AyeDubbleYoo

I especially like Beresford or Elliot, ooh the agony of choice!

To be fair he does follow that up with: "I can excuse Martins missing, but the fans have every right not to see Newcastle United throw in the towel." I'm not defending the gimp mind!

I've actually been thinking that our best chance of success is that Freddy just 'strikes it lucky' and manages to appoint the best man the next time. I can't see the prospect of a takeover getting any close after the last two close-shaves. As sad as it is, I think we've got to get used to the idea of Freddy hanging around for the forseeable future.

Do you not think Shearer's life right now is too sweet to want to get involved in management? If I was in his shoes I'd have serious reservations. If I could walk straight into the Toon job then OK, but I can't see him slogging it out in League One.

I admire your sentiments, but I'm not sure that the fans really can do anything about it. Possibly if crowds dropped to 30K or so Freddy might have something to think about, but even then he seems very keen to hold on to control. Can't see a way out of it at the moment, I think our most realistic hope is that Freddy somehow gets lucky next time and appoints the right manager. That's all I can see right now.

Luke Young seems the obvious option, esp is Charlton go down. Or I would be pleased to see Glenn Johnson if the price was reasonable.

Can't wait to see him link up with Owen. It's becoming more and more clear that Oba likes to come deep at times and use his pace to carry the ball - I think he'll be a great partner for Mickey. If all we buy in the summer is a backup stirker and a couple of fullbacks, we'll have a much better season to look forward to - Glenn's job is easy!

I think Butt (and Dyer to a certain extent) has shown that players the fans love to hate can turn things around if they start to perform. We have short memories and football is all about form. If Titus puts in another 10 performances like the last few I'll be prepared to revise my opinion on him.

Well, one of them is welcome back.

Never mind...

I used to go to Gateshead with mates when I was at school, was really good. They were in the conference then though. I've been to watch Maidenhead Utd a few times since I've been down south, and luckily Reading's promotion coincided with me moving here.

Feel free to move - I was probably being naive anyway, Gemmill's already messing with me!

OK, getting ideas above my station here , but I'm proposing that we all keep discussions of Wor Al(bert) in the Luque thread and stop bringing it up in every single bloody thread - agreed? I think it's getting a bit tedious at the moment.

Interesting that the bit about him being a witness isn't mentioned until the 5th paragraph. Agree, we could do without this, he needs to be more careful who he hangs around with. Must be difficult having any proper friends when you're a premiership footballer living away from your home town though.

Carragher and Woodgate right now, but we all know that England teams aren't picked on form, or they would change a lot more often than they do. Macca has a liking for Terry and Rio so I can't see that changing except due to an injury.

In this case he's a witness rather than a suspect though right?

That's depressing but probably true. It hurts to aim so high!

:thup:

Did that too, got a training top with loads of signatures on. KK was getting into his car and still opened the door again and signed it. Legend.

I agree I would have liked to have seen a lot more defenders. But he has got Gooch, who looks good so far, and we have plenty of CBs. The full back situation is very disappointing, and no-one knows whether his excuses are true or not (no players available etc).

I agree with your conclusion, the board are to blame, but I still think Roeder is entitled to criticism/praise depending on how he performs his job. If I was offered the chance to play for/manage Newcastle, you're probably right I would take it. But then when I messed it up I would have to shoulder some of the blame - my salary and acceptance of the position would require it. So if an average manager takes a job he can't handle, then I'm not going to feel sorry for him if he gets criticised.

I can see where Glenn's coming from, but sadly class isn't permanent at all, is it? We've seen many players have major downturns in their careers for all sorts of reasons. How long can we keep playing a Duff who isn't performing while we wait for this 'class' to return?

This is my gut feeling as well, but I do think too many changes of manager in a short time can be harmful. I would be in favour of bringing in a top class manager with a proven record of improving teams, winning titles etc, but there aren't many around. It's a difficult position, it's just a shame we don't have someone better than Fred to get us out of it.

I'm encouraged by Glenn's transfers in a way. I think he would have made more required signings if the backing from the club had been there and/or there were the right players available. I really believe he was looking for a left back, for example (maybe blind faith!) Let's give Glenn another chance in the market, I think he will do well with the amount of money that SBR and Souness were backed with. Stability is underrated in the North East but is important, sacking now would not be the answer IMO.

I'd like to see him here, but unfortunately we need to sort the defence out first and foremost which (rightly) will take up most, if not all, of our budget. Also, no advisor worth anything would tell him to come to Newcastle, unless he has guarantees that the defence will also be sorted.