TicTacWoe

Macheda is on now as well

Fat Sam is starting with Samba up front for Blackburn today they are a bit fucked with injuries mind you

I think its been the case for a long time that Shola storms it in training all the time, just a shame it means fuck all and he's shite on matchday! What i've never understood is why a succession of managers (apart from Keegan who wanted rid of him) seem to think being good at training is enough when they see the evidence of him being shite when it matters! Martins i can well imgaine being the same as he is during matches, one moment brilliant the next looks like he's never played football (or indeed any sport) in his life! If Shearer hadn't had the final knee injury to end his career and instead had just ended it intact, i think if he'd kept himself fit he'd probably be thinking of picking himself! After all Viduka is never fit, Shola is Shola so it would only be between Big Al and Carroll to partner Owen if he wanted a bigger striker rather than Martins up with him! Although Im not for a minute suggesting that Shearer should come out of retirement or anything but I genuinely believe he'd be more likely to score than Shola if he started against Stoke.

The thing with talksport is its generally ok if you don't take any of them (particularly Durham) at all seriously, most of the opinions they give out on air are not their real opinions, it's just debates that they work out before the show. H&J are the best as they don't take themselves seriously and actually give their real opinions on the occasions that they are being serious.

Its amazing how some people figure that if you have loads of money that nothing can ever go wrong in your life.

Vogels a different case from the likes of Geremi, his joined blackburn very unfit and after numerous serious injuries he was a spent force and no one really expected anything from him. Geremi, although a free transfer was still in his late 20s and still looked reasonably decent when he got a game at chelsea.

yeah as good as Barca have been, Bayern have been shockingly bad, got murdered by Wolfsberg in the league recently and dropped Lahm and the keeper.

maybe there should be a whole section on the forum for discussing attendances, surely it deserves it's own discussion area at this stage

Man U have a pretty decent buy back clause on Rossi too IIRC

Good Adebayor goal made it 1-1 for Arsenal who ran the show in the second half.

Good goal, what a dreadful signing he was though. I was only thinking earlier, about how much more Spurs have spent than Arsenal since Wenger took over. As a matter of fact the net spend of the big four over the last 5 years is Chelsea (154 million) Man U (85 million) Liverpool (82 million) and Arsenal is just 3.4 million! In fact, if you were to take the recent luxury signing of Arshavin out of the equation they'd be in profit by around ten million. Even we've spent less than Spurs over the last ten years...

And regarding asking Steve Harper about loyalty, this is what he said in early February "I was flattered Tottenham put an offer in for me and if the club had accepted that, it's unlikely I would be here now." Don't get me wrong, I like Harper, and he has been very loyal but very few players are as loyal as Shearer/Le Tissier and in those cases they were both locals.

Of course bad in regards this season, that to me does not taint the previous years of fantastic service he gave us. Questioning his loyalty is unfair, yes he took the opportunity to leave in the end when he felt enough was enough, but as I said Harper said he would have done the same, a man you seem to feel is the epitome of loyalty. Where are you from again ??? You are talking out your passport. What did I say that doesn't make sense to you?

Of course bad in regards this season, that to me does not taint the previous years of fantastic service he gave us. Questioning his loyalty is unfair, yes he took the opportunity to leave in the end when he felt enough was enough, but as I said Harper said he would have done the same, a man you seem to feel is the epitome of loyalty.

Is Shay here now toughing it out ? no, he's off with the Man City millionaire also-rans, that tells you everything you need to know, you want to talk about loyalty and honesty ? ask Steve Harper, go on, I dare you. Steve Harper said he would have left if Spurs bid for him had been accepted, he was/is no more loyal than Shay imo. Both are loyal players overall obviously as they spent the vast majority of their careers with us.

I don't mid this to some extent, I always found Shay to be too urgent personally, the problem which has already has been mentioned, is that after taking his time Harper still sends the ball to back to the opposition. Why in gods name don't they just roll it or overarm it to a defender? 9/10 the launch loses possession immediately. Good point but it would probably result in-Harper rolls it to Taylor, Taylor lumps it upfield, goal kick to Stoke.

I don't mid this to some extent, I always found Shay to be too urgent personally, the problem which has already has been mentioned, is that after taking his time Harper still sends the ball to back to the opposition.

Yes it is I understand the thrust of the argument and that the fans of Nottingham forrest and Leeds etc still go to the games and enjoy their day out but..... I will always rather be in the prem than out. Same here, while I agree there is a lot of sense in the article as in the PL isn't the be all and end all, it is only when a club is looking doomed the fans start saying this sort of thing and in any case I think most of us would prefer mid table obscurity to the Championship.

The fact that Jonas has four assists this season means nothing to me when I witness the complete drivel I see from that player each time I watch him. He seems to have gone downhill all season and I see no light at the end of the tunnel after Saturdays game. Mind you, I hope he comes good, because without some creativity we are doomed. Personally I would rather try something else. Meaning nothing to you and meaningless are two different things I'm not saying he's been great but it does dispel the no end prooduct myth a bit because it shows he's contributing something in those terms as well as his effort and ability to run at players etc. As for going downhill all season I think it's more of a case of not living up to the promise he showed v Man Utd in the first match. As someone else mention he seems to be getting stick for not working wonders when he's done alright (at least in relation to most of his colleagues). Bollocks! 4 assists, two agains villa iirc, does not dispel the no end product myth. Apart from running like a headless chicken he has been hopeless all season and was missing for 80 minutes against Chelsea. Quite probably the most overated player at Newcastle for some time. The problem is we have nothing else at all. Seriously look at the rest of our midfield and they provide nothing whatsover. Duff can't run, pass, cross, beat a man, tackle or anything. Butt can't pass five yards, Nolan looks at least a yard off the pace, Gutherie has the odd good spell but then completely dissapears, Barton is never available. How ever much Jonas may be disapointing after an excellent debut, he's still been better than all of our other midfielders. He's certainly not above criticism but he's the last one out of our midfield we need to get rid of. Not really, people like Butt are defensive so the whole midfield can not simply be lumped together. I can not accept the argument that we have to stick with a creative midfielder who does not create. It simply is not working and has not been working for some time. Something different needs to be tried whether it be a change of formation or personell. Alex, unless you had two many sherberts before the game, I honestly can not believe you thought he had a good game against Chelsea. He spent most of the game hiding and avoiding the ball. He had an alright (by his crap standards) last 15 minutes, but that was it. There are different options open. I would play S Taylor on the right wing. Didnt keegan have success with Cacappa out right towards the end of last season. FFS I would rather go down trying something different than doing the same non working option. My team against stoke would be. Harper Beye Bassong Colochini Enrique S Taylor Barton Guthrie Martins Owen Xisco FWIW Enrique would make a more dangerous winger than Jonocross. I'd be happy with Enrique being moved to left wing but then who do we play at left back? Ryan Taylor I suppose...It's a pity Kadar has been so injury prone since he signed, he could potentially have been decent cover for defensive positions.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try something different, I was all for giving Lua Lua a run before we sent him out on loan, I just genuinely don't think Steven Taylor is a better option than Jonas, I don't have a better suggestion for you, I'm just hoping that Shearer can get the midfield we have playing better than Hughton and Kinnear. In any case I'm pretty sure Shearer is not the sort to do something as extreme as putting a centre back on the wing. Considering he's only just taken over I doubt he'll do anything to extreme with the lineup just yet, he'll more likely try to get the best out of what we have.

You should be able to understand it as you've invented it. You said he had a good game against Chelsea......4 out of 10 was the mark in my paper. Even shearer called him "fucking useless" during the game I don't know anyone who even remotely worships Jonas. I think his work rate means people want him to do well more than others (ie Duff) who don't seem to be trying as much but in the end I think we all can see that Jonas isn't cut out for this league in the long term. That being said, we don't have many options and Steven Taylor as a right winger is certainly not one of the more viable ones.

He's probably more referring to the lack of player in the first team that have come through the youth team which is fair enough as we havn't had a good youth set up for far too long. That appears to have improved in recent years but only time will tell.

I know, and I was not happy with his signing or anything, just saying he'd be a better option than S Taylor. IMO The best midfield we could put out when all are fit is Lovenkrads, Guthrie, Barton, Jonas but even that is bloody woeful.

Ryan Taylor is a much better option, as he has at least played there before. We should not have let Lua Lua go out on loan imo, at this stage it would have been worth giving him a shot, for years we have been far too unwilling to risk youngsters and actually give them some game time. More importantly however, we should never have let Milner or N'Zogbia go, at least not this season in the case of the latter. I'd rather a hit and miss Milner and a sulking N'Zogbia than what we've got now but if we HAD to let these two go they should have been adequately replaced, which they were not...obviously. Nonetheless Jonas is still one of the best four midfielders at the club and therefore merits his starting place but this is just another depressing reminder of the state of the club.

Barton is my only hope for avoiding the drop. I simply cannot understand who else is going to create us any chances unless Shearer is brave and comes up with something else. I wish most fans on here could have had a camera watch on Jonas at the match. Most of the game he jogged up and down and seemed reluctant to get the ball or attempt to run up the wing to create space for a forward pass. With regard to his tackling he reminds me of one of those "soft kids" who charge at an opponent but then stop the tackle two feet away in case they get mud on them! He did improve overall in the last 20 minutes but still seemed keen to avoid the ball at times. He always kept going to take the throw ins as well, rather than leaving it for someone to throw to him! Duff was his usual shite self and the middle two are just uncreative. Surely there must be some players who can fill this four across the park that can at least create some chances for our strikers. Really think it is time to try something different, but whether Shearer will do it is doubtful. Although I do think the lack of creativity is more of a problem than the defensive problems. I find it hard to understand why no one has tried something different this season when the midfield has simply not been working at any point. Why not give the likes of Lua Lua a run in the first team? I've come to believe the likes of Duff, Nolan, Jonas etc are being played purely to somehow justify their signings and wages.