Baggio

To be fair, Emre was missing in most of the games at the end of last season as well IIRC. Exactly. Bring back Amady Faye!

Record without Parker since March, when he had his illness. P W D L 12 10 2 0

Posted on N-O

Martins!!!!

Huntington coming on for his debut.

Sibierski injured now.

Solano off injured, Rossi on with Milner to right back.

Parker doesn't deserve to be in the starting 11 on current form, making him captain instead of Given was a big mistake.

Inter played with a diamond shaped midfield so he never actually played left wing, more a left sided midfielder. Roeder needs his head looked at if he breaks up Emre and Butt in the middle.

Games played - sub appearances in brackets - goals Man City strikers... Samaras 9(5) 3 Corradi 12(4) 2 Vassell 7(4) 1 Dickov 7(7) 0 Super Sibierski 9(6) 6

A Happy Ending For The Magpies - And The Woodcock! THERE were plenty of talking points on an eventful evening at St. James' Park when Newcastle United defeated Reading 3-2 ... Not least what happened to the bird that crashed into the Gallowgate turf midway through the first half? Many in the crowd were temporarily distracted by the sight of the low-flying creature, later identified as a woodcock, as it circled around the players' heads in the early stages of the game. And when it dropped to the grass seemingly motionless, fans were quick to bring the matter to referee Rob Styles' attention, who promptly stopped play. A couple of aborted attempts at flying off failed, before the bird was given a helping hand by Obafemi Martins, as it was picked up and cradled by the striker before being taken off the pitch. Now nufc.co.uk can reveal that our feathered friend had recovered from its fright by the time it was later released in Leazes Park by a member of staff, and was last seen flying off into the bushes without any sign of distress - making it a happy ending for both the woodcock and the Magpies on the night!

His second goal was excellent, well worked by the team and a great finish. Not sure why it was disallowed...

A lot of money has gone on the Porto/Arsenal match on wednesday to be a draw, that result would see both teams qualify to the next stage of the competition.

Bramble's injury KODec 4 2006 By Alan Oliver, The Evening Chronicle Titus Bramble is out of Newcastle United's first Premiership match with Reading at St James' Park on Wednesday. The in-form central defender picked up a calf injury in Thursday's goalless UEFA Cup draw against Eintracht Frankfurt and has joined United's never-ending injury list. For with Kieron Dyer unlikely to figure on Wednesday night, Glenn Roeder will find himself without no fewer than NINE players against Steve Coppell's brave young side - Michael Owen, Shola Ameobi, Scott Parker, Damien Duff, Craig Moore, Steve Harper, Tim Krul and now Dyer and Bramble. But there was at least some much-needed good news for Roeder at the training ground today, with full-backs Stephen Carr and Celestine Babayaro expected to return against Reading after their respective toe and groin injuries. But the absence of Bramble against Reading's man-of-the-moment Kevin Doyle will be a big blow to United, after the 25-year-old central defender has put his early-season hesitancy behind him and turned in some truly barnstorming performances in recent games. Roeder told me today: "Titus got a kick on the calf in Germany on Thursday night and, while there was some stiffness on Friday, it did not seem as though there was going to be a problem. "After their exertions and efforts lately, I gave the first-team squad the weekend off and Titus went back home to Ipswich. "But overnight on Friday his calf blew up to twice its normal size and he did the sensible thing by coming straight back to Newcastle so that Derek Wright could have a look at it. "And by doing so we are hoping that it will prevent Titus from being sidelined for too long." So again Roeder finds himself virtually down to the bare bones against a Reading team who are all but taking the Premiership by storm. The gash on Dyer's leg the little midfielder picked up when he crashed into the hoardings in the win against Portsmouth is so bad that he is unlikely to be risked on Wednesday night. But at least Roeder will have Seppe Rossi available again, and the Italian Under-21 international will be involved in some way against the Royals.

Dyer unlikely to be risked either.

Roeder returns empty-handedDec 4 2006 By Alan Oliver, The Evening Chronicle Glenn Roeder had a fruitless trip when the Newcastle manager travelled to Holland yesterday to run the rule over a potential transfer target. Reports that Roeder took in the AZ Alkmaar game with Excelsior to watch home left-back Tim de Cler were not correct. But The Chronicle understands that Roeder feels that the player he did watch is no better than what he already has on his St James' Park playing staff. As revealed in The Chronicle on Saturday, Roeder paid to watch the game in Holland after taking in Saturday's North London derby between Arsenal and Spurs. It was also a weekend when United were again wrongly linked with a host of players, including Chelsea superstar Andrei Shevchenko. This prompted Roeder to say today: "Shevchenko is a wonderful player and a player any club would love to have. But I have not contacted Chelsea about him and I won't be contacting them. "I am afraid some of the transfer talk over the weekend is pure fantasy." United were also linked with Preston's David Nugent and Vincenzo Montella of Roma, but neither will be on Roeder's shopping list. One player Roeder has always admitted he admires is Charlton striker Darren Bent, but the United boss does not see any way he can attract him to St James' Park. He added: "I have been a fan of Darren Bent from the time I first saw him play for Ipswich, and in the summer we asked Charlton about him and were quoted £15m. "We have not been back to The Valley for several reasons one of them being that Charlton would not sell Bent to us because it would send a terrible message out to their supporters. "Certainly reports saying that we are offering James Milner and Stephen Carr in part-exchange for Bent are not correct, because both these players are very much in my plans. "And as far as our supporters are concerned, it is important that while they must know we are busy and still monitoring several situations no decision has been made on any player we will be trying to bring to St James' Park." Meanwhile, despite all the talk coming out of the Albert Luque camp, United say that they have not had any approaches for their Spanish international.

Would I be right in saying that it was Sir John Hall who was chairman when we appointed Dalglish?

Wright-Phillips is the first one that springs to mind, Kenyon has said he can leave at the right price. Did 00-Roeder have to go to the press with this, or have the rules of international espionage changed recently? Joe Cole I reckon.

What did it say?

Michael Owen - A bigger drain on the clubs finances than Shepherd and Hall, doesn't want to be here and only gave a shit about being fit for England last season. Scott Parker - The most overrated player we've had since Jenas, If a player who runs around like a headless chicken and jumps into tackles like a fucking madman floats your boat then fair enough.

This is where Leazes will tell you that SJH never wanted Keegan and it was actually Shepherd, Hall Jr and Fletcher who wanted him.

Given Solano Taylor Bramble Babayaro Dyer Butt Emre Duff Martins Owen

Why did he do it btw? It was completely unnecessary. Even if he didn't realise how much time he had, a normal volley would have been far easier to execute. He's struggling for form at the minute though. He must have had a rush of blood or something, there certainly wasn't any need to try the spectacular when we were hanging on for a point. He also had Martins just behind him on the edge of the box, knocking it into his path would have been the sensible thing to do.

It was N'Zogbia who attempted the overhead kick iirc.