there is no real objective way of measuring. I happen think Martins is a more complete player though obviously Carrol best him in terms of heading and ability in the air (mind you Martins was not too bad at heading either). Martins is physically faster, has better dribbling skills, ball control and can shoot with more power and potentially more accuracy including long rangers. These are all attributes that of course Carroll can improve on in the future but I'm comparing the Carroll of now vs the Martins that played for us. On a side note, are you able to debate like a grown up or are you only capable of throwing insults? Boo hoo someone said something bad about my hero Carroll, let me insult him quick, pathetic. If you don't rate Martins, fair enough but at least try to argue your point. Your reply isn't even worth me trying to answer but as you are so deluded I will try and get something to penetrate those shell-like ears... Apart from anything else, the club paid NOWT for Carroll and 10m for Martins - do you think the club got value from him ? Are you even sure the club knew exactly how old he was ? Did he pull up any trees for Nigeria in the WC ? Oh, sorry, he wasn't playing because Wolfsburg weren't playing him either...talking of that, it was probably the best deal this club has EVER done in getting 10m back from Wolfsburg when they sold him - bet the Germans just LOVE NUFC... Martins was a headless chicken, not fit to lace Alan Shearer's boots - and given the choice, even if the player was 5 years younger, do you think Liverpool would have paid 35m for him ?? I don't(and won't)have to justify WHO is my football hero - I haven't got one. Unlike you., I grew up years ago and stopped putting these guys on a pedestal. However, you keep trying - you'll get it right one day, but I wouldn't like to place a large amount of cash on as to when..! Ashley must just LOVE having fans like you - luvverly jubbly..!!!!

Please explain. Sounds good Not that I wish to brown-nose you wacko, but let's face it - the very fact that there is some seriousness in people trying to run down and laugh at your club when they support an all-conquering outfit like NUFC IS hilarious...I'm surprised you even needed to ask, but then , its probably scouse humour ! By the way, shouldn't the score at the title of this thread now read Parky 0 Dalglish 3 after Suarez scored on his debut in a win..!!

Best comment of the night Dave.

'still behind the likes of Martins'....? Keep it up, I'm rolling around the floor here..! That was one of the best quotes of the day !

When I want a check as to how far some of our fans are from reality, I look at this thread...brilliant !!

Frankly, I couldn't care if Llambias spouts his c--p from the Empire State Building, never mind the Sun(although that rag is probably the best home for his talents, but not, perhaps, on the sports pages...!) He is, like Pardew, an Ashley stool pigeon, and is even less qualified to hold the position he does than is Pardew. If Llambias told everyone the sky was blue when there were no clouds around, most people would go out and check for themselves....just as most people would count their fingers after shaking hands with him...

Carroll will do OK - IF he stays free of injury. He still has a long way to go at the age of (just) 22 to become the finished article - Ferdinand was almost 28 when he joined NUFC, and he was a good player, but despite his size, he didn't have Carroll's physical menace to defenders ; Ferguson was the nearest to Carroll in that respect, remember him being one of the few players to terrorize Stam when we played Man U at SJP and we beat them 3-0, Ferguson scoring a great half-volley. If Carroll can add a bit of guile and ball control to his game, he will be the best CF in England within 2 years. Plenty of sour grapes on here and unwarranted too.

Why is anyone surprised ? Nolan is a Scouser first and NUFC player a long way behind that. Scousers believe, as do the rest of the country, that Liverpool are a much bigger club that NUFC and if you take away a few years in the 90s, they are right...we couldn't even beat them at their place in 96, and it cost us the title. The only time we've been a bigger club was back on the early 20th Century and for a few years in the 50s. We have been their rabbits and they know it... they've signed our best players over the years and its been like winning the FA Cup(no, we couldn't even do THAT when we played them at Wembley) when we've beaten them because it hasn't happened often...nobody who supports NUFC wants to admit it but they are the facts...why do you think they were taken over recently and we weren't ?? If you think this is wrong, you are living in a different dimension. Even if we had won the PL in 96, we would have had a long way to go to get anywhere near their record of success - Man U are only just approaching their record of titles. Its warm in summer, cold in winter - and NUFC are a very moderate club when compared to Liverpool - I don't like it, but there it is. If we couldn't change it in the 90s, we aint going to do it now.

This is probably the most accurate assessment of the whole episode - and sadly, the guy is right too, when he says Carroll has joined a bigger club with bigger aspirations.

Far too little evidence to judge Shearer's capabilities as a manager. Fergie was 90 mins from the sack when he was at OT in 1986 because they were doing so badly ; if Robbins hadn't scored the winner in an FA Cup tie, the Man U successes of the last 20 years would never have happened. The difference is that Fergie had a track record as a manager before he went to OT - Shearer has never managed a lower league club to prove himself so he remains unproven ; great players don't often make great managers(Bobby Charlton a case in point), but until Shearer does a few seasons in the job, we won't know. Lee Clarke is currently looking a better bet for being a success at the top level. Shearer was a great player and it was a massive coup to sign him, although it would never have happened if; 1. He hadn't been from Newcastle 2. We were a middle of the table outfit - he joined because he thought the club was on the up. Had he been in Carroll's shoes, he would have gone too because he would have seen where the club were going under the present ownership. You will NEVER see NUFC repeat anything like the Shearer signing again unless the club is taken over by massively-wealthy people...and even then, the club's geographical position will be a deterrent for players either from the south, or from southern Europe. If you doubt that, ask yourself whether Torres, given the choice, would have joined NUFC or Chelsea, even if we had been Top 4 ?? Had Shearer not been injured at Everton, he would have amassed far more goals, and I reckon we would have won silverware with him in the side...he missed far too many games in his first 2 seasons, games that could have made a difference to our success.

Did he say 'invested in the team', or 'invested in the SCHEME..!'? I will believe that when I see it - as with everything that is said by this board and manager. Will be surprised if there are more than 3 players bought in summer with a combined outlay of 15m...and Enrique will probably go for around 10m.... When you get to my stage in life, you avoid holding your breath for too long, so I won't be doing it...!