Happy Face

Take my wife, please!

Anyway, has anyone posted the full quotes? http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcas...72703-21516411/

That's a shame.

Aye, that'll be what I was thinking of...

Hmm, might pop in and take a gander now.

Forget it. Applying a bit of common sense, why would we even approach the sacked manager of Fulham when we'd just won the UEFA cup.

Is it right he chose Ipswich over us in '69 though? Come on Leazes, you're old enough to remember.

Well he said it was because he wanted to honour his contract (and in fairness he has quite a bit of precedent for that sort of thing), but I guess only he will ever know. Or do you mean prior to that? "I'd waited 18 years to get to Barcelona and I was in no hurry to leave"

Wahey! Never knew. "Baker, 51, who hosts his first programme on 16 September, said of his new job: "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7537366.stm

But will it knock my socks off? Strange that he starts by saying the reason for the meeting was the lack of corporate sales, when the expansion of the family enclosure was put down to the excellent support received from the corporate buyers.

Sounds to me like you begrudge him having a stand at SJP named in his honour.

You fucking penis He's right though. I know Robson turned us down when he was at Barcelona and seem to recall someone saying he did once before to manage Ipswich too (before my time [/spoony]). Most fans wanted him sacked and half the stadium walked out when he got us into Europe. He's hardly the sort of Newcastle man through and through that warrants that sort of honour. I think I recall Sir Bob turning us down because he wanted to stick by his contracts, a man of his word and all that. And I don't recall it being that 'most fans' wanted him sacked, I didn't and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I can't see how Hall could be justified to have a stand named after him if Sir Bob couldn't, Hall's hardly a Newcastle man through and through at all if we're going by that. I suppose it depends what criteria you place on such things being named for - I guess Sir Bob is a legend in the whole area, in the ground maybe not so much to some. It doesn't come across as a point of honour in his interview on with the Independent... http://www.nufc.com/html/robson_independent.html I love the bloke. Never wanted him sacked and never once left the stadium if a player was on the pitch while he was in charge. But his popularity is less to do with his time at Newcastle and more to do with with his general likeability and excellent record elsewhere.

You fucking penis He's right though. I know Robson turned us down when he was at Barcelona and seem to recall someone saying he did once before to manage Ipswich too (before my time [/spoony]). Most fans wanted him sacked and half the stadium walked out when he got us into Europe. He's hardly the sort of Newcastle man through and through that warrants that sort of honour.

But it should be the diminutive East Stand for him.

Joe Harvey - who else? Bill McCracken. SBR would be poignant and relevant. The only way it should be named after SBR, is if it includes a sponsorship deal from which all funds go to his charity. The Sir Bobby Robson Brown Ale stand would be fine by me if it got the Hospital a few hundred grand. Otherwise, I'd name the Leazes after Harvey, the East Stand after Hughie, And the Gallowgate after Mitchell.

Treasure of The Sierra Madre For the first time since seeing the film it helped inspire - There Will Be Blood. They'd make a cracking double bill.

I'm off to bed, but I'd just like to say I've enjoyed reading all your posts over the last few pages. Nice to have a chat about the squad, the tactics, what's needed and what's worrying people. Instant improvement resulting directly from the recent bannings if you ask me.

Well I think that by spending £10 on Colloccini we havn't exactly left the defence but for me the main reason we have been so poor at the back is to do with the lack of protection in front of them. If we had a midfield who could retain posession and keep the other team on the back foot we wouldn't put so much pressure on our own defenders. As it is we too often hand the initiative to the opposition. The reason why our defence was mocked in Keegans first time in charge was because they kept making mistakes which costs us goals in important games (such as the Liverpool 4-3 and Fenton's goal for Blackburn), but the statistics showed that our defence was one of the best in the league. The reason for that was we were able to go at teams (home and away) and keep them away from our defence. A strong attack can paper over the cracks in a poor defence and a great defence do the same for a weaker attack. Unfortunately for the last few years we have had a defense that was probably not as bad as it was made to look but not good enough to cover the fact that our attack wasn't up to much either. If Colloccini can transfer his La Liga form to the premiership and we can get a really domiant midfielder to supply our (really quite good) strikers then I think we would be on our way. I think in Keegans first time here he brought in defenders that were comfortable on the ball that could take it forward and pick out a pass. It's something we've not had at Newcastle for years and the constant stream of balls we've hoofed forward over the top is what Keegan should sort out. We have a midfield good enough to hold the ball and move forward, we just don't have a defence good enough to find them in space. Beye is a good start. I agree with the main gist of what you're saying (our back four missing out the midfield has been annoying me for some time) but I think you're over estimating the abilityof our midfielders. I know where you're coming from, but I think Keegan can work with what we have...and has shown it. Allardyce had our squad and fans believing the midfield/attack wasn't worth shit. There were only 7 games in the first 30 where we managed more than one goal. Once Keegan instilled a bit of belief there were 5 games in the last 8 where we did. I don't think it was a fluke.

Fair point. Keegan must think Owen = Shearer Martins = Bellamy Duff/Zoggy = Robert Guti = Solano and er Smith = Dyer

Twenty Seven years ago, Brian Eno and David Byrne made a record like no other: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Now, nearly 30 years later, they're about to release a follow-up. We've got a sneak preview. Listen here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=93434420

Looking at those opta stats I'm more certain that's the plan... http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Foo...gate-Coloccini/ Initially it looks like Beye has the worst passing record, but when you see that "Clearances" (or donkey punts) are judged differently, he comes into his own. He has a third of the "clearances" of Taylor (not a dig) and many more "passes", despite having played a lot less. His pass ratio is a bit lower, but that's because he's playing the ball out of defence far more than anyone else. Collocini's stats in this regard are as impressive as Beye's. A third more time on the pitch, only as many "clearances" and a third more "passes", but even more accuracy with them.

Well I think that by spending £10 on Colloccini we havn't exactly left the defence but for me the main reason we have been so poor at the back is to do with the lack of protection in front of them. If we had a midfield who could retain posession and keep the other team on the back foot we wouldn't put so much pressure on our own defenders. As it is we too often hand the initiative to the opposition. The reason why our defence was mocked in Keegans first time in charge was because they kept making mistakes which costs us goals in important games (such as the Liverpool 4-3 and Fenton's goal for Blackburn), but the statistics showed that our defence was one of the best in the league. The reason for that was we were able to go at teams (home and away) and keep them away from our defence. A strong attack can paper over the cracks in a poor defence and a great defence do the same for a weaker attack. Unfortunately for the last few years we have had a defense that was probably not as bad as it was made to look but not good enough to cover the fact that our attack wasn't up to much either. If Colloccini can transfer his La Liga form to the premiership and we can get a really domiant midfielder to supply our (really quite good) strikers then I think we would be on our way. I think in Keegans first time here he brought in defenders that were comfortable on the ball that could take it forward and pick out a pass. It's something we've not had at Newcastle for years and the constant stream of balls we've hoofed forward over the top is what Keegan should sort out. We have a midfield good enough to hold the ball and move forward, we just don't have a defence good enough to find them in space. Beye is a good start.

I don't think our problem was particularly about incapable midfielders/attackers keeping the ball, but incapable defenders and GK just hoofing it out (not to say Given Harper anren't good enough, hoofing it was the only option for them even when they had time on the ball ) and pressurising midfielders/attackers to control and lay off with the skill of Shearer.

The only team that conceded more than us last year was Derby. We scored more than top half teams like Man City and West Ham though. But lets leave the defence as it is and concentrate on improving our attack.

That is more or less how I see it. But at least the bodies are there. You could similarly say Taylor and Cacapa are shite and Faye is a crock so we only actually have 3 defenders. except that Taylor isn't shite and so far as we can see so far Faye isn't a crock He couldn't manage as many games as Owen last season, and only got one more than Viduka. So if they're the measure of what constitutes a crock, he is . Opinion is divided on Taylor. I think he's shite and the Opta stats someone posted said he was the worst at the club.