The Prophet

No one has said that this season. One cliche which has been eradicated is: "At least the System has been a success." But it was...

But they have the biggest fan base in the north east or so they say. Must all come to the match cleverly disguised as empty seats.

Yes Chelsea to an extent did a half decent job of shutting up shop, but brilliant give me a break. Eto'o, Henry, Bojan and Hleb all missed opportunities while Henry could of had a penalty. Tonight's result is down to Barca's sloppiness as it is Chelsea's defensive strength.

Owen is a decent player, he's just not what we need right now as he offers little to the cause. Take Viduka, he's big and strong, he'll hold the ball and bring other players into play. Martins is quick and good in the air he frightens defenders if nothing else. If I was a defender playing Owen at the minute I'd be rubbing my hands together. Owen's game is about movement. He's the man who's always in the right place at the right time to tap in the easy chance. He isn't physically strong or quick, but he's good at what he does. In a team like Stoke where the ball is constantly in play in the box he'd thrive. Crosses, long balls, second balls he'd have a field day, sooner or later he'd get on the end of one of them. The problem with Owen now is he's lost some of his sharpness probably due the immense amount of injuries he's suffered. This means if he's getting regular service he'll get you a goal but he'll probably waste two or three good goal scoring chances. This is the problem for Newcastle. Because our midfield has zero creativity the strikers get very few chances so they have to create their own. Both Viduka and Martins have the physical attributes to do this but Owen doesn't. So when the gold nugget of a cross finally falls out the midfields arse he's been spaffing it away. Another problem is because the crap-tastic midfield sit so deep and provide no service for the strikers they are forced to drop deep. You see Martins and Owen do this reguarly. Now where as Martins has a bit of pace and can take someone from deep Owen can't. His only real attribute is his movement in the box, if he isn't in the box what good is he doing? At the end of the day Owen's goal scoring problems arise from poor service and a lack of self sufficiency. He's a good player if you have a creative midfield but we don't. Add this to the fact that he's fluffing the rare chances he is getting and he's nothing more than a one dimensional passenger who contributes little to the team, one who'd I'd drop at this moment in time (even if it would boil piss paying him the money he is on to sit on the bench).

Totally agree, they play football how its meant to be played. They're so damn good you'll have a team third in the English Premier League turning up to stifle their play rather than concentrating on their own game.

I've been positive throughout the season convinced we're going to stay up but for me it's as good as over. We need a minor miracle, not only are we depending on other teams results but our hope rests on a bunch of heartless wankers who couldn't hit a barn door from ten paces to suddenly get their act together. For me needed at least seven points from those three home games and while that’s still attainable I'm not even sure we'll even manage that. A result last night would have restored some much needed belief and heart to the team (even though it would have been short lived with a trip to Anfield on the horizon) but we couldn’t even manage to turn over an average Portsmouth side on our own patch. All we've got now is hope. 9

I'd stick the kids out. Unlike the other bunch they have no fear and nothing to lose. Either way we're likely to get convincingly turned over but if we send the young guns out we'll see who is worth their salt and prevent further injury to the first team.

Martins like many of the other players in our squad looks like a player lacking confidence. We all know the lad is as erratic as they come but he doesn't seem to be backing himself in front of goal. The penalty incident summed it up for, he completely bottled it. You could see as soon as he stepped up he didn't fancy himself to put it away. He has all the attributes of a class player: pace, power, strength and a good leap on him too but all this is wasted if he doesn't have the confidence to put the ball in the back of the net. What caused this sudden loss of self belief? Was it being benched by the gaffer? Is it the way his side is playing? Is he feeling sorry for himself? Or was it the penalty miss in question? More likely still is it a combination of the lot? Either way the lad has got to get himself a goal. You tend to find strikers go through these patches, we're just unlucky it's come at such an inopportune time. All he needs is a shot to deflect in off a body part or tap in on the line and he'll go on a run. Unfortunately the way the team is playing he may not get that chance. However in the ever more likely even we go down it will be sad to see a quality coach utilising his talents giving him the confidence to go out and score on a regular basis. Regarding Owen I don't think he's hiding either. Where I think Martins has lost self belief it's Owens playing style that’s making him ineffective. Martins is self sufficient and can create his own chances but Owen needs regular service to get himself a goal. My biggest gripe with Owen is that he'll miss two or three guilt edge chances before he knocks one in, that’s why the supply to him needs to be constant. A supply he just isn't going to get in a struggling team such as ourselves, it sounds daft but I think he's made for a team like Stoke who keep the ball in and around the box. The lack of service means he has to drop deeper to try and influence play which is making him pretty ineffective of what he's good at. Owen and Martins are both talented players with different capabilities but they are both suffering from very different problems which in effect are consequences of the way the team are playing. Its cause and effect, it's one of the reasons we are where we are but at the same time they're not scoring because of where we are. It's a vicious circle I'd love to see broken but I can't see Owen going on a scoring run. I think our main hope is Martins sorts himself out because on his day he's capable of troubling any team.

I don't usually do predictions but what the hell. I expect Portsmouth to come out try and keep the ball and kill the atmosphere at the beginning of the match. Not having Kranjcar is a massive blow for them in terms of creativity but they'll still be a threat, Crouch in particular. I have no doubt they'll hold their own and I think the way this match goes is largely dependant on how we play rather than how they play. I can't see Shearer completely throwing caution to the wind Southgate style but I expect an attacking line up, this is a must win and I can imagine there will be some nerves in the dressing room. The way we've played this season there's no reason to think we're going to come out and take them apart, the sides are closely matched and after all this is a relegation scrap. Taking this into account I can't see it being anything special as a spectacle. It'll probably a tight scrappy affair with both defences looking edgy. I think in the end we will have just enough quality to see it through. My Prediction: 2-1

Burton getting beat but got away with it as Cambridge failed to win.

We should just go for it, blow them away. Take the kind of attitude Boro did against Hull, we need the points we can't risk sitting back and playing cautiously. -------------------------------Harper------------------------------- Taylor------------Beye-------------Bassong------------Enrique ------------------------------Guthrie------------------------------- Lovenkrands-----------------------------------------------Jonas -------------------------------Owen-------------------------------- --------------------Martins-------------Viduka--------------------

Can Burton do it? Can they actually manage to come second in a league they lead with a massive 19 point gap?

By God it's got me close to tears -- we were trying to to take top spot, now it's taking fourth through to f***ing seventh. No wonder I hate b****** f***ing c***ing football nowadays. We, at least had some sort of ambition. The smell of blood is in the air, returning from a couple of ales down the local, the troll returns to feast on his fresh prey.

The game has changed, gone are the days where you could spend a few bob and challenge for the title. Back in the day even the likes of the Norwich, fresh from promotion, had a shot at the big time. The financial boundries between the top teams and the rest of the league have widened. Your comparing two completely different eras of football, these days its all about progress and making baby steps up the league back then any old Tom, Dick or Harry could challange for the Premier League.

FFS I didn't say "ZOMFG I'm not playing anymore" I'm just warning you so it isn't a suprise if I do pull out.

People forget Drogba was a no one until that season with Marsielle.

Just these people who think we'll breeze back up to the Premier League need a serious talking to. The Championship is a horrile league. As well as it being full of teams which are more than capable of turning smaller premier league teams over on their own patch, a serious reduction in quality players and an increase in the good old long ball game it also holds serious financial implications. The parachute payments and shrink in television money often can't cover the wage bill and expenses of teams dropping out the top flight. It really sorts the well clubs out from the also rans and we need to be running a tight ship should we go down to have a chance of coming straight back up.

Chances are I'll be pulling out, just warning you.

Riley is ruining the game, feel sorry for Fellani must have had about twenty fouls given against him that half alone, think what? Maybe a handfull of them actually were.

As must win as it gets...

If we don't beat Portsmouth the fat lady will be warming up.

I'm thinking Hull, Boro and West Brom.

I think Stuttgart might just go on to win the German title.

Still 6-7 for me.

Thought we defended well on the whole. We switched off for ten seconds and were punished, having said that it wasn't s corner. Not sure why Shola is getting so much stick when Owen was bad if not worse.