Some posters

[sherwoodmag]

Are saying that our current squad is worse than the one that got us relegated.I suggest you look at the Squad that started season 2015/16 Players like Sissoko,Obertan,Goufran,Taylor were in that squad how many of them would be first choice now.Would you rather have Sissoko than Ritchie or Cisse for Gayle.Could Taylor get in over Mbemba.The only one of that squad I would have back would be Wijnaldum and he only scored in home games.

[pboromag]

coolo townsend winjanum janmatt cabella and sissoks would all walk into thi side and we havent replaced them with anything as good
even to an extent taylor and jonas

look at our squad all of it near enough dead wood
not one player you would build a side around

not one player would a top 6-8 side want to buy

not oen except maybe gayle would be first choice in a top 12-15 side or s a direct swap

maybe ritchie ,mbemba our right back possibly

but after thatt we are championship players
cause that is what rafa brought for

he didnt buy players except gayle and ritchie that might make the step up add that to we sold the decent players and made 30 mill which we havent spent and were left with the dross that brought us down
colback perez dimmet,lascelles mistertrick etc etc

so our squad is much worse than what we had

[sherwoodmag]

coolo townsend winjanum janmatt cabella and sissoks would all walk into thi side and we havent replaced them with anything as good
even to an extent taylor and jonas

look at our squad all of it near enough dead wood
not one player you would build a side around

not one player would a top 6-8 side want to buy

not oen except maybe gayle would be first choice in a top 12-15 side or s a direct swap

maybe ritchie ,mbemba our right back possibly
J
but after thatt we are championship players
cause that is what rafa brought for

he didnt buy players except gayle and ritchie that might make the step up add that to we sold the decent players and made 30 mill which we havent spent and were left with the dross that brought us down
colback perez dimmet,lascelles mistertrick etc etc

so our squad is much worse than what we had

Collo was finished,Sissoko was a One game in 10 player,Jaanmat ok going forward but poor defender.TAYLOR ffs he can't hold down a place in any lower league team,Cabella couldn't hack it the Prem and was sent back to France. Are you sure you don't just play on footy manager.The only decent one you've mentioned is Townsend who Rafa wanted back in January.

[Southerntoon75]

Collo was finished,Sissoko was a One game in 10 player,Jaanmat ok going forward but poor defender.TAYLOR ffs he can't hold down a place in any lower league team,Cabella couldn't hack it the Prem and was sent back to France. Are you sure you don't just play on footy manager.The only decent one you've mentioned is Townsend who Rafa wanted back in January.

And we now have Ritchie instead. On top of everything you've put which I agree with those players mentioned (apart from Taylor) wanted out. We do need transfers but at least this squad we have now seem to get it, want to play for us and the team spirit is excellent

[ex_pat_magpie]

And we now have Ritchie instead. On top of everything you've put which I agree with those players mentioned (apart from Taylor) wanted out. We do need transfers but at least this squad we have now seem to get it, want to play for us and the team spirit is excellent

And you can't put a value on team spirit.

[Jammy89]

And you can't put a value on team spirit.

Agree with this.

Even if the players who left are better in some people's opinion the team spirit is much better now and i think that will carry us in some games.

I know that Pboro has said it'll go very quickly if we start losing games but personally i don't think it will, think we've got quite a strong spirited squad.

[Andy1981_2]

coolo townsend winjanum janmatt cabella and sissoks would all walk into thi side and we havent replaced them with anything as good
even to an extent taylor and jonas

look at our squad all of it near enough dead wood
not one player you would build a side around

not one player would a top 6-8 side want to buy

not oen except maybe gayle would be first choice in a top 12-15 side or s a direct swap

maybe ritchie ,mbemba our right back possibly

but after thatt we are championship players
cause that is what rafa brought for

he didnt buy players except gayle and ritchie that might make the step up add that to we sold the decent players and made 30 mill which we havent spent and were left with the dross that brought us down
colback perez dimmet,lascelles mistertrick etc etc

so our squad is much worse than what we had

OK, let's run with this little thought experiment of yours then pboro... where did those players go, and how did they do? Answers below:

coolo - Coloccini went to San Lorenzo, a mid-table team in the Argentinian league and his boyhood club, and yet only managed twelve appearances and has been told to find another club to play for (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport...r-sad-13334148) Don't see him getting into ANY Premier League side, let alone a top 15 side.

townsend - Andros Townsend went to Palace, where he has, by all accounts, struggled to produce the form he showed toward the end of his time at Newcastle. Palace finished 14th in the league, so I guess he sneaks into a top 15 team thanks to the good work of some of his teammates.

winjanum - No arguments here, Wijnaldum went to Liverpool who are a top side. Shaky start, but started to find a place in Klopp's system by the end of the season.

janmatt - Went to Watford, made 26 appearances in the league for a team who finished 17th (so OUTSIDE the top 15).

cabella - Has played for one PL team, who finished 15th (that was us). Didn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in any other PL side taking him on, so we had to lend him to Marseille to get shot. Publicly said he couldn't handle the style of play in the PL.

sissoks - Well, he DID go to a good team that finished in the top 15. However, was quickly found out - by early December, his own manager was publicly criticising him by name. How often does that happen?

taylor - Went to a pub league in the US. Came back, played 3 times for Ipswich, and they decided against offering him a long-term contract. Last seen on trial at Doncaster Rovers.

jonas - Had a chance at a PL club with Norwich and a manager who knew and liked him, didn't make the grade. Back in Argentina for a mid-table team in their top division, managed half a season.

Doesn't seem like many of those guys have hit dizzying heights since they left - why think they're better than what we have?

[Nufc24Mag]

OK, let's run with this little thought experiment of yours then pboro... where did those players go, and how did they do? Answers below:

coolo - Coloccini went to San Lorenzo, a mid-table team in the Argentinian league and his boyhood club, and yet only managed twelve appearances and has been told to find another club to play for (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport...r-sad-13334148) Don't see him getting into ANY Premier League side, let alone a top 15 side.

townsend - Andros Townsend went to Palace, where he has, by all accounts, struggled to produce the form he showed toward the end of his time at Newcastle. Palace finished 14th in the league, so I guess he sneaks into a top 15 team thanks to the good work of some of his teammates.

winjanum - No arguments here, Wijnaldum went to Liverpool who are a top side. Shaky start, but started to find a place in Klopp's system by the end of the season.

janmatt - Went to Watford, made 26 appearances in the league for a team who finished 17th (so OUTSIDE the top 15).

cabella - Has played for one PL team, who finished 15th (that was us). Didn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in any other PL side taking him on, so we had to lend him to Marseille to get shot. Publicly said he couldn't handle the style of play in the PL.

sissoks - Well, he DID go to a good team that finished in the top 15. However, was quickly found out - by early December, his own manager was publicly criticising him by name. How often does that happen?

taylor - Went to a pub league in the US. Came back, played 3 times for Ipswich, and they decided against offering him a long-term contract. Last seen on trial at Doncaster Rovers.

jonas - Had a chance at a PL club with Norwich and a manager who knew and liked him, didn't make the grade. Back in Argentina for a mid-table team in their top division, managed half a season.

Doesn't seem like many of those guys have hit dizzying heights since they left - why think they're better than what we have?

Couldn't of put it better myself and the only players that had any kind of affection for the club was Taylor colo and jonas the rest were mercenaries and I never want another player like them in our club again

[pboromag]

OK, let's run with this little thought experiment of yours then pboro... where did those players go, and how did they do? Answers below:

coolo - Coloccini went to San Lorenzo, a mid-table team in the Argentinian league and his boyhood club, and yet only managed twelve appearances and has been told to find another club to play for (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport...r-sad-13334148) Don't see him getting into ANY Premier League side, let alone a top 15 side.

townsend - Andros Townsend went to Palace, where he has, by all accounts, struggled to produce the form he showed toward the end of his time at Newcastle. Palace finished 14th in the league, so I guess he sneaks into a top 15 team thanks to the good work of some of his teammates.

winjanum - No arguments here, Wijnaldum went to Liverpool who are a top side. Shaky start, but started to find a place in Klopp's system by the end of the season.

janmatt - Went to Watford, made 26 appearances in the league for a team who finished 17th (so OUTSIDE the top 15).

cabella - Has played for one PL team, who finished 15th (that was us). Didn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in any other PL side taking him on, so we had to lend him to Marseille to get shot. Publicly said he couldn't handle the style of play in the PL.

sissoks - Well, he DID go to a good team that finished in the top 15. However, was quickly found out - by early December, his own manager was publicly criticising him by name. How often does that happen?

taylor - Went to a pub league in the US. Came back, played 3 times for Ipswich, and they decided against offering him a long-term contract. Last seen on trial at Doncaster Rovers.

jonas - Had a chance at a PL club with Norwich and a manager who knew and liked him, didn't make the grade. Back in Argentina for a mid-table team in their top division, managed half a season.

Doesn't seem like many of those guys have hit dizzying heights since they left - why think they're better than what we have?

we aren't talking about when they left we are talking abouth when they were here
the original post asks wether staylor made any difference ,well he didn't as he was mainly injured that season

collo was still miles better than anything we had and apart from mbemba I still think the yer he went he was better than anything we have currently

so you can say that a few of them went to top half prem teams

none of our current squad apart from maybe 2 would do that at present

spirit when you are winning is easy to achieve
wait till they start struggling the crowd on their backs which always happens with the toon fans (they even turned on Sir Bobby )
and we will see that spirit shine through I'm sure

you have to remember players are here for the money they don't give a ****e about the club or the fans ,spirits will soon go down when the ****e hits the fans

they did in the prem last time

[Andy1981_2]

we aren't talking about when they left we are talking abouth when they were here

In which case I'm a bit confused - if our side was stocked with top 15 players, why did we finish in the bottom 3?

I think you're romanticising the quality of those players to be honest - Colo was finished by the time we went into that final season, both physically and mentally. And even if he was better than Lascelles was then, he wasn't better than Lascelles is now, because he wasn't as strong or as mobile as Lascelles and he was far more error prone. Sure, he could possibly read the game better, experience will do that for you, but what good is it being able to read well if your back is too ****ed to pick up a book?

And you say a few of them went to top half team (2 - Wijnaldum and Sissoko) and that maybe 2 of ours would at present. That's the same number mate, so it doesn't serve your argument at all. And nobody who knew anything about Sissoko thought that he was actually good enough to go to a top side, and it turns out that was true. I think most of us grudgingly accepted Wijnaldum could do it in a better team.

What I do agree with you on is that I don't think we have a player in our side who is at Wijnaldum's standard, which means that our players now fall within a bit of a bell curve. I don't think our worst players are any worse than those who took us down - they are, in some cases, the very same players - but our best players aren't as good. The overall standard is possibly slightly higher for our first 11 in spite of this, in that we have players who are a bit more disciplined in sticking to their task (like Ritchie over Sissoko, Gayle over Cisse). And I think we're adding a little more experience and quality to our cover by signing players like Manquillo (Mbabu was our only cover at RB the season we went down). It's painfully slow progress, and I can understand anyone being frustrated by that when you see what other sides are doing and have done since we were last in the PL, but I think you and TerryMac are totally misguided if you think it was a bunch of PL quality players that took us into the Championship and a bunch of Championship quality players that brought us back into the PL.