Neil

Which is why if those statuses, justifiable or not, are not put into context and not used in every single argument, Newcastle will struggle to truly move forward.

Only been once and that was on a Thursday I think. Not particularly brilliant.

Martins at Tiger Tiger last night (Monday).

Could fairly succesfully sum up our summer as well. From Taylor's performance on Sunday, whilst he isn't defensively sound, he wasn't defensively sound at centre back so at least at full back he offers something on the offensive side of things, which he seems fairly good at. Give him a try is what I say.

Really? I personally don't think they instil much fear into the opposition. Put it this way, I wouldn't have them down as one of the front-runners for the competition if they get 3rd place. Not to say they can't be a useful side though, just can't see them seriously challenging past the quarters.

"Setanta Shield" Oh dear!

PSV and Marseille (who, barring a collapse from the other 2) will be battling it out for 3rd, both look fairly weak. At least comparatively. PSV aren't the team they were, and I wouldn't particularly fear Marseille, who like PSV, have declined slightly in the past 2 or 3 years. I think I posted something in this thread a few pages back, Ajax were 25s. Still can see Milan getting to the final, albeit probably undeservedly.

Wey to be fair you played a good side that almost knocked Liverpool out, they played Plumbers and a brazilian. Oh aye, they're a good side and I wish them the best. We didn't play well enough over the 2 legs, simple as that. Still somewhat bitter (I was before the actual matches), that we finish 5th, get possibly the hardest team possible, and Man City get into Europe via what, being nice and making the best cups of tea or something, and they get a far easier tie. Unfair tbh. But that doesn't excuse us from the fact the 2 performances weren't good enough.

Ooof. You cut me deep with that UEFA cup snipe kingdawson. I've been depressed for the last 3 days just thinking about it. Have fun with your annual underachievements, though. x x x kisses x x x

don't knock duff. we have never lost a league game in which he has scored in what ? three yeears now. Surely shows the importance of Duff in the NUFC setup. Indispensable if you ask me, Jonas may as well give up, coz on the other wing, Geremi is apparently allowed to see what time it is, scratch his arse, pop to Greggs for a crafty steak bake and comment some people on Facebook, before being required to cross a ball.

I'm still clinically depressed that not only Duff scored but also, and I quote, "Shola Ameobi danced his way into the Everton penalty area."

you're aware that the rest of the country feels that way about both of our teams aswell ? The SSN-Newcastle-fan-stereotype, yes, but Everton? Do tell. the general feeling amongst other clubs that all 3 (nufc-efc-spuds) have an overgrown sense of their importance and capabilities. Must say I haven't noticed that amongst other-club-supporting people I know but if it is true, then there you go. Not that I give one. I genuinely feel Spurs fans are the worst out of them, but then again stereotypes have to be made, and a cross-section of fans of a certain club that you or me know may rightly or wrongly represent the general thoughts of the club's fans as a whole.

you're aware that the rest of the country feels that way about both of our teams aswell ? The SSN-Newcastle-fan-stereotype, yes, but Everton? Do tell.

I just can't get over people who thought, despite the underachievements of last season, Spurs would suddenly do better. They've addressed their goals problem by getting rid of the only 2 players who could score goals regularly, and have sorted out their defence by not doing anything. Don't worry Spuds though, you managed to get some pointless midfielders who won't adapt to the team. I do enjoy it when Spurs' season falls flat on its face. Mainly due to the deliciously deluded fans.

Give over, both of you should at least stick to verbally having a go at each other and leaving families out of it, it's only a football forum. True. But on the other hand, grown adults are embarassing themselves here and it provides comical entertainment. That's fighting talk. Grrr! And yeah, I may have used that "smiley" purely because it reminded me of Dr Robotnik out of "Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine". Man it's been a long day.

Give over, both of you should at least stick to verbally having a go at each other and leaving families out of it, it's only a football forum. True. But on the other hand, grown adults are embarassing themselves here and it provides comical entertainment.

Interesting remarks on Inside Sport. "At least Newcastle's players look like they care, performances at Spurs are no more than pathetic at the moment."

With regards to the Zaki situation, I think a distinction has to be made between "value for money" and an actual "quality player". On loan, Zaki looks like a very smart piece of business indeed, but I will wait till the end of the season to see whether he actually is quality. Countless players in the past have started a season so impressively and rapidly faded away as their game became more obvious. Defenders will learn how to play him. Hope he proves me wrong though, because he does seem a very useful player indeed. But just as players should be given time to improve, players should also be required to prove over a longer period that they can consistently produce good performances. Let's wait and see.

Newcastle often has harsh commentatries centered on it, but I think some people need to stop looking for things that aren't there. The media want stories, Newcastle United provides stories. That's what the media do, and will prey on stories like this because that's how they sell their papers, and get more exposure, whether it's right or wrong. They will go to lengths to exaggerate the story as well. That's not just Newcastle, that's most clubs; just it happens to Newcastle more than most. Talk of a "conspiracy" however and "professional agitators" to me though is nonsense at best.

Not sure about starting Agbonlahor but certainly have him in the squad, same with Young. Yes in an ideal world I'd want Young starting but that would involve being slightly ambituous and changing something which we're unlikely to realistically see. Mind after Zagreb, Capello will be able to justify the astounding omission of Young. (Think Agbonlahor has been left in the U21s because of the playoff).

You get what you get with Owen. At his best, a predator. At his worst, well, you get what you did today. Very little of anything. Either way he's not going to turn into a creative player, and why the hell should he, he's a striker ffs, so there's no point trying to find these attributes in him. Meanwhile, Ashley Young has surely eaten Capello's hamster or burnt his house down or something. I'd lose faith in the England team if I were Young, that in a game against Kazakhstan, he still can't get in. Even if Capello wanted to start the same side that did so well in Croatia, fair enough, but surely have Young at least on the bench to give a run-out to. Jenas? Why! The thought of him keeping Young out is just laughable. Already have 3 very able central midfielders in the squad in Gerrard Lampard and Barry. Upson? Why! Have I missed something? And, has Wayne Bridge played for Chelsea this season? Thoroughly disappointing choices. Regardless, 6 points should be ensured whatever combination of players we ultimately go with. (They're both at home aren't they?)

But that would involve Hibbert displaying some footballing ability. On the plus side, he gives me hope that I could one day be a professional footballer playing in the PL.

As you can imagine, absolutely gutted. Feels like a defeat. I predicted a draw before the match not out of negativity, but out of realism. The most worrying thing about today was when we went 2-0 up, I didn't feel confident at all that we'd go on and win it. Credit to you, it was a great fighting spirit, only wished we'd played you a couple of weeks ago. The players just seemed to assume that after the 2nd goal, it'd be plain sailing, and obviously it wasn't. I worry for us this season. If we're outplayed for a good majority of the 2nd half by a club that's apparently a laughing stock, then what does that make us? Bitterly disappointed. Couldn't be more different to last season if we tried.

Slightly off-topic but did anyone hear Alan Green commentating the Man Utd game? Never heard such biased commentary, every single minute picking a bone with Blackburn, and penetrating Wayne Rooney.

All this stuff boils down to the attitudes of the players. Distracted yes, but if the players can't give professional performances for the obscene nature of their wages, then I'm losing faith in football. I couldn't care if a manager blasts you or talks quietly, it's the tactics that will have the most important bearing on actually WINNING the game. I'd expect a professional performance from them regardless of how the manager puts across his points. (Ah, seems Big TRon got there first.)