Will Cort start against Derby?

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If he does, I think YBR has completely lost the plot.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Answers

Of course he will after all he scored a wonderfull goal against Everton, have faith the lad will come good but id only give him 45 mins.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Ken, we are hardly in a position to wait for someone to 'come good'. We need someone nippy to get on the end of Al's knockdowns. Cort may be many things but he ain't nippy.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

The alternative is an unfit bellamy who way may crock , Luax2 the black ketsbaia good in spells but greedy and doesnt lift his head. Dyer - id rather he was in midfield. Cort can hold the ball up he just needs to time his jumps better and hed be laying on a lot more goals.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Can't believe your defending the useless crock of sh*te. We have Shearer to hold the ball up, we don't need someone else doing the same job.

Lua x2 can't, simply CAN'T be any worse than Cort - if he loses possesion a few times in the opposition's penalty area then what harm has been done? If not LuaLua then play Robert up front, play Dyer up front, play bloody Chopra up front. Any of them would be better than Carl sodding Cort.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


'Will Cort start against Derby?' Well, he hasn't managed to start yet, least not from where I've been watching. Agree with Dave, he's absolute shite. And yes, we all know he's been out for a year, but frankly I thought he was shite before the injury. Stick him back in the reserves for about another year. I'd rather play Marcy than him. Well maybe not, but you get the point. I keep expecting him to fall over, it's like he's just had two new feet grafted on and he's trying to get used to them.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Well why dont we put a tecos trolley at the back of the oppos goal this will speed up carl..

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

So i take it you thought he was the worst player on the pitch then?? cos i thought that honour went to one of Elliot / Speed / Robert

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

From Bobby Robson's comments, Bellamy looks almost certain to play a part against Derby. Apparently he could have played against Fulham, but they are being cautious and patient. We can't expect him to be match fit though.

As fans we are an impatient bunch (something to do with never winning anything, despite coming close a few times). We need to curb this impatience and stop swinging from confidence in the players/manager to complete lack of confidence in their ability. What the players need now is solidity, especially as many of them are now in unfamiliar territory. LAst season we suffered the whole time from jittery, inconsistent performances. YBR and confidence that comes from results has improved this symptom beyond recognition, but I see it surfacing again, exacerbated by us as supporters. I'm not saying we don't have a right to complain, but we need to knock this feeling of panic on the head. We WILL finish 4th.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Cort is a good player going through a bad patch. The trouble is that if he isn't played his confidence might be so badly hit that he never recovers his old form. However, playing him while his confidence is low might also serve to damage his sel-belief. The fact that he is greated with derision as soon as he walks on the park probably doesn't help either.

Having said that , his performance last night was so poor that he doesn't even deserve to be on the bench for the Derby game.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


I hope he doesn't. Bad patch -- yes, comes good -- maybe. Lua Lua seems to be in decent form, and is the closest thing to a Bellamy we have, so why not play him. He WILL leave if he doesn't get a start this season. I'm sure he's dying to make his mark now.

Something needs to be done, and it it is NOT Elliott on the left.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002



Nick I agree remember tommason he was booed and called all games he played , his lack of confidence got greater and greater untill he left and now is knocking em in again for i think feyenoord? Give cort support he did do some good things but was surrounded by 3 players whenever he got the ball , if the rest of the team had ANY movement then he would have had a pass available to him and wouldnt heve lost the ball as much. In fact I think Shearer lost the ball just as much because of the same reason.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Only Shay and YKD came out of last night's game with any credit (depressingly similar to the Villa game in that respect). I actually thought Speedo started the game well but faded badly, Jenas should have come on for the unfit Speed, Lua x2 for Cort. Sorry but I'm starting to sound like a stuck record now.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Forgot about Distin - thought he was canny too.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Agree with everything said on here, and yes I thought Cort was worse than useless last night, but Elliot, as usual, shaded it for the totally absolutely utter shite award. Both Elliot and Cort nudged Speed out of it. Not knocking YBR, he's not played Elliot for eons, so he can't rate him that highly, and he always gives players the benefit of the doubt before reaching the same conclusion as us and dropping them. He's got more patience than us, that's why he's a manager, but he gets there in the end. But in the meantime, we have the occassional spell of watching shite. Like Cort. And Elliot. I'll give Speed a bit more rope, that was his first game back.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Speed should not have played last night.

I said last night that when the sub was made we should have gone 4-5- 1 as we were being over run in midfield. I also hold myself fully to blame for the draw. When my mate asked why Fulham had dropped so far in the table, I replied that's because they always draw every game. Two seconds later, they scored, sorry all.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002



The Journal firmly blames Robert for Elliot's performance. They reckon he never showed, forcing Elliot to hit long diagonals looking for Shearer / Cort, hence his poor distribution. Agree?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

NO although robert did keep coming inside , elliot was poor in every department not only distribution

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

NO !!!!!!!

Elliot's first two passes to Robert were so delayed he ended up getting clattered by the full back. Elliot aimlessly hoofed the ball over his shoulder towards where forwards may have been but weren't. To blame Robert for Elliot's failings is like blaming Shearer for Robert's.

Cort is different from Thomasson. Thomasson could trap the ball, when he jumped in the air he could reach his own height, he could also pass the ball, it was just that Dalglish had banned our players from crossing the half way line. Thomasson also understood the off side law.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Me neither - just wondered how others felt! You're right about that bloody offside law Mac. How Cort could look along the whole line of defenders (twice) and still get caught offside defies belief.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

If we criticise Cort for being caught offside twice, then Bellamy deserves the same treatment, if not worse since he has enough pace to give himself some leeway when trying to beat the offside trap. We're being too fickle with our criticism.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Elliott was useless, bring back Quinn.

Bellamy is just too quick for the officials. A few times I've seen he was onside but by the time the official looks rom the played ball to Bellamy recieving it he's a yard further on and looks offside. Linesman just can't keep up. At least he's never stood looking at the line and not bothered to back up into an onside position

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


To answer the question posed - yes, I think he will start against Derby.

We are all frustrated and worried, but Peter Miller suggests this is not the time to panic, and BR won't do that.

Now, if you're asking whether I would start CC if it were my decision - no I wouldn't, but her wouldn't have played in the last 3 or 4 games either. If we play with two big semi-static target men, we get out- gunned in m/f, and inevitably resort to "lumping it". CC can only be viewed as AS's ultimate replacement, and should be being used to 'spell him'.

I would have tried Robert up front long before now, and if that hadn't worked I'd have tried Lx3. Quite frankly, if Lx3 can't get a game right now we should get shot of him.

One of the more worrying aspects of last night's game for me was Distin's shaky display at CB.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Sometimes, Andy, admittedly (and very frustratingly). But he (Bellamy) also legitimately gets caught offside too, whilst looking along the line. In fact he has been offside 49 times according to OPTA in his 26 games. He also misses a hatful of goals in one-on- ones. But we forgive him due to the massive positive contribution he makes. The point I'm trying to make is that no player is perfect, and therefore it's easy to find fault if you look for it. We need therefore to make sure we don't find fault to substantiate preconceptions.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Ok Peter, Bellers does get caught offside a tad too often. That, however, is where the similarities between him and the Corthorse end.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Just making sure the criticism stays constructive, DSS. If we get this worked up and frustrated, we can't expect the players to be immune. Relax everyone :-)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Bellamy may miss a lot of his opportunities but at least he's getting them and is getting into the right positions. Too often Cort gets dragged toward the ball like a dog after a ball. Even when Cort was on last night we ended up with him in either the same position as Shearer or behind the play. I think he can become an outstanding player and his finishing is good. As has been said though, he cannot be played alongside Shearer. Shearer flicked the ball on yesterday and insted of looking to recieve the ball and run on with it towards goal, as he only had one defender to beat, he had his back to goal and tried to bring it down and hold it up. The only thing this did was blunt the attack and let them get defenders back behind the ball.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Several games ago some of us were saying that we did not have the luxury of allowing Cort to play himself back into form. We are not 13th in the table with nothing to play for. The stakes could not be higher. We got to be champion contenders with pace and guile -- Cort, apart from his goal v Everton has shown neither. I still say that in the absence of Bellamy, Robert should have the role. Nor could I understand why Speed was started, nor Elliot. We should have had faith in the Dyer/Jenas combo and let Bernard have his chance. I hate the booing of the team, but I could sympathise with it after last night's display. It was caused, I believe, more by a feeling of frustration and the lack of success over many years.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

I'd bet my life that Cort will start against Derby. BR obviously sees something the majority of us don't.

I trust that his judgement will turn out to be correct. Simply because I have faith in BR. Why should I (descent footballer) presume I know more than an ex proffesional noted as one of the best managers in the world?

How many people questioned the signing of Bellamy?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Jim, Many of us did question the SIGNING of Bellamy, and we ate our words after seeing his early displays. How long, this critical period, do we have to wait for Cort to show his mettle.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Cort will and should start against Derby. My only fear is that by the time he gets his head together for PL football it will be on the plane back from Southampton. Bellend may have exactly the same problem if he starts next week, although I expect him to be a late 2nd half sub if we're leading.

Luax2 is getting close to a series of 1st team starts, but if we had a fully fit and match ready Cort, Bellend, Shearer, Robert, Dyer and Solano where would he play? Oh yeah, he'd play with the bucket of 'water' and the dog in the tutu... ;-)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


I expect Cort will start against Derby as BR will be seen to want to keep faith with him and LL is too unpredictable (the fact he never gets a full game doesn't help of course). I expect that the team will be the same as the one who started yesterday.

I only hope Bellamy is at least on the bench or if not, Bobby actually considers using LL and Bernard early on, if things aren't working out.

Derby will be going for it - unless we match them, better them and of course win - no more Champs League.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Have faith in BR. He's with the lads all day. He knows what would happen if he brought Benard and LL on. He will also know how good Cort is and will have good reason for playing him.

We don't know whats going on. All that talk of Bellamy returning could have been tactical. B might have known that there was no chance of him returning.

Cort/Shearer might have been told to simply hold the ball up and BR might be relying on the midfield to get the goals.

BR is not stupid. He knows a lot more about football than any of us ever will. And unike most managers he cares about NUFC as much as any of us. Where were we this time last season?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


But Jim you sound just like a Sunderland supporter justifying Peter Reid's position by comparing it with some worse time in the past. It isn't the same, but we have to question our draws/defeats and their causes as much as we rejoice in our wins.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

The Journal has blamed Robert for Elliott playing crap?

You have to be bloody joking. Robert wasn't too good but Elliott couldn't even find anything near a Newcastle player with his long balls. At least Given can roughly hit Shearer or Cort (still not the right ball to play IMHO) but Elliott's passes were completely random.

If the Journal / Chronicle are starting yet another hate campaign against another of our foreign players then Robert is well and truly doomed. Too many fans use the aformentioned toilet roll substitutes as the truth with all football matters.

Did Alan Shearer get an 8/10 for a brave performance by any chance, and Robert gets a 4 for "making Elliott look like a poor first division player"? It's getting to the stage where I'm livid with the local press, anywhere else the local press would praise the club and be supportive, but not here.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Another thing, does anyone think the Ipswich fans would have moaned this much when they were in a similar position last season?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

hopefully we are a capable of more than Ipswich otherwise what's the point in having crowds twice as big

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Yeah I agree MacB, but we have come from mid-table nobodies to almost title challengers in the space of a year. We had a poor season last year, yet when it improves we still moan.

It's a little bit more than perfectionism, it's addiction to moaning, something that quite a few females I know have contracted, only it's the non-football version.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


OK - with full acknowledgements to the Journal and all that here's what was said. Also player watch on Robbie Elliot reckoned he gave the back 4 a much more balanced look and made a point to Robson - I didn't realise Elliot's dad was a journalist! Anyway here it is:

If players of the calibre of Laurent Robert continue to perform so poorly then Chelsea, and even Leeds, will show little mercy in the race for Continental riches.

The Frenchman's shortcomings were never more evident on a night when he needed to deliver and, not for the first time this season, Robbie Elliott paid the penalty for the winger's indifference.

Elliott, recalled to the starting line-up following a six-week absence, immediately faced the same problem which had hindered his progress prior to Sylvain Distin's controversial switch to left-back. The Gosforth-born defender saw plenty of the ball in a frantic opening, but the hopelessly ineffective Robert repeatedly failed to offer an outlet down the flank.

Denied the obvious option, Elliott was forced to aim the ball towards Shearer and Carl Cort, often missing his intended target.

The tactic finds no favour among the St James's Park faithful and prompts much moaning and groaning from fans vehemently opposed to the long-ball game.

But surely it is Robert, rather than the under-pressure Elliott towards whom the crowd's wrath should be directed.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


After reading that I am completely irate with the Journal. I never buy it anyway, but that just takes the p*ss well and truly.

I don't even think it needs any further comment as it is so blindingly bullsh*t.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002


Anyone got any handy tips as to how I get this cheap newsprint off my arse-cheeks?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

.....stop eating the stuff Softie. Just stop after the final chip! ;o {)

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Try using mouthwash or terps.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2002

Maybe somebody should ask them if they noticed who created our goal.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2002

That's a very good point Steph.

Robert is third in the league for assists behind Pires and Giggs.

He is ahead of Golden Balls Beckham.

Considering assists only count for OPTA if it is a pass that creates the goal directly, the one against Fulham would not count as it took a bounce off a few defenders.

However, what it highlighted for me was that again Shearer and Robert linked up, just as they did against Arsenal, Ipswich and Everton. Surely if Cort isn't fit Robert should be up front? I know I've said it a countless number of times as have a fair few others on here. Only recently have I realised how well Robert and Shearer have been linking up.

Also can anyone remember that pass by Robert that split the Fulham defence open? Through about 3 or 4 defenders and directly onto Dyer's feet, who took it a touch wide and lost the chance. Barely a single clap for that from the crowd, but he takes a man down with an atrocious tackle, gets booked and gets cheered. Some fans need to get their priorities right. Loads of mistimed tackles get you nowhere but in the bath, early, but defence splitting balls like that win you matches.

-- Anonymous, April 11, 2002


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