Great performance. From the back Solano was brilliant at right back and should be there all the time until we replace Carr. He should have to do as much running at right back than at right wing so he should be OK. Ramage again, I feel sorry for him. At times he’s had some dreadful games at left back. Today he played as well as you could expect, I still rate him as a very good centre back for the future. Taylor was solid and Bramble was OK. Our wee man Emre completely bossed the midfield, opened up play, took players on well and was strong. Definately deserved a goal and probably just scraped man of the match for me. Dyer MUST stay fit, on Sunday he was brilliant, he looked dangerous even when the ball was played within 15 yards of him, his little passes and runs were like the old Dyer and again was unlucky not to score. Martins did score and shouldnt have had his goal chalked off, overall he played well but he gave the ball away at crucial times I thought. N’Zogbia seemed to be showing glimses of his old self again which was very pleasing, hopefully this will kickstart his season. Sibierski’s got to be the bargain of the century though, played well when he came on, scored and held up play well. I loved his little bit of skill in the final minutes down by their corner flag too. Overall we played well and should have had 3 or 4, Glenn needs to rest a few players before the reading game but I dont think he should make too many changes, if Carr’s fit he shouldnt play. The opposition exploit us down that side because he’s got no pace and loses his man all the time. Stick Solano there.

Great win and we really did play well in the second half… especially Emre, he was incredible.

N´Zogbia was also great.

On other notes, do you know about any site that gives player ratings pretty quickly? I´m never able to find any.

a very encouraging performance, and proof (in my opinion) that every player except carr and babayaro can really do a job for the club.

bramble will never be great, but when he really plays he can be effective. solano at right-back is working well, and you can’t fault ramage and taylor for their effort. and they can only get better.

dyer’s controversial due to his past antics, ridiculous wages and injury record. but the guy has proved that when he’s in the team (when he came here under gullit, during SBR’s best days and now) that he’s a class act who can create chances and cause mayhem. ditto milner and martins, who will shine once he gets into his stride.

if you look at the squad when fully fit we’ve got a medium sized but very talented bunch, and some promising youngsters coming through. there is cause for optimism.

but the jury’s still out on roeder. i’m still not convinced. if he keeps up performances like in europe and against pompey then i’ll be well happy. but too many times this season tactics have gone astray, as he’s reverted to players like carr and baba and formations that set us back.

but let’s hope this is a real turning point. the defence looks better and more chances are being created. and sibierski has been a pleasant surprise. well done to the coaching staff and the lads!

A very encouraging performance, with Kieron Dyer’s positive impact on his return to the side continuing.

Antoine Siberski contonues to defy his critics, I was definitely one when he signed, and all in all something to feel a lot more positive about.

Injuries, though, are a problem and with this in mind, I expect Newcastle will play a reserve team against Frankfurt.

While this is sensible, we still need a result in Germany to make sure we top the group and avoid any of the Champions League teams which enter the competition in the knockout stage.

Finally, I know there has been some mention of Luke Edwards’ blog here - he works for The Journal but it’s worth reading every now and again. There’s some good stuff on Freddie Shepherd in the November archive.

Web address is www.lukewhostalking.co.uk

Well done, lads! Nobby had a brilliant game…

The game against Celta Vigo and Portsmouth have confirmed one thing - Nobby Solano is a better right back than Steven Carr. I would be extremley dissapointed if Roeder puts Carr back in the starting 11 when he’s fit (unless its forced through injury). Dyer was immense, we’ve missed his pace and creativity. Martins is looking a lot better, he still needs to work on his runs (as Mr. Shearer pointed out in MOTD 2). But it was a great finish for the goal that should have stood. Emre put a good shift in, and why can’t Bramble play like this every week? I’m not getting too carried away as our next league game is Chelsea away, but its just nice to see a goal at St James’.

agree with a lot of the above we dont need carr or babayaro would like to see the 4 lads from todays game plus moore alright also we must play siberski more i personally think he brings more to the table than a lot of the more expensive buys cumon the toon im sure we can salvage sumthing this year im not giving up yet dont see why anybody else should lets get real we can never win the league so lets be happy with safty and keep this cup form going

Better, much better. Thankfully neither Carr nor Babayaro were fit, long may that continue. Finishing was crap but we actually created chances, had pace and invention in the second half and the confidence grew. Nobby looks so composed at right back, he has the footballing brain to anticipate where the ball will be. Injuries permitting it may be a turning point………or not!!! In optimistic mode I’ll go for the former.

We must have the fastest team in the Premiership. Martins alone is officially the fastest top level player in the world. Then there is Dyer, N’zogbia, Emre, Milner. Hell, even Bramble has a bit of pace.

Teams are going to look at what we did to pompey and sh*t themsleves rotten.

I know we were at home, but matches at St. James’ have been proving harder then away this season & in my opinion…. That was our best performance to date despite only registering 1 goal.

Well done lads, lets make sure it’s the same next week.

Great stuff, Solano looked after the defence brilliantly and played imense, certianly better than Carr does deserved man of the match.

Emre played well also I think, he’s got real bite in midfield and works very hard tracking back and going forward (don’t see many foreigners with work rate as his in my opinion).

However, Dyer just totaly ran the show everytime he had the ball you felt something was going to happen he just continusly drove at pompy (my man of match) they couldn’t stop him (great to see him back) he even kept playing well after what looked like a very nasty cut.

Just hope Milner, Parker, N’Zogbia and Dyer are all OK for next prem game (Zog’s injury looked pretty bad if you ask me).

Like Dodds said below, hoping to see a lot of yougsters with Luque playing on Thursday, should keep main team at home give them day off/rest up.

Feels like years since I’ve been so happy with a Newcastle performance, very pleased for Dyer who won us the game driving the lads on.

I believe we have a good enough squad to start a revival, as long as we are totally focussed and doggedly determined every match (and we don’t want any tiding turns thanks very much!). Dyer is crucial to us, as is Martins. Both give us pace and a real attacking threat, which gives confidence to the whole team. We can cope even with both Duff and Zog injured if he doesn’t recover quickly, because we have Luque and O’Brien who can both play on the left (even Emre further left if necessary).

We should never have let our form get as bad as it did, and still need to battle like crazy every game to build a run but I think we can do it.

p.s - yes, let’s play Huntington on Thursday

Nice to see the Toon attacking with pace again especially in the 2nd half.