Gallowgate Toon

He doesn't have much of an end product though. Owen playing in that role is proven to have one. He doesn't when it comes to crosses, but remember Villa? He was in the box and on the byline for Martins second. His movement against Stoke got him into those areas and i think he'd have plenty of end product if he played in that position properly. He has all the attributes for it imo and his short passing range is pretty decent a la Spurs with the ball into Martins which should have been a pen.

Would play him behind Viduka and Martins when they are fit. I think he'd do a much better job than Owen who is good in that role, but i think Jonas can do better. Jonas did some good passes against Spurs post-substitution and he has intelligent movement a la Stoke when he ran into the channels frequently and caused problems. I think this role would suit him well and i'd even try it out if he was behind Owen and Oba, the pace and movement and skill that particularly Jonas has would have a lot of teams scared.

He like Owen needs good support, and with Krancjar out i can't see them threatening tbh.

Tbh i'd consider dropping Owen and get Colo back in. My team would depend on the fitness of Barton and Enrique but if they're fit. Harper Beye Bassng Colo Enrique Guthrie Smith Barton Jonas Martins Viduka If Jose is still out stick Duff LB, and if Barton's out get Jonas in his position and put Owen behind Oba and Duke.

To be fair, the system today might have worked in training. Training isn't really a good indicator of what formations and tactics work best, you have to try them out in a competitive match, unfortunately we don't have too many of them left. To be fair it didn't work against Stoke, so why would it work with a team that likes to play it out wide to very fast wingers. It makes that formation extremely ineffective.

Shearer was a legend as a player no doubt, but everyone here is clouding their judgement if they're saying he isn't responsible today. His formation was pants, as was his starting selection, no Guthrie? what was that all about seems to me Dowie is pulling more strings than Al.

I agree tbh, very very poor formation even though it didn't work against Stoke.

Well hope Guthrie comes on for Butt then.

SMITH?

I just don't understand why you would change it round again after our promising spell against Stoke for half an hour, why not just keep the same team and shape from then?

Just woeful tactics and everything. 4-3-3 works when players are in the correct position. S.Taylor should be CB Beye RB and R.Taylor should be LB.

Just play 4 at the back too, against this lot where they have pace upfront 3 at the back is suicide.

We didn't play 3-5-2 when we played well against Stoke, why change it? rocks for brains.

Well this is shit. Tactics are useless still, 4-3-3 not 3-5-2 please.

Good players can still consistently score in shit teams, Martins (who is considered shite by a proportion of people) while he has been here has scored against 3 of the top 4 in England, Owen hasn't. Look at James Beatty he's scored a lot for a shit team and he did it for Southampton as well.

Disagree, showing against Man U proves that he's best as a starter. Something has obviously happened to Jonas since we saw him against them, he's either been trying to do too much or being told to play in a way that doesn't suit him etc. Obvious to me that we've not being seeing the 'real' Jonas for some time, but he's still played well for Argentina and it doesn't seem a coincidence to me.

Jonas looking more like the player from Man U and Guthrie getting an hour, he will be vital for us.

I think we would have done better if he'd started tbh we looked very devoid of ideas, he must start, and i think he'll play better because he'll be playing higher up the field instead of covering every blade of grass. Him, Barton and Guthrie is a mouth watering prospect considering the current crop.

Just been added to his new one, he's only got 90 friends atm man and about 25 of them are people from Newcastle.

Seriously doubt he was an impact sub, Stoke are arguably the fittest side in the league.

Just took it to Stoke, which is what we needed some endeavour, whether it was a tactical decision to run at tired legs which i doubt because Stoke are probably the fittest side in the league or it was just a rest, he proved when he came on he is vital. I'm looking forward to seeing what Al does with him tbh, hope he makes him play in this higher free role more often because we just need that creativity. Our midfield yesterday was just so lacking in anything and Stoke found that far too easy because it played straight into their hands getting numbers behind the ball and closing our options. I wonder if we'd have done better had Jonas started, but he must play every game from now on. A midfield of him, Barton, Guthrie and whoever else is a thousand times better than what we have at the minute, and i'm looking forward to the day they play together.

Made a huge difference yesterday imo. Carroll has got a lot of the plaudits for his goal but we were looking a lot more potent when Jonas came on. Dunno what position he was playing he seemed to have a free role, and it worked well showed us that the best way to beat teams like Stoke is to play real footballers, not cloggers. Remember Al saying last week Jonas needed to play further up the pitch, if he meant by what Jonas did yesterday then i feel much better as he showed great industry with some cracking runs, a couple of balls in the box, some nice balls behind the defence to Butt and Owen. However i do think it was wise to give him a bit of a rest, he has played a lot this season with internationals, but more of the same please Jonas.

If Oba aint' available then it has to be a straight swap for Loven, we need pace it's a necessity in today's game.

Although Carroll played well, I think a lot of credit has to go to Jonas cause we seemed a lot sharper when he came on, shame it was Guthrie that was taken off for him.

Chances are we were down there last night so he'd hardly travel back by himself. I know but what's the gain from that? I'd be more suspicious of feigning if he'd missed it altogether but on the day? Very strange indeed.