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The thing is Bayern have really been sputtering this year. Unless Munchen get there act together, the likes of Hoffenheim will push it to the end.

Definitely. Two very scary players.

Pompey really do look bad. Some of the mistakes they made were ridiculous. I mean the last two seasons, they've been one of the strongest teams in the league and were very hard to break down. I don't know what's changed. Totally different team than the one that came to SJP last year.

See....now why the hell can't we always be like this. Really really enjoyed this performance. Great response from the players. Credit to Joe Kinnear too.

Good movement for once. Oba's run pulled away Campbell and Owen went right into that space. Very good to see. Was terrible from the Portsmouth defendr who gave it away though.

Gomes is looking realy good again. Confident too. So, how does he explain being so ridiculously s*** at first?

Ronaldo really is an idiot. Why did he have to kick out at Dawson there?

I think we'd be 12 points better off if Keegan had stayed, even with this squad, so he's got to take some of the blame for our current plight. An extra 12 points would have us fighting for a European place instead of our Premiership survival. I wouldn't expect Keegan to put up with dross like Butt and Duff and pretend they are what he wanted (and he would have to). Keegan on Butt... "He has been vitally important and is the one player who stitches it all together. He just gets on with it. "Michael Owen captains the side, but I see him as another captain out there. Keegan on Duff... ve absolutely no doubt that Damien is going to be in the best shape of his Newcastle career," he said. "The lad hasn't had a proper pre-season in three years, but now he's at the weight he was at 18. "I think we've got to draw a line under what's gone on before. We definitely want to keep him. He's a player who sets good standards in training." So either a) Keegan genuinely liked and rated them, or b), he's a liar as well? Actions speak louder than words. He binned them and got results. I couldn't really give a f*** about quotes if I'm happy with what I see on the pitch. He bigged Shola up too then tried to peddle him. He binned Duff, aye, although he brought him back in at the start of this season. Butt was still a regular in the team though. Butt looked decent last year with Barton and Geremi to take the burden off him. Butt's decent but he won't cut it a two man midfield. That's the main problem with him and Geremi, though they are both decent players. I actualy rate Geremi to be honest.

Aye, I can really see Mike Ashley sanctioning that one. :lol: modric :lol: Yeah because he was also trying to sell the club last January when he put up the money for that deal. and now the fans are pissed because he wont spend after they've basically driven him out? flawless logic. He wasn't spending anyway. That's why Nicky Butt is still a first teamer. Butt is still a first-teamer because £6m was spunked on Alan Smith with the Dyer money rather than an actual midfielder. Mmm nope. Butt needed replacing in the summer but Dennis knew better. Yeah, he signed Guthrie. Only a year after the board sanctioned a £5.8m transfer of Barton, as well as giving a big contract to Geremi. So managers have signed, in their time under Mike Ashley four midfielders (or midfielders in the manager's eyes) in Barton, Geremi, Guthrie & Smith...that's not including Nacho Gonzalez. That's not the board's fault that two managers have spent a fair bit on midfielders and yet Butt still plays. He couldn't sign £18m Modric so went for £2m Guthrie? The obvious choice. Modric was available. What other big money centre-mids were part of the transfer merry-go-round this summer? Deco? Oh aye... Chelsea or Newcastle, hmm. I don't really get what your arguing Wullie man. Are you saying he Ashley hasn't/wouldn't spend big on players? He has done - Coloccini is hard evidence of that. And again, tbh, i believed Mort when he said we bid for Modric and i still do. Fair enough, believe what you like. I believe he's a bare faced liar. £10m on one player alone is not "spending big" in my eyes. £6.3m on a left-back, club record. £10.6m on a centre-back, club record. £6m on Alan Smith. £5.6m on a Spanish U-21 striker. £5.8m on Joey Barton. £7m+ on Jonas Gutierrez. £7m+ on Jonas? How's that like? He's got nearly all the rest back man. Did we? I counted about 34.3 million on that list. Have we really recouped that much? In all seriousness by the way. Am I forgetting something?

Aye, I can really see Mike Ashley sanctioning that one. :lol: modric :lol: Yeah because he was also trying to sell the club last January when he put up the money for that deal. and now the fans are pissed because he wont spend after they've basically driven him out? flawless logic. He wasn't spending anyway. That's why Nicky Butt is still a first teamer. Butt is still a first-teamer because £6m was spunked on Alan Smith with the Dyer money rather than an actual midfielder. Mmm nope. Butt needed replacing in the summer but Dennis knew better. Yeah, he signed Guthrie. Only a year after the board sanctioned a £5.8m transfer of Barton, as well as giving a big contract to Geremi. So managers have signed, in their time under Mike Ashley four midfielders (or midfielders in the manager's eyes) in Barton, Geremi, Guthrie & Smith...that's not including Nacho Gonzalez. That's not the board's fault that two managers have spent a fair bit on midfielders and yet Butt still plays. He couldn't sign £18m Modric so went for £2m Guthrie? The obvious choice. Which two managers are you on about? Allardyce who signed the first three, and Keegan who signed Guthrie. Blame Keegan, always the easy get out card. Who the hell is blaming Keegan? Yeah, damn that Kegan for bringing in a decent young English midfielder. He's just saying that the midfield signings from our previous two managers have been unable to bring in any one to displace Butt. Every debate on here turns into a Keegan/Ashley vs. world at some point. Frankly, Keegan has very little to do with this as he was barely even here. *I can't really tell if your showing sarcasm or not

I do hope these people realise that if we signed Bellamy, we'd have two strikers shorter than him. He'd be a giant among men. height doesn't matter too much....timing and execution does. think how many headres owen has scored,martins for that matter. ferdinand was,i believe under 6ft aswell. I'm sorry, but no. There are severe disadvantages to have three tiny strikers, and two fragile tiny strikers. It's not even about being under or above six foot. I definitely take some one who has 5' 10-11 and a bit robust. I think power and height are important attributes of strikers and always have been. martins is robust and on aoccasions has shown himself to be able to lead like that (unfortunatly as he keeps proving you never know which martins is turning up). agreed it's not ideal but think rooney-tevez........beardsley-cole....? There's a reason Manchester United bought Berbatov. And Cole is exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned a robust player of average height. Oba is robust and physical, and that's something I like about him, but his sheer lack of height and body size prevents him from fulfilling certain roles. man utd didn't take berbatov for his height/heading ability It's not just height/heading, because Tevez is alright in the air, but it's for holding the ball up and generally being able to compete with defenders physically. What do you think they signed him for?

I do hope these people realise that if we signed Bellamy, we'd have two strikers shorter than him. He'd be a giant among men. height doesn't matter too much....timing and execution does. think how many headres owen has scored,martins for that matter. ferdinand was,i believe under 6ft aswell. I'm sorry, but no. There are severe disadvantages to have three tiny strikers, and two fragile tiny strikers. It's not even about being under or above six foot. I definitely take some one who has 5' 10-11 and a bit robust. I think power and height are important attributes of strikers and always have been. martins is robust and on aoccasions has shown himself to be able to lead like that (unfortunatly as he keeps proving you never know which martins is turning up). agreed it's not ideal but think rooney-tevez........beardsley-cole....? There's a reason Manchester United bought Berbatov. And Cole is exactly what I was talking about when I mentioned a robust player of average height. Oba is robust and physical, and that's something I like about him, but his sheer lack of height and body size prevents him from fulfilling certain roles.

I do hope these people realise that if we signed Bellamy, we'd have two strikers shorter than him. He'd be a giant among men. height doesn't matter too much....timing and execution does. think how many headres owen has scored,martins for that matter. ferdinand was,i believe under 6ft aswell. I'm sorry, but no. There are severe disadvantages to have three tiny strikers, and two fragile tiny strikers. It's not even about being under or above six foot. I definitely take some one who has 5' 10-11 and a bit robust. I think power and height are important attributes of strikers and always have been.

I do hope these people realise that if we signed Bellamy, we'd have two strikers shorter than him. He'd be a giant among men.

Aye, I can really see Mike Ashley sanctioning that one. :lol: modric :lol: What, him that plays for Spurs? Thing is, even this summer, Newcastle was not a desirable destination at all. This problem has only been exacerbated.

Good, rightly they shouldn't. Butt has done f*** all to warrant an improved contract. done more than guthrie this season imo and with a thin squad maybe it makes sense to try and keep those with a saleable value. Personally don't agree with that but each to their own. I think Guthrie has become an important member of our first team and I'd sooner see him in the starting XI than Butt. I think that Guthrie, Barton, and another midfielder could definitely be a good foundation in midfield.

Man Utd have just given van der Sar a new contract...obviously their scouting team can't find a better first-choice 'keeper. I don't know why Manchester United feel the need to keep going on with Van Der Sar. He's been a liability this season and last. But yeah your original point about keeping older reliable players is something I agree with. That's not my point at all. I want to get rid of Butt. My point was it's not just us and our management/scouts/etc, who give silly contracts to sh*t, over-the-hill players. Well alright then But yeah, I wouldn't really want Butt playing next year either, but I don't really mind IF he's on the bench as experienced cover. I'm not going to use the offer of a new contract as some cheap crack at Wise though. Players that have actauly been transferred have been decent.

Man Utd have just given van der Sar a new contract...obviously their scouting team can't find a better first-choice 'keeper. I don't know why Manchester United feel the need to keep going on with Van Der Sar. He's been a liability this season and last. But yeah your original point about keeping older reliable players is something I agree with.

Having spent £5m on Xisco. The whole situation beggars belief. I agree on this by the way. We have spent this on a younger more promising player who can definitely take Shola's place on the bench if he is not up to first team. Now that makes no sense. Shola should really go to his real level and play for Wikki Tourists or something like that.

That's nonsense. Complete nonsense. Your blaming the recruitment team for the manager offering a contract to player that is already at the club and has been there since before they arrived?? I think he's blaming the recruitment team for being incapable of pushing Nicky Butt out of the first team with younger, better players. If we had better alternatives then we wouldn't need to offer him a contract. We have no depth at all, or real quality if we're honest, in the centre of the park. Indeed. It needed doing in the summer gone, everyone knew that, now it looks unlikely that we'll do it this summer either. He might be useful in the Championship I suppose. I just think that is an incredible assumption to make. If Butt's starting next season, then yeah, I will not be happy at all, but I have no problem with him being in the squad. I feel like he is a decent safe option, and considering his age, I feel he would accept being a squad player. (Though I do greatly prefer Geremi to him. Don't know why Geremi is always the forgotten man) I was assuming we'd be getting in a central midfielder anyway. Just judging from club statements and rumours, links, etc. We seem to be focused on central midfield and left back.

That's nonsense. Complete nonsense. Your blaming the recruitment team for the manager offering a contract to player that is already at the club and has been there since before they arrived??

After reading your first paragraph questioning Owen, I can't believe you've got the nerve to say that about Chelsea fans at the end. Typical of some of our supporters. Ridiculous why I can't question why the player who's supposed to be the team's top scorer only has fifteen shots? To me that shows the ability to create his own chance is lacking. I know this is an issue with the midfield, etc. as well, but the thread is about Owen. To me this is definitely an issue we need to address. Anelka on the other hand has done everything that could be asked of him, yet is criticised for not..er...not being Didier Drogba I guess. Uhm...just a minor point-of-order here. Owen IS the team's top scorer. In the league and overall. No "supposed to be" about it. Not this season, nor last. He may take about one-third of the number of shots that a striker like Martins does, but he scores more goals. Would love that sort of efficiency at my club, tbh. I think Owen has done everything that could reasonably be asked of him -- aside from his fitness, which I don't think was his fault as those problems were primarily two big injuries he couldn't do much of anything to prevent. When asked, the "poacher" switched to a 4-3-3, with himself the deepest-lying striker. When asked, he played in the midfield. When asked, he man-marked an opposing team's play-maker. His work-rate is among the highest on the team, iirc -- he apparently runs quite a lot, though it's hard to see if you're stuck watching on telly/the internet as I am these days . He scores vital goals (I still think his goal v. Birmingham may have been the most important one of last season, though it was only worth one point). Who cares if he's making his own chances, so long as he's still scoring more than the players who ARE (supposedly) doing that? I agree with Edd. Ok then yeah he is our top scorer and he is also supposed to be our top scorer. Credit to him. He's doing his job well enough. So are Oba and Shola really (neither of them that far off of Owen goal scoring wise anyway) Those three have performed pretty well this season in my opinion anyway. But no, I will not ignore the fact that there are some players in the league with nearly as many goals as Owen has shots. Just like our other strikers need to work on the other areas of their game, Owen needs to work harder to get more attempts off and to be involved in the game. I don't think he is free from criticism because of his pedigree.

gay sex and HIV?

Clueless. In what way? Because I disagree that we should sign 29 year old players who have horrible fitness records and have been horrendous signings for their last two clubs? F***...I wonder if Blackburn fans are lobbying to get Damien Duff back? Time to move on. Actually West Ham fans love him. Rotated around like an arse at Liverpool didnt help. I sure they love him after the 4 or so goals he's scored for them. Carlton (How the f*** am I still in the Premier League) Cole has been more productive for them. Bellamy not a terrible player...it's just that all signs point to avoiding him. Stop now ok. Just stop. You don't know what your on about. Carlton Cole has scored 8 goals for them. Bellamy has scored 4. (Though, looking at it now, Cole has had one more season) I'm not saying Cole is better. He isn't. I'm just throwing out some statistics here.

Clueless. Aye, he's actually scored 16 goals in the last two and a half seasons. I counted 11. Unless you're including Wales.