Benwell Lad

In the adversity of an injury crisis really enjoy a Ritchie 90th minute substitute appearance. Great bloke. Great pro.

They hound managers out even quicker and more often than Tory MPs hound their leaders out.

Hadn't trained this week because he was receiving treatment after that tackle by the SMB who thought he could endear himself to the crowd by hurting a real footballer. In an ideal world he'd be getting 15 to 20 minutes at the end of a game to build up his experience, as it is he's playing a full 90 not having trained all week. Considering he could have been playing for the U18's this morning I think putting in a pretty decent shift against the best team in the world says it all really.

Scored goals for fun as a kid, with right or left foot. Highlight was playing both for and against Viv Anderson as a kid at Nottingham Forest. He went on to be the first black guy to play for England and I went the other way. I was fast but when I played against him you knew you were in the presence of someone special at a different level. Had a long lay off from football after those junior years but eventually returned at an ok level and then wound up in the over 40s league, which I loved, and got the player of the season award one year. My last ever game of eleven a side was playing for a "European all stars" team () against FC St.Pauli 5te Herren in the Millerntor in Hamburg for an anniversary match. Three St Pauli first teamers guested for us. Scored two in a 5-3 loss, put a header against the crossbar to be denied a hat trick and followed up with a barbecue in the stadium and then a good old session around the Reeperbahn. Without doubt one of the best days of my life

A great bloke who would always tell it as it was so there would never be any doubt as to what he was thinking. Among so many quotable lines from Jack one of the best was his take on the Rudi Voller/Frank Rijkaard incident at Italia 90. "Air'd have chinned him" said the big fella and there's no doubt he really would have. RIP legend.

Hadn't been to Spennymoor for a while but went there recently. What a set up they have. So professional, the stadium looks great and a Premier league club would be proud of their playing surface. They've really come a long way in recent years.

They really are an extraordinary bunch When the Don arrived as the second coming, anyone who expressed even slight concern was turned on by the mob and branded a Mag. Now that the penny has fallen and the mob have turned full circle, anyone displaying any kind of, even mild, sympathy or support for the Don is branded, yes, a Mag. When they were on the verge of becoming the world's richest club a couple of months ago, anyone who attempted to put across a more sober or level headed point of view was called out as..... yes that's right, a Mag! Now realising it was just another stitch up, those who were shouting about being the next Man City and European glory(essentially 99% of them) are told they should be ashamed of themselves for behaving like "Mags"

There were four pieces of excellent play that led to the goal. It was just a cog in the machine but his cushioned lay back to Schär was quite sublime.

Even though that's the rule a special exception should have been made for Miggy for what is arguably the most deserved goal ever.

They must really regret hounding Bruce out for being a Geordie. It's been all downhill ever since

They are in their worst ever position by some considerable distance and their lowest ever position in the league is merely part of it. They are many years and hundreds of millions of pounds away from turning the present situation around. They have managed to create a situation where a Premier League infrastructure becomes a hindrance not a help and clubs like Wycombe or even Fleetwood would be a more attractive proposition to potential investors with ambition. They are in a grave situation, although some of their more sane fans did warn them.

oops..... Fabian it was

Even allowing for the change of mindset that VAR has brought about and the express instructions the referee gave the players before the game, there is no one to blame for the second goal other than Sheffield's own players. Sure the linesman lifted his flag, the referee waved play on, it happens in every game and is one of the first things children are taught when they start to play football. Their fault they didn't play to the whistle. As Shelvey runs onto the ball their defence is in terrible shape giving him a clear run at goal. Their fault. The goalkeeper appears to stop playing but was that an attempt by him to influence the decision knowing they had fucked up? Lionel Barthez tried to be clever by doing that a few times. Their fans, manager etc have every right to be livid but only with their own team who brought this upon themselves entirely.

Stunning aerial views of the stadium and surrounding area at the beginning of the nufc.co.uk highlights.

Just as well they've got the new manager bounce and all those winnable games in hand or they'd be really fucked.

So Eastleigh have gone further in the FA Cup than Sunderland? The Don has backed the wrong horse.

I have had first hand experience of both Newcastle and Sunderland academies and the first thing I'd say is it's nothing more than a myth that Sunderland is, or recently was, superior in any way. They were different, both good in some ways but both probably behind the bigger clubs in the NW for example. Newcastle's is decent, despite what a lot of uninformed people say, but being in the NE means that due to population there are fewer kids in the available pool than there are in the NW, SE or Midlands for example. There again how many Premier league clubs have had two young homegrown players make up their centre midfield pairing in recent years ? There are kids from Wearside at Newcastle and vica versa so supporting either club is of no consequence at all. Currently Newcastle's is way ahead and has a far better pool of talent. When Sunderland's ownership changed every possible overhead was slashed and their academy really suffered. People sacked, contacts severed and a lot of their better kids going elsewhere. Ethically the academy system is questionable across football in general. Nowadays when they bring in youngsters from around the world at a later age very few will ever make it and parents need to be sensible and not build up their own or their kid's hopes too much. If one player is identified as having the potential to make it they will design a team around him in the almost certain knowledge that none of the others will be kept on.

Should get Will Grigg to do the laundry then at least they'll have had something back for their 4 million quid.

That was an amazing fucking header like.

And excellent backtracking and defensive interceptions too. No one ever deserved a goal more. The roof will come off when it happens.

Can't think of any previous Newcastle player to compare him too, comparisons to Jonas and HBA seem equally wide of the mark for completely different reasons. The only player I see like him is Traore although ASM is even trickier and potentially better.

ASM to tear them to shreds and Eddie's impressive run of clean sheets to come to an end.

It seems the Don, who was initially welcomed as a messiah and said all the right things to get them onside, now can't attend matches as he claims he and his family are being abused. Along with hounding out managers every six months or so they're not really living up to their self proclaimed title of being the world's classiest fans at the moment.

There's no doubt that cheapskate Charlie has played them like a fiddle, although some of their less gullible fans are now seeing through them. However spinning getting a loan of a few million quid, probably with some form of surety against whatever remaining assets they have and because the owners themselves can't afford it, into some kind of positive is a masterclass even by his levels of bullshit.

So Pep's decided to stay at Man City. From what I heard a couple of weeks ago I thought he'd be leaving to join England's newest richest club? ? Maybe they see something in Parkinson that Pep didn't have ?