[kennethlindheim]

Newcastle United will have to make do with their paper-thin and injury-hit squad until the transfer window in January.

It's a fair bet that Michael Owen will not play again this season and neither will Shola Ameobi once he has an operation on his hip in the next couple of weeks.

United also currently have Shay Given, Emre, Kieron Dyer, Oba Martins and Antoine Sibierski on the treatment table, while Albert Luque is out in the cold and Olivier Bernard is struggling to get anywhere near the standard required for the Premiership.

Both Stephen Carr and Scott Parker have been carrying injuries while Steven Taylor was not risked in Saturday's starting line-up because of a groin problem.

And Nicky Butt was unable to go up and receive his man-of-the- match award from the sponsors on Saturday night because he could hardly move his neck after a first-half collision.

It's a difficult situation for Glenn Roeder to say the least but has no plans to bring in any player who is out of contract.


This is something Martin O'Neill did at Aston Villa when he brought his former Celtic striker Chris Sutton to Villa Park.


Indeed, Roeder told IcNewcastle today: "There are no superstars waiting around the corner to come in and help us. If players are out of contract and have not been snapped up by some club there is obviously a reason for this."

Roeder is already being linked with players in the January window, but at the moment this is a million miles away.

Same shit over and over again. I just don't fucking get it.