Marthelino, Shay Given, Didier Domi and Alain Goma have all asked to leave in recent weeks. It's not really bothered me too much, but if SOLANO said he wanted to go I would be gutted. Who would YOU hate to leave?

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Answers

I'd HATE to see Min and Ken leave.......they make me so happy :-)

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

It all depends on the reason for leaving. If a foreigner is homesick then fine but if someone like Dyer said he wants to leave to win things that would be harder to accept.

If a player leaves because of a lack of opportunities it means the players filling his position are better in the eyes of Robson so it's not as important.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

I've always been petrified that Barton and Speed would go

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Solano, Dyer, Speed, and wee Hughesie. At present, Hughesie most as he appears to be NUFC through and through and we should aim to hold onto our youths for most of their careers.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Dopugal, you may be able to hold onto youths for all their careers, but if I did that, I'd get sacked immediately.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

My favourite player had pledged himself to the Toon forever. Warren Barton, top man, a Newcastle giant - I love him.

I'm never pleased to hear of anyone wanting to leave. I'm also sufficiently grown-up to know that players are ephemeral, they come they go, the passing of some hurts more than others, Suddick, Pedro (twice), Tino, Cole, Waddle, Gascoigne, Pavel, Albert are some I recall causing the most sorrow at their passing. But the club is much bigger than any player and will continue.

I'd be gutted to see Nobby or Dyer submit a transfer request, but having said that, the road goes ever on. New heroes, new Messiahs are always waiting around the next corner.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Rob Lee, Warren Barton, Nobby.....heart and soul of the side....

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Kieron Dyer. I still fear he may be sold purely for financial reasons. Too reminscent of the bad-old days of NUFC as a selling club.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Disco Des Hamilton , what an abominable thought .. i felt the same way when Lionel Blair left too aye im afraid to say we're still a selling club .

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Al The psychological blow of losing our Geordie local hero at his request would be too much to bear.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

If Shearer leaves while he's still playing then the club would have to eb in some sort of mess. I think he'd probably stay if we got relegated or am I seeing through black and white tinted specs.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

For the sake of his career AS should have left two years ago when many were wrongly predicting he would walk out on us. Because he stayed his loyalty to the Club is now largely unappreciated.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Clarky - the joy and adulation greets a mediocre goal after 10 games shows that he is not unappreciated.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

My favourite player already left :-((

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Totally agree Dougie , his penalty at Coventry was a big up yours to the press .. everyone loves Al ( apart from LR whose ownly bitter bless his Morecambe socks ) , the cheer that erupts when Al scores is totally different to the one of any other player , and you know why ? Cos he's a Geordie and he looks like bloody means it .

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Since Big Dunc left I don't have much of a feeling for any of them. I like Barton and Nobby, resent the shadow of Rob Lee hanging around making it difficult to mourn his passing and otherwise only really respect several of the others. There's no real characters left, though. I was in tears when Les was sold and can't imagine how it would have felt had it been by request.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

This is where we need Ameobi to celebrate with some original attitude. All Dyer does is coies the DJ thing that the rest of his porn-flick mates would do if they scored, like Heskey.

Come on Dyer ffs, it's almost as if he is the little kid in the gang that gets pressured to do things the way the big boys do.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Aye, a Geordie who supported Liverpool when he was a kid ;-))

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Dunc already left. though he didn't ask. :-(

I'm disappointed about Shay's request. Would feel the same with a number of other players. Not sure if I'd feel as gutted as I was with Dunc, though. Maybe it's more cause that was my first experience of a favourite player leaving.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Shows how far we have dropped, my favorite player-Lee Clark left & everyone thought it was fair enough at £2m now we are worried a player of half his ability, Gary Speed could leave.

Everyone likes Barton now for his committment, he's still crap.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

I'm praying that Warren Barton WILL leave... defensively inept, poor in the air, has some silky skills but panics too easily. Sometimes he plays out of his skin, he always plays his heart out but I've now seen too many games where he is a liability. Attitude is important but if you haven't got the ability you'll never get to the top.

Myself, I'd be truly gutted if Speed left. He may have poor matches but he's never a liability.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2001

Simple the future of the club, Dyer, Cort, Amoebi, Lua Lua, Griffin and Hughes. Oh and Nobby cuase he's pure class.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2001

I noticed a lot of us have mentioned Barton - sorry but come on, the guy puts 100% effort in but he has to so he can keep his place. Surely he's not keeping it on football ability alone.

Think about the last time he made a goal saving tackling, ran up the wing and put a good cross in?

The last 10 matches he's plaed in, and yes, I've seen them all, all he has done is get the ball, hoof it up the line, 75% of the time going to one of the opposition.

I'd be the first to admit that when he was first played at left back (can't remember if it was Gullit or YBR) he was magnificent.

Get rid of him, he's no way captain material, Speed should be captain above him anyway. Sorry but I just don't rate the bloke at all.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2001

Warren hasn't had the best of form since coming back from injury but he doesn't moan and never hides - he's like a vision from an earlier age.

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2001

True dougal, however we are trying to move on to the next age!

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2001

Warren Barton made a goal-saving block in the recent manure game, TJC.
Gary Speed would also be my choice as captain - ahead of either AS or WB.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2001

Clarky,

Don't you think that Speed is another of the "lead by example" brigade and not the "let you know if you're slacking" brigade?

He's an inspirational type of player but I think he is a bit quiet.

-- Anonymous, January 12, 2001

aaron hughes without a doubt. gutsy, detemined, cool, calm and dependable. We've got a gem here and the basis of a VERY solid defence in years to come.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2001

DB,

You may have a valuable point. However, I have noticed on several occasions this season, that in breaks in the game when BR wants to get some information onto the field, he invariably goes to GS rather than AS.
It's almost as though he already regards GS as Captain on the field, with AS simply the Club figurehead - which is as it should be.
AS seems rather introverted, does not seem to be a good skipper on the field. However, he was appointed so by someone else, and would undoubtedly take it very personally, and very badly, if he was formally relieved of it now.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2001

Actually this could be the perfect time to relieve him of the captaincy. No doubt Bobby could diplomatically put it to him, that having been out for so long, he feels things have gone better having someone else wear the armband on the pitch, and that it would be far better for Shearer to concentrate 100% on his own game. He could remain club captain as far as public speaking and representation off the pitch go...just to keep his ego from being too badly bruised.

-- Anonymous, January 13, 2001

Min, have to agree with you. Calm, collected, has been trained by NUFC and has it in his blood and reads the game like a dream. He also respects all the other players and will encourage rather than bawl at. I don't think youth matters - his birth at NUFC was followed by a baptism of fire - he's pretty much seen and done it all.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2001

There's an interview somewhere with Andy Griffin and Aaron Hughes and they talk about Speed and Wozza giving them advice and support and generally being there for them. On that basis, I'd have to say either of them would be good captains.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2001

not sure he's vocal enough for my liking but that will come with more experience. What worries me more is that if there are two CBs lined up, that makes 4 when Dabs is back and Goma/Marcy leave. I suspect YBR will move him back to his left-back slot which would be a real shame as he's developing into a *whisper it* Alan Hansen type CB. Class.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2001

Min, I read somewhere that Bobby has told him that all he needs to do is get a bit bossier and he'll be captain some day but Bobby also said that he'd never met a 20 year old who had the bossy thing going. I have to say, though, he has been trying to do a bit of organising - which no bugger else does. I agree re left back - it's not his best position.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2001