TEAMS

[I_were_a_mascot]

DARLO: Tom Woodhead, Paul Arnison, Joe Lamplough, Matty Plummer, Gary Smith, Mark Convery, Chris Lumsdon (c), Josh Gray, Dean Windass, Jeff Smith

Subs: Ben Startosa, David Knight, Ian Miller, James Bennet, Dan Riley, Dan Groves, Nick Liversedge, Craig James, Mark Doninger

NUFC: Tim Krul, Ryan Taylor, Habib Beye, Steven Taylor, Tamas Kadar, Alan Smith (c), Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Kazenga LuaLua, Shola Ameobi

Subs: Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Danny Guthrie, Jonas Gutierrez, Xisco, Nicky Butt, Fraser Forster, Andy Carroll, Ryan Donaldson

[BishopQuaker]

Be hilarious if our lot got a £500 bonus for every time they lamped Joey Barton

[I_were_a_mascot]

With dirty Alan Smith and dirty Barton and seldom dirty Kevin Nolan i'd be very very happy if there were no injuries to our midfield lads today.

[Quakerz]

Windass on his own up front and no strikers on the bench? We seriously need another forward don't we? And another right winger and another left back.

[aveda]

Just looked Lamplough up and he can play left back or centre half, is he on trial ?

[Quakerz]

Yes he is on trial and by default must be better than Craig James.

[mikey53]

Never got chance to see the game on Thursday but if Lamplough is better than James then we are in trouble. The back four today were clueless and I would not watch them play in my local park.
They were ALL in trouble from the minute we gave away the first goal and at times it was embarrasing watching them try to defend.

I know we need time for players to gel but usually they show some signs of ability, in my opinion they showed none. The left back could not pass the ball to save his life.

[quakersam]

The back four first half was made up of 3 trialists and Matt Plummer. It's not like they've played together and coming up against a strong Newcastle side I think it's fair to say they were going to get a tonking.

First Half
LB: Joe Lamplough (trialist from Hull)
CB: Matt Plummer
CB: Darren Williams (trialist)
RB: Paul Arnison (trialist from Bradford)

Second Half
LB: Craig James
CB: Ian Miller
CB: Matt Plummer
RB: Ben Starosta

Second half at the back we were much more solid, and when Fozzy comes back we will be stronger. Don't forget, we will be playing against League 2 teams, not teams like Newcastle each week

[Quakerz]

If you chucked the trialists Neil Austin, Steve Foster, Ian Miller and Tim Ryan together, in front of trialist keeper David Stockdale, you can bet that even though they had not met or gelled at all, they would collectively and individually give the impression of having a clue.

Hearing this takes me back to the pre Penney days when even in times where we had a pretty good squad we were constantly undone and constantly underachieved because of clueless error prone defenders. The first thing Penney did was get proper defenders in...Ryan, Wheater, Miller, Albrighton etc to steady the ship.

[loan_star]

You'd think an ex-defender like Todd would have a clue about signing defenders. His centre halfs look decent but the full backs so far need a bit of work doing to them.

[DarloOnTheUp]

Yes he is on trial and by default must be better than Craig James.

[Jimmy]

It's the fullbacks that worry me - Arnison made an error today, and Starosta on Thurs night.

All the worrys about James are true, the guy is woeful at best. The trialist from hull though, looked alot better and much more composed.

With miller and foster back we are nearly there.

Convery can't add anything to the squad, he doesn't ever want to beat a man, just turns his back and plays a simple pass - not really adding anything at all.

Where was Thorpe today?

I'm confused with our youth strikers, but the number 9 who started the game was awful, lots of running but nothing else. He was replaced by #15 who didn't seem like a striker to me. We need pace up there so windass has someone to feed - he's miles ahead of everyone else and it is going to be interesting seeing him play against L2 sides, he will do damage.

We need stronger fullbacks, a right winger & a striker - yes we played very very good opposition in 2 days, but it can still show you where your weak.

Whats worrying is that we don't have any new trialists for these positions, just the same people - so we obviously don't have that many options.

If we recruit who we had playing today we can be sure that we'll have a safe mid table place at best.

[fairfieldquaker]

What I would say is we looked better 2nd half when more experienced players came on, and we looked quite good attacking against a Championship team! The fact that we conceeded 7 is not an issue, these are premiership-class players who have played a full season together (just about) playing against League 2 defenders who've never played together before!

[quakersam]

Obviously Thorpe must of picked up a knock as Josh Gray was playing up front alongside Windass and will never win anything against Beye and Steven Taylor all day. The lad who came on second half for him (No 15) was a centre midfielder; James Bennett, the young lad from Hull. As for putting him up front I don't understand but he did play well, linking up with Convery and Lumsdon.
I thought that Gary Smith had a good game today, put in a great shift. He looks head and shoulders above some of them, he was comfortable on the ball, always looking for the pass. When certain things didn't go his way, he kept working. If we can get him and Lumsdon to gel we could have a good central midfield pairing on our hands.

[divas]

bennett started up top but quickly became a 3rd central midfielder, we were playing with no one up front for the last 15 as windass was so fucked he couldnt get forward, we really need to address the striker issue quick sharp.

woodhead - didnt really have a chance with any of the goals, most of which were from close range and due to poor defending again, decent but cant see the point of having 3 keepers

arnison - consistently done by lua lua, had a torrid day and dropped an absolute clanger for the first goal, for the wages he'd want he's not worth it

williams - thought he looked okay at centre half, lack of height didnt do him any favours but would be versatile to play anywhere along the back line.

plummer - steady away, looks a bit lightweight but decent backup for foster and miller

lamplough - apart from a good block late in the first half didnt really do much, always looked to stand his man rather than get a challenge in, slightly more solid than james but not by much imo

convery - spent most of his time coming backwards helping the defence out as we were getting butchered. missed the opportunity to set a couple of attacks away in the second half by not being aware of his surroundings, looked like he was running in quicksand at times - he'll be signed up tho as weve no other options on the right

g. smith - pick of the bunch today, always involved and rarely wasted a pass, also got forward well in the second half when windass was playing up top on his own, looks a very good find

lumsdon - neat and tidy without really excelling, ive seen enough to know he'll be an asset this season if he can stay fit

j. smith - impressed with him today, bit of pace about him and a willingness to try and take a defender on, final ball was a bit hit & miss but he'll do well this season

j gray - out of his depth playing an unfamiliar role up front, couple of good runs that ultimately came to nothing and didnt really hit off an understanding with windass

windass - showed even at 40 that he's still got the class and composure to do it, took his open play goal well and if we can get someone alongside him with some legs and put the ball on his feet instead of into channels to chase he'll score enough goals to see us safe

liversedge - beaten for the 6th before he'd even had a touch, made a couple of smart stops and is good enough to be backup this season

starosta - better than against sunderland but need to see more before im convinced

james - not as bad as vs sunderland but still nearly cost us with a poor pass back, actually okay going forward which we knew he kind of was, as soon as he comes up against a half decent winger on his back foot he's shafted tho

miller - well he was ian miller

bennett - looked out of his depth when deployed up front but came more into the game when moved into a midfield 5, looks to be adequate backup for smith & lumsdon

doninger - didnt get on again - whats the point of bringing a lad in on trial when you let him sit on the bench for 2 games in a row? especially when smith & lumsdon are signed up for next year already

in synopsis reminded me of a hodgy team, always looking to play some nice stuff without any cutting edge, slow tempo and not any particularly pacey players in the team, all undone by some piss poor defending/ers.

[d5rlo]

bennett started up top but quickly became a 3rd central midfielder, we were playing with no one up front for the last 15 as windass was so fucked he couldnt get forward, we really need to address the striker issue quick sharp.

woodhead - didnt really have a chance with any of the goals, most of which were from close range and due to poor defending again, decent but cant see the point of having 3 keepers

arnison - consistently done by lua lua, had a torrid day and dropped an absolute clanger for the first goal, for the wages he'd want he's not worth it

williams - thought he looked okay at centre half, lack of height didnt do him any favours but would be versatile to play anywhere along the back line.

plummer - steady away, looks a bit lightweight but decent backup for foster and miller

lamplough - apart from a good block late in the first half didnt really do much, always looked to stand his man rather than get a challenge in, slightly more solid than james but not by much imo

convery - spent most of his time coming backwards helping the defence out as we were getting butchered. missed the opportunity to set a couple of attacks away in the second half by not being aware of his surroundings, looked like he was running in quicksand at times - he'll be signed up tho as weve no other options on the right

g. smith - pick of the bunch today, always involved and rarely wasted a pass, also got forward well in the second half when windass was playing up top on his own, looks a very good find

lumsdon - neat and tidy without really excelling, ive seen enough to know he'll be an asset this season if he can stay fit

j. smith - impressed with him today, bit of pace about him and a willingness to try and take a defender on, final ball was a bit hit & miss but he'll do well this season

j gray - out of his depth playing an unfamiliar role up front, couple of good runs that ultimately came to nothing and didnt really hit off an understanding with windass

windass - showed even at 40 that he's still got the class and composure to do it, took his open play goal well and if we can get someone alongside him with some legs and put the ball on his feet instead of into channels to chase he'll score enough goals to see us safe

liversedge - beaten for the 6th before he'd even had a touch, made a couple of smart stops and is good enough to be backup this season

starosta - better than against sunderland but need to see more before im convinced

james - not as bad as vs sunderland but still nearly cost us with a poor pass back, actually okay going forward which we knew he kind of was, as soon as he comes up against a half decent winger on his back foot he's shafted tho

miller - well he was ian miller

bennett - looked out of his depth when deployed up front but came more into the game when moved into a midfield 5, looks to be adequate backup for smith & lumsdon

doninger - didnt get on again - whats the point of bringing a lad in on trial when you let him sit on the bench for 2 games in a row? especially when smith & lumsdon are signed up for next year already

in synopsis reminded me of a hodgy team, always looking to play some nice stuff without any cutting edge, slow tempo and not any particularly pacey players in the team, all undone by some piss poor defending/ers.

Agree with almost all of that except I thought Lamplough recovered from a shaky start to look pretty good and I personally wouldn't touch Darren Williams - the new Darren Holloway?

[MikeinBlack]

Is Curtis Main injured? Is he not playing as he will be sold as soon as we come out of administration? Where is he, he surely will feature this season won't he?

[RUMPLESTILTSKIN]

Main is injured, may be back for the Boro game.

[MikeinBlack]

I'd like to see Main have a decent run out this season, maybe even bag a few goals.

[TeessideQuaker]

Main will have to play a big part this season, we only have three forwards so far.

[wylam_rangers]

Main will have to play a big part this season, we only have three forwards so far.

He is currently recovering from a "slight" groin injury. However, there are strong rumours that he may be part of a loan deal with Sunderland which would allow him to play at a higher level and we get a couple of needed loanees.

If Steve Bruce will buy into this I can see we all benefit. Main's value will increase because of the experience he will gain and we get a couple of more experienced fringe players (Striker and Wing Back?) to plug our weaknesses. They get regular 1st team football.

[RH79]

it is the full backs and lack of cover wide and up front which i find most worrying. We have to get these areas sorted out. We are desperate for more forward options. Hopefully the loans will cover this area.

[Child_in_Time]

Main will have to play a big part this season, we only have three forwards so far.

He is currently recovering from a "slight" groin injury. However, there are strong rumours that he may be part of a loan deal with Sunderland which would allow him to play at a higher level and we get a couple of needed loanees.

If Steve Bruce will buy into this I can see we all benefit. Main's value will increase because of the experience he will gain and we get a couple of more experienced fringe players (Striker and Wing Back?) to plug our weaknesses. They get regular 1st team football.

When does a 'rumour' become a 'strong rumour' and what is the difference?

[RUMPLESTILTSKIN]

A rumour becomes a strong rumour when 4 or more people pass it on. If this takes 7 days it then becomes a weak (week) rumour.

These normally stay rumours and neve become fact.