Newcastle United Transfer Rumours and General Chat

Salmon

What do ye think of us signing Darren Bent? Would be a decent signing but its hard to see charlton letting him go when they are in trouble! Maybe it might be worth trying to entice them with a couple of 'swaps' as has been suggested on some forums?

kinaldo

Salmon wrote:

What do ye think of us signing Darren Bent? Would be a decent signing but its hard to see charlton letting him go when they are in trouble! Maybe it might be worth trying to entice them with a couple of 'swaps' as has been suggested on some forums?

I think he's a quality player and will only get better, but with Martins as our new number 9 and Owen to return this season I just don't see the need for another very expensive pacey striker. If we have that sort of money to invest then it should really go on a top centre back as well as a left back because Babayaro's heart isn't in it plus he's not that good and Ramage is hopeless in that position. I say top central defender but I'm not really sure who's available. Maybe we could go for Upson as he would be reasonably priced and he's better than what we've already got. Sylvain Distin is another option but I wasn't too impressed with him during his loan spell here. I believe he's improved considerably at Man City though and is out of contract soon.

kinaldo

If we beat Reading tonight by 2 goals we'll move up 4 places to 14th with a game in hand over most teams.

Reading have won their last 4 Prem games and a point at SJP tonight would see them go 3rd :eek:

No Dyer, Parker and Bramble for tonight, but unfortunately Stephen Carr may return. Babayaro is expected to start.

Probable team:

---

Giv

Nob

---

Tay

---

Ram

---

Bab

Mil

---

But

---

Emr

---

Zog

---

Mar

---

Sib

I think we'll win this 2-0 and leap up the table


Edit: I forgot West Ham are also playing tonight, so depending on their result as well we could go 14th.

eirebhoy

What's wrong with Dyer? He puts in a motm performance last week and is injured again?

kinaldo

eirebhoy wrote:

What's wrong with Dyer? He puts in a motm performance last week and is injured again?

Another freak injury. He collided with the advertising hoardings against Pompey which left a nasty gash in his thigh requiring ten stitches. At first he was told to rest for 10 days but other reports suggest he may miss a few games.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=394714&cc=5739

snickerpuss

Can't believe we won Reading 3-2, i wish it had have been televised!

Limerick Dude

there was highlights of the match on sky just there, what a goal by emre, definetly contender for goal of the season!

kinaldo

grrrr I'm still waiting to see the goals, don't have Sky Sports

Fupping delighted with the result though. I admit I was getting a bit nervous for a while there and almost broke my laptop when they rallied but I was always confident we would win, even 2-1 down at half time after I composed myself.

All reports suggest we should have been at least 2-0 up before they scored, with Sib missing a sitter and Martins hitting the bar. At 2-2 Sib apparently had a perfectly good goal disallowed for offside so it sounds like we're creating plenty of chances - a very good thing with the likes of Babayaro in defence!

Great that Martins got the goal he's so deserved, and I'm delighted for Emre who has his critics but is still arguably our most talented player. I've always had faith in him and his performances in recent weeks are starting to show why.

Also, maybe Xavi6 can come on here and give us a few Sibierski anecdotes cos right now he's looking like the bargain of the season. Who would have thought, eh? Credit to Roeder I suppose for spotting him.

Xavi6

kinaldo wrote:

Also, maybe Xavi6 can come on here and give us a few Sibierski anecdotes cos right now he's looking like the bargain of the season. Who would have thought, eh? Credit to Roeder I suppose for spotting him.

Credit indeed. Sibs has done very well since he left us and I'm pleased for him as I don't think he was really ever given much an extended run in his preferred position of playing up front. We tended to have him dropped into midfield or else stranded on the left wing. Out there he was naturally inclined to come inside and get involved in the play and because of that he got a lot of stick from fans who blamed him for our lack of width.

His biggest asset was always his heading ability and we never maximised it. He was unfortunate to be competing with the likes of Fowler, Anelka, Samaras, Cole, Vassell etc for a first XI spot and it was never going to happen. In one way his success at Newcastle is down to a lot of luck, i.e. the first choice strikers all being injured. However he has taken his chance well and now leads the line superbly. As I said, I'm delighted for him as he's always been a good player.

kinaldo

For your viewing pleasure:

Newcastle and Reading goals, featuring an intruder

I'd love to see some of the other match highlights if anyone has them as that's all I could find, but at least it shows good quality replays and is in English.

Interesting post-match comments from Roeder:

Roeder reveals Emre riposte

Newcastle midfielder Emre delivered a personal response to high-flying Reading's criticism as he fired home the late goal which ended their winning streak.

Manager Glenn Roeder revealed after his side's vital 3-2 victory over the Royals that the Turkish international had been incensed by comments made from the visitors' bench during the first-half, and was delighted with his riposte.

Roeder, who insisted he would not report the incident, said: "I was unhappy with some of the coaching staff of Reading before half-time, when they made comments to Emre which upset him.

"He was particularly irate at half-time as he came off, and it was only justice that it was Emre who sent Reading packing with no points.

"I could not repeat what was said, but it was not very nice. There were comments directed at Emre before half-time which were not necessary.

"Emre had every right to be upset. Thankfully, half-time came and we could calm him down and he went out and played his part in what turned out to be a terrific victory against a team which had just won its last four games and certainly do not lose leads very often.

"It was really fitting that Emre scored a goal which was not just a tap-in, it was a special goal." more

I wonder what they said...

Anyway, bottome half of the table now looks like this:

Wigan______15__21 -1
Man City____16__20 -4
Fulham_____16__20 -7
Blackburn___15__16 -5
Newcastle__15_16 -5
Middlesbro__16__16 -8
Sheff Utd___16__16 -9
West Ham__16__14 -11
Charlton____16__12 -11
Watford____15__10 -10

Looking closely at it makes Blackburn at Ewood Park this weekend an absolute massive game. We won 3-0 there last year but I'd settle for 1-0 this season. Even a draw would be an ok result.

Salmon

Babayaro was just pathetic for their second goal. We really need a couple of defenders in Jan. If we can keep the unbeaten streak up I can see us rising up the table pretty fast.

kinaldo

Did anyone else find it more a little strange that Martins took the penalty with his right foot? I'd say he had a lot of people in St. James' Park last night down to nervous wrecks when he shaped up to hit it, although he does seem to be reasonably two footed from what I've seen.

There was quite of tussle over who got to take it too and this is what Nobby had to say afterwards:

"I wanted to take the penalty but I let Oba take it because I realise strikers need to score because of the confidence it gives them.

"But I warned Oba to make sure he scored or I would have got it in the neck from the manager."

Salmon wrote:

If we can keep the unbeaten streak up I can see us rising up the table pretty fast.

Chelsea away next Wednesday...

Limerick Dude

If we can beat blackburn, we will have alot of confidence going into the chelsea game and i think we could hold out for a point against chelsea.

kinaldo

Seems like Dyer won't even make the Chelsea game!

Sounds like your classic Dyer injury...

first report= 3 days

then= a week

after that = 2 weeks

then= surgery

then =out for a season

Limerick Dude

Newcastle 2 - 0 Blackburn Half Time!

Henchoz got sent off for a professional foul!

Martins and Taylor the scorers

kinaldo

Brilliant win but at a huge price it would seem as Emre was stretchered off with a serious ankle injury, apparently

Up until then reports were saying he had been electric. So the injury curse strikes again, this time a player really in form :mad:

Off to Stamford Bridge without Parker, Dyer and Emre to name a few...

kinaldo

I'm not too sure of what exactly went on at Ewood Park today but it looks like Solano, Sib + Taylor (?) have also been added to the injury list:

Harper

Carr Bramble Moore Bernard

Solano Parker Emre Duff

Owen Dyer

Subs

Krul, Sibierski, Ameobi

Edit:

Emre looks like his ankle is absolutely ****ed, looked horrible on the replay.

Solano's groin went off the ball, Sibierski did his hamstring.

Also, BBC Five Live are suggesting that N'Zogbia could face a suspension over an off the ball incident.

evilhomer

Good win today for the lads.

But some serious questions need to be asked of conditioning training the coaches have in place for the team. Some of the injuries are just unlucky (Emre, Dyer, Parker) but the likes of Hamstring, Groin strains, thigh injuries should all be minimised by good conditioning training.

I think we should be look at getting in a top, top fitness coach and probably a new physio!

Something is just not right if we consistently have this volume of injuries!

Any news on how bad Emre is? he has been in great form for us lately!

therecklessone

evilhomer wrote:

But some serious questions need to be asked of conditioning training the coaches have in place for the team. Some of the injuries are just unlucky (Emre, Dyer, Parker) but the likes of Hamstring, Groin strains, thigh injuries should all be minimised by good conditioning training.

I thought some people blamed Graham Souness for all of that...

kinaldo

therecklessone wrote:

I thought some people blamed Graham Souness for all of that...

I blamed Souness for rushing Taylor back against Liverpool when he should have been having an operation. Predictably Taylor's shoulder popped out again in that game and he was out for months. Also playing Emre at home to Man Utd early on last season when he wasn't fully fit proved costly.

evilhomer

therecklessone wrote:

I thought some people blamed Graham Souness for all of that...

When these things start to bridge management teams, you have to start looking elsewhere. Maybe it's the physio or maybe it's players being passed fit to play too soon.

I don't know what it is, but Newcastle players seem to get a disproportionate amount of injures.

Our good run of form of late could all fall apart if we continue to get these injuries (not that Chelsea weren't going to spoil the party anyway ).

kinaldo

Just to compound our injury situation, nufc.com are reporting that Babayaro (rated highly yesterday) picked up his 5th yellow of the season and will miss the Chelsea game through suspension. Taylor was also struggling badly for the last 15 minutes yesterday as well so God only knows what our defence will look like it on Wednesday.

therecklessone

evilhomer wrote:

When these things start to bridge management teams, you have to start looking elsewhere. Maybe it's the physio or maybe it's players being passed fit to play too soon.

Agreed, sometimes you have to scratch the surface for the real causes.

MrJoeSoap

Parker any closer to returning?

kinaldo

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Parker any closer to returning?

Roeder said he's not expecting anyone to return in midweek so maybe Watford on Saturday at the earliest. Nicky Butt has been outstanding in his absence though. Emre seems to have more freedom playing alongside him and his performances have flourished as a result. The injuries yesterday should save Roeder from making some very difficult decisions.

kinaldo

ffs another frickin blue and white team, how boring. Our only hope is if they get ultra complacent which is possible judging by Mourinho's comments about closing the gap to 5 points.

Worst injury crisis in the history of The Premiership according to Simon Bird.

(Bryan Robson and Boro might argue with that considering they once got a game with Blackburn called of because of injuries)

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=toon%2Ds-%2D50m-crock-and-roll-show%26method=full%26objectid=18247778%26siteid=94762-name_page.html

They did a fit XI vs a crocked XI in the print edition

Given
Huntington Ramage Taylor Baba
Milner Butt N'Zogbia Luque
Martins Rossi

Subs: Sibierski (doubtful), Luque, Pattison, Srnicek

vs

Harper
Solano Moore Bramble Bernard
Dyer Parker Emre Duff
Owen Ameobi

Subs: Carr, O'Brian, Krul

PHB

On the plus side, Rossi will be starting against Chelsea, so if he ever wanted to make an impression for Fergie, tonight would be the best possible time.

kinaldo

PHB wrote:

On the plus side, Rossi will be starting against Chelsea, so if he ever wanted to make an impression for Fergie, tonight would be the best possible time.

Unless Sibierski passes fit. I'm sure Roeder will find some way to play just one up front so don't be suprised to see Rossi only on the bench.

kinaldo

Early reports from the BBC say Zoggy has done his medial ligaments and could be out for the season

Mushy

Just letting you Toon fans that its one-nil to chelski. Drogba with the goal. Sorry to have to spoil it

kinaldo

Ruud Gullit was appropriately the latest in Newstalk's Off the Ball series of legend interviews tonight.

There's some interesting bits in it and Alan Shearer's name also came up.

I still have a lot of respect for the guy despite how things turned out for him at Newcastle.

If anyone wants to hear it I'll gladly put it up.

evilhomer

The injury situation certainly isn't resolving itself, is it?

Pattison and Huntington did ok tonight and Luque got a run! Times must be bad if he is turning to his least favourite player!

kinaldo

evilhomer wrote:

The injury situation certainly isn't resolving itself, is it?

Pattison and Huntington did ok tonight and Luque got a run! Times must be bad if he is turning to his least favourite player!

and Babayaro, who played brilliantly tonight, picked up a booking which means he'll definitely miss the reverse cup fixture next week.

When Luque was brought on I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Limerick Dude

Parker and Dyer both back for Saturday

snickerpuss

If anyones interested Shay Given will be on a question of sport tommorrow at 7 on bbc1.
Couldn't believe we lost to chelsea, we hung in there for quite a while.

Pighead

Look slike Newcastle could be the latest club to be taking over by rich foreigners. Polygon(American financiers) and UBS(Swiss bankers) have supposedly tabled a 227 Million Pound bid.

Freddie and Co are furiously denying any offer has been made thus far. Looks like a done deal so!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/snooker/6180591.stm

kinaldo

the Daily Mail article sounds oh so promising

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=422801&in_page_id=1779&in_a_source=

I can't wait for this to be confirmed...

kinaldo

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2006580293,00.html



that picture almost brought a tear to my eye!

NB.

It is 51 years since a Newcastle captain hoisted domestic silverware of any note and 37 since Bobby Moncur lifted the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the forerunner to the Uefa Cup. That depressing record remains unbroken, although a space must be cleared next to the Texaco Cup (winners in 1974 and 1975), the Anglo-Italian Cup (1973) and two equivalents of what is now the Coca-Cola Championship.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,27-2507491,00.html


Here's a short film to mark this great occasion

PHB

Can't decide whether or not it counts of not

evilhomer

PHB wrote:

Can't decide whether or not it counts of not

I remember not too long ago when Man Utd didn't consider the Carling Cup a "real" cup

It's all about expectations.

Sure it's not a glamorous cup, but it's a start.

kinaldo

Woo another victory and valuable 3 points today

Just seen some of the reaction from those who saw it, overall we were pretty awful by the sounds of things but praise for Steven Taylor was again unanimous, another outstanding performance from our future captain with McClaren in the stands...

Apparently we switched to a diamond formation but the system completely failed. Emre limped down the tunnel and the team fell apart over the next 15 minutes without him so hopefully he'll be back in time for Chelsea, or at least Spurs (pray to God!).

Good to have Duff, Parker and Dyer back with Martins on fire now - 5 goals in 4 games and 8 in total not bad at all (fúcking salmon tbh)!

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/72836920.jpg?v=1&c=MS_GINS&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19390335F8FA9CA92A63EC7FD20EA9F51BFA55A1E4F32AD3138

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xc/72836914.jpg?v=1&c=MS_GINS&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF19390335F8FA9CA92A63FDE178844A5E665F06BF04B24B4128C

kinaldo

hahaha the last question in this Taylor interview vid is brilliant

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/6164383.stm

Steven Taylor: I am a footballer (not an actor).

evilhomer

Any news on Emre's injury yesterday?

Or N'Zogbia for that matter?

LOTTOWINNER

Just wondering did any of ye boardies travel to Newcastle last Saturday, I noticed quite a few Toon fans on the early morning flight, returning that evening.
It was a pretty woefull performance, mostly due to Watford's "style" of play! they were looking good for their fourth nil-nil in a row until Martins scored.

kinaldo

LOTTOWINNER wrote:

Just wondering did any of ye boardies travel to Newcastle last Saturday, I noticed quite a few Toon fans on the early morning flight, returning that evening.

No but I've just purchased tickets online for the Man Utd game on New Years Day. Myself, a ManYoo fan and a neutral will be travelling up from London that morning... can't wait!

My only previous visits were devastating 1-2 defeats against Man Utd and Fulham despite taking the lead in both games and there was more than a few Irish fans travelling from here.

Btw the ticket office phone lines and website were absolutely jammed when they went on sale this morning and I heard some people were camping outside the ground last night so it looks like we might have a rare full house sellout this season.

LOTTOWINNER

That was my first game since Shearer retired! and the place doesn't seem the same without him!
Regarding the Manu game, Newcastle find it very difficult against the Red devils at the best of times, so with all the injuries we'll need lots of luck. Tell your Manu mate to leave his jersey at home, he'll stick out abit otherwise.
Although there would be some celebrations in the city if we got three points at that game.

kinaldo

LOTTOWINNER wrote:

Tell your Manu mate to leave his jersey at home, he'll stick out abit otherwise.

Yeah I strongly advised him to leave it at home but he's quite stubborn and says he doesn't care. I'm pretty sure he'll pussy out though when he finds himself surrounded by thousands of boisterous barcodes, and most likely use the freezing north east cold as a poor excuse to cover up.

kinaldo

Just curious as to what people outside Newcastle reckon our best central midfield combination is?

Up until recently it's always been Parker and Emre but with Dyer back and Butt playing out of his skin I'm not so sure anymore. There's a lot of Toon fans who are strongly opposed to Parker getting in the team these days and their arguments that we play better without him are quite compelling.

The funny thing is Roeder has made him our captain this season so it's almost impossible to drop him...

Very interesting thread going on here and I'm still undecided. This could be a very telling week with two huge games at SJP against Chelsea and Spurs and the team no longer picking itself. Is Roeder up to it though?

Necronomicon

kinaldo wrote:

Just curious as to what people outside Newcastle reckon our best central midfield combination is?

Up until recently it's always been Parker and Emre but with Dyer back and Butt playing out of his skin I'm not so sure anymore. There's a lot of Toon fans who are strongly opposed to Parker getting in the team these days and their arguments that we play better without him are quite compelling.

The funny thing is Roeder has made him our captain this season so it's almost impossible to drop him...

Very interesting thread going on here and I'm still undecided. This could be a very telling week with two huge games at SJP against Chelsea and Spurs and the team no longer picking itself. Is Roeder up to it though?

Still Parker---Emre for me anyway.

Although if Dyer gets back to full fitness (whatever that is nowadays) he could put him in as an extra man/support for Martins.

MrJoeSoap

I don't think you need my opinion on this. Parker and whoever!