id just like to say it was a funny last game of the season, 1-1 and it didnt seem like none of the teams wanted to win the match towards the end.

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Tune of the moment

Our away form has let us down, but the problem doesn't look so serious when you actually analyse our form. With a bit of better luck and commitment until the final whistle we could turn this around.

Newcastle away games since christmas:

Man Utd (a) 0-0. Should have had a penalty, but this is Old Trafford we're talking about. We were narrowly better, but maybe a point was fair.

Birmingham (a) 1-1. Newcastle throw away a 1-0 lead in the 90th minute from a dubious free-kick.

Blackburn Rovers (a) 1-1. Jon Stead equalises for Blackburn in the 85th minute.

Portsmouth (a) 1-1. On-loan LuaLua equaises in the 89th minute for Portsmouth, against his own club.

Tottenham (a) 1-0. O'Brien scores an own goal in the 86th minute to give Tottenham the points in a game Newcastle dominated.

Bolton (a) 1-0. A freak goal from Pederson in the 4th minute gives Bolton the points, though Newcastle were terrible.

Aston Villa (a) 0-0. O'Brien sent off after 8 minutes, and 3 of our players limp off injured missing virtually the rest of the season.

Man City (a) 1-0. A weakened Newcastle side is disgraceful and gives the points to a highly unconvincing City.

Southampton (a) 3-3. Newcastle hit the bar twice and miss a header from a yard out, whilst scoring an own goal to help Southampton to a draw. How we didn't win this is a mystery.

Liverpool (a) 1-1. Bellamy and Dyer back, some improvement.

Out of a possible 30 points, we picked up 7.

Another great Newcastle United video from Pedro on the toontastic forums (right-click save target as):
http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling3.../Local_Hero.wmv

It's 34mb and 7 mins 21 secs, but worth the download if you like your football

This begins with Newcastle's final game of the season, the 1-1 draw at Liverpool, Ameobi's goal and the travelling hordes in the Anfield Road end. Then has Newcastle goals past and present superimposed over images of the city's attractions to the tune of Local Hero. Then it's to the tune of 'Home Newcastle' with plenty of goals and pictures of the fans.

Highlights:
1:35 - Alan Shearer's wondergoal against Leeds
2:40 - Liam O'Brien's free-kick against the Mackems.
3:00 - Asprilla's second goal against Barcelona.
3:28 - Newcastle's Toon Army in the Gallowgate end singing the Blaydon Races.
3:45 - After failing to score in their first three Champions League group games, Newcastle beat Juventus and then Kiev before Bellamy scores a last-minute winner at Feyenoord to put them through. No other side has ever come back from three defeats to qualify.
4:05 - The Jarrow Crusade. Had to give this a mention as it's my hometown
5:02 - Ketsbaia earns Newcastle a Champions League place before running over and kicking shit out of the advertising boards
5:33 Phillipe Albert scores our 5th goal against Man Utd, lobbing Peter Schmeichel.

Great, I'll have to sign myself up on that board, I have a friend from Sweden that posts there, he is a huge Newcastle fan, he's gonna meet up with me next season and go to a game, he'll be like a little kid, lol!

By the way, you like my new avatar?

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How can sound exist if there's no one there to hear it?

I'm just dissapointed in SBR's decision not too bring in any new faces during the season. In the end our inactivity in the transfer market caused our capitulation and when we had up to 6 key players injured during the run in, there was no one with enough quality as those 6 to make a real difference in our performances.

Everyone associated with the club could analyse who what when where why we faltered this season, but everyone agrees on the fact that we need new faces if we are to mount a serious challenge. That should be the clubs no 1 priority. Even, if we are running on a strict budget or have debt to clear.

New players in the off-season is an absolute MUST !

With players like Davids and Kluivert out there on a free transfer, we should at least be negotiating for them! Even if they say no, it's worth a try. Espescially Davids, he's exactly what we need in midfield. Where's our ambition in the transfer market?

We also shouldn't look down on loan deals, Middlesbrough got a good deal out of Mendieta.

We should loan Steven Taylor to a division one side until christmas, see how he performs. West Ham did this with Rio Ferdinand and he came on wonders, and look what a loan spell at Darlington did for Bernard.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Jun-03-2004 at 13:13

I think we are the only club in the Premiership that keeps our transfer dealings close to our chests. It's all discreet and even though we are not linked with many players in the media, I'm more than sure Bobby has his eyes on the likes of Kluivert, Davids and probably more.

Loaning Taylor is an excellent suggestion. The kid has a great deal of potential and it cant be achieved if he is just playing in the reserves. Bernard's loan move to Darlington was more than beneficial for the club, he came back a totally new player.

I saw in the Sunday Sun newcastle are supposedly going to put in an £8 million bid for Samuel Eto'o. But if they go in for him they will try and get a right back for free. They might have been after a right back from Ajax but theyve bottled it supposedly as ajax are asking for £6 million. How can newcastle expect to do well when there not prepared to pay money for players?

I wont be suprised if we get Mills. Yipeeeeeeeeee

I'm not to keen about signing Eto'o. Don't get me wrong he is a fantastically gifted forward, but £8m is a very steep amount for any kind of player in the current financial market. Unless, your a heavyweight club that can afford a transfer fee that large, It just wouldn't be right if we lodged an £8m bid for him, since we have the opportunity to bring in players such as Kezman for less than £4m - who is equally good if not better than Eto'o.

quote:

How can newcastle expect to do well when there not prepared to pay money for players?

We've never failed to place large bids in for players in the past. Robert - £10.5, Woodgate - £9m and Viana - £8.5m, all very expensive buys during a time where the transfer market was at a low. Woody has been a great buy. However I am slightly disappointed in the club's failure in allowing Bobby to spend £19m on TWO players, where we could have originally bought 4-5 players of the same quality for that amount. And it's been like that for last 5-6 years where the club has either decided to spend big or not spend at all.

Miguel, the right back at Benfica has been interesting Bobby and sources say we are entering advanced stages, with a deal to be concluded during the week. Miguel would be an awesome buy, very similar to that of Porto right back Paulo Ferreira, who will be on his way to Chelsea very soon ??

fingers crossed we have a better season next year

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How can sound exist if there's no one there to hear it?

I would go for Reiziger and Davids, both have been released from Barcelona to try and cut their wage bill, but if we get them on a free transfer the millions saved will cover the wages. We might get neither, we might get both, we don't know until we try.

I used to say we need a defensive midfielder, but other than Davids not many cheap players would fit the bill. Bowyer is starting to look his old self which is very promising. If we're going to spend anywhere other than striker, I'd go for a good centre-back to partner Woodgate, and replace him when he's injured, preferably one with a bit of pace because Bramble and O'Brien have none. If we did find a decent CB I'd get rid of Bramble, maybe we'd get a million or two for him.

We need to go shopping in Europe, British players are so overpriced. Birmingham are talking 4M for Savage, Smith cost 7M for Man Utd. Yet in Europe, Barcelona are negotiating figures of 6M for Giuly!