Nope, solano has to go..

all the problems with newcastle rest with the midfield, not the defence. the midfield is what drives the team, however ours don't move, don't tackle, don't create anything and are downright lazy. the defence has to cope with 4-7 players at once because the midfield doesn't do their job. the midfield doesn't create forward movement either, dyer should be making forward runs in bellamy's absence to give the upfront pace, but does he fuck. we do need a new striker too, i wouldn't mind hasslebaink if he wants out of chelsea...

however i did notice some decent happenings in the game, however few. speed + robert work really well together down the left, speed takes no shit from robert trying to be lazy and kept him going througout the game.

the defence was solid despite o'brien being fooled upfield a couple of times, bramble worked hard. griffin wasn't his best in the 2nd half and speed was decent despite making that stupid challenge givin away the penalty.

solano was quality until he came off which was apparently because of an injury, and bowyer was solid when he came on. dyer needs to be sold now, and jenas better not ever have a shit game like that again.

shola is shit, doesn't jump and doesn't work, chopra was good when he came on, although he looked more of a midfielder than an attacker, but i suppose he had to work the midfield job when he came on with dyer and jenas being so shite. lua lua will not get anywhere close to the first team in a long time because of the reserve match crapness + following abuse to robson. although shearer was fairly poor there is no better there atm. imo chopra + shearer should start upfront.

just hope the time off during the england game the whole lot of them can get the spark back that we had for most of last season.

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w: www.luketerry.com

Hopefully the next two weeks will give a few players a rest, but half of our first team players have international duty. Caldwell, Dyer, Ameobi, Speed, Bellamy, Solano, Hughes, O'Brien, Given, and Viana are all likely to play this weekend.

I agree with you about the midfield Project T, at the moment that is our weakest link. Defensive errors cost us against Leeds, Manure and Birmingham but one of the reasons our defence makes so many mistakes is because they are all too often overwhelmed. Players like Bramble and O'Brien will never become confident defenders when they have several players sprinting at them every week and no protection whatsoever in front of them. Van Nistelrooy's goal against us may well have been a defensive mistake (we never play the offside trap, so when Bramble bizarrely tried to play RVN offside Hughes wasn't expecting it and left him onside to score), but if we had a quality holding midfielder Bramble and O'Brien wouldn't have to come forward so bloody often leaving themselves exposed. A defensive midfielder who is committed to that role (Speed isn't, he's a converted DM, it's not his natural position) would break up opposition attacks and allow our centre backs to sit back a little longer, leaving them more time to react and keep a solid shape. At the moment they're running around trying to sort out the mess in midfield as well as do their defensive duties and when we're hit in the break (which happens to the best of sides) they have very little time to communicate and keep a disciplined shape at the back.

All great sides have a quality holding midfielder, Man Utd-Keane, Real Madrid-Makelele, Arsenal-Vieira etc. We haven't got one. Sadly the transfer deadline is gone now, and we're stuck with what we've got until at least January now. I was glad at first that Newcastle were showing restraint in the transfer market, but I never expected us not to sign anyone. A big mistake that has been, even without the Champions League money we could surely afford someone. NUFC.com pointed out that within the last 8 days Newcastle have made at least £3.5m on gate receipts alone.

To be honest it looks like we wouldn't have bought anyone even if we had qualified for the CL. In January we have to get one of these three, even if it means getting one on loan: Right Back, Centre Back, Defensive Midfielder.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Sep-01-2003 at 23:57

Both of you's are exactly right. Our attacking mids out number our defensive mids. There is no anchorman that always will get back to help out the defence. Dyer/Jenas/Robert/Viana all make forward runs into blind alleys and are too lazy to run back and help out most of the time. Leaving the defence exposed and under a heap of pressure to hold their guard

Since we do not have a quality anchorman, maybe we could try something similar that Bolton are using at the moment. A defender holding the midfield - Ivan Campo. He tends to man mark the two central midfielders through the game, while slotting in with the 3 defenders once in a while. Its clever, but im not sure SBR would want to look at Bolton's tacs in the first place.

Yes, another striker is definitely needed. We hurt enormously without Shearer and Bellamy and players like LuaLua, Ameobi, Cort are just not good enough to match the standards that the club is trying to set.

Why we didnt let Cort go out on loan to the Saints really puzzles me

I can't see Cort getting much action, Lua Lua, Chopra, Shearer, Bellamy and Ameobi are all ahead of him, and even if there was a position to fill up front Bobby would probably play Dyer or Robert there before Cort.

Bobby gave an explanation basically along the lines of 'we might need him as cover'. Even if we go far in the UEFA, FA and Carling Cups he'd still have a hard time getting a game. Who knows, if we do progress in all three cups and get a spate of injuries we might need him, but it's unlikely.

I believe Ameobi will come good as a target man but like Shearer he needs pace alongside him. Ameobi hasn't impressed recently but neither has Shearer, and noone doubts his ability. Both of them have suffered from a lack of service and both are natural target men. Ameobi doesn't work alongside Shearer because they're too alike but we shouldn't write him off.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Sep-02-2003 at 12:08

quote:

I can't see Cort getting much action, Lua Lua, Chopra, Shearer, Bellamy and Ameobi are all ahead of him, and even if there was a position to fill up front Bobby would probably play Dyer or Robert there before Cort.

I'm not sure about that evil. SBR came out saying that he thinks Cort may have a major impact this season, if he continues to work hard in training. Maybe he could be given a chance to prove his worth.

I think Cort looks more exciting than Ameobi, LuaLua, Chopra and has showed that he can score goals in the top flight with Wimbeldon.

However, he has suffered many injury setbacks which have hampered his chances of establishing himself as a first-team regular.

He might get a handful of games to justify his place but I can't see him getting more than that, espescially if Bellamy recovers and plays for the rest of the season. Don't forget he might not be the same player he was, he hasn't seen sustained top flight action for years, wheras Lua Lua is fit and ready.

Trying to regain the form that you previously had before injuring yourself is always difficult for any player. But on most occasions, players do find that form which made them class. However, injuries have also limited some players from becoming world class players, to just staying average.

Hopefully Cort can keep working hard in training and make Bellamy's spot insecure.

emmmmm wrong Project T, i have to disagree

Quote Project T

It aint the defence, its the midfield.




Well the midfield are poo but i would also have to say the defence are poo aswell.

Get some of that.

True that. The defence definitely needs to be looked at first, rather than the midfield.

Anyone know where I can find some newcastle chants on mp3? Not the shitty music ones, but live chants?

Newcastle's fans have been told to sit down otherwise our ticket allocation to away games will be terminated What the fuck is the game coming to in Britain? Our stadiums used to have class atmospheres, now you're not even allowed to stand, the managers have a 'technical area' that they're not allowed to leave and hardly any of the games are at 3pm any more. What a fucking disgrace.

Btw, the Welsh FA are planning to take legal action against Newcastle because of the Bellamy issue. This is a fucking joke, Bellamy misses 3 games for us, cries to Bobby that his knee injury could end his career, and then a few days later he plays a full 90 mins for Wales. What the fuck? And they're suing us because someone at Newcastle had a few bad words to say about it all - nice to see they're keeping a sense of perspective here At least Bellamy can't play against Finland now.

Yeah, i got a feeling the Bellamy saga will roll on till the end of the season.

On a major downside, Given may be in doubt for the clash at Goodison. And with Harper already ruled out, we may have to hand reserve keeper Tony Caig his Premiership debut.

Like things weren't already bad at St.James'



On a brighter note it looks like Bobby is going to restore both Robert and Solano to the starting line-up, realising that it is imperative to have both wingers in the side to increase Shearer's chances of scoring.