Wullie

Still hoping for a West Ham/Wigan/Birmingham treble, thought I wouldn't shed any tears if Blackburn got the bullet either.

Newcastle United (4-4-2): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote, Kevin Nolan ©, Jonas Gutierrez; Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands Substitutes: Steve Harper, James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Ryan Taylor, Ryan Donaldson, Nile Ranger, Shefki Kuqi

Indeed, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to make my own mind up on him.

He's only been pencilled in for Liverpool and Birmingham to be fair And Wolves. The derby in January originally!

Not sure I'd say we lost Ireland like.

Not much different to what we've been playing with all season though, is it?

Glad i don't buy them anymore, it's fucking vile.

It looks totally purposeful at first glance but Fugazi's right, he's after the ball.

Random thought? That game has haunted my dreams for 15 years.

Have you ever worked anywhere where it was clear your boss didn't want you there? Most of them probably haha. Difference is, I'd see the boss on a daily basis, so if that was the case, it'd be very uncomfortable, how many times would Carroll even see Ashley? Hardly ever I'd of thought. He'd of still been picked, the fans would still adore him, as would his team mates, the owner not wanting him wouldnt really mean much. Pardew was his boss.

I doubt any player in recent football history has turned down a move that didn't involve a pay cut once the club has told him an offer has been accepted for him. Think Les Ferdinand refusing to turn round halfway to London, despite the fact he wanted to stay at NUFC.

Sssshhhhh!

It's fairly easy to understand if you understand that footballers are human beings and have the mind of a human being, rather than some sort of computer program with a yes or no option to choose from.

The whole "he's a top 4/top 6/Premiership/Championship" player argument is fundamentally flawed really.

I've got very bad memories of Carrow Road, head in my hands with that Samba song ringing in my ears, days after crashing out of the FA Cup semis and UEFA quarters, as Dean Ashton thundered a 94th minute header past Shay Given, only two minutes after Kluivert had appeared to salvage a point. That said, it's a nice little place and they're a fairly likeable club, would prefer them over the Welsh for sure.

You can criticize his play going forward until the cows come home (it's pretty good tbh) but up against a tricky winger, there's not a full back in the league I would choose ahead of him. Defending is 90% of a full back's job and finding a good defensive one is fucking hard.

I remember Shola at Chelsea and I know he crosses the ball fairly well at times (Birmingham away was a case in point) but I'm still genuinely surprised and impressed every time he manages to get the ball off the ground and with pace on. He'd have to become ludicrously good before I'm able to let go of this stereotype of him unfortunately, it's just too deeply ingrained now Strange that he took those two excellent corners that lead to goals in quick succession but then has barely taken one since. Reminds me of when N'Zogbia scored a cracking free kick against Fulham on Owen's debut, he then proceeded to never touch a direct free kick again for years, even when it favoured the left footer, had me baffled for a long time.

Aye, I thought that, he's usually more than happy to put it into Row Z, sometimes too happy.

Exactly the same. Really want Wolves/MM to survive. Their fixtures are pretty kind, two home games against teams with little likely to play for, and a trip to the worst form team in the country. Blackpool are probably done for given their fixtures which I think is a shame really. Aye. My reason for wanting Blackpool to stay up is that they'll nigh on guaranteed to be shit again next season which will probably take up 1 relegation place regardless of who comes up. Plus they've been decent to watch although they've finally found they're level.

Exactly the same. Really want Wolves/MM to survive. Their fixtures are pretty kind, two home games against teams with little likely to play for, and a trip to the worst form team in the country. Blackpool are probably done for given their fixtures which I think is a shame really.

Mick McMackem's possibly the only ex-sunderland employee I have any time for other than the obvious ones who played/worked for us, don't really know why. Quite like to see them survive but Blackpool too. West Ham, Wigan, Birmingham would be my choices for the drop but I think Brum have done enough, the horrible bastards.

If Rory Delap is playing then at least a couple of weeks.

Set pieces were absolutely woeful with half a dozen simply pumped out of play, way over everyone's head or straight into the nearest defender but he did have an awful lot of them and a few were put into decent areas, there was very little to aim at though. Can't ever remember a Premiership game where we've had such a huge amount of free kicks/corners and done so little with them. We didn't manage a single header on goal. If only Ryan Taylor wasn't so generally shite. Mind you, it was shocking refereeing not to take any action against Meireles for consistent encroachment, standing 5 yards away from a fucking corner, blocking it, then doing exactly the same with the next one.

Aww shucks!

Suits me down to the ground. Maybe he should start doing it.