Noelie

Warrabootmelike

Gateshead used to be in Co.Durham until the powers that be changed the geograpy(the Bishops must be uneasy in the grave), so why is Steve Stone(Gateshead lad) playing for the Duke of Northumberland and not the Earl of Durham? And why aren't Gazza and Waddle(Gateshead lads) not playing for the Earl?

Guess you're too young to have seen Frank Brennan

YES, but not a great game. Pretty decent in the first half but didn't capitilize on the chances, second half was far from decent and I was beginning to think we were going to blow it, Thankfully the introduction of Emre and Owen seemed to give us a boost, maybe Emre could be the answer to our lack of creativity in the middle. I had anticipated that with Enrique at the back and Zoggy in front of him we would see a formidable attacking left side but it didn't happen, couldn't fathom why Milner spent so much time on the left side. I think Rozenhal and Cacapa are a better pairing, couldn't figure out why Rozy was on the bench. It was good to see Pattison absent from the bench and hope it stays that way as I don't rate him.

Czech this out, middle name Heor. Luka Heor Rozenhal. Congrats Rozy.

[quote name='MattM4' date='Oct 2 2007, 01:10 AM' post='388582' ................................. All radio coverage is blocked off to people overseas. There is truth in that, I've tried to get commentaries on BBC Radio 5 and it always indicates it's available only to UK listeners.

I find it interesting that you don't seem to think that new face Faye should be in the squad. Any particular reason for that?

Perhaps not dreadful doctor but not looking too good if you look at the chart. Patient Newcastle. Played 7 league games In 9th place. 11 points out of a possible 21. Won 2 at home. Drawn 1 at home. Goals for at home 4 Goals against at home 1 Won 1 away. Lost 2 away. Drawn 1 away. Goals for away 6 Goals against away 7. Lost 2 - 0 away in Carling Cup. I believe the patient needs a shot, I suggest the bum.

This is where I seem to be poles apart from the opinions of many people. I believe that if you bring in a large contingent of of players who have a lot of high-level experience yoo should expect to see rapid improvement. The addition of Geremi, Beye, Cacapa, Rozenhall, Faye, Smith, Viduka, Enrique, should be showing almost immediate improvement after replacing Carr, Bramble, Babayaro, Sibierski, Parker, Solano, and Dyer. Three losses, two draws, combined with letting in ten goals in the first eight games does not set my heart racing with excitement. And anyway, I might not be around in one or two years time, every day above ground is a good day for me, so I want them to get off the pot NOW.

I don't want people to misunderstand me, I'm not slagging Big Sam or anyone else for that matter as you can see in my opening comment, I'm merely pointing out that I don't think there is really much 'difference' in how we are faring now and how we fared last season. I appreciate that some time may be needed for some players to gel as a team, but how much time? I don't agree with this two or three years down the line, we're not talking about apprentices or beginners being groomed for greatness, we're talking about seasoned veterans who have been around the block a few times with the possible exception of Taylor, Zoggy, Milner and perhaps Martins and Enrique. Discounting Enrique, every player Big Sam has brought in since he joined us have years & years of experience in the top leagues in Europe so how long should it take these seasoned, high paid professional players to be moulded into a decent functioning team. C'mon, it only takes a few weeks to make a well-drilled, well-disciplined, fighting soldier, out of an eighteen year old kid from down the street who's never held a gun in his hand never mind fired one. Geremi, Rozy, Beye, Feye, Smith, Emre, Butt, Viduka, Owen, Carr, Babayaro, Given, Harper, are not apprentices learning the meaning of teamwork, and anyway some of them wont be around in one, two, or three years time so the time to gel and succeed is NOW!

Sure it does Mr.Patrokles but 7 league games, 1 Carling Cup game, and at least 3 pre-season games adds up to ten(10) matches

I was going to make that point about Man.City later Jimbo, they are indeed almost a mirror image with new manager, new players etc etc yet have done a lot better than we have so far. And about the 'differences' I nearly mentioned that losing to a bottom of the league team like Derby wasn't much different from last season either, we lost to lower placed teams then too. You are probably right about the gelling, I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.

......what are the differences to last season? It seems our defence is not really that much better, 5 goals against in the last two games is not too promising. We still don't seem to be able to hold on to a lead. The opponents still seem to always pose more of a threat going forward than we do. The midfield don't seem to be able to control the game, lack any kind of creative flair, and don't seem to have good attacking qualities or even defensive ones. What appeared to be a strength in strikers at the onset is already being decimated by injuries and the ones left to us are not imposing a consistant threat when they are getting the service. The manager's choice of starting line-up is a bit questionable, and his timing and use of substitutes is definitely questionable. So, in your opinion, what are the differences you see? Seven games into the season and we've already dropped 10 points out of a possible 21.

That maybe true Mr.Skol but half-decent is not good enough unless you adhere to the eternal optomist's view that the glass is half-full as opposed to half-empty.

Good question Dr.Gloom, why didn't Emre start today and if I might add, why didn't Enrique start today??

Aa shudda stayed in bed

Ye knaa these early kick-offs are for the birds, the early birds!! Aa'm ganna hev te be awake at fower thorty in the morning fer this one

I'm not an American so you can't mean me Mr.Gemmill, but Martins did try harder than Owen tonight unless Owen was on the nest bad groin an'all

Am following the match on ESPN soccernet gamecast. I know it's often behind time and not always accurate but it appears thay have already had 6 shots on goal in the 2nd half to our none. I guess it's safe to say we are definitely under the cosh.

Saw a bit of the Ajax match at the weekend, Luque came on about 10 minutes from the end and luqued to be his scintillating do nothing self and obviously hasn't got a starting berth with the tulip growers.

Wots gannin on heor, some sod pointin' oot spellin' differences like? Aa live across the pond as weel but aa've nivvor changed the way aa wus telt te spell in school. Used to get angry with secretary or typist when they changed my spelling in business letters they would type for me. I insisted that if I wrote labour or harbour with a 'u' in a rough copy then that's the way I wanted it typed and would have them do it again.

That's very gallant of him to delay surgery so he can represent England in the qualifying games but perhaps the gallantry should be directed towards Newcastle United. If he had the surgery immediately after our last game, prior to the International break, he would not miss as many of our scheduled games as the international break week would be part of his recovery time. Of course if he plays today and agravates his problem and needs surgery now, then that too would mean he would miss less games than if he had the surgery after the qualifying games.

Doctor whe

Thing that bothers me is that if Liverpool can score 6 and Arsenal 5 against Derby, why couldn't we score just 1 ffs!! Not too encouraging when we are supposed to be in good shape by way of a strike-force.

So young, heart-rending.