Golfmag

and and First of all I don't and won't subscribe to the consistent and baffling criticism of our Clubs Captain it seems on this Forum let me make that clear. On Nate's questions. a/b.) I would agree Nicky Butt has been one of our better performers this season and i highly value his worth to the squad that is a positionally disciplined defensive midfielder who will break up oppositions attacks however in my opinion if given the Role by Glenn Roeder himself Scott Parker for me is a better all round Defensive Midfielder we saw that in his player of the season performances under Souness in the Defensive Midfield role and also this season with his far superior Tackling and Tackling success rate. c.) I would agree also the partnerships of Butt & Emre and Butt & Parker have shown better performances then that of when Parker and Emre have played together (not been often) however this is due to the fact in my opinion that Roeder needs to realize that to see the best of both Parker and Emre as individual players and that of a partnership then must be given the Right Roles. For the Partnership of Parker and Emre to work to its best Roeder needs to make clear in this partnership Parker has the (DCM) role which is to break up play and track attacking runners from the oppositions midfield (a role in which Parker flourished and got player of the season under Souness and also this season with a different role but still demonstrating his tackling and breaking up play abilities), and Emre is to be given a role (ACM) by Roeder to dictate attacking moves much more in the oppositions half something i have to add we are starting to see more of. On HTL bizarre analysis of (not seeing how people think Parker has the capabilities as a Defensive Midfielder), One did you not watch our Captains performances as a Defensive Midfielder when getting player of the season under Souness? Number two did you not know our Clubs Captains has the -Highest Tackling Rate- in the whole of the Premiership and 2nd -Highest Tackling Success Rate- in the whole of the Premiership? (http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=256196&lid=1533&clid=&channel=Football+Home&title=Opta+Stats) to even suggest Scott Parker has not got the abilities to play Defensive Midfield when its clear he has is bizarre. But our Captains is from London is that not what its really about? Also un surprisingly our Captain has not only the -Highest Tackling rate and Highest Tackling Success rate- in the Premiership but at our Club. -Nufc Opta Stats- Tackling Player Tackles Tackle Success rate% 1 Scott Parker 162 79.0% 2 Nicky Butt 93 66.7% Not only that our Captain is the most superior out of the two at the Club at -Passing and Passing Success rate- but also the most superior at the whole Club. -Nufc Opta Stats- Passing Player Passes Pass Success rate % 1 Scott Parker 1,121 79.0% 2 Nicky Butt 975 72.7% Scott Parker is our Newcastle United Captain and Captain for the right reasons. Great stats. Might shut all the ignorant f...rs on here up. Although I doubt it.

Don't blame him tbh. 'Support' against Man City was a disgrace imo.

Can't watch it here at Augusta! Off to find Tiger to tell him that the Toon won!! Are you the guy from Ashington who qualified but has missed the cut? No, he's a posh Geordie

Can't watch it here at Augusta! Off to find Tiger to tell him that the Toon won!!

Man of the Match today

Defensively, Bramble was superb yesterday IMO. As was Parker, although you wouldn't think so reading the sh...e on here.

I have to say, I disagree. People were delighted at his signing - even if were concerned about N'Zogbia's future. It provided strength in depth. He had the full support of the crowd, and the onus was on him to perform. If and when he starts performing, people will lay off him. It's a tough deal, but it's a tough profession! I'm not talking about general assessments. I mean I really can't recall anyone on here during a match/post-match thread or anything like that saying anything positive about his play. I'm talking single passes, decent runs etc. Not a single thing. Ah! Well, let me be the first He made a great run into the box ... but then he disgraced the club by diving. Following that he made another jinking run out wide and whipped in a decent ball. In being fair, I must say that his improved second half performance was not coincidental. Everyone was tired, and fitness was no longer an issue. His technique therefore allowed him to fare much better. He hasn't had much match practice, but if he does get into shape, he has a good shot of establishing himself as a decent member of the squad. Am I the only person on the planet (apart from my daughter) who thought that his trailing leg was actually caught by the keeper?

Maybe, but he deserves a hell of a lot more credit that he generally gets on this Forum IMO. What for? Being a poor manager? Ballsing up in the transfer window? Relying on players WAY below the qaulity we need? yay, go Glen. I think that the post from Lloydie is a slightly more accurate reflection of the truth. As for the transfer window, the fault for that does most certainly not lie with our Manager IMO...

Maybe, but he deserves a hell of a lot more credit that he generally gets on this Forum IMO.

Sorry, I thought we did lose today, reading this thread.

Ok, given the circumstances thrown up during the game, can we not agree at least that it was NOT a good result then? That said, as Roeder notes, "It gives our supporters a night out and they love the cup as everyone knows in Newcastle". :celb2: They are top of the Championship and at home. We are 6 places above them and away and decimated by injuries. In that context, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. It is disappointing seeing as we were so much on top in the second half, but there were quite a lot of our mob playing today who would struggle to get into Birmingham's first team. And ps, O'Brien was far more effective on the left in the second half than Luque would have been imo.

More of the usual OTT shite on this board. Yes we were complacent and should have wrapped the game up but yet again we played some nice stuff and given the circumstances, this was NOT bad result. My ratings (having been at the game). Given 7 Nobby 7 Taylor 7 Huntingdon 6 Edgar 6 Milner 8 Butt 6 Pattison 2 Sibierski 6 Dyer 8 Martins 8 (maybe 7 for a bit of greed but he still looks a potentially awesome player to me) O'Brien 7

Had just cut and pasted the same article! I know that every opinion is valid but I find the anti-Parker crap just staggering. Christ even his bloody pirouette, although overused, is a bloody effective way of not losing the ball or possession. I can't remember Robert Lee receiving stick for doing just the same, and just as regularly. I can't think of any other NUFC player, past or present, that I would rather have as a defensive midfielder, with the possible exception of David Batty.

The Big Picture is that if the sort of view on this board spreads and eventually drives Parker out of Newcastle and to a (probably biugger) club that appreciates him, then there will have been only one winner. He does. As does Dyer. Neither of them have any f***ing clue about playing in position. That, for me, is why Emre and Parker never look good together (another lesser reason being Emre's obvious deficiencies). Parker wanders around, and Emre isn't disciplined enough to cover it. When Emre plays with Butt, a player who knows how to play in a position, Emre looks a lot better. PARKER WANDERS AROUND??? Was anyone here at the Spurs game? Or the MANU game for that matter. Actually, I wish I knew just how many times Ronaldo lost the ball, failed to beat his man, missed a pass, shot miles wide etc etc the other night. I guess none of that begins to compare with the sariousness of Parker passing back to Shay from kick-off.... I suggest you start thinking of more than one or two games and a couple of incidents. Think Big Picture.

He does. As does Dyer. Neither of them have any f***ing clue about playing in position. That, for me, is why Emre and Parker never look good together (another lesser reason being Emre's obvious deficiencies). Parker wanders around, and Emre isn't disciplined enough to cover it. When Emre plays with Butt, a player who knows how to play in a position, Emre looks a lot better. PARKER WANDERS AROUND??? Was anyone here at the Spurs game? Or the MANU game for that matter. Actually, I wish I knew just how many times Ronaldo lost the ball, failed to beat his man, missed a pass, shot miles wide etc etc the other night. I guess none of that begins to compare with the sariousness of Parker passing back to Shay from kick-off....

Becasue Scott the magnificent thought "we've kicked off, Shay's got a groin problem, his kicking's been iffy all game, let's test him from the kick off." God I'm glad we didn't get beaten last night. I too think that it was a poor decsion to pass back to Shay, but Parker was maginificent last night, for F***'s sake. Just as he invariably is. Christ knows what he's done to deserve this abuse. Obviously no one can remember having to watch Clarence Acuna..... Oh dear, I must have been logged in as my daughter and I'm not sure that she remembers Clarence Acuna or would use language like that! But seriously, everyone to his or her own but are there really NUFC supporters who truly believe that Clarence was a better defensive midfielder than Parker....? I can only think of David Batty that I would be as happy with in that role...

Roeder reduced our defence by two numerically in the transfer window, what has that to do with previous managers? As for the unfit keeper, Roeder allowed Caig to leave for nothing only to replace him with a 38 year old, work the logic of that one out if you can. Absolving him of any blame looks a bit blinkered. Fair enough he had very little control once they were on the pitch but his preparation for this season has a lot to do with our current situation. I understand your point but mine is simply that today we were not much more than bloody unlucky. Unlucky, considering how well we played for much of the game, unlucky, given how totally inept Everton were other than at set pieces, and yes, unlucky given our injury situation, the scale of which Roeder simply cannot be blamed for.

I do not blame Roeder for the fact that our squad is not deep enough and decimated by injuries. I blame the spending of previous Managers for the first part. Our defence today consisted of an unfit goalkeeper, a right winger and three centre backs, one of whom is massively out of his depth and one of whom was replaced by a midfielder. I don't think that Roeder can be blamed for the lack of depth in the squad and I think that he has done a pretty good job this season, given all the circumstances. I also think that it's a miracle that we haven't conceded more goals recently, given our defensive options. AND, I also think that we could just as easily have won today's game, not if the tactics or personnel available had been different, but if the ball had run for us. I know that it's easier to find someone to blame (usually Roeder or Parker) but that is not, having been there, the reality of today's game IMO.

He can't use injuries as an excuse, they don't help but he's part of the reason why we've lost our last 2, him and his team selection. I'm sorry but, having been at the game, a lot of the stuff on this thread is such a load of bollocks. A lot of our football was really good today and we looked a far classier side than Everton for virtually the whole match. Roeder's post-match comments were just about spot on, the three goals were all from set-pieces, two of them were scored with Nicky Butt as a central defender. It's a miracle that we have gained any points at all with the back four that we're forced to play at the moment. I blame Roeder for none of that.

So Butt did betterr than Parker? Parker is one of the better players for goodness sake. Stop the irrational Parker bashing. Hear f........g hear. Can't believe what he's done to deserve all the bashing on this forum. Did noone else see him play the whole match against Spurs? One of the very best defensive midfielders I've ever seen imo.

Just setting off from London now - the BBC forecast said foggy for Newcastle

I agree with all of that apart from the accomplished player bit. You obviously didn't see the way Martins played today...

From my Spanish Friend who used to play for Santander: 'I told you he was an outstanding player…………He scored from 8 yards in only his second season in England……….Unbelievable……..you guys just need to be a bit more patient……….it normally takes 12 seasons to adjust our game to the premiership………..you did not have that patience with Marcelino, don’t make the same mistake twice………… '