According to icNewcastle anyway. Well injuries had to happen and now they certainly are.

I hope to god he gets fit or else the dream pairing of Acuna and McClen might be seen again!!! Spurs midfield are now rubbing their hands at the prospect of that.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Answers

Gamesmanship I hope. Dyer was ok to play on Sunday, so if he's a major doubt now, it would have to have got worse.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Sincerely hope it is gamesmanship, otherwise we are well and truly buggered for Wednesday.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Why's that? we were doing ok without him earlier in the season...

Not that it matters much...I think we're buggered even if he does play....we won't be able to cope with their 5 in midfield and don't forget the POYET factor :((

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

With Speed out, Lee injured and only McClen and Acuna to fall back on we need to have someone who can create panic and draw players in. Dyer is desperately needed - without him I don't think we can win.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Gav, thank God your ticket is in the upper tier, well away from me and Pete. Don't know what we're going to do about the pre-match drinks though, maybe you could stand at the far end of the bar. You and your 'glass half empty'. With a bit of help from Bolton tonight well be top of the league come 10:00 o'clock Wednesday night. And if/when that happens we won't let you sing with us.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Oooh listen to him.... :))

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

ATTACK. ATTACK. ATTACKATTACKATTACK.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

I think he's breaking up

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Which is hard to do, so I'm told

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

It looks as if the stand-in midfielders who were called into action at Peterborough will get another chance to show what they can do at Spurs, with news that Kieron Dyer is likely to miss out again through injury.

'Robson has confirmed that he has what the club are calling a "slight foot injury", but other unconfirmed sources suggest it could actually be a stress fracture of a bone in his foot, which would require up to a fortnight's rest - putting him back in contention for the FA Cup tie along with fellow midfield injury victim Gary Speed.

Confirmation or denial will no doubt follow, possibly when the results of a scan are made known.' All of this is care of .com, which probably carries more credibility than ic. Oh well, I guess that nice Mr Herron might have a point.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

No worries. This is when Jamie McClen stands up to be counted and we realise we have our very own Steve Gerrard in our midst. Confident as ever, me. The confidence might need to be bolstered by a heavy alcohol intake though, come tomorrow night. Glass half empty? Maybe, but as long as there's another one lined up...

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Remind me, didn't we play him injured at WHL last season, and after his f..k off rejoinder to the f..kwit running the line and the subsequent sending off he wasn't seen again in a B&W shirt until November. Stress fracture wasn't it? My experience via athletics is that stress fractures are like any other break, and take up to 6 weeks to set. They are also caused by overuse.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

I wonder if anyone at work would notice me drinking heavily tomorrow afternoon as I watch text updates? Gav, you gonna finish that half- empty pint? ;-)

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Nope cos I'm scared it'll get re-filled....then i'd be stuffed! ;))

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Clarence ACUNA
Shola AMEOBI
Warren BARTON
Craig BELLAMY
Olivier BERNARD
Gary CALDWELL
Nikos DABIZAS
Sylvain DISTIN
Kieron DYER
Robbie ELLIOTT
Shay GIVEN
Steve HARPER
Aaron HUGHES
Brian KERR
Jamie McCLEN
Andy O'BRIEN
Wayne QUINN
Laurent ROBERT
Alan SHEARER
Nobby SOLANO

Squad for tomorrow, from official site. Says it's provisional, but, so Dyer still might be out.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Warren to the rescue???

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Grrr....

Hmm I've noticed that Softie is almost as quiet Barton these days....proof if ever we needed it...

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

I hear Warren is underground these days. Now, where did I put my (rabbit fur) coat??

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Has Barton played in central MF before? I'd be tempted to put him on instead of McClen(if Dyer isn't fit). At least he's got experience and isn't afraid to boss the others. Additionally, he might actually stay in position, unlike our wandering gypsies of the MF on Sunday.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Yes, he played there extensively for Wimbledon. Careful mind - I suggested playing him there several weeks ago before KD was playing and when RL was injured: I got 'massacred'.

Frankly, I'd consider several defenders for m/f duty if Lee and Dyer aren't available for tomorrow, because the combination of Acuna and McGlen was completely useless. Who? Dabz, Barton, Elliott, Gary Caldwell.

We must have some physical presence' in there in front of the back 4, and for the Spurs game, with all the tactical issues that already presents, I think I would play Dabizas in front of the back line. This would enable us, as necessary during the game, to switch to a back three of O'Brien, Dabz and Distin with Hughes and Elliot - or perhaps Bernard - pushing forward as WB's.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

If YKD's buggered then we should go for Griff at right back and play Hughsie central midfield, McClen's not ready to battle it out with Poyet, Anderton et al. Either that or play Bernard from the start with Robert Acuna and Solano.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Griffin's not in the squad and likely isn't fit. ;-)

Dabs in MF is a good suggestion. He loves going forward and a bit of height would do us good, in addition to his experience and 'bawling' ability. Bernard has also crossed my mind, but I don't know if he's played in the center before. I also think we desperately need someone to exert a bit of control in MF. The MF were headless chickens on Sunday.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

The only one of that bunch I'd consider in m/f would be Hughes, perhaps to do a man-marking job on Gus. I didn't have the benefit of close-ups on TV on Sunday but I thougt McClen had a decent game. Certainly a lot better than Acuna who was very disappointing.

However, we've seen Acuna play well before so who's to say he can't play well on Weds? IMHO, McClen had one of his better games on Sunday (might not be saying a lot) and I have seen him command m/f in the Resorves (I think it was Leeds at KP this season). Maybe his confidence hasn't been too high, but having scored on Sunday, he may be more confident now.

Another option of course could be to use Quinn at left m/f, tho I doubt if we could accomodate Quinn, Bernard and Robert in the same side. Anyway, it's all accademic really as Little Kevin will start.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Cheers Griff, always reliabley bl**dy unreliable.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

FROM SKY: 'Newcastle boss Bobby Robson is holding his breath after injury-plagued England midfielder Kieron Dyer underwent scans on a foot problem.

The 23-year-old, who returned from a 10-month injury nightmare just before Christmas to play his way into World Cup contention, is giving fresh cause for concern as Newcastle prepare for Wednesday's Barclaycard Premiership trip to Tottenham.

Dyer missed the 4-2 FA Cup fourth-round win at Peterborough on Sunday after complaining of pain in his left foot - the same leg in which he suffered the stress fracture which sidelined him for so much of last year.

"Kieron is still suffering from a bit of a foot strain," said the Newcastle manager. "It's still not quite right. We've sent him for further scans just to be sure about it all, but I don't think he's going to make it on Wednesday.

"We'll know a bit more later, but it looks as though he may miss this one as well. That's quite a blow for us really. I don't think there's any point in hiding it.

"There's still a question mark about him, and the scans will give us some indication as to what it is and what it isn't. He's got a bit of pain there and he's not happy about kicking a ball. It's the same foot that he had the stress fracture in his shin.

"He had a test on Sunday morning outside the hotel and he was a bit sceptical about it. As soon as I saw the pitch, I said `You're not playing'. But back to the Premiership is a different matter. He's missed 10 months - I don't want to upset it again.

"He was touch and go about playing on Sunday. But in the meantime it hasn't got any better really, so it's just down to that." Not sure what time today this was posted, but looks like another bucket of cold water.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

People may point to lack of strength in depth, but this is just pure bad luck.

To have your first choice midfield all out injured as well as your backup midfield is very unfortunate. Take Scholes, Keane (first choicers) and Butt (backup) out of Man Utd and they would struggle.

I remember a comment on here a while ago about McClen, basically saying he looked like Rob Lee in his prime (in a reserve game like, but when else has he played?).

The key lies with Bellamy to be honest. For us to have a chance (without Dyer) Bellamy needs to wind up their players, maybe tempt them into throwing a punch to get one sent off. I know it's not nice but it could be the only way.

I'm just thinking back to the Leicester match, I remember saying in the match thread (before the game) that we should rest Dyer and save him for later as Leicester are likely to hand out injuries. It turns out that both Dyer and Speed were both injured from this game. Damn.

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Disagree

Distin/dabs/O'brien at the same time - yes

Lee - old and crocked

Dyer - returning from MAJOR injury

Speed - hardly does - but all players get due one

No comparison

Compounded by sending a 4 million investment away on loan speaks of crassness and incompetence

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

McClen had a run under Dogleash years ago. Has he not matured since then?

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Paul take Scholes, Keane and Butt out of the Man U midfield and you are still left with a midfield of Giggs Veron Beckham Chadwick. I some how doubt they would struggle in midfield. We have no depth in midfield. We have been aware of this for two months and have done feck all about it.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Pit Bill - that squad for tomorrow looks alright, provided we play them all...................at once!(;o)

I`m afraid in these circumstances the only options are to launch a full blown attack from the kick off, then never let up. (We could also invoke the little known FA rule of `if the home team are onto their 3rd choice midfield, the opposing midfield must wear their boots on the wrong feet`.)

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Unless, of course, it`s an away match, then the rule must be reversed! Doh!!!!

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

So, is he in or out? Anything definite announced yet, or will we only find out when he doesn't appear for the warm up tonight?

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

I hope you're not planning on being inside Whitehart Lane for the warm up, Terry?

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Only if Gav's glass is still half empty Pete. I'll drink in the ground, and take a bottle of lager in to throw at Poyet. If Plod's reading this, only joking.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Care of .COM 'The stand-in midfielders who were called into action at Peterborough will get another chance to show what they can do at Spurs, with news that Kieron Dyer is likely to miss out again for another six weeks through injury.' Now I don't want to say I told you so, but scroll up and see my posting on this thread yesterday. The Club must think we're all a bunch of naive nonces. Cue Gav, with an empty glass.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

You're glass will be half empty as well after the match :))

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Not much cop this Kevin dyer lad is he.....always fucking injured! :((

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Weren't the club p!ss3d off that nufc.com 'announced' Rob Lee's injury and team tactics before the Spurs home game? Maybe they're trying to catch them out....

BBS EXCLUSIVE I can officially announce that the team rested well @ the Royal Marriott hotel in Regents Park last night. A light breakfast followed by some shopping.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002

Dream on Scratchy, he's out. Brittle bones that lad. Maybe we can get him to extend his contract at about half the current deal, seeing as how he only vere plays half a season.

-- Anonymous, January 30, 2002