Newcastle 2 - 1 Talinn, 28/09/06

We won and soccernet screws up.. A minor one atleast.. Refer to the headings of the screenshot below to see what i mean.. :) Why does this matter? Well thats because the game wasnt shown live and the first piece of news i read about the game is on that page.. Anyway, after reading how we performed.. I fear the worst for our team come this Sunday.. Away to Old Trafford!

Finally the backflip is executed infront of the Gallowgate end! :)

We played so badly against a small team for the first half and Harper conceded a soft goal.. Thankfully the second half was better with Martins getting a brace.. His finishing i read, was quite good.. Lets hope there will be more to come from Martins.. And how about the coming game this weeked? I'm predicting a 4-1 defeat for the magpies.. Call me what you want but i will never be a naive and unrealistic supporter.. We can win this game? Dream on! Not with the current defence and maybe.. THE MANAGER! Come on! Prove me i'm wrong Roeder, i would absolutely love it..

Newcastle 1 - 1 Everton, 24/09/06

Bramble is a pathetic & stupid centreback!! Not only was he bailed out 3 times by parker of his mistakes at the back, he even manage to get sent off later! What a retarded idiotic baboon! WTF! Sell him in January please!! He's a liability to the team and with him around, it effects others! Look at Moore, his performance in this game is strewn with errors, poor man marking, poor passess, in no mans land, etc.. Hell we have the poorest centreback pairing in the english premiere league! The only reason we are not rock bottom is because of the contribution of our midfielders (esp. parker) and forwards.. Our back four are relegation material PERIOD! It's evident Roeder cant 'work' his magic on our current centrebacks, so he should either ship them out or you Mr.Roeder are just as clueless as previous managers in knowing the importance of getting a good pair of centrebacks! And i really would write this season off if you continue giving unwarranted loyalty to a pathetic excuse of a centreback, Titus Bramble! It wont be long before the fans calls for your head!

The look tells it all!

And a deserving mention for Bramble from soccernet who picks Bramble to be in their team of the week FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS! Here's the text:

"Titus Bramble was at the heart of everything Everton did well in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. The Magpies defender let his man go on multiple occasions, failed to make key tackles, could have concede a penalty, stood and watched as Tim Cahill headed Everton's goal at the back post and then got sent-off......this is Team Of The Weak isn't it?"

The game was end to end stuff indeed but were damn lucky it's Everton on 4-5-1 that we are up against.. If its Arsenal, we would have lost by atleast 6 goals! The defence was ultra crap.. There was no genuine creativity from every deparment of the team, the keeper was kicking the ball way upfield and returning possesion to everton super quick, the defence keeps lumping long balls, the wingers was delivering hopefull low quality crosses into the box and the forwards wasted a lot of chances.. Again.. only the pair of Parker and Emre deserves any credit for giving the gameplay any sense of meaning and industry.. How bout the manager? I havent write anything bad bout Roeder yet but my gut feeling tells me it wont be long, i cant believe he didnt say a word about Bramble's super poor performance in todays game report! I wish i could knock some sense into his head! Bramble sucks big time! Tell it like it is and stop protecting him!

Liverpool 2 - 0 Newcastle, 20/09/06

We lost because we were second best in every department(eventhough we had decent calls for a penalty or two). Watching Ameobi mindlessly working his same old routine is tiring. Where is the talent? The exciting attacking flair we crave so much? There was not much trust between the midfielders that they rather pass it back to the defence who then lump it upfield, we lose posession like 30 times by doing this! I am tired of watching this kind of football, it just sucks.. Emre did well when he had the ball and so should have been given more of it but instead he had to come within 5ft of our own player to ask for the ball!? come on! cant we pass it to him further up the field when he can do more damage?? parker was playing DM so it is understandable he's further down the pitch but with emre constantly nearby, we are always too far back and this gives ample time for liverpool to reorganize and defend.

Alonso did well to execute a perfect through pass but finnan still had to find a pass to beat 2 defenders before kuyt could get to the end of it which in fact he did. It was easy to spot that ramage and moore was man marking and when the cross came both attackers switched resulting in kuyt moving to the near post while bellamy going far, this leaves moore on the wrong side of kuyt to block his attempt. it was poor, an intelligent pairing would've gone zonal to cover for that low cross.. And who was suppose to man mark an overlapping fullback? Our left winger, Mr. Duff! :(

Liverpool was not at their best, they were shaky and we played right into their hands by not going forward enough. The defence was overworked, Emre and Parker did ok but our wingers and forwards was totally anonymous! Its just sad to see that the team is not good enuff to compete with one of the big boys when the big boy has a day off!

The look on that face is priceless!

Finally the sucker punch! Alonso scores with a lob from inside his own centre circle!! Harper was scrambling back and slipped. COME ON!! That was a very poor goal to concede! Sure some people will say it was sublime, sublime? come on.. it was just a lob and it bounced before going in.. If it was a screamer from the middle of the pitch and ended at the top corner, now THAT is sublime! This is just a normal lob aided by a clumsy keeper!! I just pray the team will fare better against Everton..

West Ham 0 - 2 Newcastle, 17/09/06

Martins scored the 2nd goal!

We won! It's confirmed! We are West Ham bogey team! The last time they won against us was 5 years ago! And since we won, this entry will be a short one! Heheh.. Both of our big buys got off the mark.. Duff's goal was wicked while Martins's finish was super cool.. The workmanlike performance of each player contributed significantly for our win.. The were no excuses from the hammers like 'newcastle was lucky to get 3 points' whatsoever.. We edged them out in every department and got a deserved win! I hope we will produce the same performance for the next game against Liverpool.

Ratings:-
Given - 7.5, Did well when called upon, to bad got injured at the end
Babayaro - 8, Performed well at the back n going forward! Rare indeed..
Carr - 8, Used his brain more then usual, starting to look like a good right back!
Ramage - 7.5, First composed performance at the heart of the defence
Moore - 7, Did well but not 100% error free perfromance
Duff - 8.5, Scored! Looks like nearing his best anytime soon!
Milner - 8, More inventive with the ball, doesnt loose it and tracks back well!
Emre - 7.5, Worked the midfield well, nice long range shots..
Parker - 8, Played DM and made some bone crunching tackles!
Ameobi - 7.5, Kept the hammers defence busy, holds the ball well too
Martins 8.5, Made several good attempts before scoring the 2nd!

Subs
Butt - 6, Came in the 90th minute, sit back n relax :)
Sibierski - 6, Replaced tiring Ameobi, didnt get much service
Harper - 6, Made some routine saves

Levadia 0 - Newcastle 1, 14/09/06

This UEFA Cup game was shown live on ASTRO! Thank you ASTRO!! Too bad when the game ended I was not in a happy mood. Based on the performance of the Magpies team, Levadia were unlucky not to get away with a point. The defending was comical as ever! We are talking a game versus an Estonian team here! Newcastle was in control most of the time but when Levadia got forward and into our final 3rd, the defence looked jittery and was carved out too easily.. We were lucky the finishing of the Levadia forwards were awful! Thank god Bramble was substituted but then it got me worried cos Ramage was pushed in to CB(bummer!) and Duff was pushed to left back!! What the hell.. Zoggy is the one who is supposed to drop down to LB and let Duff move to the left wing.. But it doenst matter cos both was dissapointing on the left flank. Milner who came in for Bramble started brightly but wasnt really effective on the right flank.

Once we are 1 goal up, the whole team seemed to relax and started playing 'exhibition football'! There wasnt much intent on getting more goals which really got me pissed off.. Sibierski got off the mark on the 10th minute but after that he completely disappeared from the game. It was left to Martins to create his own half chances, his finishing still needs more polishing based on a few snap shots he executed.

The second half was a total bore. Butt was the second substitute to come on and didnt do much. Luque came for the final 10 minutes and did ok, he did whip in a wicked cross from the left but no one got to the end of it. He's quality alright, give him more playtime Glen!!

Player Ratings:
Given - 7, kept a clean sheet and stayed alert to deny a few decent shots from Levadia
Bramble - 4, poor again, against an average team!
Carr - 6.5, did ok
Moore - 5.5, a centreback? yes, commanding? not even close!
Ramage - 5.5, looked shaky, did just enough, but this is against Levadia!
Duff - 7, full of running and was smart on the ball, too bad had to play LB
Emre - 6, was crowded out in midfield
N'Zogbia - 6, made some threathening runs and thats about it
Parker - 7, good game snuffing out the Levadia attack, could have scored too
Sibierski - 6, got a goal but then went AWOL
Martins - 6.5, lack propoer service and created his own chances

Subs
Milner - 6, full of running but end product lacks quality
Butt - 5.5, did ok coming on late in the game
Luque - 5.5, same as above :P

Newcastle 1 - Fulham 2, 09/09/06

We managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory! Bravo!! Bravo indeed.. Before the 80th minute everything was rosy, the defence didnt put a foot wrong, the midfield was controlling the match and the strikers was inching closer and closer for the second goal. Until Parker was substituted that is, then everything went down the drain real fast.. Fulham got the equaliser when Ramage slip and let Routledge an easy way in for him to cross and guess who is marking McBride at the far post? NO ONE!!! WTF is wrong with the defence?! Where's Carr? Why is Bramble marking our own player, DUFF while McBride is just 4ft away?!

Astonished Fulham can't believe their luck!

Adding insult to injury, the second and winning goal came a few minutes later with Bramble(AGAIN!!) at fault for not man marking McBride on a second cross! McBride had a free header at goal but it bounce of the bar and Bocanegra bundled it in with his shins.. Thank you Bramble! Game over for the magpies and a healthy dose of boos right at the final whistle.. You guys totally deserved it! Bramble should shoulder most of the blame in this defeat.. He is a liability to the team.. I hope he gets booted from the first team for the next match! Replace him with Taylor please!! Enough is enough.. His attention span is pathetic as a football pro.. Let him rot in the reserves..

Roeder, you're running out of excuses.. The team made the same mistake a.k.a shooting themselves in the foot as did previous teams under Gullit, Sir Bobby and Souness!!! The defence is worth shyte, you signed forwards and midfielders and still pin your hopes on the comedic defence to buck up.. How much longer will you go down this same old road? Get this into your thick skull! The central defenders we have is CRAP! Ship them OUT! Get world class defenders IN! Is that so hard to do?

Ratings
Given - 5, nothing much to do the whole game but still conceded 2 goals..
Carr - 6, did better then last game but then we are talking Fulham at home here..
Ramage - 4, started at average and ends up at poor
Bramble - 3, extremely poor, must be benched for next game!
Moore - 5, average performer
Duff - 6, should have been more productive with the ball and in the final 3rd
NZogbia - 5, anonymous, no telling contribution whatsoever
Emre - 6, just OK, bossed the midfield and provided the cross for Parker to score
Parker - 9, The only person to emerge with credit from this game!
Ameobi - 5, anonymous.. No decent attempt at goal..
Martins - 5, received poor service, needs more time to gel
Rossi (sub) - 5, received no service at all, must have wished he was back at Man United
Butt (sub) - 5, came in late.. Couldnt do much as the defence imploded

Dateline transfer blues..

Thats what i'm having right now.. The dateline transfer blues.. In one hand we signed 3 people! On the other, they are currently not world beaters :( Oh well.. Any signings is better then none.. Too bad Rossi's move was not a permanent one, i saw the video clip compilation showing he scored some really sweet goals.. What a shame.. I just hope he stays past January and all the way till the end of the season..

The gaffer with his signings

Ollie bernard made a suprise u-turn by signing for us and not Leeds on transfer dateline day! Thank you, hopefully he'll give Baba the kick in the arse he needs for further motivation and buck up! Earning thousands of pounds per week is not a sufficient source of motivation these days for the so called football pro! Bernard played in a midweek reserve game and he looks OK but not match fit.. He should get a few more minutes when we meet Fulham at home assuming we are cruising with a few goals.. :) And then we have Antoine Sibierksi, signed from Man City for a small fee.. Money well spent i guess cos i see this guy knocking down headers with ease.. Expect to see our midfielders getting to the end of his knockdowns when he plays..

The Newcastle vs Fulham game will be shown delayed here, bummer.. Midnight slot.. All you malaysian magpies fan out there, dont miss it! Lets hope we win this game with Martins scoring a few goals and the defence keeping a clean sheet! :P Yeah i know.. Wishfull thinking for a magpies fan.. :D