Hmmm....Results, please?

Look, I'm not going to be one of the fickle Newcastle fans who start calling for the manager's head the minute a string of bad results come our way. And I fully realize that the man's only been in charge for a week or so and that is just NOT enough time to completely turn a side around. And I fully understand that the last two games have both been against Arsenal, one of the top sides in the league, AT EMIRATES, which is practically impossible to pull results from. And I know half of our squad has either been injured, suspended, or on African Cup of Nations duty for the entire time King Kev's been at the healm. And I'm literally the first guy to tell you that the football we've played since his arrival is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better to watch than the muck that we displayed under Big Fat Sam.

But scoring a goal would be nice, no?

There are some good things:
We've played some good footy against Arsenal, the team who usually teaches class on the football pitch about playing the ball quickly on the floor, and playing beautifully. We went into Emirates and didn't try to draw with them, we tried to attack, we went forward, we risked exposing ourselves at the back. Unfortunately, that's exactly what we did and we got battered, 3-0, twice in four days. So no, that doesn't feel to rosey. But we gave it our all, and everybody in world can see that we're a reinvigorated side, and when we play some teams who AREN'T the best team in the world, we might just score a goal against them.
We've got some easier matches coming up(but not really), with Middlesboro first at home, then Villa away(tough), then Man U at home. It's a good progression of matches, where boro is a real litnus test. If we can't get 3 against boro at home, we've got some problems. Then, Villa away will be a real test, as they've been playing really well recently. Then, obviously Man U is a tough one, but it's at home, and we typically get up for big teams(ehem....except for maybe Arsenal).
We've been picking up some fantastic back-room guys, some really respected football men. These kinds of people have been badly needed, as Mike Ashley and Chris Mort are both business men, brilliant as they are, but without the necessary knowledge of the game to take us far enough. We've been looking at some great young talent, and signing some, and there's hope that we'll get a great young prospect in Gilles Barnes from Derby in the next 24 hours, before the winter window closes.

The bad news:
We've still got players away on African duty, and it looks like Nigeria is going to progress so that means Martins won't be back for another week - at least.
The players we have JUST ARENT GOOD ENOUGH. Just look at our midfield. Butt is crap. Look. He just is. Over and over and over and over again, he plays poorly in the middle. The guy can't live off of his fairly positive Man U reputation until he's 70. He passes crap, he shoots crap, he gives away way too many fouls, he doesn't track back, he rarely marks men (his only real job) good enough, the list goes on and on. Milner can't pass into the box to save his life. N'Zogbia doesn't have a good position that he can stay at for more than a game, because he's the only player good enough to fill in for anybody on the pitch. Duff is decent the the man has no right foot. Literally. He's got a big lead weight hanging off of his right leg which he puts a shoe on just for shits and giggles. Barton is a criminal. Full stop. Emre is the only chance we have at creativity but he apparently doesn't like to play the game, since he gets so many match bans. It seems like when there's the slightest opportunity of a chance, something else goes wrong and throws the whole thing out of balance.

But look - if we Geordie supporters can stay behind this damn team for once, in a couple years we're really going to have something exciting to be cheering for, and I really believe that. Mort is setting some wicked foundations for a new era at Newcastle United Football Club, and all we need is patience to see it through. Oh - and we need not to be relegated. That would help. A lot.



Here's a little line from a song by Glen Hansard, called "When Your Mind's Made Up" which can be found on the beautiful "Once" soundtrack, which reminds me a bit of what it's like to be a Newcastle supporter:

So, if you ever want something
and you call, call, then I'll come runnin'
to fight-and I'll be at your door-
When there's nothing worth running for.

Kevin Keegan - New Newcastle Manager

Well after the pomp and dramatics of the Keegan appointment have worn down, and his first premiership match has come and gone with much of the same that we saw under Sam Allardyce, it's time to give a level-headed opinion on the new era which is beginning at Saint James Park.

I use the word "Era" because that's what the directors at NUFC see it as, and what the supporters see it as as well. When Ashley and Mort came in and took over from Fat Freddie Shephard, most Newcastle supporters viewed it as FINALLY a light at the end of the tunnel. Freddy had been running the show for a number of years, making decisions without football, but money, and money only, in mind. So when Ashley bought the club, after the initial wonder of "who the crap is this guy" wore off and we began to really trust him, it was a huge sigh of relief. They brought in Mort, who was great at talking to the media, and great at connecting with the football side of things. While we were never truly content with Big Sam, a new trend began to emerge, which was trying to rebuild our youngsters and make Newcastle United a force for the future. You see, for the number of years under Fat Freddy, we were known for buying players who were well past their prime, only interested in a final fat payday before they retire for good. So any interest in our young players at all was a nice change. But the strange thing was, while all that was going on, Sam was bringing in all these foreign players who weren't familiar with the English game and they never really settled yet this year. So as it turns out, Sam was running the signings of the first team (who were crap) and Chris Mort was doing the research of the youngsters. So now, barring a few pimples in our first team squad (namely: Joey Barton), the only remaining evidence of poor management from the top by Freddie Shephard was the one and only Big Fat Sam Allardyce.

Mike and Chris thought about WHEN they would Axe BSA for a while. But the final conclusion was this: When he DOES go, whoever will take over will have a transition on his hands. So would we rather scrap the rest of this season and give the new guy a half year to transition, or do we give Sam until the end of the season and let this year be a failure and next year be a transitional one, and wait until 2009-2010 to really compete? Yes, while we all think it was a bit harsh for Sam to be let go only 1/2 season into his first term at Newcastle, looking at the big picture, this was a better business decision and truthfully has put the Geordie nation a bit at ease. Not only do we have the man that we wanted running the show, who will get much more time than Big Sam just for being one of our own, but we've got a 1/2 season where we can easily sit back and say - we're shooting for midtable - so these games are purely about progression of quality.

So, now that we've got the timing out of the way, the appointment. King Kev. KK. Mr. Kevin Keegan. Keegan was first a player with Newcastle in the nineties and was a offensive midfielder or a striker. Newcastle was the last club he played for, and only was there three years. Before Newcastle, had been at Livepool, Hamburg and Southampton. He was a bit of a pretty boy and liked to show off the talent and scoring prowess that gave him the known role as one of the best footballers in English history. He was massively popular in Newcastle, and on his final match after announcing his retirement, he scored a goal for the Black and Whites, then after the match, he took off on HELICOPTER from St. James Park in a over-dramatic farewell. After a stint living like a hermit in Spain with his wife, he came back to coach for Newcastle, where he won promotion and was hero of the NorthEast until Freddy Shephard came in and changed the way business started being handled. Kev wasn't too please so he moved on. Then was Fulham, followed by the England job, followed by Manchester City. After Newcastle, his managerial career slowly wound down, so most people outside of the North East remember him for his less successful managerial positions rather than his very successful Newcastle one. So we'll see how he bounces back.

Obviously the major discussion in this one is the fact that in some ways, Newcastle are reverting BACK to past glory. But at least for me, who came into the Newcastle family well AFTER Keegan had left, I like the appointment and it makes me incredibly excited to bring someone known for attacking football into the fold. Newcastle used to be known all over England for their attacking flair. They were everyone's "second team" because even those who didn't live in the North East would love to watch Keegan's brand of all out attacking and skill-based play. The crowd was known for being incredibly behind the team because even if the team lost, you would consistenly see football that was exciting, and every player would be out their giving their all every minute. Basically, since Shephard came into the fold, this has slowly kept disappearing until finally, Shephards final and most notable aquisition was the appointment of Sam Allardyce, who is known the the exact OPPOSITE of attractive football. Sam was actually known for and PROUD OF his style of defensive, gritty, slow-paced, long-ball play. So when the fans got a view of this being played on Saint James' Park, they were none too please. The immediate shift back to the Keegan style is relished by the entire Geordie faithful, including yours truly.

However, he also brings with him some peculiar problems.

1) He's been working in a "football circus" for the past three years with kids, and has admittedly not seen a live football match in England for that entire time. Could restrict him a bit when trying to adjust to today's game and in the transfer market, looking at players who he's never seen play.

2) His offensive style was basically what began Newcastle's terminal shambles in defense. Sam was supposedly brought in to remedy this, and we are all hoping that Keegan will pay at least SOME attention to the defense rather than reverting back 100% to attackattackattack. His first (rumored) transfer is calming us on this front, being Jonathon Woodgate from Middlesboro. While a bit old and injury prone, he's one of the best center backs (or wing backs) in the game and they know each other well, he and Keegan.

I think at best, we can hope for a top 9 finish this season, but more importantly, this season is all about proving to the players, the manager, the board, and the fans, that we intend on attacking and playing attractive football and once Keegan gets a 1/2 season under his belt and a bit more money in the war chest for the summer, that we all can have something really wonderful to look forward to in 08/09. Next year, no matter what happens this year, we will want to shoot for a top 6 spot. Period. No reason not to. 09/10: Top four. It's ambitious, but this is what Keegan is all about.

I think at worst, we'll realize that his optimism isn't tactical enough for the new, transforming game of the 21st century, and he'll end up like he did in Fulham and Man City, with his head in his chest. This is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, so if things DONT go well, it could be a quick road into a downward spiral.

My prediction is that Keenan will bring the flair back to the Magpies, you can count on that. This season will see VERY few results and I'm guessing we'll end up in a similar position as if Sam were still here - I'm going with 13. But next season, we'll end up 7th and players will begin to show the determination that Keegan is known for. As long as its fun to watch Newcastle again, I honestly don't mind if we don't play European football for a couple of years. Just give me something worth getting up at 6am on a Saturday for.

KING KEV!!!

You're damn right this is Newcastle's new manager!!!

More to come...

Allardyce OUT!!!

Well to be honest, I can't really believe I'm typing this so soon. All you readers will know that I, like most other Toon fans, were never shy to point their finger at the manager and say that "it's all your fault" and think that if ANYBODY knew how to turn the Newcastle season around, it's ME! (Or Alan Shearer, of course) But hopefully all you readers will also know that I tried to be as fair as possible with the man, look at things from a central point of view. I DID want Sam to stay for a full season. Not because I thought he would ever turn things around and start a successful, long campaign as manager, but just so that every other supporter wouldn't have just cause to laugh in all of our collective faces. Again.

Well, clear those throats, because once again, NUFC have become a worthy laughing stock of English football. After just 24 games in charge, Sam Allardyce has gotten the SACK.

So, first I'll go with my emotional thoughts on his sacking, then we'll switch over to the actual FACTS of the sacking, where I'll explain precisely WHY the man has been read his marching orders, and then I'll go with who I'd like to see take over.

Sam's Sacking - to be honest - when I heard - I was OVER THE MOON! I don't really know why. For sooooo long now, I have wanted to support the man. I've desparately tried to give him credit, look into his eyes and see the logic there. Look, he did wonders at Bolton. So why can't he do it here? Are we REALLY that destined to lose? I just couldn't believe that this guy couldn't inspire these players to put together some better performances. At the beginning of the season, it was just bad luck. Oh, a couple bad matches - give everybody time to gel. They're a brand new family! Then a few more bad matches - man, these PLAYERS must not be fitting in right...maybe it's because they don't speak English well - Then a few MORE AWFUL matches, and it's WHATS THIS MAN DOING? Playing N'Zogbia at left BACK when he's our only threat to score? Playing Milner on the left when even my two cats know that the boy can hardly WALK because his left is so weak? Feeding every ball to our forwards in the air when two of them are BARELY cracking the 5-foot mark, and the other hasn't made a successful chest trap in his life? What's going on here? EVERY Newcastle supporter thought they could put out a better side than this man, and as it happened - every Newcastle supporter was right. So when I heard the news, it was more of a sense that we've put this poor guy to pasture. He didn't like Newcastle, we didn't like his style of play, no wins were coming in, so let's just cut ties now. And we did. And I smiled.

Now, here are the facts:

1) Sam Allardyce was hired by FREDDY SHEPHARD. NOT Mike Ashley and Chris Mort.

1b) Freddy Shephard is a buffoon.

1c) Mike Ashley and Chris Mort are homosapiens - and VERY intelligent ones at that. One's a brilliant businessman, and the other's a brilliant football man.

Therefore, Sam was not in the family of these two.

2) Sam DID inherit a train-wreck of a squad. Injuries, awful players who were here only for a paycheck, infighting, blah blah blah. But when Mike and Chris came in, he got a load of money to spend. Who did he buy? First: Joey Barton. See previous post. Later: Cacapa (bad buy) Rozenhal (bad buy), Geremi (bad buy), Smith (horrible buy), Faye (pretty good buy), and Beye (fantastic buy). Also were some really exciting youngsters - but we believe that had more to do with Mort than Allardyce. It was clear, especially once we started losing, that Allardyce wanted FIRST TEAM players, to save his butt. Not 16 year olds who wouldn't step foot onto SJP until 2010.

3) The fans hated him. And this wasn't because we were losing (although this didn't help) or even that we were losing to DERBY (again - not helping). They hated him because he played awful-looking football. Since nufc haven't won a GOD DAMN THING since Antiquity, the style of football is very very important. If it's not nice to watch, it's worthless. Of course, if you win something with being ugly - you've got a chance - but you BETTER WIN. PERIOD. Didn't happen. And once this season was history in terms of winning anything, fans started to look at the future....do we really want to give this guy 5 years to build?

3b) The fans also hated him because they believe Newcastle are a massive club. (I freaking LOVE that line.) And in terms of gates, they are. Pulling in over 50,000 fans every match for 10 years is nothing to spit at, when your team is a piss poor as the Toon were most of that time. Well, the numbers don't lie, and this past match against Man City was the FIRST TIME they didn't get 50,000. Anyway, with this size of pocketbook, people rightfully expect the expectations to be high with the coaches and staff, and players alike. And Sam came in saying all the right things, but the football which he produces was VERY clearly mimicking what he built at Bolton. And what did he build at Bolton? A frustrating, nullifying squad based on cheap players and ugly tactics. Is that all we can expect when the man gets 30,000,000 pounds to spend every year? I hardly think so.

Now, here's what going down. Does anybody else think this is weird timing? The man keeps losing, and losing and losing and losing to AWFUL teams, and at home, and giving up 3 goals in 8 minutes, and he keeps his job. Then, out of nowhere, after he switches to a 4-4-2 like everybody wanted, and after the football started to actually look half-decent, and after he gets CHEERED off the pitch at Stoke in a match which we could have easily lost, he gets canned. Strange? I think so. Which is why I believe his successor is obviously already lined up. The time came now because it was right for the NEW GUY. The time's been right for Sam to go since early November. As I said before - Mike and Chris aren't fools. They're actually near geniuses. They're not going to wake up one day and say - ahhhh screw it. I think I'll fire him today. This has been thought about, discussed, weighed in more ways that we can ever think. Ashley's in this for the long haul, and for the BIG money, and he KNOWS that steady success is the only way to build an empire. (So while "Newcastle" has had what will soon be 8 managers in 11 seasons, "THIS Newcastle" is still in its infancy.)

A lot of people are saying it'll be Harry Rednapp because someone, somewhere said the new guy will be an English manager who's currently in the premiership. I think that's garbage and don't believe it. Anyway - what, do you think Mike and Chris saw the papers when Barton got his arse thrown in jail and said "Hey - THAT'S what we need more of around here: CRIMINALS!! LET'S HIRE DIRTY 'ARRY!" Don't think so.

Some are saying Jose Mourinho. Honestly, at first this is who I wanted - but then I thought about it - hmmmmmm Sam gets the can because his football is ugly - so why would we hire someone who's (only arguably) BETTER at playing ugly football?

Some are saying (God help us) McClaren. He failed at MIDDLESBORO. Yes, he failed. Oh yeah, he took a bad team to the finals of the UEFA Cup. Anyone who uses that as an excuse for his brilliance obviously didn't watch any of those matches that Middlesboro won. Full stop. Then, he failed with England, quicker than any English coach in the past 50 years. It's funny - think of how much people hated Sven - and then think of how much he's respected in Club soccer. Now inverse that and think of little McClaren is disrespected at both levels - and then think of him going to the boiler room of Newcastle United. uuugghghgghghhhghghrrrr

A LOT of people initially said Shearer - but this is an easy one. Come on, folks. Ashley's a businessman. Is he going to hire somebody out of high school to run a fortune 500 company? Don't think so. Could Shearer be the future of NUFC? Yeah, sure. Could he be a good team coach since he knows the pressure and atmosphere up there? Most definitely. But manager? Hold your horses, folks.

Who's left? Lippi, Van Gaal, Hitzfeld, Flores, Houllier, Hughes, Hiddink, O Leary, Keegan. And let's not forget good old RAFA BENITEZ - who should be available come next Monday...

So if you ask me who I want? The answer would be Mourinho because I'm narcisistic that way. But who do I THINK will get it? I hate to say it - but it might be Hughes of Blackburn.

Who would I be happy with? Mourinho, Scolari, Lippi, Keegan(for all the 60 year old die hards out there), maybe Rednapp, Rijkaard, or Hiddink!

Who not happy with? Lippi, Houllier, Hughes, O LEARY (hate that guy), McClaren.

Watch this space - because I have a feeling we're going to know very soon.

In the meantime - I wish you well, big Sam. I hope you enjoy your director's position at Bolton, or taking another poor team to a modestly wonderful height. You did your best at Newcastle - and unjustly, it just wasn't enough. Another one has officially bitten the dust at this MASSIVE club of ours.

Footy and Politics

A couple of big events going on recently.....

The FA Cup third round was this weekend and although there were a big handful of upsets from lower-level teams dismissing premiership teams, I'm happy and proud to say that Newcastle WERE NOT ONE OF THEM!!! WOOHOOOO!! YIPEEEEE!!!

But we didn't win, either.

We played out a pretty exciting 0-0 draw, and looked fairly balanced in doing so. Yes, we played Stoke City, a Championship division club, but let's keep this in mind - they're fourth in the Championship, and rising, and they've got some great players on their squad and had a boat load of confidence coming into this game, and it was a tough away tie. Some other positives - LuaLua, our 17 year old midfield starlet got a run out, Duff played really well, Owen played for a full 90 in the pouring rain, no injuries, some nice, quick ball along the floor, and Sam is still in a job. Now the bad news - IF we win the replay at St. James Park, the only thing we have to look forward to is Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Why is our luck so poor??? Oh, and for a great opinion piece on Big Sam's trouble at Newcastle (written much better than I could ever dream of) go HERE.

Another thing, is that I've recently downloaded the demo for and have fallen head over heels for a little game called "Football Manager 08." It's all the rage in the UK, and REALLY hasn't hit the pop culture here in America yet. The most constant comment I've heard about this game is how addicting it is. Well, the same evening after downloading the demo, and 2 hours - 8 minutes later, I can agree. (And I'm not sure if I'm done for the night yet....)

And finally - the ever-so-wonderful American Presidential primaries. It looks like Obama is well on his way after all of Edwards' votes are going his way, and Hillary can't stop shooting herself in the foot. (hence the tears today. Shooting yourself in the foot hurts, people.) The Republican race is actually the more interesting one (please, forgive me for saying that) since it's still very much up in the air and everywhere you go in the country, people have such polar opinions. (Hmmm....if the Republican candidates even polarize their OWN party's voters this much, think of what'll happen if another one gets in the White House....Lord, help us) Huckabee can only get votes from crazy evangelical christians, Giuliani can only get votes from 70 year olds who are still playing tapes of CBS on September 11th, 2001, Romney apparently can't get votes from ANYBODY, and apparently, Ron Paul can only get votes from Democrats, so he's kind of dead in the water....so looks like the only one who's got a chance is John McCain, but WHO KNOWS? I mean, in the end it won't really matter much because none of them can touch Obama OR Clinton OR Edwards.

Yep. It gets worse.

Actually, that title's a bit of a misnomer. In all fairness, the boys played better (on the whole of the evening) than they have in the past couple weeks, and Sam came out with a 4-4-2 formation for the first time in a long while. They kept the ball on the floor because the wind was howling in their faces for the first half, and they proved that they can move the ball quickly and efficiently if they put their minds to it.


First half:
We created a load of chances, had many nice set ups to goal. In the middle third of the field, we clearly won most of the battles. They were battling, winning loose balls, setting up nice plays up the middle and on the sides, and usually putting in a lot of decent crosses. Zogs was immense coming forward, and I'm almost starting to like him at left back because he's so quick and dedicated, he can drive forward and set up offenses and at the same time, get back and cover the defense fairly well. (It's still obvious he's not a natural left back, though. So when serious defending is needed, he's a sore thumb. But when we're on the attack, he basically creates opportunities which wouldn't be there if we had a more natural defender in there.)

The defense was also solid. There was one time when Cacapa (again) made a bad pass and almost let them in, and there was the other time when they scored the goal (but that was mainly Butt's fault for not tracking back enough) but the goal was a phenomenal shot and a beautiful piece of football and FINISHING (we'll get to the purpose of the all-caps in a moment).

So the defense and midfield was solid, but every time the ball came into Oba, or any time one of our mids tried to finish the play, there was ALWAYS a poor touch after an initially optimistic setup. Oba was just dreadful. He and Viduka both played with spirit (and I was surprised how much Duke was running today keeping in mind how cold it was) but they just can NOT put the ball in the net! I can't understand it. Lack of confidence? Dissolution (vis-a-vis a Randy Moss in Oakland)? Whatever it is, it needs to stop quickly, because we should have been up 3-1 instead of down 1-0 at halftime.

The other thing that needs to be brought up is the CONSISTENT lack of luck and bad calls coming our way. Last week, we lost the match SOLELY because of the poor linesman (okay, and maybe a couple bad substitutions by Sammy (more on that later)), and this week, there were a few REALLY bad calls that went our way. 1) Duff was called offsides on a play where he wasn't. Here's the thing - in the same play, he was taken out when he was clear on goal. So we were called for a bad offsides, when it should have been a direct kick and a red card. This was in the first half - would have REALLY changed the atmosphere of the match. Then, Elano CLEARLY went for Faye's body and not the ball - received a yellow rather than a red. If it were Butt or Barton (or any other "bad boy") he would have gotten the red. But he's got a fairly clean reputation - but no matter: A dreadfully poor and potentially dangerous tackle is a dreadfully poor and potentially dangerous tackle, and deserves RED. Being one of their best players on the pitch, that would have also massively affected the outcome of the match.


Second Half:
Sam must have told the lads just to give up because that's basically whate we did in the second half. After an initial burst of confidence by a near miss by Michael Owen (who came on for Oba - a wise decision in my opinion - but where MO made up for Oba's lack of finishing ability he let down in the speed department and that really hurt us when he partners up with Mark "Molasses" Viduka), we dropped our heads and basically phoned in the rest of the match. Now - up until this point, you'll notice I've not criticised Big Sam ONCE. He put out a good squad in a good formation. I wouldn't have started Butt (let alone given him the arm band - Beye clearly deserves it) but that's just one decision. But then, for some unknown reason, he decides to put on Enrique (a defender who deserves to be starting). It's good that we got to see him, and I understand that he was able to move N'Zogbia up to midfield (where he really belongs) and take out Duff who's still only becoming match-fit. But A) he took off Faye (who was IMMENSE all game and almost deserved MOTM for me) instead of Butt who is a DEFENSIVE-ONLY mid and we needed a goal and had been having a shocking game. Shocking. B) once Duff left and Zogs shifted to left mid, it became really really really stale on that side of the pitch. Duff gave a certain level of physicality and intimidation that Zogs couldn't match. But in theory, zogs vs. duff is a toss up because of duff's lack of matches since his injury. I'm not completely blaming sam for that - i'm blaming him for leaving Butt on the pitch. So from that point on, we had absolutely nothing going forward. They ended up scoring again (after three of our defense men got caught TOTALLY standing and watching) and the match was well over.

So Sam's got problems. In all fairness though - his line up was good, the lads were a bit disappointing, and Man City were absolutely sublime. I think we've got a few players who just really aren't good enough for the level that the club and the supporters aspire to. I think Sam has been really really stubborn and, for the lack of a better term, stupid in the first half of the season, but this match actually made me think he might be changing. We've got some tough games coming up (starting with Man U at Old Trafford on Saturday) and honestly, if one had to choose which direction we were going, one would have to say we're looking more like relegation-fodder than a European-bound club. I don't think either will happen personally.

I think we'll finish in 12th or 13th place, probably about 10-15 points clear of the drop. A sad place to be for a Newcastle supporter, but hopefully it'll be enough to prompt some major change in the summer.

Player breakdown:


Keeper: I Used to love Given - but he hasn't made any of his brilliant trademark saves this season - I still prefer him over Harper.


Defense: I'd go with Beye (and give him the armband) on the right, Taylor and Faye in the middle, and Enrique on the left. Taylor has been playing good, solid, no-nonsense ball, and Faye is just a big, strong, smart, quick player. Like him a lot. Enrique is BIG physically (which is weird because in photos he looks normal) and just seems like he would make a great addition to the box when defending set pieces, etc. Rozehnal and Cacapa: Sorry guys, I liked you in the beginning, but there are just too many cracks and too few pounds and muscles there. They seem very frail - physically and mentally.



Midfield: I'd go with Milner on the right, Emre and N'Zogbia in the middle, and Duff on the left. Milner still isn't good enough, but he gives his all. Emre is great, but lacks ambition. N'Zogbia is naturally a left wing, but is creative and smart enough to run the pitch. Duff is irreplaceable on the left. Period. Barton can go to hell, Geremi is lazy and old, and Nicky Butt is similarly lazy and old. He gives it his all and loves the club and the game, but just doesn't have it in him anymore.


Striker: This is kind of a tough one. I'm still saying Oba and Duke and Owen and Smith need to fight for spots. But they've all got ups and downs. Oba - great outside shot and speed but lacks intelligence and finishing (sometimes). Viduka - when he wants to be, hes fantastic. But he's crazy lazy and slow. But he's tall. Cha-ching. Owen - obviously reads the game as well as anyone in the league. But he's not quick or tough or strong from outside the box. He's only a "finisher" and isn't REALLY a great creator, in my opinion. Smith - again - can be huge when he's into it. But he gets excited too quickly and sometimes makes really poor decisions. He's obviously big and strong which is good but his head often gets the better of him.

And manager. Oh, manager. Big ol' Sammy. I think if we sack him before this season is out, we'll be laughing stocks and it'll continue the downward spiral that this league is headed into. I hate when he plays the ugly ball, because WE HAVE BETTER PLAYERS THAN THAT. We're not Bolton. For the last time, WE ARE NOT BOLTON. But like I said - this game showed signs that something may be getting through to him.

Let's go boys - please don't be relegated and if possible, let's turn this damn thing around and finish in the top ten!! Comments very, very welcome.
This means you too, Brett. Do your best on this one.