Lotus

Menez from Monaco might be worth a look. Wide man with flair , 20 yrs old. Played with Zoggy for France U21's i think. I'm sure he played against us for Sochaux.

My thoughts exactly. Even if we do qualify for Europe and this clause isn't triggered, £6m plus a huge saving on wages would be a tempting offer for a player who wants to leave and will do so for nothing in 12 months. Liverpool accepted 8m in the same situation, and he's an older player with more injury questions around him now, meaning 6m is probably very realistic. Agreed.

Unbalanced view imo. If by saying better defenders won't help you defend then one could say better strikers won't help you score. Defending is a team strategy but if a team gets in and around your box the better the quality of defenders you have the better chance you have of limiting your opponents options. This is so obvious i don't actually think it was the point you wanted to make. I agree about ball retention and i would guess that's why he bought Viduka. I would also agree that defending from the front is very important and i suppose that was in his thinking when he bought Smith. Incidentally, Italian strikers aren't renown for their defending from the front or being strong enough to hold the ball up, their defensive units however are often very effective.

Well, theres no more in that link than the OP wrt to 'The Owen Link' imo. Dr Spec's view is biased which is completely reasonable, i still completely respect him as a poster. The press want a story and one can be formed out of this, the quotes on their own though aren't inflammatory. I think the club should have an effective press office where all interviews are supervised and approved before release though. All employees of the club should have to adhere to a code whereby they can't give quotes/interviews to the press without the clubs knowledge imo.

I don't think there's anything in his quotes that is obviously directed at Owen. It's opinion of his situation not anyone else's. I think the reference to 'people who get carried away playing for their country' is more appropriate to players like Dyer, fringe players who need the kudos rather than Owen. Anyway, IF Owen is more interested in England than Newcastle he will have alienated himself in the dressing room with or without Bartons comments.

I would consider playing both Emre and Barton at the same time, 2 players coming back from injury, as very risky. Neither will be sharp nor have match fitness and CM is a position where this will be most exposed. Use one of them + a DM against Spurs. As for the future, time will tell although i think there is potential for them to leave the back 4 exposed if both play their natural games.

Don't agree with that last bit Yorkie, remember Zoggy intercepting passes from the oppostions midf going to their right winger. I think Zoggy tracks back quite well (Souness era).

A lot of what it takes to be a really good sportsman comes from within. There are quite a few footballers who take losing all too easily imo.

In the diagram i gues it might depend on the trailing leg (of the tackler).

Yeah, talking about 'late fitness test'. Interetsing about the medical though TT.

What is a fitness test exactly? What does it involve? How do players fail it without injuring themselves or aggravating an injury? Does it have any element of cardio fitness at all?

Agreed. He can easily improve in those areas, and with experience he will. I don't agree with some of these assessments of him. I think if he is put up for sale, some of the big clubs will be after him. I wouldn't sell him either, unless he wanted a really silly contract. I think he's an important squad member. Don't want to sound pedantic but i don't think it will be 'easy' to improve those areas of his game, experience will help but he's got to be savvy enough to make the right choices in that split second. Some have it naturally (Woodgate), some learn it (Ferdinand) and some just never get it (Bramble). Hope he gets some good coaching and remains motivated and humble enough to learn. Then he'll be a real asset.

Being outrun by Petrov is no disgrace. Taylor's problem is his positioning, also i think he ball watches at crosses.

FWIW i still think we have problems at the back. Roz can't win a ball in the air, Taylor can't be relied on yet and the FB's will have to bed in. Zog's positioning isn't good enough (may improve). I'll reserve my judgement on the MF until i see how Barton, Duff and Emre perform. As for Forwards, Viduka'a good if he can play regularly and i think Smith would be a better at holding the ball up than Ameobi (these are the Viduka alternatives).

Better hope Viduka's playing then.

I agree but don't be cheap by knocking our own fans for supporting a player. It's not unusual for people to have an overly positive view of their own players so you're not making any revelation by pointing it out. Hopefully this defeat, and the manner of it will inspire the manager/board to go about making Newcastle a club than can at least compete.

I suggested it in the "Team against Wham' thread. Butt should be dropped, i don't think Geremi is a proper DM and Faye isn't used to playing for us yet. That only leaves Roz who has any experience there.

....................Given....................... Beye......Cacapa...Taylor.....Enrique ......Barton......Roz.......Zoggy......... ......Smith.....Viduka....Martins........

Bywater won't have an easier game all season.

Beye Roz Cacapa Taylor Milner Geremi Butt Zog Smith Owen

Martins on 2nd half. Gotta be.

This would be a good game to play either Beye or Enrique. Not sure that disrupting a back 4 by playing both is a great idea, you'd have to be very confident in their ability to gel.

I'm not sure we'll see a radical change in personnel. Sam will probably want to keep some consistency. Not sure if we'll see Enrique and Beye, maybe one of but not both imo. Don't know if Sam will want Owen to play his 3rd full game in a week either.

Jason Roberts maybe he kind of striker you're referring to.

Chelsea got a lot of players in there.