If Newcastle fans think the lackluster performances of previous years were over - now that Sam Allardyce has arrived at the club – think again.
Newcastle gave a very poor performance against bottom of the league side Derby County tonight at Pride park and surprising though this may be to Newcastle fans – Derby deserved to beat an insipid Newcastle team.
This was Newcastle’s first loss of the season and they are now in 10th place.
Sam Allardyce - cannot be happy with this very poor performance from Newcastle
First into tackle from the first minute the Derby players gave all they had – and the Newcastle players didn’t. That about sums up the game but this will come as a massive disappointment to Newcastle fans, who were thinking this was a new dawn for the club. Any more performances like this and Newcastle will again fail to qualify for Europe this season.
While Derby just don’t have much skill in their team - like most promoted Championship teams - they make up for it with spirit, guts and courage and that was enough to take all 3 points against a half-awake Newcastle side. While it is a massive disappointment to Newcastle, it was a great win for Derby County and success for Scottish manager Billy Davies - who seemed to get nearly as much exercise on the sidelines as his players did on the pitch 
Newcastle had only one change as Ameobia replaced the still injured Viduka and new signings Faye and Beye were both substitutes. Harper was again preferred in goal.
Teams:
Derby County: Stephen Bywater, Tyrone Mears, Dean Leacock, Claude Davis, Andy Griffin, Gary Teale, Stephen Pearson, Eddie Lewis, Kenny Miller, Steve Howard, Matt Oakley
Subs: Jay McEveley, David Jones, Robert Earnshaw, Andy Todd, Benny Feilhaber
Newcastle: Steve Harper, Steven Taylor, Cacapa, David Rozehnal, Charles N’Zogbia, Alan Smith, Nicky Butt, Geremi, James MIlner, Shola Ameobi, Michael Owen
Subs: Habib Beye, Abdoulaye Faye, Oba Martins, Matty Pattison, Shay Given
Referee: Peter Walton
Newcastle started off rather lazily in the first half and the game was very start stop. It was obvious that Derby were going to give their all in this game - and were starting to win the 50-50 balls, which was an early bad sign for Newcastle.
However, after only 18 minutes Newcastle should have been ahead when a Milner run picked out Owen on the left and he was able to get the ball across the penalty area for Rozehnal only to hit it wide in front of an open goal. It looked harder to miss than score and Newcastle should have been a goal up.
In the early exchanges Eddie Lewis on the left wing was giving Steven Taylor some trouble with his speed. A few times Derby County got through on the Newcastle defense who were backing off too much. After 27 minutes Miller was allowed to progress too far into the penalty area and should have done better as his shot was blocked.
Then after 39 minutes Derby get a sloppy goal. Newcastle had a corner but the ball went out of play for a Derby goal-kick. Goalkeeper Bywater sent a long ball immediately into the Newcastle half and from 30 yards out, with no challenge from either of Newcastle’s center-backs, Kenny Miller, on his debut for derby hit a wonderful shot into the top corner over Harper’s head. It was so quick the Setanta cameras actually missed the goal in real time. A good goal for Derby but a poor one to concede for Newcastle.
Questions will have to be asked of Cacapa, Rozehnal and Harper and it looked a surprising and rather poor goal for Newcastle to give up. That’s not the first time we have been caught asleep at the back from a quick counter-attack as the Bolton goal we conceded was somewhat similar in our first game of the season.
One thing that was surprising is the defense did not look as comfortable or as sharp as it’s looked in previous games with Cacapa and Rozehnal looking hesitant at times. Derby Strikers Howard and Miller were proving to be a handful for them.
In the second half Derby were there to hold onto their lead and questions were being asked of Newcastle but the Magpies couldn’t get going and it just didn’t look their night. Sam Allardyce didn’t wait too long into the half before bringing on Oba Martins for Michael Owen after 55 minutes and then he brought on Abdoulaye Faye for Geremi for Faye’s debut after 59 minutes.
Allardyce had no choice but to try to change the game but Derby still looked the more dangerous side even in the second half catching Newcastle short at the back on a number of occasions. Habib Beye made his debut for Newcastle on 75 minutes as Steven Taylor made way in a straight swap at right back.
A couple of times in the second half Howard, who played really well for Derby, headed just wide, once following a breakaway when his diving header just flashed past the upright after 82 minutes.
To be fair to Derby they gave everything they had and deserved the points. This was guts and glory stuff for Derby. For Newcastle it will lower the expectations of Newcastle’s fans. It was a lethargic performance from the team and we don’t want to see too many more of these performances.
Milner and N’Zogbia were probably the pick of the Newcastle players and Smith as usual managed to pick up a 4th yellow card on the season with another one of his late and reckless tackles. One more and he’ll be suspended for a game.
Newcastle lacked creativity as the commentators pointed out time and again that we had run out of ideas. We need to free N’Zogbia up to play on the left wing. Even at left back he was an attacking thrust for Newcastle in this game. But his attacking flair is wasted when we have him at left-back. Ameobi had a poor game and we lost count of the number of times the ball bounced off him for his first touch – that is a big weakness he must put right if he has a future at this level. On this performance Ameobi may be on borrowed time at the club.
We need to get Emre and Barton back into the team quickly. Emre looks the best chance since Joey still needs 3-4 weeks to get fully fit. But it does look like Sam needs more creativity in this side – Deco in January would be a good move.
We’ll have our reflections on the game tomorrow morning - after a good night’s sleep - comments very welcome.
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105 responses so far ↓
1 stjames // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:40
I said it before and I’ll say it again. I realy miss the passing of the ball. We either make long passes or run with the ball. Admittedly Derby made passing difficult but that hasn’t been the case before. Look at how Man City moves the ball, short, accurate with great confidence. That’s beautiful and effective football.
2 Cockney Magpie // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:44
i cant belive wat i just watched i admit i thought these days were over but apparentlly not
3 Ian G // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:47
“keeps us in 9th” - well look again, we’ve dropped a place.
4 Darren // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:47
It sometimes happens - a team that on paper should walk it blows it. Unfortunately football is played on grass not paper. BSA has changed a lot of things in a short period of time, the odd mess up will happen, just forget about this one and start again.
Pointless going into tonights shortcomings, there were too many.
@ Rich - feel free to apologise RE the Harper/Given situation, I told you as it was but you acted the knob as usual (and yes I thought Harper was totally caught out for the goal, his positioning was way off, given is the better keeper in my books).
5 roscoe // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:48
very very very disappointing!
Heads up guys!!!
Bounce back at home!
6 Toon Army // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:48
Tonights performance was awful. BS got the tactics all wrong. Taylor playing on the right when we have beye? Why on earth was ameobi playing ahead of martins? ameobi is just not good enough for the premiership.
Its the same old newcastle and the same old trend. I miss shearer
7 Ed Harrison // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:49
We hope that’s the last to,e we see a performance like that. Sam should give the other players a shot - like Enrique, Beye and even Taylor back in central defense. The only way to get over this is to beat West Ham on Saturday. But Sam cannot be pleased with this performance. Just whene things looked to be going great - this happens
8 Ed Harrison // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:51
As we said - no Premiership game is easy for any team. Tonight proved that once again - you cannot take anything for granted.
9 valle // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:52
This was a nightmare, and one i have seen before. I must admit that i thought i would never see it again, but only Cacapa seemed to play well. I will single out Taylor, Ameobi and N’Zogbia for being able to seem AWFUL in a team full of players that played awful… that is some archievment, tho not in a good way. Taylor, by this showing is not backing his case for more money and Ameobi didnt make a single good move/pass/shot in the ENTIRE game…. Dreadfull, thats all there is to say
10 Graeme // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:52
If it wasnt for the fact there was a new manager on the bench and a completely rebuilt team, it was like watching the same rubbish from Souness and Roeder. Our “performance” was poor, tactics none, all the blood and thunder came from Derby.
If BSA thinks this is how to win matches and impress the fans, he’s in for one hell of a shock!!! We were quite simply garbage. Derby fully deserved their win, they were the only team who wanted it. Shambolic!!!!
11 valle // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:53
Ed… How can u justify putting Taylor back in central defense on this showing and who would u take out?
12 Toon Army // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:53
We can forget about top six, its not good enough. any news on michael owen? sky say hes had an injury? any news on that? We should of got rid of ameobi to preston and keep carrol.
13 Toon Army // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:55
Tonights game just goes to show that as good as steven taylor is, he is not world class and he deserves a 15,000 contract.
14 valle // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:57
Darren… Agree about Harper, he didnt even move his hands to try and save it, im pretty sure he saw it as going over and Given is by far the better keeper, tho i still rate Harper as backup ofc.
15 steve // Sep 17, 2007 at 22:59
another season of rubbish awaits - that was woeful
16 Darren // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:04
For F*** SAKE - yes we lost, yes we played atrocious, it was an abortion of a match. IT HAPPENS NOW AND THEN!
If it happens two/three games in a row then yes get your knickers in a twist, but just forget this one.
If Rozenhal had knocked in that open goal then things would probably have been different, as it is we got beat fair and square. Such is life, we are Newcastle fans, if a defeat shocks you then you are a johnny come lately, nothing about NUFC should shock any fan. We love ‘em, but they are like a woman, unpredictable and guaranteed to cause you grief.
17 PK-Norway // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:05
1.Sell Ameobi PLZ
2.Play both Martins and Owen the score lot of goals
3.Butt on the bench!!!!
4.Given in
5.One creative midfielder????
6.Zogiba as left wing Milner as right!
7.Beye,Rozie,Cacapa,Enrique as back 4!
This was a mach we should win if we gonna be top 6!
18 Greg B // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:06
So disapointing, the starting line up didnt inspire me with confidence from the off to be quite honest. I felt, even though Harper has been great while Given has been out that Allardyce may have given the nod to Shay. Harper is a great ‘keeper and has not put a foot wrong this season but Given seems to not only inspire confidence but is a better organiser of the back four, has better distribution and is a touch more agile than Harper. All in all there is not alot between them so it was a tough call for Sam.
The defence looked OK however I cant understand why we spent over 6 million on a left back and yet we still play N’Zogbia there. His talents are wasted at left back and by playing him there it meant that Milner was played on the left giving us very little on the right.
Taylor is a good right back but lacks the pace and trickery of Milner when getting forward. We were found out tonight that we are very poor at delivering the ball into the strikers without the likes of Solano. In a basic 4-4-2 Taylor is a very good option as right back but with the style we are playing we need much better quality getting down the right wing and getting the all important crosses in for the strikers, hence Milner should have played on the right and N’Zogbia on the left.
Both Butt and Germemi were poor tonight, second to the ball and Geremi’s distribution from set pieces and throw ins was very sub standard for him.
As for Ameobi, once again he was poor, very poor and how he lasted the full 90 mins was baffling. I think I would rather Allardyce give Smith a run out up front with Owen for the second half. I can understand Sam taking Owen off but the timing seemed a little strange, I think he should have given him at least another 15mins.
Also we missed Owen for the last 20 mins or so when Allardyce pushed 3 up top. Would have prefered to see Martins, Owen and Milner/ Smith up there. I dont dislike the guy but Ameobi’s performance just wasnt good enough, he neither held the ball up or distributed it with any effect or conviction.
Smith seemed a little lost in midfield but with Butt and Geremi being so inefective that can be understood.
IMO I think we need to get Given back in goal, Taylor back at center back with either Rozehnal or Cacapa with Beye and Enrique full backs. Midfield needs to be a solid 2 center and 2 wingers, preferably Geremi and Smith in the middle with N’Zogbia left and Milner right with Owen and Viduka up top.
Id actually put Martins up front with Owen rather than Ameobi, also once Barton returns it may be worth trying Smith up front.
Like I said, very disapointing result and the sooner our next game comes the better, get this humiliating defeat out of the system.
19 Greg B // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:07
As I was typing that essay PK summed it all up for me
20 Darren // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:11
Greg B - Owen pulled his groin, that is why BSA took him off (well at least that is what he said after the game).
Totally agree with you on Ameobi though, he was a waste of space. Wish BSA would try Martins & Owen together, we will lose one of them soon, at least give it a try.
21 Greg B // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:14
Darren - thats fair enough then, if Owen was injured then fair enough take him off. Just so disapointing to concede the goal after we should have had a pen, now that was a stone wall penalty in anyones book.
22 PK-Norway // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:15
Tonigh i will be thinking about WHY AMEOBI got 90 min on the pitch with BUTT!!!Smith is far better than Butt in that position to be honest!And we needlot of lot of creativity…Big Sam..Both Geremi and Butt are Defensive midfielder..what about one who can create chances…pass that brilliant pass that can be so important in games like this.!!!!!
23 ToonKing // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:15
I’ve got nothing to say.
What year are we in ?? is it 2006 ?? maybe 2005 ?? 2004 ??
Absolutely horror.
A team can play bad.
A team can play really bad.
A team can play terrible.
A team can play like Newcastle today and it doesn’t get worse than that.
24 PK-Norway // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:15
BAaaaaaaaaahhhhhh i caaaant sleeeeep’!
25 ToonKing // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:17
I was always on Butts back (
) since he joined an never liked him, but i always backed Ameobi………………….but i won’t make that mistake again.
Butt and Shola must go and go fast or become masseurs or stadium managers or mascots. Shola was a pretty good mascot today.
26 Greg B // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:18
Also Allardyce seems to be obsessed with this big man/ little man combination. I personally dont see Ameobi as the ‘big man’, yes physically he is big but he neither puts himself about like a big man nor has the skill and vision to create anything for the ’small man’. Just my opinion and like I say I have nothing personal against Shola but he is going to have to work bloody hard if he is to still be here come January.
27 Loisss // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:20
Ed, your optimism of the past weeks is gone after one defeat? Look guys, it was poor tonight, but no reason to panic. I don’t know what’s the point of talking about replacing Rozenhal or Cacapa… There are two things to do : put Enrique in to let N’Zogbia go in midfield (on that, you’re right, Ed, it is a waste of talent right now to put him in defense). And obviously had creativity in the middle of the park. Unfortunately, the two solutions for this are Emre, who wants to leave, and Barton, who is still injured. That will be a place that will need strenghtening eventually. Duff is creative, but he really is a winger. Apart from that, I hope the doubters will begin to realize the importance of Viduka. On that note, let’s see what Sam does… (I think we will see Given next game)… Oh, today does not change the fact that BSA has done brilliantly this summer…
28 t-g-w // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:27
To Darren and Loiss… Thank God some other people on here have realised thsi 1 defeat is not the end of the world. You need to look at the bigger picture. We’ve not been relegated and there are still about 32/33 matches left! Calm down!
29 t-g-w // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:28
@ Darren and Loiss…
Thank God some other people on here have realised thsi 1 defeat is not the end of the world. You need to look at the bigger picture. We’ve not been relegated and there are still about 32/33 matches left! Calm down!
30 Darren // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:30
Like I said earlier - if this goes on for a few matches then fair enough, start getting worried, hopefully it is just a case of us being over confident and getting our arses kicked back into gear.
We know we aren’t gonna win the league, we know (deep down) it is asking a lot to get into the top four. To get top six we can afford maybe ten defeats, that is one down, just gotta buckle down now and get another mini run going.
must admit our lack of midfield creativity is scary (and Alan Smith is no midfielder BTW)
31 Sinead // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:32
I don’t what should really happen is Given should come back in Martins should start, in fairness he needs to change it up a bit..a lot.
It was a good goal, what annoys me though is that Harper didn’t even try, Given would have been in mid flight had he been there, he mightn’t of kept it out but I’ve seen him do some pretty amazing things that would be thought humanly imposible. He should deffinatly come back in for the next game.
But what he should do and what he will do are completley different things, his pride will get in the way, he wont admit he was wrong.
32 Graeme // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:41
So just what is the big picture?? I thought that was trying to gain qualification for Europe. Playing like we are so far this season, we are destined for mid-table mediocraty. We played well against Villa and dropped 2 points, we didnt play well against the smoggies and dropped 2 points. We scraped a win against Wigan and lost tonight, far to easily.
With all due respect, if we have any expectation of qualifying for Europe, every one of those teams, with the exception of Villa, who played us to a standstill, should have been beaten. This is the Premiership - there is no time to wait for improvement, its dog eat dog and we played like pussycats.
33 Loisss // Sep 17, 2007 at 23:42
The problem was Newcatle’s away kit
34 Darren // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:01
New team, new manager, new backroom srtaf, new boardroom.
Rome was not built in a day.
35 nightfall // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:06
hm…no comment…
36 dee // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:13
OBA get out of this team plzzzzzzzzz
37 dee // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:15
oba its time u move on,BSA is not a coach hes a suit model,has he got any achievement than chewing gum on fans seat while his mate is busy co ordinating? this guys a quack ,hes beter with bungs
38 DocT // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:19
I am from the US and this is my first season rooting for Newcastle or really as a soccer fan at all. I had been feeling a little guilty for missing all the years of suffering and just picking up the team this year…not anymore. The frustration I felt today watching the game must be some sort of rite of passage to be a Newcastle fan. Oh well, still not a half bad start to the season overall.
39 adam // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:22
joke. the international break is not an excuse. man utd, arsenal, chelsea and liverpool didnt lose. we need oba to be playing more. dont think big sam likes him which is a joke, hes our best striker. f*&kn derby muppets!!!
40 Edd Case // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:30
Just got back from the match…
Dreadfull.
Before some people on here slate me for venting my rightful anger, what I say needs to be said, off day or not.
Firstly, from where I was standing, Harper could/should have got the shot which flew past him. Shay back for the Hammers please.
Steven Taylor’s game was riddled with mistakes, £30k a week - not a chance on that performance. Beye in for the Hammers, definitely.
Rozenhal and Cacapa looked reasonable but were cut to ribbons on two occassions with Derby strikers astonishingly missing two great chances.
Charlie N’Zogbia put the wrong boots on. He slipped his way into one mistake after another and his set pieces and crosses were appauling, utterly, utterly appauling.
The midfield of Smith, Geremi and Butt does not work.
All three are defensive minded and have no idea how to play football.
Smith was lucky to stay on the pitch.
Geremi, OUR CAPTAIN??!!! was rightly taken off after another woeful game in which basic 5 yard passes were beyond him - and his ability to take any form of decent freekick or corner has vanished completely too.
Butt was equally poor and gave the ball away frequently.
Milner runs alot, we know that…but today, that’s all he did.
Owen? Vanished mysteriously after 53 minutes, straight down the tunnel. I can’t even recall Owen taking part in the game, other than to round the keeper early, but this is not his fault, we all know what Owen can do with service.
Ameobi…….he is shockingly poor.
I know, I know, everyone slates him but I don’t honestly think I have ever seen a striker of his size, or any striker for that matter, so much in the defenders pocket for the whole game - it was thoroughly embarrassing.
Shola has to be 4th choice striker, at the best, he is so, so poor. I cannot recall a single time he was able to control the ball…Carlton Palmer springs to mind.
If BS insists on playing this 433 system, why not play Owen, Martins and Viduka?
Midfield or N’Zogbia, Milner and Geremi (only because he has to now he’s been made captain, personally, I’d drop him and play Barton, when he’s fit).
Given
Beye, Rozenhal, Cacapa, Enrique
Milner, Emre, Barton, N’Zogbia
Owen, Martins
That’s my choice of team 442 every time.
Someone above said something like ‘why are you all getting so wound up? it’s only one game, blah blah’
It is, you’re right, only one game - but we played like this against Villa and were very poor against Boro too, so that’s three games….
The worst thing about tonight though, was seeing Newcastle fans trying to fight each other after the final whistle.
Doesn’t matter what it was about lads, to see our own trying to scrap with each other was shamefull. Don’t want to see that again.
Easiest way to stop that happening again is this…
‘Play attractive football and win matches’.
Something we are failing to do spectacularly currently.
41 Ed Harrison // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:35
Edd - I saw it on TV - and what you say is accurate - Harper was surprised by the goal - the number of times the ball bounced off Ameobi was embarrassing. Maybe Smith up front if Viduka not fit for Saturday. Cacapa and Rozehnhal were OK but not at their best. We need N’Zogbia up front - bring in Enrique or play Taylor at LB to free Charles up.
I see Sam tonight admits it wasn’t good enough - but when you think Harper really didn’t have to make a decent save all night. Sam will be surprised as the negative reaction to this performance - it’s just not good enough.
42 valle // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:42
Edd Case… The ppl here who might slate u for stating ur crititism are taking a high horse standing and should not be taking seriously. U as a fan has all the rights in the world to make ur points, even more so when the problem is will rather than skill. As do all fans in here, so climb down from ur horses ppl and vent ur opinions on the match instead of all the preaching!… Yes its still early, yes we dont need to write of the season with gloom, but that sure as #¤%& dosnt mean that ppl cant be angry about what was presented to them in this exact match!!!
43 mac // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:45
Shola,nice lad but just not good enough. Our midfield lacked inventivness we just had no creativity. A very poor preformandce and on what i’ve seen tonight we haven’t moved on at all
44 Edd Case // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:46
Ed - it was so embarrassing.
It really was the worst game of football I’ve seen in years.
I’ve been a Toon fan all my life, 30 years now of supporting this wretched club and that has to be up there with the worst displays.
If Shola Ameobi needed any clues as to why Newcastle fans berate him so much, he needed only get this match on a DVD.
It was painfull.
I’d have Smith up front, without doubt. Perhaps even ahead of Viduka at times.
One thing is for sure, Oba Martins HAS to start.
Martins and Owen up front would work - but they’d have to have quality service and we will not get that from Smith, Butt or Geremi.
We are desperately in need of creativity, I’ve said it for months now.
Hopefully, Emre will be back soon and Barton will be great at bursting forward.
Zoggy needs to be in midfield, where he does the most damage.
I think this year we will concede less, it’s the other bloody end that we have the problems, which, although makes a change, is equally worrying.
Next up, Bowyer, Solano and Bellamy - christ, I can barely bring myself to think about how bad that could go……
45 Edd Case // Sep 18, 2007 at 0:47
Valle, exactly.
46 subz // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:30
hello, this is my first comment on this site, avid reader though.
I would like to start off by saying YES, it is early days, BUT, I for one thought these abortions of displays were a thing of the past. Getting beaten is part of football, and you take it and move on. When your players lie down and get F**ked again and again, it is completely unacceptable! Yes we have new players who need time, but christ on a bike, if any game is one to blood them it should of been this one, what could happen(OH YEAH IT DID, only by playing some old boy’s from down the legion could have been worse). Have I given BS too much credit, I hope not. Amoeba should never be in the squad again. Martins must start, he is the only player we have, who can turn a game on his own with something outrageous. GIVEN is IMO the best shot stopper in the land???????????? is he still not fit. I’m now dreading sunday as quite a few players can come back and bite us in the arse.
47 SelangorFC // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:33
I am from Malaysia, wake up at 3 just to see this kind of perfomance….
The journey is still far but this is not what we should start off…
I am still looking for the Newcastle team that play first half vs Bolton..where have they been?
48 Darren // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:44
Bellamy is out if that is any consolation…
49 Darren // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:47
Martins was as poor as anyone when he came on so not sure about him being a definite starter, yes he is better than Ameobi but sometimes the best 11 players do not make the best team, if that was the case Ashley would be picking the team himself. And if that is the one of the worst performances you’ve seen in 30 years Edd Case, you must have spent a few seasons with your eyes shut.
50 azza jones // Sep 18, 2007 at 1:58
Watched the game on tv….I wanted to SMASH my TV set….What a performance. I believe BSA has done wonders in the transfer window but the tactics are all wrong…..I agree the team now has some fight but gritty one nil performance with a scrappy goal in the box is just not Newcastle….
Newcastle thought they would just show up and collect three points. I hate this long ball geremi running from one side of the pitch to the other to take long throws while the other team get ready, rubbish! quick throws and keep the pressure on!
I like Alan smith but he is not a midfielder let alone a wide midfielder I dont think he had one cross all game, that was about as one sided as it gets everything down the left….
I would have taken off smith and put in beye and switched taylor to left back and pushed zog up and milner to the right….Or even put smith up front.
That was about as frustrating as it gets and to think I bet my mate who is arsenal supporter that we would win at the emeraites….God help us….
51 azza jones // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:02
Oh and how could I forget ameobi……..We should have let him go to middlesborough for 2-3 million would have been great business. I lost count of the number of bad touches, offsides, silly fouls, and missed chances. If he cant show up against derby than what good is he. GET RID of him. Cant wait till barton & emre come back into the squad.
I hope we haven’t turned into Bolton by then!!!!!!
52 perry // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:10
Why have this happened to us? We lose to the most underachieving team in the league. All Newcastle fans must be frustrated like me. Are our club have been cursed?
53 Glenn Roeder // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:15
I could do that.
54 lee // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:42
Like I said before the game, we should have played 4-3-3… we had no control in midfield at all, very little chances created for Owen. The back 4 played well except for the defensive lapse of Harper… next game we should bring back Given.
55 Rocky // Sep 18, 2007 at 2:45
I just got back from the match. Can’t believe i paid to watch this rubbish. I was hoping against hope that we didn’t underestimate Derby, but we went ahead and did exactly that!
Even though we were unbeaten so far this season, apart from the Bolton game, our performances have been poor. We still have to play the top four and should be beating teams like wigan, derby and Boro if we even want to dream about Europe.
To be fair, what Sam inherited was a shambolic side and it will take time, but even with the players at his disposal we should be doing a lot better. We definately need more creativity in midfield and more service to our strikers. Owen and Martins will terrorise any defence if they get the right service, I felt sorry for both of them tonite.
If Rozenhal had buried that chance in the 1st half, it might have been a different story, however, we could have lost 3 or 4 - 0. Derby missed some sitters too. I only hope this is the worst it can get and this serves as a wake up call.
I hope we will see better performances when Duff, Barton and Emre come back.
56 w2 // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:08
Everyone can talk about how useless ameobi was how geremi isn’t a midfield player pathetic but Milner is never going to be England no.1 rw or lw he’s almost as useless as ameobi,even on his day he can’t even cross the bloody ball properly. Pathetic performance all round. I guess the prozone stats making everybody run for full 90 mins but they’re all stupid runs!
57 w2 // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:09
do u actually think Geremi will ever inspire a team? Bull shit choice
58 Len // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:14
We were tired because of international duty is frankly pathetic. I reckon only two of the team actually played in iternationals. Rozehnal and Owen. We had plenty of cover for both. Most didnt even travel. Ameobi is clueless. Emre cant cut it in the EPL other players just brush him aside. Sam got the selection wrong. Team did not take the match seriously. No need to panic, only 1 game? Personally, I expect the team to play every match, not just the ones where they can be arsed. If our players, or the supporters, think its OK to take a week off then we do have a reason to panic. If ManU played like that Lord Ferg would go ballistic. Which is one reason why they win stuff and we dont.
59 Die hard toon // Sep 18, 2007 at 3:20
Rozenhal and Cacapa were ok faye look lazy when he came on Harper will be on the bench for the next match nufc look so sorry tonight Martins need to be starting ameobi was a wasteful
60 Ryan // Sep 18, 2007 at 4:25
Ameobi sucked.
I was really looking forward to the game and woke up at 3am local time to catch the match. I can safely say that Ameobi spoiled the game for me.
The rest of the players, esp our midfield did not play their game.
We need more goalscoring midfielders in the ilk of Scholes/Lampard.
61 Magjp // Sep 18, 2007 at 4:31
I had to wake up 4am here in Japan to watch this?!!! Why is BS afraid to change things when tacticts dont work?
I had thought with Faye coming in he should have played on the Left back and free Nzogbia into a midfield position.
Why not play Martins and Owen in the same team, it worked against Wigan….
The goal was poor, however it doesnt take away the fact that we didnt create anything upfront. I have said this before, I will say it again, Butt and Geremi and Smith they all defend in the midfield!!! I would play Martins in the attacking midfield area and push Smith and upfront!!
I wonder if most of you guys still think we are a top 6 material…
62 apan // Sep 18, 2007 at 5:58
for me the mistakes is probably geremi because he should hv won the header and the defence should close down kenny when they got the chance after that bounce, harper was caught by suprised and its usual for a gk to move a bit up front during a goalkick or during a ball wa splayed in the opposition last line (i play as a goalkeeper so , but he is at fault for not willing to try…
overall we sucked, badly, the high ball againts derby doesnt work at all with ameobi, his crap, viduka would have won somethin because its the same tactics used in all of our games, i think BSA 1 big 1 small is crap he should play martins and owen for sure! their speed & lethal finisher will get us the goals and wheres our playmaker and midfield? its like playing with 8 defenders and 1 strikes (ameobi is our joker in the field his not a player)
63 Craig Allen // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:17
a world class player gets the basics right first. So much so, that it’s second nature. A world class keeper doesn’t get caught out of position and off his line! But Harper’s better than Given right? Off to the right and way off line - but he’s first choice. Roz had a shocker (made up for it a little later), Zog kept slipping, Ameobi was useless (I’m sorry, I know he’s young but he was useless!), Milner was average, Faye added a bit of strength to the middle when he entered, our midfield failed to take control or look in control and looked like u17 against senior squad. Derby, of all teams. What’s next a 2-0 loss to Reading? omg
64 Callum // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:55
I am currently in Malaysia and i dont believe i stayed up till 5am to watch that
65 Zx // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:56
Lack of penetration, poor delivery and not sure what to do with the ball. We lost Dyer and Solano and have not gotten any replacements for them. BSA better forget about signing Edmilson and sign a creative playmaker during the January window.
66 Callum // Sep 18, 2007 at 6:58
Craig - Ameobi isnt young anymore, the ‘hes got potential’ days are over, what we see now is how he’s going to be for the next 8 years or so
67 apan // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:06
craig - he thought geremi would clear it comfortably but suddenly was shell shocked that he missed and so does all the other defenders, they were all CAUGHT NAPPING as their body readjust upon the ball and a bouncing ball is always hard & what a screamer,even the cameraman was shocked thats why u saw the goal after it was scored not during…….. so u cant blame harper for not on his line he needs to move up a bit cos the ball is in the opposition penalty area, if his in the goal he cant see nuts of the ball but u can blame him for not trying to the least pleasant to the eyes, try playing as a GK u get the feel
but we were poor, very poor overall worst performance ever, BSA & newcastle, this is a wakeup call for all of u, we are far from there yet and if we keep on losing silly points like this, europe will be far away from our grasp
68 joal david // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:13
welcome back to reality…the fact is we never faced any of the good teams..only astonvill (where we were very lucky i’d say..) from he last performance i’d say we need
1.defence…it’s stupid to think we can forever keep the clean sheet..i’d say be practical..when our team concedes only one goal thts a victory in defence for me…we need to also be well versed in defece to play with 3 defenders (roz,tays and casapa) in case we concede an early goal…and the biggest advantage of man city thi season is that tey make the opponents to change the formation) we need time to understand each other..and eamwork builds over time….till then we need to make up for it by throwing everythin in the way..thats what big sam’s doin…we need one more GOOD LB..and we need our fullbacks to push forward(rem the time when SIr Bobby boys played)
2.we ned more creativity in midfield and we can’t also always bypass them with long balls..according to teams we need to juggle it and also according to situations…now what sam’s trying to do is use the midfoels to win the ball and try he bigman small man..it won’t work against teams who wanna sit back and defend…cos less space to exploit..we need to strech the opponents and draw people out of position..thats what man city and arenal do…(actually if arsenal do bring thier shooting boots along evry game they’d win by 4 or 5 goals..they create chances)..we need a prson who can distribute the ball welll and has vision..decrease the number of defensive midfielders to 2 or better 1 and play zogbia up on the wing with milnr on other side..we can’t say that we have creativity in the treatment room..we need it on the field and when we don’t have it ..improvise…. and sam need to forget about using dfensive minded midfield against the mid rung and lower teams .he cud do it at bolton where they stiffiled the creativity of the top teams and won thru setplays or with headers from open play…though diouf and anelka gave them the extra dimention..we have talent and flair..USE IT..don’t let everyone in midfield just scrap around…
3.attack…use either pace or target man and pacey striker combo…i personally feel that the mental edge that bolton had against the big teams that the small teams wil have against us..we can’t use ameobi (HE IS NOT A ARIEL TARGET man…)and duke..though he’s more effective than ameobi is also not a target man…we need ariel target man (carraciolo or bianchi crouch or jan koller or even our own carrol though he’s developing…carew …kevin davies,brian mcbride or steffen iverson) they are ariel target men..
they are target men..sam also need to warm up to the idea that we can ply open defences thru pace and movement also..use milner and martins on either side of owen with an attackind minded midfielder in the centre of a 4-3-3 and u’ll see how much trouble can be caused …owen wud also work fine in the centre cause it’ll be difficult to clamp him down ..and at same time we need to have an alternative goal source..when he is tightly markd he can draw people away and make space for the forward on the either side to come up at farpost…also the forward shud be happy to take on defenders…
what i’m actually sayin is WE NEED A PLAN B..in case the target man small man combo doesnt work…
69 Bobby Ollox // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:48
To all the fans who said that what they wanted was a result never mind the football - thats what you got last night…. and we failed to achieve even that miserable objective. would a 1-0 win have made you feel any better ?
Newcastle are just not a club who grind out gritty 1-0 wins - its not in our DNA, and the fans hate it -
Bring back Keegan..
70 steve // Sep 18, 2007 at 7:51
butt and smith were terrible, derby were rolling over them, ameobi has no first touch, we were rough housed out of it by a championship team (unusual for a BSA team) we really really need some creativity in midfield
I said it at the time and have seen nothing to change my mind Smith is a waste of money, heart on sleeve player but he can’t play midfield and he’s not a good enough striker - and please please BSA, stop geremi taking free kicks, corners
71 Graeme // Sep 18, 2007 at 8:10
Stats from Sky. NUFC possession 54%, Owen touched the ball 14 times, Says it all really!!!!
72 Craig Allen // Sep 18, 2007 at 8:36
Steve, it’s not unusual for a BSA team - as the last time Derby won was against Bolton managed by BSA in 2002. Go Figure. Looks like other coaches can read Sam - and if they get it right on the day (i.e have the skill or heart), can read his game like a book just by looking at the preface.
73 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 8:40
All those people that were saying Obi Wan Ameobi deserves yet another chance have hopefully come to their senses now.
Let’s send him to the dark side in January - if I was Mike Cashley i’d take a sack of spuds in exchange for the lummox right now (at least it wouldn’t get offside so much).
74 Ken // Sep 18, 2007 at 8:48
Walking to the Derby ground after parking my car I talked with some of their fans. They all thought they would get thumped. They knew they needed grit and a determination display to unsettle us, on the night this is what they did. We never got the first ball, or the second. Shola never won a header all night. Walking back to my car after the match, the same Derby fans who had parked behind me thought we had a bunch of foreigners who just looked scared. Except for Alan Smith on the night no one had a tackle in them. Let’s hope this is a one off, and let’s remember the Bolton first half which was full of flowing and attacking football.
75 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 8:59
In all fairness - Derby were shite too. But for their wonder(ish)goal it would have finished 0-0. Which would have probably been fair, as we both missed sitters. We could have had a penalty on another night, but you don’t get them away from home so i’m not gonna complain about that.
76 Rich // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:03
same old newcastle good one week, utter shite the next, nowhere good enough for europe midtable here we come again
77 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:04
Darren - I saw earlier on that you were coming out with a load of “I told you so” comments regarding Harper and Given. The thing is about 99% of people thought BSA would stick with Harper for this game, but you seemed to think that you had some inside knowledge about it. Would you care to reveal your source now, because i’d like to wager that, if Given isn’t in nets for the Hammers game, then will certainly be there for the Carling Cup match, and I don’t think he’ll be surrendering that position again once he’s got it back.
78 Hadji // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:10
Where are the Emre haters now.
I havent watched the game but by reading these comments i got the picture that we were back at square 1.
BSA why on heaven earth you had to play Ameobi last night,do you even know that maybe 80& of the European top teams such as:Roma,Milan,Lyon,Werder Bremen,Schalke,Arsenal,Stutgart,Man Utd,
all in champions league this season without a single doubt would put Martins and Owen as starters.
Why can’t you Sam,i noticed 99% of the fans would love to see their 2 best players partnership eachother as starters.Why can’t you give them the satisfaction to enjoy watching their beloved team crushing the oponents,instead….you are mixing the strategie,formation,choice of players and we have to cover our heads with our ears because of a bad performance last night.
Thanks to you Sam.
Emre..We need you more than ever this time, show us that you have what it takes to be our midfield leader and screw all the fans who hate you.
79 milner fan]]]]]]]]]]]]]] // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:11
i feel the result was good for nufc last night, bcoz it now shows BSA what he needs to grind out of the team. Although we got done by a lower class team, i think i will work as a wake up call to the players. N hopefully it wont happen any more. Just think at least it wasnt an important game at the end of the season, when we needed to win to get into europe.
keep the faith
80 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:15
If the little twat had decided to stay in the Toon and work on his fitness instead of swanning straight off to Turkey only to get injured AGAIN!!! then maybe he would have been out there last night proving us all wrong. The truth is he doesn’t give a shit about NUFC and we don’t need anymore players like that, no matter how much latent talent they have.
81 Craig Allen // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:33
Well at least Owen’s set to be back against hammers - according to official site.
82 Hadji // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:38
ToonChicken….Do you understand that Turkey had to win that game against Hungary cause of the missed 2 points with Malta.Turkey must qualify or the players will be punished their fans by burning their houses,physical assaults on their families,death threats.Turkey is like Columbia,if you’re not inn you’re OUT for good.Check what happened to Martins 3 months ago.
Emre is their best player,for them Emre is like Shearer for Newcastle.
He simply had to go.I only disagree about leaving Newcastle for a friendly against Romania.
83 andyh // Sep 18, 2007 at 9:39
What a shocking performance. Utter Shite from start to finish.
Geremi has been awful all season and why does he need to take every set piece when he is shit at them all. Nicky Butt was a complete joke alongside Geremi. No movement - crap passing and he thinks he has got a year on the ball. Too slow and needs to warm the bench. The midfield had no balance - no creativity and the whole team had no urgency even when we were a goal down one of the worst teams to ever play in the premiership.
Milner on the right and Zog on the left is what we need and so Jose Enrique is the key player for us because when we get him back the balance of the team will be right. Barton will give us the creativity and should partner Smith in the middle.
Defence looks alright and onlty a wondergoal beat us but it was a shame that Rozenhal was the best ATTACKING player.
Ameobi just doesn’t cut it. Can’twin headers -hold the ball up or shoot. Play Owen and Martins and cut out the long ball - not all teams can do it and we should never have to. Get the ball down. Move it through midfield an then we can score goals.
84 Hadji // Sep 18, 2007 at 10:23
I ment *by their fans*
85 ChrisL // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:20
@ Ed,
I don’t know what match you were watching, N’Zogbia was rotten (for the 1st time this season). Him & Ameobi stank the place up.
Once we went behind, they just shut up shop & we lacked a single person with the balls to open them up yesterday, or stay on their feet for that matter. All credit to Derby, once they got the goal, they deserved the win.
We had to lose a match sometime, I’m just shocked it was to Derby.
86 ChrisL // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:29
Harper couldn’t do anything about the goal, it would be harsh for him to lose his place because of that (but I think he will).
Also, I’m not sure how much difference Emre would have made. He would have slotted in like the rest of the team, making minimal effort. Sorry Hadji, having read your comments over a few days, he’s obviously your favourite player. I’m sure you’re seeing something in him (from past clubs) that he’s just failed to deliver at Newcastle?
87 Rich // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:45
i think emre will make a difference as well, its time for him to show the club what he is capable of! we desperately need him in there and although he hasnt been great yet did anyone watch him against chelsea last season he was awesome! ad love him and barton in the midddle sum guts, determination from barton and the creativity and inteligence from emre! everyone saying we need a defensive midfielder, what for to draw o-o all the time? we need goals to win games and the strikers need support… not going to come from a geremi or butt punt up the pitch!
88 ChrisL // Sep 18, 2007 at 11:58
@ Rich,
I can’t recall ever seeing Butt of Geremi “punt up the pitch”. They don’t do that. They tend to play percentage passes. Passes that get to the intended destination. They might not cut open a defence, but they both win the ball & look to give it to someone who can damage the opposition.
Last night we didn’t have a man on the pitch in the mood to do that (hurt the opposition).
Could Emre have been that man?
Maybe he could. But like Ameobi, he’s rapidly approaching that event horizon when Toon fans will have had enough of his poor displays or even effort level. At some point soon, he needs to pull his socks up or leave.
89 Rich // Sep 18, 2007 at 12:19
@ChrisL,
I do agree that both he and Ameobi are rapidly approaching the exit door but unlike Ameobi i do think Emre has a lot to offer. Last night was terrible and as you say not one person could hurt the opposition last night. The thing is though you mentioned they look to give the ball to someone who can damage the opposition but really wew need at least someone in the middle who has that ability because at the moment smith isnt a winger so we really cant rely on him and that only leaves milner and the strikers making us too predicatbale? i just feel butt and geremiare far too similiar
90 Hadji // Sep 18, 2007 at 12:43
Rich…Finally we agreed about something.Emre could be our match winner,just wait till they combine with Barton.
Sven will have 150 mill to spend in January,if that happens especially with Sven’s international experience(which BSA doesn’t have)he’ll bring players from all over the world.
Every player he brought to City is worth every penny,just check Corluka,Petrov,Elano,Garrido and with 150 mill more to spend i could’t even imagine what kind a power house that team will be in the future.
Mike Ashley must give at least 70mill to BSA if we wanna make it to the top.
91 Rich // Sep 18, 2007 at 13:02
Ye Barton and emre in the centre midfield will give us something differnt that much needed cutting edge! Man City have spent very well Elano is top drawer in my opinion, we definitely need some money spent by Mike Ashley!!Get us back to the top!!
92 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 14:24
Hadji - calm yourself down lad. Sven will not have £150m to spend in January - even if they did you couldn’t give that sort of money away in January - most teams are looking to keep hold of their good players, not ship them out. That story came from the same newspaper that said Taylor was going to quit us and sign for Chelsea for £300m or whatever and get paid twice what John Terry was earning. Sven was asked about it on Match of the Day and the bloke actually laughed (something of a rarity if you ever followed his tenure at England).
93 Tim // Sep 18, 2007 at 14:51
I think Sam has already made some mistakes during his short spell as a manager. First the mistakes he made off-season:
1. The purchase of Alan Smith.
Imho, Smith is way overrated due to the fact he is English. If he was a foreigner, he would most likely play for a team at the lower bottom of the Premiership, eg. Derby.
2. Too much focus on defense and lack of creativity.
Except for the Smith purchase, I think the other purchases were good (still waiting for real debuts by some). However, Big Sam has spent too much focus on tightening up the defense which has hurt the creatitvity and the offensive game of the side. Without any lethal passing ammunition from behind, it doesn’t matter that you are Owen or Martins, you will still fail. Especially now when both Dyer and Solano are gone, Newcastle looks really thin on that end. Emre is often injured and don’t expect him to contribute much. Barton is not as a good passer as these, so don’t see him provide for Owen & Martins.
Now to the mistakes he made for the Derby game:
1. Starting Owen instead of Martins.
Owen just got back from injury and had a hectic 2 weeks with international games. Martins to me is still the no.1 striker at Newcastle and for Owen to take his place he must not only prove his worth for the England side, but also for Newcastle.
2. Starting Taylor instead of Beye on the right hand position.
Poor judgement imo and I think with all the recent “bad” coverage Taylor has gotten recently about his contract extension, his focus wasn’t there. Not to mention that Beye is arguably the better RB of the two.
3. Leaving N’Zogbia at the LB position throughout the game.
After Derby scored the 1st goal, it was quite obvious that Newcastle lacked the spark up front. At least with N’Zogbia’s speed and crosses, we would have been more dangerous up there. Taking a camble and put either Taylor or Geremi there would’ve been a gamble worth risking imo.
Love to hear your comments about this…
94 ChrisL // Sep 18, 2007 at 15:09
Tim,
I agree with everything you say about the match against Derby, though I might have taken N’Zogbia off rather then move him up-field as I thought he was poor last night.
But I disagree about Sam being too negative with his purchases or that we shouldn’t have signed Smith.
I don’t think Smith will be in the 1st eleven when everyone is fit, but he can do a good job in a number of positions & his attitude is of a winner.
I am happy for Sam to build from the defence, all good managers do. I’m confident that with a solid defence & good work effort, we’ll win more the we lose+draw. That will be a massive improvement on the last 3 years garbage.
Don’t forget those last 3 years!!
95 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 15:21
Of course the defence was a priority. Sam has done a great job in getting shot of all that deadwood and completely revamping the back four. He can’t be expected to do the same with the rest of the team in such a short space of time.
These things take time.
I’m still confident BSA will turn things around this season. Obviously we will have to play a lot better, or at the very least - get better results than last night, but I’m still confident we will be challenging for a top6 finish.
96 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 15:24
Tim - what exactly does Owen have to do to prove his worth to Newcastle????
He scored the winner for us in his last 2 previous games.
97 Danger Mouse // Sep 18, 2007 at 15:37
Tim I think your and everyone else is right about needing Zogs at LM. I am suprised noone has mentioned putting Roz at LB and moving Tays inside. Roz is a lefty correct? seems pretty comfortable on the ball, is he just too slow? seems like he’d make a better LB than Tays does RB. Really depressing to see us stick with this midfield made up of 3 DM. Smith, Butt and Geremi does not work, maybe against Manu. If we are going to play a 442 then play some wide players, not just Milner. Really makes you wonder what the Managers get paid to do when its blatantly obvious to us what needs to happen.
98 Sinead // Sep 18, 2007 at 18:00
Toon Chicken I’d like to “wager” that if Given isn’t starting against the Hammers then he wont be there come January. He’s too good to sit on the bench, it’s as simple as that and the most of the people here know that, unless they are of course the small few (maybe a bit more then a couple) of Owen/Martins, goals goals goals fans.
Smith if anything is underated he’ll work his arse off for the entire match, he’s the ability to lift the entire team around him. I do think that he was more suited to playing with Man U I think he prefered it there. He was an impact player for Man U, so if he gets I don’t know I presume the right players or the right envirement or something then he’ll be a big impact.
If you want to talk about overarted players I’d try Owen, I’m sorry but he is. That’s just my oppinion like but he’s no where near as good as he used to be, ya fine he’s scored 2 or 3 goals like but anyone can do that, it’s not all about the goals.
99 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 18:30
Haha - you make me laugh Sinead. Seriously, you’re funny. Mad but funny.
100 Sinead // Sep 18, 2007 at 18:41
Funny that’s what I was thinking about you.
101 Toon Chicken // Sep 18, 2007 at 19:28
Hehe
102 Tim // Sep 18, 2007 at 21:24
ChrisL, I agree with you that anytime you rebuild a team, you always start with defense. Especially, when we talk about Newcastle and their previous poor defensive record. However, we can’t forget that Newcastle did have a lot more flair and creativity in their team last season than they do this season with players like Emre, Dyer and Solano roaming the pitch (when they were fit:)). All I’m saying is that team looks very weak on that department compared from last season. What happens if Milner and N’Zogbia get injured, who will then supply the strikers up front? Personally, I would love to see Diego of Werder Bremen fill that creative midfield role. Forget Deco, he’s too slow for the Premiership - he’s best days are beyond him.
As for Alan Smith, remember that he cost £6 Million, which is quite a lot for a player of his calibre. To draw a comparison, Yaya Toure (brother of Kalou Toure) Barcelona picked up for just about £6.2 Million, and he has been immense for Barcelona so far in the season. I think Smith is a good player but not for that price tag.
Toon Chicken - How many times did Martins single handed win games for Newcastle last season? Remember that Martins was also the reason why Newcastle recorded a win in their first game against West Ham this season. Owen is good, but you can’t forget the “hand that feeds you” just because the player’s name is Michael Owen. Personally, I think Owen has more to prove before he can take the slot away from Martins. Even though he is scoring, he is not as handful as Martins is. Further more, the fitness level of Martins is a lot higher than Owen’s at the moment. I truly wish Sam would let the two start together more often. I don’t think it can get any worse than the “big & small man” tactic he choose yesterday.
103 Darren // Sep 19, 2007 at 0:26
TOON CHICKEN - I came out with the Harper/Given situation over two weeks ago, I’m not looking for plaudits, I said I prefer Given, but BSA does prefer Harper. Yes I’ll tell you who told me…. like I will you f*&*in knob. I wouldn’t tell then and won’t now, why do you need to know who? It was fact and you knowing who said it means eff all to anyone, but it was fact, if you can’t accept that then fair enough, I don’t need to prove anything more to you or anyone, f*&^k you lot I’ll keep it to myself next time.
104 Toon Chicken // Sep 19, 2007 at 8:36
Darren - why would you get plaudits anyway? Given was injured, Harper was playing well. If didn’t take a genius to work out that Harper would keep his place. Your theory will be tested over the next 2 games - if Given hasn’t won his place back by then, I will take my hat off to you. Otherwise, I would keep your “inside information” to yourself - if people on here wanted to read a load of drivel then we would have bought a newspaper.
105 PK-Norway // Sep 19, 2007 at 11:19
I agree that Barton and Emre in the midfield with Zogbia and milner on the wings its the best midfield at the moment.Geremi and Butt and faye too should only be used if we need defensive players on the pitch….if we have Butt and Geremi starting thats too defensive..And as i said before..Sam should give both Martins and Owen a chance to start together!Nor Viduka or Ameobi is Shearer and we all know it…Sell Ameobi in January and try to find a new shearer with Pace,strength,heading skills…and the most important one Finishing skills..Viduka and Ameobi is faaaar away.
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