Newcastle United - Nottingham Forest

[Plymouth red]

It is true that Taiwo has not impressed in pre season but again, let's not throw him under the bus yet. Liverpool persisted with him for years and ultimately sold because of work permit issues.

 In all fairness, it might be more that as a striker, you are only as good as the service you get and so far he has been living on scraps. Currently we have no one in the midfield or up front that can effectively hold up play and bring others in (like Davis did), nor do we have the raw pace down the flanks that we got from Spence to compensate

Until we have that player who can hold the ball then Johnson, lingard and taiwo will struggle as that is not really their game.

[McDurban]

I make that Worrall and Brennan now that have been written off by a few people 

Yatesy massively benefitting from being injured to avoid being scapegoated. In fact his value is rocketing due to missing that game in many people's eyes!

We know Colback is a backup, so not sure what the point of criticising him. He's also in the back end of his career, will still be a good sub in games.

I have not written Brennan off 

Not to labour the point but "I'm beginning to suspect that Johnson isn't going to be 1st choice."

I acknowledge that it's polite and not a particularly aggressive criticism however suggesting you think he's not going to be 1st choice is 100% writing him off, or at the very least the start of writing him off. Suggesting the star player is not going to be 1st choice, is a big statement.

It means that when fighting a relegation battle we need someone with more experience and physicality while he continues to develop with less responsibility on his shoulders.

[wassy04]

I make that Worrall and Brennan now that have been written off by a few people 

Yatesy massively benefitting from being injured to avoid being scapegoated. In fact his value is rocketing due to missing that game in many people's eyes!

We know Colback is a backup, so not sure what the point of criticising him. He's also in the back end of his career, will still be a good sub in games.

I have not written Brennan off 

Not to labour the point but "I'm beginning to suspect that Johnson isn't going to be 1st choice."

I acknowledge that it's polite and not a particularly aggressive criticism however suggesting you think he's not going to be 1st choice is 100% writing him off, or at the very least the start of writing him off. Suggesting the star player is not going to be 1st choice, is a big statement.

It means that when fighting a relegation battle we need someone with more experience and physicality while he continues to develop with less responsibility on his shoulders.

Look, I get what you're saying and I don't think you're promoting a massively negative prospective. However, I think suggesting he is potentially not good enough for a relegation battle right now, for me is quite a big put down and you are clearly writing off his ability to contribute as a starter this season. Surely you can agree that? Given you have literally just said we need someone with more experience and physicality.

Two things to add, I don't think being an impact sub would be great for his development. I also think one game into the season is way too early to make the assumption that his lack of experience and physicality means he won't be up to the task to be a starter and key player for us this year.

[zicorice]

Just catching up. 

Wassy04 I agree with virtually everything you've said since Saturday. I feel your frustration at some of the comments about players after just 1 game.

Most of our outfield players did not do themselves justice and are far better than they showed up there. 

As for Jonno, he will have quiet games, much as he did sometimes last year, but he will also rip defences apart sometimes, ask Leicester or Holland for that matter.

It's a marathon not a sprint. Some of our fanbase would do well to remember that.

Roll on Sunday.

[DeesideRed]

It is true that Taiwo has not impressed in pre season but again, let's not throw him under the bus yet. Liverpool persisted with him for years and ultimately sold because of work permit issues.

 In all fairness, it might be more that as a striker, you are only as good as the service you get and so far he has been living on scraps. Currently we have no one in the midfield or up front that can effectively hold up play and bring others in (like Davis did), nor do we have the raw pace down the flanks that we got from Spence to compensate

Until we have that player who can hold the ball then Johnson, lingard and taiwo will struggle as that is not really their game.

Spot on. Pretty much precisely what i came on to say. 

I dont think anyone can really blame the defence, they were hammered for 70% of the game due to the inability of any of the forward players to hold the ball up. It was, in fairness, why i thought despite being a Peripheral player Taylor would start over Surridge who has had little pre-season. I dont think anyone seriously believes Surridge is going to be our first choice CF this season. 

If the ball doesnt stick for 30s or so, the attacking players we do have become redundant. After all, the system we play is to allow the full backs to get up the pitch and offer the possibility of playing out through midfield or stretching the game with pace with a ball over the top. Problem is, at present, Brennan is not strong enough (due to age - no writing off here) JL certainly isnt going to do it and Awoniyi is not that type of player either. 

I dont know whether we believed we would get Davis but i'm concerned that our priority has not been to secure a striker we can work off. Genuinely think Che Adams is probably the one now, bearing in mind where we are in the window.

[DeesideRed]

I make that Worrall and Brennan now that have been written off by a few people 

Yatesy massively benefitting from being injured to avoid being scapegoated. In fact his value is rocketing due to missing that game in many people's eyes!

We know Colback is a backup, so not sure what the point of criticising him. He's also in the back end of his career, will still be a good sub in games.

I have not written Brennan off 

Not to labour the point but "I'm beginning to suspect that Johnson isn't going to be 1st choice."

I acknowledge that it's polite and not a particularly aggressive criticism however suggesting you think he's not going to be 1st choice is 100% writing him off, or at the very least the start of writing him off. Suggesting the star player is not going to be 1st choice, is a big statement.

It means that when fighting a relegation battle we need someone with more experience and physicality while he continues to develop with less responsibility on his shoulders.

Look, I get what you're saying and I don't think you're promoting a massively negative prospective. However, I think suggesting he is potentially not good enough for a relegation battle right now, for me is quite a big put down and you are clearly writing off his ability to contribute as a starter this season. Surely you can agree that? Given you have literally just said we need someone with more experience and physicality.

Two things to add, I don't think being an impact sub would be great for his development. I also think one game into the season is way too early to make the assumption that his lack of experience and physicality means he won't be up to the task to be a starter and key player for us this year.

Personally think rotating Brennan is more beneficial for his development. After all, if he had signed for another PL club, its precisely what they would be doing