deacon

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Well, Newcastle fans have always been known to be the most loyal and knowledgeable haven't they? I wouldn't ask their opinion on anything to with football. Well, maybe strikers, because after all, they love to see goals and they love their number 9's. Owen has always been injury prone, if he hadn't got injured for England in the world cup, I'm sure he would have got injured playing for Newcastle. And beating Israel wasn't a certainty, they're a decent side who have had a couple of good results away from home over the past couple of campaigns.

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All this criticism that Gerrard has received from certain quarters on this website, and forums, has been pathetic. How can you criticise a player for wanting to wear the England shirt and help his country qualify for a major championships? If anything, playing this weekend has done us a favour as he'll be more match fit for the important game away to Portsmouth - we all saw him cramping up after 70 minutes on Saturday. It was like the idiot who was glad that Alonso got sent off after 20 minutes for Spain on Saturday. I'd have much rather seen Xabi stay on the field and put in a great performance, so he comes back to Melwood buzzing. If you don't want to see your team's players competing in tough international matches, go and support Everton.

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Got to be Babel, especially as we clearly needed a winger, Malouda and Mancini fitted this description, but Babel is a forward.

If Finnan gets to mark him I'm sure he'll keep him quiet. I watched Porto against Chelsea in the Champions League last season. Despite scoring a goal, Quaresma played like an absolute sh1thouse. He pulled out of tackles, didn't track back and gave the ball away a lot. All in all, he did all the things Rafa clearly dislikes. No way would he work under us. You have to wonder about these kind of players who are brilliant on Football Manager, or look good in a highlights package, or are statistically good, get a move to a big club and are found wanting. It has happened to Joaquin, it happened once to Quaresma at Barca, and will happen when he moves again. Kaizer, whether he gets a move to a big club or ends up staying at Porto, he'll shut you up for once this season and prove how how much of a chancer he is. He'd be perfect for a side like Inter.

I'm not sure how well Heskey would have played under Rafa though. It would seem that big Emile played his best stuff when he had a manager that could put an arm round his shoulder to coax the best out of him. There was an article about Martin O'Neill recently and Tony Cottee said that O'Neill could be vicious to the players at times, and the only player to escape this was Heskey as it would have a negative effect. Heskey's confidence would have wilted with Rafa barking instructions at him on the sidelines all match I reckon.

I am sure that I read on this site a while ago that when Rafa first arrived he watched loads of Liverpool matches from the previous seasons and was surprised that Heskey was sold as he could have been useful for the team.

It's not just centre forwards that the Newcastle fans love, don't forget, they love goals and entertaining football.

Kaizer do you ever offer an opinion on anything football related without referring to statistics? Fair enough when analysing a sport like cricket, but not football. You're sounding like that Daniel Finkenstein who writes the Fink Tank in the Times, the one who used statistics to argue Lampard was a superior player to Lampard.

I've only seen his appearances against Villa and Chelsea, but I think he is going to be an absolute star for us. His cross for the Riise chance was lovely and he looks like he'll be quite direct, which is what we need sometimes. Another great attacking option for Rafa to have.

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Villa will be in the mix this season. They were playing some really good stuff towards the end of last season.

I can't believe Spain v Yugoslavia from Euro 2000 isn't in that list. What a game that was. The Bayern v Man U game was terrible, a game that was terrible for 89 minutes doesn't deserve to make that list.

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Not true at all. He scored 11 league goals the season West Brom were relegated under Robson. That's a pretty impressive total playing for a side that went down, especially when you consider that the mug Robson didn't pick him as a first choice striker, preferring Kanu and Horsfield ahead of him. If he doesn't get injured he'll score double figures for Derby in the league. I've got him in my fantasy league team, a pure bargain he is. I also think Diomany Kamara is going to score a few this season.

Agree with that, he's going to be a brilliant player, but may struggle to get in ahead of Gilberto and Fabregas.

They all have a first touch, Riise doesn't. They can pass the ball, Riise can't. He only ever uses 2 options when on the ball, either to hoof it, or pass it sideways to the holding midfielder or centre backs. Finnan has a better cross with his left foot than Riise. When watching our televised games with mates I'll often comment about how s*** he is, who laugh at me like I'm an idiot after he scores a screamer, like I'm wrong all of a sudden. Just because he scores the odd lovely goal doesn't mean he's a good player, and certainly not better than any of the above.