Bombadil

Owen took his goals superbly - we rode our luck after we went 1-0 up, but all in all it was a very good performance from our midfield especially. Solano, Emre and N'Zogbia all did well while Parker kept it all together again. Nice little cameos from Dyer and Shearer as well. I thought Boumsong did all right in the first half, but looked nervous in the second - was he injured when he was taken off?

I've always rated him. I thought he did very well with Chelsea pre-Abramovich and he doesn't get enough credit for what he did there. Not my first choice if I was chairman, but I definitely wouldn't mind him taking over.

Today's articles and quotes from him are absolutely hilarious, the man is like a parody of himself! On Boumsong: On Taylor: On Bryan Robson:

Pompey are 3-1 up - if it stays like that, Sunderland will be bottom of the table tonight.

Yes, because N'Zogbia's and Bowyer's corners are fantastic...thank God Emre and Solano are taking them now.

In a way this puts paid to the silly notion that if we sacked Souness, there would be no-one to replace him with. Just look at the list of potential managers bloody Hearts are attracting! At the end of the day it's down to Fat Fred not doing his job by only looking at the Kevin Kilbanes of football management. A club of Newcastle's stature can definitely attract better managers than Souness.

I don't believe for a second that Hitzfeld is interested in managing Hearts, but what is the hype about anyway? Why is the manager's post at Hearts suddenly made out to be the biggest job in football? It's still only the SPL, FFS!

Who ate all the pies?? Great to see Nobby back in the squad, hopefully he won't be too rusty after his injury.

Well Ranieri was on Goals on Sunday this morning saying he wants a move back into English football, and is just waiting for the right offer. A bad result next week, and he might not have too much longer to wait...and then it's not as dreamy a prospect of seeing them here. 46532[/snapback] The thought of that gibbon in charge of Newcastle is hardly an inspiring step in the right direction though is it? One for the "anything's better than Souness" crew IMO. 46556[/snapback] While Ranieri wouldn't be my first choice, I honestly believe he would do well here and be a massive improvement on Souness.

...but this really is getting beyond a joke. Solano, Dyer and Bramble are STILL out and now Babayaro is out with a torn groin. Apparently Solano will be back for the Mackems, but I would happily put money on him not making that game either. What a joke. Newcastle United must stagger on to confront Premier League shock team Wigan on Saturday with the heart still ripped out of their side. A disillusioned Graeme Souness confirmed today that Nobby Solano, Kieron Dyer, Titus Bramble and Celestine Babayaro will all be forced to sit out yet another fixture of an injury-wrecked season. And the best Souness is hoping for with Turkey midfielder Emre is a place on the subs' bench - if that isn't put in jeopardy in Albania tonight. "The whole thing is killing us," admitted the United boss, "but we just have to get on with it. "Titus is out with a hamstring injury - he has no chance - and neither has Babayaro because of a torn groin, so Robbie Elliott comes back into the frame. "Dyer is still a couple of weeks away from a comeback. It's been a disaster for him and a disaster for us all season. "The good news is that Solano is to step up his training. His target is the derby with Sunderland a week on Sunday. "Thankfully Craig Moore is training normally after his problems and Emre should be available to us at Wigan providing Turkey don't force him into something unwise tonight. He's with them under strict instructions to be sensible but they'll put immense pressure on him. "In any case he won't start for us. We're looking to use him off the bench. "We've all these problems and other players at risk in tonight's internationals. It's frightening." It's more than that - it's outrageous. Both Emre and Dyer have been out for six weeks since their comebacks against Manchester United on August 28 ended prematurely and Solano, signed on transfer deadline day at the end of August, has yet to make his debut. Once again all hope of a mass comeback on Saturday following a two-week period of inactivity due to the internationals has spectacularly failed to materialise. Elliott, given a new contract in the summer, will now make his first Premiership start of the season after going on at half-time for the injured Babayaro at Portsmouth and centre-half Moore, who has yet to make his league debut, will be on the subs' bench covering Jean Alain Boumsong and Steven Taylor. Michael Owen, who missed the Fratton Park draw with a dead leg, is one of those at risk tonight when he skippers England against Poland at Old Trafford. Souness said: "Like our supporters I know we've got a very good team but I've never seen it play. I've played Emre and Albert Luque for just a game and a half and Solano not even once. "Emre is a cracking little player who will make us play and at least his impending return is a help. He'll go forward instead of across and back." The Magpies go to Wigan on Saturday, then are at home to Sunderland, away to West Brom and home to Birmingham. Souness said: "Those matches would represent a great opportunity with a full team. We'd be knocking on the door. "However, we've got to still make the best of it and get as many points as possible while waiting for others to return." Source: Evening Chronicle.

That was awful, they seemed to be there for the taking but we've thrown away another two points.

Shearer against the wall... I'd rather N'Zogbia tried to curl them.

What action?

Fucking hell, this sounds every bit as bad as the first half at Blackburn.

Parker playing on despite apparently carrying an injury...

Doesn't sound that way on Radio Newcastle like. Although they are canny biased, but it just doesn't sound remotely like a game where either team is getting a "right doing". 41642[/snapback] Pompey are definitely the better side though.

Fulham 1-0 Man Utd, nice one.

Still better than Portsmouth's though. None of their outfield players playing today have scored this season (admittedly not many of ours have either). 41625[/snapback] True. On paper (!) we should still be too good for them.

Unbelievable. What a complete joke. I'm absolutely pissed off, why does this always happen to us?!

According to the Guardian and the Times, Owen suffered a dead leg in training, which shouldn't prevent him from playing for England (who gives a shit?), but makes him a serious doubt for today. Dyer has apparently broken down again with another hamstring injury, what a joke.

If he keeps playing well and scoring goals, the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and ManU will be under a lot of pressure to buy him, not least from the media who must still be gutted he came to Newcastle in the first place and didn't end up at one of their beloved teams.

Exactly. The media must be gutted – first Owen goes to Newcastle instead of Liverpool and then their beloved Spurs give us £7m to “rescue England ace Jenas from his nightmare”. Brilliant.

I've read that supporters who came to the ground wearing violet shirts and scarves were turned away and told to wear something else, and basically that triggered the crowd trouble. It's absolutely unbelievable and you can't blame the suporters for that.

If that's true, then that's absolutely disgraceful and it shows just where the unprofessional attitude surrounding the club really comes from.