James

We actually have tons of forwards if we count wide forwards and central attacking midfielders. We have improved our central midfield area and retained those wide midfielders who can also play up front, plus addditional youth cover. Defensively, we have extra utility cover albeit we have now lost Ryan Taylor. We have failed to get a right back to improve on our obvious weak link, but our weak link is not that bad making him actually hard to improve on. Good means we have a 5th choice defender Pardew can feel more confident in using. Other fringe players from our academies are getting more games this season and it is good to see them get a chance. So our weakest overall position is goal. Behind Krul, Elliott seems to have lost his place to Harper, and Harper looks slower and slower. So while it is good to improve the team further, I think we have improved the team in some areas and failed to do so in others but it is hard to find really good players willing to be backup, or excellent players to improve what we have. So all in all it is a decent but unspectacular transfer window, and we should expect to challenge Spurs and Liverpool and possibly Arsenal, finishing 4th-7th which would represent a successful first season back in Europe.

My only criticism, which is something that can be improved with experience is that he lacks composure on the ball so doesn't think through his passes. So a few instances he had time but mishit a pass or chose the wrong option. few passes to no one going out for throw ins too. But this is something that will improve. Otherwise I am impressed.

Also when talking about missing experienced heads in central midfield he really had to stop pause and pick his words carefully.

He was good at Everton but he lost something with his injury. Why Everton were dithering on a contract and we took a risk that didn't work out.

Obertan, Vuckic, Marveaux good. Bigirimana not quite ready. Gosling poor. Everyone else average.

Did Les just say Ryan Nelsen?

Looks a very bad injury. Knee probably. We need a new full back.

How old is he? Boss or Rhodes?

My boss just text me to say that Jordan Rhodes is negotiating terms. Says he knows the family.

Some TV broadcasts at Stamford Bridge being taken out by lightening. Any closer and the match may have to be abandoned

Playing now might go to our advantage, the Chelsea players haven't played together in these conditions before.

He was much better than this before his injury, it is looking like it has ended his top level career.

Telegraph saying that despite the applaudable apology it will have to be a minimum of 8 games. Hopefully their columnist is clueless.

We also need to consider and accept the state the transfer market is in this summer. It is not really moving at all. Clubs are focused on keeping their good players, clearing out the rubbish. The current state of the transfer market shows this, normally PL clubs will be signing players that I would be disappointed we don't go for, but as it stands there are only 6 players out there we could have afforded and are good enough who would have been content with the role in the team on offer. 3 central midfielders which instead we signed Anita, 2 unproven Championship players, and one forward carrying huge baggage. If a player doesn't leave their club it is hard to justify saying that we should be signing this this and this when their club hasnt been willing to let them go. And in the slow state of the transfer market you can see why because if a player leaves it is hard to sign a replacement which is just making the club worse. Therefore unless when the transfer window shuts it can be shown that we are missing out on loads of available players, the club are adopting the correct policy.

Look up all the curried goat articles. You find in one of the articles that he didn't have curried goat at all and describes the dish. But for some reason everyone else changed it to curried goat because that was on the menu too.

I would have thought Pienaar, Mirallas, Rodellaga (for free), Gunter and Kyle Bartley would have been suitable (although Pienaar was obviously only going to Everton). Fair point though. There is a massive gap between the big boys and the rest - just look at all the players we have supposedly been going for and their eventual destinations/wages/fees. Pienaar would never have accepted a back up role here over a transfer to Everton. Mirallas, don't really know him but if he is good he's another one where we can say we got Anita instead. Rodellega, I'm not a real fan of, I could see Pardew going for 1 up front ahead of him. Those right backs aren't ahead of Simpson and Santon. But obviously this is just subjective opinion.

Looks like Everton have gone slightly backwards, Spurs and Liverpool treading water, and Arsenal and Chelsea signing players we could have no realistic ambitions to obtain. Have another look when the window closes, but as of this moment the players that have proven to be available (as they have actually been permitted to leave by their clubs) would not have been right for Newcastle.

So basically, of those attainable, of high standard, or likely to accept a backup role, we have Rodriguez and Mariappa who we looked at but decided not to bid for, Sigurdsson and Michu who we could argue that Anita with Cabaye further up is a decent enough alternative to those two, and Hoilett, who has a questionable attitude. So there has so far hardly been a transfer market worth muscling in on.

To be honest, very few clubs have done business, and those that have have bought players either beyond us or below us. Cheaper to stick with players you have got in general. Very hard to get a player that will improve a very good first team at a decent price, while backup roles may not suit some players or be worth the expenditure. Look at the transfers in to date. Only the ones I have bolded are at a good price, suitable for our team, and likely to accept the role they would have been offered if as a backup player. ARSENAL IN Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £16.5m), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier, £13m), Lukas Podoloski (Cologne, £11m) ASTON VILLA IN Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United, £3m), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord, undisclosed), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord, undisclosed) Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar, free) Click here for the latest Aston Villa transfer news CHELSEA IN Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m), Oscar (Internacional, £25m), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen, £7m), Thorgan Hazard (Lens, free), Josh McEachran (Middlesbrough, loan) EVERTON IN Steven Pienaar (Tottenham, £4.5m), Steven Naismith (Rangers, free), Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos, £5.2m) FULHAM IN Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free), Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free), George Williams (MK Dons, free), Sascha Riether (Cologne, loan) LIVERPOOL IN Joe Allen (Swansea, £15m), Fabio Borini (Roma, £10m) Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen, £3m) MANCHESTER CITY IN Jack Rodwell (Everton, £12m) MANCHESTER UNITED IN Robin van Persie (Arsenal, £24m), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund, £17m), Nick Powell (Crewe, £4m), Alexander Buttner (Vitesse Arnhem, £4m) NORWICH IN Sebastian Bassong (Tottenham, undisclosed), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds, £3m), Michael Turner (Sunderland, undisclosed), Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley, undisclosed), Steven Whittaker (Rangers, free), Javier Garrido (Lazio, loan) QUEENS PARK RANGERS IN Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, tribunal), Park Ji-sung (Manchester United, undisclosed), Samba Diakite (Nancy, undisclosed), Robert Green (West Ham, free), Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), Fabio (Manchester United, loan), Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea, free) READING IN Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest, £2.5m), Adrian Mariappa (Watford, £2.5m), Pierce Sweeney (Bray Wanderers, undisclosed), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham, free), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, free), Garath McCleary (Nottingham Forest, free), Nicky Shorey (West Brom, free), Stuart Taylor (Manchester City, free) SOUTHAMPTON IN Jay Rodriguez (Burnley, £6m), Paulo Gazzaniga (Gillingham, undisclosed), Steven Davis (Rangers, free), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace, compensation not yet agreed) STOKE IN Michael Kightly (Wolves, £2m), Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo, undisclosed), Jamie Ness (Rangers, free), Goran Popov (Dynamo Kiev, loan) SUNDERLAND IN Louis Saha (Tottenham, free), Carlos Cuellar (Aston Villa, free) SWANSEA IN Michu (Rayo Vallecano, £2m), Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa, £2m), Jonathan de Guzman (Villarreal, loan), Kyle Bartley (Arsenal, £1m), Jamie Proctor (Preston, undisclosed) TOTTENHAM IN Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £6m), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, £10m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, £8m) WEST BROMWICH IN Ben Foster (Birmingham, undisclosed), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen, free), Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda, free) Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, loan), Yassine El Ghanassy (AA Gent, loan) WEST HAM IN Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, £5m), Alou Diarra (Marseille, £2m), James Collins (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Stephen Henderson (Portsmouth, undisclosed), George McCartney (Sunderland, undisclosed), Raphael Spiegel (Grasshoppers, undisclosed) Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton, free), Mohamed Diame (Wigan, free) WIGAN IN Arouna Kone (Levante, undisclosed), Ryo Miyaichi (Arsenal, loan), Ivan Ramis (Real Mallorca, undisclosed), Fraser Fyvie (Aberdeen, undisclosed)

Shola is better than Shearer at penalties, but perhaps he learned from Shearer. Apprentice becoming more powerful than the master. On that basis I am expecting Sammy to be able to save and score penalties.

Aren't we just getting Fulham to pay the plane fare? We have an advance standard class train ticket from London King's Cross to Newcastle booked for 28th. Booked in May for £8.10 on trainline.com.

He is going to look like Kevin Kilkline when he scores the winner in the 2020 FA Cup final according to my crystal ball

Perhaps punishment is too harsh a term, but he needs minutes on the pitch. Ben Arfa provides a very good terms of reference to where he should be, even taking inti account of injuries.

I would bring Cabaye and Anita to this game to be honest. Cabaye as a punishment for his low fitness levels and atrocious performance against Spurs. Anita to adjust to his teammates. 45 mins each.