Benwell Lad

Forest/Derby Pompey/Southampton Cardiff/Swansea Millwall/West Ham Blackburn/Burnley Preston/Blackpool Manchester/Liverpool Norwich/Ipswich Baggies/Wolves Blades/Wednesday Rangers/Celtic etc, etc, etc All passionate hate fuelled local rivalries, and the prick uses our local rivalry as a way to insult people from the north east as being "primitive". Why the fuck has he latched on to us - can't he take his negative bile to some club close to where he lives.

A few savvy macums I know are very dubious about the players they've signed and see them as risky, old and expensive. If it doesn't work they're going to have a huge financial burden on their books. However the run of the mill window lickers seem to think they're all Barcelona standard.

I also think that and theres a bit of depth to it too. Hopefully Steven Taylor looking a much improved player at the end of last season is a reality and not a blip, and despite what the wrist slitters are saying it's very likely that a quality forward will be coming before the window ends. All in all probably the best squad we've had for a decade or so unless you prefer the "Freddie's galacticos" type of signing. Both full back positions still concern me though.

Totally agree he's behaving like a cunt and being disrespectul to the club and fans. He should commit or fuck off and as it's obvious he doesn't want to do the former please just fuck off.

Easy enough when your signing freebies and cast offs from relegated sides. The ironic thing is that I'm sure certain people would be criticising NUFC harshly if they had made the same signings, early in the window or not. If we'd signed that pile of overpriced, has-been dross there'd have been huge criticism and rightly so. I think the more discerning macums, not the window lickers who populate RTG, may be thinking the same.

Anybody else think the magic carpet might end up in the skip this season along with the manager's contract ? Putting old cronies on mega deals at their age has to be his final piss take.

Wonder who's phone they were hacking when they decided to print that pile of shyte ?

Difficult to answer in terms of where we are right now as opposed to right then. I think we're better placed to kick on and progress now than we were then, we've taken our medicine and we're getting better whereas a lot of other clubs are still very sick and are not willing to take the medicine.

I've been saying this for literally years, it's not like there's a separate bank account called 'transfer money' that can be ring-fenced for the club's financial situation in general. Can't understand the fascination with transfer fees and the old "net spend" arguments are pretty futile nowadays. Truth is no one really knows what the actual transfer fees are and quoted figures are often no more than press speculation. It's all a bit irrelevant anyway post-Bosman, as signing on fees, agents fees and contract terms often dwarf the actual transfer fee.

I watched Larsson closely when they played at SJP because of our alleged interest and I thought he was awful and even mentally suspect (weak) as he seemed to lose self control. Made me pleased that we didn't touch him. The other two would be very expensive to bring as "squad" players and there's much better value to be had out there. They may make an occasional decent signing (cant think of many mind) but Sunderland is not an attractive prospect for a pro footballer with options, so generally they will pay over the odds for people who other clubs are not really interested in.

Can't understand why they're letting a manager who may not see October make so many risky signings ? May be seen in hindsight as his farewell pisstake.

Yup. Interest and serious interest are different things. He will have been very closely watched by all top clubs as the hype built up last season. If he ends up at Sunderland you can safely say none of them really fancied him.

I like Pardew but can still agree with a lot of that post. Football management is a dirty and complex art and you don't get anywhere by being the "good soldier" and playing it straight, can you name me a good manager who has? You have to get a performance out of squad players (one of Souness' biggest failings imo), keep the squad on their toes and ship players when the time is right or when they no longer fit into what you are trying to do. All good managers do that and it involves being Machiavellian at times.

Quite likely Stead was arguably even more highly rated at the same stage of his career. One thing for sure is if he does go to Sunderland you can deduce that there was no one else seriously interested.

Therein lies the big question and possible risk for next season. Overall though I'm pleased he has instigated it because while the old guard served us well over the last 2 seasons they could not take it any further. Things needed to be shaken up if we're going to kick on and progress and he seems to be looking for players to move to the next level.

Funny you mention that because that's how a West Ham supporter who is a client of ours speaks of pardew. Said he was a patter merchant who will eventually either p*ss the fans off with his patter, the board, the media, the players or all of them together. I think I've posted about this already in this thread. I get the impression Pardew will always say what he thinks is right without really having the conviction all the time. For example he could have told Nolan how much he rated him, wanted him in his starting lineup etc. but behind his back was probably thinking he'd be second choice and if a decent bid came in he'd accept it. I guess most managers can be like that or have to be but I remember what Gary Speed said about Sir Bobby's best trait and it was his honesty. He'd tell you it straight. I'm probably biased like because I don't rate him at all and don't like the fact he was somewhat linked to the departure of Hughton, but what I do like is his positivity and opstimism. As long as he can keep that going he'll get players performing and results but I worry about when he can no longer patter people, be it the players, the fans, media or even the board. I'm a believer that most people eventually see the woods for the trees and I think that will be Pardew's downfall especially where the players are concerned. Pardew is undoubtedly high on diplomatic skills, his introduction to Newcastle as a "London boy" in very hostile circumstances and the fact he's become generally well accepted proves that. So far he's been able to back up his "patter merchant" image with fairly impressive results despite limited resources. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses. FWIW most Hammers I speak to seem to rate him and quite a few would have him back in an instant.

Anyone know what their widely acknowledged and cherished set of values were then? Overt racism ? Invading the pitch every time they play a big club ? Regularly attacking opposition players on the field of play knowing they will never be punished ?

Location undoubtedly - not many would disagree. Considering it's a pretty good arena too with a better than average atmosphere it would definitely have a chance of being considered the "best".

Really ? With the exception of the West Brom away debacle I thought Guthrie looked very comfortable in every game he played at PL level. No world beater, but solid squad material imo. Well, he's PL level in terms of performing, but he's either below the level we need to be, or he's not playing at his optimum. I've stuck up for him a lot, because in the CCC season he was excellent. Even when we were unbalanced with him on the right, his assists were consistent and then when he moved into the middle with Routledge on the right he was even better. At this level (hate saying that) though he's too lightweight defensively and not commanding enough with the ball imo. I like him, he has a lot of qualities, particularly his long passing, but he hasn't stepped up to the level we need him to be at. I wouldn't be disappointed if he stayed or went tbh. Pretty much agree, but to replace him (as a squad member) would probably cost more and introduce a level of risk. Overall I'd be happy for him to stay as a reliable back up squad player - he did alright when called upon at the end of last season - but would understand it if he was looking to play more regularly elsewhere.

Really ? With the exception of the West Brom away debacle I thought Guthrie looked very comfortable in every game he played at PL level. No world beater, but solid squad material imo.

The "our stadium is better than your stadium" arguments are tedious as f***. Facility wise they're on a par with one another. The only difference is that St James' Park is bigger and has a history behind it. Which for most football fans would make it a far better stadium. Not to mention one is bang in the middle of one of the UK's most vibrant cities and the other is on a post industrial wasteland on the edge of the UK's most depressing "city".

It was, as was Pinkeye's above - certainly couldn't argue with anything. Maybe a shout for Krul in most improved category - we knew he was pretty good - but this season he's had to sustain longer runs in the first team and done very well. Saves against Man U home and Arsenal away were world class - dare I say it. We have had a lot with shouts for player of the season and I can't think of one player who has put on a black and white shirt this season and not given 100%. I've seen more talented players playing for us and there again I've seen far worse too, but this squad compares with anything I've seen in terms of team spirit, effort and pride. I really hope that they get a great reception on Sunday for what they've achieved over the last two seasons.

Before the Birmingham match Pardew particularly mentioned Steven Taylor, his lack of recent progress and particularly his upper body physique which he said was too muscular and affected his mobility. On the evidence of the two games since he returned to the side he looks a far better player even without the important goals he notched. The best performances from him in years. If this is a result of Pardew and his management team's psychological and physical work with an individual player, then it is very encouraging.

A good piece by Bird, which reports that even when their injury list was at it's worst they still had a full complement of experienced players to choose from - players the manager himself had brought to the club - but instead of getting on with the job he was too busy getting his excuses out in advance to protect himself. I watched them about 5 times before Christmas and truth is I thought they looked pretty poor back then despite some decent results. They were never particularly convincing. Instead of dismissing the 5-1 derby mauling as a one off and ranting about revenge, league positions and victory tunes, Excuse might have been better off addressing his team of bottlers because that is what they ended the season looking like.

The differing fortunes of the two clubs since the new year is very much a tale of two managers if you ask me. One who tediously churned out excuse after excuse during a tough period and seemed prepared to demoralise his players before they even got on the pitch, in order to portray himself as an unfortunate victim and selfishly shore up his own position. Another who never once bemoaned his own luck, who praised and encouraged fringe players in his threadbare squad and got crucial results against the odds when they were most needed.