NUFC Forum

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Black Ice for the Ref on the way home.

blaming the ref is so pointless today IMO we were absolutely battered before he got sent off and wouldnt have made any difference if we had 11

Here's a limerick:

Our midfield without Scotty Parker
Saw the Reds run around without marker
Crouch scored with his head
****ing Bowyer saw red
Looks like the season just got a bit darker

The Ref had it out for us from the start. He wanted to get Faye off the pitch as quick as possible. Nowt was ever going to go our way today with the ref in that mood.

But your right, we only have ourselves to blame for the performance, but when we creeped back into it with a much improved 2nd half performance, the ref ended it with a siully sending off.

Liverpool should have been down to 9 men.

The ref is simply something we can't control. They are human and so sometimes will make mistakes. The trick is to play well enough it doesn't matter when they make shocking decisions. We need to be proactive about what we can do to improve results.

But he was shambolic, Garcia's Blatant dive at the end even went un punished. In the incident where bowyer got sent off , gerrad should also of had a red if he's giving them away so lightly.

Is it me or StevieG was lucky to still be on the pitch??

Theres no doubt Bowyer fouled Alonso, but that really should have been a yellow card offence at most. Im not defending Bowyer, hes a hothead alright but the reaction from StevieG was worst!!!!  blueupset.gif blueupset.gif

Anybody saw that little prick charge over, give Shearer an almighty shove , then proceed to throttle Bowyer. The commentators did not pick up on this, but I sure as hell did. Three times the replay of the incident was shown, each time I save StevieG do the above mentioned things.

What about Crouch shoving Bowyer immediately after the offence?

Is it me or are you allowed to shove, swear, etc once the referee has blown for a foul for an earlier offence???


FARKKKK

Thank you, Shay Given.

Fu.ck you Steven Gerrard.

And fu.ck you Graeme Souness.

I was expecting a loss, but wasn't expecting a perfomance like that.


Looking to Charlton now, three points is a must.

Liverpool taught us a lesson in the importance of having a good manager. They knew exactly where our weaknesses were and exploited them efficiently.

Don't think Bowyer should have been sent off, the Liverpool players certainly got him that red card. Speaking of which how were Crouch and Gerrard still on the pitch after that?

The lack of Solano was bewildering. We had nothing down the right hand side with Bowyer playing there. Faye was bottling out of challenges. Boumsong and Babayaro thought they were ballerina's today.

Luque did well when our players actually managed to pass him the ball successfully. Owen and Shearer got no service at all bar one or two Luque crosses.

Totally incompetent and unacceptable performance. Not unexpected though, this is the Souness era.

What a difference a good manager can make bluecry.gif

I thought it was straight red if u raised your hands to another player? And Bowyer's challenge two footed no, studs showing no, from behind no, over the  ball no but its bowyer so send him off any way just compare that challenge to some Essien has made what a joke.

But who cares would of made no difference we were crap. Souness has made us a mid table team worse defence in the premiership by a long way. Seems a long time since Robson was sacked how things have change since then.

Gerrard should have been off like. Anybody see his sly kick at Faye in the first half?

No complaints about the result. Our first half was abysmal, our defending.. actually we didn't. Our midfield were killed, esp Zogs. We deserved to loose.
We could not string together any passes, and so there was no linking og backs to mid to fwds. Owen hardly got a touch. some bad managerial decisions. havig said that, Ref was CRAP. If Bowyer was red (it wasn't) then Crouch and Gerrard should ahve been red carded.
Just leading up that, the ref missed a hand ball as well.. we were playing reasonably well. Then it was over after bowyer was marched.
terrible day.

Quite frankly we're a disgrace. How you can put 10 supposed Premiership players (Given excepted) and reap a performance that even a non league side would be embarassed of is staggering.

OK, you can either start 4 midfield players in their natural positions, or start 2 left wingers and 2 central midfielders.  what do you choose?  Bowyer was woeful down the wing, and as soon as we were down 2-0 it was over.  How the hell can such players be used so improperly?  And Ramage shouldn't play another game at fullback, and Boumsong and Bramble shouldn't play another game period. 

The ref' was just a side show, we were awful and to blame the ref' for that is beyond reality.

We've lost to a much better, in form team so I'm not going to get suicidal.

Usual red shirt rules applied for the ref though.

One word to sum up today: s***e

Bowyer got sent off in this fixture last year as well didn't he?

Yeah. bluesigh.gif

Can anyone tell me why Bowyer was sent off?

He didn't touch Alonso with his studs.

He barely even touched Alonso.

Alonso was rolling over like someone had broken his leg and then he got up.

Peter Crouch pushed Lee Bowyer over. Ref saw it clearly, but choose yellow card for violent conduct?

Steven Gerrard pushed Lee Bowyer in the face no card.

Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt
Steven Gerrard is a cu nt

He's got no ambition, he choosed a team which fluked the CL title over Chelski lmfao.

I was going to mention that kick out.

Gerrard is a fantastic player, but is prone to rash two footed challenges and losing his head, always has been.

Loved Shearer's challenge on Pongolle though!

We are out-classed. That's as simple as it is. Even Bowyer's sent out was a little bit harsh, our midfield was not effective most of the time. They can't defend our back four and certainly can't pass the ball to Owen or Shearer with shooting chance. This has been our big issue for a while, and became more obvious when Parker was suspensed.

Liverpool is the much better side tonight, no matter how you think the Ref had made mistake. Their long ball or midfield organisation is much much better than ours.

Without Given's world class performance, we will down to 5-0 or even more. Hope that he will sign a new deal. Also, Souness out and FS to find some world class Manager to organise our football in a way that can win us games and most importantly, with consistent effective performance.

bluesigh.gif

Expecting a loss. We played shit, they deserved to win.

Regardless of that. Steven Gerrard the soft ****ing **** that he is, pushes Shearer from behind, punches some ****er , then throttles another. Not even looked at by the referee!!! Crouch going straight over to Bowyer and throwing him over!!!

Notice how Gerrard wouldn't do it facing Shearer and ran off straight after!

Bowyer - not even a yellow card nevermind a ****ing red.

LUIS GARCIA - not even a yellow for the worst dive i have ever ****ing seen.

I hope that the FA will be looking into this.

cannot believe the difference between 2 teams that were very similar when the 2 respective managers took over. Im sorry this isnt down to pure luck. The difference betweeen Benitez and Souness is the same as the difference between carragher and babayaro or even the preverbial chalk and cheese.

Souness is too old fashioned in the way he thinks, believing tactics do not come into the equation as long as the players or 'proper players' do their jobs. The difference between the ball retention of the 2 teams was light years apart. We looked edgy always needing 3-4 touches and normally giving it away whereas liverpool seem to be able to pass and move 1 touch whilst keeping the ball.

We had no clues today, we have not improved a net 30million pounds later Mr Shepard has got to notice this he just must for the sake of NUFC, NUFC PLC, NUFC supporters and his own pockets. Do the right thing Freddie, and get us a manager worthy of the support we give!

The result was expected given the idiot we have for a manager, but Steven Gerrard really made my blood boil. Remember his two footed lunge on Solano that didn't even get him a ban?

Shows who our 1st choice midfielders need to be:

Parker: Great ball winner, keeps possesion
Solano: Keeps possesion. Handy at set pieces, can score
Luque: Can do something with the ball
Emre: Can do something with the ball, keeps the possesion, good at set pieces

we gave Souness a lesson in passing the ball.. had it not been for Given it would have been a lot more.. what about the Solano handball bluebiggrin.gif lucky he was not sent off.. you can have Owen we are happy with Crouchinho whose general play is very underrated

I agree, the way he shoved Bowyer over was world class.

Edit,  too slow.

No one is disputing who was the best team ffs. It was clear to see, not even the most ardent newcastle supporter could disagree. That scrap is whats under discussion.

I won't blame the ref, because Solano should be sent off for the handball.
And Bowyer deserve a red because
1.  He's not going for the ball but Alonso, obviously
2.  Even though Bowyer didn't break his leg, if the tackle really hit, Alonso will definitely out of season.

I expect a lot of stick though.....Bowyer is really a disgrace. He contribute nothing in this match but a red card.

stop focussign on the red card incident and look at the greater injustice.

What the hell have we done to Newcastle United Football club to deserve shite like this?

The defense after Taylor left was disjointed, disinterested and disabled... Ramage came out with credit despite playing out of position and only haveing an average game.

Given must feel like the rest of the team think he's lazy.. It's depressing that our keeper spent more time on the ball than our strikers.

it was a lightweight midfield and one without cohesion or ideas. Bowyer was wasted on the right, N'Zogbia isn't a central midfielder, Luque isn't a defensive footballaer and Amdy Faye can't even claim to be a footballer.

Why the hell didn't we start with Solano Bowyer Faye and N'Zogbia... mind you I'd have preferred us to play five at the back with Solano and N'zogbia as wingbacks, a midfield of Bowyer Faye and Luque/Ameobi then Shearer just ahead of them and Michael up alone. We were never going to match this Liverpool team man for man with the available players. I hate to say it, but we should have gone looking to stop them scoring goals. Souness needs to find a tactician because he strikes me as inept, the shocking defending persists, the unimaginative midfield lingers on and this leaves two top rate strikers without a sniff of the ball.

We lost that game five minutes after we took to the pitch and the Liverpool fans and players saw that the Geordies had come to Liverpool to roll over and die.

2-0 flattered us, Given is the bargain of the century for us, Grame Souness is blind and the scousers strike me as the most worthless scum in Britain...

sorry, but I'm contemptuous of the bitter little whiney ****s. bluebiggrin.gif

Given the fact that Souness has successfully turned us into a mid table outfit, a 2-0 away defeat at the European Champions Liverpool aint too bad.

(You didn't REALLY expect us to win there did yer!)

Sky Sports has it about right then.

WARNING: Edffect of link will only last a few minutes.

https://home.skysports.com/matchratings.asp?fxid=278774&clid=4&cpid=8

What I was trying to say, injustice or not there is simply nothing we can do about the card/lack of cards for Liverpool except protest to the FA. But better to look at the team's performance, what went wrong and what can be done to improve.

Hmmm, well, interesting to say the least.  I didn't see the game, so I can't comment too much about what's gone on.

With regards to the match, everything I've heard and seen has said it was a 2-0 massacre, should have been 4 or 5 to Liverpool and Newcastle were lucky to get 0.  Apparently Solano also handballed on the line, which should have resulted in a penalty and a red card.

With regards to the incident, again, I've not seen it, but from what I've read on the Liverpool forums Crouch should have gone and most are amazed he didn't.  With regrads to Gerrard, though, there has been mention of him grabbing Bowyer, but nothing about his throat, and certainly nothing about throwing a punch.  We tend to be an honest bunch and call a spade a spade, so I would expect to hear something about what has been described on here, on there.  As I said though, I've not seen it myself, so I will be watching with interest later on tonight.

With regards to the 'complete injustice' posts I've seen on here however, it's a tad two-faced complaining about things like that when you've got Teflon Shearer in the side.  I know it's no defence for what has apparently gone on today, but they say what goes around comes around.  And the Arsenal fans will testify to that after his performance against them the other week.  And didn't Shearer shove Crouch today after his shove on Bowyer?  If you're banging on about Crouchino being sent off for violent conduct, then surely Shearer has to go?

Like I said, I've not seen it so don't go criticising me for what I've been told.

This team is worse than when Souness took over, despite spending 50 mill.

Forget the ref, Sounesss is to blame, we were outfought, out thought and totally out played.  Crouch who has come under a lot of criticism lately was made to look like a stretch version of Pele.

I will never watch them again so long as Souness remains in charge.

GET RID NOW FRED

The ref should not have allowed Crouch and Gerrard to run around pushing people. They should have been sent off but in the end it would not have mattered. They took a risk with Taylor and he could not last 30 minutes.  The initial lineup by Souness made no sense. Playing with no right winger was idiotic and it allowed Kewell an acre of space in the first half. If not for Given it could have been a lot worse. Liverpool dominated the game and deserved the win.

Luque showed somse promise and maybe in a game where the team actually has possession he will do better. Bowyer is a disgrace, not only for this game but for other performances. It seems the team wanted him off the field as fast as the ref sent him off. It was a rough game and always was going to be. Newcastle does not play well at Liverpool and hopefully the next 3 games will be better. They can't be much worse.

I must say that it was fantastic to hear the very loud support for the team while watching the game here in New York. The fans will always make me proud even if the team does not.

Despite the poor result, crap performance, typical boxing day game - how many people can sit here and say that they are shocked?

My main concern is Steven Taylor. Not the result. We were NEVER EVER going to get anything from this match, and to be honest, we can take a lot from conceding only two goals. Well, Given can. :roll:

This makes a bit more sense! I know we weren't good enough, and I'm not defending our performance today but a very good side outclassed us. Maybe they wouldn't be that much better then us had we not had Souness but that's irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make here: anyone who says we were worse then a conference team is, in my opinion, a knee-jerker (new adjective there?!) of the highest order.

Yes it was a poor performance, No it wasn't good enough and no, I'm not happy but put it into perspective. We were playing what is, at the moment, a very very good side, and their ability was a big factor in making us look poor, in my opinion.

I didn't see Wally McFool's post. I was basically just re-iterating what he said...

You know WHY Liverpool out classed us? Because their manager trained them to exploit all our weaknesses. He knew our fullbacks would be weak and that they don't get much support. So what does he do? Tell his players to keep playing the cross field passes to stretch them as much as they could and use one/two touch football to rip through us. He also knows that Boumsong is a flower in the air and Babayaro is not much better, so he had Crouch move into their zone to pick up the crosses and knock them down.

That is the major difference right there. What was our game plan? I sure as hell couldn't figure it out.

Better go watch the replay then mate. You will notice Shearer approaching Crouch very quickly but not raising a hand to him, just sort of berating Crouch for shoving Bowyer, in fact more like separating Crouch from the rest of the Newcastle players who have at that point in time arrived at the scene. Then suddenly Gerrard comes charging in, throttles Bowyer round the neck, then proceeds to shove Shearer away. All in this time, if any other NEwcastle player was involved, it was merely to separate the potential
"boilover" would-be-offenders before it escalates further.

I understand that everybody outside of NEwcastle or who do not support NUFC would hate Shearer ,but its abit rich trying to pin every possible blame of Shearer because hes Shearer. Thats like the referee sending off Bowyer because hes Bowyer. eh?

As I said several times, I haven't seen it.

Wigan Reserves would have played better than we did today, of that I'm sure.

I was shocked to see NZogbia in the centre..

we were just in shambles in the game........
we had a change in managers abt the same time and clearly we are miles apart in most departments.
What i actually felt we lack when we were under Sir bobby was the winning attitude week in week out now we are even worst....with shite tactics...and no personalitity and flow in our game....
we are being force to play long ball because we cant out play the other team in the midfield....and rely on individual skills to keep us in games....
but we are not playing as a team....

Dun blame the ref or the players...blame the manager....for it is him tat newcastle had lost the shape...once bobby has builted...

We drew too many games under Sir Bobby, he needed to just turn some of those draws into wins, Souness has turned them into defeats.

We got off lightly with a 2-0 defeat.

WTF were we pumping aimless balls forward for Hypia and Carragher to have heading practice for all match, we've got one and a half short-arses up front for god's sake!!

I ask if anyone didn't 99% know what the outcome of the Bowyer tackle would be once he dove in. If he hadn't we'd have had the free-kick instead. Although having Bowyer sent off probably kept the score-line at 2-0 as Liverpool didn't really exert themselves after.

We got a lesson today, the question is - can we (he) learn from it...............

pissed off totally.

I have just witnessed the latest debacle in the biased southern zone of the country. At a certain stage of the game a southern based person came in and sais how are Newcastle doing?, I've always liked them, under Keegan they were terrific. I said its 0-0 but we will lose 3 or 4 - 0.
I was embarassed by the performance, before the sending off we were totally out classed. Shearer and Owen received no service. Bowyer's sending off was yellow rather than red, Crouch should also have gone.
The guy said to me what will Sounes do at half time, I said he hasn't a clue the only thing he will do is bring Solano on, I was proved right. Taylor was not fit, Sounes was desperate.
The defence was a shambles, the side haven't a clue and the Manager has even less of a clue. The only true professiuonal on our side was Giuven, absolutely magnificent, who could blame him if he departs.
Get Real guys dont stick up for this idiot, Boumsong is a totaljoke and Luque a waste of money, the Manager does not have clue and excuses and medoicrity are the name of the game.
For Gods sake you guys WAKE UP TO REALITY.

back from todays game, just realised you cant sky+ premiership plus games so havent seen anything again on tv. i didnt have the best seat in the house, apart from for crocuhys goal. definetley over the line, i was right in the corner on that side, had a great view and the linesman was also in a good position.

didnt get a clear view of the handball, saw it hit solano and it looked close, but cant say whether or not it was handball. didnt see the garcia incident closely either, il take your word for it that it may have been a dive. for the sending off, looked a bad tackle but not really in the essien type bracket, perhaps shouldnt have been a sending off. saw crouchy push bowyer over, cant defend him for that he shouldnt have done it. after that it looked like handbags to me, no doubt it will be described as a mass brawl though.

i was pleased with the way liverpool played, thought we kept the ball well, put some great moves together and created lots of chances, thought everyone had a good game.

shay given has to be a big positive for you, hes probably the best shot stopper in the league, although not the best on crosses. i was a bit surprised at your team selection though, n'zogbia is a left winger and quite small and not physical so i was surprised to see him picked in the middle against us, we have four great central midfielders that will get into most sides.

it was quite a good atmosphere, went a bit flat in the 2nd half though when we just started knocking it about. newcastle supporters were great, kept right behimd them even though they were well out of the game for periods. shame some of our nobs booed owen, fair enough the banter about istanbul and other stuff but not booing him, just as annoying as the fans who start doing pathetic easy chants when we make it 1-0. fair play to the newcastle fans though for sticking with it, doing the easy chant just before full time, singing status quo at half time, although why on earth you would want to take your shoes off is a bit of a mystery!

Can open...worms everywhere...

We were shite, end of. Piss poor performance.

If you havent seen it how the hell can you comment on it!

Well, here's my (hopefully unbiased) take on the match.

2-0 was extremely flattering to Newcastle, if it had been 4 or 5, it would have been far more representative of the match.  The Sky commentators mentioned (again) the value of Shay to the team's overall results, just another superb performance like the match before and the match before that and so on.  It's harsh to call that an own goal, he did his best to keep it out and it wasn't quite good enough, Crouch's goal for me.

Bowyer's sending off?  harsh for me, should have been yellow (as Crouch got for the subsequent push).  Bowyer's challenge was late and rash, but not dangerous IMO.  Solano should have seen red for his handball on the line though, deliberate, stopped a goal scoring opportunity, Nobby's a very lucky boy.  Not so lucky was Luque who looked on this performance (and his previous matches also) as distinctly average.  I hope there is more to come because he's currently looking a very expensive buy.

One lasting memory from this game was a Liverpool cross headed out to the edge of the penalty area to Alonso.  He brought the balldown, controlled it, moved it to his favoured foot and then let fly with a shot saved by Given.  Not one Newcastle defender moved to try to block the shot, Boumsong and Bramble side by side looking like rabbits caught in headlights.  Truly abysmal defending at any level of football, let alone in the premiership.

Finally, Souness, and this will be very brief (as it really could be as long as the Old Testament if I had the mind or the inclination to make it so).

From start to finish, I had very little idea what his gameplan was other than to make N'Zogbia feel like a fish out of water in the centre of MF or to have a little gamble with Taylor's future fitness.  I've said that before (and been criticised here for saying it) but I'll say it again. Players who have been injured for a lengthy spell need at least a couple of reserve team matches to regain some sort of match fitness.  Without that, there will always be a risk.  So I'll give Souness a rting of 3/10.

1 for naming a team of 11 players
1 for naming the correct number of substitutes on the bench.
1 for getting them all to the correct venue!

it was a disgrace to watch and its benn said time and time again, but here it is plain and simple................. SOUNESS MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!! blueupset.gif

Taylor was not fit from the first whistle, Souness is a total idiot and his midfield selection an over run joke, it just proved how reliant we are on Parker for any quality in midfield. We may well beat a poor Charlton team but Spurs wil be another lesson.

I will control my anger until tomorrow when I see how the FA act, okay when i saw that Bowyer was starting I though hmm down to 10 men  as he is a liability, but the tackle was a yellow if that, Crouches reaction was a straight red no doubt as we Gerrards. He ran 30 yards over the pitch to grab Bowyer by the throat, then stood there after the game and said he thought it was a yellow not a straight red, eh? so why did he feel the need to run over and grab Bowyer.
I hate whinging about bad decicions and we all know that even without the shocking events we were never in the game, Souy got it wrong in every way and to add a mojor insult he risked Taylor and we will now miss him for even longer:(
what a shite day....

A class team vs a pub team saved from complete embarassment by Shay Given as usual...

There can be NO excuses for spending 90 minutes hoofing (not passing) the ball to RED shirts.

Abysmal passing from almost every player, can't believe people on here start trying to deflect the situation by blaming the ref etc...!!!

Gerrard's interview was as reasonable as you'll get for someone sticking up for his OWN team the same as any Newcastle player would do likewise. He quite rightly thought it should have just been a yellow card, he also quite rightly stated that he went in when he saw Shearer charge in - was all handbags, nowt worth fussing over.

Was Taylor wrapped in bubble-wrap on the training ground? Did anyone actually test him properly to see if a few basic challenges/knocks while jumping for a ball would affect him.... did they see if falling to the ground on his arms/shoulders would survive? Doubt it, challenge didn't look like much at all yet his shoulder pops out like a cork FFS can't believe they risked him, now he's out for even longer and that shoulder gets weaker and weaker................................

I just can't believe how bad that was, pay me 5,000 a week and I can pass a ball to a player's feet instead of hoofing it up to the opposition every game................. pathetic............

In 02/03 we faced exactly the same situation. 2-0 down at Anfield with 10 mins to go. I still had a bit of faith and optimism that we could do it, Bobby's teams were strong, brittle and never gave up. We ended up drawing, Gary Speed pulling one back in the 85th minute and Shearer heading in a corner in added time.

I just can't feel optimistic under Souness, when we go behind the heads go down and there's no plan B, no fighting spirit.

I've uploaded a couple on the incidents from the game and will do them all one by one.  I think Wileys uploaded the first half if anyone is interested.

I think you can accept how discracefully bad we were and still be incensed by the refereeing - they aren't mutually exclusive.

we should win every game tbh
especially when we have 4 in a week, we should win all 4

The game was lost witha totally baffling team selection. There was no need to rush Taylor back if he was a risk- now it seems he will be out for up to 8 weeks. Bowyer filling in for Parrker was the obvious choice but to have him out wide, Nobby dropped and NZogbia in the middle was madness. A young kid up gainst some world class midfielders in Alonso and Gerrard. Great choice Graeme.

Straight away it was clear we were in for a long afternoon with Liverpool exploiting two weak full backs with the forceful midfield running. We made so many infuriating and unneccessary give aways, it was just inviting Liverpool on and on. Faye reverted to his normal self and despite a decent long range effort Zoggy was a little lad lost. Luque drifted out of the game for ages on end and despite some neat touches offered not enough. As his number was held up he sprinted off the pitch- the fastest he ran all day. He simply must do better. Up front Owen cut a forlorn figure and was virtually completely anonymous. Not too pleased that he jogged staright down the tunnel on the final whistle. A quick clap for the fans (who were excellent throughout) is not too much to ask for. Shearer did a little better but why on earth persist on having the centre halfs launch long balls towards a team like Liverppol who are so good in the air. We hardly won a header all day yet still the long balls persited. Considering the players we've got we need to play more football.

A bad day but then Liverpool are the Premierships form team and are European Champions. They were easily the better side and outclassed us. Losing is no disgrace, although our performance was tactically feckless yet we have to get out of this obsession of:

We Win- We're back!!
We Lose- We're Sh1te!!

The trouble is that we are usually shite when we win, not always but usually.

A clueless, shapeless mess. Just... so... Souness.

Shots on goal :          19 - 1
Posession:                  62-38
Pass completion:        76-61


Just look at the facts. Souness out

some balanced views from the non-newcastle fans on here and I've got to applaud them for that. I think everybody, other than Newcastle United employees and the sychophantic pundits and commentators, can see that Souness isn't right for this club. You'd be hard pressed to find a genuine football fan who rates him at all.

On paper we've a good team, with certain areas of weakness, but to be the laughing stock of the premiership is getting too much to bear. To haver opposition fans cheering upon the arrival of one of our players is a ****ing disgrace. When Bramble took to the field and the Kop celebrated it was surely a clear and stark sign to Graeme that his defense (that which he was supposed to be improving) is a joke.

Now if we had talentless donkeys  I'd expect them to work hard at the very least, but this side weren't interested what-so-ever. No soul.

We've got the players, we have the technology, why can't we build a stronger faster smarter Newcastle United? I cannot believe there is a football fan on the planet who has any degree of faith in the manager and the backroom staff

we're plagued by injuries, we're positively porous at the back, the only reason we've drawn so many games is our outstanding keeper.

There needs to be an overhaul and that needs to happen sharpish.

I'm not over-reacting, I'm not having a Knee-jerk reaction I'm simply re-iterating what I've said countless times before. This Newcastle United side has talent, it has youth, experience, power and pace, all it lacks is tactical nous, cohesion and hunger. These are not born into players, this is the charge of the men behind the team.

We're going nowhere and we're getting there fast.

Some people still think he's doing a good job, and that I feel unbelievable.

to be fair.. Bramble was the best player on the pitch in a black and white shirt when he came on the pitch

Bramble was probably the best player in a black & white shirt when he came on but that's not why he was cheered on to the pitch.

I was at the match today. That is the first time I have really seen a great deal of you this season. In all honesty, that was the worst Newcastle team I have seen at Anfield for a long time. Your gameplan was simple. Hoof it up to Shearer and hope for a knockdown to Mikey. Against Hyypia and Carragher, that was suicide. On paper you have a great attacking line but your defence is woeful. The Kop's reaction to the introduction of Bramble said it all really (although he played really well).

Today was probably the worst I've seen from Newcastle at Anfield since we played in the FA Cup 3rd round on a Friday night when we were in the old 2nd division.

I don't understand why you haven't won as many games.  You've got a great front two, some excellent players in midfield, Parker is fantastic and Emre and Dyer are both quality when fit - which is a bg problem admittedly and also Luque looked abit more like the Luque of old in Spain.  He's not a winger though, he can play there, but he's a better striker.  That's without mentioning Solano as well who I would have been thrilled to see at Anfield in the summer.

Your defence isn't the greatest, no, but the right coach could sort that out, although it's a massive blow to lose probaly your best defender for several weeks.  Boumsong looks different from his days at Auxerre and even Rangers, he looks hurried in everything he does, like he still hasn't got used to the pace of the league yet.  That's frightening considering he's had a year now.  I also tend to think Bramble has the basics of a good defender too, he just needs a few pointers.  Carr is definitely one of the best right backs around, granted he's injured, and Babayaro is decent too.

Enogh said about Given, he's been phenomenal at times.

The biggest problem is the manager, he seems intent on sticking square pegs in round holes.  You find a system and a lineup and stick with it, that's what happened with us, it wasn't pretty for a while, and injuries did play a part in that not working for a long time (as is seemingly happening with you right now), but you carry on with it, get the entire squad used to their roles and positions so that they can step in when needed.

A good manager would sort you out.

We know, but the man in charge doesn't appear to know. It was really disappointing watching your clear game plan rip right through us and trying to figure out exactly what ours was. Even the hoof and hope seemed sporadic. Our defenders just prefered to dance around in circles with the ball!

And in the 2 seasons before that under Bobby, we got hammered 3-0, and were much worse on those two occasions than today.

A-****ing-men

Fair and good points, especially the Bramble one. As Souness has also managed Liverpool, you've been there too.

Most of us know Souness has to go, some of us never wanted him from day 1.

You played very well today, we didn't make it difficult for you, but your movement and passing was excellent ... we used to play like that too once, not so long ago [a decade to be exact] but it seems a million miles away now

I don't think we've got 'a great front two'. What we've got is a couple of big names. But Shearer is past it and Owen is the sort of player who can turn a good side into a very good side, not a moderate side into a good one.

The team as a whole seems to have been put together by a committee, rather than one person with a coherent vision. We are a bunch of individuals with no sense of a common pattern and style. Any new manager would have to make changes to the personnel, as well as the tactics.

You're right, Bobby really wasted that £50m he had to spend in the space of 8 months.

Midfield was totally overrun. I would blame them before the defence who were constantly under the kosh. We've not conceded any more than Wigan of whom  no one says "comedy defence".  You shouldn't listen to lazy journalism. They're never on our side.

Liverpool are a good team on form, so the game was depressing but not surprising. We could have done with Scotty and Emre and should have started nobby ahead of the Zog, for which we can rightly blame Souness. He must never watch Liverpool play.  If he went against medical advice with Taylor, then he wants shooting.

I recall Benitez's Liverpool were completely and utterly shite against a very poor toon side in the game at SJP last year.  They were possibly the least creative team we played all year, and much worse than Houllier Liverpool were. I can't see Souness turning things around, but that game at SJP shows that things can turn around. In that respect though, an injury to Taylor is the last thing we need.

There's only one reason why our 'goals against' column does not read like it should.

Take saves that Given had absolutely no right to make away from the Portsmouth, Wigan (CC), Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool games, to name a few where he saved us from a bloody good hiding (OK, not Arsenal but it was a mega save), and it would read like the defence as a whole deserves. I appreciate Given is part of the back 5, but I exempt him from being included with that shower and he's the only reason we're not an even bigger laughing stock.

Benitez is building a team and a squad, they looked terrible at the start of the season, now they're formidable. You can't say that Souness can turn things around because of one game Liverpool had against us - there was nothing to 'turn round' for Benitez, he's a top manager feeling his way round the Premiership, one game, one blip, who cares?

The way we played today was the rule rather than the exception and has been since this joker arrived. The last Premiership game including a Souness side that NUFC dominated and controlled and never looked under threat was when Carver oversaw his shambolic Blackburn side beaten 3-0.

Some good points. With all the injuries we've had how on earth can we expect to have team cohesion? And if we have the money, why not do more about these injuries? We've been in injury crisis for 2 seasons at least. We can change our luck.

The chairman of this club should be applauded for building a new training centre for the team, it wasn't cheap and was designed to improve performances. All involved in initiating the investigation into our injuries and in discovering the problems with the soil should also be applauded. However we can do more and the benefits will be worth it.

West Ham have hired sports scientists and physios to protect their squad from injury. With the their small squad (see a similarity anyone?) their work has paid off a hundred fold.

AC Milan uses state of the art technology and expertise to measure likeliness of injury and to create healthy athletes, mentally and physically.

I have no doubt Milan Lab (learn more about it at https://www.acmilan.com/InfoPage.aspx?id=565   ...credit to JPFIN for the link) is expensive to run and to set up, perhaps more so than we can afford, but if West Ham can have a low injury rate just by integrating some experts who I'm sure aren't paid anywhere near what most of our football team is paid, we can afford it.

So if injuries are costing us so many premiership points and so many working days from the players why not be more proactive about it?

Remeber guys, it's not the cost, it's the value. The benefits could be immense

I'll leave you with this quote from the Milan Lab page:

"The psychophysical integrity of the champions is indeed the most valuable asset of a football team, whose performance on the field is important both for sports and economic results. "

The biggest positive I can take from the game is seeing how well Benitez had turned around a struggling and uninspiring Liverpool team.

Shows what can be done with a decent manager - just need to find ourselves one now.

First point, Sir Bobby should be applauded for the training facilities, he was the one who put pressure on Shepherd as he was sick to death of training in the dog shit and frozen pitches at Chester-le-Street and Durham.

Secondly, discovering the problems with the soil hasn't prevented Emre from going down injured again and it didn't prevent Taylor from coming back yesterday only to go down with the same injury again.

Here's my two penneth....
Goalie: Excellent, if it wasn't for Shay we would have been shat upon (3 or 4 nil).
Defense: Ramage looked way out of his depth today, Kewell took him apart every time. He also panicked a lot whilst in possession. Every time there was a high ball or a fifty fifty ball for our defense to come out and attack they just stood back and were too hesitant, absolute zero confidence with our central defenders although they did get better in the 2nd half (liverpool took foot off gas). Baba was very rusty and his distribution was shocking, at blame for one of the goals, needlessly gave ball away just inside the halfway line.
We need another central defender, a decent left back and Carr to get fit.
Midfield: Hold on while I get myheat seeking goggles on as they seem to have disappeared! Every ball contested was lost and when we did manage to get a hold of it we strived to lose it again in as little time as possible. Luque was probably the only one who knew how to pass and made an effort to supply Al and Mickey, his defending was pretty lame to be honest, he just gets back and "hovers" rather than put his foot in, at least he gets back (robert).
Nzogbia just didn't get into the game, seemed to have caught that chicken flu from Bowyer. What the hell was he doing in the middle anyway! Seemed to try hard but to no effect whatsoever.
Faye started off well and kept gerrard and alonso at bay for the first ten to fifteen minutes and then VANISHED! Back to his old ways from the fifteenth minute, don't think he won a tackle from then.
Bowyer is not a winger, he has got wings but lacks a head and no he doesn't lay eggs (yet!). He flaps a lot and "flys" into tackles but apart from that is completely innefective!!!
Solano should have been on from the start, a player who can pass the ball and retain possession should have been a key thought in Sounes´ head.When he came on it was too late anyway.
Shearer didn't win a header against Hypia the whole afternoon and was not his usual self, we could put this down to lack of balls reaching him or just impossible balls from the defense...who knows?
Owen just didn't seem to get into the game, he did seem a little overrawed and not at 100% Why? I hope it was the lack of decent supply and not the fact that regret had entered his mind from about the tenth minut onwards......
Souness: Beggars belief why he came out with that midfield and why taylor was risked.

Exactly, we could as a club be doing more, the value of adding facilities and sports scientist to prevent injury is being demonstrated by other clubs and it's something NUFC should look at (I've started a thread about this: https://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php/topic,11213.0.html)

on point one, Good on Sir Bobby, but I only felt it fair to give Freddy credit for taking this positive step

on the bus i decided to eat some fresh chillies id found in the fridge at home when i was making my sandwiches....

later on in the bus journey i rubbed my eyes....

then for the next 5 or 6 hours, all i could feel was a burning sensation in my eyes, and forehead. it was horrible....

cant remember much of the match....

remember making a steward hoy out some liverpool fans in the toon end.... even though they had behaved all game, and not displayed any pro-liverpool behaviour.... but bowyer being red carded pissed me off..... thought i might as well spoil their day too.... now if only they hadnt worn their liverpool scarfs under their coats...