Jackie Broon

---------Neville---Carsley-------- Osman-------------------Pienaar --------------Cahill---------------- I'd like to see us play something similar: -------- Geremi - Faye -------- Milner ------------------ Duff/Zog ----------- Smith/Duff ---------- Owen/Martins Which is basically how we used to play pre Shearer under Keegan. the movement under keegans first spell newcastle teams meant it was hard to work out a clear formation. pav/hislop/hooper was in goal...cole/ferdinand was up front(till shearer came) and in between was very mobile and fluid. Aye, like Arsenal and Man U now, there's so much movement it's very difficult to tie down how they actually play. But it was basically a 4-4-1-1 with two, relativity defensively minded central midfielders.

---------Neville---Carsley-------- Osman-------------------Pienaar --------------Cahill---------------- I'd like to see us play something similar: -------- Geremi - Faye -------- Milner ------------------ Duff/Zog ----------- Smith/Duff ---------- Owen/Martins Which is basically how we used to play pre Shearer under Keegan.

More precisely, central midfield. We need a proper holding midfielder and a proper creative midfielder who can spot a pass. Break the bank to get 2-3 top class players in that area and it'll transform our team beyond recognition.

Spurs & Everton and the like have built good teams from a few established players but mostly from lower ranked clubs. Roughly half of both sides starting XI have come-up from the Championship. There are players out there in the lower divisions that can do a good job (Chimbonda, Cahill). Why can't we sign the next Aaron Lennon or Lescott? To a large extent I think it's because we as fans haven't given young players the time to develop. We're far too quick to get on their backs and/or write them off. If they're not an instant success they're s*** or lazy or greedy and are told so in no uncertain terms by all corners of St James' Park.

Yes that is what i have been saying since keegan took over, We need to scrap for evey point now, But this will be lost in keegans thinking he does not do defence. A bad shout from the board going for keegan IMOA. when it was so obvious we needed to go for dour draws week in week out . We will now pay for having an inexperienced management team, We will most definetly be relegated this season on our current form there is know way back. Our current form is terrible. But look at the games we've played! Despite our current form, we've pulled away from Reading (who've picked up two points from their last ten games) and Birmingham have only managed to cut our lead over them by five points in the last ten games. If we are going to be relegated both of those teams will have to finish ahead of us. Even on current form, that's unlikely to happen. Other than the Liverpool away fixture we've got a run of winnable games coming up. Our form will improve!

Ameobi scored against them, for what it's worth

When Keegan came in it was never going to be any different. This is mostly the fault of Fat Sam for wasting money on s*** players but partly just a freak of chance that we got the most unbalanced season I've ever seen out of the fixture computer. With the easiest first half of a premiership season we've ever had, we should've come into this incredibly tough period games high on confidence and in the table. But Sam's negativity and p***ing about line-ups and formations sapped the players' confidence and by the time Keegan took over the set of results (results, maybe not scorelines) we've had were inevitable. It was inevitable that our players, who are not good enough collectively to be anything other than a mid-table side and already low on confidence, would have whatever was left shattered playing Chelsea A, Man City H, Man U A, Arsenal A, Villa A, Man U H within 8 games. What makes it even more difficult is that top clubs still see playing us as one of their bigger league fixtures and delight in beating us. But we're over the hump now, we've still got Liverpool away but other than that and a couple of others most of our remaining fixtures are winnable. Things will get better.

Turnbull2000. Just simply f*** off!

BBC commentator: "cleared by the United defence" Which United?! The one that was actually a result of two clubs uniting, or the one that copied the name 12 years later because it sounded good?

The result is of f*** all importance today If Birmingham beat us next month it could be of massive importance to us. That one point might make the difference between us and them for the 3rd relegation spot.

Totti gets blown up by the mother of all bangers: http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/135/bangha9.jpg http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1167/bang2aa4.jpg

Resurrection - Stone Roses. Although you'll have to chop off the five minute instrumental bit at the end.

He hasn't really had that many playing in his preferred position, from about December onwards Fat Sam tended to play him as a winger-come-forward, on the right Before that genius bit of selection he'd played 7 and scored 4.

I dont think i've ever seen Martins unfit TBF. More chance he's lost his sharpness infront of goal but TBH he never really had that. Don't worry he will come back fit and fireing. Martins gets way too much stick imo. Without his goals last season we would now be playing in the championship.

Given Beye Cacapa Taylor Enrique Milner Barton Emre N'Zogbia Owen Martins That side could definitely play a bit of football. Outside of Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool half of that team would walk into any other team in the premiership. Owen, Martins, N'Zogbia, Beye and Given. We have got good players, what we lack is confidence. The ability to play 'carpet football' is there.

I genuinely believe we'd be better off playing with ten men than with Butt in the team. Every time he gets the ball he attempts a 'Hollywood pass' that invariably goes straight to an opposition player or out of play. It's like having a member of the opposing team wearing black and white.

Yet the board let him spend 6 million on Smith, on a whim with no real idea how he would fit into the team, and 6 million on a unproven teenage leftback. Doesn't really ring true, Sam.

He is good. it´s just that he cant pass a ball But isn't that a slightly fundamental aspect of being a good footballer?

Maybe they'll change the system. Maybe they will, but I can't really see Defoe and Baros working well together in a 4-4-2. They're both players who like to play off a 'big man'.

I think Portsmouth have made a bit of a mistake swapping Benjani for Defoe. The 4-3-3 they play relies on having a big, strong and mobile striker in the centre, like Benjani. Defoe isn't that and I think he'll struggle to fit into the system they play.

Bloody great - can't believe we haven't even bought one player in, especially when the likes of spuds are flashing the cash on seemingly decent buys.. Spurs have probably been working on those signings for a month or two. We've only had two weeks, two weeks when a whole new senior management structure has come into the club. Be patient, we're never going to get into a European spot and once we have Beye, Faye, Martins and Emre back we'll have plenty enough to pull clear any relegation danger. We can start rebuilding in the summer.

Good players don't want to play for us because we're s**t. We're s**t because good players don't want to play for us. Catch 22.

There are good players in the team but none of our central midfield players are good enough.

Rozehnal and Butt in midfield, great! We'd be better off playing with 9 men than with those two passing it straight back to the opposition at every opportunity.

For what Keegan has done for our club he deserves another crack at it. If it ends up going tits-up, so be it, there's nowt we can do about it. What we mustn't do as supporters is be influenced by the cockney press, who would 'love it' if it all goes wrong and are already trying to get the ball of negativity rolling. We can either help Kev by being 100% behind him or contribute to our own downfall be thinking negatively.