Several members of next season’s Newcastle-Online writing team were kind enough to answer a number of questions on various topics. In the first of two installments,we shall look back at the highlights and lowlights of the 2006/07 season.

Firstly, looking back at the past season, what positives, if any, were there?

Matthew Lishman: The injuries brought forth some positives, believe it or not, with the introduction to the first team of the likes of Huntington, Edgar and Carroll - which was great to see. And, until it ended, the European run was good.

NE5: Nicky Butt showing us what he can do. Hopefully he will stay at the club and play alongside a more attacking partner.

Bob Yule: We didn’t get relegated. There were some good performances amongst the mediocrity. Dyer’s return.

Jonny Hall: The blooding through of Youngsters was a major positive for this season. In a year where Newcastle were dogged by injuries, it was good to see players such as Huntington, Edgar, Carroll and even Milner who has not yet fully matured coming through the ranks and taking the first team by storm - it just goes to show that we do have a future here at Newcastle.

Also Oba Martins seemed to have a good first season. The Premier League isn’t an easy place to play but, although at times he looked a poor player, 17 goals says something for the 21 year old Nigerian. Despite a decent first season however, I would sell him in the summer - he’s not what we need.

Lloydie: Loads. A lot of youth team lads got a lot of good experience. Kieron Dyer is fit (and so can be sold, or may even come good), Michael Owen recovered (ditto), we spent no money and finished mid table despite predictions of disaster around Christmas. That lad Martins could be a bit special. It could have been a lot, lot worse.

Baggio: Milner and Butt coming back from loans and being our two best players.

Matt Raisbeck: Mediocrity prevailed but there were some good performances and occasional excitement in and amongst it all. Man Utd (Home), Spurs (Home and Away) and Alkmaar (Home) are the ones that stick in my mind. Also, the performances of some of the young players who had to be drafted in because of the injury situation were pleasing. In particular, Edgar and Krul look as if they have something. Few others shone, but Milner, Solano, Butt, Martins (at times) and a fit again Kieron Dyer put in some good performances.

Alpal78: If I’m honest nothing really. Under Souness, at least there was that blinking hope of UEFA Cup success because we at least had the players. Under Roeder, I knew we were not gonna make it anywhere. Aside from the usual guys (Oba, Given and Milner), the others under performed horribly.

Paul Mosley: Very few positives can be taken, really. The form of Milner, the resurgence of Butt.

Stevie: Glenn Roeder being sacked, doing the double over Tottenham. The re-emergence of Nicky Butt, and the form of Milner.

A.K. Dholakia: Andy Carroll looks quite promising, and there seems to be a cataclysmic change around the corner with Roeder gone.

Tom Lynch: There weren’t many were there? Nicky Butt came back, worked hard and won the fans back over, and James Milner also gave it his all and Andy Carroll also emerged to give us hope for the future. I know people would disagree with me here, but I also often thought to myself, ‘Thank God Souness isn’t in charge.’ Don’t get me wrong, Roeder wasn’t good enough, but at least he wasn’t an antagonising idiot like Souness.

And what was particularly bad about last season?

Matthew Lishman: Sheer underachievement, thanks to a hopeless manager.

NE5: The realisation that Roeder wasn’t up to the job of managing Newcastle. The non appearance of Owen. The lack of firepower. The injuries.

Bob Yule: We ended in a dispirited and shambolic state.

Jonny Hall: Nobody seemed to care about the club for most of the season. In previous years, players like Shearer, Given, Speed etc. all fought on the pitch every week for the badge. Even Craig Bellamy gave 100% to the cause while he was here and that’s saying quite a bit. This season however we simply gave up without a fight. Some players were a disgrace to the shirt and quite frankly should never play in football again.

Lloydie: Something is wrong in the dressing room and the board room. Players who didn’t want to perform have been allowed to drive out the manager and the chairman let it happen.

Baggio: Roeder’s refusal to drop big name players even though they didn’t perform.

Matt Raisbeck: So many things in a dismal season, but the injuries is the obvious answer. It really was ridiculous how many we had out at one stage. The negativity amongst the fans which then turned to apathy and indifference was depressing, but understandable. The lack of goals and firepower upfront that left us with our lowest total of goals scored in a Premiership season. Then there’s the fact we always bottle it against the poorer sides. The points thrown away against the likes of Charlton, Wigan, Sheff Utd, Middlesbrough and Fulham still makes me angry. It’s probably as much to do with the attitude and motivation of players than anything else, and while it’s incredibly frustrating, it’s so typical of Newcastle United these last few years. You just went into those games knowing we wouldn’t get anything out of them, and it wasn’t good enough. Let’s hope Allardyce can stamp it out.

Alpal78: Having to go through horrible performances on the pitch coupled with the lies that Roeder was pandering. Not seeing Luque being given a fair chance suggests a bigger problem, that we have difficulty bedding in foreign imports and giving them adequate time to adapt. Seeing Zoggy’s demise as a star player for the Toon was also painful.

Paul Mosley: The constant dross I had to sit through, and too many overpaid under-performing players.

Stevie: Obviously the injury crisis was said to be “the worst in the clubs history”, maybe it was but we seem to have had this excuse every season for about four years.

I think sitting through dismal home defeats at home to Sheffield United, Man City and Blackburn were almost 10 year low points for me, from about halfway through the season it was evident that the players weren’t responding to Roeder, and the cancer which Souness was brought in to remove was still prevalent two years later.

A.K. Dholakia: Distinctly un-Newcastle football [ie. inability to score goals/entertain] which invariably lead to poor results and the unjustified scapegoating of the defence, which the media capitalized on. The midfield was particularly poor. Thinking about it now, is there one midfielder who you can think of who you would confidently feel could create a chance during 90 minutes? I can’t. We don’t have even one Beardsley. Milner was the closest thing last season, but even he was a way off.

Tom Lynch: Where to start? Too many players just didn’t put the effort in, then we have jokers like Carr, Bramble, Babayaro who just aren’t good enough. Shepherd gave Roeder the job as a cheap option and continued to be the embarrassing loudmouthed fool he has been for many a year, with such an imbecile running the club we don’t (or didn’t now) stand a chance.

In your opinion, what was Newcastle’s best game?

Matthew Lishman: Our best performance came at home to Alkmaar, although people tend to forget - seeing as how horrific the second leg was.

Jonny Hall: We really showed our European class in the home leg against AZ. We proved in that game why we still were Newcastle United. We walked all over the Dutch side and I thought if we produced similar results out in Holland, we could easily walk away with the UEFA Cup. We played non-stop attacking football and just hit them on the break again and again and could easily have scored 6 or 7.

Obafemi Martins was on top form and could have grabbed two hat-tricks by half time. The defence was solid and everyone was playing for each other. We looked like a successful team. I feel that if we had produced similar goods in the Premiership over that season, we could have done so much better.

Lloydie: Tottenham at home. I mean we didn’t deserve it, but the entertainment value was huge. Most fun I’ve had watching football in ages.

Matt Raisbeck: For sheer drama and joy, Spurs away. Despite being on the back foot for long periods we somehow managed to nick the three points late on and the fact it was against Spurs, in their own back yard, made it extra special. I hadn’t felt so happy after a game for a long time. That result really made my week.

Paul Mosley: It would probably have to be the 4-2 victory over AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup. It was a breathtaking display of attacking football.

Stevie: Beating Spurs home and away was nice, away we were lucky, but at home it was thoroughly deserved I felt. Based on our first half showing against AZ I would say that was the best performance of the season.

A.K. Dholakia: Difficult to say as our best performances were so deceptive. The Premiership double over Spurs was quite good though. They showed a rare killer instinct and most things seemed to click.

And which game do you wish never happened?

Matthew Lishman: The Birmingham defeat. Losing in the UEFA was inevitable.

Jonny Hall: Probably the 5-1 defeat at home to Birmingham. The AZ away tie was disappointing, especially after the way we had performed in the 1st leg, but losing by such a margin at home to a Championship team was embarassing, disgraceful and unacceptable. Everybody just seemed to give up and we were never going to win that game based on the mentality of the players on the pitch.

The defence were awful and the performance was the worst I’ve seen since Bobby Robson left, and that includes the 4-1 defeats against Sporting and Manchester United. We showed no determination, we showed no guts, nobody looked as though they actually wanted to fight for the club and its purpose; that was the beginning of the end for Roeder at Newcastle.

Lloydie: Birmingham in the cup. Why couldn’t we just have drawn Chelsea again and gone out like that?

Matt Raisbeck: Birmingham at home was utterly embarrassing, and in true Newcastle style, it would be live in front of the nation on the BBC. Also, Alkmaar away was depressing but oh-so-predictable.

Paul Mosley: The second leg of said tie against Alkmaar. Playing for a 0-0 throughout, even when we went behind, suicidal tactics.

Who scored the best goal?

Matthew Lishman: Martins, at Spurs. Awesome goal.

Jonny Hall: Probably Martins against Spurs at WHL. Hell of a strike from nowhere. I actually missed the original shot because I was looking away doing work because I’d gotten p’ed off with us losing 2-1 and looking terrible. All I heard was Martin Tyler screaming ,and I turned around to see Oba running away celebrating.

Lloydie: Martins against Tottenham for sheer class. Closely followed by Edgar against Man Utd for sheer dumb luck.

Baggio: Emre vs Reading.

Matt Raisbeck: Quite a few good ones this season but Milner’s at home to Man Utd was particularly special. I loved the way he showed Gary Neville outside then cut back inside and rifled a shot into the top corner. The television camera captured it brilliantly.

Paul Mosley: Personal favourite was James Milner’s stunner against Manchester United on New Years Day, but an honourable mention to Obafemi Martins’ thunderbolt against Spurs.

Who was our player of the season?

Matthew Lishman: James Milner - who was excellent down the flanks. Special mention to Nobby, who looked past it earlier on in the season, but moved back and was impressive.

HTT: For me James Milner. Not only had his game improved significantly but he also started to weigh in with goals and vital ones too, something he never looked capable of doing in his first season on Tyneside. But what tips the scales in his favour even more is his brilliant attitude. He’d have been excused for thinking “sod this” after the way he was disgracefully handled in the close-season but the fact he didn’t says everything about his superb character and desire to be a success here. We need more players with the same attitude.

Jonny Hall: Got to be James Milner. The guy has shown absolutely astounding attributes this season not only with his ability on the pitch to score and create goals, but also his attitude and method of approach of the pitch as well. We cam so close to selling him and it showed that Roeder really wasn’t that fussed about him. We didn’t sell him however and he came back and instead of moaning, he just got on with the job and performed to an outstanding level.

He can score goals, he can create goals and he is always an outlet when Newcastle are in trouble at the back. He can take on nearly any full back and beat them for pace and skill. He is definitely the future for our football club and will find himself in the England side in the not too distant future.

Baggio: Nicky Butt, a player most had given up on.

Matt Raisbeck: James Milner. After being messed about on transfer deadline day, his attitude was spot on and really put some of his more experienced colleagues to shame. Could have easily sulked and gone into his shell like some would have done, but he used it to his advantage. Showed his worth to the team with not only some excellent goals but his overall work rate, which was brilliant. He looks a different player to the one we saw in his first spell, but he still can’t cross a ball, mind! Souness said we wouldn’t win anything with a team of James Milner’s. Well I’d rather have 11 James Milner’s out there than some of the other alleged stars at the club. We need more like him.

Alpal78: Close between Oba and Milner but given that Oba needed to adapt to the EPL and a new country, I’d give it to him, by a photo finish.

Paul Mosley: James Milner was a shining light throughout for me, creating a host of goals and managing to score some belters of his own.

A.K. Dholakia: Obafemi Martins. Industrious, committed and, unlike the majority of our squad, genuinely talented! I appreciate graft as much as the next man, and I don’t hate those who give it their all and still come up short, but this is the Premiership - talent is essential, and too many of our players are grafters not footballers [though, of course, both would be ideal]. Obafemi hasn’t always been electric and he has a bit to learn, but in the team he’s played in, he’s impressed me more often than not.

Tom Lynch: Nicky Butt - Should have been our captain.

And which players have been the biggest disappointment?

Matthew Lishman: Damien Duff has been a major disappointment, obviously, but I’d have to say Parker as well - who simply was not good enough this season. The guy needs a position.

HTT: Damien Duff a player who I was against us signing because we needed defenders more than wingers. I was also concerned we would be signing a player whose best days were behind him, an injury prone player. In that sense he didn’t disappoint. A waste of money. That said, he can still turn it around, just look at Butt, I remain doubtful though.

Bob Yule: Parker looks a shadow of the player he was at Charlton. He doesn’t seem to be enjoying his football.

Jonny Hall: Bramble, N’Zogbia, Carr, Moore, Bernard, Babayaro, Emre, Duff, Ramage - Need I go on? All of them showed at some point that they just aren’t good enough for the club. All of them probably have what it takes to make it in the top league, I know for certain that Emre, Duff, N’Zogbia and Carr do but they certainly haven’t shown that this season. Thankfully three of them have already gone, let’s just hope more of them do.

Matt Raisbeck: Carr, Babayaro, Bramble, Moore, Ramage, N’Zogbia and Parker were disappointing but far and away the worst was Damien Duff. In hindsight he should never have been signed, particularly as we had bigger priorities at the time. Yet irrespective of how much he was needed, I was still pleased because we had managed to get a quality player for what appeared to be a snip at £5m. But it just hasn’t worked out for him. He looked a shadow of his former self - lethargic, slow, short on confidence, afraid to take players on and his signing didn’t exactly give out great signals to Charles N’Zogbia who seems to have got the hump. You can count on one hand the number of good games Duff has had and I think his best performance was against Fenerbache at left back. Clearly he has struggled to adapt to his new surroundings, playing with lesser players than he was at Chelsea. However, I trust Sam Allardyce to work with Duff and get the best out of him next season and hopefully the manager will stay clear of any players leaving Chelsea this summer!

Paul Mosley: Damien Duff. Yes he’s been injured for a lot of the season, but when he’s been fit he’s been abysmal. This has had a serious knock-on effect when it comes to Charles N’Zogbia, who hasn’t been able to get in the side despite being our best player last season, or when he has been in the side he’s been out of position, or lacking match practice (or, to be fair, just being rubbish).

Stevie: I’m not going to mention anybody in the defence, because I expected shite from them. Damien Duff has been a huge disappointment but I haven’t given up on him, while Parker produced many non-entity performances when the opportunities were there to take games by the scruff of the neck.

A.K. Dholakia: Stephen Carr, Damien Duff, Peter Ramage, Scott Parker… all spring to mind, but I’d expected much of Charles N’Zogbia after his last season, so the gravity of disappointment there is larger. That said, I don’t blame him too much as he’s young and Roeder pissed him about.

Just how did Glenn Roeder get it wrong?

Matthew Lishman: Match days. I believe he’s probably a decent coach, however his line-ups and his tactics in general were just rotten.

HTT: He didn’t to be fair to him, he was just well unequipped for the job from the offset like his predecessor and in that sense always fighting a losing battles. His departure was inevitable at some stage because he was never the right man in the first place.

NE5: Loyalty to one or two players resulted in bad team selection.

Bob Yule: He laid into the players and made threats after the Alkmaar game, and that lost him the respect of the dressing room. He was always in a weak position, and he over-played his hand. Before that, I thought he’d done okay in difficult circumstances.

Jonny Hall: Glenn Roeder didn’t have what it takes to handle the club. He couldn’t make the right tactical decisions, he chose line-ups that were loyal to players (Dyer, Duff, Carr etc.) who at times didn’t deserve it. Instead of playing who was the best, Roeder played whom he relied upon but they let him down so badly. At the end of the day, very few of the players on that pitch were playing for Glenn Roeder, no matter what is said in public, it’s so obvious that they didn’t respect him, they didn’t care about him and they didn’t play for him.

Lloydie: Insufficiently ruthless. He must have known some time around Christmas who the players were who weren’t delivering for him and they should have gone. Lets hope he’s told Allardyce who they were.

Baggio: Failure to drop his big name players, poor tactics and he wasn’t a strong enough character.

Matt Raisbeck: Nice guy and that was probably his downfall – too nice for the job. I think he’s a good coach but just wasn’t cut out to be a Premiership manager. He seemed to lose the respect of the players after the Alkmaar defeat, and it was clear they stopped playing for him from then on. He let himself down badly with his team selections. Almost every time he had a decent squad of players to choose from, we lost, and he was all-too-willing to bring the big names back at the expense of the youngsters who had done so well when forced into action. The use of substitutions, or sometimes lack of them, was also baffling. Finally, he dithered in the transfer market and the shambles last summer really left us short for the season.

Alpal78: He got it wrong in so many ways. Tactically he was poor. I won’t forgive his defensive tactics against Manure. He never seemed to get the players motivated. Ultimately he lost it because he simply was not qualified and not good enough. The lies (yes they were) and the “no I’m not complaining about our injury” excuses just made it a farce.

Paul Mosley: When he had selection decisions to make, he got them badly wrong. When he was down to the bare bones, we went on a run.

Stevie: There were so many things. The key one is quite clearly his lack of motivational skills, yet there were so many tactical blunders, like playing direct long balls to your striker when he’s 5ft8 - oh dear.

A.K. Dholakia: Often the players didn’t look fit, injuries, tactics, bowing to media pressure, inertia in the transfer market, backing the wrong players [Carr etc], knocking the wrong players, team selection.

Tom Lynch: I always think of him as too mild-mannered, perhaps I’m wrong, but maybe he was simply too weak. There were certainly tactical issues as well with players out of position, long balls for Martins, who’s not exactly a big lad. Some of the selection choices were just puzzling at times.

Keep checking Newcastle-Online for Part Two, where all the summer activity will be discussed. We’d also liketo hear your views, so please have your say.