CaliMag

A "Zenith" coloured Goalkeeping jersey... Source: http://www.soccerpro.com/acatalog/Adidas_U...sey_Zenith.html

Are you watching the Australian version of Newcastle United? 65423[/snapback] Are they managed by an incompetent Scottish tosser as well? 65424[/snapback]

Are you watching the Australian version of Newcastle United? 65423[/snapback] No, why do you ask?

I never thought Faye was a world beater but he is better than Butt and on the whole I would have him in our team under a different manager. He did well at Pompey with a simple job - tackle everything in sight and break up play. He can NOT pass beyond 5 yards. He was never asked to do this at Pompey but he comes here and Souness wants him to be able to make 20 to 30 yard passes perfectly timed toward our strikers. As expected he invariably gives the ball straight back to the opposition. Souness has gotten the message from our dismal attempts at the long ball though (and it only took him a dozen league games to suss this out) - so now we are trying to use our wide men more in moving the ball around midfield - after another dozen games or a new manager this might work.

Hey all, Still at work, but I'll be off in three hours (Pacific Time). Then down to meet the missus and 4 year old daughter at the local Harbour where we will go kayaking for an hour or so - after that we are supposed to meet up with my mother-in-law for tea, then probably an early night's rest - busy weekend ahead. This will be the first weekend I will not get to see NUFC's game (all other have been televised over here or I was in Newcastle). I am disappointed, but on the other hand not watching us lose to blackburn will probably extend my life a bit.

Bellamy. Shearer can win the ball in the air but he is no longer able to do anything with it - he would be better use in the midfield if that's what we want. Also what was the point of buying EMre and Luque if we were not going to be playing it on the ground. As it is our first choice midfield is too short to compete in the air.

Optmistic Nut [sMACK!!] That was me slapping your wrist for suggesting the 3-5-2. Again living up to your name I suppose, but consider this for a moment... Carr is slow and does not run back but instead looks sternly at the other defenders and points fingers. Baba is also slow, but thinks he is fast and often gets caught out getting beat by a winger or wide man routinely long enough for them to deliver a quality cross (at least he does not degenerate to cheating the way Carr does). IF we played a 3-5-2 we would either be even more bereft of service for our forward shwoing absolutely NO creativity or possession for that matter OR Carr and Baba go running up the sides in an attacking formation and completely expose our back line which would be even more perilous if tehy had a pacey forward... and tehy do. Either way playing a 3-5-2 would be the same as handing Blackburn three goals. We are so f*cked. I am totally despondant just thinking about this game.

"I live for drugs" - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult "Running with the Devil" - Van Halen "Waiting Room" - Fugazi "When the Levee Breaks" - Led Zepplin I was tempted to write "DO IT!" by Henry Rollins... but that song just doesn't do it for me. Black Flag was better with 'Chavo' Reyes anyway.

1995 Champions League winner (Ajax) 1998 Champions League winner (Real Madrid) 2003 Champions League winner (Milan AC) and 2005 Champions League Finals (Milan AC) 27365[/snapback] Aye, but since he was not born in Sunderland he didn't have to overcome being a makem did he? Bit of a head start and hardly a fair comparison IMO.

Hands up who would be bothered if Alan played us the way Owen supposedly did with Liverpool but we had just won the Champs League without him? Yeah, I thought not. The bitterness you get from the supporters of those who wear red always astounds me. Spoiled children the lot of them. Its the same when you hear them talk about Chelsea - you would have thought some bully just stole their lunch money.

This will be a good test for us to see how far we have come. Despite what many may think we are on par with Fulham in our style and ability. This is a team that relies on two hard working strikers that are both past their sell by date - but they occassionally get scrappy goals through a very physical style of play. They also have a hard working midfield that seems to have some ability to break play up a bit but is often unable to pass the ball beyond five yards (sound familiar). And Carlos Bocanegro makes up for his lack of skill and pace by cheating (I am looking at you Stevie Carr). The biggest difference for us will be Owen and Scotty Parker who are better than what they have. Now lets see if Souness can make this work. I am afraid he is going to try to just physically intimidate them and beat them into submission, which will be a mistake. Everton tried this and they are the kings of this old skool type of play but they still lost 1-0. The other funny thing about Everton getting beat by them is the fact that Fulham lined up with Radzinski and McBride - you would have thought that Everton's defenders would know how to play against these two. BTW this game will be televised in North America with a 4 hour delay. Counting the hours...

Just out of curiosity... What is the threshold for the "Give Souness More Time" Brigade for this list of fixtures? What do you think would be acceptable or not? You can list total points or what place on the table we should be at. Gemmil is exempted from responding because he can't give any opinions until he reads the Harry Potter books.

Lazarus - You get the honesty award for the month. I had convinced myself that this was going to be a pictuire of the Beckhams' cat. I SALUTE YOU!

People want Newcastle to end up like Leeds eventhough we have little in common other than spending a great deal without winning trophies. More of the same media shite. I don't care if it was a scouser who said it - its more of the same "they're Northern therefore they're thick" rubbish. If Spurs had spent this kind of money do you think the media would be gleefully predicting them to end up like Leeds? No of course not. Did they ever say that about Chelsea - eventhough Ken Bates amassed zillions in debt? "Don't believe the hype."

Pleasantly surprised as well. I am also relieved that these deals have come off so that when we end up in mid-table mediocrity everyone will agree that we need to sack Souness and all of our physios including Paul Winsper (who in my opinion should have been sacked years ago). I do not believe we were punching above our weight for two seasons. That is utter rubbish. The table does not lie. We deserved fouth place in 01-02. SBR has a method that he sticks to and he made it work. He had some glaring weaknesses but it worked for him at Ipwich, England, and the three other countries he managed in . The top teams are weaker today (except Chelsea) than they were three years ago. The team we have now is stronger than the one we had in 01-02. The Chairman has fully backed the manager, we are not in Europe - there are no excuses. I will be astounded if Souness can manage to do something with this team (and I certainly hope he does). At the moment I think just about any other manager in the Premiership could achieve success with this starting XI... and by success I mean a trophy and/or a top 4 finish.