acrossthepond

Have I mentioned before I'd have him?

Martins on his own will be headless. If only King Khris didn't start him against Hull when he wasn't fit...

Good point that. Good thing for Arsenal we'll be happy to let him go for 5 million, payable in installments of 50p each, starting 2013.

From http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...and&cc=5901

I Martins but he's been absolute gash since returning from injury. Hull was a little bit of an improvement (as opposed to Bolton where he really looked like he couldn't be arsed) but he's not shown the effort he was known for two seasons ago at all. We know his goals can keep us up, happened once before, so it's vital that he stays fit and tries to get into the game rather than just hanging out up top and waiting for the ball.

Do you think it's an issue that we have 6 (well 5 really, Geremi is supposed to be creative) defensive midfielders, most of which are shit, and two creative players? I wonder to whom that problem can be attributed? I also simply disagree with your contention that Jonas and Duff are to blame for anything. Both have ran hard and worked hard for the team, more than wingers normally would have to, because our central midfield is so terrible. Could be that cuts down on their ability to create chances although would I remind you that our first-choice strike partnership has featured in so few games that it's hard to evaluate. I can think of a number of times, for example, when Duff and Jonas have picked out Shola in a good position only for him to squander possession/put it over the bar/etc. I also think it's funny that you would try to say Duff gets "so many plaudits." Most posters here have constantly slagged him off.

So you admit that none of those six players I named have contributed more than Jonas and Duff.

Jonas and Duff? Jonas has been one of our better players, whatever that says about the rest of the team, and Duff's had his best year in black and white. Most of our play that looks like producing anything comes up the wings. Or do you truly think that any of the following have contributed more to the team than Jonas and Duff: Butt, Guthrie, Barton, Smith, Geremi, Nolan?

Why? Explain few papers reported it . Could it not just be that Duff has been crap all season and Xisco, (when fit), hasnt set the world alight? dunno bout duff, we still owe money for his transfer tho , xisco like i said , can honestly belive the clubs not sure what todo with him and are holding off on playing him so we dont have to pay the next instalment , he scored in the Spain vs. Switzerland , came back to a squad that had injury problems and still didnt get a game /shrug , with one goal in 5 games he has a better goal ratio than shola for the toon aswell But lets not forget that Shola used to get plenty of decent reviews playing for the U21's..... Means nowt. Its about time a bit more debate and blame was pointed in the direction of the players who have actually gone out and being fucked over by the West Broms and Hulls of this world. Putting Ashley and his meery band to one side, why have so many delivered so little. Lets analise (probably spelt that wrong, looks like somthing xisco would do), some of the players for a change. My thoughts on the last point is that a lot of the issues with what is happening on the field is due to the poor management setup at the club. Joe Kinnear? How did he get the job? The door was open and he just walked in and setup his office? He was selected by Ashley and the rest. I find it difficult how anyone can blame anyone but Ashley/Llabia/Wise. This is it. Kinnear, Hughton, Calderwoood, etc. are all fruit of the poisonous tree. The buck stops with Ashley and anything that happens this season is on his head. We already know his vaunted scouting team has brought us all of one decent player and their interference cost us a manager worth more than any of them. We've sold promising players as well as sold our best player and we've brought in dross to replace them, or failed entirely to do so. The management structure is still to this day not clear, the players are either shit or their confidence is shot, we look odds-on to be relegated and it cannot be anything but his fault. There are those apologists who will continue, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, to blame Kevin Keegan, the fans, the players, NUSC, terrorist conspiracies, Mars being in the house of Jupiter, etc. but ultimately there is only one man who is responsible for this. Some will debate whether this would always have happened to us, if the Shepherd regime had continued, but it's an academic point as we have Ashley now and he has ruined us. He has proven himself utterly incapable of running a football club and he will destroy us if his time here goes on much longer. If not this season then the next. If you want to watch this club rapidly degenerate from also-ran to relegation fodder and sooner rather than later the next Leeds, all while fattening Ashley's pockets with transfer revenue, tickets, club shop sales, surcharges on the ticket office phone number, then by all means continue to give him your support. I think I'm going to look into this NUSC business and see what I can do for them from across the pond, even if it's just give them my money. I've been sceptical, but they obviously have a better idea of what the fans feel than Mike and Dennis in their London offices do, and I feel if there ever was a time the club needs conscientious clear-headed supporters who can distinguish between the truth (i.e. we are shit, a laughingstock, and going down quickly) and the blatant and incontrovertible lies produced by the Ashley PR machine (Wise bought Bassong, KK will be given control over transfers, Given will not be sold, police told me my family and I were in danger, so many more), then it is now. [/dramatic speech]

The amount of Ashley and co arselicking is astonishing. They (all three of them, oh, and Baggy) appear to think Lee Ryder is some kind of journalistic iconoclast who's opening the club up to the ignorant masses. Truly laughable stuff. I wish them the best of luck - tacky name as well. Newcastle Offline? The hell does that even mean? It's a message board!

Bit about Beardsley raised a smile to be fair. But yeah. :lol:

Anything but wins against Boro and Pompey means relegation. We will not beat Stoke. Honestly I'm having trouble seeing where the goals will come from.

We were so abject in the first half I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Must-win game and we didn't. Says it all really. Thanks for everything, Mike.

glass houses - throw stones How's that? You mean Nolan/Guthrie/Barton?

Irrespective of what they did, I would also expect the "demonstrators", given the inflamatory nature of their protest, to be charged with something like "behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace" or some such. But it'll never happen. Re: the rest of it, did they break any laws that you know of. Irrespective of what you'd like to see, that is. If the demonstrators had not as inflamatory, I would doubt the two arrested would have reacted, they were arrested for an offence (as yet unknown) BUT the catalyst was the nature of the demonstration, so likely there were two offences but only one was acted upon. For all you know you may be advocating it's OK to assault someone for no more than what is effectively name calling. Without the facts of the case, this debate is fairly pointless. Not at all, there was a cause and effect, only the "effect" has been dealt with apparently. As for the name calling, people get arrested for it all the time, notably and recently in football grounds. It's because the 'cause' was not illegal and SHOULD be protected by freedom of speech, while the 'effect' WAS illegal which is why i presume the police stepped in and made arrests. If we (the west) are going to hold up ideals of being the model for which all civil society is based on, we can't laud those ideals on one hand while we contradict them on the other. Take for instance the OTT measures taken after 9/11 by 'W' and his cronies, all in the name of "protecting" the public, if it means having my rights infringed upon then I'd rather take my chances against the terrorist tbh. The right to demonstarte is not illegal, but the method/words was highly provokative, I suppose a group of football supporters holding up such signs near rival area wouldn't be moved on/arrested either With respect to "over the top measures" taken after 9/11, I woudl suggest the yanks were pretty restrained tbh, at the time on many of the US message boards I frequent the sentiment was one of nuke the whole middle east, shame they didn't tbh Really doesn't get much dumber than this post. Getting back on topic, these people are the same as the Westboro Baptist Church. I have had the truly unpleasant experience of dealing with the WBC and believe me when I say that they are the lowest form of life. However, the American Constitution protects their right to do what they do and say what they say. Same with these nuts. If the WBC want to say the soldiers are burning in hell because they fight for a "fag-loving" nation, regrettably they are allowed to say that. If these extremists want to say the soldiers should burn because they're fighting for a "corrupt dictatorship" with no Sharia law, regrettably they are allowed to say that. If some morons want to get together and say the US should nuke the whole middle east, they are allowed to say that, and if some skinheads want to get together and wave St George's flags and chant about how all the <insert slurs here> should be shipped out of the country...you get what I'm saying. I do agree that the enforcement is definitely not equal in many cases.

I think Owen and Shola will start, Owen to look dead tired after 60 minutes but they won't put Martins on until the 80th. Fagan is a horrible pseudo-footballer and the sight of seeing his smirking face is already turning my stomach - and that's before he starts to chop at Jonas and our other "decent" players.

I represent some made-up percentage of expatriate half-Geordie Muslims when I say that these people are total scum and the country (any country really) would be better without them. As an aside, how SHIT is Luton? As shitholes go it rivals Middlesbrough.

In fairness we've been absolute shit but that hasn't diminished from Bassong's performances. He's player of the season from our remaining players. If it's done on the website Given wouldn't be on there, but I'd vote for him.

Rather have him than Smith or Butt. Doubt there's anything in this though, although I doubt just about every transfer rumor that involves us these days.

As the parlance across the pond goes, this is "win or go home." We could easily win this game and still be relegated. But if we lose, we go down. And I desperately hope the Two Stooges and Kinnear calling from hospital will be doing their best to impress this upon the players. The players must know that the fate of NUFC lies in this game (and all those to follow, but most importantly, this one.)

That's the last one, aye. I think it took a fairly serious deflection though? Did you see some of the pearlers Geremi scored in the African Nations? Too bad he couldn't replicate them for us.

Not seen it yet, not read the "book", have heard conflicting reviews on it. I'll see it though.

Is this some sort of N-O reactionary anti-NUSC supporters' group? For the true fans? It'll never work like. It's too snobby, too perpetual. It'll die a death soon.

The Phimai historical park protects one of the most important Khmer temples of Thailand. It is located in the town of Phimai, Nakhon Ratchasima province. The temple marks one end of the Ancient Khmer Highway from Angkor. As the enclosed area of 1020x580m is comparable with that of Angkor Wat, Phimai must have been an important city in the Khmer empire. Most buildings are from the late 11th to the late 12th century, built in the Baphuon, Bayon and Angkor Wat style. However, even though the Khmer at that time were Hindu, the temple was built as a Buddhist temple, as Buddhism in the Khorat area dated back to the 7th century. Inscriptions name the site Vimayapura (which means city of Vimaya), which developed into the Thai name Phimai. The first inventory of the ruins was done in 1901 by the French geographer Etienne Aymonier. They were put under governmental protection by announcement in the Government Gazette, Volume 53, section 34, from September 27, 1936. Most of the restorations were done from 1964 to 1969 as a joint Thai-French project. The historical park, now managed by the Fine Arts Department, was officially opened by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on April 12, 1989.

How about the reported Schweinsteiger deal as well as Wise and co trying to flog Barton on the last day of the season? More reputed interference.