: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:02 am  

ash4hullfc wrote:

We passed the ball far better than the likes of Hull City? That isn't hard.

Maybe you should have passed it less than good, then you might have stayed up.

Ho-hum.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:00 am  

carl_spackler wrote:

All very interesting, but still missing the point. The fact that your midfield was worse does not mean your defence was any good. They were still pap as well. And with you being a Hull fan as well, I thought you'd have realised by now that looking ok in a poor side doesn't exclude you from being a duff player.

Bassong looks decent, I agree.

It was plainly obvious to see that Newcastle were poor all over the pitch. The strikers did not get enough chances but still misfired most of them time apart from the odd wonder strike from Oba. The midfield lacked any real creativity and pace and also did not seem to able to protect the back four all that well. The defence was very poor at times, lots of individual mistakes from most of the defence including Taylor. Taylor seems to have potential but then will go and have a 'Bramble' type moment.

A lot of the problems stem from having no leadership on the management front, lets face it JK was a joke and spent more time whinging and swearing at reporters than he did coaching.

It will be really interesting to see what happens to them this season, they have a number of players who I would imagine would be leaving but there has been little movement as yet, unless I have missed any. Bassong, Beye, Lovenkrands, Viduka, Oba, Owen, Barton, Nolan and Guiterrez would all be leaving I expect? As yet only Owen has gone and they don't seem to have signed any players, found a buyer or have a manager. I honestly think they could go down again, hope not but it would not surprise me.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:19 am  

Robbie Rotten wrote:

I hope he gets it all, seen as he's been given very little this summer to spend.

I'm not sure how true that is. Supposedly before Alonso went he could still sign at least one player however:

Out
Alonso (30 million)
Leto (£3 million)
Dossena (£4 million....soon)
Arbeloa (£3.5 million)

In
Johnson (£10 million when you take the money they still owed us for Crouch off)

Now according to the yanks, he had £20 million at the start of the window. In my eyes that leave us now with £50 million to spend if he gets all the money from his sales which I would imagine he will insist on.

Maybe wishful thinking though.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:38 am  

Sthelens RLFC wrote:

I'm not sure how true that is. Supposedly before Alonso went he could still sign at least one player however:

Out
Alonso (30 million)
Leto (£3 million)
Dossena (£4 million....soon)
Arbeloa (£3.5 million)

In
Johnson (£10 million when you take the money they still owed us for Crouch off)

Now according to the yanks, he had £20 million at the start of the window. In my eyes that leave us now with £50 million to spend if he gets all the money from his sales which I would imagine he will insist on.

Maybe wishful thinking though.

From what I've read regarding this summer, the signing of Johnson really stretched us.

Apparently Aquilani is set for a tough medical, the Echo says the club have doubts over his fitness, I'm not sure if he's fully recovered from ankle surgery.

Also, the Echo completely dismisses Poulsen to us, saying he's not even on our radar. I'll believe the Echo over Sky, easy.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:57 am  

The new skysportsnews music is terrible

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:19 am  

Robbie Rotten wrote:

From what I've read regarding this summer, the signing of Johnson really stretched us.

Apparently Aquilani is set for a tough medical, the Echo says the club have doubts over his fitness, I'm not sure if he's fully recovered from ankle surgery.

He's not good enough for Liverpool IMO. I am sure there are many better options.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:23 am  

Enfield Exile wrote:

He's not good enough for Liverpool IMO. I am sure there are many better options.

Ability-wise, he is. But I have doubts over his mentality, his fitness and his potential to improve defensively.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:49 am  

Enfield Exile wrote:

He's not good enough for Liverpool IMO. I am sure there are many better options.

Viable options? I really can't think of many mate. Aquilani, Defour and Poulsen are the ones linked. The thing that concerns me the most about the trio is that they are coming from Italy (alot slower paced) and Belgium (not at the same standard as the Prem). I'd rather sign someone from the Premiership or La Liga personally, but if we are taking viable options who aren't going to be over inflated pricewise I'm struggling for names.

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:51 am  

Robbie Rotten wrote:

Ability-wise, he is. But I have doubts over his mentality, his fitness and his potential to improve defensively.

Defensively shouldn't be a huge problem as Alonso wasn't exactly defensive minded when he had Mascherano around. His great strength was pinging passes. Ideally we want a decent passer who scores goals as well. Alonso and Masch contributed 1 goal between them last year. If this player we sign can prodce 5 goals a season it will be an improvement on that.

Arteta?

: Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:07 am  

Sthelens RLFC wrote:

Defensively shouldn't be a huge problem as Alonso wasn't exactly defensive minded when he had Mascherano around. His great strength was pinging passes. Ideally we want a decent passer who scores goals as well. Alonso and Masch contributed 1 goal between them last year. If this player we sign can prodce 5 goals a season it will be an improvement on that.

Arteta?

I think Alonso's defensive game was massively underrated. He was always there to win the second ball, and he often broke play down. I remember when we played Villa away and Xabi was asked to man mark Carew, he done it really well and he acted like another centre back.

I think Aquilani can do Xabi's job on the ball very well, he's probably got more to his game in an attacking sense, but he does go missing and he isn't that dominant. Xabi used to be the same during his average couple of seasons he had, but last year he really upped his game, which will make pretty much any player we sign a step down, but Aquilani is still decent.