1-0 to the Toon at the half. Robert with a wicked volley from 25 yards out in the 35th minute. He took the Spurs clearance on the volley and it flew past Keller.
4-0!!! SHEARER AGAIN!!! From a Robert corner Apparently Dean Richards and Keller had to be pulled apart by Carr after this goal.
You will not see a better display from a winger ANYWHERE in the WORLD today than that of Laurent Robert and I'm not exagerating. He was out of this world and that is by far the best two goals by one player in one game that I have ever seen in my life the first a cracking volley from 25 yards, the second was a 40 yard screamer with the precision and power of a howitzer! His touch, work-rate, passing and corners were all tremendous as well not just his goals. Euro 2004 must surely beckon for Robert now..... PS - did I mention Big all got his 100 and 101st Toon goals at St James'? Let everyone have a pint for Laurent tonight!!!!
Awesome win by the lads. More importantly, we are now one point out of the coveted 4th spot which will qualify us for Europe next season! I would say that SBR got the plane out of a nose dive and is indeed working his magic. The boys are playing some tough footie!
Not until he can threaten consistently. Robert needs to figure out what he does on days like yesterday and bring that to each and every match he features in. I'm not saying he needs to score a pair of crackers every game, but too often this year we've seen him seemingly incapable of hitting a consistent cross or corner into the box. He seems to have turned up his game in recent weeks, here's to seeing Robert perform at his best on a consistent basis.
He certainly is in good form currently. I don't know if it is the written warning he got or being made to close his personal website, but he really does seem committed to the cause now. As for his two goals on Saturday, I can only agree with everyone else that they were astonishing. I think the first was the more skilful as it is very difficult to control a ball on the volley when it bounces as high as it did. I liked the second one more, however. While the first goal was an instinctive strike, he really calculated the second. The fact that he was confident that he could beat Keller from 30+ yards and then did so easily shows that he is on top of his game.
The 4-0 victory glosses over the fact that Titus was having an awful time in the first half. At one point he gave the ball (i.e. literally passed it) to Spurs in his own half twice in ten seconds. On another occasion he almost got Given in trouble with a headed back pass that fell short.
Still that bad, er, inconsistent despite the clean sheet? Amazing. We win in spite of Titus's performance and Saddam is captured. What zaniness will be next? Seriously though, do we not have other defenders we could have get ready in case of Titus?
Your not seriously telling me he doesnt deserve to be in the squad? Apart from a few iffy games he has been awesome all season! It will be a disgrace if he doesnt make the squad.
My post was in response to the notion that he's a shoo-in for the French squad, and yes, I'm seriously saying that he doesn't clearly deserve to be in the national team as he just hasn't been consistent enough. He's had a good season, but he's hardly been outstanding on a consistent basis. Given the amount of his transfer and his likely salary, if he truly is a premier player then he needs to start showing this week in and week out. When he's at his best he's certainly among the best wingers in the EPL. Yet he doesn't even bring out his best for half the games in the season. If Robert is to be regarded as a top player, then he needs to bring quality, effort and passion to most every appearance in the same manner that is seen from Giggs, Ljungberg and Pires. Or perhaps more appropriately, Shearer. Again, when Robert is on his game he's absolutely brilliant. But far too often he looks discouraged, won't track back into his own half to win the ball, isn't willing to take on defenders 1v1, isn't whipping in crosses and corners consistently and isn't pulling the trigger.
Titus has the potential to be an excellent defender, if he ever becomes consistent. On current form, Steve Caldwell and Andy O'Brien are more reliable. Bobby will always give Titus preference as a) he will take the view that more games will produce more consistency and b) he paid £5m recently for Titus and doesn't want people to think he is having second thoughts.