George Bailey

With current squad, and our awe inspiring signings so far , tenth at best. Realistically somewhere between 15th and 10th. Dependant upon our start. Think we will be way behind..Manure, Chelski, Arsenal, Liverpool ....and behind.. AVilla, Spurs, Everton, Man City, Portsmouth, fighting with....West Ham, Blackburn, Boro for 10th spot. Rest of clubs SHOULD be well below us but you never know.

Harry - Keegan spoke on BBC Radio Newcastle this morning to say that he wouldn't be bringing anyone in before the end of July, he doesn't want to pay wages for players who aren't playing - looks like you'll have to wait! Did he really say that? If he did say this then dear god he and the club have lost the plot...

OOps. Thanks to Mick for pointing out my double inclusion of Mr Butt, hes sooooooooooo good wanted to include him twice.

Newcastle United Formation:442 GK Harper RB Beye CB Taylor CB Faye LB Enrique CM Butt CM S Davis RW Lennon LW Duff ST Owen ST Viduka Sub1 Forster Sub2 A Gardner Sub3 Geremi Sub4 Edgar Sub5 Carroll Sub6 Kadar Sub7 Lua Lua Manchester United Formation: GK Van Der sar RB G Neville CB Ferdinand CB Vidic LB Evra CM Carrick CM Hargreaves RW Anderson LW Nani ST Tevez ST Rooney Sub1 Sub2 Sub3 Sub4 Sub5 Sub6 Sub7 Scoreline: 1-3 NUFC Win, loss, or draw? Loss NUFC goals: 1 Manchester United goals: 3 First goalscorer: Rooney

Mind you the money would be pretty damn safe..

Not sure about Malouda, think hes been cack this season myself. Seems a bit of a moody twat as well. SWP Yes please.

Was on today 11am ish ITV 4. Appears to be being repeated again Sunday same timeish. Also on next week, the FA cup semi Sheff Wed v Brighton. plus Mackems v Norwich (I think). Worth a look, to laugh at some of the hairstyles and tashes if nowt else! Brian Moore..the legend.

aye and absolute quality og by Metcalfe for our 1st , stunning finish Keeley scored 2 belters for them and goes a bit mental too! Faz looked so young playing for them, wolud love to see him back with us.

For me I still think mid to longish term (next 4 transfer windows say) we need a pretty big clearout or at least a fazing out of a lot of our squad. The up turn in results and performances have of course been very satisfying but Im not too convinced that all of this means that many of the the current players are still the ones to help turn us around. There have been improvements in individuals performances and contributions (Butt, Barton etc) but Im not fully convinced that this is enough to convince me of their long term worth to us. maybe Im being a bit negative but some have under performed for so long they have an awful lot of convincing still to do for me. Short term, the priorities for me would be: 1. Central Midfield playmaker. We need creativity to open teams up. Deco?who knows. For me I think we will have more of a chance, be still an attractive option, for the likes of Deco, rather than an up and coming younger home based talent, like for example a Bentley. Maybe a young foreign player playing in one of the lesser European leagues may still be attracted to us, but of course theres always the gamble factor in this as we all to well know, Vianna, ahem. 2. Centre Half. Preferably experienced and a talker/leader. Hopefully one would be enough? coupled with Faye, Taylor- who hopefully would benefit from having an experienced partner to learn from, Edgar, and maybe Cacapa?( though still think hes too slow, weak and old myself). Cuellar from the Gers would be worth a punt imo and I could see us definitley being an attractive option for him. 3. Wings. Both left and right sided players. We could do with some pace and directness on both sides of midfield. Looks like Zog is gone, for whatever reason, wheter good or bad... and Duff simply hasnt been good enough to date so unless a major upturn in his output is witnessed I wouldnt shed a tear. 4. Defensive Midfielder. The upturn in Butt and Barton may be sustainable, who knows. Plus a Centre Half signing may free Faye up. If we had the finances to attract a better option as DM then I would still take it, though credit where its due, its not looking as much of a priority as it was due to the hard work and effort recently shown. Who knows maybe the Keegan factor will still play large with some, maybe the big bucks of Mike will be splashed and be of sufficient supply to attract players we think are beyond us...Its gonna be interesting thats for sure.

09.04.83 Blackburn h 3-2 2-0 17,839 35 13 12 10 56 47 51 Carr; Anderson, Wharton; McCreery, Clarke, Carney; Keegan, McDonald, Varadi(Ferris), McDermott, Waddle BR: Gennoe; Branagan, Rathbone, Randall, Mail, Fazackerley, Bell, Hamilton(Keeley), Lowey, Garner, Metcalfe G: Waddle, Varadi, Metcalfe og, (Keeley 2)

On ITV 4 now old footage from The Big Match Live. 1983, apparently were on today v Blackburn at home, won 3-2 . Nostalgia aahhhhh................. Featured match is Luton v Villa....young Paul Walsh,Ricky Hill,Brian Moore, fences around grounds et all..

Ive seen a fair bit of him this season, wifes family are all "people", and have to say hes a no nonsense centre half. Has looked more than useful for most of the season. Admittedly in a weaker league,............ allegedly May well be worth a punt. Ramage in swap deal.....................

Completley agree. Ginola was a sublime footballer and definitley one of the top/best. 5 individuals players Ive ever seen play for us. Sellars gave us a greater balance imo and the one and two touch football was truly scintillating to watch..dare I say it better or equal to the fayre served up by the much vaunted Arsenal of today.

Not sure Im convinced we could come back from 0-0 at the moment, never mind 2-0 down. Need handicaps to be introduced based on recent results imo, give us a 1-0 start at KO. Mind you The appy ammers would need a 2-0 start the way there playing.

Ive been critical of Duff since he came tbh. Think hes under performed mostly, however I would admit of late hes been showing better form. Id play him LW and move Zoggy centrally. I personally like to have our more talented players on the ball as much as possible and sadly due to Emre also being a huge disappointment, I would maybe think Zoggy could be our creative player we so desperatley need.It may tide us over till we can sign a midfield creator in the summer?

Hope that Diatta impresses and is better than we have :-[ If so this could maybe free up Faye to move from CH and play in DM role? Also moving Beye to CH and Geremi at RB?? Taylors having mares, Barton and Butt are shite. Christ were thin on quality. Id maybe think of : Harper Beye/Geremi Faye/Diatta??/Edgar? Beye Enrique Faye Zoggy Milner Duff Owen Martins

better get to WC, think that feeling might be something elsE:D

don't bother trying to go down the proven successful method then, buy average players instead and go down Can't wait until 6 years time and these 17 year old kids are all going to be the next Gazza, guaranteed £85M spent in 3 years = zero success As I've said, we need to spend well, not necessarily big. I think this is the key, and Im trusting KK to spend any money well. However I think a very large clearout is needed as weve been making too many excuses, for too long, for too many of our players IMO

This largley for me. Though in all honesty cant say Id be "gutted" about losing any of em. Not in the same way it hurt when say Tony Green had to call it a day,Supermac, Beardsley,Waddle or Gazza left. Sad indictment on this bunch we have at the moment that cant see too many of em being fondly remebered in years to come. All replacable for me, and with Ashley being such a fan and so ready to transform us I hope and expect a revolution come summer.

Its valentines day on Thursday

Seriously.... only 12 games to suffer/go..bout the one positive thought I can muster at the moment.

Only 12 games to go.

Word. Problem is can we rebuild to that extent in one summer? Should be in Prem to do it, the R word is surely even beyond this clueless bunch.

Oh dear.Its official we are shite. Have to start with the young uns next game. Give em a chance cos some of these fuckers are an affront to professional football.