I've read all the threads slagging off our senior players , and how they should be dropped. If they are then who replaces them? If the likes of Shearer is dropped and stripped of his captaicy, who replaces him .Are the South American's better in midfield than Lee and Speed? And what about Barton, is Domi better.What happens if you do drop them , do they get stroppy with you and ask for a transfer? I seem to remember Mr Gullit trying out some youngsters at the expence of the seniors, it didn't work to well for him, and some may argue that we are still suffering from his policies.

You are the boss, You've only got a couple of days, would you really make sweeping changes?

Who would you play, What tactics would you use and how do you motivate these players?

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Answers

Not that simple is it?

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Manchester United

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Thanks Rik!

Thats like saying go to the pantry and bake a cake with whatever you find there. Only to open the door and find nothing but a sack of over priced spuds that go off a soon as you expose them to cold and sunlight!!!

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Rik, you obviously saw the match last night. I assume you agree that most of the players once again failed to give their all for the club. I have said on another thread that we have seen the same type of performance in games against Charlton, Everton and Sunderland. Every time we hear Bobby saying he is disappointed about his and that and the players failed to put up a commanding performance. How many more times are we going to let the players get away with it. On the senior players, Barton is crap and hoofs the ball up the pitch except when he is urgently called upon to make a defensice clearance, when he just thumps it into the air. I would play the following

Given: In good form

Griffin: Better than Barton, good prospect

Hughes: No other option

Goma: See above

Domi: Better than Barton despite misgivings about his attitude, if all the rest play up he will.

Solano: Only decent crosser in the team

Acuna: A ball winner who can pass, wahey!

Bassedas: Has to be given the opportunity to play in the position we bought him for, a good passer.

Dyer: Genuine pace

Shearer: No-one else if the rest works he'll look great.

Cordone or Lua-Lua: One of these two, don't care which one but we must support Shearer

There you have it a change, try it out. We are not discarding Lee and Speed, we're just seeing how well others can do but we are discarding Barton becuase he's shite.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

De B - re: Solano, sadly Shearer is probably the best crosser in the team but whenever he's out wide there's no bastard in the middle.

Rik - I was going to make a similar point about the youngsters and Gullit. There was an outcry when Shearer and Lee were dropped and nobody had much faith in the likes of McClen and Robinson coming in. Gullit was P.E.#1 largely because of his team selection (yes, and his communication skills and his signings, but frankly he could have done worse than Goma, Domi and Dyer) and now several people on here seem to be suggesting he may have been right after all. You'll say team spirit is better now, but there's the Catch 22. It's better because the influential players are guaranteed a game. If YBR left out Lee/Shearer/Barton etc you can bet the grumblings would start again.

So what's the solution? How about accepting that we're not very good? I find it extraordinary that most people on here would accept we're at best a top eight side, yet go off on one whenever we lose a game. Sorry chaps, but we are going to lose matches. And we are going to play poorly, have bad runs, be forced to play mediocre players etc. To expect us to look like a really good side in anything less than two years is just not realistic. Too many people still see the Keegan era - in which, you may recall, we won fuck all - as Newcastle's default style/position. The evidence of the three or four years since and the thirty before, I'm afraid, contradict that. Remember, Blackburn bought the title not so long ago. Look at where they are now and count your blessings.

I'm not devoid of ambition for NUFC. I've followed them for twenty years and the Japan Cup is pretty scant reward. But if people maintain such high expectations then a) they're going to be continually disappointed and b) we'll get a reputation for the kind of baseless arrogance which makes Chelsea look such unlikeable chumps.

I'm sure some of you would say this is all very well, but at least the players could look like they're trying. Sadly, i think they probably are - they're just not very good.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Analyse this , we play well against footballing sides , but rubbish against battling sides Mackems, Everton, Charlton et al.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Well for sure I wouldn`t have gone at it `a la Gullit` and experimented at the home derby - not in the way he did anyway!

If I were manager, firstly I would decide what was most important competition wise - and, of course, that obviously has to be the league and staying in the Premiership. However, I think I would be prepared to risk something more radical for at least one of the other competitions. If it worked well, I`d risk a large proportion of the reserves mixed with one `established` player in each third of the field for strength and mentoring purposes, in a league game. The timing would be quite critical - not when it`s quite as close as it is now, but also not when (if ever) we are so comfortable that we can afford to lose a game. (Not much motivation for the newbies if they think they are only getting a game because it doesn`t matter if they win or lose).

I would motivate the changes by telling the players that they are not there just to play in the reserves, and that they deserve the chance to go out on the field and show the fans what they have to offer. I would impress on the `senior` players that, unless they are 100 percent certain that they are never going to be injured, catch the `flu, or be plain tired, part of their reponsibilities has to include being encouraging and supportive towards new/young players. I`d also remind them that team spirit is built from inside the team, and as far as they are concerned, that `team` is thirty odd strong.

To be honest, I don`t think I would do anything too drastic against Villa. Injuries etc., permitting, I might be tempted to play pretty much the same team, but with the subs very much in mind for the second half. My logic behind this being that it is better to `rest` players when they are having, or have had a good game, rather than `drop` them because they have had a couple of bad ones.

I think I would not be rocking the boat too much for the Arsenal game either. If we win the next two games, it should cut us a bit of slack to slip in a couple of changes. If we lose them both, then Bobby may as well experiment as much as he wants, as long as he keep us up out of the drop zone.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

I can't see Bobby making too many changes against Villa. He has given them the rocket I hope and he will probably have faith in the same players to respond to that. Misplaced loyalty I think.

One plus point was the return of Goma last night who looked fit. We'll need him against Dion Dublin. I hope Villa's pitch is better than Birmingham's.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

What Dan says above seems very valid to me, but it doesn't get to the crux of what 'being good' is. It's not just the players individually, it's a whole number of factors, including unfortunately luck. I think if we really want the best chance of developing a team that is 'good' enough, it will take time and what goes on on the pitch now isn't directly related to the underlying ojective, it's just the need to keep us in the picture so that we don't have to start in the 3rd division when we finally achieve the holy grail of having built a good team. OK exagerrating, I know, but I really do see this season and next as a transition stage. Unfortunately finances and us fans get in the way of the most logical approach, as they mean we have to concentrate more on the 'now' rather than the future.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

Actually , I don't disagree too much with what has been said on here. I do think that some of these players in the team know that once they are in they are in till they are injured. And even then they may still play (Shearer). I can see that BR is trying to play a settled side week in week out without making too many changes, but what does it take to get dropped?

My Opinions on the squad are:- Given, and Harper, both great shot stoppers, but Harper is better at distributing the ball. Given tends to hoof it up towards Shearer who rarely gets it as he's marked by two huge centrebacks,Alternatively he throws it to one of his players in defence who being under presure then hoofs the ball upfield back to the oposition.

Griffin, One of my favorites and would play him all the time at right back, mind you he was beaten for pace by Lazaredis last night.Can you make a player faster?

Domi , Used to be good, what's happened to him? I would actually use Barton on the left untill we can afford a ROBERTO CARLOS. Barton did get forward on a few occasions last night.

Hughes, a first teamer week in week out.

Caldwell , is the future Newcastle captain, play him 3 out of every four games.

Goma, dosen't want to play for us, so play him one week in four firstly informing some foreign scouts that he is to play.

Obviously we need another centre back, but we have to get a good un, no more gambles with dodgy foriegners. We need a top International player with expierance in the P.L. The same goes for the left wing slot. Another Ginola is needed (now there's an idea)

In the meantime, it appears that Glass is fully fit again, so get him into te team.

Right wing and Solano is a must. If he isn't 1005 fit then I would use Gavilan, I liked what I saw of the young paraguayan last season.

In the centre I would play Acuna as the defensive midfielder and Dyer as the Attacking midfielder. Lee and Speed would have to wait for either Dyer or Acuna to get injured before I would use them infact they would be behind Bassedas in my midfield pecking order.

Upfront I would use Shearer when he's fit with another .

Cort would be the first choice, but as he's out for two months I would go with Ameobi, he's the big strong (Heskey, Quin, Adebola )type that has caused us so much bother in recent games, so he would be my choice. Alongside him at the moment would be (till Shearer is 100%)Cordone. He is running out of games to impress BR and as was shown in the early part of the season He actually is a pretty good player.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000

The reserves have only won once all season, the U19's get walloped 7-2 by the likes of the Smoggies and I think the U17's are a bit on the young side. Looks like tighten the belts time and hope that some of this lot thrive in adversity.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2000