Reasons to be cheerful
You have to take your hat off to Glenn Roeder again after leading Newcastle to victory over Wigan.
He did it without a recognised partner for Shola Ameobi, a patched-up Shay Given and the loss of his current form player Nicky Butt, yes Nicky Butt, after only 16 minutes not to mention Craig MooreâÂÂs knee bother at half-time.
The United boss has now lead his side to nine wins and drawn two of the last 11 competitive games - if Wenger, Mourinho or Ferguson did that surely theyâÂÂd get the credit they deserve.
ItâÂÂs not a bad record is it?
And given the fact he has done it without the likes of Michael Owen, Kieron Dyer and at the end of last season Alan Shearer, it makes it look even more impressive.
Football is a results business and as we have already witnessed, a star-studded cast doesnâÂÂt guarantee a trophy.
So why isnâÂÂt there a bit more appreciation for the fact that Roeder gets so much out of the players he has at his disposal.
Roeder of course has battled against the elements this summer after a period of frustration in the transfer market.
Damien Duff is the only newcomer at St Jamesâ Park yet it has to be said the Irishman can only be talked about as a great addition to the squad.
That is likely to change sooner rather than later and we hear new faces are on their way.
True, everybody will feel a lot better when the new players come in.
But some of the sides that have been wheeling and dealing this summer, Tottenham, Blackburn, Liverpool, Arsenal and Charlton, as well as Wigan, would love to have that golden three points on the board like Roeder has today.
European football is back on the menu too and considering Roeder - the man who took United back to the continent - hasnâÂÂt once moaned about injuries in the style of Graeme Souness, it is difficult to understand why there is so much negativity in the air.
Hopefully United can dance their way to the next round of the UEFA Cup on Thursday and then its Aston Villa and Martin Oâ Neill to come on Sunday, surely these are still exciting times?
LetâÂÂs try to enjoy them.
Put it this way I feel much happier now than I did 12 months ago on the back of a 14th place finish and an opening day defeat against Arsenal.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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Glenn Roeder ..is the man for the TOON...a geordie with passion....hope and commitment....he doesnt just buy anyone ..to please some faces ...hes buying for the future of the club and fans...and thats wahat weve needed for years....go get em MR roeder.....do your stuff....
roeder is a fantastic coach
an awesome man manager,tactician and gets the best out of his players
never has he moaned about
injuries brings in players
looking at the future at the club and not for the sake of it a man with passion for the club
go on guys give him the credit he deserves step aside the likes of wenger
morinho ferguson we have roeder
I have posted a few comments on this site over the last few weeks and most of the time i have been proved wrong,now it looks like i will be proved wrong again as the big man looks set to give Glen the money he needs to strengthen the squad.Still not to sure over Martins long term but we desperatley need pace and the lad has bags of it.Glen has worked a demoralised group of individuals into a decent unit and hopefully with the three supposed signings this week he will add a bit extra .I know all the talk is of Graveson and Martins but after watching the game on saturday i think Glen needs to pull out all the stops to ensure Bridge arrives before the 31st.Babayaro is the weak link in my eyes and Carr didnt fare much better but we all know Carr can play better. Emre is still a 60 minute player but what a player he would be to bring off the bench.As regards to the centre halves hopefully Glen will add one more once Boum has departed as we still lack that voice of authority at the back organising players for set pieces.
Having said all of that three points is three points and you have to start to look at Glen as someone who with a bit of luck on the injury front could seriously be the man to get us a little bit of silverware..one other point i have got wrong is Nicky Butt ,,,he is starting to look like the player we thought we had signed and i was dissapointed to see him leave the park on saturday .Hopefully with a couple of signings this week we will see the dark clouds clear over ST James S Park and take up there usual haunt over the stadium of light...Jackie
Anelka anyone?
Isn't he nicknamed the incredible sulk?
Not 100% sure that Newcastle
need one of them at the moment.
Well, well, well.
First 'Another One Bites The Dust' (Queen).
Second 'Reasons to be Cheerful' (Ian Dury & the Blockeads).
What will be next Lee? Could it be 'Living in the Past (Jethro Tull) or my fervant hope of We are the Champions.
Anyway not to bad a performance seeing the wet conditions and the early injuries. Let's hope they can get the three or four signings before the end of the month and hopefully they will come through on Thursday.
What do people think of having "Belgravia" on the shirt instead of Northern Rock if the take over happens.
From a not so disgruntled geordie in South Africa.
I agree, Glenn will do well this year. I refuse to start dreaming of silverware though....it only leads to heartache come may.I'll enjoy the ride though as usual.
Anelka is a team cancer. He would be terrible for the Toon. It is so frustrating that we have sat so long on our problems. Yes, we got Duff, but only because Tottenham bungled their chance. If it wasn"t for that we would have NOTHING to show our offseason. If Fred was truly committed to bringing some hardware to Newcastle he should have stepped up in the transfer window. He did not, and now we are in serious trouble with our backline and strike force. Pray that Shola doesn"t get too banged up.
Annelka is still available and dont forget he was a successful loan signing for Liverpool when he partnered Owen there. They just couldnt afford him at the time.
He is a proven premiership goalscorer and allegedly according to Keegan was not a difficult player to manage.
Go and get him and Martins as we need real options with pace upfront.
The likely sale of Boumsong may allow us to go for both forwards as if we delay Bolton will step in for Anelka and then they really will be able to compete for a top six slot.
Check his record if you like in premiership Glen and after doing so speak to Mr Shepherd asap.[
Roeder's not a Geordie, he's a cockney geezer!
Newcastle United supporter clubs, fanzines and fansites have joined forces to urge fans attending Thursday's match against Ventspils to bring a scarf with them to pay tribute to Sir Bobby Robson as he battles against cancer for the 4th time. The idea is to wave our scarves and sing a rendition of "walking in a Bobby wonderland" to not only show our appreciation of what he achieved with the club but to also act as a "get well soon Bobby" good luck message.
Fellow fansites, the True-Faith fanzine and supporter clubs are all putting the message out to urge fans to bring a scarf. We have also contacted the Chronicle for their help and Channel 5 who are screening the game live will mention it during the build-up to the match on Thursday.
BBC Newcastle, Metro Radio and Century FM have also been notified. As somene who comments on the club we would appreciate it if you could also help promote this fantastic gesture for a former manager who served this club for 5 wonderful years as he battles against ill-health. We are hoping to reach as many fans as possible and a message on your blog would go a long way in achieving that.
Kind regards,
Chris Smith
In the same number of games after taking over, Graeme Souness managed 4 fewer wins and 2 more defeats.
Sir Bobby Robson won 10 of his opening 21 games while Ruud Gullit managed just the 8 wins (7 defeats) and Dalglish, despite having THAT fabulous side of KK's to work with, achieved 11 wins.
It can be argued Roeder has less to work with than his predecessors had. Souness inherited a side that had finished 5th in the table and could call upon such names as Alan Shearer, Craig Bellamy and Patrick Kluivert up front (Oh what we'd give right now for just one of those).
Sir Bobby had a younger, fitter, more mobile Shearer leading his line, Kieron Dyer showing us just how much potential he would later go on to waste, and Big Duncan Ferguson up front.
Gullit's Shearer was even younger, and quicker.
Dalglish, well, he could call on Peter Beardsley, Shearer of course, Sir Les Ferdinand, David Ginola and Tino Asprilla.
Roeder on the other hand has had to make do without Michael Owen, a patched up Shearer running on empty, Shola Ameobi and an out of sorts Albert Luque.
All this while trying to rid the club of the malaise that was Souness, his backroom team and the complete devastation they had created.
In Souness' final 21 games in charge United lost 9 games and won just the 8.
What Roeder has achieved so far is nothing short of inspirational.
Whether he can maintain this run and take us to a new level remains to be seen. There is much work to be done both on and off the pitch for that to become reality but at least in Roeder we are in safe hands and during this period of instability and transition (takeovers etc.) that's quite a relief.
Well Ian Graham of South Africa, if Glenn Roeder keeps getting the wins like he has been it could well be a case of Club Tropicana.
The signing of Martins is exciting...let's hope they can finalise that deal before Sunday.
Bad fotos but good info: True, everybody will feel a lot better when the new players come in