Noelie

Had a $10 bet with a fellow Geordie that Owen would get injured in the England game and not be available for the Liverpool match. This tight-arsed fellow Geordie won't pay up until he sees the line-up for the scouse game, he must think he has a guardian angel and be expecting a miracle to save his money from transferring to my pocket.

Only 12 times? for fucks sake Mr. Gemmill, if I tripped up over the doormat two or three times it wouldn't take it happening twelve times to know I should watch where I'm stepping, lift my feet higher, get rid of the doormat, or nail the fucker down so I wouldn't keep tripping over it. Fact is, Enrique is a better left back than Zoggy, Zoggy plays best wide left. Milner plays best wide right. Beye is a better right back than Taylor, Taylor plays better in the middle. How many times does Sam have to trip up before he fixes the fucking problem? Nice analogy. Picking football teams is like avoiding tripping over doormats. If you can just avoid tripping, everything will be fine and you'll win. No no no Mr.Gemmill, picking football teams is not like avoiding tripping over doormats. It's like a question of how many times you commit the same error before you correct the error of your ways and get yourself into a winning way. Sam brought in Enrique, Cacapa, Beye, Rozenhal, Faye, and possibly Geremi to strengthen our dismal defence yet he puts Zoggy in at left back. Goals against at home 8, goals against away 10, brilliant. He needs to do something about that doormat before he falls flat on his face.

Only 12 times? for fucks sake Mr. Gemmill, if I tripped up over the doormat two or three times it wouldn't take it happening twelve times to know I should watch where I'm stepping, lift my feet higher, get rid of the doormat, or nail the fucker down so I wouldn't keep tripping over it. Fact is, Enrique is a better left back than Zoggy, Zoggy plays best wide left. Milner plays best wide right. Beye is a better right back than Taylor, Taylor plays better in the middle. How many times does Sam have to trip up before he fixes the fucking problem?

Wow!, judging by the number of times you have posted in this topic(8) I started Mr. Gemmill it would seem this one has been worth opening, never mind writing. Do I get a pat on the back?

Well I think I do And Jimbo forgot to mention he played Zoggy at left back, out of position, and not where he does best. I think the majority of us know that better than Sam. And anyway, why does he keep doing that when HE brought in Enrique who has proven(IMO) that he can do a decent job there. Zoggy is more of an attacking threat when he plays wide left than he is at left back. You don't have to be a nucleor-scientist to recognize that. AND, to play Taylor at right back, out of position, when HE brought Beye in to play that position would indicate(IMO) that he's lacking some know-how. Beye has proven he is a decent right back whereas Taylor is like a loose cannon subject to misfiring. Shall I go on? of course I will. Milner plays best wide right so why does Sam play him on the left? Sunderland's left back is not the fleetest of foot and Sam should know that and exploited it by pitting Milner against him. Milner is not the fleetest of foot either but he can get past people, more so when he plays wide right.

To be fair Mr. Gemmill, perhaps you're right in your assessment of my efforts, so in all fairness to you and the others who appear to think the same way you do, I promise never to start a new topic.

Because a new thread albeit based on my opinion separates the wheat from the chaff and expresses one persons thoughts out front rather than have them lost in an endless stream of comments which don't necessarily address a particular issue. Do you have a problem with someone starting a new topic because it doesn't suit YOU?

When I saw Allardyce's starting line up I knew the best team was not on the field. Any confidence I had in Big Sam was seriously eroded today. Why he would start Zoggy at left back rather than Enrique escapes any logic. Zoggy is best wide left. Why he would start Taylor rather than Beye also escapes any logic. Taylor is not a natural right back, Beye is, and Taylor is too ambitious in his getting forward leaving a hole at the back. Why he again played Milner on the left I'll never know. Milner does better wide right. Why he replaced Owen with Martins beats my imagination. Martins should have been brought on much earlier but for Barton. not Owen. Am I the only one who is unhappy with Big Sam's team picks and substitutions?

This is looking dire, better do something better in the 2nd half.

In MY lifetime? I'm afraid so. Probably 7 or 8 times but thankfully I was never there to see it In MY lifetime I've only ever been once to a Sunderland home game, that was at Roker Park and I only went to see George Best and Bobby Charlton and had been treat to a free ticket & ride.

How much time does he want? Mebbe the time he wants is time to find his magic wand which obviously has been lost, stolen, or hidden from sight.

I'm not sure he has shown enough accuracy in his passing and distribution of the ball to prove he could be a good creative midfielder.

Why of coarse I do Mr.Gemmill although it may seem I don't. I think it's as well to voice appreciation when someone helps you when it seems you can't help yourself.

.....gratitude to Bolton for keeping us in the top ten for another week. Their draw with the Hammers saved us from a further drop in the standings. C'mon Bolton.

Mine would be; ....................................Given(if he's fit) Harper if he's not. .........Beye.............Rozenhal.........Faye................Enrique ......Geremi..............Barton..............Emre..............N'Zogbia ...............................Owen .............Martins(or Viduka if he's fit) Subs. Milner Smith Cacapa Yaylor Foster I understand Geremi started out his career as a right winger.

......losing to the bottom of the league team and losing 4-1 at home is not a virtue and would try anyone's patience. My patience is brought to the limit when I see a so called successful manager like Allardyce; Play N'Zogbia on the right when everyone knows he's better on the left. Play Milner on the left when everyone knows he's better on the right. Take Enrique off to bring on Martins and move N'Zogbia to left back. Starting Taylor ahead of Rozenhal when Rozenhal is a more stable defender. Leaving Smith on after he's got a yellow-card therefore becoming a red-card waiting to happen. Starting Smith over Martins when Martins has been scoring goals. Waiting so long to bring Emre on. When you hire an experienced person to do a particular job you are hiring them for their prior experience in the field you are hiring them for and you expect them to show improvement in the workplace in a timely manner, not 2 or 3 years down the line as is being suggested by some. When you allow the new hire to bring in experienced people who have been working in the same field and have a solid background you expect to see an upgrade in the production and results almost immediately or you have to question your workforce and management as to why there is little or no improvement. Patience is a virtue, but I am losing mine!

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Yer kiddin', we canna defend at yhem nivvor mind away.

This is a joke isn't it? Allardyce said let them score 3 goals in 11 minutes, lull them into complacency, then have at them.

Me too, he had a talent for brilliance as did George Best but sadly, as with Besty, his talent was frittered away by his off-field behaviour.

The problem I see is with Scotland and Wales who apparently want to represent themselves as a country. That's all very well but as far as I know we have always competed in all sports at the Olympic Games as Great Britain. I know that in 1908 & 1912 we won Gold as Great Britain and somewhere down the line stopped sending a team. From my own little memory bank I know we had a Great Britain team in the 1948 London Olympics losing 3-1 to Yugoslavia in the semi-finals. Inccidently the goalkeeper was a Scotsman who became a hero at St.James' Park, our own Ronnie Simpson(a lot of you won't remember him)

So Noelie, with your wealth of experience and pedigree, what would you suggest? dissolution of the squad? retire Allardyce after 5 months in charge? I think this team is still finding it's feet, I think this squad is young enough and determined enough to provide a platform on which we can build success. I don't think Newcastle United is capable of a achieving a rapid and long lasting answer to the problem that's been systemic for the past 15 years or so. This is a time of rebuilding, but in modern society if the answer doesn't come now and wrapped in a lovely bow people aren't prepared to give it a chance. All I'm asking for is patience. NO Mr.Fish, even with my wealth of experience and pedigree I would not sugest a dissolution of the squad nor the retiring of Sam Allardyce but I would sugest that after 5 months combined with his years of managerial experience at Bolton Sam Allardyce should be capable of getting some sort of consistancy from his experienced players, especially the back 4 of Beye, Cacapa, Faye, and Enrique. He signed all four of them with Faye being one of his former players at Bolton and against Tottenham they were quite decent and hopes were raised even though they leaked one goal, but at Reading they were far from decent from the kick-off and leaked 2 goals, in fact they were abysmal from the kick-off. How much patience are you asking for? I've running out of patience and I'm running out of time, everyday above ground is a good day for me so I expect things to happen sooner rather than later.

You also Forgot Taylor, U21 Captain. but none of that matters as it's a team that wins titles, not 11 individuals. No I didn't forget Taylor, he didn't feature in the Reading match. But I believe it does matter Mr.Fish, I believe that players of this calibre, experience, and pedigree, shouldn't have any problem with performing as a team, after all they came from other teams therefore teamwork is not alien to them. In my opinion they have had more than enough time in games and daily practice sessions to get to know each other and perform a damned sight better as a team than they have been. Draw with Boro feasable, loss to Man.City acceptable, loss to Derby inexcusable, loss to Reading incomprehensible.

I certainly agree with that, especially when you consider that we have a team of players who have played for their country's National team and some approaching that status, and if you compare that against the Derby and Reading squads you have to ask "What the hell is wrong" Starting line-up at Reading. Given - Ireland national team. Beye - Senegal national team. Cacapa - Brazil national team. Faye - Senegal national team. Enrique - Spain under 21 national team. Emre - Turkey national team. Butt - England national team. Barton - England national team. Geremi - Camaroon national team. Owen - England - national team. Martins - Nigeria national team. Subs; Smith - England national team. N'Zogbia - France under 21 national team. Milner - England under 21 national team. I doubt very much that Derby or Reading even come close to having the pedigree our team has but they both BEAT US and you have to wonder WHY?

If he had brought in more than one Samba-boy then maybe a YES. But as he brought in a hodgepodge of different nationalities to add to the ones we already had and combine that with the style of play he endorsed for years at Bolton then NO I didn't expect Brazilian football from BSA. However I expected better than before but we seem to be sinking into the same pattern as before.