OTF

<shuts up>

Some people appreciate good defense, some don't.

I heard that as well and scoffed. Obviously they don't watch any/many matches in the Championship, widely evidenced by their own remarks that they only have a faint idea of the happenings in the lower leagues.

Fantastic point. Your average punter remembers goals, they're far and away the most memorable moments of games. Enrique was clearly the player in the side that was far and away the best player at performing his role. He was in control all season, played some good players out of games and linked up extremely well down the left. Got forward and contributed assists (should have honestly had more if it wasn't for some average finishing) and got off his duck as well. To rule him out of player of the year contention simply because he's a left back is absurd IMO. If you look at what Nolan has done, the goals he has scored have been great value, there's no denying that but many of them were part of team efforts where Nolan simply played a part in the goal. One important thing to consider is his contribution elsewhere on the park. Considering he played in the centre of midfield for much of the season, there was some areas of his game that were severely lacking. Most people will admit that if you take the goals out of his game, he's a pretty poor contributor. There was a patch midseason where he was absolutely horrible, and anyone watching games was calling for him to be dropped. In those matches the lack of contribution from Nolan was blatantly obvious, with the general feeling being that with someone else playing instead of him we'd have been much more likely to have won/drawn.

FYP. and all the professional footballers in the league who voted him their player of the season Wonderful point. However.... No doubt I'm sure all of the players, and nobody else jumped onto the following link to submit their votes for someone in another team who they couldn't give two hoots about. Football League Awards Player of the Year To top it off, guess who's missing from the available selections for Newcastle? ....and even Ryan Taylor cracked it for an auto spot! So, you were saying?

I'm personally shocked. My world is collapsing. I'm with you on the nature of the groups, Simpson, Carroll in particular stand out. Better off just lumping the lot into the grey area category to be honest, but then that's not much of a story.

FYP.

He's 18 in not too long, so hopefully not-withstanding injury we get to see a bit of him next season. Milner was playing the Premier League at 16, so there's no reason to discount his ability to do so on that basis alone. Like I said earlier it would be great to get him some time on the pitch at St James in front of a full stadium before the season is out, so that he can strengthen his bonds with the club, and Chris can show that he's a part of the plans for next season (which he definitely should be).

My mistake, I forgot that with Nolan every one of his important goals he dispossed the opposition, knocked a through-ball through for himself, dinked in the perfect cross then headed it home whilst the rest of the team stood by watching in awe.

Call me Chips, cause I'm with The Fish. Absolutely. Late Nolan/Carroll goals would have been for nil if our defense hadn't done their job and kept the amount of clean sheets they had.

The answer to the question is maybe.

Love how you included the goals in that comparison. Nolan was a passenger in a long series of games through the middle of the season, Enrique has been consistently good. Even in many of the matches where he scored, Nolan neglected some of the core duties he should have been performing. Sounds as though I'm being overly negative of Nolan, but I'm not. But no matter, by your reckoning if he hasn't scored loads of goals then he's not contributing to the team. Nevermind the 23 clean sheets that have been kept throughout the season. Nolan would be second best, I'd agree with that but it's typical of the press and the uneducated masses to discount the contribution of a player simply because of the position he plays in.

Keep him. That article is rubbish (goal.com who would have guessed) but it makes out like he started 3 games for our first team this season. I wish he didn't suffer the injuries this season as he could have properly featured or at least cameo'd in our first team. In fact in the last couple of games it might be worth at the very least including him in the 18 men and maybe popping him on late in a home game. Experiencing that first hand will surely increase his desire to stay at the club and play for the first team down the track. But, we shouldn't get our hopes us as if a sizeable offer did come in for him (and it won't be this year) then given Ashley's track record he'd sell him in a heartbeat and write it up as good business.

No Xunts pls. Scott Parker

Spot on. Nolan has been bloody important that's for sure but this season, particularly the early part, was built on good defense.

I have a Jabulani. It looks lovely. Better than the Finals version IMO. The new Nike ball is ugly.

That's a relief. You really had me worried there.

Have to agree with this about the performance, though it was hardly surprising as we always play like that when Hughton sticks a central player out wide (invariably they always end up coming back in and we have no width). Jonas was missed big time. It goes to show that if we have an injury to either Jonas or Routledge our width evaporates very quickly and we don't look half the team we are when we have a winger going down each flank. To me speaks volumes of where we need to recruit. Further options out wide are an absolute necessity. Anyway, great scenes after the match!!! Fantastic from Plymouth to accommodate our celebrations like that. A fantastic amount of support there. It was good to see the players getting involved in the celebrations, though a few of them looked a little worried . Jose Enrique rightfully mobbed, looked like he was having a great time, despite virtually being sexually assaulted by a number of supporters who couldn't wait to get the shirt off his back (I'm sure one of them latched onto him like a barncale to the bottom of a ship and wasn't going to let go till he got Jose's shirt .

Oh dear.

Well do something positive instead of moaning about it you fucking nob. Fair point. Here's a couple in rebuttal. NSFW: And just for you Stevie: PS - You can't spoiler tag images, and there appears to be no hide options.

you are correct, but unfortunately the PROFILE of the club was raised to something of the correct levels by the despicable and embarrassing Halls and Shepherd and has been lowered by the much wanted and celebrated replacement by them of Ashley. The profile certainly was raised under the Halls and Shepherd, however it also fell a long way from it's peak under them. Granted it has fallen significantly further in a significantly shorter period under Ashley. Chelsea and Man City are in the process of showing that all it takes is a few season of excellent performance for excellent players to want to play for the side. Once that happens the supporter numbers both in town, but more-so out of town will flourish. The downside to this is the number of wankers supporting your club increases ten-fold (if Chelsea and Manchester City are anything to go off).

It would have to be ignorance alone that sees someone shell out that amount of cash for Liverpool when they could pickup Newcastle for substancially less, and having invested just a part of the discrepancy between the two they would have a superior squad of players available, a bigger stadium, all in a one team city. The profile of LIverpool is currently bigger of course, but all it would take is a series of impressive seasons for that to begin to change. Many football fans are unfortunately fickle.

Fuck me, this thread turned to a pile of shit in an instant didn't it...

Long term for sure. You need to be setup to allow for some bumps along the way though. In 88-89 when we were relegated, in his third year at Manchester United the Alex Feguson lead side finished in 11th. The following year they only managed 13th, yet cooler heads prevailed and he kept his job. We all know how the story goes from there. Ultimately though the key is getting the right man in the job, giving him the resources required to do what he wants, at the same time investing in the youth and training facilities for long term benefit. TBH Ferguson took them to 2nd in 1987/88 and it's a well known fact that winning the FA Cup in 1989/90 saved him from the chop, so the SAF argument really is moot point. A result the other way in the FA Cup and chances are Man U wouldn't have equalled Liverpool's record for the most top flight championships. Aye, but it's not a moot point is it? It shows, regardless of the reason for keeping him on, that not sacking him for finishing 13th in the league was a good decision that ultimately contributed to a phenomenal run of trophies for the team under his stewardship.

Should definitely be aiming to win every match that is played, that's for certain (tough for clubs with managers like Sam Allardyce!) but to over romanticise it all and harbour a realistic aim to win the league is delusional in the current climate.