Sheer bliss

Woke up this morning in hotel room,, for an instant forgetting the result, groped for my remote control flicked on ESPN, there was Nobby taking a corner. It all came flooding back to me. GOAL, then propped up by pillows watch the rerun of the game like watching a favourite ole movie. Not perhaps the greatest we have played but............. Wonderful plus points. Distin, Robert and Nobby very good in patches, Dyer at times breathtaking with his runs, Shearer winning the ball in the air, leading by example, holding up play, going for goal. And there was the sometimes much-mislinged Gary Speed so much a part of the team, and I think the best performance since his return by Robbie Elliot. Goodish at the back look very controled coming forward and ball distribution much better than of yore. And to cap it all LX3. Quite stunning Just what Newcastle fans love. Infuriating, but oh so watchable. His trickery, ball-control and sometimes even vision, on another day he could have scored 2-3 more and made a couple more besides. And possibly on another day might have played crap. But we now have the team that has match-winners, be it LX3, Robert, Bellamy etc players who not necessarily sparkle all through but can do that bit of magic will will produce results. Can one presume we have qualified now??Not sure of my maths as I speak but think we must finish 4th??

Thank you Mr Robson. If, as suggested, he is trailing Emmerton, then I will bow to his superior knowledge. We have been proven wrong in the past.

Frabjous days!!!!

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

Answers

We need a point to be sure of fourth, derek.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

Thought LX3 was great..who said he can't pass. The ball he laid on for Shearers "almost" 200th goal was superb. Well done Lua Lua you "little treasure" Also as I am not Gary Speeds biggest admirer I am pleased to eat humble pie and agree he had an excellent game yesterday. His ball for Shearers "real" 200th goal was excellent.

Well done the Toon......!

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

I said he couldn't pass.

Though to be fair I've always been a fan of Gary Speed... :@)

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

For me, watching LuaLua is an absolute joy. He plays the game for fun - a couple of his dances between defenders yesterday had the crowd in raptures. Having said that, I found him slightly restrained from his normal exuberance yesterday, more than once seeming to look for a pass rather than take someone on - I hope we don't coach this fabulous talent out of him - but to be fair to the coaching he has received so far, his end product was very high yesterday, with 1 brilliant goal, 1 shot well saved and at least 2 chances carved out for others, including that breathtaking pass to Shearer which nearly brought up number 200 a little earlier than it happend.

Oh - and on the subject of joy - I hope we see THAT celebration lots more times - wonderful.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

seconded, and then seconded again

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

I'd like to see Lua score a hat-trick, his last in the closing minute of the game, and do a flip of honour around the pitch, maybe 30 or 40 consecutive flips.

Don't want to see him doing that many during the game as he would get knackered.

Anyone else think he was lucky not to get booked on about 4 or 5 occasions? Apart from that he was superb, great touches and could have got a few more goals.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

I was worried yesterday that he would end up in Level 7 before he finished his celebration. Apparently he's already tried "the dismount" off the prom at Whitley Bay.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

He never used to be able to pass to save his life. ;-) Glad to hear he's coming good finally, and long may it continue. Hopefully the highlights show tomorrow will show his goal celebration, as well as all the celebration of Al's 200th. Sounds like it will be worth the wait. :-D

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

Good lad Paul. If Lua is going to celebrate like that every time he scores, it's as well to get the terminology right.

It wasn't 8, 9, 10 or whatever back somersaults, but, as you correctly stated (more or less), it was 7, 8, 9 or whatever back flips, (flip flops, flick flacks etc, when I were nowt burra a lad), followed by one back somersault.

So noo wuh knaa. :-{E}

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

And if ever he celebrates with a single backflip or no backflip at all, speculation will be rife that he's no longer interested in the Toon and is seeking a move to Liverpool...

Paul - I can't say I noticed any incidents - when did you feel he might have been booked? What sort of offences?

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

There were some pretty awful tackles, maybe another referee would have booked him.

He was renowned for it at Colchester - his over entusiasm used to make him dart into tackles he'd never win and he'd get booked, which is why he used to be a super sub there most of the time as he was risking being sent off if he started.

Luckily he got away with it as the Chalrton players didn't make a meal of any of the tackles.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002

Lua x2 made some fairly enthusiastic challenges in the first half, but they weren't as bad as that tosser (Šlarky) of a ref made them out to be. To an extent, I agree he was lucky not to be booked, but that is a comment on the ref and his performance rather than on Lua x2's performance. Nice to see some commitment from a B&W shart.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2002