Verdict Thread

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Waiting for the opinion of people who were at the game but it seems to me that this was a fairly routine Newcastle reversal and not com pletely unexpected. The big question have to be Solano. I'm not saying sell him as he can be great but on current form, he's contributing nothing in attack and adding nothing to the defence. The other problem has to be central midfield: until this is sorted, we can play who we like at the back and we'll still ship in goals because they get no protection. What does everyone think?

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Answers

Appalling Play.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Also, and I'm Wozza's No 1 fan (after the soft one) but WTF is he doing? Was he really this bad?

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Not the worst performance I've ever seen, and yes Dougal, all too predictable reversal. We were disorganized and gave them way too much room. Can't say anyone really slacked, though I didn't notice Distin much once he came on. Shearer and Bellamy worked their socks off. The ref gave some appalling calls, missing a clear penalty on us and calling Shearer offside when the ball came off a WHam player. But even there, I don't think this ref was any more appalling than anyone else. We just looked disorganized, and WHam wanted it more than us. (those dreaded words again). Credit to them for not giving up, much as we did against the Red Menace last week.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Oh, and WHY was Acuna playing in defence so often today? Usually in the middle, clearing the ball? Ohhh..maybe cause DAbs was either on his @rse or running forward? A good use of the travel time back to Newcastle would be drilling the players on everyone's assigned positions.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Lack of invention, commitment, ability to pass the ball,direction if not supplied by Bob Lee. We were crap. Why am I not surprised? 7 days can be a weak in the life of a Toon supporter. It was ever thus.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


According to BR, Warren picked up a knock first half and was subbed due to the injury. They put him on after half time knowing he was injured but hoped he could run it off. WHY? he was having a rotten game and why play injured players. Maybe they were worried as they had no full back cover on the bench. Where the hell was Griffin who played well against Man U.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Set pieces are the other thing. Why can't we defend them? This has to be a coaching thing because we are getting a bit of aerial ability back into the side (ie. Dabs and Shearer). And why weren't we getting the ball to Lolo? It's just absurd.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Lynda, I agree about carrying on with injured players: we did this with Hughes, O'Brien and Quinn in the Worthington and it had the effect of exacerbating at least two of these players' injuries and in them ALL getting abuse that may not have been merited.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

That might go down as the worst possible thing I've seen since, well I'm not sure when. Midfield if there was one, it was where? Rob Lee, I've been a big supporter of yours but today, you were shite. Wozza, I'm sorry but you need to go somewhere and find something else to do.

Our lack of depth in midfield is going to be the tell tale of this seasopn. No Bassedas, nothing creative, nothing at all. We were two steps behind all day and there can be no excuses. Robert, if he was ill, should not have played. Shearer gave a half decent effort, as did Bellamy and Given, the rest, Obrien, Dabz and all the rest were absolute shite.

Solano... sell him...get whatever we can. He has done nothing and is becoming more of a liability. If we are going to make progress we need to stop this sort of performance from happening. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE AT ALL!!!

Bobby should be giving them the dogs balls all the way home.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Good grief I'm so bloody miserable. Humiliated on national TV yet again! If I have to read how the players are 'sorry they let us down' AGAIN for the 60 millionth time, I swear I will go and shoot eveyone of them!

BTW I bet that Clare whatshername from Sky just loved when Bobby said 'that's football dear'. Come on Bobby I know you're annoyed but you don't have to be sarcastic!

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001



This was reminiscent of the Charlton game last season. How on earth can a team beat Man U one week and meekly surrender in such an embarrassing way against the bottom team the following week?

After a frighteningly lame performance like that BR should be asking some serious questions - because the simple truth is that we weren't up for it, and they wanted it far more than our lot. Excusing only Bellamy and Given, the rest were a friggin disgrace.

BR might also consider asking himself why the hell he played Warren Barton after Andy Griffin did so well last week - there are shades of Stephen Glass in this situation, and the lad might just be considering what it is that he has to do to get a decent run in the side.

Unfortunately, 'normal service' has been restored.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Well, if he's injured and Warren is injured and Hughesie is injured, we're struggling for right backs ever so slightly....

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

I think Lolo did one good thing. Solano nothing. Nobody did nothing good exept for Shearer who played decent and Bellamy also quite good, MAN he's fast! The midfield totally sucked, did they manage to get one good pass forward, cant recall one. The worst Newcastle-game I have seen.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

At least I found another Newcastle-supporter in Stockholm - Andy from Durham. Finally someone to watch the games togheter with.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Re Robert, I hope he's not 'doing a Ginola' and only playing well in big games????????? I suppose it's still early days and I believe he's had the flu but I expected more from him today. Unfortunately when all of the team are having a bad game, it's difficult for anyone to shine at all.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Griffin isn't injured - he was on the bloody bench!
Actually, on 2nd thoughts, those two facts don't necessarily connect.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Griffin wasn't even on the bench, it was a disgrace. If he isn't picked for Leicester then he should really be thinking about leaving the club. Warren Barton has already had his second chance this season - after the Troyes game. If Griffin isn't picked he must be seriouslty wondering what is going on.

Rob Lee was good in parts and bad in a lot more. Acuna got forward well and always seemed to be in the box for our chances, but apart from one header he failed to cause any problems.

Solano was absolutely useless. Whether some of the West Ham players were shouting "passport" every time he got the ball I don't know, but there was probably only one cross that was any good.

Robert put in a few more good crosses, but was often left with little support. Elliott was far too often left sat back instead of giving Robert some options. Whether this was because Dabizas was making foward runs or simply because he was afraid to get forward I don't know.

Shearer tried all match, and had quite a few decisions go against him. Bellamy worked his arse off as usual and should have really tested the keeper on a number of occasions, but his first touch let him down.

O'Brien and Dabizas were pretty poor. Coming out of defence Dabizas was his usual self, dawdling on the ball, and O'Brien was left out of position on canny few times.

Given can't be held to blame for anything, his kicking was decent and he made a few good saves and catches.

The main thing that stood out today was the complete lack of the use of the width in the team. We had two wingers - supposedly each worth more than £10m. Instead of our full backs and centre backs playing short passes out to the wings - much like they did against Man Utd, they played long balls over the top. Atrocious stuff. The balls were bypassing the midfield completely a lot of the time, relying on Bellamy's pace to make anything of them.

However, had "the penalty" been given at the start it may well have been a completely different story. Remember that just before Hutchison opened the scoring, a free kick was given for virtually nothing outside our box. This then resulted in a West Ham corner from which they got the goal. If this is a foul, then the penalty incident should have resulted in a red card for the offending player.

Too much inconsistency from the referee, but then you could go back to the Boro game where the referee was also inconsistent but it worked in our favour.

Overall, a pretty poor performance. Not quite as bad as Charlton last season, but getting close to it. One week we beat the Champions, and the next we get beaten by the team bottom of the league. It's absolutely typical of Newcastle.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Also, Nigel Winterburn should have been sent off for a tackle on Robert (I think it was Robert anyway)

Not that it makes the defeat any easier to swallow. I bet the Mackems are loving this.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


I've just got back from the game. Thankfully I live only 3 miles from Upton Park. After witnessing this abject display I'd hate to be one of the poor sods having to travel back to Newcastle tonight.

There isn't much to say that hasn't already been touched upon by others others. I feel the big difference between the sides was that West Ham were able to physically overpower us particularly in the midfield. This enabled them to dominate possession and stretch our defence and create chances. Once their second goal went in the game was effectively over and, all in all, we were lucky to concede only three. Very, very disappointing as WH although capable and hard working are at best a mid-table team.

Only Bellamy, Shearer and Given come out of this with any real credit. Lee and Acuna I guess were OK but were just overrun by the WH midfield. Our back four, particularly Barton were awful and just don't seem able to defend as a unit. The corner that led to the first goal came as the end result of Barton giving the ball away in defence and Di Canio made a fool of him for WH's second.

Solano and Robert were anonymous for for most of the game and I don't recall either of them making a decent cross or taking on and beating a defender. Neither seemed willing or able of coming inside to help out Lee and Acuna. Shearer held the ball up well and won lots in the air. Mainly though he was isolated and no team mates were on hand to benefit from the knock-downs. The wide men offered no service to him at all. Bellamy worked hard, his pace caused some problems and he offers an outlet to the defence. Today though there was no end product from his hard work.

What games like this really demand is that the team roll up their sleeves and first and foremost win the physical battle. Away from home with Solano, and to a lesser extent Robert in the side we are never going to be able to do this. For away games I wonder if we need to bring two more defensively minded players into the midfield. With the resources on hand this is going to be difficult and would probably involve Barton and Hughes playing in midfield. Solano has worried me this season. Intertoto aside he has contributed little. Perhaps he is coasting because there is no real competition for his place - the sooner Dyer is fitter the better. Until then for home games I would seriously consider dropping Solano, playing Shola & Al up front and moving Bellamy into right midfield.

If nothing else todays performance reinforces the fact that we desperately need to sign an aggressive ball winner - until we do I fear that we will struggle against the more physical sides. To end on a low note there was some isolated jeering of Barton along with chants of there's only one Andy Griffin. The "town full of Pakis" song also got an an airing although thankfully this happened only once and seemed to be sung by only half a dozen arseholes.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Just watching the video....another point is, who told our centre halves to try getting forward? I know attacking centre backs sound exciting but you need a special defence and a strong midfield if you are going to play like that and neither apply to us. I'm sorry, I was blaming the midfield for some of our vulnerability but I don't think the lads at the back helped themselves out at all. Also, Robbie Elliott. Is he really good enough? IMHO, Bernard or Hughesie would be better options.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

We can't whine about the penalty. Yes, it was a contender for 'blind ref of the month' but... that's football. Bellamy could have been sent off for raising his hands but he wasn't.

As I saw it: Poor passing, long balls, poor positioning (crowding), lack of awareness, less desire than the opposition.

Shearer, Dabz and Bellamy came away with some credit. Maybe Lee as well. Solano was appalling, Barton average / borderline rubbish but no worse than usual and Distin unimpressive in his time on the field.

Even the colossally biased SKY team couldn't believe that this was the same team as last week.

I thought it was too good to last.

At least Owen is out for next week. We may have half a chance.

Haway the lads.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Yes SteveT - that thought occurred to me also - the great defensive hope, Sylvain Distin, didn't look too clever when he came on. Hopefully, we was just over-awed by the majestic, trophy-winning opposition on the day.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Maybe it was the pressure of being brought on to defend a 2-0 loss?

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

I think it's a match that as fans we need to forget. The players can take a lot from it, like how not to defend and how not to break down the opposition and how not to battle away in midfield.

I just hope that we don't end up with a season of subdued atmospheres at SJP now, with nobody having any confidence in the team, particularly the defence.

At the start of last season when we did Fanzone on our website, over half of the people interviewed thought that Andy Griffin was ready to make the right back place his own and would feature heavily in the team. Barton kept his place. Exactly the same this year.

Saying that, from a statistical point of view we are doing better than last season. We got beaten by West Ham, so that is the same, but against Sunderland, Man Utd and Chelsea we have picked up an extra 4 points compared with last season.

Keep being positive, if we get a good atmosphere - as well as an early goal - against Leicester on Sunday, the confidence could be restored - something that is vital if we are to get anything from Liverpool.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Why should we be surprised? Apart from 90 exhilarating minutes last weekend, a slightly-better-than-mediocre extra time performance against Brentford and 60 minutes against 10-men Boro, what have we shown this season? Well, we looked OK against the Makems but couldn't beat them.

I'm sorry to say it, but I've been conned. My enthusiasm was hijacked by a couple of hours of decent play. But the truth is, we could have lost all three games against Boro, Brentford and ManUre.

Until this lot can show some consistent good form, then we will always lose games like today. After Troyes (another farce of a game), YBR gave Barton a chance, which to be honest, he took well against the Makems. But can he do so again? Unless Andy Griffin is injured, he has an ideal opportunity to drop Barton on Wednesday, having announced his "injury" on Sky TV.

And surely now is the time to say to Nobby, "Enough is enough. Park your @rse on that bench over there or get your Andean woolies out and prepare for exposure at Kingston Park". Bring in Bernard to add some steel to the m/f which has been sorely lacking of late.

If all that fails, well I can see the same happening on Wednseday as did today. You can bet that Peter Taylor will show the video time after time. I only hope YBR does too.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


SellElana has just about nailed it for me. It's the old two wide players leaving two against three or even four, should have played 5 across the middle....and keep the ball on the deck. We showed that for about 10 minutes or so after going two down and everyone lifted, then the long ball was back....like others half way across the world I got up and went half way across the bloody city for a 1am start, what a waste of F*ckin' effort....:-(

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

The battle was lost in mid field but also neither back was able to handle the opposition.Barton, I thought, was appalling -- even when fit most us recognize that he is generally a major liability. Today he might as well ahave played for WHU -- the number of times he gave the ball to them. He is invariably caught out of position, he cant tackle, he cant pass except to the opponents he cant centre a ball and he cant score. Why has every manager, since Keegan became disillusioned, continue to play him. He is NOT going to change. Solano was terrible -- rarely seems to play well away from home. Robert seldom got the ball without a couple of defenders on to him. Acuna was rarely where he was needed. The bright spots -- Given and Bellamy and shearer, though both of these should have scored. By contrast I thought WHU played exceptionally well. Sinclair, Kanoute and Di Canio had our full measure, and Repka stood out like a beacon - - just the sort of center half Buff and I have been crying for for more years than either of us care to remember.

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

Did anyone think the players looked distracted, that their attitudes seem care free, or worse still - they looked like they didnt give a fuck..........

WHY DID THEY NOT LOOK STIMULATED?

Was it me or did the fuckas look hung over???????????????????????????????????????????????????

Everything they did they mimicked being hung over, eg.

They lost about 80% of the fucking second balls as in the message,

'I'm a bit dehydrated and me head aches, and we might break forward 20 yards if we get the ball - no one will notice'

They where out fought as in the message, I'll cover that space 20 yards away instead of tracking that cunt for 30 yards,

West ham looked a pass ahead, sharper etc. and thus put that little bit more into clever movement off the ball when in possesion, as in the message, Hey I'm hung over -we've had a good run- so I guess those daft fuckas wont mind if we cant keep the ball and create more clear chances than them.....

Blah, blah blah......

Tarts..

Did any of you lot think Solano looked dehydrated when he come off?????

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001


Already said just about all I can be arsed to on the Memo thread. Disagree with whoever said earlier that Wham played well for their win. Yes they took advantage of the space that so-called NUFC defenders continually gave them, esp. Barton again backing off his man in the box (he should have nightmares over the Di Canio goal for ever more)& down our left, but I promise you that was one of the easiest 3 points the Hammers will pick up all season. They're not short of effort but their defence is extremely vulnerable - against a team that's capable of playing PL level football that is. Those wankers in b&w have embarrassed themselves again

-- Anonymous, September 23, 2001

A lot of good sense has been aired on this thread , it is obvious to us all and our frustration is that the management may not appear to be aware of it , a lot then finish up with `well what do I know, never sell yourselves short. I liken Utd`s performance to say an inter - mittent fault on a car, until it conks out it is hard to pin point the problem , struggling yesterday but running smooth against Man U , progressively gets worse with the odd good ride , but at the end of the day you just know in your heart of hearts that new parts are needed. Yesterday I had took a long hard look at our team and what I saw did not encourage me one jot, and that includes the bench. Given ok I can live with, Barton and Elliot are woeful, their distribution is appalling , range of passing limited , enough said about Barton, Elliot every ball is fired with a pitching wedge to Shearer , chest to head high , so predictable, he cannot make space for Robert who will soon get cheesed off. O`Brian is one of those players who to me brings out the response, `oh him , did not notice him much`, Dabs is well Dabs, at least things do happen when he is around, Early doors on Distin , defensively at least, he will encourage football from the back, he will not by pass midfield continually and will bring the left into play. My worry though is that Bobby is tinkering with the thoughts of 3 at the back, has the c/b`s and cover now but if he thinks he has any wing backs on his books , forget it. Solano is conning us all, screach is so right,he operates a track 10 yards wide, 25 yards long on the right hand side, will leave his space to take free kicks, due to Bellamys work rate and enthusiasm he willingly gives him the final 10 to the by-line and thus saves him busting a gut to get a cross in. Lee tries and did get in some blocks yesterday but he is unable to change the direction of the game, his game appears for 80% to receive, don`t turn, give the ball to Barton, and that`s it, Acuna runs around a lot, runs round a lot,? Robert does look tidy and I thought Shearer against a good Ch Repka, held up play and laid the ball of in excellent fashion but it just had to be frustrating for him to only show that facet of his game Bellamy, a moving object in b/w , a sight to behold , off the ball on the ball, making things happen , will we see the like again I muse. To summarise, like golf I suppose, get your driving,approach work and putting in unision and you can get a half decent round, much the same as Toon did with Man U , but don`t hold your breath.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Disgraceful, Disjointed, Desperate and Dead from the neck down kind of covers it.....

There's too much to say about how bad we play and I can't be arsed to say it all.....we lack ideas/invention, we struggle to pass and move and we've got no bite....

Wham we all over us, just as we didn't give Man Utd or Chelsea time on the ball they did it to us today and just gave up and started hoofing balls straight back to their defenders, they played some neat, short pass football and their players were always moving into space whilst we stood static....

Bellamy gets credit from me.....no-one else....

Didn't hear any of the dodgy chants that Sellelena was talking about so it must've been very localised....

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


Strangely coherent spot on explanation review from Buff !!!

I have a pal who always says everything comes from your midfield. Great defence, you may not lose many, great forwards you may score, but to be consistently good you need a spot on midfield.

Yesterday we clearly had no midfield of note. Solano was not to be seen. Had no energy about him, didn't actually do anything with the ball on the rare occasion he was available. He has managed to get away with poor performances in the past as he may have been tired from wanting to play thousands of miles away, there was no excuse yesterday. Robert didn't seem up for it, and to compound this was never fed the ball. He rarely linked with Elliot, and didn't look a quarter of the player he has in other games. Acuna runs around madly but seems to have no sense of why. He gets into the box and gets attempts of goal, but he just isn't good enough. He is no better than Gary Speed, which sums it up for me. Robert Lee has one very good game in two or three. There is no telling which games it will be, so we will to have accept that if he continues to play then the team itself will also look good one game in two or three.

My role model for class at the moment is Celtic. Their midfield has two superb central players in Lambert and Lennon. They are supportive of their wide players, they tackle well, they are ALWAYS there as an out for the player with the ball. Wide left they either have an out and out winger in Petta/Guppy (neither of whom can be as brilliant as Robert) or play a classy attacking midfielder in Petrov. On the right they play Buff's love child of Agathe, a wonderful footballer, strong, fast, aggressive, everything Solano isn't !! Even when they play poorly they have a system which works. We don't seem to have a system, that any of us can recognise, and no obvious link between defence and attack.

Someone has criticised Dabs and O'Brien for taking th eball out of defence and then losing it. I agree with this criticism, they should be shot if they do it again and leave huge holes behind them. The question has to be asked why they felt they had to do this. They are there to defend not to be midfield play makers. Earlier this season against Troyes we had the nonsense of Hughes playing in midfield and getting too much of the ball. Yesterday and Troyes highlights the weakness of our central midfield.

We desperately need a Michael Carrick to calm us down, have some positional sense, and to introduce a footballing brain to the mdifield.

For me a sad consequence of yesterday will be the imminent return of Gary Speed, who would so easily have blended into yesterday's performance. I look forward to Dyer coming back, and at least giving us an option to not pick Nobby, but I dread the thought of Speed replacing either Acuna or Lee. I know we have nothing better at the moment and I should support the players in the shirts it just saddens me that I have to support players so unworthy of wearing them.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


Please Bobby,

Start with Griffin and Bernard as fullbacks against Leicester. Drop Nobby and either play Ameobi wide or Bassedas as an extra in central Midfield. I don't know why we bother with a right winger anyway as Shearer or Bellamy seem to always be in the corner -maybe because Solano can't be @rsed to go there. Give Distin a start - he can always be subbed but let him have a go in front of our own crowd.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


We had a poor game. General lethargy and the London mental block. We didn't pass well enough, or challenge hard enough, or create enough movement etc. Basically we were tentative pushovers. All teams have games like this, even Man Utd, so optimism doesn't turn to gloom overnight. Everybody was aware before the game that the key are in need of strengthening is central midfield, and lo and behold, it showed up in this game because Robert and Solano were unable to get into the game, leaving too much for Acuna and Lee to do, especially with the sh@t link up play from defence. Personally, I don't think we've given West Ham enough credit either. On today's form, they'll be a top ten side at least, and were only at the bottom due to the difficult away games and injuries to Di Canio and Kanoute.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

This has got to go down as one of the worst performances i have seen. we totally and utterly suked. we were disorganised in defence, bypassed the midfield when going forward, robert wasn't fed the ball so was ineffective, solano was just plain crap, lee didn't control the game and acuna was nowhere 2 be seen. Ratings Given - 6: Was ok, bit indesisive on crosses but made i quality save from kanoute. Barton - 4: Talk about bloody useless. how the fuk did he get into the staring line up ahead of griffen who played quite well against manure. Griffen is everything barton isn't quick, aggressive, young and can pass. Barton had no positional sense gave the ball away heaply on numerous occasions and just plain shithouse. O'Brein - 5: Played ok but got caught on the ball yet again and was caught out of position a fair bit Dabs - 6: Played ok but didn't mark up well against don hutchison when he scored. fell on his arse too much. Elliot - 6: played well got done a few too many occasions but was double teamed. was unlucky to be denied a penelty Solano - 5: Totally ineffective. put 1 half decent ball in a that was it. gave us no width and gave the ball away too often Lee - 5: didn't control the midfield. wasn't able to stamp his authority on the game and supply balls for solano, robert to cross all for bellemy to chase. Acuna - 5: ran around like a headless chicken. had 1 good attempt on goal but like lee rarely won the ball for us. Robert - 6: lacked supply of the ball, was quiet for long periods and his deadballs were falling short. did however put 3 good crosses in and attempted to take on his man. Shearer - 7: played well for his 2nd start in 10 months. made some good intelligent flickes fall bellemy and held the ball up well. however missed a good chance by shearer standards when he headed over. Bellemy - 7: ran all day. chased everything and nearly caught out hislop. got a few stinkers from the ref but played well. Subs Distin - 5: looked very shakey on the ball and was caught out of position by kanoute for the 3rd goal. Ameobi - 6: tried hard, had 1 or two soft attempts on goal. Robson - 4: does he really know what he is doing? dropped griffin for barton after griffs played well against manure. why change a winning side? when we were 2-0 down took of barton (highlight of the game) but instead of bringing on an attacker brings on a centre half which showed he had conseeded the game and was looking for damage limitation. this would have boosted west ham and glenn roeders confidence and scored a 3rd goal.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

When we were 2 -0 down , we needed a major change. We should have bought off Elliot and Barton for Distin, Ameobi going 3 at the back and putting Bellamy in the midfield. LuaLua or Bassedas should have replaced Solano as we needed an extra player in midfield to stop Wham, and give better service to the two front men.

I remember the camera on Robson's face around the 58th minuute, and he was almost resigned to losing the game at that point.

I think Robson made a mistake picking Barton (crap), Solano(worried) and Robert(ill) in the first place, and didn't do anything to fix it when it was going wrong.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


I think it would've been impossible to drop Robert after his earlier performances...it's too easy to say that he was ill etc, he himself said he wasn't.....he didn't get the ball and on the few times he did he was double marked out of the game...no problem, we should've had players elsewhere making space because of this but we had no movement and our players passing was appalling, just totally unable to find each other with the ball or keep hold of it for more than 2-3 passes...

Personally I think we just haven't been training properly, we should be a lot sharper and quicker and the players should be constantly trying to make space....space that the other players should be able to pick them out in because they EXPECT the movement...

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


What about the Darren Peacock view that the bad performances in London and Southampton, are down to travelling for 6 hours on a bus? Wouldn't going down on a train a couplke of days beforehand and training down there a fday beforehand be a better option?

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Spot on Gav. thing that really got my goat was that they didn't look interested from the first whistle. No hunger, no movement, no bite. Couldn't pass water never mind a football. Yet again [1st time this season though] we GIFTED three points to a team who were there for the taking and that's what makes me very, very angry. I don;t buy into this London hoodoo nonsense either. They're paid a ludicrous amount of money on a weekly basis and if that's a psychological problem then they're anything but professional. fing amateurs.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Not much can be added to the comments already made, except to say Bellamy has

Now for the real reason for comment. Free kicks, are we trying something new. Have we been practising on the training ground and failing like the weel known three men jump over the ball but nobody kicks it routine last season. twice yesterday we had free kicks in xcellent positions just outside the box. nobby stands over the ball and rolls it two inches, Robert then has to sprint to reach the ball before the opposition wall runs out to block. Both times Robert did not appear ready and the ball was closed down. Why not cross in for Shearer or Dabizas to attempt a header. With two outstanding crossers of the ball we attempt something which lets the defenders close down the shot. Robert is very good at striking the ball but nobby gave him no chance to shoot.

Stick to the tried and tested methods. Direct free kick = shoot, indirect = cross towards the penalty spot. Easy.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


Before the ManUre game I would have been happy with two points from the next six. Now I am gutted to have three.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Anybody see Arsenal's comedy free-kick?

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

It was hilarious, + its not as though Van Bronkhurst and Bergkamp can't understand each other. Didn't we pull off a similar trick last season?

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

We went one better with three players running over the ball and nobody touching it!

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Confused the hell out of the opposition, and everyone else.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

haven't read every posting so forgive any redundancy here. my 2 bob's:

wham won because they had a plan & worked like hell to execute it.

namely they pushed up as far as possible to pressure the ball and stop any service to the 2 wide players. (don't blame solano for that)

newcastle's response to the pressure was to hit long punts to bellamy, it was the only way they could get the ball out of their half.

it points to a lack of craft in defence and central midfield and a certain amount of lazyness as well. shearer's lack of mobility didn't help, the strikers need to gve the team an outlet in a game like that, shearer never got more than 4 feet away from his marker - big problem - contrast shearer's movement with dicanio and canute.

i think the result and performance puts the good start in perspective. we need more than one good player here, a central midfielder is a must as is a decent set of full backs. bobby also needs to understand that shearer's incremental value is limited when the team aren't dominating

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001


2 bob`s a dollar gb , lot of good sense in there,

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

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