Eddie

Just the same you could say that we deserved to win against Spurs and Bolton. No side deserves all the points they get or doesn't have games where they deserve more than they get. We desreve to be in the position that we are in, the league table doesn't lie. Are we much better then the teams just below us? No. Is the team that finished 6th ever that much better then the teams that finish just below them? No. Let's get Europe now because we deserve it, we'll be letting ourselves down if we don't.

He really hasn't. He has been the best player of the last 9 or 10 games, before that though he was either injured or a bit hit or miss.

Let's not all have this knee jerk reaction and start selling and buying like crazy. The nucleus of the squad is good and teams never do well when they have a massive change in playing staff so we have to make three or four careful buys. Also, even though MGP hasn't done much for a while, let's not just forget a player who won us a lot of games back when Bellamy wasn't producing the goods and who whenever we play our best stuff has a lot to do with it. He still can improve a lot but he's a good player. That is also something we should remember when everyone is going crazy about Bellamy. Good players go through good bits of form where no one can stop them and bad phases where they can't do much right, hopfully more of the former. However, when either happens it isn't a case of best player ever or has to be sold, simply form. I think some of our team is probably a bit tired and perhaps have lost some focus on what their jobs are and exactly what they have to achieve, maybe we were caught up in the race for 4th spot and forgot that this season could take a rather massive nose dive if we weren't careful. We've got a 10 day break now so hopefully Hughes can soften a few backsides with his boot and make them realise that it is time they pull their fingers out and get the results that we need. I don't care what anyone says about what we may have expect come the beginning of the season, this will have been a failure if we don't finish in the top 6. If you get yourself into the position we were two or three games ago and don't get an automatic European spot then you have blown it. Hughes and the team set their target as Europe, I know that I and a few others thought top 6 was possible (the optimistic ones...we all have to be right sometimes) and there will be no excuses if we don't manage it from here. 3 points clear with 3 games left, two of which are very winnable; the ball is very much in our court.

Finding our level? What tripe. We're playing against one of the worst teams in the Premiership. You don't find your level after 30 odd games. We're out of form and maybe letting the pressure get to us, it is still all in our hands now so it is up to us to pull out the results we need from the remaining three games. I am really down after this result though.

Not really, Todd only has one vote, Tugay only two, Friedel only five, Zurab none. Those are all players who played a major part in our success this season, but it was pretty much a straight fight between Bellamy and Nelsen, the recent form of Bellamy meaning he was always going to win it. The thing about Savage is you won't notice half of what he does, he isn't going to score a goal or set-up a goal, but I'm sure every team we've played against this season knows that they were playing against Savage. Those of you who don't notice him now will certainly notice him when he's gone, talk to a Birmingham fan.

Now we know where our 5 pounds went

Arsenal are really starting to ruin my year.

Looking good for the win.

Fantastic player, but I don't think he is head and shoulders above Rooney, especially when you consider the fact that he is 8 years older. The one thing that can be thrown at Henry has been his failure at international level, he's yet to become a big player for France.

Isn't the Clough quote something like if he isn't interfering with play then what is he doing on the pitch?

I fancy Arsenal you know. I think their mix of work ethic (in Europe) and wonderful skill suits playing Barcelona. They've dispatched Juventus and Real Madrid with ease and I think this semi-final is a tough test as they face a hard working team this time, but if they make it through then I think they have a very good chance.

Finished 1-0 and Barcelona look to be in a good position to make the final.

Let's hope so. If Wigan pass us though I think we'll be finishing below 7th.

Yes, but again we'd have a game in hand and their remaining games aren't exactly easy. Fulham and Arsenal away with Portsmouth at home, I can't see them catching us.

I disagree with you there. I think he did go for the ball before realising what he was doing and deciding to pull his foot back, I have no doubt that he could have touched it had he wanted to. However, this doesn't change the fact that he was offside, even if he hadn't made that move he should have been called offside.

You can according to the official site.

Not to mention the disallowed goal in that very game that could have given us the lead.

What I found most annoying though was the TV coverage who justified it by saying we had a goal allowed against Wigan that should have been disallowed and so it all evens itself out in the end.

I think it has a lot to do with recent form. MGP is out of favour at the moment after his goals have run dry and he hasn't played particularly well, Bellamy on the other hand has become the most popular man around. That is why my vote has to go to Nelsen. If you think of the first half of the season and the second half of the season then MGP would probably win the first and Bellamy the second, but Nelsen would probably have been second choice both times. He's not let us down this season and has played a major part in our success over the course of the entire year.

Gazsimm, Jan got it just about right here on the first page. It has every bit to do with money and nothing to do with football.

Yes yes yes yes yes. If arsenal win the champions league and finish outside the top four then fourth spot is only good enough for the UEFA cup. Newcastle have been lingering there for a while and a few weeks ago I think a few of us were pretty worried about them, we pulled away again but after 2 points from 3 games a couple teams were always going to put themselves back in with a chance. We still have to be happy with the last few weeks though, we've gone from being in a position where we needed other teams to slip up to being in a pretty comfortable position. I know it doesn't feel that way, but with most teams having at least one tough game left and sitting three points ahead with a game in hand and only three games left you would put us as pretty safe bets. We certainly wouldn't think we could catch a team if we were in their position.

As has been previously mentioned it will most probably be because of the fact that they will help fill the stadium.

Ask them where they keep the porn stash.

It isn't. He was linked with them when the job first became available.

Sad end, but also in the way the perfect end. He scored in a win over the big rivals. It is just about the greatest thing Newcastle have achieved while he has been there and there really isn't a better team for him to bow out against.