James Milner - Good enough for Newcastle or not?

[womblemaster]

i take comfort from that fact that milner will probably in our second 11, once barton and emre are fit.

[Northern Monkey]

we are currently a top 9-type club. is milner good enough for that? yes.

 

if we were a top 6 club, would he be good enough? yes.

 

beyond that, imho, he COULD be good enough, given the right coaching. he certainly has shown that unlike skanky kieron, some players CAN improve and move towards their potential, so he's worth a chance.

 

When NM has hope for a player I am satisfied by default.

 

<shaking fist smiley>

 

 

[Anthnufc]

Sorry mate but this is a s**** poll. Anyone who votes Not good enough is a clown!

 

Probably the most creative player we have!

 

i would zog or duff is our most creative! and yes hes good enough and remember hes only young so lots of improvement to go.

[Guest 22bnw]

One of the best wingers in the Premiership

[geordie jamie]

I think he is a very good player and will only get better under BS.

[BlueStar]

Good player, sometimes the only creative spark we have.  Red Bull is actually distilled from James Milner's sweat.

[Guest jimmy1982]

The people who are pointing out how young he is are spot on. I never saw Ginola play when he was 21 but I'd be willing to bet he wasn't as good as he was when he came to us. I think it's a pretty safe bet he didn't put a great cross in every time or make the right decision about when to cut back in every time. People saying Milner is not fast enough - Ginola wasn't fast either but in the first half a season that he was here he was without a doubt one of the best five players I've seen in an NUFC shirt. I'm not saying Milner is definitely going to be as good as Ginola, just using him as an example to make the point.

Milner has consistently been arguably our most impressive player this season and last. There is little doubt he will improve over 3-4 years of playing premeir league (and dare i say it european) football. Fitness permitting he looks like he is going to be a tremendous player for us and probably England as well.

 

 

 

[gray]

i reckon if you watch milner on sky, he doesn't look half as good as when you're at the match. his workrate and off the ball work is immense.

[Northern Monkey]

i reckon if you watch milner on sky, he doesn't look half as good as when you're at the match. his workrate and off the ball work is immense.

 

Careful, people who only watch on telly think they get the best view, etc.

[Guest jimmy1982]

 

His style of play when he's on the right reminds me a little bit of Rob Lee when he first came here as a winger, only with more stepovers... At that point I would never have suspected that Lee would turn into an absolutely belting centre mid, so that is an interesting possibility for Milner as someone else has already said. Lee was a better passer than Milner, but I think that was something that developped  over the years a bit.

I agree about his workrate, it's pretty astonishing.

[danswan]

93% think he's good enough, I doubt many of our players would do as well in a poll as that.

 

Why doesn't someone make a thread for each player and we can find out!!

 

Polltastic!!

[toptoon]

No brainer- one of our best players if not THE best. Certainly up there.

 

Ok he's not the quickest (like Dyer, Pennant Lennon etc), but he's hardly slow either. Beckham and Joe Cole aren't all that quick either but doesn't make them poor players/wingers.

[Guest Knightrider]

Owen might be small but he's still better in the air than most.

 

Spot on. It's a myth that all tall players must be good in the air. It isn't even about height, it's about anticipation, timing and technique.

[Northern Monkey]

Owen might be small but he's still better in the air than most.

 

Spot on. It's a myth that all tall players must be good in the air. It isn't even about height, it's about anticipation, timing and technique.

 

Damned right.

[Guest Knightrider]

It makes me laugh when a big striker gets played and people automatically assume he must be good in the air or if a defender isn't 6.5 or whatever he must be shite in the air. Doesn't work like that. Speaking of heading I've always found it to be the hardest aspect of football to get right from a playing perspective, and truly admire those good in the air and I'm not just talking about players like Terry who stick a head out, I'm talking about your clever players who use their head to play the ball and not just clear it. Owen falls into that category.

[Northern Monkey]

It makes me laugh when a big striker gets played and people automatically assume he must be good in the air or if a defender isn't 6.5 or whatever he must be shite in the air. Doesn't work like that. Speaking of heading I've always found it to be the hardest aspect of football to get right from a playing perspective, and truly admire those good in the air and I'm not just talking about players like Terry who stick a head out, I'm talking about your clever players who use their head to play the ball and not just clear it. Owen falls into that category.

 

shearer had the right place/right time/making space knack down to a tee, for me.

[Guest Knightrider]

It makes me laugh when a big striker gets played and people automatically assume he must be good in the air or if a defender isn't 6.5 or whatever he must be shite in the air. Doesn't work like that. Speaking of heading I've always found it to be the hardest aspect of football to get right from a playing perspective, and truly admire those good in the air and I'm not just talking about players like Terry who stick a head out, I'm talking about your clever players who use their head to play the ball and not just clear it. Owen falls into that category.

 

shearer had the right place/right time/making space knack down to a tee, for me.

 

Aye, and added bravery and desire too. One of the best headerers of a ball I've seen. Sir Les wasn't bad either.

[Northern Monkey]

It makes me laugh when a big striker gets played and people automatically assume he must be good in the air or if a defender isn't 6.5 or whatever he must be shite in the air. Doesn't work like that. Speaking of heading I've always found it to be the hardest aspect of football to get right from a playing perspective, and truly admire those good in the air and I'm not just talking about players like Terry who stick a head out, I'm talking about your clever players who use their head to play the ball and not just clear it. Owen falls into that category.

 

shearer had the right place/right time/making space knack down to a tee, for me.

 

Aye, and added bravery and desire too. One of the best headerers of a ball I've seen. Sir Les wasn't bad either.

 

big forhead, Sir Les. And impeccable timing.

 

 

[Slugsy]

I think Shola is the classic example of where you can be tall and still sh*t at heading the ball!

[Northern Monkey]

I think Shola is the classic example of where you can be tall and still sh*t at heading the ball!

 

thats harsh. He's shit at kicking it most of the time, as well.

[Baggio]

A sound squad player but this is someone we need to improve upon as a first choice if we are to get to where we want to be.

 

Well said, long term we should be looking to improve on him.

[Northern Monkey]

A sound squad player but this is someone we need to improve upon as a first choice if we are to get to where we want to be.

 

Well said, long term we should be looking to improve on him.

 

there's others needing replaced in the shorter term, though. One thing at a time, i reckon. If the likes of Smith etc were as good as Milner, we'd be a better side.

[Baggio]

A sound squad player but this is someone we need to improve upon as a first choice if we are to get to where we want to be.

 

Well said, long term we should be looking to improve on him.

 

there's others needing replaced in the shorter term, though. One thing at a time, i reckon. If the likes of Smith etc were as good as Milner, we'd be a better side.

 

Smith is as good up front as Milner is on the wing IMO, neither are top class but both good enough for a midtable club.

 

If we're looking to push on then neither should be a regular in the starting 11.

 

[Northern Monkey]

A sound squad player but this is someone we need to improve upon as a first choice if we are to get to where we want to be.

 

Well said, long term we should be looking to improve on him.

 

there's others needing replaced in the shorter term, though. One thing at a time, i reckon. If the likes of Smith etc were as good as Milner, we'd be a better side.

 

Smith is as good up front as Milner is on the wing IMO, neither are top class but both good enough for a midtable club.

 

If we're looking to push on then neither should be a regular in the starting 11.

 

 

can't agree there. Smith has shown little aptitude up front for a good while now, whereas i think Milner is still a good enough player for a top 6 club (surely our aim in the short term).

[Howaythelads]

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