"No-one hands you cups on a plate."
Duke Ellington must have been thinking of Arsenal when he and Ted Persons wrote "Things Ain't What They Used To Be." Yep, the Snal just couldn't get the job done against Bolton and easyGoal, who took a Henrik Larsson-like header to dump The Goon Show out of the FA Cup. And Big Sam's share price must be rising in the eyes of a certain Mr. Barwick.
One of the major talking points, though, has to be the waste of space also known as Jose Antonio Reyes. At 17.5 million pounds he's starting to look like the SWP of Highbury. Those impassioned sighs after he misses sitters are getting, shall we say, a little bit old. Old Florrie must be heaving sighs, too - of relief. Meanwhile, as far as Le Voyeur is concerned, Theo Walcott's birthday can't come soon enough.
Chelsea put on another less-than-convincing display at Goodison Park, though, it must be said, Rice Crespo came very close on a couple of occasions. Is he the master of the curling shot to the far post from 12 yards out on the left side? Probably... as if such a position existed in the football pantheon.
Finally, facing the worst opposition in all of the day's action, the Toon barely managed to bring home the bacon with a couple of the least convincing goals you'll ever see (or read about, like TDH did). Sure, Shepherd must be thinking, "Why should I sign another striker, when Owen's likely to come back in a couple of weeks?" Well, how about for the 75th minute, when Owen and Shearer haven't scored yet? Come on, January's almost over, give us a third striker with some quality. PLEASE. And oh, by the way, Robbie Fowler's taken. Cripes.
One of the major talking points, though, has to be the waste of space also known as Jose Antonio Reyes. At 17.5 million pounds he's starting to look like the SWP of Highbury. Those impassioned sighs after he misses sitters are getting, shall we say, a little bit old. Old Florrie must be heaving sighs, too - of relief. Meanwhile, as far as Le Voyeur is concerned, Theo Walcott's birthday can't come soon enough.
Chelsea put on another less-than-convincing display at Goodison Park, though, it must be said, Rice Crespo came very close on a couple of occasions. Is he the master of the curling shot to the far post from 12 yards out on the left side? Probably... as if such a position existed in the football pantheon.
Finally, facing the worst opposition in all of the day's action, the Toon barely managed to bring home the bacon with a couple of the least convincing goals you'll ever see (or read about, like TDH did). Sure, Shepherd must be thinking, "Why should I sign another striker, when Owen's likely to come back in a couple of weeks?" Well, how about for the 75th minute, when Owen and Shearer haven't scored yet? Come on, January's almost over, give us a third striker with some quality. PLEASE. And oh, by the way, Robbie Fowler's taken. Cripes.
posted by Daniel Altman at 4:07 AM
6 Comments:
I'd like to see us sign a third striker soon, but I can't see anything of great interest out there. I should clarify, I don't see anyone that will have an immediate postive impact a la Owen, which is what I think we need at the moment.
That said, the prospect of a Shearer-less next season is very frightening. That leaves us with Owen (assuming he stays), ameoba, Chopra, and really that's about it. Not a very promising line up really, although if things don't turn around, it should see us through Hull away and QPR home. Of course throw in an in form Solano, Zoggy, Parker, or Milner and it looks a little less bleak, but still...
Wouldn't be Newcastle if it wasn't a drama though, would it?
No, it certainly wouldn't be Newcastle without some hair-tearing, fingernail-biting, hand-wringing and various other masochistic corrolaries to membership in the Toon Army.
I'd love us to pick up Torres, of course, but I think "immediate impact" basically means we need a local player who doesn't have to adapt to the league. I could see Mikael Forsell gaining back his form with service from our better midfielders. We may also get another shot at Viduka, clumsy bugger that he is, given Boro's form.
But then again, maybe Shepherd's saving up for an AJ bid in the spring....
AJ would be a good signing by far.
How do you see Torres fitting into Newcastle?
As a striker, Torres could play next to Shearer or another big man. He's extremely mobile and quick but not so powerful. But I think that in England, he'd be better as a forward winger than as a striker - sort of a Joe Cole role.
It's what Souey's been trying to do with Luque, but Luque is a very different sort of player, more suited to playing in the hole. I couldn't understand why we bought him, since we haven't used that kind of formation in years. And the problem is, we still don't.
I also think that if AJ knows what he's about, then he'll want to come to Tyneside as long as Owen is there. He knows Owen is the incumbent striker in England, and creating a fruitful partnership would guarantee him a starting place in Euro 2008.
To be honest I hadn't really thought of Torres, and I can see your point. I'd be concerned how he manages without a big player, esp. once Shearer is gone.
As a Joe Cole sort he would have better luck than Luque, who I think has the talent but has got to get himself sorted out. Or wait until we have a manager with some understanding of tactics and strategy.
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