Michael Owen: "I worry about the future of our national team.
"Of course, the obvious excuse (for failure in the Under-21 World Cup) is to say we were missing some of our best young players as they were in the senior squad.
"This was certainly the case but it's worrying that our senior team apparently needs them so much that our young national teams have to suffer in such a way.
"Excuses aside, the truth is that we're falling short of the level expected at present and I'm concerned about the future of all our national teams."
WE TELL IT AS IT IS - NO BULLSHIT!
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Only 5% Wanted Pardew - What's The Percentage Now? PLEASE VOTE
Mike Ashley stunned us all ... and I mean ALL ... when he sacked Chris Hughton and brought in Alan Pardew.
Apparently, Ashley knows Pardew from a London casino the pair used to visit, and the former West Ham boss talked his way into the job.
At the time the appointment was made, ourselves (NU-MAD) and the Chronicle held a poll to ask the Newcastle fans if they were happy with the new manager.
Both polls showed only 5% of Toon fans were happy, and if the truth was known, I'd say 3% of those were Mackems gatecrashing the voting!
So ... with Pardew two and half years into the job ... has he turned the voting around? Has he won you over?
We were still in the relegation dog-fight until Swansea won at Wigan a week before the season ended, and there was growing concern after heavy home defeats to Sunderland and Liverpool.
Pardew gave his excuses, saying his squad was "wafer thin and too small to tackle a long season".
Yet on Thursday - having lost Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, James Perch and Dan Gosling on the way to Crystal Palace (FOUR PLAYERS LESS) he said: "I'm not too concerned because we have a big squad".
Confused? We certainly were.
So click the button - PLEASE VOTE.
Is he the man for the job ... or not?
VOTE HERE ....
http://www.newcastleunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp