"But we showed a lot more fight than we did against Manchester City - and everyone who was on the pitch at least wanted to play for Newcastle United."

Is Shearer making direct reference to messrs Goma and Marcellino, who appear to be the players unsettling the team? Goma pulling out before the match makes it all the more surprising to see the performance of the back four. Quinn played the 2nd half with a broken nose so we must congratulate the lad on his spirit and staying on the pitch, whether he was told to stay on the pitch or not.

Goma and Marcellino out as soon as possible so we can start building the team spirit back, which they have done so much to undermine.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Answers

Very interesting. May be a slip of his tongue but sounds like he was referring to the wantaways.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Wantaways should be publically named and shamed, thrown into the reserves and left to play out the remainder of the season.

Things are starting to come out of the closet now which suggest that there has been a real lack of collective spirit all season. When Bobby came in he suggested that this would be his first task, to reinstate that spirit but it looks like it was all a front.

Out of the common denominators of Shearer, Lee, Speed, Barton, Goma and Marcellino, to name a few, I can't see anyone but Marcellino and Goma leaving but are they the main culprits???

It has to be asked!

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Read somewhere last night(icNowtatall??) that Bobby has said if he can't shift Marcia and Goma before the transfer deadline, there will definitely not be any more new signings this season. Maybe this reality is finally sinking in to the squads collective heads and they're finally getting on with the job?

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Goma and Marcellino must think that their positions are so safe that they don't have to bother, especially in the case of Goma.

If Caldwell is selected for the next match then maybe Goma will buck his ideas up.

I can only see them being sold to teams abroad anyway and the respective transfer windows have closed so they'll be staying till the end of the season in my view.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Is now the time to go with the Griffin/Hughes/Caldwell/Quinn combo until the end of the season. Give them, as a collective unit, a good run at it, so to speak. At least we know that those four want to stay and play. Don't we?

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

A bit of expectation on them will probably make them work harder to achieve what is expected. Along the way they WILL make mistakes, only the World Class defenders RARELY make mistakes.

We must expect them to have bad games in the learning process and we are at a situation where we can almost write this season off and give them a run in the team. We will inevitably strengthen this part of the side in the summer with more established players so it is equally important that when called on the likes of Steve Caldwell will provide seamless cover.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

DeB define 'inevitably'.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

I'm with you all the way on that one, TGJ! Goma and Marcia will have plenty of time to recover from their 'injuries'. In the case of Goma, at least, we should still have a reliable back up to come off the bench if needed.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

...and have we forgotten Dabz? or are we pretending to have forgotten..........

spooky

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Actually had forgotten. Also realize I forgot Bartinho. Hmmmm. Ok then, Dabs and Bartinho on the bench and Marica and Goma in the resorves.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

Dabs should be back training soon shouldn't he? I'd have him on the bench definitely as at least he will want to play for the team and he could also do a job in the midfield if called upon during a match.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2001

He (Dabs) was in that glass lift foyer thingy under the Milburn Stand before the Man City farce, there were a couple of bonny dolly birds with him, one looking into a baby buggy. He looked happy.
I think he has something to offer our side at the moment.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

Kebabs?

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

I'm all for letting youth have a go, but if that route's taken, we have to be patient. A few good performances when expectation levels are low, is a long way from being able to cope with the burden of expectation that will come after that honeymoon period. And it's also too early to fully write the season off. Therefore Goma IMO still has a part to play - Marcelino less so.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

Windy - I agree. Remember the Arsenal performance? There aren't that many attacks that are better than Arsenal's in full flow while I daresay there are few worse attacks than Everton's.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001

Our performance this season and the success of teams like Leicester, Ipswich and Sunderland has shown that you only get three points if you are fully committed and put the work in.

Whilst you can say that Goma always gives 100% his inclusion in the team may not be condusive to a healthy team spirit. Shearer's comments, perhaps inadvertently, point to the possibility that Goma gives his all for himself and not the team. It is difficult for us to speculate on how much of a negative influence Goma has on our first team, but I would guess that Shearer was happier with Caldwell in the team.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2001