pertoon

I reckon the Birmingham and Mackems games will decide it loose those and i reckon we`ve gone. Whatever happens the summer signings will be the test for Ashley to either rebuild the team or make us certainties for the drop if we stay up next season. If we go down with the present team forget any ideas of coming straight back up i reckon mid table at best. The blame cant lie with Keegan i reckon the damage was done when Shiteness sold all our best players top of the list being Bellamy. Also we havent managed to find a replacement for Shearer. If Ashley doesnt rebuild he should sell to someone who will. To be fair he has had to pour in millions to straighten out the finances so perhaps that has been his priority. Re building will be harder though if we go down the last thing we want is to be a yo yo side like the Mackems.

i did some rather basic calculations and i reckon it would mean ticket prices WOULD AT LEAST DOUBLE.

Just seen on SSN the Metropolitan Police chief calling for clubs to pay ALL the costofpolicing games. Apparently at the moment clubs pay the cost of Police INSIDE the ground but the bill for any outside the ground, at railway stations etc is picked up by the taxpayer i.e. you and me. The police view is that it is unfair for the taxpayer the majority of whom never go to a football game to pay for what is essentially a private event. At the moment the all the Premier league clubs put together are paying around 600 million pounds per season which is around 40% of the total cost. Inevitably any increase in the cost to the clubs would have to be passed on in higher ticket prices quite how much this would be per person they did not say but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out this would be quite a sum. The end result of this would be a fall off in the numbers attending games with th possibillity that many smaller clubs could go to the wall. so what do you think?

Aye, hasnt really worked for City, Chelsea or Liverpool for that matter. Or Man Utd. That Ronaldo lad, he's shit. Nothing AGAINST buying premierhip or foreign players but fact is we thought our ship had come in when we signed Owen. The Shearer from Nigeria was the chant that that greeted Martins and where are we now? Problem we`ve got is there just isnt a quee of Premierhip superstars waiting to sign for us. If KK can turn things round next season then maybe things will be different but for now we have to make the best of what we can get. Do you really suppose that Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex are going to let thier best players go all they are interested in offloading are the rejects and the has beens. And if we do go down we will have NO chance of bringing in Premiership players as some have said its spotting the right players that counts and for now we seem to have lost that knack. Keegan came in at the worst time without any chance of bringing in fresh blood in January we havent really recovered from Shiteness offloading our best players. If we survive this season we need to do Major rebuilding or we will be certain for the drop next year. Still as the song goes things can only get better or so we hope.

KEEP Given, Harper, Krul, Foster, Milner, Taylor, Viduka, Carroll, Zog. For replacements we should be looking at up and coming players in the Championship not buying Premiership cast offs on thier way out like Owen or untried untested Foreign players like Martins.

Care to name them then? OK Derby are doomed Fulham look rocky but the third spot is well and truly up for grabs.

NO WAY HOSE or whatever countries these games would be played in. The only teams who would benefit would be the big 4 who would see thier over inflated bank balances get even bigger. If they were exhibition matches then maybe but then what would be the point. If these games are to count for points and the top teams are seded not to play each other it would be grossly unfair. If you look at the current league table and say Fulham had a couple more points and say they were drawn against Derby and suppose Wigan were drawn against one of the big 4 and lost it would keep Fulham up and send Wigan down. At the moment the system is fair as all teams play each other home and away but the propsed extra game will give those with an easy draw an unfair advantage. Its also open to corruption with the possibillity of bungs to throw results.

[quote name='JawD' Thing is mind, what the crowd is getting on their back, all they have to do is roll up their sleeves (so to speak) and get stuck in. Its a good way to get the crowd back behind you. If you lie down and take it, it gets worse. Agree simple as : all theyve got to do is put some effort in it doesnt matter if we loose so long as theve tried thier best. To expect us to come away meekly applauding when they have been useless is to treat us as muppets. As for not getting behind the team every game ive been to the fans are behind the team at the start of the game all theyve got to do is what they are paid VERY large ammounts of money for. Is that too much to ask?

Lets hope this isnt turning out into another Souness / Bellamy situation. Its good there is competition for places but Taylor has a determination we badly need. A touch over enthusiastic at times but a good solid level headed player. If the situation isnt sorted soon we could losse him in January and that would be a big mistake.

OWEN: WHATEVER I SAY IS TWISTED[/b] SUDDENLY I am being portrayed as a football rebel — someone who wants to take on the world in general and Sam Allardyce in particular. Nothing could be further from the truth. I recognise that my club manager wants me to be fit and available for every game for Newcastle. And, believe it or not, so do I. What I must also point out, though, is that I am fortunate enough to play for two teams — England and Newcastle. And as long as I am fit, I will try my hardest to play well and score goals for both. You can imagine how I felt then when I was warming up before the Everton game to hear one Newcastle fan shout at me: "Come on Owen, it's about time you put us before England." That hurt me almost as much as pushing myself through the pain barrier in the days immediately after my surgery. No one but me knows what that involved. And, it seems, no one wants to believe I was doing it for both my club AND my country. I will repeat: I want to play in EVERY game, whether it is for Newcastle or England. I suppose I should be used to all this. It happened to me before when I was a Liverpool player. I broke into the England team and did well internationally almost before I had properly established myself at Anfield. The Reds fans didn't like that because they thought I was only interested in my international career. But I did manage to turn them around by scoring loads of goals in helping Liverpool to win an unprecedented cup treble in 2001. For the first time the fans started chanting my name on a regular basis and I was referred to as "Liverpool's Michael Owen" rather than "the England striker Michael Owen". I guess that is the way to win over public opinion at Newcastle as well. If I can score the goals that will help them win a trophy or two, that will prove how much I am committed to the club. I would love to do just that. But at the same time, I want to help England to win something as well. Well OK then we are waiting

Nobody is questioning his ability as a player. that at his best he is a world class player is not in doubt. Neither his desire to play for England, top class player belongs in the team. What is at question is his loyalty to Newcastle over England especially when he seems to be ignoring the advice of the club doctors and Big Sam in order to get in the England team. All of us want him to stay at Newcastle and become another Shearer, Gascoine , Beardsley etc. but untill he changes his attitude it aint going to happen. He seems to think playing the odd game for us and scoring the odd goal is enough but it aint. Shearer retired from international football early saying at the time it was to spend more time with his family but it also enabled him to concentrate on playing for us. He even had the chance to move on and didnt. Need i say more?

FOR PITY`S SAKE Yes he bust a gut to get fit but if he expects us to believe it was so he could play for us in the Everton game YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING. Why was Steve McLaren in the crowd because he fancied a day out in Newcastle BOLLOCKS. Now if and i mean if Owen is dedicated to us he should have MISSED the England games he is NOT 100% fit. If he gets injured playing for England thats more months/ years wheen we will be paying him a fortune for sitting at home, playing golf , days out at Chester races etc. Surely he has the intelligence to relise that he needs to prove himself as a Newcastle player if he gets injured playing for us then fair enough. Not saying he should never play for England again but he should sit these games out. At 27 another serious injury will see him approaching 30 when he came to us he said i promise you goals well 10 in 2 years isnt enough. On form he is a great player but how often have we seen that. 110k a week he needs to show us he warrants it NOW.

On a good day brilliant but how many of those have we had in the last 2 years. ITS OBVIOUS HE ONLY CARES ABOUT ENGLAND. True when he does play for us he usually manages to score but remember he is getting older 27 now another serious injury we see him approaching 30 before he is fully fit again so if he is to go down as a great player for us time is running out.

Just dont let him anywheere near St James` Park

Seen clips of this on the telly and have to admit we could do with some of them at St James`. One of the goals was certainly a cracker. But come on call me a chauvenist Women playing football or Women firemen, builders etc isnt meant to be. And no i dont think they should be chained to a kitchen sink or confined to beauty pagents but honestly. Still i suppose you have to admire them for the determination they show and they could certainly teach some of our stars a thing or two.

10K may sound a lot to us but when you consider how much the other players are getting its an insult. Owen got 10 times that for sitting on his backside for the best part of two years. Under 21 captain no doubt soon in the senior team puts in 100% effort every game for us long term potential. Cant wait to get back when injured. Give him a decent pay deal before some other club jumps in.

OK so when they were in the Premiership Leeds were our rivals now thet are not. Those of us who can remember them in the 1960`s have got to have a degree of sympathy with the downfall of a once mighty club and let us not forget were it not for Sir John Hall where would we be now? So think on before you mock unless its the mackems of course.

If he shows his commitment to us this season then maybe next. As for this term Taylor, Given or Ameobi.

While being happy he is on his way back it is with reservations While hopefully he should still be on top form we have lost the best part of 18 months service from him. I dont believe his heart is with the club and i think at best he will only stay a season before moving on. Bit of a coincidence his return coincides with England games looming really i think he is only interested in playing for ngland thats assuming we qualify of course. With his trackrecord how long before he gets injured again?

Yet again Shay Given has groin trouble. Bearing in mind his injury at West Ham isnt it likely that this is the cause. The surgeon who did the op said he had only seen such injuries in high speed RTA vicims which in most cases proved fatal. As Given himself accepted it as an accident we have to give it the benefit of the doubt but you have to ask was it deliberate, accidental collision maybe but with such force????????????? As to the long term with the exertion needed by a goalkeeper it has to be asked will this be a recurring problem?

West Brom were relegated in 2005 with 43 points highest tally to go down on so i would say yes we ARE still in danger of going down and unless the players realise sharpish get off thier arses and do something about it theres a good chance it will happen WE CANNOT AND MUST NOT RELY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF TEAMS BELOW US

At the moment i`ll agree Roeder cant attract the best players but all managers have to build a reputation and i think he is slowly doing this. This season he has had to cope with an horendous injury list, not complained about it once unlike Souness who winged on and on and he seems to get on with the players unlike Souness who told probably our best player at the time on day 1 he wasnt wanted. We are seeing players slowly emerge from the acadamy do we really need to spend millions on foreign players who are an unknown quantity? The way the Premiership is going its going to get tougher and tougher to reach the top unless we get a big money backer and the outcome of that is 50 quid a ticket to watch a game. Wait untill next season when HOPEFULLY we will have Michael Owen back if he pairs with MARTINS and we have the likes of Ameobi, Duff, Taylor, Parker and Butt all fit we just might go out and get somewhere.

Untill the day comes when some regulation is bought in to Transfer fees and players wage demands we are stuck with higher and higher ticket prices. Michael Owen on 100k a week and he`s been INJURED for god knows how long. Ronaldo demanding 160k a week its sheer lunacy. When a club is faced with demands like this and are having to fork out 20 million plus for a decent player what choice do they have other than to charge skyhigh ticket prices. Also you have to remember that London clubs probably face business rates around double what Newcastle probably pays. For the Premiership i think our charges are reasonable based on what other clubs charge. Having said that i think 25 pounds should be a maximum with prices starting at 15 pounds. i dont go to every game and cant imagine how those that do find the money, if you add going to away matches as well and possible hotel accomadation and thats before European games i reckon many of our supporters must be secret millionaires. Of course another factor you have got to take into account is the fact that clubs are on the whole managing more or less to fill the grounds. When they can do that while charging 50 quid a ticket they are hardly likely to reduce it.

While i admire Bellamy as a player and still think it was the wrong decision to sell him and i think he would be an asset we badly need i now think it would be a mistake to buy him back. We will never really find out what went on behind the scenes with all the stories about him and Shearer but no club should be a 1 man club which is really what we were when Shearer was playing. A fantastic ambassador for the club and the game dont get me wrong but while he was here all the talk was of Shearer { apart from the few weeks when we had a player with a Chester / Scouse accent called Michael Owen]. Now that Shearer has gone Bellamys head would be so big they would have to widen the doors and for me no matter how good a player is they should also be an asset to the club. I think we have found an ideal one in Steven Taylor dedicated to the club hardworking and modest. So yes i would have him back as a player but for me he simply has too much baggage which we can do without.

Well i have the misfortune to live by one and i definatly dont think my opinion of him is printable lets just say the police are regular viaitors. Having said that you cant tar them all with the same brush though ive yet to meet a decent one arrogance doesnt become anybody. Alan Hanson on MOTD sour loser instead of taking it on the chin like we do. Maybe its trumpet blowing but we have the reputation of the best travelling fans in the country we show the rest because we are the best.