Guz

A handful of fans booed, unfortunately in my book but the majority decided to take the piss out of him by chanting the istanbul line. That WAS funny, whatever the so called journalist of the year (...) thinks. I can't understand why Owen has once again become the centre of attention despite us playing his team off the park 2-0 and him not getting a touch of the ball. Much ado about nothing.

This is the sort of game Crouch was bought to excel in IMO, he'll definitley start I reckon. Only big question is whether or not Xabi plays, considering Momo and Didi are back and whether we go with Crouch + Cisse/Nando or play Stevie just floating in behind. I agree with the idea of not thinking about Everton and going out there to just blow them away but it's not always that easy.

Apparently Michael owen was at the game aswell, anyone see him?

I know they've won 8 games in a row now and played Newcastle off the park, but, I just can't see what Rafael Benitez is trying to achieve there.

Feckin good job he didn't get himself sent off/booked

Fantastic thing to say the week before playing Liverpool away

He doesn't gamble enough. He's right when he says Crouch does a lot of running, wins headers etc. but he needs to start realising that on the pitch and gambling for the second ball. Owen's goal vs Man City earlier in the season for the barcodes was a great example. Three times Shearer tried to put Owen in with headers I think and each time Owen was ready to pounce but managed to keep himself onside aswell before finally finding space to be picked out by Bowyer. Too many times Crouch is winning the 1st ball but we're not picking up the 2nd, but it's getting better. That's why I'd like to see Garcia partner Crouch for a few games.

That press conference was probably one of the funniest I've seen. How many times did Michael say it was "unfortunate" that Liverpool couldn't finalise a deal for him so he came to Newcastle instead? Or Fat Freddie's reaction to a get out clause, all red in the face and didn't even let the journo finish his question. All that before a few thousand Geordies start singing "one graeme souness", only to start booing him again a week later A hunch and only that but I can't see Rafa wanting to piss about with Owen for a 3rd succesive summer and it will be tough as Newcastle will be as stubborn as possible about it even if Owen wants to leave. For what it's worth, I think Newcastle will qualify for Europe this year.

World Club championship trophy paraded before the newcastle game might do it

The only game recently they should have expected to get anything from was spurs at home I think (Chelsea, a***, Mancs and us being the other teams). If they win games against the bottom 14 or 15 teams as they did early in the season they'll be ok. They werent great at Anfield a few weeks ago but their fight and tenacity was impressive. Early predictions of europe may have been premature but they'll be alright I think.

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Weren't our teams of the 70s and early 80s very mechanical like? Not saying Chelsea are playing like we used to or vica versa but it's a term I've seen used for the way we used to pick apart teams, particularly away from home No doubt. Giggs, Scholes, Keane and Beckham was probably the best midfield in Europe in their prime.

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He admitted that as well. I don't see the problem. Chelsea are a fantastic team, they are currently the best in the country by a big margin and will probably retain the league again without too much discomfort. For the money they have spent and the players they have the brand of football doesn't compare to Arsenal or United at it's peak but it's very mechanical, very solid and most importantly, very succesful.

I don't know that much about Joaquin's performances this year but who was that lanky streak of piss at Southampton (now a division 1 side lest we forget) that some on here wanted to spend a whopping £7m on in the summer?

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BS were getting deeper and deeper in the first half. Mancs probably only need a single goal to win the game.

The Cisse/Crouch "debate" is boring now so I'm not really arsed what he says. What amazes me is how people outside of Liverpool continually fail to realise how we've been losing these 'easy' games away to Villa, away to City, at home to Pompey etc. just when we think we're on a good run and should be winning. Last year is a prime example.

Would MO mention wanting to come back to Liverpool if we hadn't had contact with him? He'd look a complete t** if he came out saying "oh yeah, I want to go to Liverpool" and then 24hrs later we issue a statement saying we don't want him. The ball is in our cort at the moment. Hopefully the statement this morning is just a nudge to Real Madrid that when we come back with a formal bid, RM's hand will be forced to accept something lower than the Newcastle offer or they'll end up with nothing and MO will leave on loan for a season.

Or a case of Owen saying he'd only go to NUFC on loan could force Real's hand to accept a lower bid from us. Getting boring this though, I'm more interested in who we sign for the right side and central defence.

Then why bother bringing anyone in? Sell Crouch, Morientes, Sissoko and Reina back. Bring back Dudek, Biscan and Smicer - we won the feckin CL with them didn't we?!

Story from the s*n

Which players have we "missed out on"? And by that I assume you mean players that we wanted, were at the right price and would be willing to move to the club? Who exactly has there been in January? We loaned out a shed load of players because they're not good enough for the club and have little or no sell on value. Only option is to get them off the wage bill for 12 months and hope someone comes in with a bid after that or just keep them sent on loan till their contract is up and buggers off. We cant just sell players if they're not wanted. And we have no money? Well, that seems open to debate. But after spending £20m+ net since Benitez was appointed, I'd like to think we have a bit more money than is being speculated but we'll see in the summer.