Promotion...

[Deano 0]

On this form we are looking good for automatic promotion averaging 2 points a game. And what is pleasing is we havnt really got out of 1st gear yet. The question is how many gears does this squad have though?

If we can play at the same sort of level we showed yesterday and learn to batter teams when on top then we will be fine...in THIS division....BUT...with a few more injuries or suspensions then i could see us easily slipping away if we are not careful. Yesterday has to be the benchmark now and we need to keep that standard as a minimum expected.

 

My worry is this though...

 

Say we win the league and get promoted...then what? How do we make sure we dont just fall back into the 2nd tier?

 

For me we would be in a better position financially with a much lower wage bill yes but in terms of PL standards as far as our squad is concerned we are woefully short. Our 1st team is nearly there but we seriously lack anything after that.

 

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

Krul, Kadar and Ranger are all showing signs of being decent players too but are yet to prove themselves in the PL.

 

And then theres coloccini who has been good for us in the CC and could maybe use this season to his advantage and be a PL player next season but imnot convinced...similar could be said about Gutierrez too.

 

Smith is one im really wanting to take his form into the PL though, he has been, along with Enrique our best player so far this season...i just hope that the CC isnt his level and that he just needed a good run and a bit of a confidence boost.

 

20...30mil would be needed to spend on improving this squad and i think its fair to say the FCB WONT be willing to invest that or even a fraction of that.

 

I just hope and pray that when we go up there is a few financially strong consortiums ready to step up and pay the fat cunt off.....I just cant wait for this fuckin nightmare to be over!

 

Anil Abarmi or whatever he's called.....are you watching?

Edited November 8, 2009 by Geordie Lad...

[Sima 0]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Sima

[TheMoog 0]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

I think I probably agree, though I think Guthrie could possibly develop in to a prem standard player.

[smoggeordie 0]

Harper is a good enough Premiership keeper.

[AgentAxeman 189]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

 

yeah but they had Roy Keane as manager who thought it was a wheeze to pay WELL over the odds for average players. I reckon if the fat one is still in charge he'll go down the Stoke route. ie. inexpensive.

 

who's out of contract at the end of the season btw??

[AgentAxeman 189]

Harper is a good enough Premiership keeper.

 

 

tbh, i think Krul might have the no.1 shirt by then. if he hasnt been sold of course!

[peasepud 59]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

This

[NJS 4418]

My fear is that Ashley, in the absence of a "fair" offer, will try and wing another season in the premier if we go up which will set us back years again.

 

I still think a "failure" this year which forces him to sell is better in the long term.

[peasepud 59]

My fear is that Ashley, in the absence of a "fair" offer, will try and wing another season in the premier if we go up which will set us back years again.

 

I still think a "failure" this year which forces him to sell is better in the long term.

 

Just sign up and he'll be gone by January

[Deano 0]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

Sima...

 

Harper, Guthrie, Nolan and Raylor have 100's of premiership starts between them mate.

 

I never said they were top quality PL players but head and shoulders better than the wank we see at teams like burnley, birmingham, wolves et al barring a few.

 

Simpson is young and will DEFINATLY develope into a PL player for sure IMO.

 

And tell me what you see in carroll that makes you sure he WONT be a PL player....other than his inability to look across the backline which is something he will develope with experience tbh.

[Chaser 1276]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

Sima...

 

Harper, Guthrie, Nolan and Raylor have 100's of premiership starts between them mate.

 

I never said they were top quality PL players but head and shoulders better than the wank we see at teams like burnley, birmingham, wolves et al barring a few.

 

Simpson is young and will DEFINATLY develope into a PL player for sure IMO.

 

And tell me what you see in carroll that makes you sure he WONT be a PL player....other than his inability to look across the backline which is something he will develope with experience tbh.

 

 

Simpson might do, but he isnt ours.

 

Will need a lot of new players if we are to survive again in the Premiership. I'm still not certain that we will gain automatic promotion. A lot of this depends on injuries where if we get a few over the winter, we will struggle.

[Ayatollah Hermione 14094]

Ryan Taylor is barely even Championship standard, man. A few decent goals aside this season, he's still been rubbish.

[Deano 0]

Harper, Enrique, Saylor, Simpson, Nolan, Guthrie, Raylor and Carroll are all PL standard imo and could get better.

 

What a load of shit.

 

Only Enrique and S Taylor are Premier League quality. Can you not remember how utterly awful these players were last season?

 

Sunderland spent over 80m when they came up and just survived. It would take a similar level of investment for us.

 

Sima...

 

Harper, Guthrie, Nolan and Raylor have 100's of premiership starts between them mate.

 

I never said they were top quality PL players but head and shoulders better than the wank we see at teams like burnley, birmingham, wolves et al barring a few.

 

Simpson is young and will DEFINATLY develope into a PL player for sure IMO.

 

And tell me what you see in carroll that makes you sure he WONT be a PL player....other than his inability to look across the backline which is something he will develope with experience tbh.

 

 

Simpson might do, but he isnt ours.

 

Will need a lot of new players if we are to survive again in the Premiership. I'm still not certain that we will gain automatic promotion. A lot of this depends on injuries where if we get a few over the winter, we will struggle.

 

Pretty much what i said already tbf.

 

I know Simpson is on load but i reckon we could if we had any sense sign him up permanently.

[Deano 0]

Ryan Taylor is barely even Championship standard, man. A few decent goals aside this season, he's still been rubbish.

 

I think the halcyon days of a gillespie or a ginola type winger in our team has gone for a while....Raylor is a completely different type of player.

 

He is a wide midfielder NOT a winger and cant beat his man so relies on technical abilty which at times has been pretty fuckin good, but on the flipside also has been fuckin awful...consistency is his issue but for ability he definatly is PL standard.

[1892 0]

I don't think Simpson is PL quality tbh, maybe a 'squad player' but definately not a first teamer if we were to go up.

 

The same for Raylor, and a few others in our squad atm too.

[Holden McGroin 6802]

Carroll is coming along quite nicely. He is definitely a handful and i'd keep a hold of him if we make it back to the PL. He seems to be very highly rated outside of Newcastle as well.

[acrossthepond 878]

I think Nolan is still a PL player although he hardly showed it last year. This year he seems to want it more, and although he's obviously benefiting from the gulf in quality, if he keeps up the kind of desire he was known for in his first half-decade at Bolton he'll be a fine player for us in the Premier League.

[LeazesMag 0]

I think Nolan is still a PL player although he hardly showed it last year. This year he seems to want it more, and although he's obviously benefiting from the gulf in quality, if he keeps up the kind of desire he was known for in his first half-decade at Bolton he'll be a fine player for us in the Premier League.

 

 

Desire is everything in football. I thought Nolan was a good player with Bolton, but since he signed for us and have seen him more regularly, I don't think he has the legs to be the player I thought he was. He is one of a number of players we have that are not top premiership players but too good for this league.

 

This "desire" is particularly evident with the performances of Harewood. Too often he shows he has no application and desire to succeed. He's a big strong lad, but doesn't seem to want it enough. Carrol has limited ability but has desire so we get better preformances.

 

Guitierriez is a player who is vital to us. If he had stayed on the pitch yesterday we could have rattled up a cricket score. His pace and dribbling ability transforms our game. Forget the goons who spout statistical nonsene about him and lack of goals and percentage of good crosses etc. The point is that he is important because he occupies opposition defenders, we have about 6 midfield players on the books, every single one of them plays too deep, nobody gets forward and supports the strikers quickly, nobody has any pace. The front players too, have no pace - apart from the limited Lovendrands. Someone said to me yesterday that Carrol was dropping deep. I think that he is being forced to do this because of lack of support from midfield ie he is having to come and look for the ball due to nobody supporting him quickly when the ball is played up.

 

We are looking good for a quick return to the premiership, but i don't have any doubt that if it happens we will struggle next year while Ashley runs the club "like a business" instead of investing these despicable "trophy players", which will lead to a struggle and possibly nothing more than another releagation fight for Newcastle United who would command the 3rd biggest support in the country which is an absolute disgrace.

[Nyff 0]

I think Jonas could be a PL player with a bit of luck. With a year of PL and CCC experience behind him he should, hopefully, become a bit of a better rounded player, much in the style that Enrique has come on leaps and bounds since his first season. Yes, it is probably asking a little too much, and I wouldn't bet on it, but the unexpected often happens at this club!

[LeazesMag 0]

I think Jonas could be a PL player with a bit of luck. With a year of PL and CCC experience behind him he should, hopefully, become a bit of a better rounded player, much in the style that Enrique has come on leaps and bounds since his first season. Yes, it is probably asking a little too much, and I wouldn't bet on it, but the unexpected often happens at this club!

 

 

I think that Enrique is possibly now the best player at the club. I always rated him. Along with Taylor, Guittierez, Barton when fit again, Harper, Smith in the holding position, and Nile Ranger, we have players who are among the best players in their positions in this league.

 

If we had kept Bassong, Beye and replaced Owen, Viduka and Martins with just 2 hafl decent strikers who would be fit and play games, we would be promoted by Xmas. Such is the quality of this league.

Edited November 9, 2009 by LeazesMag

[OTF 7583]

Barton is a long way off the best player in any position. He has been an unmitigated disaster for us, of the Luque magnitude. Has been crap just about every single time that has played for us. I know he hasn't had a decent run in the side due to injury but that hardly works in his favour. He was once a very good midfielder, but hasn't been that for a long time.

 

Otherwise I think Taylor is one of the better defenders in the League as is Coloccini. Enrique is the best player at the club, as he is a relatively complete package for a fullback in terms of physical attributes and ability. Nolan would be one of the best in the league in a behind the strikers role, with his impressive goal tally proving that.

 

I agree 100% with LeazesMag about Gutierrez. He cops an unfair amount of criticism on here, as people fail to see where his true values lie. He certainly could improve his application and many other aspects of his game, but the key is that he offers a dimension that we're otherwise lacking. Noone else in the side can beat opposing players on the dribble, where-as Jonas does it over and over again.

 

Next year in the premiership Harper, S Taylor, Coloccini, Enrique, Simpson*, Smith, Nolan, Jonas, Guthrie, Ameobi and R Taylor are all players that will do ok and have a fair bit of experience playing at the top level. Barton should be on that list, but that will remain to be seen after he returns from yet another injury. On top of that lot Carroll is developing nicely as is Ranger, and it appears as though Kadar will provide handy cover in defense. Lovenkrands has been disappointing this time around, although he has not had a great deal of chances. Krul looks to be an excellent option as backup for Harper and should not be far off eclipsing him. Vuckic has showed a great deal of promise, and although very young he could prove to be handy in the close of this season into next season. Whatever way you look at it that's a solid core of players that any team coming up from the Championship would be more than happy to start with. It's then all about the extra players that are bought on top of that group in order to raise the level of play to one where we're competing and can realistically finish mid-table. A first rate striker and a first rate winger should be the first players to be bought. In addition further defensive cover would be needed. It shouldn't be that hard a task - however with Ashley in charge what should be a simple task becomes a shitfight.

 

* - Not our player

 

And lets not forget lads, we still have Xisco out on loan! Incidently he's injured yet again!