Finished for the hols today

had friends around for a bbq

ALL ajourned to join the host in the front room

PRIDE is restored in Thanet

Comments:

'Hey Newcastle aint that bad without Shearer and Dyer'

'The lad Solano can play'

'Shola who...rubber legs. Promise in abundance'

'I used to think Barton was a tosser'

One happy Thanet chappy

Not quite as good as Barcelona in Bahamas, but a great night in Ramsgate

Well done the lads

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

Answers

One final comment

'you Geordies are bloody daft, but I enjoyed being daft with you. Never mind the bbq - great night.'

So, another convert?

Haway the lads

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

Thought it was an excellent performance, and even better result.

To win 3-2 away is just superb. They had the double cross bar strike but we had the Speed miss and the Bellamy foul at the end.

Everyone played fine. Glad we have Elliot at left back, hope any wimpy foriegner saw what happens when Robbie tackles you. Given was fine as was whole defence really.

Solano is an attacking midfield player and should be kept away from our penalty area, but scored a fantastic goal. Hughes was excellent. Bassedas okay. Speed was brilliant for Solano's first goal, diabolical for his miss.

Shola was fine in first half but dead on his feet in second. Bellamy tried hard, gained penalty well, should have passed to Lua2 when garotted by defender.

Overall brilliant result. They all looked dead on thier feet at the end.

Have to keep sayng to myself "it's only a pre-season friendly". That puts it all into perspective.

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

True enough, but that's 3 wins from 3 and only 9 substitutions allowed instead of the usual 10 per game making them 45 minute kickabouts. This simply has to do them more good than those games in the US of A last season. Really happy to see them putting the effort in. They had all the excuses they were so fond of last season (bit tired, key players injured, away from home, strong opposition) but got stuck in and got a great result. Also delighted that my old hero Hassler showed his magic without making us pay: how many players in England can get corners from right or left right on the button every time?

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

We've just scored our lowest ever goals away from home in the Inter2bob and everybody's happy? Am I missing something here?

Howay The Lads!!!!!! :-)

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

Jumping the gun I know - but Troyes beat Wolfsburg 1-0 last night.

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001

Don't we have a BBS spy in Troyes? As you say, the tie isn't over yet...

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Amongst all the plusses there were a couple of negatives. Solano ducking out of tackles and losing possesion, Speeds miss and general play. Bellamy tried hard enough and did some good things, but gave the ball away too much and is just too lightweight. I thought Mykland was one of the better players on the pitch.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Great to see the lads showing a bit of passion ! I thought Shola looked class in the first thirty minutes but knackered in the second half. Speed's miss was apalling I was already celebrating then

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Great to see the lads showing a bit of passion ! I thought Shola looked class in the first thirty minutes but knackered in the second half. Speed's miss was apalling I was already celebrating then I heard my hubby laughing ! Thought we were going to throw it away at one point and the extra time seemed to go on an eternity.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Shut up Swift, dont wanna hear it! =D

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

A quick report from the man on the ground in Troyes. They beat Wolfsburg 1-0 and also missed a penalty. If they can hold on for a draw in Germany and the lads do the business then the Toon will be coming to play in my back yard.

Troyes are a very well organised team, but without any stars. In theory, the Toon should be able to give them a good hiding, but in practice it might not be so simple. If the German teams are knocked out, the match in Troyes will be on Tuesday August 7.

Howay the lads (et aussi les gars)

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

as happy as the next man sudden, but if we are to be more consistent we need to build on the poorer aspects to stand a chance. A bit more ruthless, like.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

our shooting is poor

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Ya Swift, still dont wanna hear it. LALALALALAALA

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2001

Just got around to watching the tape of the Munich game. Great result, and in parts a good performance. However, there were also worrying signs of many of the same maladies that afflicted us last season.

In the first half everyone was moving to mark the opposition or receive the ball. The biggest problem was a continuing naivety that causes us to charge forward at every conceivable occasion - until we lose the ball. We lack sublety and an ability to hold the ball to conserve energy and make the opposition do the running.

In the second half - hopefully due entirely to a lack of physical conditioning - we stopped picking up the opposition and supporting the man in possession with the same frequency. The front two appeared totally knackered, for a spell m/f was overrun, and we lost our defensive marking - as was pointed out frequently last season, all of these factors are interlinked.

Our inability to defend from corners raised it's ugly head again, and I thought Dabz was particularly disappointing, giving away far too many stupid free kicks in dangerous areas by trying to win impossible tackles from behind.
The goal that resulted from Solano being caught in possession appeared to be caused by no one shouting to him to get rid - indicative of the lack of leadership at the back that again we've suffered from for way too long.

Fortunately, on this occasion we managed to get our shape back, and commendably got back a measure of control at 2-2, going on to win a game that should do our confidence the world of good. However, while the odds are firmly in our favour, I suspect this tie is far from finished.

ps: left and centre midfield still look major problems to me.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001

... pps: plus centre half - I thought Dabz was pants.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2001